“Ten minutes,” Nano’s voice whispered in Jin Shu’s mind, marking the Minor Deity Formation’s remaining duration.

“Ten? Shouldn’t I have at least twenty?”

“The pressure Liu Hua is exuding is eroding your body,” Nano replied. “It’s slowly breaking down the internal runes. Ten minutes were spent just reinforcing them—just to keep the formation from unraveling.”

“Damn!”

He was running out of time. Fast.

Each of her strikes cost at least a full minute’s worth of structural qi to repair, and now, just her presence had stolen ten minutes. Half his time. Gone.

If he didn’t act now, there wouldn’t be a later.

He pulled all four arms back, muscles bunching, then whipped them forward with everything he had. The vajra launched like lightning bolts—four glowing beams of colored light—and he charged in close behind them.

Running against the force she radiated was like trying to swim up a waterfall. Every step was a battle. But the instant the vajra reached her, she was forced to move—dodging with wild grace—and in that moment, the pressure lifted.

Jin Shu surged forward, his speed doubling in the absence of her oppressive qi.

Even while dodging the vajra, Liu Hua kept laughing—unhinged and ecstatic. Her voice echoed across the sky like living thunder.

She twisted through the air, narrowly avoiding each strike, even using the vajra as springboards to propel herself higher. She shot down from above like a bolt of divine judgment, her figure sleek and lethal, descending on Jin Shu like a predator with nowhere else to aim.

He braced.

He had hoped she might switch elements, trading her speed for raw power—but she didn’t. Lightning still surged in her limbs, and she was still faster than a thought.

Her kick dropped from the sky like a falling star.

He dodged, barely, tumbling out of the way at the last second.

Boom!

Her foot slammed into the arena floor, carving a crater a foot deep into the stone. If Jin Shu could sweat in this form, he would have.

But the attack had consequences.

Recoil rippled through her injured leg, and for the briefest moment—she faltered.

He sprang forward, capitalizing instantly, and brought both right fists down onto her waist with a thunderous impact.

She tumbled backward, catching herself on her palms and flipping smoothly back to her feet.

Still grinning.

“Good, good!” she howled, her eyes glowing with manic delight. “Keep going—don’t stop!”

Jin Shu’s brow twitched.

This girl is seriously insane…

He’d thought it before, but even back then, she hadn’t been this far gone.

She flashed—gone and back again faster than thought—and before Jin Shu could react, he was sent flying. A distinct footprint, perfectly matching Liu Hua’s shoe, was stamped into his chest.

"Nine minutes left," Nano warned.

Nine minutes. Nine hits.

That was all the time—and punishment—his Minor Deity Formation could endure before collapsing entirely.

Bang! Bang!

Two more kicks slammed into him before he could rise, crushing his body against the qi barriers like a ragdoll.

"Seven."

"I get it," he growled, teeth grinding as he forced himself upright.

Dodging for seven more minutes wasn’t realistic. Not against her speed. Not in this state.

So instead of retreating, he chose to press forward.

Liu Hua landed lightly in front of him, her leg already in motion, aiming a kick for his temple. Jin Shu reacted. He summoned the vajra back to him mid-motion, and caught her foot before it could land, locking her in place.

The four vajra streaked in from all sides and slammed into her back.

They lacked the force to truly injure her, managing only to raise four small bruises—but they knocked her off balance. Jin Shu took advantage, tossing her to the ground and rising to his feet, reclaiming his weapons.

Liu Hua coughed, wiping blood from her lips.

"Hehe…" she giggled, sprawled on the arena floor, not even bothering to get up. Her eyes shimmered with delight as she gazed up at him. "I love it. Feels soo good."

Jin Shu faltered for a split second, thrown by the twisted pleasure in her voice.

He should have struck her immediately—but the moment passed.

He snapped out of it just in time to stomp down with a massive foot aimed squarely at her stomach. But before the blow landed, she vanished in a bright burst of crackling violet lightning.

A pulse of pressure dropped onto his back, and her voice whispered directly into his ear.

"Which feels better? Pain… or that thing you told me about?"

"Why would pain feel good?" he muttered, thrown off by the question.

"Dunno, it just does. But…" she leaned closer, her lips brushing against the edge of his right ear, "only when it's you hurting me."

His brow twitched again. He wasn’t sure if it was irritation… or something else.

"Six."

Nano’s voice brought him back.

Without hesitation, he dropped backwards, trying to crush her under his weight. His massive body slammed into the stone floor, hard, but the moment he landed, he knew she was no longer there.

He scrambled to his feet.

A split second later, an impact slammed into his ribs, hurling him back across the arena. He crashed into the ground again, only barely managing to catch himself before another attack followed through.

"Five."

"I said, I get it!" he snapped, frustration boiling over—not just at Liu Hua, but at himself, at Nano, at everything. He couldn’t land a clean hit. She was toying with him, and worst of all… she was enjoying it.

Glancing back to where he'd last seen her—she was gone.

A shift in the air pulled his attention upward.

Above him, Liu Hua dropped like a thunderbolt. He hurled the vajra in his hands upward—she couldn't dodge midair, not this time.

Or so he thought.

She kicked off the qi barrier, rebounding impossibly fast, twisting through the air with a crackle of lightning, and dropped toward a new angle.

Jin Shu sprinted toward where she would land. This time, she had no solid footing—no momentum—and once she hit the ground, she'd be vulnerable. Surely. 

With a thought, he recalled the vajra. They streaked through the air, closing in just as Liu Hua touched down.

He struck with all four fists, the power of his remaining seconds behind each blow—but she wove through them like a breeze, dancing between the attacks. Only the hem of her sleeve tore.

She landed gracefully, utterly unharmed, her smile wide and gleaming as if a mockery of his desperate efforts.

The vajra arrived.

Without hesitation, he launched them at her again, closing the distance in a flash.

But this time she didn’t dodge.

Instead, she met the two fastest, the wind- and water-infused vajra, with sharp, surgical kicks. They rocketed back toward him at bone-shattering speed and punched into his abdomen, embedding halfway through.

She spun.

With fluid grace, she caught the remaining two and hurled them into his chest. The four vajra now jutted from his body like iron spikes—two in his gut, two in his chest. His massive frame reeled.

“Thirty seconds,” Nano warned, calm as ever.

But Jin Shu couldn’t move.

Liu Hua’s qi lingered in the weapons, suffusing his divine body and locking it down.

She approached slowly, steps light, almost reverent.

“This should be the end. It was fun,” she said, smiling warmly, and gently placed a hand on his cheek.

"You…" he growled. Summoning the last dregs of strength, he forced his arms to move, locking all four limbs around hers in a sudden grapple.

“Oh?” she giggled, amused. “A little more?”

With no options left, he reared back, before throwing his head forward, aiming to slam her in the nose with his forehead.

But a heartbeat before impact, the formation broke.

His divine body vanished in a blink, returning him to his original form. His momentum carried him forward… but now shorter, his head missed her nose and instead collided squarely with her chest.

The soft impact knocked her backward. She hit the ground seated, arms reflexively wrapping around him, holding him to her.

He lay against her chest, dazed and limp.

Still conscious, but completely drained. There wasn’t a single drop of qi left in his body. He couldn’t move. His muscles twitched with aftershocks from the collapse of the formation. Pain surged through every nerve like acid.

“Tell… them… I concede,” he mumbled, voice muffled against her.

“Hm? I can’t hear you,” Liu Hua replied, blinking.

He groaned, barely managing to shift his head enough to speak again.

“I… concede!”

“Oh! Okay!” she chirped, turning toward the edge of the arena. “Jin Shu concedes!”

“Winner: Liu Hua!” Elder Li's voice rang out, cutting through the roar of the crowd.

“Let… me go…” he forced out, every word a strain on the edge of his consciousness.

Liu Hua tapped her chin, considering. “No, I don’t think I will.”

He opened his mouth to protest—but before a single word escaped, a blinding headache slammed into him like a hammer.

The world went dark.