Chen Wuya was just about to raise his hand, his fingertips still smeared with blood and the golden patterns in his palm faintly hot. He saw the leader leaning against the stone wall, his left shoulder collapsed, his breathing heavy—yet there was no trace of defeat in those eyes. Instead, they seemed to be waiting for something.
Something was wrong.
The thought had barely risen when the Misaligned Practice Connects to Spirit system suddenly jolted. It was not a notification, but a stabbing pain that surged up from the depths of his marrow, as though icy needles were crawling up his spine. His throat tightened, and he instinctively opened his mouth to shout—
Bai Zhi had already moved.
Her sword point had not lowered, her gaze locked on the leader all along. In that instant, she caught the nearly imperceptible twitch of his sleeve, as if something had slipped free. She had no time to think. Her wrist turned, and her longsword swept sideways, trailing an arc of light.
"Clink!"
A soft sound, fine and sharp, like metal scraping across jade. A jet-black short nail was knocked to the ground. Its body glimmered with a dim green sheen as it rolled half a circle over the stone, coming to a stop beside the shattered remnants of blue light.
Mo Feng reacted almost at the same time. Moisture churned in his palm, but before it could fully form a barrier, a second hidden weapon tore through the air. He shifted to shield Chen Wuya's left side. The curtain of water hastily took shape, yet only intercepted part of its path—the nail veered ever so slightly in midair, bypassing the water barrier and shooting straight for his back.
Chen Wuya violently twisted at the waist, Misaligned Force exploding from his Shanzhong Acupoint