Deep in the dense forest, shadows of trees overlapped. Sunlight like scattered gold spilled through the gaps between leaves, laying uneven patches of light across the leaf-strewn ground.
You moved like a phantom among vines and ancient trees, appearing and vanishing. Each appearance brought a fierce flash of spear light; each disappearance left only swaying shadows of Blue Silver vines.
Qian Renxue stood motionless in a forest clearing, her sacred sword held across her body, her purple eyes coldly scanning her surroundings.
Her breathing was a little faster than when she had first entered the forest, yet her fingers gripped her sword more tightly than usual. Golden light flickered along the sacred sword, intermittently illuminating the crease between her brows.
Once again, you darted from the shadows, the Blue Silver Dragon-Devouring Spear thrusting straight at her ribs, its point silent as a venomous snake raising its head.
She turned aside to evade it and swept her sacred sword diagonally back, its light cascading like a waterfall to envelop you.
You shook your spear, using yielding force to shed most of the impact, then borrowed the remaining force to retreat. Like willow down, you drifted several yards away and vanished into the shadows behind an ancient tree.
Qian Renxue raised her sword to pursue, but vines had already wound silently around her feet. She severed them with a slash, yet by the time she looked up, you were long gone.
Ink-black sap seeped from the severed vines, sending wisps of evil energy steaming into the air, only to be purified in an instant by the sacred aura spilling from her body.
"Coward!" she shouted coldly, her voice echoing through the forest and startling several roosting birds. "Is hiding all you know how to do?"
Hidden in the darkness, you leaned against