Lu Ma's Counterattack

Zhao Xiaoya watched Ning Rongrong's body collapse, then ended her Martial Soul Possession.

Her Martial Soul was Bone, a Body Martial Soul. Saying she had ended her Martial Soul Possession didn't really look any different.

As far as she was concerned, Ning Rongrong had lost the ability to fight back.

She considered herself a kindhearted person, so before Ning Rongrong died, she told her the truth about the Saintess Ritual.

Most people only knew the first two steps to becoming a Saintess. Her grandfather had known only that much, as had the person in charge. The third step would appear in her mind only after she completed the first two.

The trouble was, the third step took an extremely long time. She had schemed against her grandfather, hoping to bring it all to an end early, but she had miscalculated.

She had fled outside the space, then returned to it. After finally managing to kill Zhao Asi, she had discovered that the old bastard had only sent out a clone.

She had wondered why the Smoke wouldn't dissipate, and why the Purple Fire was still burning.

"Once I get out, I'll avenge your father and the others. You'd better thank me properly up there."

She smiled, perfectly naturally.

Then she froze.

At some point, Ning Rongrong had pulled out a bottle of red liquid and poured it into her mouth.

"Wait..." Watching Ning Rongrong swallow, Zhao Xiaoya felt her heart pound. She had a vague sense that she was done for.

As the red liquid entered Ning Rongrong's stomach, her consciousness gradually cleared.

Have I gone to heaven?

That was what she thought. But when she saw her own hand moving against her will to feed her the red liquid she couldn't take out herself, she realized something was wrong. Especially when she saw the purple stone—then she was certain she was being controlled.

She wasn't afraid. She was overjoyed.

Her Holy God hadn't abandoned her. He had returned.

The timing was different from what she had predicted, but that no longer mattered.

Ning Rongrong watched her own body stand up, effortlessly dodge Zhao Xiaoya's attack, and wipe the corner of her mouth.

The whole movement flowed as smoothly as running water.

Then she felt her Eight Spider Lances begin to move.

At his computer, Lu Ma kept marveling.

"This body's level 28 physique really is something else. Her movement speed is noticeably higher. And these Eight Spider Lances are just too useful."

As Lu Ma attacked, the Eight Spider Lances behind Ning Rongrong joined in, supporting his assault. One stabbed into Zhao Xiaoya and pinned her in place, another swept across, and a third slashed down. The tip of one lance drew close to Zhao Xiaoya and released Poison, while the remaining four shot toward her in quick succession, piercing her body just as Zhao Xiaoya's Bone Flying Daggers had pierced Ning Rongrong.

After that flurry from the Eight Spider Lances, Zhao Xiaoya lost a quarter of her health. Ning Rongrong, meanwhile, had recovered a good deal of Soul Power.

Was there any downside to such powerful support attacks?

There was.

Lu Ma had to press Q to trigger the full combo, and afterward it went on cooldown for thirty seconds.

But as long as the lance with the sustained paralysis effect pierced the enemy, they could hardly escape the combo that followed.

When the Eight Spider Lances finished attacking, Lu Ma greedily landed a few extra hits. Though those punches connected, they only dealt 3% damage to his opponent—not even close to what the Eight Spider Lances had done.

Seeing that his opponent was starting to recover, Lu Ma quickly backed away.

Zhao Xiaoya straightened up and looked at Ning Rongrong. She covered one eye with a hand, her face full of confusion.

Why did Ning Rongrong seem like a completely different person now that she was back on her feet?

She studied Ning Rongrong's expression, trying to catch some useful clue, but all she saw was a sly smile.

Why was she making that face?

Zhao Xiaoya was about to lose it. Could it be that being beaten to the brink of death had been part of her opponent's plan all along?

She refused to accept it. Summoning dozens of Bone Flying Daggers, she sent them hurtling toward Ning Rongrong and controlled them to explode in front of her...

Explode? Where was my explosion?

Zhao Xiaoya watched as Ning Rongrong merely paused when faced with the Bone Flying Daggers. Then the Eight Spider Lances struck, knocking every dagger far away. Next, Zhao Xiaoya felt the Soul Power inside the daggers vanish, so naturally, she could no longer control them and make them explode.

But that moment of distraction left her open. Ning Rongrong stabbed her with a lance again, pulling the two of them closer together.

Another unavoidable flurry from the Eight Spider Lances followed. When it ended, Ning Rongrong kicked her flying, and she crashed hard onto the ground.

"How could this be..." She couldn't make sense of it.

She was a level 47 Soul King, and she had the Holy God's power backing her. How could she be getting beaten so badly?

And Ning Rongrong wasn't even trying to finish her off. Was she taunting her?

Lu Ma hadn't meant anything by it. He was waiting for the cooldown.

Zhao Xiaoya had no more than 25% of her health left. A full Eight Spider Lances combo dealt more than 25% damage to her. And the Eight Spider Lances attack was basically his ultimate move right now. That was what you called—

Style.

"Another nineteen seconds. Just nineteen seconds until I can laugh."

After landing a few silky-smooth combos, Lu Ma was having a pretty good time. The Eight Spider Lances couldn't instantly kill enemies, but they gave him a real sense of being in control.

He idly moved his character around, dodging the enemy's attacks as he went.

At last, the cooldown ended. A lance shot toward Zhao Xiaoya. Her eyes widened as she tried to dodge, but she was too slow and got hit anyway.

As the other lances began to move, Zhao Xiaoya shut her eyes and shouted, "Stop! We can negotiate!"

That shout really did slow Ning Rongrong down a little. But it wasn't because Lu Ma had gone soft. An animation had started.

[The opponent has requested a truce]

[Zhao Xiaoya, Level 47, Loyalty: 50%, Sin Value: 50%]

[A: Hold A to win her over. She will become your subordinate and form a soul bond with you, making betrayal impossible]

[D: Hold D to execute her. You will randomly obtain one of her items]

[Countdown: 20 seconds. She will be executed automatically after 20 seconds. Game time will slow during this period.]

"Oh?"

Lu Ma watched this feature with interest. Some games did let you recruit powerful enemies as allies, and he had tried that kind of feature before.

To be honest, in his experience, allies who were won over often suffered from one problem: redemption made them three times weaker—or at least, it felt that way.

"This person should be the one who killed Ning Rongrong. She probably died because she didn't know how to use the Eight Spider Lances and had no real combat experience. So, should I avenge Ning Rongrong?"

Ning Rongrong felt a little moved by all this. But she had already prepared herself for the Holy God to make any choice he wanted. Even if he didn't kill Zhao Xiaoya, she wouldn't complain at all. At most, she'd feel a little upset for a while.

Zhao Xiaoya's eyes widened.

She thought she had heard something she shouldn't have. The voice hadn't belonged to Ning Rongrong. It had been an unfamiliar man's voice.

And the presence behind it was oddly familiar.

On the cross, she had felt a similar presence—

The Holy God!

She understood. Ning Rongrong had become so strong because of the Holy God's power; he had simply given Ning Rongrong more of it. She hadn't lost unfairly.

And if Ning Rongrong had the Holy God behind her, a lot of things made sense: how Ning Rongrong and the others had entered this space, why Ning Rongrong knew those techniques, and where the red bottles had come from...

As for why the Holy God had attacked her, even though she was also a Saintess chosen by him, Zhao Xiaoya simply thought that Ning Rongrong mattered more.

Who could matter more than her, a Saintess-in-waiting...

The true Saintess!

Zhao Xiaoya's pupils shrank.

The Saintess could communicate with the Holy God. In other words, she was his representative.

Hadn't Zhao Xiaoya offended the Holy God?

She was finished. She was done for.

She had to find some way to make it right.