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Chapter 1175: Exploit a Weakness
Boom!
Zu An seemingly turned into a stream of light. After failing several times in a row, the Star Shattering Imprint had finally succeeded!
The mother worm wanted to evade and then retaliate. It was confident it could make sure that this human ant never had a chance to dodge again. But it quickly discovered that it couldn't keep up with the human’s speed. It could only watch as the pitch-black dagger stabbed toward its body.
The very air around it began to warp and ripple as it tried to repel his attack. With its current strength, the human should have been blasted into a pile of mincemeat before he could even approach. But he actually didn’t seem affected at all; its terrifying power didn’t seem to do a thing to him.
Then, the human’s dagger sliced through its ki barrier like paper. However, it didn’t panic. It still had its scaled armor that was as hard as metal. It had managed to stop this human’s attacks several times already, after all.
But it never would have expected that its incredibly tough scales were cut apart instantly by the dagger! Suddenly, it felt intense pain.
But it doesn’t matter!
There’s only so much damage such a small dagger can inflict upon me. Watch how I shred your body in half with a single bite afterward!
The pain stirred up its vicious nature, and it charged at Zu An in indignation. Suddenly, however, its entire body trembled. Then, all of its scales lost their luster, and its massive body crashed heavily into the ground. Rubble began to fall from the ceiling, causing dust to fly everywhere.
Zu An fell from the sky like a kite with its strings cut. Quickly, a white figure darted forward.
Unexpectedly, Yan Xuehen had flown over to catch him. When Zu An saw that it was her, he showed her a weak smile and murmured, “I’m glad I didn’t let everyone down.” His mind weakened the moment he finished speaking, and his head lolled to one side as he fainted into her chest.
Yan Xuehen’s cheeks flushed red. Normally, if anyone dared to do such a thing to her, she would already have frozen them into a chunk of ice. But when she saw how weak Zu An was and how expressionless his face was, she couldn't bring herself to push him away.
She walked over to the worm. She summoned her divination circle and slammed it down on the corpse, as if venting out her anger. Unfortunately, although sparks flew, her attack only left an extremely faint white imprint on its scales. She was too weak at the moment and couldn't use the divination circle at its full power; as such, she couldn't overcome the scales’ defense at all.
Suddenly, she saw faint movement in the surroundings. Some of the eggs had begun to move a bit, as if something were about to come out.
“We cannot let them break out of their shells!” Yan Xuehen cried out in alarm. She wanted to attack the eggs, but she groaned as soon as she raised her hand. Then, she collapsed to the ground powerlessly. But even though she fell, she still clung tightly onto Zu An, using her own body to break his fall.
Her beautiful brows furrowed as soon as she hit the ground. A layer of faint sweat covered her forehead. However, she didn’t cry out and instead gave Zu An a look. She sighed in relief when she saw that he was fine.
Then, she looked at the pile of eggs in the distance. She could vaguely see some small bugs squirming around inside, as if they might break out of their shells at any time.
If even a single worm emerged, all of their hard work would have been for nothing.
Yun Jianyue gritted her teeth, then unleashed the Empress Lantern’s radiance. With a gentle exhalation from her red lips, she sent out some sparks. They landed on the pile of eggs and created a raging blaze upon contact.
Miserable screams emerged from within. However, the worms weren’t even able to break out of the shells, so how could they resist those flames?  They were all quickly burnt to ashes.
A mouthful of blood burst out of Yun Jianyue’s mouth, and she swayed unsteadily from side to side. It was clear that using the Empress Lantern in her current state had left her with severe internal injuries.
“Are you alright?” Yan Xuehen quickly asked. Never would she have expected that she might actually worry about her nemesis’ safety.
“I’m sorry for disappointing you, but I won’t die,” Yun Jianyue said, wiping away the blood on her lips. She looked at Zu An and asked, “How is he?”
Yan Xuehen was annoyed when she heard Yun Jianyue’s first words, but when she heard the next question, a worried look appeared on her face. She replied, “It doesn’t look good. His breath is weak, as if it might stop at any time.”
“The Star Shattering Imprint can only be used three times a day at most, and yet he used it five times through brute force. If it were anyone else, their body would’ve exploded already,” Yun Jianyue said as she moved toward the two of them. “But this fella’s body seems to be extraordinarily tough. The fact that he’s still breathing means that there might be a chance to save him.”
She suddenly frowned and asked, “Stone cold woman, did you turn over a new leaf or something? Why are you shoving his head into your chest?”
Yan Xuehen seemed almost as if she had been struck by lightning. She quickly pushed Zu An away, exclaiming, “That was how he fell before! How could I pay attention to such a thing in a moment of danger? Only a witch like you would actually think about that at a time like this!”
“What are you doing?!” Yun Jianyue exclaimed, jumping in fright. She quickly rushed over to support Zu An. Unfortunately, her injuries were too severe, and her body was extremely weak. Even though she caught him, she staggered from his weight and rolled along the ground.
Meanwhile, Zu An’s head sank into her chest. Fortunately, that area was soft enough that he didn’t suffer any more injuries.
Yan Xuehen briefly felt regret when she saw that Zu An had been about to fall because of her. But when she saw that, she sneered. “I was wondering why you sounded a bit jealous just now. It turned out you wanted to do that yourself!”
Yun Jianyue could feel Zu An’s heavy weight, and she could even feel his shockingly low body temperature. Meanwhile, her heart was beating crazily. Even though she came from the Devil Sect, which gave her knowledge in various fields, experiencing it herself was something different entirely. She was both embarrassed and alarmed to have a man touch such a sensitive spot.
But when she heard what Yan Xuehen said, she instead calmed down and said, “He didn’t hesitate to risk his life, and he knew that only by gambling everything would we have a chance of survival. If this were a story out of literature, it would only be natural for us to devote ourselves to him. This isn’t a big deal at all.” She thought that as long as she didn’t let herself feel embarrassed, only the other person would be embarrassed.
Sure enough, compared to Yun Jianyue, who was from the Devil Sect, Yan Xuehen was more easily embarrassed. She was frightened when she heard that, saying, “You can devote yourself to him if you want; don’t drag me into it.”
Yun Jianyue sighed in relief when she saw her rival’s alarm. I made the correct choice after all.
She harrumphed, then ignored the other party. She took out a pill and fed it to Zu An. As a sect master, she naturally had some medicines on her. Even though they couldn't compare to the Ice Heart Pill, their effects weren’t bad either.
However, she suddenly felt a headache. Because Zu An was seriously injured at that moment, he couldn't ingest the medicine on his own at all. After a moment of hesitation, Yun Jianyue placed the pill into her own mouth. Then, she lowered her head. Her lips joined together, and she opened his teeth with her tongue. That way, she passed along the pill.
Yan Xuehen’s eyes widened. Her voice began to shake as she exclaimed, “He… He is your disciple’s man! Are you even going to fight her for him? Do you have any sense of shame?!”
She had personally investigated Zu An for her precious disciple’s sake, so she obviously knew about his and Qiu Honglei’s relationship. At that instant, she was filled with shock, anger, and confusion. She felt as if her treasured toy had been stolen by someone else.
Yun Jianyue raised her head, feeling the leftover heat on her lips. Her stunning features only seemed even more alluring. In truth, she was just as embarrassed as Yan Xuehen, but how could she show that in front of her old rival?
“I was just trying to save him; what in the world are you thinking?” she retorted, shooting her rival a look. “Honestly, aren’t you the one who cultivates some emotion-free technique or whatever? Why do you seem like some jealous little girl now? What, did you end up liking your disciple’s man?”
“No way! You’re speaking nonsense!” Yan Xuehen cried in a panic.
Yun Jianyue immediately felt much better when she saw Yan Xuehen’s alarm. She had never seen her rival in such a sorry state in all of the years they had interacted with each other. Looks like I chose the right path.
This is how you exploit a weakness!