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"Good!" Lansino, truly worthy of being an elite from the Temple, burst forth with his battle aura, instantly transforming the curved blade in his hand into a green sun. He drew a magical arc to meet the edge of my sword. Just as the two divine weapons were about to collide, the curved blade suddenly tilted and detonated the massive battle aura and wind-element energy on its edge. The spine of my divine sword was forced sideways, unavoidably thrown off course. Taking advantage of the blast's wind force, Lansino spun rapidly and appeared behind me in an instant, slashing down with his blade.

I stepped on mysterious and intricate footwork, unleashing the supreme skill of the Nine Yin Scripture, "Phantom of the Underworld." My body, like a specter from the Nine Hells, flickered in and out of sight. Not only did I elegantly dodge Lansino's attack, but I immediately countered, forcing him to retreat in disarray.

In an instant, we exchanged dozens of blows, both giving our all in a fast-paced exchange. Despite the intense battle, I held the upper hand. In terms of sheer strength, Lansino, only recently a Sword Empress, surpassed me when it came to my Dragon-enhanced body. However, my divine sword, "Divine Punishment," was unmatched in sharpness, and even among the Ten Great Divine Swords, apart from the shape-shifting "Ten Realms Crimson Lotus," no other sword dared face it head-on. The wind-element curved blade in Lansino's hand, named "Shuo Yue," though also a legendary divine weapon, was far inferior to "Divine Punishment." He could only vigorously unleash the wind-element energy of his weapon, shooting sharp wind blades infused with battle aura to attack, which naturally diminished his effectiveness. Moreover, I had fully unleashed the "Eight Trigrams Swordplay of Douli," which, though only at its seventh stage of breaking and establishing, was already aimed at the treasured martial arts of the Temple. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I had seen through all of the Temple's ultimate techniques. Lansino, hailing from the Temple, had most of his skills taught by the Temple, so he was inherently at a disadvantage. If not for the truly extraordinary power of a Sword Empress, he might have already been struck down by my sword.

"Ahem, ahem, I didn't expect you to be this strong," Lansino, in a desperate bid to win, finally resorted to a risky move, managing to land a blow on my chest with his blade wind. However, my Golden Bell Jar and anti-magic constitution neutralized the attack, only tearing my armor. In return, I seized the opportunity to strike him with the "Crushing Heart Palm." Even with his battle aura protection, he couldn't stop coughing up blood and retreated repeatedly.

"You, as an elite of the Temple, shouldn't be this weak. Show me your real strength!" I didn't pursue him but stopped from afar. The power of a Sword Empress surpassed that of a Sword Master by tenfold. Even with my dragon qi-enhanced body, I was still a few notches below my opponent. It was only due to the sharpness of my divine sword and the profound techniques that I had the upper hand. In reality, my battle aura consumption was quite significant, so I took the opportunity to recover and strengthen the circulation of my Nine Yin True Qi.

"Very well, watch out. Lunar Attribute — Wings of Heaven! Phantom Beast Phoenix — Union! Salan Magic Transformation — Wind Wheel, Ice Armor, Flame Gun, Stone Force! Holy Word — Hot Blood!" Lansino laughed toward the sky, and countless halos burst open around him like fireworks. First, four wide white light wings spread out, manifesting his lunar attribute battle aura. Then, a seven-colored large bird transformed into magnificent battle armor covering his entire body, a rare high-level phantom beast that could temporarily enhance a human's body to the level of a beastman. A multicolored magical aura then encircled Lansino, the advanced magic "Salan Magic Transformation," converting a mage's magic power into hand-to-hand combat strength. Finally, a golden light descended from the sky, and the Holy Knight's exclusive divine technique "Holy Word" was bestowed upon him, with a divine symbol representing divine power appearing on Lansino's forehead.

"You certainly have many tricks up your sleeve," I said, my face expressionless, but my fighting spirit doubled inside. Unlike beasts who excelled at enhancing their own strength, humans were often good at using external forces to boost their power, and the Temple lineage was the cream of the crop. At this moment, Lansino was no longer the one I had suppressed earlier. This series of enhancements had elevated his strength to the level of a beastman Sword Empress. Even without the "Holy Ice Thorns Aura," his combat power had surpassed that of the barbarian female Sword Empress, Zha.

Without a word, Lansino launched his attack again. This time, I was at a disadvantage. His speed, strength, and reactions had multiplied several times. Although he still feared my divine sword, he could now avoid its edge and continuously attack my body. Although I could see through his moves, I often had to dodge with all my strength due to the opponent's overwhelming power and the effects of those enhancements.

"Not bad, you do have the aura of a Sword Empress now, but it's still not enough to kill me. Take a good look at what I've gained from the Temple!" As Lansino was about to corner me, I finally stopped holding back. My figure mysteriously flickered and vanished from under his blade's light. I reappeared behind him, stabbed through his shoulder with my sword, and then, in a flash, retreated ten zhang away to recover my strength. My speed had exceeded the limits of what the eye could track.

"Impressive, how did your speed suddenly increase so much?" Lansino turned around and asked.

"Did you forget what's on my feet?" I smiled slightly and replied with a question.

"Is it the 'Vitality Aura'? It can indeed increase movement speed and stamina. We Holy Grail Knights rarely train in aura-based divine techniques, so I didn't think of that. But how far have you trained it to make your speed comparable to the elven technique 'Blink Teleport'?" Lansino asked, as he wrapped his wounded shoulder with his white wings. The wound, as if treated by divine magic, gradually disappeared.

"Not that fast, but it's already at the maximum, level twenty."

"How is that possible? Although the 'Vitality Aura' is only an intermediate divine technique, those ascetic monks who have trained in a single divine technique since childhood, spending nearly a century on it, rarely manage to max out even a basic technique. You've only been in the Temple for a little over a year; how could you possibly have such strong cultivation?" Lansino looked incredulous. He had seen my aura earlier but had assumed my divine technique cultivation was limited. He hadn't expected me to have reached the peak.

"It's possible because of the 'Eternal Holy Water' and the 'Fervent Faith Ritual,'" I replied.

The Temple's Holy Knights possessed a unique divine technique system that could greatly enhance combat power when combined with martial arts. The aura and Holy Word systems were part of this. Since I had entered the Temple, I naturally wouldn't pass up such power. Although I had no talent for divine techniques, the "Eternal Holy Water" produced by the Holy Grail was an elixir that greatly enhanced divine power. With Jin Luosha's help, I was able to rapidly advance. However, after a thousand years of refinement, divine techniques and Temple martial arts had become inseparably integrated. In battle, facing various crises, a Holy Knight could continuously switch to suitable divine techniques and match them with corresponding martial arts to achieve great effects. If I tried to blend numerous divine techniques with my martial arts, it would be like the idiom of a man from Handan learning to walk — a waste of effort that could even be detrimental. Therefore, I ultimately chose to master only one divine technique and push it to its peak.