Boom!
The log shattered into sawdust, spraying everywhere like splashed water. An unusually thick hand slammed onto the ground. Ice Duke’s eyes bulged; the space where his left hand had been was now empty, and blood sprayed from the stump of his wrist.
Crack, crack!
Gu Lian clenched her fist, her bones popping like roasted beans. She leaned her body back, watching Ice Duke from an inverted position. She was smiling, revealing a mouthful of forest-white teeth.
Fire of Dead Silence clung to her fist, the flames forming a grinning skull. Ice Duke’s pupils shrank slightly. Ignoring his severed left hand, he gripped his greatsword with his right and swung it down.
Boom!
Dirt kicked up like buckshot. Gu Lian twisted her body, and the heavy sword grazed past her face. The wind pressure from the blade ruffled her flame-like hair. Pulling her right hand to her waist, she threw a punch as fast as a lightning strike, letting out a sharp, whistling sound as it broke the air.
Facing this ferocious punch, Ice Duke gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
“Lan, Feng Nü, hurry up!”
Ice Duke extended his single arm and flipped the greatsword, switching to a reverse grip to block.
Clang!
A crisp, metallic ring echoed. The moment the black fist made contact with the greatsword, the Fire of Dead Silence stained the blade. The thick, sharp metal began to rust and weather at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“You can’t block my bullets or my dashing looks!”
Lan jumped into the air with a gun in each hand, his body nearly parallel to the ground. The dark muzzles of both pistols were aimed directly at Gu Lian.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Six bullets left the barrels in an instant. Leaving trails of wind in the air, they shot straight for Gu Lian’s head.
With a loud thump, Gu Lian kicked the ground, using the force to dodge. The bullets whistled through the gap between her and Ice Duke.
“Beautiful!”
Ice Duke quickly retreated to put some distance between them. Although Lan was a flashy show-off, his timing and accuracy were impeccable.
As the bullets grazed past her, Gu Lian’s right leg kicked over her head. The moment her body leaned back, her right foot planted into the earth. She performed a backflip, immediately followed by a forward lunge with her left knee bent, rushing forward with great speed.
Seeing this, Ice Duke’s eyes lit up. He thrust his greatsword into the ground and pulled a cylindrical grenade from the back of his waist.
This was no ordinary grenade. It wasn’t filled with steel balls or gunpowder, but rather compressed Cryptic Energy.
While Cryptic Energy might make a Weiyi stronger, this compressed version could indirectly affect the energy inside a Weiyi’s body through high-frequency vibrations, producing a dizzying effect.
Clink!
Ice Duke pulled the pin and threw the grenade. At that moment, Gu Lian’s pupils contracted into needle points. Her scalp tingled as her physical instincts screamed a warning.
Gu Lian didn’t hold back this time. The Fire of Dead Silence on her shoulders flared up again. She swung her arms in the air, forming a wall of flames in front of her.
Thud!
A muffled explosion rang out. Gu Lian’s vision blurred as the Fire of Dead Silence in front of her exploded out of control. Sparks of fire scattered everywhere. Ice Duke, who had intended to use the opportunity to rush her, retreated violently, yet several sparks still landed on him.
Without any hesitation, Ice Duke pulled a dagger from the back of his boot. Before the sparks could spread, he sliced off the pieces of clothing and the small patches of skin they had touched.
Yuan San’s miserable state was still fresh in his mind. He absolutely could not let that ashen-gray fire touch him — not even a single spark!
Screech!
A spear scraped against the ground, trailing a series of sparks like a bolt of lightning. With a sickly, manic expression, Feng Nü rushed forward at full speed. She suddenly gripped the end of the spear shaft, and the blade bounced off the ground, drawing a semicircle in the air as it slashed toward Gu Lian’s neck.
Her focus gradually returning, Gu Lian bit the tip of her tongue, and her mind instantly cleared.
Snap!
Gu Lian dropped directly to the ground, but her lower legs remained upright. As the spear blade whistled over her head, the muscles in her legs bulged slightly, and she stood back up with supernatural agility.
Gu Lian raised her fist, the Fire of Dead Silence burning fiercely, and threw a punch toward Ice Duke.
Ice Duke’s face twisted with frustration. He really wanted to curse right now. He wanted to roar, ‘You’re not chasing that show-off, and you’re not fighting the crazy woman next to you — why are you targeting me?!’
Clang!
The sharp, metallic ring was loud enough to make their ears ache. A spear suddenly swept between Gu Lian and Ice Duke, blocking the punch.
Crack!
The Fire of Dead Silence scorched the spear’s surface. In an instant, the weapon began to crack and rust.
Bang! Bang!
Lan performed a roll on the ground. As he leaped backward, he fired two more shots. The two bullets left the barrels one after another, trailing electric blue tails through the air.
These bullets were moving too fast. Gu Lian took a deep breath and ignored them.
Splatter!
Blood sprayed from Gu Lian’s shoulder and the right side of her chest. The bullets tore through her body and slammed into the meadow, sending dirt flying.
At the same time, with a loud crack, the spear in Feng Nü’s hand shattered. Gu Lian felt a sudden jolt in her arm. The powerful thrusting force forced her back several steps.
Clatter.
Metal shards fell from Feng Nü’s fingertips. Even she couldn’t help but twitch her eyes. Feng Nü retreated a few steps, while Ice Duke shouted at the top of his lungs, “Is it ready yet?!”
“It’s ready! Retreat!”
Boom!
A muffled roar suddenly erupted from mid-air. A violent flash of fire cut through the atmosphere and slammed down in front of Gu Lian, before blooming into a magnificent explosion.
Thump! Thump!
Ice Duke and Feng Nü were sent flying to the corner of the clearing by the blast’s shockwave. Their heads buzzed. In perfect synchronization, both characters raised their hands to cover their chests as a trail of blood leaked from the corners of their mouths.
“Damn it, she should be dead this time, right?”
Ice Duke spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm and struggled to stand, but he failed several times in a row.
“She should be dead… right?”
Feng Nü was no longer as frenzied as before. Her head was indeed a bit unstable, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed being a punching bag. From the beginning until now, she hadn’t managed to land a single hit with her spear, and she ended up getting hit by a bomb at the end. It was incredibly frustrating.
Sizzle, sizzle!
The dazzling firelight abruptly dimmed. The earth began to crack, and a layer of frost rapidly spread across the ground. A rolling heatwave swept through, but gray became the dominant color of the area. The heat generated by the flames and the bone-chilling cold merged together in a contradictory display.
Sizzle, sizzle!
The sound of burning flesh drifted over. Ice Duke and Feng Nü’s faces froze. Gu Lian, her entire body charred black, stepped out from the flames. With every step she took, she left behind a footprint burning with the Fire of Dead Silence.
“This is way too weiyi… What can I say? As expected of a Singularity Class…”
Ice Duke’s smile was exceptionally strained. Feng Nü’s expression, however, completely broke down.
“This damned monster… I’m actually starting to fall for her!”
“???”
Ice Duke looked at Feng Nü with a deep frown. Encountering such a freak, he was wise enough to shift slightly to the side. He honestly didn’t know how Feng Nü had passed the Hunter Assessment in the first place.
However, Ice Duke was still Ice Duke. As the only normal person among the three, he still had a trump card left.
Looking at Gu Lian, who was now less than thirty meters away, Ice Duke took a deep breath and screamed toward the sky,
“Lan, get over here and save me! I can’t hold on much longer!”