Chapter 174

On a breezy mountain a thousand li away from the White Deer Highlands.

Within the mist extending into the distance where clouds rolled around the mountain peak, two girls stood facing the wind. A girl with cascading blue hair wore a court dress and skirt that exposed her shoulders. Her snow-white bodice was also revealed, the twin peaks underneath tall and straight. A long skirt extending from her back trailed along the ground. Her refined large sleeves, the graceful muslin cape, and the delicate jade hairpin, her natural queen-like air fully came into play without restraint. The woman's hand gripped the Golden Thread Feather Fan, and her other hand held a mirror. Her seemingly smiling yet not smiling lips and her mocking brow were just like a queen's.

She was the Noble Star Little Whirlwind Chai Jin.

And by Chai Jin's side was a girl whose face was picturesque. Her pupils cut water, and she wore a silver crystal cap. Her black hair was satiny, and though what she wore was odd, her soldierly palace dress was stunning. It was not a beautiful purple snow, but the elegant black and white lines that accentuated her slender figure, especially at this time when the woman had stuck out her chest and sucked in her belly. The stance of her two hands pulling a large bow made an even greater contrast between the woman's physique and her budding grace.

The wind lightly rose. Her red lips pursed against her fine, black hair. Her expression was arrogant and dignified, yet it would not make others disgusted. It was as if she took this for granted, particularly now, when she opened the bow to shoot an arrow, standing like a divine soldier.

If the first impression was absolute beauty, then the second would be an absolute extraordinary martial air.

Light tore through the sea of clouds, gradually ripping them apart.

"Incredible, incredible. Wanyue,¹ your Ten Thousand Li God Killing Arrow is indeed frightening." Chai Jin feigned a smile. "To be able to finish advancing your Destined Weapon to Three Star in Phase Two, and to be able to comprehend your Dark Rank Style, perhaps among the one hundred and eight sisters, it is possible only the Harm Star Wu Song who has obtained her Star Beast can compete against you in the current phase."

The girl known as Wanyue stowed her bow. Her brow had a trace of pride, but Chai Jin did not take offense.

"I truly do not understand. Chai Jin, why do you want to help that man…" Wanyue's tone was calm as water.

"This Palace and he somewhat have a relationship. Right now, he must not die." Chai Ling's feather fan hid her face, her tone thoughtful.

The woman did not have the desire to be interested. She dully said: "Since this is so, you and I are no longer in debt to one another."

"We are sisters, there is no need to be this callous." Chai Jin chuckled. She suddenly closed the fan and inquisitively asked: "This Palace actually is slightly perplexed. In the past Star Duels, according to your identity, Wanyue, you should already have signed a contract. This Birth Outline has ended, but you surprisingly are still all alone in the world. Why?"

"Nowadays, Star Masters are all wine sacks and food bags.² That Xie Zhenyuan also is merely so." Wanyue unenthusiastically smiled: "Since the previous generation's Wu Song could become overlord, then how would it be impossible for me."

Chai Ling had an expression of, As expected, it was this: "Ever since Wu Song became the first to win the Star Duels without signing a contract, this generation seemed to have many sisters pursue the Pilgrim's path…However, how could this Pilgrim Wu Song's path be that easy to walk…"

"How would we know if we do not walk it." Wanyue's eyes were harsh, her intentions clear.

"Truly fascinating, the Majestic Star that has never signed a contract in a thousand years has quite uncharacteristically signed a contract and many of the sisters actually are not willing to contract. Truly fascinating…" Chai Ling had even said fascinating twice, but her expression seemed to not be that relaxed: "But This Palace fears that Liangshan Maiden will not let this go unchecked."

"The Liangshan Maiden!" Wanyue coldly grunted. Her expression revealed a chill. "If she comes, then she comes. I will take her as a means to increase my experience."

Chai Ling seemed to be somewhat apprehensive: "Wanyue, if you wish to continue, without a contractor's protection, you certainly…"

"No need for your concern, Chai Ling. I have a plan." Wanyue interrupted her.

Chai Ling smiled and nodded.

"Chai Ling, do you know where Song Jiang is?" Wanyue turned around to ask.

"This Palace would never sell this information." Chai Ling smiled but did not reply.

"She has sought you out?" Wanyue's brows rose.

"Give This Palace a hundred billion, then This Palace will answer this question of yours."

"Hmph."

"Wanyue, if you truly wish to find her, the Vermilion Bird Territory before the Third Phase is a great opportunity."

Wanyue's figure dissolved into the mist, and Chai Ling looked at the mirror. In the mirror, a silhouette faintly emerged, and a warm current flowed into her. Chai Ling then knew the Red Ink Iron Certificate had returned to her. She smiled, yet did not: "Indeed a brazen man. He unexpectedly dared to challenge a Supercluster Cultivator. He possesses five sisters, so you must know what the consequences are…" Speaking to very last words, Queen Chai Ling's words had a slightly regretful sigh.

—

The White Deer Highlands

The arrow that swept over from ten thousand li not only ripped the Extreme Clarity Elder Immortal to shreds, it also ripped everyone's thoughts to pieces.

Although he knew the Miraculous Bodhi Tree had been seized, this Extreme Clarity Elder Immortal was already an inevitable disaster. However, how could they have expected the way he would die to be so odd and unimaginable.

The Ten Thousand Li God Killing Arrow…if it was a Star General that fired it, this was too terrifying.

With the great enemy extinguished, Su Xing had yet to feel relaxed. Suddenly, a chill flowed past his body, and an afterimage pounced at him.

Su Xing lifted the Intertwined Branch Sword in his hand to block.

A clang resounded.

A cold light crossed and flashed.

An ice-cold demon-like killing shadow appeared to the side, wanting to sneak attack Su Xing. Her skill at concealment made Su Xing enormously shocked. If it was not for Shi Yuan's concealment that he inherited and his cultivation of the Absolute Sincerity Soul Technique, in a war to destroy the enemy, the moment he relaxed truly would mean for a successful sneak attack by the opponent.

A red airflow spun in midair, and the surroundings unexpectedly rolled with the force of a whirlwind. It collected above her double-edged sword, and a black light glinted, illuminating the opponent's face as if it was a ghost. Although she wore a black assassin's veil, those chilly, bright eyes and the black combat attire over her graceful curves made clear her identity was a woman.

A Star General?

This was Su Xing's first thought.

The light of thunder and fire could be vaguely seen on that double-edged sword. The next moment, the opponent was already once again charging towards Su Xing at high speed. Its speed was very quick, pulling the entire person into nearly a straight line. Behind her was the series of afterimages of the Ten Thousand Techniques realm, and even the surrounding tornado seemed to be propelling her, releasing an intense whistle.

It was just in the middle of this breath!

She had already disappeared!

The girl streaked across the short distance between the two as if she could traverse a room in a single step. The double-edged sword's chilly light illustrated even more clearly the might of this attack. If they received this sort of attack, forget just an inch of flesh, there was a distinct possibility it could bring a fatal wound!

The girl's internal assessment was that it was sufficient to kill this already drained man.

However, she was actually greatly underestimating Su Xing.

If it was close quarters, the Su Xing without Star Energy was still frightening. He did not pull back. Instead, he made a powerful step forward, his pace very stead. He hardly feared the might of the assassin before him, and in an instant, the two were already touching.

Su Xing's movements simply could not compare in speed. Against this sort of high speed close range combat, Su Xing knew that the one that was pushed back would only fall into an inescapable grave. He only needed to shrink back a tiny bit, and then the woman would unfold her fangs like a fierce viper. That double-edged blade could pierce through his stomach mid-breath.

In actuality, this was indeed correct, as Su Xing thought. The woman had already judged her opponent would be forced to move back and prepared to unleash her attack.

But this exceedingly unexpected step forward rather than step back caught the woman somewhat offguard.

Audacious.

This Star Master was too audacious.

Su Xing's slash was avoided by her sidestep, but his other fist landed a direct hit on her chest. It was a pity he had practically no strength left. This punch was far from being able to bring about much of a wound and could only force the woman back a few paces.

A slight howl parted the woman's lips. Her purple eyes boiled, and her figure flashed. She was unbelievably fast. The double-edged sword was like the mutually intertwined fangs of a dog, and the attack solidly struck him. Two cold edges cut open Su Xing's chest. Su Xing's heart shivered, and he suddenly backflipped, his right foot poking at her. The girl slightly retreated, and his foot was away from the girl's chin by only an inch.

The woman's purple eyes flashed a fleeting seriousness. Her assassination had unexpectedly been foiled.

The wind's howling grew stronger.

The cold breath forcefully squeezed over. An icy blue cold flame suddenly jumped in front of Su Xing, and the girl disappeared before his eyes. From the side, something again approached like a demon. This entire time had been faster than the blink of an eye and completely soundless. Su Xing saw two scimitars of jumping blue flames cross slash towards his head.

Although it caught him off guard, Su Xing still quickly stooped to dodge this close-range attack. Furthermore, he flipped backwards several times, breaking away from the enemy.

The enemy that was like a shadow quickly flashed.

Su Xing raised the Intertwined Branch Sword, and a dark green light flickered. Blue and green each clashed, yet Su Xing could not take hold of any advantage. The opponent had two double-edged swords, and he had only a seven-inch short sword.

The short sword cut open the opponent's offensive, but the other scimitar closely followed. Su Xing did not not dodge, and instead stepped forward. The weapon directly stabbed through a faint outline, and that seemed to be a skull.³

The scimitar cut onto his body, and the icy blue light on its edge shuddered, seemingly sighing with satisfaction from tasting Su Xing's blood and bone. The woman withdrew a step, which so happened to let Su Xing's short sword brush past her eye by only a few inches.

Although the dark green light was not too bright, it illuminated those violet eyes. They were more transparent than those purple crystals, beautiful with praise upon praise, but Su Xing did not plan on staying his hand.

The tip cruelly stabbed towards those violet pupils, and the woman's other blade blocked it. "Hmph," like a contemptible snort. The opponent rapidly shifted forward, very much agile. The double-edged sword was like a tempest that weaved a sword network. Only then did Su Xing feel what was called "swift and fierce," what was called "quick and violent," and what was called "powerless."

Su Xing silently shouted his misfortune. This woman that popped up from who knows where was so strange and demanding. That saber edge was crafty as a viper, provoking vital areas.

Their hand-to-hand combat seemed endless, but to the others, this was something that happened in a number of breaths. It could be clearly seen how swift the woman's attacks were. If it was not for Su Xing's willpower being sufficiently valiant, and for his own robust military training, he otherwise truly would have found it difficult to predict her rhythm.

But this Star General honestly was fierce as a deluge instantly about to swallow Su Xing.

"Courting death!" Wu Siyou coldly shouted. The Noble Frost Demonic Lotus slashed like a sudden snowfall, separating the two.

The woman knew that her assassination had failed. She fearfully glanced at Su Xing, then suddenly released a clump of dense, black fog.

Everyone's Divine Intents went wild, tightly locking down the surroundings. They feared she would sneak attack, and even Xiao'er and Wu Siyou were completely on alert, not daring to be careless.

A cool breeze blew everywhere.

The Dragon in the Clouds activated a Star Magic that cleared the area.

"This is bad, that thief stole the Old Monster's Astral Bag!" Xiao'er flew into a rage. They had wasted so much sweat and blood to settle this boss, and the final spoils of war had unexpectedly been snatched away. Xiao'er practically had the mind to blow her lid.

Everyone looked, and indeed, the Extreme Clarity Elder Immortal's Astral Bag had conveniently disappeared in the chaos.

1. 婉約 ↩
2. An idiom for uselessness. ↩
3. Lol, stabbed through the head like Jotaro? I’m not sure what this means, but I think she only landed a grazing blow to his head. ↩