"If you want the Stellaron, you'll have to come and get it yourself. You should know the rules."
After speaking, Fu Zhu stood up from the white plastic chair, holding the Demon Blade "Hiruko". He turned to face Jingliu and finally got a clear look at her. Although the silk wrapped around her eyes obscured her full appearance, judging from her clothes, hair color, and figure alone, Fu Zhu was quite certain he had never provoked an enemy like this. Unless she was Phantylia in disguise, but Phantylia was currently playing survival in the Nether, with no time to come looking for him.
Fu Zhu opened his minimap to check her marker. He had expected a red one, but surprisingly, she was a neutral yellow. The man currently fighting March 7th was also a yellow marker.
[Jingliu], [Luocha].
Completely unfamiliar names. It was clear he had never met these two, nor did he hold any grudge against them.
Fu Zhu took the Stellaron from his inventory, holding it in his hand and waving it at Jingliu.
"Here, it's in my hand. If you want it, come and get it. Of course, you should be prepared to pay the price for trying to steal from someone. But so far, no one has ever managed to take anything from me."
Jingliu wasted no words. Confirming the Stellaron was in Fu Zhu's possession, she immediately charged forward with her sword, thrusting its tip toward the back of Fu Zhu's hand.
Seeing Jingliu's sudden attack, Fu Zhu had originally planned to defend. But when he saw she was aiming for the back of his hand, he immediately dismissed the thought of retaliating. Unhurriedly, he brought up the hitbox display.
Jingliu was fast. In an instant, her sword tip struck the back of Fu Zhu's hand. She had intended to inflict a minor injury to make him instinctively release the Stellaron, but her sword gave no feedback of piercing flesh.
Jingliu couldn't help but frown, glancing at Fu Zhu.
"An afterimage...?"
Since Luocha had said Fu Zhu could go several rounds with that Annihilation Gang Lord, he was clearly no pushover. Since her sword hadn't felt like it hit a solid target, it could only mean her opponent was too fast, and she had only struck an afterimage.
Realizing this, Jingliu immediately perked up her ears, listening intently to her surroundings. No matter how fast he was, he would make a sound. As long as she could catch the slightest noise, she could attack instantly.
After bringing up the hitbox display, Fu Zhu looked with a confused expression at Jingliu, who was now frozen in place before him, encased in a white box.
After launching one attack, she had suddenly frozen mid-motion.
"What are you doing?"
"Hmm?"
Jingliu raised an eyebrow in surprise. The voice came from its original position, and she hadn't heard any sound of movement from her surroundings.
This could only mean that Fu Zhu hadn't moved at all. Her previous attack had simply been dodged by him, but he hadn't seized the opportunity to counterattack when her attack missed. This was what gave Jingliu the false impression that she had hit an afterimage. After all, her eyes were covered now; she could only rely on her hearing.
Coming to her senses, Jingliu immediately struck again, her sword tip aimed straight at Fu Zhu's position.
This time, Fu Zhu didn't let her attack freely. With the hitbox display function active, he could clearly see her intended attack trajectory. He casually sidestepped, then unsheathed the Demon Blade "Hiruko" and swung it in an upward slash towards Jingliu.
Jingliu's attack missed. Hearing the sound of Fu Zhu's swing at the same time, she immediately spun around, attempting to parry with the ice sword in her hand.
However, the moment their blades met, Jingliu felt herself being launched into the air by an immense force. Her body inexplicably stiffened, and even her falling speed seemed to slow down slightly.
After launching her airborne, Fu Zhu began to rapidly slash at Jingliu with the Demon Blade "Hiruko".
At first, Jingliu could block a few strikes. But after only three or four seconds, she found that Fu Zhu's slashes were getting faster and faster, and she could no longer completely parry all his attacks.
Several times, the Demon Blade in Fu Zhu's hand struck her body, causing Jingliu to let out a muffled grunt.
"Don't be afraid. My attacks won't disfigure you. Even if you die, you'll die with dignity. How's that, am I gentle enough?"
While "comforting" Jingliu with his words, Fu Zhu continued to slash relentlessly. The combo rating quickly reached SSS-rank, and his damage output soared accordingly.
Seeing that the launch effect of his upward slash was about to end, Fu Zhu delivered a final blow, sending Jingliu flying straight towards Luocha, who was currently fighting March 7th.
Seeing Jingliu knocked back towards him, Luocha quickly reached out a hand to her back, intending to help her stabilize herself. But unexpectedly, the moment his hand touched her back, he was sent stumbling back several steps along with her before they barely managed to stop.
"Jingliu, are you alright?"
This was the first time Luocha had seen Jingliu be outmatched in swordplay, and injured to this extent, with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. He quickly raised a hand and summoned a green light to heal her.
As Jingliu received the treatment, the silk wrapped around her eyes suddenly shattered, leaving not a single trace behind, revealing her crimson eyes.
Seeing this, Fu Zhu couldn't help but feel a sense of relief for her.
"Good thing your clothes have higher durability than Dan Shu's. Otherwise, if you ended up naked mid-fight, I'd get distracted."
Luocha glanced at Fu Zhu, then at Jingliu's profile. When he saw that Jingliu's blindfold had been shattered by Fu Zhu's attack, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly tried to persuade her.
"Jingliu, you must calm down. Our target is just the Stellaron, not to kill him."
"I know."
Jingliu replied coldly, gripping her ice sword and taking another step towards Fu Zhu.
"But as you said, he is certainly not simple. I'm afraid it's impossible to get the Stellaron without hurting him. Luocha, be ready to provide rescue."
Hearing Jingliu's words, Luocha sighed helplessly. He understood that Jingliu was getting serious now. It seemed that this time, even if Fu Zhu didn't die, he would be crippled.
He didn't dare try to stop Jingliu when she was in her Mara-Struck state.
Just as Luocha was about to cast a pitying glance at Fu Zhu, Jingliu swung her sword, and a cold white wave of sword energy shot straight towards Fu Zhu.
It instantly exploded on Fu Zhu's body. The shattering cold energy froze a large patch of the ground around him with frost.
"Fu Zhu!"
Seeing this, March 7th immediately cried out in alarm. She then fired several arrows in succession at Jingliu and Luocha, but they were shattered by another wave of sword energy from Jingliu.
The brief exchange confirmed for Jingliu that March 7th was no threat to her, so she casually instructed Luocha.
"She's yours. I'm going to get the Stellaron."
Then, she strode towards Fu Zhu.
Luocha nodded, turned to block March 7th's path, and sighed helplessly at her.
"Miss, I've already told you, we just want to borrow the Stellaron. If you had cooperated a little, things wouldn't have turned out like this."
Seeing Luocha blocking her way, March 7th couldn't help but snort coldly.
She had seen the scene of Fu Zhu sitting on the plastic chair talking to Jingliu earlier, and she had figured a few things out. The Fu Zhu of the past would probably have attacked the moment the other party opened their mouth. But earlier, Fu Zhu had been surprisingly patient while talking to Jingliu. Combined with Fu Zhu's insistent request for her to take a picture of him sitting on the plastic chair, it was obvious that he was recreating a famous scene from some anime or other work.
Knowing full well that the other party came with ill intentions, for Fu Zhu to still be so playful could only mean one thing!
Fu Zhu didn't consider them to be worthy opponents!
"Cooperate? Hmph, you're the ones who should be cooperating! Fu Zhu is much stronger than you imagine!"
Just as March 7th's words fell, a dark blue wave of sword energy suddenly shot out from the swirling white mist, heading straight for Jingliu.
Jingliu was startled, but she immediately swung her own sword in return, sending out a wave of sword energy to counter.
However, the two waves of sword energy, which should have cancelled each other out, passed right through each other. The dark blue sword energy pierced through Jingliu's body as she watched in astonishment.
Jingliu's eyes went wide. A mouthful of blood spewed uncontrollably, splattering on the ground. She stumbled and fell to one knee, barely managing to support herself with her ice sword.
Jingliu looked up in disbelief towards the dissipating white mist. She saw Fu Zhu walking out completely unharmed. He glanced at the sword energy Jingliu had unleashed, and with just a casual wave of the Demon Blade "Hiruko" in his hand, he erased it completely, not leaving a single trace behind.
"So it's a projectile-type attack."
Previously, Fu Zhu hadn't drawn his sword to defend against her attack not because he didn't have time, but because he wanted to test Jingliu's damage output on himself, so he could adjust his tactics accordingly.
The result was unexpected. Her damage was somewhat mediocre; one hit had only taken away a tenth of his health. And because he had the [Saturation] and [Health Recovery] effects granted by a Trailblaze blessing, he just had to take a couple of breaths, and his health was back to full.
In that case, he didn't need to use any fancy tactics. A direct stat and mechanics check would be enough!
Fu Zhu muttered to himself, then looked at the kneeling Jingliu and asked with feigned surprise.
"What's wrong, madam? Did you drop your wallet?"
Jingliu took a few deep breaths, straightened herself up again, and stared at Fu Zhu with a frown.
"That move you just used... it was strange."
If Jingliu had tried to dodge from the start, Fu Zhu's move would not have hit her. But she had been confident that her own sword energy was fully capable of nullifying his. To her utter surprise, his sword energy passed right through hers, as if it had no physical form. And yet, this bizarre move was able to ignore her sword energy, inflict damage on her, and leave no trace of injury on her body.
"Don't think about it. It's magic damage. It's not something that can be blocked by just any physical attack or physical defense."