The voice froze the brothers in their tracks and the looks in the eyes of all this present was a mixture of fear and immense respect.

Melinda however just smiled and her stride never faltered as she swung her sword at Cirk's neck.

*Clang*

The strike was intercepted by Cirk's blade while and they were soon locked in a deadlock of swords. One that Melinda broke by pushing him backward.

Cirk stumbled and only just managed to get his sword up in time to stop Melinda from slashing his chest.

And with that successful defense, Cirk let out his pressure...

*Boom*

...to show that he was at the late stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.

"I was punished you know?" He said suddenly.

Melinda sneered,

"You must be a nincompoop and deaf to boot. I don't give a crap if someone beats you up. This is MY fight and my 'Father' won't fight it for me"

Despite her anger and crass words, Melinda's tone was actually quite level.

Cirk frowned,

"That's not what I mean. I'm referring to my punishment from the Patriarch." He said with venom coating his words when referring to his father.

Melinda did not make a move which was her way of saying he could speak.

"I lost the potential to become Patriarch. I am no longer being groomed to lead my family. My younger brother now strives to exceed me in cultivation as well as talent.

I have been made destitute of resources and prestige and all because of my one mistake." He spat.

Hal frowned.

It would seem Melinda was not quite accurate when she said her cousin remained a genius after she was banished.

He looked at a smile slowly creeping up on Cirk's face as he must have believed Melinda was now sympathizing with him or at the very least realizing he was punished enough.

But how could Hal not know his woman...

*Swoosh*

...she was incredibly vindictive and 'enough' was not in her vocabulary when referring to Cirk Dane.

There was a flash of silver and even though, with his superior senses, Cirk tried to evade, Melinda still cut at his waist.

"Arrggh" he groaned and turned to her now that she was behind him. His eyes were wide but Melinda was grinning.

"Who cares?" She asked.

"What?" Cirk looked confused.

Melinda walked closer to him,

"I said who cares? You lost prestige and you lost resources. You also lost your claim to the seat of Patriarch but you are still alive.

And you still have a cultivation base and a strong one too.

So I ask again, who Cares?"

"Hahahaha" Cirk burst into sudden laughter and when he stopped laughing, his hands were no longer on his wound.

He had swallowed another mending pill.

"I only told you of my ordeals in hope that you will come to your senses but if you really want to continue, then I will entertain you." He said and gripped his sword tighter while Melinda let out the pressure of her early-stage Cosmic Phenomenon realm cultivation.

Cirk's grin grew even wider but four sword exchanges later and his grin had become a grimace.

Here was Melinda fighting him at the same pace despite being two stage lower.

'This is impossible' was what he wished to say but here it was happening right in front of him.

The only thing he surpassed her in was his pressure and it was far from strong enough to incapacitate her.

Melinda on the other hand was not quite as peachy as she seemed and although she looked calm and collected, it was taking all she had to hold on.

And it was a detail that Hal, Marla, and Rita did not miss.

They could easily see that Melinda was not her usual overpowering self.

Cirk was clearly deserving of being a once-upon-a-time genius.

And then Cirk let his frustration fuel him and...

*Boom*

...his sword was quickly coated with the light gold flames of his bloodline that flared at Melinda who leaped back with a flip to escape combustion.

Cirk smiled proudly with his flaming sword in his hand but that was exactly what Melinda had been waiting for.

Melinda waved her sword and a crescent wave of flames formed in front of her and stayed there for a while before shooting at Cirk with the speed of a bullet.

With his eyes wide, Cirk divided the attack but the force still be pushed him back.

Melinda did not stop and more of those bullet-fast attacks shot towards Cirk while she cackled,

"You really want to contend with me in the use of Bloodline flames. Now I am sure you are retarded." She said.

Long before the incident, while Cirk was a martial genius, Melinda always surpassed him in the use of their Bloodline.

The thought caused Cirk to frown because he could not overpower her and now she was even so good in close combat attacks that she was well on her way to becoming a martial genius.

If she was not there already.

The only thing he could possibly win with was his cultivation and with that realization came the release of cosmic attacks infused with Cosmic Phenomenons.

*Boom*

The explosion hit the ground right in front of Melinda and the force of it to see her away to land on her back.

*Whump*

Cirk looked to take advantage of that fall by sending a cosmic attack ahead while he ran forward to seal the deal.

Whether it was to kill her or to simply incapacitate her was unclear.

But Melinda was definitely not going to wait for him as she rolled away and used the explosion resulting from the missed cosmic attack to put distance between herself and Cirk.

Soon she was back on her feet and her target mode of attack was close combat once again and take away Cirk's advantage of long-distance powerful Cosmic attacks.

It was the only way her cousin could take advantage of their disparity in cultivation.

Cirk was well aware of how dangerous close combat attack would be with Melinda so he began to aim towards putting distance between them.

Melinda knew what he was after but did not let frustration set in. This just meant she would need to be versatile.

*Boooommmm*

Their cosmic attacks met in a resounding explosion with Melinda's being overpowered and her getting tossed backward but not before she took advantage of the cloud of explosive dust to send her light gold flames at him.

They were close to Cirk before he sensed them and only barely managed to escape it but the explosion tossed him up where he was weightless for a few seconds.

He was falling back towards the ground when he noticed Melinda was there waiting for him with her sword by her side.

Cirk quickly tucked himself and spun in the air, managing to land a few meters away from Melinda.

Alas...

*Bam*

... It was not a distance she could not easily traverse and kick him on the face.

Cirk spat blood and hurried to get back to his feet but Melinda did not give him the chance as she was already battering at him with her fists.

"Arr... Arr... Arrrrggghhhh"

Cirk yelled as she landed a particularly sickening hit that cracked his ribs and yet Melinda did not stop.

Her Armament was sunk into the courtyard floor as she continued to batter at Cirk.

This felt more satisfying to her and her face was alight with rage as she took out all of her frustration on him.

"Melinda, stop this. You've won. You've made me pay, but don't go overboard..." Cirk said as she grabbed the front of his shirt with her fist raised.

"... If you kill me, don't you really think your father will be able to protect you? No matter how much my father detests me, do you think, he'll be happy you killed me?" He asked with a hint of defiance.

Melinda grinned and stretched her hand towards her Cosmic Armament without letting go of Cirk's clothes.

The golden veins on the sword flashed and it wrenched from the ground and flew right into Melinda's hand,

"I don't care" she said and brought the sword down towards Cirk's chest.

Then a hand grabbed her arm while another arm wound around her chest as though to hold her back while a voice spoke quietly in her ear,

"Not yet, Baby girl, Not yet"