Chapter 253: Bring It On

Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Bring It On

After hearing what Li Qing said, Huangfu Miaomiao felt she still didn’t understand.

She frowned and muttered, "What does her conviction have to do with Feng Ling? If she wants to teach, does that mean Feng Ling has to learn?"

"There are some things that not even Feng Ling can control," Li Qing said in a low voice. "Others might be able to hide away, but she’s the hidden Boss designated by the system..."

This meant that Feng Ling had to constantly grow stronger. If she ever showed weakness, she would be targeted by players—after all, killing a hidden Boss awarded a handsome sum of points.

Li Qing believed this was the main reason Ye Zheng chose Feng Ling. Ye Zheng had no escape, and neither did Feng Ling. The two of them, with nowhere left to turn, were probably upstairs right now, passing on the mission.

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. ’Ye Zheng has found someone to inherit her will, but who is there to carry on my ideals?’

BOOM!!!—

A huge crash sounded from overhead, startling the three people downstairs.

Xu Yiming looked up in terror. "What are they doing up there? Demolishing the house?!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when there was another tremendous crash, and a large hole burst open in the ceiling! Feng Ling and Ye Zheng both came tumbling down to the first floor in a cloud of dust.

Huangfu Miaomiao was stunned. "What are you two doing?!"

Feng Ling coughed out a mouthful of plaster dust. She climbed out from the shattered drywall, patted the dust off her clothes, and said, "She said whoever wins gets to go kill the Maze Master."

Ye Zheng also got to her feet, head covered in dust. She pushed back her messy hair and said to Feng Ling, "Your attack patterns are too one-dimensional."

Li Qing was shocked. "Weren’t you two just talking upstairs?!"

Feng Ling glanced at him. "We were. We were talking about who gets to kill the Maze Master. What else did you think we were talking about?"

Li Qing was left speechless.

Feng Ling turned back to Ye Zheng. "Who cares if my moves are one-dimensional? They work, and that’s all that matters."

Ye Zheng sneered. "Being one-dimensional means you’re predictable."

"That thing’s just a slab of meat!" Feng Ling pointed angrily toward the door. "What brain does it have to see through anything?!"

"Not only are your moves one-dimensional, but you’re also arrogant," Ye Zheng said coldly, raising her sharp right claw. "Again."

"Bring it on." Feng Ling drew her Bone Blade and swung it at her!

The Bone Blade swung in a wide arc, forcing Xu Yiming, Li Qing, and Huangfu Miaomiao to scramble backward.

Ye Zheng ducked to dodge, then sprang toward a nearby pillar. Kicking off it with her hind feet, she twisted in mid-air and, in the next instant, landed nimbly behind Feng Ling.

Feng Ling’s Bone Blade sliced through empty air, but her Teeth and Claws immediately shot out from behind her to compensate. All four of them lunged at Ye Zheng, like four giant snakes with gaping maws!

Ye Zheng folded her wings to block!

CLANG!—

The moment the Teeth and Claws bit down, the hardened leading edge of her wings let out an ear-piercing metallic shriek. The membranes, covered in scale powder, were instantly pierced!

A smile played on Feng Ling’s lips.

’She hadn’t intended to hurt Ye Zheng; pinning her wings was enough to restrict her movement. Surely that would be enough to make Ye Zheng concede?’

Her triumphant feeling lasted less than a second. Ye Zheng suddenly shot upward! Her wings barely moved, but her body flipped 180 degrees! She went from standing on the floor to hanging upside down from the ceiling, swiping her right claw down at Feng Ling!

Caught completely by surprise, Feng Ling hastily released her Teeth and Claws and leaned back to dodge.

But her opponent was too fast. There was a flash of crimson, and a cut appeared on Feng Ling’s face.

Now Feng Ling was angry.

It was hard to say why. Maybe it was because the other woman was actually fighting for real, or maybe it was because her own skills weren’t up to par.

The battle wasn’t over, however. Ye Zheng leaped down from the ceiling, her Tiger Claw feet slashing fiercely toward Feng Ling!

Feng Ling didn’t dodge or retreat. She unfolded all twelve of her appendages, which shot upward like twelve long spears, pinning Ye Zheng in mid-air against the ceiling!

Blood slowly seeped from the wounds pierced by the Teeth and Claws and cone spikes. It started as single drops, then became a trickle, and soon the flow quickened, running like a stream to stain Feng Ling’s silvery-white scales red.

Feng Ling’s lips curled into another wicked smile. She looked up at Ye Zheng and asked, "Had enough?"

"Very impressive. You’ve earned the right to be arrogant." Ye Zheng glanced impassively at her pinned limbs. "However, you should be grateful I wasn’t going all out."

"Hmph," Feng Ling rolled her eyes, retracting her appendages one by one.

She grumbled to herself, ’Between the two of us, if anyone’s arrogant, it’s probably not me.’

She didn’t say it out loud because she felt that even with a Pollution Value of 40%, Ye Zheng still wasn’t rational enough. As for herself, a perfectly rational person with a Pollution Value of only 13%, she naturally had to be the bigger person, to have a broader perspective.

As the last two appendages were withdrawn, Ye Zheng dropped to the ground.

CRACK, CRACKLE—

Cracks started to spread across the ceiling, widening before a large chunk of drywall broke loose and shattered on the floor right in front of them.

Now there was another gaping hole above their heads.

Feng Ling glanced around. What had once been a perfectly good safe house was now a complete wreck because of their fight.

Her lip twitched. ’How long would it take to clean this up?’ she wondered.

’...Forget it. We’ll just find a new one.’

Feng Ling turned to the three people huddled in the corner. "This place is a write-off. Let’s go to the next safe house."

The three of them had mixed feelings.

Huangfu Miaomiao was the first to lose her composure. "What... what in the world are you two doing? Why did you suddenly start fighting?"

"I already told you," Feng Ling replied. "Whoever wins gets to go kill the Maze Master."

Xu Yiming asked blankly, "Can’t you go together...?"

Feng Ling and Ye Zheng exchanged a glance, then answered in perfect unison, "No."

Just as Xu Yiming was about to ask why, Li Qing quietly explained, "If they were to cooperate in battle, they’d have to suppress their spiritual power. Otherwise, they’d interfere with each other. It’s better for them to act separately."

The Spiritual Suppression of both The Queen Mother of the West and the Blazing Angel is incredibly powerful. Unleashing it is a necessary tactic against an opponent like the Maze Master. To give up that method of attack just to cooperate would actually put them at a disadvantage.

"So..." Xu Yiming said hesitantly. "They can only attack one at a time."

"We’ll take turns," Feng Ling said, glancing at Ye Zheng with a smile. "If I manage to kill it right away, then there’ll be nothing left for you to do."

Ye Zheng gave a derisive laugh, clutching her wounds as she started walking away. "When you got sucked into that mountain, I was the one who pulled you out."

Feng Ling followed her out. "And I was the one who carried you after you set everything on fire. So we’re even, right?"

Ye Zheng’s brow furrowed. "I didn’t ’set everything on fire,’" she corrected. "It’s called the Holy Radiant Flame. It burns away all the world’s injustices and sins. It uses my own energy as fuel, which is why I’m weakened after using it."

"So, what’s the blast radius? I’ll know to stay clear next time."

"It’s not a fixed range. It depends on how much energy I have left..."

"But there’s gotta be a maximum, right?"

...

The two walked farther and farther away.

Back in the safe house, the three exchanged glances, then slowly followed them out.