Chapter 25: Catch the bug

“An overwhelming annihilation?” Luo Qingchen rolled her eyes.

“With our current damage output, we’re just giving him a massage. Where are we supposed to find overwhelming damage? Do you have any high-damage, one-time-use treasures?”

Ling Xiyue gripped the Green Scale Sword, her lips pressed together until they turned white, and she slowly shook her head.

There was truly no way.

This was a dead end.

Luo Qingchen stared at the giant’s newly healed knee, stroking her chin as her mind raced.

‘How does this thing recover its health?’

‘It relies on those scattered crystal fragments to piece itself back together.’

‘In my past life’s games, I encountered puzzle monsters that could resurrect infinitely; even if you shattered them, they could reassemble. But what if a few pieces of the puzzle went missing?’

‘That’s it!’

‘I have the exclusive space of the Deception Jade Slip!’

Luo Qingchen’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, and she suddenly slapped her thigh.

“I have a way!”

Ling Xiyue turned her head to look at her.

“You just said it sucks the fragments back in to reorganize, right?” Luo Qingchen lowered her voice.

Ling Xiyue nodded.

“Then what if the fragments are gone?”

“What do you mean?”

Luo Qingchen grinned, revealing two rows of small white teeth.

“Divine Might Tactics!”

“Banishment!”

Ling Xiyue’s brows furrowed slightly, completely unable to understand these strange terms.

Luo Qingchen explained it in plain English.

“When it breaks into a floor full of pieces, I’ll confiscate its tools of the trade.”

“As long as my hand speed is fast enough, I’ll shove all those crystal fragments into my storage space before it can reorganize.”

“Once I cut off the physical connection, I want to see what it uses to recover!”

Ling Xiyue was stunned.

In her dozen years of cultivation, she had read countless ancient texts and seen numerous ways to break formations.

However, she had never seen someone act so… dishonorably.

Stealing the body parts of a formation monster?

What kind of tactic was that?

“Are you sure this will work?” Ling Xiyue pressed.

“Things born of formations all possess spirituality. Forcing them into a storage bag can easily cause the bag to rupture.”

Luo Qingchen waved her hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry, the quality of my storage tool is excellent. It can handle a few broken stones. Besides, at a time like this, don’t worry about that.”

“Furthermore, if we don’t try now, we’re both going to be buried here. Let’s treat a dead horse as if it were a living one!”

Ling Xiyue was silent for a moment before finally choosing to believe her.

“Fine, I’ll trust you this once.”

Luo Qingchen was pleased.

‘This Senior Sister is alright; she’s a bit rigid, but she listens to reason.’

“Get ready to work!”

“In a moment, don’t worry about the joints or whatever.”

“Use every bit of strength you have to charge up a big move and aim directly for its upper body.”

“Try to shatter it as much as possible.”

“Leave the rest to me!”

Luo Qingchen kicked off the ground, her entire body turning into a gray shadow once more as she charged straight at the giant.

“Grandson! Your Grandpa Luo is here!”

As she ran, Luo Qingchen flipped her middle finger at the giant.

The giant did not understand the gesture, but that provocative tone was more than enough to max out its hatred.

The red light in its single eye flared intensely.

As expected, the giant abandoned Ling Xiyue and took massive strides to pursue Luo Qingchen.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

The massive soles of its feet crashed down repeatedly.

Luo Qingchen pushed the Snowless Tread to its limit.

She dodged left, turned right, slide-tackled, and tumbled.

Her figure was incredibly slippery as she frantically wove through the gaps between the giant’s feet.

“Did you forget to eat?! Is that all the strength you have?!”

“The material of your crystals is no good! Did your master cut corners?!”

“You’re so clumsy you’re worse than a dog! Even Xiao Bai runs faster than you!”

Luo Qingchen kept spewing trash talk.

The giant was completely enraged.

It clenched both fists and slammed them violently into the ground.

A wild shockwave exploded outward, centered on the giant.

Luo Qingchen was tossed into the air by the blast and rolled seven or eight times on the ground before steadying herself.

“Pah!”

Spitting the mud out of her mouth, Luo Qingchen looked up and shouted.

“Are you ready yet?! I’m about to reach my limit!”

Not far away, Ling Xiyue had already closed her eyes.

The Green Scale Sword hovered before her, emitting a violent hum.

The spiritual power within her body was being frantically compressed and gathered.

This was a high-level sword decree of Hidden Sword Mountain, but since her injuries had only just healed, forcing its execution would likely cause her wounds to reopen.

But she had no way back.

Ling Xiyue knew the consequences of this strike.

However, looking at that petite figure in the distance — jumping up and down and talking nonsense while taking all the danger upon herself — a strange, indescribable emotion welled up in her heart.

She would risk it!

Ling Xiyue snapped her eyes open.

A blinding green light glowed deep within her pupils.

“Green Scale Art, Fifth Style…”

“Mountain Cleaver!”

The Green Scale Sword soared into the sky.

In mid-air, the blade expanded against the wind, transforming into a 3-zhang-long phantom of a massive green sword.

Sword intent roamed wildly, instantly grinding the withered leaves at the bottom of the Heavenly Pit into powder.

The giant sensed the threat.

It turned its head, its single eye staring fixedly at the giant sword in the air.

It raised its thick arms, crossing them over its head for protection.

“Slash!”

Ling Xiyue pointed her fingers like a sword and swung down fiercely.

The 3-zhang-long green sword phantom, carrying a momentum that could destroy heaven and earth, cleaved down upon its head.

*Rumble!*

The sword phantom slammed violently into the giant’s arms.

After a stalemate of less than half a breath, the hard Spirit Sand Crystals emitted a series of dense cracking sounds.

*Crack! Crack!*

The sword phantom cut through the giant’s defense like dry rot, cleaving diagonally down from its left shoulder.

*Bang!*

The giant’s entire left side exploded.

Crystal fragments of all sizes flew through the air.

“Now!”

Ling Xiyue collapsed to her knees, drained of strength.

Gasping for air, she stared fixedly ahead.

Luo Qingchen had been waiting for this.

Using the aftershocks of the sword energy’s explosion, she lunged off the ground and leapt into the air.

She pushed the storage capacity of the Deception Jade Slip to its absolute limit.

An invisible rift opened in the void, creating a domineering suction force.

“Collect!”

Luo Qingchen spread her arms, transforming into a human vacuum cleaner.

The crystal fragments in the air, which were still shimmering with a dark yellow light and preparing to pull themselves back together, all changed their trajectories.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*

In a single breath, they flew toward Luo Qingchen and vanished into the void before her.

Not a single piece remained.

It was clean and efficient.

Luo Qingchen landed on the ground and clapped her hands.

She even hefted the storage bag in her hand and muttered a sentence.

“With so many high-grade crystals, I could sell them for quite a lot of spirit stones. This was a huge profit.”

In the center of the Heavenly Pit, the giant — now with only the right half of its body remaining — froze in place.

That massive single eye flashed frantically, its red light flickering on and off.

A stuttering, mechanical voice echoed from within the giant.

**[Body damage detected…]**

**[Initiating repair sequence…]**

**[Searching for crystals…]**

**[Search failed…]**

**[Retrying search…]**

**[Logic error…]**

The giant’s repair logic had fallen into an infinite loop.

Its massive body froze where it stood, its right leg half-raised, stuck in place.

Behind her, Ling Xiyue sat paralyzed on the ground.

Watching this scene, she was utterly dumbfounded.

‘It actually worked?’

‘It was broken just like that?’

‘That little thief really had a way?’

Ling Xiyue’s chest heaved violently.

She felt as though the worldview she had held for over ten years was collapsing.

Luo Qingchen stood nearby, triumphantly tossing her Five Elements Blade.

“See that?! That’s what you call technique!”

“As long as your thinking doesn’t backslide, there are always more solutions than problems!”

Before she could finish gloating, a sudden change occurred.

The red light in the eye of the giant, which was stuck in a logic loop, suddenly turned into a piercing blood-red color.

The mechanical voice became sharp and ear-piercing.

**[Repair failure!]**

**[Target determined to be using cheating methods!]**

**[Initiating self-destruct elimination attack!]**

The giant’s remaining right leg slammed into the ground.

Its massive body launched upward in an incredibly eerie fashion.

It disregarded its own balance entirely, and its remaining right arm swept out at an illogical angle.

Its speed was more than twice as fast as before.

Its target was directed straight at Luo Qingchen.

Luo Qingchen had just finished her bravado when she faced the giant’s sudden outburst.

Seeing that massive stone fist whistling toward her, carrying a gale of wind, she cursed inwardly.

‘Damn it, if you can’t win, you go berserk? Cheating? I’ll cheat your grandmother!’

It was over.

She couldn’t dodge it.

There was no way to dodge.

If this hit landed, she would be turned directly into a pile of meat paste.

“Watch out!”

Ling Xiyue’s eyes felt as if they were splitting.

She forcibly swallowed the blood welling up in her throat, grabbed the Green Scale Sword from the ground, and threw it with all her might.

*Whoosh!*

The Green Scale Sword turned into a streak of light, accurately piercing into the joint of the giant’s right arm.

The blade went straight through the crystal.

The giant’s right arm jerked, and its force was forcibly reduced by one-third.

But that was not enough.

The massive impact of a Golden Core stage entity was still lethal.

Luo Qingchen had no way to avoid it.

In this life-or-death moment, her mind was strangely calm.

‘If I can’t run, I’ll take it head-on!’

Luo Qingchen forcibly twisted her body in mid-air, her hands gripping the Five Elements Blade with a death grip.

She held it across her chest, facing the massive fist.

“Blade Deflection Art!”

Whether she could block it or not depended entirely on fate.

Luo Qingchen stared at the giant’s fist, capturing the trajectory of the spiritual energy flowing within it.

Just as the fist was about to smash into her face and the bone-chilling wind stung her cheeks, she moved forward instead of retreating.

The instant the fist was about to touch the tip of her nose, the Five Elements Blade suddenly rose to meet it.

The blade traced a mysterious arc.

*Ting!*

An incredibly crisp sound of clashing metal rang out at the bottom of the Heavenly Pit.

The flat of the Five Elements Blade blocked the spiritual energy node on the giant’s palm with extreme precision.

A wonderful vibrating force bounced back along the blade.

The giant’s fist was actually shaken back an inch by this power.

The Blade Deflection Art was a success! The damage was significantly reduced!

However, the foundation of a Golden Core monster remained.

The massive impact followed the handle of the blade.

Luo Qingchen’s arms went numb, instantly losing all sensation.

Her internal organs felt as if they were being turned upside down.

*Puff!*

Luo Qingchen sprayed a mouthful of blood toward the sky, the red mist scattering in the air.

Her entire body flew backward, moving so fast she left an afterimage.