Chapter 488: Mosquito Taoist

Given Ice Recluse's cultivation level, he wouldn't have been instantly killed in a direct fight, even if he couldn't win. If he had activated his ice shield, the Taoist nun would have needed considerable effort to break through it.

Unfortunately, most of his attention was focused on eavesdropping on the conversation between the two people in the room below. Furthermore, he was overly confident, believing that nothing happening around him could escape his notice.

Little did he know, an enemy with unfathomable cultivation had silently approached him and attacked directly, giving him no chance to resist.

In the animal kingdom, even two equally matched predators can often result in an instant kill if one is completely unprepared and the other seizes the opportunity to ambush. How much more so when his cultivation was already inferior to the Taoist nun's?

In the room below, Qiu Honglei looked up curiously. "Ice Recluse, is something wrong?"

Although Ice Recluse hadn't put up any effective resistance throughout the entire process, there was inevitably some noise on the rooftop. Qiu Honglei was also a master, and this slight sound did not escape her notice.

Of course, she didn't think much of it, simply asking out of habit. After all, no one would expect one of the formidable Eight Recluses of the Demonic Sect to be instantly killed.

Receiving no response, Qiu Honglei walked to the window, feeling puzzled, and called out again, "Ice Recluse?"

Just then, the window shattered violently, and an apricot-yellow figure suddenly rushed in, a pair of fair hands striking towards her chest.

In the rush, Qiu Honglei had no time to think. She hastily raised her palms across her chest to meet the attack. As their hands met, she felt as if struck by lightning, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, and her aura weakened significantly.

The newcomer was, naturally, the Taoist nun. She let out a sound of surprise. "The Demonic Sect Saintess certainly has some skill."

Although her tone was full of praise, her hands did not stop. She continued to attack the opponent's vital points.

It was already a miracle that the opponent, caught off guard, could block her first move. This time, there was no escaping.

Seeing those fair yet murderous hands, a flicker of despair crossed Qiu Honglei's face. The previous blow had thrown her internal vital energy into disarray. With her cultivation, she normally would have recovered her combat strength after about three breaths of internal adjustment, but her opponent wouldn't give her that chance.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, and a warm arm wrapped around her. "Run!"

In that critical moment, it was naturally Zu An who used his Great Wind skill, snatching her back just as her life hung by a thread.

The Taoist nun's palm strike missed its target, hitting the pillar directly behind where Qiu Honglei had just been.

It didn't produce any earth-shattering sound; on the contrary, there was no sound at all, a stark mismatch with the furious force of the strike, creating a sense of extreme paradoxical distortion.

However, when she retracted her hand, the pillar, thick enough for one person to embrace, instantly collapsed. It didn't break into pieces but rather turned into fine powder, scattering completely.

Zu An and Qiu Honglei looked on, their faces pale. If that palm strike had connected, they would likely have been reduced to a pool of blood and gore.

Only then did the two have a chance to examine their opponent. They saw a Taoist nun in an apricot-yellow robe, holding a horsetail whisk. Her features were actually quite ordinary, but her entire being exuded a seductive charm.

Seeing her attire, Zu An was startled. "Li Mochou?"

Her appearance was remarkably similar to Li Mochou's attire from "The Return of the Condor Heroes," though her face was considerably less attractive than Li Mochou's.

"Oh?" The Taoist nun did not continue her attack. Instead, she looked at Zu An curiously. "What was that move you just used, young man? Why were you so fast?"

Zu An snorted. "Why should I tell you? Why don't you tell me the name of your palm technique first?"

The Taoist nun sneered, "You brat, you're asking for death!"

The moment she finished speaking, she launched a palm strike towards the two of them. Its speed was so astonishing that the palm force reached them almost as soon as she moved.

Zu An was horrified and hastily used "Sunflower Mirage," creating three phantom figures that ran in different directions.

The Taoist nun hit an afterimage, and the surprise in her eyes intensified. "This movement technique..."

Zu An dared not be careless. He quickly picked up Qiu Honglei and tried to rush out the door.

The Taoist nun wouldn't let him succeed. With a flick of her horsetail whisk, the several-foot-long strands instantly expanded to dozens of feet, directly blocking the doorway.

Zu An was startled and quickly changed direction.

Unfortunately, the white strands seemed to be alive, each one like a long snake, continuously coiling around the two of them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zu An saw these strands lightly brush past a nearby wooden bench. The sturdy bench was cut in half instantly, as if sliced by a laser, with an incredibly smooth cut. How could he dare let these strands entangle them?

He pushed "Sunflower Mirage" to its limit, constantly dodging the flying strands, but these white strands seemed endless, continuously extending and growing. Soon, they filled the entire room, like a network of spider webs, making the space available for him to maneuver and dodge increasingly small.

A cruel, cat-and-mouse smile appeared on the Taoist nun's face. "You brat, you truly surprise me. Despite your extremely low cultivation, your movement technique is so marvelous that many grandmasters can't compare. I'm becoming more and more interested in you."

"If you're so interested, why are you so ruthless?" Sweat beaded on Zu An's temples. Looking at the dense, intricate strands around him, he knew he would likely be caught within half a minute.

The Taoist nun smiled faintly and said, "It's precisely because I'm interested that I want to capture you and play with you slowly. I particularly like young, robust men like you."

A shiver ran down Zu An's spine, and he couldn't help but retort, "Too bad I'm not interested in old women like you."

"What did you say?!" The Taoist nun roared in fury, letting out a startled cry, and the strands on her horsetail whisk expanded even more wildly.

Rage points from Mosquito Taoist +678!

"Mosquito Taoist?" Seeing the rage points in his system, Zu An was startled. He had initially thought she was a spider demoness.

Unfortunately, the cost of enraging her was high. The wildly expanding whisk strands left him no space to dodge, and he could only watch as the strands coiled around him from all directions.

Just then, Qiu Honglei, still in his arms, suddenly pulled out a lantern. A soft yellow light spread out, and the rapidly incoming strands froze in place as if under a stasis spell.

Although Zu An had been dodging for a while, his extreme speed meant that very little time had passed. Qiu Honglei had just managed to calm her chaotic vital energy and was finally able to act.

"Oh? Changxin Palace Lantern!" Mosquito Taoist stared intently at the lantern in her hand, her eyes flashing with greedy light.

Qiu Honglei was covered in sweat. "Quick, run! I can't hold her back for too long!"

Zu An, holding her, looked around, secretly lamenting. "I want to leave too, but now the entire room is like a Spiderweb Cave because of her whisk. I can't get out even if I want to."

Mosquito Taoist chuckled. "Your cultivation is too low; you can't fully unleash the power of that lamp. I'll recover very soon, and then that lamp will be mine."

She hadn't expected such good luck today. First, she had absorbed a naive young man in the wild; though a bit foolish, his cultivation was not low, and his youth made him taste excellent. Then, the older one on the rooftop, whose taste was a bit inferior due to his age, but his cultivation was higher.

She had originally planned to kill the Demonic Sect Saintess as an easy bonus and then abduct Zu An to slowly interrogate him about the "Phoenix Nirvana Scripture." However, she never expected to discover the existence of the Changxin Palace Lantern. Although it wasn't as powerful as the one she remembered, she believed that was merely because the current user's low strength prevented her from fully utilizing it.

Thinking of all the excellent gains today, she couldn't help but want to laugh uproariously. For years, she had been forced to hide due to her notorious reputation, but once she cultivated the "Phoenix Nirvana Scripture" and refined the Changxin Palace Lantern, who in the world could possibly contend with her?