The woman furrowed her brows slightly at the sight, then relaxed her body. Following the rise of the tornado-like wind, she quickly climbed upward to avoid Lu Xuan's strike.
"It seems I was right!" Lu Xuan rubbed his nose, his face full of confidence.
In contrast, the woman showed a rare expression of panic for the first time.
As the tornado rose into the sky, the woman suddenly swung her palm. A black energy sphere instantly appeared and, within seconds, devoured the entire whirlwind.
But seeing this, the smile on Lu Xuan's face only grew brighter.
The woman, noticing his smile, felt as if she had been seen through completely. The feeling was deeply unsettling.
"You bastard, I'm going to gouge your eyes out!" the woman snarled, her expression twisted, stretching out her arms and reaching her claws toward Lu Xuan's eyes.
"Wow, you've really got a temper, huh?" Lu Xuan showed no fear at the sight—in fact, he seemed even more at ease.
Seeing his opponent's rage only reassured Lu Xuan, further confirming that his guess had been correct.
The black energy sphere indeed had spatial-traveling powers, but it could only be used in one place at a time.
For instance, when used on her feet, it allowed instantaneous movement. On her hands, it had space-devouring magical power.
Lu Xuan had used the secret art Tornado Gale because it wasn't a one-time attack—it was continuous and evolving. Even if the black orb could absorb it, it wouldn't do so instantly. That made it a formidable spell.
Lu Xuan had then used the Xuan Yuan footwork technique to swiftly circle behind the woman and attempt an assassination—a second test to confirm his theory.
If the black energy could be used in multiple places, the woman could have used the orb behind her to defend against his attack, or teleported away via her feet. But none of that happened.
Instead, she evaded using only basic movement and even needed time to finish absorbing the tornado.
That was the weakness Lu Xuan had found—the flaw that could bring her down!
At that moment, the woman's face shifted uncertainly. She hadn't expected Lu Xuan to unleash such a continuous spell, and she never imagined he'd figure out the weakness of her space magic.
This dealt a severe blow to her confidence and even impacted her cultivation. If the negative effects weren't removed, they could hinder her future breakthroughs.
Her best option now was to kill the smiling man in front of her.
But could she really?
This man, whose smile never faded, not only possessed powerful secret techniques but also had astonishing movement skills. If not for her own spatial abilities, she might've been crushed like Iron Fist before her.
As she pondered, the woman suddenly appeared beside Lu Xuan like a ghost.
Space magic once again spread beneath her feet, and her fingers reached toward Lu Xuan's eyes.
But this time, she was too late. Lu Xuan had already used his Xuan Yuan footwork to shift at a strange and unpredictable angle, reappearing elsewhere.
At the same time, a blood-red dagger was already in his hand, and he looked at the woman with a cheerful grin.
The woman gritted her teeth and lunged again, trailing behind Lu Xuan.
"She can only use the space magic under her feet. That means the rest of her body is just regular sixth-tier innate power—nothing special!" With that realization, Lu Xuan suddenly halted. His dagger slashed at a nearby open space.
That exact spot was where Lu Xuan had calculated she'd teleport next.
Just as the blade neared the spot, a ripple disturbed the space—and the beautiful woman materialized exactly where he expected.
At that instant, the blade reached her neck, slicing through her throat and drawing a stream of fresh blood.
"You…" The woman clutched her bleeding throat with both hands, her face filled with shock. Her throat moved as if to speak, but she never uttered another sound.
Lu Xuan had used both his Eightfold Meridians and his second secret technique in that strike, temporarily raising his first-tier innate strength to rival a seventh-tier powerhouse.
Against a sixth-tier cultivator—even with space magic—the woman didn't have time to react, much less defend.
Lu Xuan's blood-red dagger slashed clean through her throat, and the resulting force wave ravaged her internal organs entirely.
"It's over," Lu Xuan finally exhaled in relief as he watched the woman collapse.
But then, her body suddenly exploded, and a surge of power slammed into Lu Xuan's senses.
His face changed instantly. He activated the Xuan Yuan steps and darted out of the blast radius at top speed.
Even so, the explosion was far too violent, and since he was at its epicenter, not even his mystical footwork could fully escape its threat.
Boom! A thunderous explosion rocked the area. Lu Xuan felt as though an immense force was trying to rip his entire body apart.
His body flew uncontrollably through the air and was struck repeatedly by massive shards of stone and debris.
Each of these shards carried explosive force comparable to a seventh-tier innate strike. In the blink of an eye, Lu Xuan felt multiple bones shatter.
Luckily, the explosion was brief. It hit hard but vanished quickly, and thanks to his quick use of the Xuan Yuan step, Lu Xuan escaped the worst of it. Despite broken bones, his life wasn't in danger.
"That was close… I didn't expect someone would rig the corpse," Lu Xuan muttered, looking at the scorched forest flattened around him and the massive crater in front of him. His heart still raced with lingering fear.
But just then, several figures flew in at incredible speed and landed before Lu Xuan.
"You're the one who killed an entire angel team? Impressive." The speaker was a woman with a delicate face. If not for the terrifying aura around her, she might've been quite popular.
"Can't believe Iron Fist and the others were wiped out. Must've been their arrogance," said a man with a massive axe, looking down on Lu Xuan.
"Even if you're arrogant, if you can kill them, you're no slouch," added another man in a black cloak.
Lu Xuan looked at the four new arrivals. Each had a distinct appearance—some strange, some powerful, some even visually stunning.
If Iron Fist were still alive, he'd instantly recognize them as the remaining four members of the Angel Squad. And the eye-catching cute girl among them? She was none other than their captain—Ella, widely recognized as the strongest of them all.
"All right, enough chatter. We just need to capture this guy and get the item the vice-captain wants. Then our mission's done," Ella said, clearly annoyed by her teammates' banter.
She knew all too well that these teammates were egotistical maniacs—none of them got along. Though assigned by the vice-captain, each had their own agenda, and Ella was tired of working with them.
All she wanted now was to finish the mission and get back to her island for some well-earned sleep. That whole Divine Emperor tomb and rare treasure business meant nothing to her.
"In that case, let me go first," said the axe-wielding man with a grin before Ella could react.
"Why should you go first? I've been in this team longer than you. Ever heard of seniority?" the cloaked man growled coldly, clearly treating the axe guy more like a rival than an ally.
"So… whoever grabs him first wins?" said another man in a flat tone—the most unremarkable of the four.
Lu Xuan stared at the four squabbling teammates and couldn't help but feel exasperated. But secretly, he hoped their bickering would last longer—after all, the more time they wasted, the more his injuries could heal.
"Fine, let's do it your way!"
"Agreed!"
"Sounds good!"
Surprisingly, all three men agreed with the flat-faced guy's idea and began warming up to fight.
Ella looked at the three eager men around her and sighed internally. She knew that the moment she gave the order, they'd throw themselves into the battle recklessly. The problem was, when they fought so wildly, they often forgot about the actual mission.
She had even deleted mission objectives before out of frustration—and been punished by the vice-captain for it. But she didn't plan to stop them now.
After all, no one ever listened to her.
Even though she was the captain of the Angel Squad.
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