Zu'an spat out the clotted blood from his mouth and slowly rose from the ground. Although his movements were a bit shaky, a determined strength emanated from him.
"You... how can you still stand?" Mosquito Daoist was inexplicably horrified. She clearly knew the power of her last strike; her opponent should have been incapacitated.
Zu'an wiped the blood from his mouth and chuckled, "How could a man not stand up?"
Qiu Honglei's face flushed slightly. *At a time like this, he's still making such jokes,* she thought.
However, thinking of his previous words, "my woman," her heart inexplicably quickened. *When did I become your woman?* she scoffed inwardly. Yet, she wasn't angry at all; on the contrary, an involuntary smile appeared on her face.
Mosquito Daoist snorted, "Let's see how many more times you can stand up!" With that, she charged at Zu'an.
Her primary objective remained the *Phoenix Nirvana Sutra*. Seeing Zu'an back on his feet, she feared he might escape amidst the commotion. After all, many couples who claimed their love was stronger than gold would initially vow to live and die together, but when truly confronted with the threat of death, they often wavered. She dared not gamble and would only feel secure after completely subduing him.
Seeing her charge, Zu'an activated his "Sunflower Mirage" movement technique and began to evade her attacks. He pondered whether there was an opportunity to use the Certain Death Dagger to inflict a wound on her. Being heavily injured had triggered the berserk effect of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra, so there might just be a chance. He dared not take out the dagger immediately, fearing she might notice something unusual and become wary, so he patiently sought an opening.
Mosquito Daoist frowned. She felt as though his speed was significantly greater than before, but she merely attributed it to the lingering effects of Qiu Honglei's lamp light and didn't give it much thought.
When she became serious, the pressure on Zu'an intensified. Although his own strength and speed had increased considerably, the disparity between them remained vast. In this exchange, he found no opportunity to wound her and even struggled to defend himself.
He couldn't help but shout to Qiu Honglei, who was standing by, "Silly woman, why are you spacing out? Use your lamp quickly!"
"Oh, oh, oh~" Qiu Honglei's face flushed, and she seemed to awaken from a dream, hastily raising the lantern and aiming its light.
Zu'an was speechless. "Don't shine it on me!" he exclaimed.
Enveloped by the yellow light, he finally understood how others felt; his limbs instantly seemed to grow much heavier.
Qiu Honglei's small face grew hot. "I didn't mean to," she mumbled.
As she spoke, she manipulated the lantern to direct its light solely onto Mosquito Daoist. In truth, Zu'an's request was incredibly challenging for her, as her lantern's light was inherently indiscriminate. It was hardly easy to exclude Zu'an from its effects. However, being clever, she quickly devised a solution: she used her hands and clothes to block the light around the lantern, leaving only one side exposed. This reduced the overall light output but made it much easier to control.
Mosquito Daoist's face was grim. Although her movements were swift, the light intermittently landed on her, inevitably causing her actions to falter. Several times during the skirmish, she even came close to being injured by Zu'an!
Fury surged within her. These two's cultivation was far inferior to hers, yet each possessed unique skills that effectively tied her hands, preventing her from achieving a crushing victory. Several times she attempted to turn back and deal with Qiu Honglei first, but Zu'an relentlessly clung to her. He even resorted to a tactic of trading injuries, which gave her a severe headache.
Initially, she figured that given his cultivation, a cut or two wouldn't be a significant issue. Yet, for some reason, an inexplicable sense of danger constantly warned her that she absolutely could not be wounded by him. Despite her high cultivation, she was infamous across the land and had many enemies. Years of being hunted had honed her into an individual with extreme sensitivity to danger. Although she didn't understand the source of this profound sense of danger, she never doubted her intuition, for this sixth sense had saved her from death on numerous occasions over the years.
"He was so heavily wounded just now, yet he could still stand up. His body must be exceptionally unique. Trading blows with him would be truly unwise." After much deliberation, this was the only explanation she could find. She also considered how his speed and strength had suddenly surged after being injured, most likely connected to the *Phoenix Nirvana Sutra*. *As expected of a legendary cultivation technique!*
At this thought, her heart burned with greater fervor. She decided it was better to subdue Zu'an first; compared to the *Phoenix Nirvana Sutra*, the "Changxin Palace Lamp" was now less important.
As she unleashed her full power, Zu'an still struggled to parry, despite her movements being slowed by the mysterious light. Soon, he was struck repeatedly by her whisk. Her whisk appeared soft, yet each strike felt like a steel saw, raking deep gashes into his flesh. Had his physique not been exceptional, he would have been minced long ago.
"Brat, your initial fifth-rank cultivation allows you to withstand so many of my moves—that alone is enough to astound the world, but... the game is over now!" As Mosquito Daoist finished speaking, she suddenly bent down, thrust her hand into the ground, and directly pulled up a massive block of earth, several *zhang* in length and width, making it stand upright.
The massive earth block stood erect, precisely blocking the light from Qiu Honglei's lantern. Qiu Honglei was initially stunned. *The opponent isn't an earth element user, so how can she manipulate the ground like this?* she wondered. However, recalling the recent events, she finally understood: Mosquito Daoist had been constantly shifting and dodging on that very patch of ground. At the time, Qiu Honglei had assumed she was simply attacking Zu'an, but now it became clear that with each movement, Mosquito Daoist had skillfully applied subtle force with her feet, vibrating the earth until it became soft and loose. This level of skill was truly astonishing. She had to sever the earth block's connection to the ground without shattering its surface, allowing it to remain intact and stand upright to block the lantern's light.
Qiu Honglei had no time for admiration; her mind was entirely consumed by worry for Zu'an. "A'Zu!" she cried.
Without the restraint of the light, Mosquito Daoist's speed abruptly increased severalfold, and she directly seized Zu'an by the shoulder.
Zu'an's heart skipped a beat. He hastily retorted, "What are you looking at?!"
"So what if I am?!" Mosquito Daoist retorted, momentarily losing her focus.
Zu'an quickly summoned Big Wind and instantly teleported several dozen *zhang* away.
Mosquito Daoist was left speechless.
Anger Value from Mosquito Daoist +251!
However, amidst her anger, she also felt a degree of admiration. Despite Zu'an's ordinary cultivation, his combat awareness and skills were top-tier; even many long-renowned masters might not compare to him. This thought further ignited her murderous intent. If he was already this formidable at only the fifth rank, what would he become once he fully matured?
Her thoughts raced, but she didn't slow her attack. With a flick of her whisk, it instantly extended and shot out. Having witnessed his teleportation multiple times moments before, she was not entirely unprepared. Zu'an had barely completed his teleportation when he was astonished to find countless whisk strands already encircling him, as if she had long anticipated his escape in that very direction. In the blink of an eye, the whisk strands coiled around him, their tips, like countless straws, aimed at his face.
Evidently, Mosquito Daoist was somewhat wary of his endless tricks. She intended to first drain some of his blood to completely incapacitate him. In any case, she was confident she could control the process, incapacitating him without taking his life.
Watching the whisk strands approach, Zu'an's heart pounded as he recalled the unfortunate sight of Ice Rogue being drained dry. Being drained by Qiu Honglei earlier had been a profound pleasure; this woman, however, wouldn't get the chance!
Just as he was about to reveal his last trump card, a black flame suddenly shot in from an angle, landing precisely on the whisk strands. The black flames were incredibly strange, almost instantly traveling along the whisk and burning towards Mosquito Daoist.
"Ah!" Mosquito Daoist shrieked, hastily retracting the whisk strands and desperately slapping them to extinguish the fire. With her cultivation, she wouldn't be harmed by these strange flames, but her whisk certainly couldn't withstand them. Earlier, Zu'an had burned a small portion of it at the inn, and now these strange flames had burned another half. Her whisk was now sparse, with less than a quarter of its original volume remaining.
She angrily turned around. "Who is it!" she demanded. But she immediately froze, subconsciously swallowing. "So... big!" she blurted out, simultaneously glancing down at her own chest, where a feeling of inferiority suddenly arose.
"Pei Mianman!" Zu'an exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with joy as he recognized the full and captivating figure.
Pei Mianman, however, showed no joy on her face. She glanced at Qiu Honglei, who was rushing toward him with a worried expression, and sneered, "We've been worrying about you this whole time, and here you are, enjoying yourself with women."
[1 minute ago] Chapter 521: The Girl's Request
[2 minutes ago] Chapter 413: Lu Family
[5 minutes ago] Chapter 520: Ghostly Maiden
[16 minutes ago] Chapter 518: Ancient Manchild
[21 minutes ago] Chapter 517: Underground Passage
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