"I suppose you’re ready to die," Bai Yue shouted towards Nie Li.
"It isn’t certain who will be the one who ends up dead, little girl."
Since provocations were exchanged, there was nothing left to say, and the two began their life and death battle.
With the rich experience Nie Li had as an Immortal Emperor, he spotted several weaknesses that Bai Yue had.
Bai Yue’s form had yet to completely become devoid of blind spots, and Nie Li immediately took advantage of them.
Nie Li pulled out his magical treasure, which was a small stick that looked like a branch of some kind of tree, and swung it at one of Bai Yue’s blind spots.
Reacting to the attack slowly, Bai Yue barely managed to make contact with the branch using her sword. The exchange though still ended in Bai Yue being put in a disadvantageous position.
Due to her reacting so late, Bai Yue soon lost her grip on her sword, and the branch passed through, landing a blow directly on her body.
Bai Yue was launched back a couple of meters before stopping. Now she had a minor injury, which stung whenever she moved.
Bai Yue immediately realized that she was still lacking and tried to correct her posture, but Nie Li continued his assault before Bai Yue could truly comprehend her mistakes.
Reentering battle, Bai Yue was once again on the defensive, unable to fight back.
This time though, Bai Yue became more aware as the injury woke her up and made her completely vigilant. Still, Bai Yue had several blind spots she couldn’t cover.
Every time, Nie Li would take advantage of any blind spots that Bai Yue opened, and she would barely make it in time before Nie Li moved on to the next one.
This was truly a one-sided battle, as Bai Yue simply lacked the same level of experience that a veteran Immortal Emperor had.
Though one-sided, Bai Yue didn’t give up and continued to try and learn from her mistakes. Every new injury on her body made her more conscious of potential blind spots on her body.
Nie Li also noticed this and started to attack more frequently before Bai Yue got rid of more of her blind spots.
Before long, Bai Yue had injuries all over her body and was starting to feel fatigued. She could barely use her Immortal energy to defend anymore and could only passively block with physical strength.
At this point, Nie Li still had plenty of energy to spare and was toying around with Bai Yue, as she was the one who made him end up in this position.
Soon, Nie Li became bored and wanted to kill Bai Yue when Jiang Yun’s attention wasn’t at its highest. This way, even if he couldn’t escape, Nie Li still wanted to take someone down with him.
As the moments passed waiting, Jiang Yun finally turned his head, and Nie Li immediately enacted his plan. No longer holding back, Nie Li swung his stick with all the strength he had.
Trying to block the attack with her sword, the instant Bai Yue’s sword hit the branch, the weapon immediately flew out of her hands. Bai Yue was now completely vulnerable, and she began tightening her body to prepare for the hit.
As the moments ticked by, Bai Yue noticed that the attack was no longer coming. She began opening her eyes to see that Jiang Yun had intervened and stopped the stick.
"Why did you stop me?" Nie Li asked, trying to claim some moral high ground. "Shouldn’t you let this be a fair fight and let this woman take this challenge on herself?"
"Who said I wanted this to be a fair fight?" Jiang Yun replied with slight annoyance. "Do you think I would allow you to kill her? This fight will only end in your death and nothing else, so don’t get it wrong."
"Then why don’t you just kill me already?"
"Because you are still useful for her growth."
"What if I don’t comply and do nothing?"
"You can try, but don’t expect your death to be painless."
Jiang Yun spread out his Dao energy and began putting immense pressure on Nie Li. His bones started to make cracking sounds, which resulted in Nie Li’s body going limp and collapsing on the ground.
As the suffocating pressure increased, blood started flowing out as Jiang Yun tried making the experience as painful as possible.
Still trying not to give up, Nie Li tried holding on, not wanting to be a little girl’s training partner and then dying right afterwards.
With the pressure increasing, the pain became more unbearable, and the experience left deep markings on Nie Li’s mind.
Jiang Yun was intentionally keeping Nie Li alive to allow Bai Yue the satisfaction of ending the man’s life, but he was being too stubborn.
Changing his tactics as it seemed not to be working, Jiang Yun eased up on the pressure, which surprised Nie Li. Wondering why Jiang Yun let him go, he began to try and get up.
Once Nie Li was on his two feet, he collapsed again as his legs were completely broken and deformed. Trying it again, Nie Li collapsed in the same way.
Now with his chances of escape gone, Nie Li decided to end his own life, as it was no longer worth it to wait until Jiang Yun decided to kill him instead.
Before he could do anything, Jiang Yun started putting pressure on him again. This time the pressure was stronger than before, which made Nie Li completely unable to move.
Not even being able to die, Nie Li realized his life really was in the hands of the man in front of him. Unable to bear the pain anymore, as the result would be inevitable anyway, Nie Li gave in.
"Stop!" Nie Li cried out. "I will obey your orders and continue, just please stop."
Jiang Yun let the man go as he was finally complying. Seeing as Nie Li was in no position to fight, Jiang Yun threw a pill into his mouth and forced him to swallow.
"What did you make me eat?" Nie Li asked, beginning to cough from being forced to swallow a strange pill.
"It’s to heal your injuries so that you can continue the fight," Jiang Yun replied. "Once you finish healing, hurry and stand back up and wait to the side while I heal Bai Yue."
Jiang Yun then turned his attention to Bai Yue and gave her the same pill. Bai Yue threw the pill into her mouth and swallowed, as she had full trust in Jiang Yun.
Soon, both Nie Li and Bai Yue had their injuries heal at a noticeable rate. All the bruises on Bai Yue’s body turned a normal color and flattened down.
Nie Li was surprised at the potency of the pill as the cracked bones throughout his body popped back into place and his crushed body reformed.
It didn’t take long before both of them completely healed and were back to peak condition.
Jiang Yun gave Bai Yue another pill, intending to help her recover her depleted Immortal Energy. Bai Yue did the same as before and swallowed it without caring what it was.
With a warmth spreading throughout her body, Bai Yue felt full of life again. The depleted energy had returned, and Bai Yue felt like she could fight all day.
Seeing as both combatants were ready again, Jiang Yun backed away to let the both of them continue. Returning to his previous position, Bai Yue and Nie Li were once again left alone together.
Nie Li stood up now with his injuries healed and began readying himself to fight again. Refusing meant torture, and not fighting back meant being killed by a little girl.
Neither option was ideal, so Nie Li decided to just follow along for the time being and kill himself once an opportunity arrived. He did not want to die by a little girl’s hands and wanted to die on his own terms.
Not to mention, doing so would deprive the joy from Bai Yue’s hands, which brought some solace to Nie Li. If it meant death, Nie Li was more than happy to do so now if it meant he could gain a minor victory.
Once both were ready, the fight began once more, despite the result seemingly already having a winner.
Ignoring the inevitable result, Nie Li tried his hardest to win against Bai Yue, as it still wasn’t the right moment yet. If he enacted his plans now, it would just be stopped by Jiang Yun.
So, Nie Li began dominating in the fight against Bai Yue again. Even with her newfound experience gained in the previous attempt, she still had several blind spots to be exploited.
Bai Yue once again found herself to be at a disadvantage and could only defend. The only difference this time was the injuries she sustained lessened, as Nie Li was still somewhat deprived of energy that was consumed from the previous battle.
With this slight advantage in starting points, Bai Yue held on, trying not to lose again.