Volume 1, Chapter 38 – Clash

A trace of disbelief flashed in Shi Lan’s eyes. So there was actually someone operating behind the system—and that person was inside her body right now?!

“I know it’s hard to wrap your head around all at once, but the most urgent thing right now is helping you get out of this.”

Shi Lan steadied herself and asked silently, “How are you going to help me?”

“Relax your body and hand over control. After that, I’ll handle everything……”

In that instant, Shi Lan thought of a lot of things—but she still agreed very quickly.

If they dragged this out any longer, both she and Shi Feng were going to die here today.

……

Watching the blade shadow he’d just condensed shatter in an instant, Shi Feng’s expression still didn’t ripple in the slightest. He simply raised the blade again.

Seeing his expression as calm as a still well, the girl shook her head in mild dissatisfaction. “This won’t do. If you die like this, your blood won’t be hot enough.”

With that, she lightly tapped a finger against Shi Feng’s chest. As she moved, a gigantic phantom finger slowly took shape in midair and pressed onto the great momentum condensing behind Shi Feng.

“Crack——”

The sound was like a mirror shattering. Spiderweb cracks spread across the great momentum gathered behind him, almost shattering it with a single touch.

Shi Feng staggered back several steps, falling out of that mysterious, profound state and back into ordinary awareness. Light returned to his eyes as countless sensations surged into his heart.

The girl lifted her head in faint surprise and glanced at the cracked, invisible momentum before clapping lightly with a laugh. “Remarkable.”

That a mere Innate Realm cultivation could condense a momentum strong enough to withstand her finger was worthy of her praise.

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Unfortunately, this kind of prodigy was going to die here today.

The girl curled her finger at Shi Feng, the snow-white tail behind her swaying slightly as amusement shimmered in her eyes. “Come~”

Shi Feng came back to himself, his expression still utterly free of fear. The fearless, selfless conviction of the martial path had already taken root in his heart. Even after leaving that state, he remained unafraid.

His wrist turned, and several arcs of crimson blade qi slashed out through the air!

“Now that’s more like it—but your blood’s still far from boiling.”

The girl chuckled softly. She slipped past the oncoming blade qi with the casual ease of a stroll through a garden and appeared right in front of Shi Feng.

Shi Feng leapt up, gripping the blade in both hands as he brought it down with everything he had in an overhead chop!

“Clang——”

The girl lifted her right hand and extended two pale fingers, effortlessly pinching the descending blade between them. Then her fingers twisted.

A blade that could slice metal and jade without difficulty suddenly twisted and warped like a sheet of thin paper!

Next, she raised her left hand and laid her palm gently against Shi Feng’s chest, as if caressing a lover.

“Crack——”

A chorus of snapping bones rang out. That light, floating palm carried the weight of a mountain; Shi Feng’s chest caved in on the spot. The hilt slipped from his grasp as his body was flung nearly a hundred zhang away!

He tumbled several times across the ground before he barely managed to stop himself and struggle to his feet.

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“Pfft——”

Shi Feng spat out a mouthful of blood laced with fragments of internal organs. His insides were a wreck, riddled with wounds.

“Oops~ I used too much strength.” The girl widened her eyes as if in mild regret, then rubbed her palms together. Under this additional abuse, the already twisted blade finally gave out and shattered into pieces!

The destruction of his artifact inflicted yet another wound on Shi Feng, blood once more seeping from the corner of his lips.

Shi Feng paid no attention to his injuries. Instead, he forced his Innate true qi to surge even more violently and charged at the girl again!

……

“Relax your body.”

“I’d love to relax, but it hurts!”

Shi Lan clenched her teeth. She wanted to relax, but the pain in her arm kept every muscle in her body taut. She couldn’t loosen up even if she tried.

“Deep breaths. It’ll only be for a moment. If you don’t relax now, that kid is going to get toyed to death by that little demon.”

Shi Lan drew deep breath after deep breath, fighting down her body’s instinctive reactions and forcing herself to relax completely.

Suddenly, a massive surge of energy pushed into her body. Starting from the back of her head, she gradually began to lose feeling in her limbs.

[Anomaly detected. A foreign entity is attempting to seize the host’s body. Hazard-purging protocol initializing.]

Just as Shi Lan was about to lose all feeling in most of her body, the Empress-raising System’s cold voice suddenly rang out.

“Why are you everywhere?!” Samsara snapped, furious and a little frantic.

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“What’s going on?”

Feeling sensation slowly return to her body, Shi Lan couldn’t help asking silently.

“That other system in your body has some protective protocols installed for its host. It’s a bit of a nuisance.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Try talking to it. See if you can get it to pause whatever function it’s activating.”

Shi Lan tried reaching out to the system, then asked silently, “System, can you pause the hazard-purging protocol?”

[Evaluating host consciousness……]

[Evaluation complete. Host consciousness clear. Command valid.]

[Host will is paramount. Hazard-purging protocol paused.]

That feeling of losing control washed over her again, and very soon, Shi Lan completely lost her grip on her body.

……

Watching Shi Feng charge at her again, the girl felt his blood and qi, then nodded with interest. “Almost. Just a little more.”

Shi Feng rushed up to her, right fist raised high as he swung it toward that delicate, jade-like face.

Just as his fist was about to touch her cheek, his body froze in place, locked in mid-motion.

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“Argh!”

Bloodshot veins filled Shi Feng’s eyes as a beast-like roar tore from his throat. He didn’t even have the right to lay a finger on the person in front of him. That massive gap in strength nearly sent his blood and qi surging backward; his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

“Finally boiling!”

Mad joy burst in the girl’s gaze. She brought her hands together into a blade, about to slice off Shi Feng’s head and claim her prize when a huge sense of danger suddenly rose in her chest. The fur on her snow-white tail stood on end, puffing up.

“Meow——”

The girl let out a shrill scream as her figure vanished from where she stood.

“Boom!”

Almost at the same instant, a palm print hundreds of zhang across appeared where she had just been.

That one palm slammed the ground within several hundred zhang straight down tens of zhang into the earth, almost instantly creating a small lake!

The girl hovered in midair, cold sweat beading on her forehead as she stared, still shaken, at the carriage in the center of the beast horde.

“Shi Lan” slowly withdrew her hand, her gaze calm. With a flicker, she appeared beside Shi Feng.

After checking over Shi Feng’s condition, “Shi Lan” frowned slightly. She sent a surge of energy into his body to temporarily stabilize his injuries, then lifted her head to look at the girl in the sky.

Every hair on the girl’s body stood on end. Without the slightest hesitation, she turned and took a step. In the next breath, she appeared a thousand zhang away—she was clearly trying to flee.

Watching the girl’s back shrink to a tiny black speck, a trace of mockery flashed through “Shi Lan’s” eyes as she said coolly, “Power of space? Showing off your tricks before an expert.”