Forge a path to success.

Chapter 281 A Flow of Inspiration (4)

"It's been a long time since I've stretched my body." Ji Huaisu raised a light shield. "I'll go first!"

She lunged forward, her shadow blade transforming into a giant sword that swung directly at Lico's wooden wings. Lico folded her wings and touched the ground with the tip of her spear, causing the soil beneath their feet to churn and dozens of thorns to spring out like snakes.

Ji Huaisu's sword flashed, severing the thorns. But the moment the strike ended, several new shoots rapidly sprouted from the clean cut. The regenerated thorns surged forward, binding Ji Huaisu tightly like ropes. Extremely cold air seeped from his green armor, yet the thorns remained intact, merely covered by a layer of frost.

Ji Huaisu struggled desperately but could not break free. The thorns tightened their grip, and even through the ice armor, her beautiful figure could be seen.

Li Ke silently gave a thumbs up, and Chu Hengkong let out a long whistle.

"Shut up, you bastard!" Captain Ji yelled. "What the hell is this breed?!"

"These are frost-resistant plants cultivated on the farm, you didn't lose badly~" Lico flicked her gun, "Alright, that's a wrap!"

Lico thrust her spear forward, and Ji Huaisu stuck out her tongue and made a face. Her azure armor instantly melted, turning into shimmering golden armor. The scorching flames burned the thorns to ashes, and the Purifying Fire Greatsword slashed straight at Lico's spear.

Lico dodged the attack by changing direction with her wooden wings, her eyes wide with surprise: "Are you kidding me? Turbid Tears uses fire?"

“There are so many things you haven’t seen yet!”

Ji Huaisu drew two swords with his fingers, and the sparks in the air instantly connected to form a burning magic circle. The soil, arising at his will, split into sand, and under the high temperature of the fire, it was reshaped into translucent glass, like an inverted flask binding Li Ke completely.

Light, Fire, Earth. Discipline Seal, Demon-Sealing Purifying Bottle.

Immediately, the power of the turbid tears merged into it, layering and constructing the Holy Trinity Array at the bottom of the sealing array to isolate external forces. Inside the purifying bottle, Lico was pointing at the spear, her half-finished spell suddenly extinguished. The little girl stared in disbelief, pounding her fist against the purifying bottle. But she couldn't break it! It's a pity Miss Lico isn't a martial artist from Dragon Village!
"You're still too green to compete with me in terms of practical experience, little girl!" Ji Huaisu said smugly. "Who hired you? What are you doing here? Tell me the truth."

(Have mercy! I'll confess!)

Miss Lico pitifully raised her hands in pleading, and Ji Huaisu took a step forward. At that moment, a dripping sound rang out from the flower field, and the ground beneath her feet expanded like a balloon, with fierce flames shooting straight into the sky!

At close range, Ji Huaisu could clearly see that the source of the explosion was a mushroom, a black mushroom buried deep in the ground! She retreated and slammed her hands on the ground, preparing to summon an ice wall to guard the surrounding area. However, the enemies of the Skywing reacted faster than her. Li Ke took the opportunity to break free of the Pure Bottle and approach, a pink flower growing from her hand, a suspicious fragrance spreading in the air.

Ji Huaisu's thoughts paused briefly, causing her to overlook the enemy's next move. Mental poison? No, unlike the feeling she had when fighting Wen Yao, it lacked that obvious malice, but it disrupted her thinking with incredible speed…

"Pheromones?"

“That’s right, it’s a relaxing floral scent~” Lico chuckled. “Miss, are you a police officer or detective? Your mind is too tense when you’re fighting, this scent is a surefire way to win for your type!”

As she spoke, she had already circled behind Ji Huaisu. Ji Huaisu hurriedly turned around, only to see a continuous barrage of exploding mushrooms. Li Ke, hiding behind the mushroom wall, revealed a small, flashlight-like device. A faint light, capable of erasing memories, flickered from her belongings!
"Miss Policewoman, you certainly have some skills, but unfortunately, I am Cheng Kongyi. In the realm of speed—"

"—I'm still faster," the assassin said.

A silver prosthetic hand gripped Lico's fist, causing the light to vanish into its palm. Chu Hengkong stood between the two, in the spot where the mushroom wall should have separated them.

No one knew how he appeared, just as no one knew where the mushrooms went. It was as if a momentary blank had appeared in the continuous flow of time; one second he was whistling in the back, and the next he was standing there, casually blocking Lico's surprise attack.

Chu Hengkong released his grip, allowing the surprised Li Ke to distance herself. He turned and laughed, "You suffered because of a lack of intelligence, huh?"

Ji Huaisu's skills are all high-powered killing moves, designed to obliterate her opponent. However, in a battle where the fighting is only for the point, she cannot fully utilize them and is easily restricted by her opponent's methods. She said irritably, "Thank you for being so considerate, but it's not just about intelligence. This guy is quite skilled. His speed is inferior to Wen Yao's, but in terms of vitality... 'thickness,' he seems to have the upper hand."

"Legendary Particle 4?" Chu Hengkong tossed Fan De to Ji Huaisu.

"It's all thanks to everyone's high regard for your reputation in the underworld... I wonder which deity from which Dust Island you are?" Lico said with a forced smile.

“They’re all just employees, they don’t have any titles.” Chu Hengkong bent down and picked up two petals. “We’ve changed people, please.”

Li Ke used the same trick again, throwing out two leaf-shaped throwing knives. Chu Hengkong flicked his fingers, and the flower petals between his fingers, infused with his energy, also flew out like blades.

Four hidden weapons, two green and two blue, danced like butterflies, flitting and soaring around the flower field with almost lifelike movements. A leaf-shaped throwing knife first caught a petal, only to be sliced ​​in half by a second petal. The petal then flew vertically backward with an acrobatic motion, colliding with a second leaf that had turned around! Both types of hidden weapons perished together!

"Amazing...!" Lico exclaimed.

On the surface, it seemed like a draw, but as a forest dweller, Rico knew how cunning the enemy's move was. The forest dwellers' throwing techniques were extremely dependent on the materials used. The plants they cultivated were naturally connected to them, making them easy to use, while plants picked up casually were like rotten wood—usable but not easy to work with.

Her leaf-shaped throwing knives grew from her own body; they were top-tier Heart Sword materials even in Longquan Township. Her opponent, on the other hand, only picked up two petals… To achieve a mutual kill despite such a huge difference in materials, just how terrifying is this person's skill?

"Senmin's hidden weapon skills are not very good." Chu Hengkong shook his head. "Please excuse my poor performance."

"Looks like you're the type who likes to look down on people..." Lico clenched her fist. "Then let's see what you're really made of!" Her wooden wings grew and transformed with her movement, turning into another pair of incredibly powerful giant fists. Lico crouched down and charged, her figure instantly disappearing from the spot. Even with the transformation of her Sky-Bearing Wings, she still possessed the incredible speed to shrink the distance between people. In the instant the onlookers realized it, the massive fist shadow had already struck towards Chu Hengkong!
Compared to Li Ke, Chu Hengkong's movements were noticeably slow; he only had time to raise his fist when the attack came. However, the back of his fist blocked Li Ke's path, and the wooden fist struck, only to be violently bounced back. Chu Hengkong sidestepped and spun to dodge the second blow, his fist striking again with the force of rotation. This time, the ground beneath their feet sank three meters, and his other wooden fist was also sent flying.

"Good! Let her see the power of the Dragon Village's secret techniques!" Fan De encouraged.

“It’s not a secret technique,” ​​Ji Huaisu said. “He wasn’t using the Qi Armor just now; that was… Chenjun Palace’s Qi-Intercepting Strike!”

Chenjun Palace's Qi-Intercepting Strike cuts off the flow of energy, disrupting the enemy's attack. Chu Hengkong didn't use the secret technique of counter-attack; instead, he used the Qi-Intercepting Strike to sever the internal power flow of the wooden fist, causing Li Ke's attack to collapse on its own.

Green fluorescent spots appeared in the surrounding environment, their light flowing into the wooden fists and rapidly healing the injuries inflicted by Chu Hengkong. Li Ke clapped her hands twice in quick succession, shrinking the wooden fists from one to two, then from two to four. She leaped up, using her spear as a springboard, unleashing a barrage of four pairs of wooden fists from above. Chu Hengkong remained unharmed amidst the blurred shadows of the fists; Li Ke's attacks merely grazed past him, failing to inflict any real damage.

He slapped a fist to the side to block it, and said, "More isn't always better."

"If you want to see the technology, look here!"

The wooden fist instantly rotted, along with all the fists in the body, and specks of green light transferred from it, attaching to Lico's spear. After landing, Lico thrust the spear straight at him. She was wielding a cross-shaped spear with a thin and extremely long shaft, wrapped with thorn patterns, and its attack range was even wider than the ancient Japanese "cross-shaped spear".

Chu Hengkong used his treacherous wrist to intercept the spear, and the thorny patterns on the spear shaft instantly came to life, wrapping around his wrist at the same time. He used his inner energy to pierce the thorns, but the thorns, instead of being pierced by his inner energy, became even more resilient, firmly binding his wrist. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Ke pressed down on the spearhead to stab his ankle. Chu Hengkong tried to retreat but was pulled forward by the thorns, and had no choice but to use his right hand to slap the spear shaft to adjust his stance.

Chu Hengkong's eyes lit up: "Not bad."

Unlike her previous brute force attacks, this unique marksmanship was clearly the result of hard work. By combining the growth and characteristics of various plants, she could develop an endless variety of techniques. Lico carefully maintained her distance, her mouth sharp and unwavering: "Has anyone ever told you that your tone is annoying?"

"Well, no."

"Then I'll speak for the others." Lico raised her gun and thrust again, "Those middle-aged men pointing fingers like my dad are so annoying!"

Green light surged from her body, gathering at the tip of her cross-shaped spear. The infusion of life force made the wooden spear extremely hard. She thrust the spear with all her might, aiming directly at Chu Hengkong's abdomen. The speed of her Sky-Bearing Wings was unleashed to its fullest extent at this moment, and onlookers could not even see Li Ke's movements clearly. However, the next moment, a heavy thud resounded across the ground, and the tip of Li Ke's spear deflected and fell straight into the soil.

Her gunplay had been anticipated! Chu Hengkong stepped on the cross-shaped gun barrel, prematurely interrupting the decisive blow. His prosthetic body, like a slender snake, broke free of its restraints and instead lunged for Li Ke's neck.

Lico was startled and immediately abandoned her weapon, retreating. Her Sky-Supporting Wings unfolded again, propelling her to an altitude of over a thousand meters. Orange-yellow fruits, like solidified flames, sprouted from the woven branches of her wings. Each fruit was equivalent to a full-force attack from a Point 3 Purifying Fire, even more powerful than the mushroom traps she had previously set. She had already prepared her next move: if close combat proved disadvantageous, she would use her speed advantage to launch a bombardment—

"Be careful."

A heart pounded like a war drum from above; Chu Hengkong had caught up! The man was right behind him!

The explosive power of the Heavenly Demon Furnace brought him unparalleled instantaneous acceleration. He used his willpower to create a blood-red longsword, held it above his head with his right hand, and pressed down on the blade with his left hand, assuming a thrusting stance.

A chilling alarm bell rang in Lico's mind. She folded her wooden wings back into a shield, attaching all the fruits she had intended for attacking to the surface of the wing shield, using the propulsion from the explosion to slow the stabs. With layers of reinforcement beneath the wooden wings, Lico could fly towards the ground at top speed.

Then the sword light slashed down, like the cold, sharp starlight that cleaved through the clouds!
The first thing to appear was the explosive flames on the shield's surface, with a hollow crack in the center—an irresistible, extreme slash. That extremely fine cut pierced the night like a needle, passing through Lico's wooden wings and reaching the ground, cutting through all obstacles in its path before transforming into the sword light that vanished from Chu Heng's hand.

Steel Edge Flow - Heart-Piercing Strike: A lightning-fast thrust that tears through walls of iron and steel.

Chu Hengkong's longsword, now devoid of its former spirit, unleashed a burst of light behind him, like a giant flower blooming, instantly shattering his massive wooden wings. Li Ke collapsed headfirst into the flower field, her body unharmed, only her shield severed by a single sword strike. With the fastest speed she'd ever displayed since joining the battle, she raised a small white flag and cried out, head bowed, "Surrender! Surrender!!"

Chu Hengkong said helplessly, "You didn't use any of your trump cards."

“We’re all just trying to make a living. If we mess things up, we can just pay compensation. Why risk our lives for someone we don’t have a blood feud with?” Miss Lico said matter-of-factly.

She sat down cross-legged, looking disheveled: "What's the point of using your trump card against an opponent you can't beat... What path do you belong to? A mortal cultivator or a Ghost Eye Heartless One? I'm telling you, a dignified Element 5, you really don't need to take this Element 4 girl like me seriously, is it really necessary?"

Ji Huaisu walked over and put his arm around the assassin's shoulder, pointing at him with a grin: "This guy hasn't even passed the first Abyss, he's a 3-point Xu Lie Xin."

"……what?"

Miss Lico stared blankly with wide eyes.

"It's a joke, right? It's a joke, isn't it?"

"real."

"No way?!?!"

(End of this chapter)