Of course, Shi Li hastily stood up and removed the dust off his robes as he looked at Shi Ziyun in front of him.
He did not mind being humiliated in front of the spectators and other participants since it was only within the Shi clan. Also, he was just in the Martial Novice stage at the moment, it was normal for him to lose at times.
Shi Li gave a smile to Shi Ziyun before saying, "Your Purple Cloud Fist is definitely eye-opening! Please do widen my horizons more after I execute my first move!"
"Haah..." After saying what he had to say, he inhaled a lot of air which was transformed into usable energy in an instant. He then channeled all of the strength within his body and soul towards the sword he was holding and slashed down in a straightforward manner.
Swoosh!
Not long after slashing down, a large orange sword light with condensed golden sword light lingering throughout the orange sword light was shot out from Sundering Flame and reached Shi Ziyun's body within mere moments.
"Flame Slash!"
Shi Ziyun looked at the orange sword light that was already a few decimeters in front of her and did not hesitate to duck down and roll to the side, dodging the sword light as it collided with the barrier.
Bang!
The barrier slightly shook under the power of Shi Li's sword light, making Shi Ziyun's opinion of Shi Li change a bit, from someone who used his strength to fight his way through the tournament, into someone who truly had the capabilities to do so.
Shi Ziyun hurriedly stood up and wiped the dust off her robes before clenching both of her fists this time rather than just one, purple haze covering both fists not long after.
"I watched your previous fights on the side and thought that you had some sort of innate divine strength, to think that it was the opposite of that," Shi Ziyun could not help but say.
Other than the fact that Shi Li shot a sword light towards Shi Quanzhou's shin through his feet last round, it did seem that Shi Li was using all of his strength rather than planning his attacks out.
But after witnessing the attack that Shi Li shot out, if they weren't limited to 3 moves, she had a feeling that Shi Li would take this chance to attack her.
"Here's my second move. Purple Cloud Fist: Fleeting Cloud!"
Bang!
Shi Ziyun shot out both of her fists simultaneously as the purple haze that covered both fists expanded to a height exceeding Shi Li's height and a width surpassing the length of Shi Li's blade.
Shi Li looked at this attack and decided to sidestep, avoiding the cloud of purple haze...or so he thought.
Noticing Shi Li's shift in position, the cloud of purple haze, as if it was a living and breathing being, headed towards Shi Li's body like a venomous snake.
Shi Li noticed this and decided to just stand where he was and cut the cloud into nothingness.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Although many people knew Shi Li for his Flame Slash, it did not mean that he had a faulty foundation in terms of swordsmanship. With the help of Tian Zhenfei's memories within his body, it could be said that Shi Li has the experience of wielding a sword for over 5 years.
Each slash hacked off a decent chunk of the purple haze. After three slashes, the purple haze naturally dissipated into thin air as Shi Li looked at Shi Ziyun with a serious face.
Just as when Shi Ziyun was expecting Shi Li's second move, Shi Li placed his Sundering Flame behind his back, shocking not only Ziyun, but the other participants, the spectators, and even Shi Xingtai as well.
"Don't tell me... you're not at your strongest when it comes to the sword?" If that was the case, Shi Ziyun could not believe it. The only reason why she could be known as the Purple Phantom because she persevered in cultivating the [Purple Phantom Fist] from the start of her path in cultivation.
Shi Li could not help but let out a small snigger as he replied, "Don't worry, I'm at my strongest when it comes to the sword. It's just that I want to test out some moves I derived from the technique I cultivated."
"Derived techniques?" Shi Xingtai could not help but mutter this phrase as he looked at Shi Li from outside the barrier. "To think up of other uses for the technique, truly befitting of an aptitude of the Quasi-World level."
"Derived techniques?" Shi Ziyun laughed at this as she knew that any derived technique would be weaker than the original. She went into a carefree defending stance before taunting Shi Li. "Go ahead."
Shi Li nodded at Shi Ziyun's words and started to spin around where he was standing. At first, the speed of his spin was slow, but as time passed by, the speed was enough to make any normal person hurl and vomit.
Not long after, an orange glow started to emanate from Shi Li's feet as it gradually intensified in color. After a thirty more seconds or so, the color of Shi Li's feet was already an intense orange.
Shi Li looked at his feet and nodded inwardly before doing a spin and kicking out with his left foot, the glow from his right foot being passed onto his left.
Whoosh!
As the momentum of Shi Li's kick reached its peak, a small ring that had a diameter of half a meter was shot out and headed towards where Shi Ziyun was.
"Inferno Ring!" This was the technique that Shi Li came up with after realizing that his movement technique could actually deal damage as well if used correctly. The basis of this technique was that with each spin, the feet would use [Flame Bursting Step] and accumulate orange sword lights before being shot out as a dense orange ring of sword light.
If any technique maker looked at this technique and knew the origin of this technique, they would be shocked as to how a young person like Shi Li was able to unleash a power at a level surpassing the origin.
Shi Li did not rely on Tian Zhenfei's memories to create this, but rather, his intuition, his creativity, and...the memories of the novels he had read.
Shi Ziyun looked at this and stepped aside, easily dodging the ring of orange sword light before laughing at Shi Li. "Is that all you g—"
Before she could continue her words of mockery, the ring instantly expanded in size, hitting Shi Ziyun's arms and lacerating it with small yet several skin-deep wounds that passed through the sleeves of her robes.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
With each sword light colliding with her arms, a small spurt of blood could be seen, covering the tattered sleeves in blood not long after.
Shi Li looked at the effect of this technique and smiled at how effective it was. "This could be a great technique to be used in surprise attacks," Shi Li said to himself inwardly.
Shi Ziyun instantly kneeled down to the ground as the immense pain of multiple lacerations surged throughout her body. She then noticed Shi Li coming closer to her, which made her shudder as she looked at him with fear.
Shi Ziyun's opinion of Shi Li was drastically changed at this point. A wolf in sheep's clothing! This was her opinion of Shi Li!
"D-Don't come near me! I-I concede!" With fear still lingering in her eyes, Shi Ziyun shouted out.
Hearing these words come out of Shi Ziyun's mouth, Shi Xingtai hastily announced while he looked at Shi Ziyun's injuries, "Shi Ziyun has been severely injured and cannot fight any further! Shi Li has won the duel and can continue to the semifinals!"