Six-star Dou Zhe versus two-star Dou Shi!
Nalan Yanran, aware of the gap in their ranks, seized the initiative.
"Wind Spirit Fractal Sword!"
Her longsword trembled rapidly, unleashing two cyan sword qi toward Mu She.
"Gale Thrust!"
Mu She spun his spear, its tip spewing sharp gusts that clashed head-on with Nalan Yanran's sword qi.
Clang!
A sharp metallic clash echoed through the tavern. Both Nalan Yanran and Mu She staggered back a few steps.
"Sister Nalan is amazing!" Xiao Yu and Xiao Mei cheered from the sidelines.
"Her cultivation method and Dou Techniques are enough to bridge the rank difference," Yun Xian said, sipping his tea nonchalantly. This low-level scuffle doesn't warrant my intervention.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Nalan Yanran and Mu She traded blows, locked in a fierce stalemate.
"Again! Keep going!"
When her Dou Qi waned, Nalan Yanran pulled a recovery pill from her storage ring, swiftly restoring her strength.
Mu She's cheek twitched, inwardly cursing Yun Lan Sect's wealth. Mercenaries like us can't afford such pills!
As the fight dragged into a war of attrition, Mu She sensed trouble and shouted to the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, "Li'er, take the others and seize them!"
"Yes, Father!"
Mu Li's heart leapt. He'd been itching to get at Yun Xian. Why should that guy have three stunning girls? Take him down, and they're mine!
"Bad news! Little Uncle-Master, they're coming for us!" Xiao Yu and Xiao Mei panicked.
"Ignore them. Just watch the show," Yun Xian said, releasing a sliver of soul force that froze Mu Li and his men in place.
"Li'er…?"
Seeing his son and others petrified, Mu She's face twisted in fury. Unsure of the cause but suspecting Yun Xian, he roared, "Damn you! What did you do to my son?"
"Silence! How dare you insult Little Uncle-Master? You deserve death!"
Nalan Yanran's brows furrowed. With a flick of her hand, five spiraling wind blades shot from her fingers, sharp cyan threads aimed at Mu She. "Thousand Wind Blades!"
Splurch!
Caught off guard, Mu She was struck in the back by the blades, spitting blood.
The onlookers gaped in disbelief. The leader of Qing Shan Town's local tyrants, Mu She, defeated by a teenage girl?
"Don't let your guard down, Yanran," Yun Xian warned suddenly, snapping Nalan Yanran out of her brief complacency.
"Go to hell!"
Mu She, sprawled on the ground, spun around, firing a barrage of poisoned needles from a hidden mechanism in his sleeve.
Nalan Yanran's pupils shrank. Without Little Uncle-Master's warning, I'd have been hit!
"Wind Surge!"
Forming a hand seal with one hand, she conjured a wind wall with the other, deflecting the needles back at Mu She.
"Damn it!"
Panic flashed in Mu She's eyes. Those needles, steeped in the venom of a fourth-tier Black Scorpion Bee, could kill even a Da Dou Shi caught unarmored and unaware.
Instinctively, he grabbed Xiao Yi Xian, using her as a human shield.
"Ah?!"
Xiao Yi Xian took several needles to the chest, her lips turning purple-black instantly.
"You… despicable!"
Nalan Yanran shot Xiao Yi Xian an apologetic look.
"Oh? This is quite an unexpected twist…"
Yun Xian set down his teacup, a glint in his eyes.
"Hmph! In life-or-death moments, nothing's off-limits!"
Mu She coldly discarded the poisoned Xiao Yi Xian.
"For your greed, you'd kill an innocent? Doesn't your conscience ache?" Nalan Yanran condemned him.
"Conscience? The cheapest thing in the Dou Qi Continent!"
"And don't act tough. A mere Dou Zhe like you, using High Xuan-Class techniques repeatedly—your Dou Qi's long gone, isn't it?"
Mu She saw through Nalan Yanran's weakness.
"That's enough, Yanran. Come back," Yun Xian called.
"Little Uncle-Master, are you stepping in?" Nalan Yanran hesitated.
"What a joke! A Yun Lan Sect elder, just a two-star Dou Zhe?"
Mu She sneered, dismissing Yun Xian.
"No need," Yun Xian said. "The next part might be gruesome. Brace yourselves."
"Little Uncle-Master, what…?"
Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yu, and Xiao Mei were puzzled.
"Bluffing! Let's see how terrifying you are!"
Mu She scoffed, unconvinced a two-star Dou Zhe could do anything.
Hiss~
A colorless, odorless gray mist appeared.
"What…?!"
Mu She's horror grew as his hands' flesh began to rot and peel away. Within seconds, his head spun, and he collapsed, dead from poison.
"Ah?!"
"What is that…?!"
The remaining mercenaries, touched by the mist, saw their flesh and bones dissolve into pools of blood.
In moments, the tavern reeked of nauseating carnage.
"!!!"
Nalan Yanran and the Xiao sisters were stunned, finally grasping what Yun Xian meant by "gruesome."
Xiao Yi Xian, previously collapsed from poison, rose slowly. A strange gray Dou Qi emanated from her, its corrosive power dissolving everything—living or inanimate—in its path.
"You call her… Xiao Yi Xian?!"
Nalan Yanran's jaw dropped. No one could've imagined Qing Shan Town's beloved healer was so terrifying.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
The uncontrolled gray Dou Qi eroded her clothes and shoes, leaving her flawless form exposed.
"It's indeed the Calamity Poison Body," Yun Xian noted, his gaze on a faint, seven-colored line on her abdomen. A rare innate poison physique of the Dou Qi Continent, it could rapidly boost Dou Qi by consuming toxins.
Mu She's use of Xiao Yi Xian as a shield had inadvertently triggered her Calamity Poison Body with the deadly needles. His own death by her toxic mist was poetic justice—his own doing.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Xiao Yi Xian's bare feet left corrosive prints on the floor. Her ashen eyes, devoid of focus, followed instinct, seeking to extinguish all life before her.
"Little Uncle-Master, you're still looking?"
Nalan Yanran, frantic and exasperated, shouted, "Run!"
Yet Yun Xian advanced toward Xiao Yi Xian.
Whoosh!
Sensing a living presence, her gray Dou Qi surged, forming a ghastly skull in the air, poised to engulf Yun Xian.
Unfazed, Yun Xian removed his moon-white robe and draped it over her. "Careful, you'll catch a cold."
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