Jin Shu’s eye twitched at Liu Hua's question.

“I didn’t fight back then because I didn’t want to hurt you,” he said, gritting his teeth at the memory of her nearly killing him. “But you took it too far. You actually tried to kill me. I’ll pay you back for that now. So no, I don’t want you to ‘take it easy’ on me.”

“Just what I’d expect from my…” she trailed off, her teasing smile crackling with electricity.

“Husband~” she added, through a voice transmission.

Jin Shu furrowed his brow—partly at what she’d said, and partly because he noticed something odd. Every time she used voice transmission, her mouth sparked, as if she were speaking through her lightning.

Wait… is that how voice transmission works?

“Damn! He figured it out…” Gold said to Shuang. “You win.”

Jin Shu blinked. “You two knew, and you’ve been betting on this?!”

“Of course we knew,” Gold said with a scoff. “Unlike you, we didn’t forget we have access to a five-hundred-year-old dragon’s memories. Not that you'd need them to figure it out.”

“Yeah, it's actually pretty easy,” Shuang added. “Just watch someone’s lips when they use voice transmission. There’ll be a thin veil of qi over them. Liu Hua’s just flashy—uses lightning instead. Might even be faster and harder to intercept, I’m not sure.” He shrugged.

“Wait, so you just talk… through qi? It was that easy?!” 

He was doomed to never get an answer. 

“Will either of you be using weapons?” Elder Li’s voice cut into Jin Shu’s internal dialogue. She was looking straight at him, clearly expecting him to pull his out.

But she was going to be disappointed.

Jin Shu shook his head. “I’m not.”

Both Liu Hua and Elder Li gave him strange looks, as though he’d just said something absurd.

Even the spectators were visibly confused.

“Jin Shu’s not using weapons? Did they give up?”

“Even with those weird weapons, there’s no way she could beat Liu Hua.”

“Still… I was hoping to see another surprise from them in this match.”

“Guess this is the end, then…”

“Hey, at least she got second place. That’s impressive, considering she’s only 6th-stage Core Realm and she beat two Spirit Realm cultivators.”

Jin Shu glanced at the crowd, smirking. They were wrong. He wasn’t forfeiting. Not even close. He was about to show them his true strength that he’d been saving—well, maybe not his true strength, since his real weapons were banned. But something special, just for Liu Hua.

“I’m not forfeiting,” he announced, loud enough for the whole arena to hear.

“What?!”

“Not forfeiting?!”

“Then why aren’t you using your weapons?”

“There’s no way she can beat Liu Hua without them!”

“She’s lost her mind!”

“Maybe she hit her head in the last match! Someone stop her!”

The arena erupted into chaotic chatter as the spectators all tried to talk him out of it.

“Quiet!” Elder Li’s voice thundered through the amplification formation, silencing the crowd instantly. When the noise faded into hushed murmurs, she turned back to the two fighters on stage.

“Are you both ready?”

Jin Shu nodded, calm and focused.

Liu Hua sighed dramatically. “Man… I was really looking forward to this. I wanted to see those weapons in action, maybe even experience them for myself.”

Then she gave him a pointed look. “Hey! You still haven’t given me those ‘bewl-its!’”

“And I don’t plan to,” he said honestly.

“You—!”

“Have your lovers’ spat some other time,” Elder Li interrupted. “The match begins—now!”

As her voice dropped, the qi barriers snapped into place around them.

Jin Shu wanted to argue that he was definitely not Liu Hua’s lover, but she was already in motion—blitzing toward him as fast as lightning.

He leapt back, barely making it into the ripple before her palm struck the spot he'd just vacated. A burst of purple lightning exploded in its wake, sizzling with enough force to be devastating.

On the other end of the portal, Jin Shu broke into a cold sweat. “Damn, that was close.”

Then he smirked. “But this is the end of her lightning-fueled reign of terror.”

He raised his hands, beginning to shape runes in the air with qi. Stroke by stroke, he assembled a special formation—the one he’d been saving just for Liu Hua. The Minor Deity Formation.

It wasn’t quite the same as when Long Jinshu had used it during his legendary battle against the golden roc clan in his youth. Jin Shu didn’t have the cultivation needed to wield the real thing. This was a modified version—one that required far less qi, but was also far weaker.

Still, it would serve its purpose. He’d added a custom feature, one Long Jinshu never had the chance to use. One designed for this battle alone.

A dozen minutes passed before the final rune fell into place. Instantly, all the qi drained from Jin Shu’s body. Even with the modifications, the formation devoured everything he had. Once it ended, he would collapse from qi exhaustion. But if it meant repaying the debt Liu Hua had left on him back then, it would be worth it.

As the last drop of qi left him, the transformation began.

His skin turned a pale shade of blue. His muscles swelled, his frame stretching until he stood three meters tall. A second pair of arms erupted from his sides. It wasn't quite the divine figure from legend, but it would do.

He didn’t have much time.

Exiting the ripple, Jin Shu reappeared on the stage, under the stunned stares of the crowd.

“Wha—what is that?!”

“Holy! Did Jin Shu just summon a spirit?!”

“But she’s only at the 6th-stage Core Realm! That shouldn’t be possible!”

“Then what is that?!”

“A demon?! Maybe she can summon demons—ow!”

The girl who suggested that was promptly smacked by her friend.

“Don’t say that, idiot! Only demon worshipers can summon demons! And who’d be dumb enough to do that in the middle of our sect?! Plus, she’s the Sect Master’s disciple!”

“Ah! I take it back! Stop hitting me, you crazy bitch!”

Jin Shu was briefly distracted by the scuffle at the edge of the stands before remembering—he was on a timer.

He turned and found Liu Hua eyeing him curiously, her hand tapping her chin.

“Weird,” she said. “You’re definitely Jin Shu, but… you feel different.”

The crowd erupted again.

“Wait, that’s Jin Shu?!”

“No way!”

“How did such a pretty girl become… that?!”

Jin Shu coughed. He wasn’t a girl to begin with… though now hardly felt like the time to explain that, not to mention he flat out couldn’t. Also, he thought he looked pretty cool.

“Use your eyes,” he said to Liu Hua, his voice rumbling like distant thunder.

“Oh!” Liu Hua nodded. Her eyes shifted, the violet lightning fading to warm chestnut brown. “Whoa!”

She blinked and rubbed her eyes. “That’s awesome! Teach me!”

She suddenly appeared beside him, circling around to inspect him from every angle.

“We’re still in the middle of a fight, Liu Hua,” he said, exasperated.

“Oh, it’s fine. I’ll just beat you real quick, then you can teach me how you did it, okay?” she said brightly—then launched a lightning-clad palm straight toward his chest.

He didn’t move. He didn't have to.

The blow struck him squarely, but to everyone’s shock, he didn’t budge. He wasn’t blasted backward like Ling Shi. He wasn’t electrocuted. The lightning simply vanished.

In its place, a lightning-shaped vajra formed in one of his four hands.

“Thanks,” he said, smirking down at Liu Hua, who tilted her head, confused. “That’s just what I needed. I didn’t have enough qi to summon my weapons before.”

This was the special feature he had added to the formation.

Well… technically, it had always been part of it. He’d just reversed its function.

The original Minor Deity Formation emitted lightning qi to form its divine weapons. But that feature was incredibly qi-intensive—far beyond what Jin Shu could afford. So instead, he modified the formation: rather than emitting lightning qi, it would absorb it, then transfer the gathered qi into the construction of the vajra—the signature weapons of the lightning deity this form was based on.

“Could I get a little more?” he asked, holding up the vajra. “I still have three more weapons to materialize.”

“I can’t use lightning?” Liu Hua blinked, lightning sparking in her eyes again. “Wait—did you trick me into turning my eyes off so I wouldn’t see that?”

“Yes… and no. I didn’t know you could see that kind of thing,” he said with a shrug.

“They can’t,” she smirked. “But thanks for telling me the truth.”

Jin Shu narrowed his eyes. So she’d been tricking him the whole time. He hadn’t expected that, but it wouldn’t matter now. Her strongest weapon—her lightning—was useless against him.

Still, he had wasted enough time.

As satisfying as it was to finally turn the tables on her, this wasn’t a fight he could drag out. The clock was ticking, and every second counted.