"You're pushing me!" Yuan Lang's face turned cold.
"You're the one who's gone too far!" Xia Ningshang stood her ground without flinching.
Yuan Lang's expression turned severe. He wanted to let out a long howl to send for help, but after a moment's thought he held himself back and chuckled coldly. "Then let's see if your defensive artifact can withstand my attacks!"
He really couldn't bear to let such a morsel slip through his fingers. If he managed to subdue Xia Ningshang with his own strength, it would be tantamount to acquiring at least one heaven grade artifact! With a treasure like that, where in the world couldn't he go? There'd be no need to keep slaving away for the Blood Battle Gang. Besides, this woman's origins were mysterious, and she was clearly loaded—she probably carried more than one artifact on her.
So he wanted to try. If things really didn't work out, he could always send the signal then. After all, he was blocking her path here, and she couldn't fly away even if she sprouted wings.
With that thought, Yuan Lang walked toward Xia Ningshang with a sleazy grin.
Xia Ningshang's heart sank. Though she had recovered twenty percent of her Yuan Qi and could activate her defensive artifact, it consumed far too much energy. The moment she used it, she would be left completely powerless again. She was counting on that bit of Yuan Qi to go find Yang Kai—how could she bear to burn through it all in one go?
But without using it, she had no confidence she could defeat Yuan Lang. The terrain here was absolutely terrible—there was simply no way to bring her strengths to bear.
All she could do was hold him off for a while and look for an opening to kill him.
Xia Ningshang had no intention of showing mercy. The man had already pushed her into a corner—why would she compromise?
As the distance between them shrank, Xia Ningshang slowly rose to her feet, secretly channeling her Yuan Qi, her eyes fixed warily on Yuan Lang as he approached.
This was a true face-off in a narrow pass! In a mountain crevice barely wide enough for one person, neither side could easily dodge the other's attacks.
With three zhang between them, Yuan Lang's smile gradually faded and his expression turned grave.
Xia Ningshang struck first—without warning, and catching Yuan Lang completely off guard. Her slender fingers formed an orchid seal, and she flicked forward. A freezing blast of finger-wind shot toward Yuan Lang like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Yuan Lang's face changed drastically. He never imagined this woman still had the strength to fight him—how long had it been since she was injured? Even if she'd taken pills, she couldn't have recovered that quickly!
What he didn't know was that Xia Ningshang's constitution was special. Pills entered her body and could be fully absorbed and refined instantly. If not for the fact that she hadn't carried enough pills, she wouldn't be stuck at only twenty percent of her strength right now.
The blast of finger-wind was bone-chillingly cold, like a razor-sharp icicle. Xia Ningshang had harnessed the Yin energy in the valley, merged it with her special constitution, and refined it in an instant. Its killing power wasn't particularly great, but it consumed almost no energy and was fast enough.
With a whistling shriek, Yuan Lang struck forward with a blade-hand, his Yuan Qi erupting, and slashed through the air with his palm while bellowing: "Flying Cloud Slash!"
The Flying Cloud Slash wasn't a palm technique but a saber art—a lower-tier earth grade martial skill with decent power. But since Yuan Lang had no saber in hand, he could only substitute with his palm, which naturally cut into its effectiveness.
Even so, Xia Ningshang's attack was cleanly cleaved in two, accomplishing nothing.
Sensing that the finger-wind lacked real killing force, Yuan Lang was about to mock her—when another whooshing sound came head-on. Xia Ningshang had launched yet another blast.
Frustrated, Yuan Lang switched his palm to a fist and punched forward, shouting: "Azure Dragon Chant!"
Sure enough, a faint dragon's roar rumbled forth. Its power was several notches above the Flying Cloud Slash.
Before he could catch his breath, the whooshing sounds came again. Xia Ningshang was attacking with both hands simultaneously, her petite fingers dancing through seal after seal as blast after blast of finger-wind shot toward him like a volley.