The Blood Clan Progenitor had deployed only a single operative in Silver City.
Yet that single person was more powerful than the entire Hairy Hand Squad.
Having already locked onto his target using Super Smell, Yu Xian moved swiftly down the corridor of the tube-shaped apartment building. A door swung open just as he approached, and a woman dressed in an azure qipao stepped out. When their eyes met, she knew immediately that her disguise was blown.
With a soft sigh, a length of bamboo materialized in her hand out of thin air. "Little brother," she said, addressing Yu Xian, "you really shouldn't have come."
"Miss Wanwan, here's my advice to you: surrender peacefully," Yu Xian said flatly.
A flash of green light flickered in Wanwan's eyes, followed by an amused smile. "That depends on whether you can satisfy me... little... broth... er!"
In an instant, she swept her weapon forward. The bamboo leaves bristling from the langxian shot toward Yu Xian in a lethal storm.
Wielding the Manji Flash Thunder Saber, Yu Xian charged straight at Wanwan. Every incoming bamboo leaf was intercepted by the Reverse Scale Dragon Shield. Closing the distance, he slashed at her again and again, while Wanwan parried each blow with her bamboo langxian.
"If this is all the strength you have, it's not going to be enough!" Wanwan was clearly handling the exchange with ease. Seeing right through Yu Xian's clumsy blade technique, she chuckled.
A second later, the bamboo langxian in her hands seemed to come alive. Even as it parried, its leafy branches whipped out to strike Yu Xian from various angles, only to be deflected by the dragon scales of his shield.
Although Yu Xian lacked refined skill, the Dragon Shield compensated for his shortcomings. Furthermore, he was not without advantages—such as his immense physical strength.
Every slash he delivered carried terrifying force. While Wanwan appeared to parry effortlessly, she was actually relying entirely on technique, forced to step back with every block to disperse the tremendous impact of his strikes.
The two clashed from one side of the apartment walkway to the other until Wanwan ran out of room to retreat. Backing up against the safety railing, she pushed down with her left hand and nimbly vaulted onto the top of the rail.
As Yu Xian swung his blade toward her ankles, she hopped backward with a laugh, suspended in midair.
Ordinary tube-shaped apartment buildings were only five or six stories tall, but land in Silver City was worth its weight in gold. Developers had scrambled to build as high as possible, resulting in this particular building standing a full twenty stories tall.
Yu Xian and Wanwan were on the seventeenth floor. Watching Wanwan plunge rapidly toward the ground, Yu Xian immediately jumped onto the railing and unleashed a barrage of tiny bubbles at her.
He had assumed that while plummeting through open air, she would have nothing to push off from, making this attack a guaranteed hit.
Yet Wanwan seemed to anticipate it. Before the barrage of tiny bubbles could reach her, the bamboo in her hands suddenly elongated. She lashed it against the apartment building's railing like a whip, using the leverage to dodge the bubbles with ease.
Executing a backward somersault, she touched down lightly on the ground. She waved smugly up at Yu Xian, then turned to leave.
Among Transcendents, the ability to fly was not exceptionally rare, but it was far from universal. She did not believe Yu Xian could fly down to catch her.
Before she could take more than a few steps, however, a sense of grave danger gripped her heart. Obeying her instincts, she immediately dodged to the right as the Manji Flash Thunder Saber sliced through the empty air where she had stood.
"How did you get down here?!" Wanwan whipped her weapon around in a swift counterstrike as she demanded.
"Surrender right now and you'll find out soon enough," Yu Xian replied in earnest. He turned his blade sideways, slashing toward her waist.
Wanwan blocked the strike with her langxian and bounded backward. With a twist of the pole, a dense flurry of bamboo leaves spiraled outward toward Yu Xian.
"Your tricks don't work on me!" Without dodging, Yu Xian pressed forward and delivered a swift downward slash.
Forced to dodge again, Wanwan sensed something amiss. The moment she evaded his blade, she began to dance gracefully, spinning and darting through the area. The surrounding trees bore the brunt of the assault, riddled with holes punched through by countless spatial bubbles.
"What a filthy ability you have," Wanwan called out. She dodged desperately amidst the onslaught, but her qipao was still shredded with numerous small punctures, briefly exposing glimpses of fair skin beneath.
"Not as filthy as you," Yu Xian shot back, completely ignoring her provocation as he directed even more spatial bubbles into the attack formation.
This woman was essentially a jackal in human form. Not only had she slaughtered people without batting an eye, but she was also exceptionally skilled at using her looks to get what she wanted. She had only arrived in Silver City the previous night, yet she had already murdered dozens of people.
Upstairs in the apartment building lay the corpses of a family of three.
And the only reason she had killed them was that she needed a temporary spot to change her outfit.
The moment Yu Xian laid eyes on her, he had caught the stench of blood wafting off her—a pungent, sickening reek that no amount of perfume could ever mask.
Still, she was undeniably formidable. Hundreds of minuscule bubbles traveling at Mach 20 were attacking from multiple vectors, yet she had managed to evade them all at the cost of nothing more than a few tears in her dress.
Curious about her abilities, Yu Xian activated Appraisal on her while maintaining the bubble assault.
Instantly, her status panel appeared before his eyes:
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True Name: Nangong Wanwan
Codename: Bamboo Pit Viper
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Health: 300/300
Life: 10/10
Strength: 0.04
Luck: Average
Theoretical Lifespan: 2 minutes 12 seconds
Rank: Wolf-Upper
Universal Rank: Earth Rank
Faction: Chaotic Evil
Cultivation Method: *Green Bamboo Canon*
Abilities:
[Bamboo in the Heart: Can shape true qi into bamboo leaves to attack targets. The denser the true qi, the greater the lethality.]
[Flying Flower Plucking Leaf Hand: Once infused with true qi, every flower and leaf gains immense lethal power. The stronger the true qi, the greater the potency.]
[Jade Foot Treads the Moon: By channeling true qi into specific acupuncture points, the user can tread moonbeams and ascend the heavens. The body becomes weightless and graceful, capable of evading all tangible attacks.]
[Thirty-Six Styles of the Langxian: A total of thirty-six combat routines, each unpredictable and nearly impossible to defend against.]
[Martial Intent - Moon-Treading Flying Immortal: A light silk fan and white orchid blooms; a slender waist and jade sash dance across the heavenly veil. One wonders if an immortal maiden has descended to earth, her glancing smile outshining the radiance of the stars.]
[Martial Intent - Growth of All Things: The lush yellow flowers are none other than prajna; the verdant green bamboo is none other than the dharmakaya.]
[Summary: Ruthless and merciless as a bamboo pit viper; nothing is more venomous than a wicked woman's heart.]
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*Holy crap!*
Only after reading her attributes did Yu Xian realize that despite being backed into a corner, Wanwan was still holding trump cards in reserve.
She was clearly nowhere near her limit, and might even be biding her time to turn the tables on him. If he grew careless, he might genuinely get caught off guard.
Of course, he would merely be caught off guard—he wouldn't actually suffer any harm.
In reality, as more and more bubbles joined the attack, Wanwan could no longer afford to hold back. She tore away the restrictive fabric of her qipao, revealing a pair of long, shapely legs, and kicked her high heels straight toward Yu Xian.
Yu Xian dodged the projectile shoes. In the next instant, her movements turned ethereal and elusive. Her bare feet glowed with a faint white light as she stepped atop the radiance, spiraling skyward. She danced through the air like an immortal maiden, cleanly evading every single one of Yu Xian's bubble strikes.
Then, her eyes turned a vivid jade green. Innumerable bamboo leaves materialized out of thin air, whirling in harmony with her dance.
It was a breathtaking spectacle.
Had she not been wearing such torn, inappropriate attire, it would have been truly flawless.
Yet just as Yu Xian appeared entranced by the mesmerizing display before him, the swirling bamboo leaves suddenly coalesced into a colossal bamboo pit viper, lunging viciously at him with jaws wide open.
Chapter 157