Urgh, Just Kill Me

"Ha ha ha!"

Hearing Jia Lie Bi's startled cry, Oba Padun let out three smug laughs.

He knew that from this moment on, Jia Lie Bi would no longer think of competing for the credit. All he had to do now was personally capture this little girl, a mere One-Star Great Dou Master, and he would gain the support of a third-tier alchemist. Brimming with satisfaction and high spirits, Oba Padun strode toward the rubble where Nalan Yanran had fallen.

"Cough, cough..."

Nalan Yanran pushed aside the broken bricks and tiles covering her and staggered to her feet. The Dou Qi Armor over her abdomen was now cracked like a spiderweb, showing just how powerful Oba Padun's punch had been.

Oba Padun had thought his Mountain-Crushing Fist would be enough to knock Nalan Yanran unconscious. He had never expected her to stand up again.

"What a strange girl!"

Oba Padun frowned, swung his fist again, and bellowed, "Mountain-Crushing Fist!"

Powerful Dou Qi enveloped Oba Padun's fist, whipping up a vicious wind as it hurtled straight toward Nalan Yanran, once again aimed at her lower abdomen.

The wind of his punch was like steel, shattering stone and crushing mountains!

With life and death hanging in the balance, Nalan Yanran's mind instead became free of distractions. She no longer hoped that Yun Congxin would descend from the heavens and wipe out these petty villains with a flick of his finger, nor did she expect someone to arrive at the perfect moment to save her.

Her thoughts fell into place, and inspiration struck. For the first time, Nalan Yanran roared with the resolve to stake her life on the fight: "Wind Returns to Earth!"

Normally, Nalan Yanran had been painfully clumsy with these profound, obscure hand seals. But under the crushing pressure of life and death, it was as though her governing and conception meridians had opened, allowing her to weave all those once-unfamiliar principles into a coherent whole. Her hands formed seals so quickly that she seemed to be playing cat's cradle.

Whoosh!

The wind shrieked like a wailing ghost. In an instant, a blue-green wall, seemingly solid, formed before Nalan Yanran. A closer look would have revealed that it was filled with incomparably sharp wind blades.

"Go!"

The wind wall collapsed inward, becoming a tornado that surrounded the rapidly approaching Oba Padun.

Countless wind blades sprang from the blue-green wall, dancing along the turbulent currents like fluttering butterflies.

"Paltry tricks! Hah!"

Oba Padun roared, and powerful Dou Qi erupted from him, forming Dou Qi Armor that covered his body.

Ignoring the wind blades violently clashing against his Dou Qi Armor, he drove a resolute straight punch into the wind wall before him.

Thump!

The blue-green wall was like soft, springy cotton, dissipating most of the force behind Oba Padun's blow.

Oba Padun felt as though he had thrown a fierce straight punch into a mire. He wrenched his arm back, knowing he could no longer hold anything in reserve.

Something was wrong with this woman. Every Dou Technique she used was of a considerable rank. Oba Padun had to give it his all and end this quickly. Otherwise, if his boat capsized in this gutter, his lifelong reputation as the patriarch of the Ao Ba Family would go down the drain along with the Jia Lie Family.

"Sand Sea Beast Tide!"

The Seven-Star Great Dou Master unleashed his full power, seemingly turning the small space enclosed by the wind wall into an hourglass. At Oba Padun's command, the sand took on a hazy beastly shape and charged toward the wall!

Wind and sand tore into each other. Under the sand's assault, the wind wall rapidly swelled outward, soon reaching its limit.

"Mountain-Crushing Fist! Break!"

Oba Padun pressed his advantage. He stepped forward and hurled his sandbag-sized fist ahead, Dou Qi surging around it!

Boom!

Although the wind wall did not shatter, this time Oba Padun finally felt a solid impact. Delight spread across his face, and he continued his furious assault.

"Mountain-Crushing Fist!"

"Crushing Stone Palm!"

"Wood-Splitting Strike!"

Bang!

Under Oba Padun's relentless barrage, fierce as a raging storm, cracks began appearing in the blue-green wall. They joined into a spiderweb and spread rapidly outward, as though the next blow would shatter it. Meanwhile, the wind blades attacking Oba Padun grew fewer and slower, their weakening momentum increasingly obvious.

"Break open!"

Swept up in the frenzy of his assault, Oba Padun unleashed his full strength. Leaning forward, he struck the crack-riddled wind wall with the crushing force of Mount Tai descending from above.

The satisfying impact he had expected from smashing this troublesome Dou Technique never came. The bizarre wind wall vanished before Oba Padun's fist could reach it!

The hazy beast formed from earth-attribute Dou Qi instantly collapsed, and the remaining wind blades vanished without a trace. Only the countless scratches on Oba Padun's Dou Qi Armor told the tale of what had happened.

Unable to stop his punch, Oba Padun pitched forward. He hurriedly staggered two steps to steady himself.

Oba Padun immediately sensed something was wrong. His scalp prickled, and every hair on his body stood on end. He hastily turned to look, but Nalan Yanran was nowhere to be seen.

"Extreme Wind: Setting Sun Radiance!"

Up in the air, Nalan Yanran gave everything she had. Once again, she drove her longsword downward, pouring all her Dou Qi into the ultimate technique she took the greatest pride in!

"Damn it, she used such a high-level Dou Technique just to buy time?!"

Watching the longsword hurtling toward him shatter once again, its terrifying energy blooming into a blinding white light, Oba Padun knew he was in trouble. Aware that it was already too late to dodge, he hurriedly formed hand seals, preparing to withstand the terrifying blow head-on.

Serves you right, you bastard! That's what you get for stealing the credit!

Standing nearby to provide support, Jia Lie Bi watched the white light swallow Oba Padun, feeling no small amount of satisfaction.

"Patriarch!"

The two Da Dou Shi of the Ao Ba Family, held back by the Xiao Clan's Dou Shi fighting desperately, blanched in shock. They had never imagined that their patriarch, a Seven-Star Great Dou Master, would be driven to such straits by a young woman with only the strength of a One-Star Great Dou Master.

Seeing their enemies struck speechless with terror, the Xiao Clan members did not seize the chance to attack. Instead, they swiftly disengaged and pulled their wounded back.

Everyone could see how weak Nalan Yanran was now. They tried to gather around her, hoping to protect her.

As for Nalan Yanran, she had exhausted the last trace of Dou Qi and strength in her body. No longer able to keep herself aloft, her vision went black, and she plummeted.

"Reckless girl..."

Yun Congxin appeared from somewhere and caught the falling Nalan Yanran. Looking at the girl in his arms, who was on the verge of unconsciousness, he smiled.

With the strength of a One-Star Great Dou Master, she had pushed a Seven-Star Great Dou Master this far. Even in defeat, Nalan Yanran had earned honor and upheld the name of the Misty Cloud Sect!

"Urgh, just kill me..."

Feeling someone touch her lips, Nalan Yanran instinctively stiffened her neck and murmured weakly.

Yun Congxin, who had been trying to feed her a medicinal pill, did not know whether to laugh or cry. He could only give up feeding her by hand and gently use the wind to guide it into her mouth instead.

"You really did well this time. Leave the rest for the Xiao Clan to settle themselves..." Yun Congxin said, watching the enormous Black Ruler spinning toward them from afar.

"You fucking little bitch! I'll kill you!"

As the light faded, Oba Padun, covered in blood, roared in uncontrollable fury.

"Such filthy language deserves punishment!"

Yun Congxin did not even look at the utterly bedraggled Oba Padun on the ground. Seemingly leaving behind nothing more than a stern remark, he vanished with Nalan Yanran.

An invisible wind blade flashed past, slicing off Oba Padun's tongue.

Oba Padun's furious curses were instantly choked off by a gush of blood. His severed tongue fell to the ground, and he did not even think to pick it up.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

The fury that had soared into the clouds vanished in an instant. Terrified, he clutched his mouth and sank to his knees. Blood flowed through the gaps between his fingers, dripping onto his tongue, now coated in sand and dust.