Retake *Discontinued*

Chapter Fifty-Four: Nie Tai's Third Round

This time, Nie Tai focused on the sound of her footsteps as she calmly walked down. With a vicious gleam in her eyes, she kept her opponent in her sights. This girl, no woman, exuded an aura of a Two-Star Gold-Rank; with a slight smirk, Nie Tai ruminated, "It seems I'll be outdoing you in every aspect today."

"Hush. Now make me some money," ordered Nie Li in a cheeky tone. Chuckling at her brother's response, Nie Tai closed the rumination channel and quickly regained her focus as she walked out into the arena. If she was paying attention to the crowd, she would have noticed their cheers, their shouts, their excitement; but she registered none of it as she studied the woman in front of her.

"The match between the Sacred Family's Shen Ai and the Heavenly Marks Family's Nie Tai will now commence! Begin!" Announced the referee. Quickly, the two merged with their personal demon-spirits: a Magma River Bird and a Portent Pearled Peahen.

Shen Ai flew into the air swiftly after she downed two Demon-Spirit Strengthening Pills; she speedily summoned scores of small meteors to rain down upon Nie Tai. Without taking her eyes off of Shen Ai, Nie Tai created a few spikes and sent them towards the meteors that might've hit her. With a crash, the spikes destroyed the meteors and continued soaring towards Shen Ai; although they were at a much slower speed, Shen Ai barely dodged the sharp objects. The woman was not expecting the spikes to pass through the meteors so easily. One flew dangerously close to her face, cutting through a strand of hair.

Shen Ai widened her eyes in amazement as Nie Tai took this chance to get close. Nie Tai joined Shen Ai in the air and sent several spikes hurtling at her. Cursing, Shen Ai did a manageable job at dodging but was still scratched several times as the four waves of four spikes overwhelmed her. There were small streams of blood running down her face, arms, and legs.

A white feather attracted Shen Ai's attention; it was falling slowly to the ground. Shaking her head, Shen Ai turned back to Nie Tai's previous location only to find that she was no longer there! With shock and slight fear coursing through her, Shen Ai looked around frantically to find the younger girl.

While Shen Ai was in her trance, Nie Tai flew behind her and made a large bat; ruthlessly, she struck the helpless woman down towards the ground. The bat crashed against Shen Ai's back with a loud thud; grunting in pain, the woman snapped out of her trance and winced as she tried to stay in the air. Growling, Shen Ai called out, "Lava River!"

A gush of pure lava spewed out of Shen Ai's mouth, causing Nie Tai to move erratically to avoid the large attack. The hot substance gave off waves of heat as it cascaded down in heavy, boiling sheets. When beginning this attack, Shen Ai was unable to move while it was being executed as it took all of her concentration as a last-ditch attempt at winning; Nie Tai took this chance to land a harsh kick on the back of Shen Ai's head, knocking out the woman and canceling the attack. Nie Tai watched with impassive eyes as the woman crashed heavily onto the ground. Luckily for her, she landed on one of the few spots untouched by the lava. Floating down, Nie Tai landed softly on her feet.

The waves of heat from the melted rock gave Nie Tai a mystical appearance as her feathers moved softly from her soul force that was no longer hidden. She looked regal as the referee called out, "The winner of this round is Nie Tai!"

Releasing her merging, Nie Tai walked to the stairs as the silent took in her immaculate appearance and victory. She quickly climbed the stairs and joined her stunned family. With a grin, Nie Li congratulated her, "Good job, Sister! That was at quite a fast past. It's lucky that you faced her and I didn't."

Nodding, Nie Tai looked around and asked, "Where is Shen Ming?"

The elder was nowhere in sight. Sighing, Nie Li replied, "He sent a messenger over here to give us the money. I checked, it is two hundred million demon-spirit coins. I guess that he couldn't bare to face us."