Chapter 71: Formidable Opponent

Su Chen was slightly surprised to see a young maiden.

After all, in his eyes only a poisonous, scheming, and sinister youth could possibly pull off this kind of bait-and-switch scheme.

Once he saw that the person who emerged didn’t quite fit his profile, he instinctively paused for a moment, off-guard.

It was this brief pause that delayed him slightly.

Normally, this delay wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, Su Chen hadn’t kicked a rock or anything, and he hadn’t made any noise either.

Even so, the young maiden still sensed him.

She immediately turned around and yelled, “Who is it?”

There was no more time to waste.

Su Chen’s only reply was a fireball hurtling in her direction.

Because he wasn’t out for blood, Su Chen didn’t use the more powerful Firehawk. To most unprepared people, a direct hit with a fireball was enough to knock them out of a fight.

However, the young maiden before him evidently wasn’t “most people”.

The instant the fireball appeared, she moved.

Her figure disappeared as if she were a ghost, dodging it in an instant.

The fireball passed through the afterimage the young woman left behind her, slamming into the nearby stone wall and sending a wave of flames through the air.

She had dodged the fireball’s direct impact, but she was unable to dodge the resulting wave of flames. The young maiden let out a cry as she flew through the air.

Su Chen slashed out with a Thunder Blade.

To take your life while you’re sick wasn’t just a saying. Since he had already made a move, there was no reason to show mercy right now, especially since his opponent had shockingly quick reflexes.

Truly shocking!

Even though her body was in midair, the young maiden was still able to react.

She swung her arm backwards, slamming into the Thunder Blade and borrowing the momentum to retreat, trying to increase the distance between them.

However, Su Chen was quite experienced in ambushing others.

How so? He had already made all of the necessary preparations, unlike his opponent, who was reacting on the fly.

Su Chen immediately activated his Soul Eye after releasing Thunder Blade.

Ancient Arcana Techniques had the benefit of allowing one to prepare the Origin Energy Patterns in advance, then release them together. Although they could only be released one after another, the gap between activation was much shorter. Origin Energy Patterns, on the other hand, couldn’t be activated too early in advance and wouldn’t last indefinitely, and they required constant Origin Energy expenditure. Thus, this benefit was only really used in these kinds of circumstances.

He activated his Soul Eye, and the young maiden’s figure froze in midair.

Su Chen then attacked with another Thunder Blade.

He didn’t want to kill her, so he had only used Thunder Blade.

The blade slammed into his opponent, and the young maiden let out a pained cry. However, she also regained consciousness and floated to the ground.

Right when she landed, Su Chen charged out from his hiding place, attacking with two Thunder Blades simultaneously. He had carefully planned out his attacks very well to injure his opponent and paralyze her ability to do battle without taking her life.

His calculations were very precise, save for one thing.

The young maiden’s counter.

The young maiden raised her head to stare at Su Chen, a light subtly shining in her eyes.

Su Chen’s consciousness suddenly trembled.

Dammit, his opponent also had consciousness-type Origin Skills!

Even more annoying was her response.

If it was anyone else, they probably would’ve taken the opportunity to deal with Su Chen’s two Thunder Blade strikes.

But she did not.

She did not try to dodge the two Thunder Blades, instead choosing to meet them head on. As she forcefully resisted the strikes, her hand carved an arc of light through the air.

Thankfully, Su Chen had applied a Meg’s Guardian to himself before attacking. Even so, he was sent flying by the young maiden’s attacks. The attack’s surging energy and the fact that two of his Meg’s Guardians had suddenly disappeared implied that this attack was not weak.

Of course, the young maiden wasn’t much better off. Getting hit by two Thunder Blades had injured her as well, but most importantly she had gained the upper hand. As she sent Su Chen flying, she pulled out an item and tossed into the air.

The originally dark cave was suddenly illuminated as if it were daytime, a warm light suffusing through the cavern.

Su Chen originally thought that the item was some kind of powerful attack instrument, but he discovered that it was just a common Moonlight Stone.

What was she trying to accomplish by using a Moonlight Stone to light up the room?

Su Chen didn’t understand.

However, he had no time to think about it. The young maiden’s strength and reflexes both exceeded his expectations. The instant he shook off the attack on his consciousness, Su Chen finally released the Erupting Firebird that he had been preparing beforehand.

Whoosh!

The massive strengthened Erupting Firebird let out a cry as it flew forwards.

Su Chen finally started going all out.

Right when the Erupting Firebird appeared, a trace of surprise flashed across the young maiden’s eyes as she coldly said, “It’s you!”

As she said those words, the young maiden flew into the air. She slowly began to blend into the brilliant rays of moonlight. It was as if her body had ceased to exist, instead becoming moonlight.

The Erupting Firebird passed through the light, hitting nothing but air.

“It’s you!”

This second “It’s you”, however, came from Su Chen.

The young maiden’s move was identical to what he had seen when Night Demon had been attacked by that assassin.

The two of them discovered their opponent’s identity simultaneously.

“So you’re a remnant of the Immortal Temple!” A thick killing intent began to suffuse from the white-clothed young maiden.

She reappeared out of thin air and clawed through the air. An image of a sharp talon slashed down at Su Chen’s head, carrying with it a destructive momentum.

Su Chen knew the situation was not good.

He retreated.

As fast as he could!

Simultaneously, an Erupting Firehawk took flight.

The Firehawk slammed into the Jade-Crushing Claw. The young maiden’s claw obliterated the Firehawk, causing a ferocious wave of flames to erupt in her palm. The young maiden’s hand became transparent, however, and the flames passed right through her hand without injuring her in the slightest. The jade claw then reformed, and she jabbed out with her fingers, sending a streak of moonlight flying.

Su Chen finally understood why his opponent was using the Moonlight Stone.

Not only could the young maiden borrow the moonlight to conceal herself, but she could also use it to attack.

Su Chen didn’t know how powerful her attacks were, and he didn’t want to find out.

Just as her moonlight finger was about to reach him, Su Chen’s figure disappeared into thin air.

Whitetower Teleportation.

In the next instant, he reappeared behind the young maiden.

A wave of Origin Energy bullets slammed into the young maiden.

The young maiden’s Moonlight Concealment technique could be used in rapid succession for a short period of time. As the Origin Energy Bullets flew towards her, she disappeared into the light once again.

The wave of Origin Energy Bullets flew through her, not injuring her in the slightest.

The young maiden reappeared from the moonlight and clawed at Su Chen.

Su Chen shifted backwards with the Snaking Mist Steps as he simultaneously released a Clear Wind Net.

The Clear Wind Net tore through her, and cuts could be seen on the young maiden’s arms. She ignored them, however, and jabbed out with her fingers. This time, five Moonlight Fingers flew towards Su Chen.

The Meg’s Guardian could no longer hold out. Su Chen’s barriers shattered, and a finger struck both his chest and his left arm.

In that same instant, however, a wave of flames erupted from behind the young maiden.

This wave of flames was very sudden and without warning. The white-clothed young maiden was unable to defend herself in time, and she was sent flying towards Su Chen.

This time, she had no way of using Moonlight Concealment.

Su Chen charged forwards and slammed his palm into her chest, interrupting the flow of Origin Energy in her body. The young maiden crumpled into Su Chen’s arms.

After another quick palm strike to the back of the head, the young maiden’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and passed out.