“System! Activate Time Stop!”
As Gong Shangyu’s words fell, the once noisy courtyard instantly fell into complete silence, and everything around froze in absolute stasis.
The sound of the wind, explosions, distant insects chirping, the blood droplets sprayed by the alchemists from the Dan Ding Pavilion flying midair, the black-clothed male thief turning into black smoke preparing to escape, Lu Li’s anxious and furious expression, even the dust suspended in the surrounding air…
Everything within the Zhoushi Courtyard was, at this moment, as if a pause button had been pressed, utterly frozen in place.
Only Gong Shangyu in the corner could still move freely.
Her face, once flushed with embarrassment, was now replaced by a cold, murderous intent; a faint glint flickered in her pink eyes.
“Hmph! Trying to run? Did you ask me first?!”
Gong Shangyu sneered.
With a flip of her jade-like hand, a small, pitch-black metal cauldron, no bigger than a palm but exuding an ancient, heavy aura, appeared before her.
As she infused it with her spiritual power, the little cauldron swelled like an inflated balloon, growing larger with the wind.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a massive cauldron the size of a water jar, carrying the imposing might of suppressing mountains, and crashed down toward the male thief who was about to escape with Gu Qingying.
This was the “Sifang Zhen Yue Cauldron,” a replica treasure Gong Shangyu had forged by mimicking the ancient supreme treasure “Si Huang Shan He Furnace,” which she had once obtained in a certain secret realm in her previous life.
If not for her current inability to bring the authentic furnace out of the realm, she would never have resorted to crafting this replica, which was far less powerful—less than one ten-thousandth the strength of the genuine treasure furnace.
But even as a replica, the Sifang Zhen Yue Cauldron was more than enough to suppress the two demonic thieves before her!
“Sifang Zhen Yue Cauldron! Suppress them for me!”
Just as the cauldron Gong Shangyu threw was about to trap Gu Qingying and the black-clothed male thief together inside…
“Rumble! Crack…”
An unexpectedly crisp, glass-like shattering sound suddenly exploded in the absolutely frozen space right before their eyes!
Gong Shangyu’s smile instantly froze, replaced by shock and horror.
She swiftly turned her head toward the source of the shattering sound.
The source… was the direction where the female thief—who should have been immobilized by Gong Shangyu’s time stop—stood!
The frozen time around the female thief shattered like invisible glass under immense force!
Then, the female thief shot forward like a cannonball, an inexplicable faint dark aura enveloping her body as she charged directly at Gong Shangyu.
“Huh? Impossible! You can… could it be that you are also a Chong…”
Gong Shangyu cried out in disbelief, her eyes wide with shock.
Before she could finish, the female thief kicked her hard in the abdomen, a mocking gleam flashing in her eyes, cutting off Gong Shangyu’s unfinished words and forcing her to stagger back.
Like Gu Qingying, the black-clothed female thief was completely unaffected by Gong Shangyu’s time stop—or rather, she had forcibly broken free from the time stop’s restraints by some unknown method!
“Uh… wait! Stop! Don’t hit anymore! We’re all on the same side! You’re Xiaozhou, or Xiaomo? I’m your second senior sister Gong Shang…”
Before Gong Shangyu’s panicked plea could finish, the female thief gave no response.
Without even waiting for her to introduce herself, the thief’s figure vanished from where she stood, as if teleporting!
Immediately, a terrifying shadow of death enveloped Gong Shangyu!
“Bang!”
With a muffled, earth-shaking crash, Gong Shangyu didn’t even see how the attack came before she felt an agonizing, soul-piercing pain in her abdomen.
At that moment, she felt as if a speeding mountain had crashed directly into her.
The protective spiritual glow surrounding her shattered like paper, and her internal spiritual power was violently dispersed and scattered.
“Cough…”
Gong Shangyu spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
As a practitioner of alchemy, her physical strength was relatively weak.
After this blow, her consciousness blurred instantly.
The cauldron she used to suppress the male thief lost control like a kite with its string cut, rapidly shrinking back to its original form and dropping to the ground.
Looking at Gong Shangyu now, she was like a withered autumn leaf, flying backward heavily before crashing against the artificial rockery in the Zhoushi Courtyard and collapsing softly to the ground, completely unconscious.
With Gong Shangyu’s collapse, the time-stop field around them receded like a tide.
The flow of time instantly returned to normal!
Although the moment felt drawn-out for Gong Shangyu and the female thief, to everyone else in the courtyard aside from the two, everything that happened had only occurred in the blink of an eye—almost simultaneously!
Staring at the suddenly fallen Gong Shangyu and the black-clothed female thief who had changed positions almost like a ghostly teleport, Lu Li’s eyes filled with confusion and astonishment.
Hmm?
What just happened?
Why was Gong Shangyu suddenly gravely injured?
That female thief… she was right in front of me just now.
How did she suddenly appear over there?
Hiss…
Could it be teleportation?
Lu Li’s heart raced, completely unable to comprehend this supernatural event.
The male thief was equally stunned by the sudden turn of events.
But his reaction was much quicker.
Though he didn’t understand how his superior had been instantly incapacitated by the fan-wielding youth, this was undoubtedly the best chance for escape!
“Run! I’ll handle this!”
The female thief’s cold voice rang out again, faintly tinged with urgency.
Forcibly breaking Gong Shangyu’s time stop and severely injuring her came at a price.
Without hesitation, the male thief quickly scooped up Gu Qingying and recited an incantation once more.
A dark mist swirled around him, swiftly enveloping his entire body to aid his escape!
“Thief! Don’t run!”
Seeing the male thief about to flee, Lu Li no longer paused to consider the female thief’s strange teleportation.
He directly slapped his storage pouch, summoning twelve flying swords that sliced fiercely toward the male thief’s direction!
“Xutian Sword Array! Activate! Slash—”
Lu Li pressed his fingers together like a sword, pouring all his spiritual power into the twelve spirit swords without reservation!
The twelve swords immediately emitted sharp, clear sword chimes before transforming into several azure streaks of light, tearing through the air at several times their previous speed to directly intercept the male thief.
Seeing Lu Li’s Xutian Sword Array, the black-clothed female thief paused slightly, then a faint expression of reminiscence appeared on her face.
Just as Lu Li’s Zhujian at the front of the twelve flying swords was about to cut down the male thief, the female thief suddenly flicked her wrist, launching a slender black soft sword like a snake darting out of a hole, precisely striking the spine of Lu Li’s spirit sword!
“Clang clang clang…”
With a shrill screech, the two swords clashed, sparks flying brilliantly!
Lu Li’s decisive strike was forcibly deflected by the female thief’s sword!
Yet even so, the sword qi he released still grazed the male thief’s arm, splattering a blossom of blood.
Seeing her companion wounded by Lu Li, the female thief forcefully shoved him aside and shouted,
“Run!”
“Yes, mistress.”
The male thief nodded slightly, clutching Gu Qingying as he vanished into the depths of the night.
“Hmph… You want to run? Not that easy!”
Lu Li roared in anger, commanding the remaining flying swords to all slash simultaneously toward the male thief.
Just as Lu Li’s sword array was about to form completely, sealing off all escape routes and killing the male thief on the spot—
The black-clothed female thief suddenly moved!
The reminiscence in her eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a razor-sharp killing intent that was almost instinctive.
She also pressed her fingers together like a sword.
Her technique bore an uncanny resemblance to Lu Li’s sword array, but with a distinctly colder, more sinister and treacherous aura!
With a hum of vibration, twelve dark, ink-black streaks of shadow shot out from her wide sleeves!
They were also twelve flying swords, but more slender than those Lu Li had released earlier, their blades pulsating with an eerie black-purple glow that seemed to devour all surrounding light.