"You possess an unpleasant aura," the gatekeeper of the fourteenth level stated slowly. Xiao Man's peculiar energy subtly suppressed him, making him deeply uncomfortable.
Xiao Man offered no reply. If he found her disagreeable, she found him unbearable. He had trapped Yue Ran when he was off guard and stolen her Bamboo Azure. Their feud was now significant. If she didn't settle the score today, she wouldn't be Xiao Man!
Suddenly, the fierce beasts attacking Xiao Man dissolved into puddles of water and vanished, leaving stains on the ground. Xiao Man visibly relaxed, sighing with relief that it had worked.
The man sat up straight, disbelief evident. He immediately pointed to several more paintings, releasing the beasts within. However, as soon as the beasts appeared, they turned to water, their previous ferocity gone.
The man paused, then reached for a painting. It was damp. This room had become incredibly humid without him realizing it, perfectly countering his attacks. "You are quite clever."
"I'll offer you a piece of advice: release my third brother and return my spirit beasts. It's not too late to regret your actions now," Xiao Man said unhurriedly. These were his own words, now returned to him verbatim.
"A mere Golden Core cultivator, and already this arrogant?" The man set down his brush. A powerful aura erupted from him, forcing Xiao Man to stumble back three steps before she could regain her balance.
"No wonder the Heavenly Sword Sect is called the foremost of the Four Great Sects. Nascent Soul cultivators are as numerous as cow hair."
"Cow hair..." The man frowned, clearly displeased with Xiao Man's analogy. "If I am cow hair, what are you?"
Sensing killing intent, Xiao Man swiftly dodged. Upon landing, she shot out like an arrow, snatching the painting containing the seal for Bamboo Azure and another painting from the table. Yue Ran had been looking at this painting; it was highly probable he was imprisoned within it.
"You are very arrogant."
"You are not the only one who calls me arrogant," Xiao Man replied calmly, tucking the painting away.
"Don't you know that arrogant people don't live long?"
"Many say arrogant people don't live long, yet here I am, still alive and well," Xiao Man said, switching her long sword for a short one. This sword, custom-made for her by Nangong Yu, could slice through iron and drew blood without a visible trace.
"Those who cannot pass my trial will eventually become my collection. Why don't you become my collection too?" The man moved like lightning, appearing behind Xiao Man and striking at her nape. Xiao Man lunged forward, evading his attack. With a twist of her wrist, she slashed outward, tearing his robes and leaving a shallow bloody gash on his waist.
The man looked at the wound on his waist. It was a tiny cut, barely breaking the skin, but for someone who hadn't been injured in years, it was a profound insult.
"Kid, you forced my hand!"
Xiao Man faced his fury with composure. "Good. When people get angry, they lose their calm and make mistakes. If I seize that mistake, I can win!"
"Do you think you still have a chance to win?" The man's voice echoed near her ear. Xiao Man reacted with lightning speed, swinging her hand, but hit empty air. Instead, she took a palm strike and slammed against the wall, spitting blood in her disarray.
Before she could recover, his attack came again. Even as a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, she was no match for a Nascent Soul cultivator. The only reason she had lasted so many moves against Cang Feng was that he hadn't intended to kill her.
Later, in the Ghost Realm, Cang Feng had harbored killing intent, but Chen An protected her, leaving her unharmed. The man before her was a genuine Nascent Soul cultivator, and he had killing intent. Faced with such a powerful foe, all her skills seemed childish.
However, she was not one to complain about fate. Knowing she was outmatched, why would she give up easily? She had ascended this far to find Chen An's soul. The higher she climbed, the stronger the feeling became; Chen An's soul was within this Purgatory Tower.
"Do you think people don't die in the Purgatory Tower?" the man's voice seemed to come from everywhere. "The Purgatory Tower is filled with countless vengeful spirits. Those who try to force their way through without sufficient strength are merely seeking death."
"Is that so?" Xiao Man wiped the blood from her lips and tossed a painting into the air. The painting spontaneously ignited, its flames an unsettling hue. Moments later, Yue Ran appeared before them.
The man looked surprised, apparently not expecting Yue Ran to escape so quickly.
"Dishonorable! A dignified Nascent Soul cultivator ambushing me!" Yue Ran exclaimed indignantly as he emerged. "Second Brother, let's beat him together."
Xiao Man pulled Yue Ran to her side and, with lightning speed, popped a pill into his mouth. "Even if we fought together, we wouldn't be his match."
Yue Ran swallowed the pill. "Then we surrender?"
"Surrender? Impossible!" Xiao Man said fiercely. "Just for what he did to you, we can't let him off!"
Yue Ran grinned from ear to ear. "I'll do whatever Second Brother says."
"If your parents heard that, they'd probably be furious. To raise their son painstakingly, only to have him snatched away by a few words from an outsider."
"You're not an outsider!" Yue Ran declared proudly. "You're one of us."
Xiao Man's expression shifted. If she took Chen An's soul and plunged the Heavenly Sword Sect into chaos, would Yue Ran still consider her one of them? Would he be enraged and fight her?
"Are you two done talking?" the man asked, his narrow phoenix eyes fixed on them dangerously. "If you're finished, come and die."
The two exchanged a look and quickly separated, flanking the man from left and right. The man sneered, "A mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating yourselves."
However, Xiao Man's kick caused the man's arm to tingle slightly. He couldn't help but frown. As a Nascent Soul cultivator guarding the fourteenth level, his abilities were exceptional, and his physical resilience was high. Why did his arm feel numb?
What was even stranger to the man was that, although he could clearly see their movements, for some reason, he couldn't dodge them!
The man retreated rapidly, but his speed couldn't match Yue Ran and Xiao Man's. As soon as he pulled back, they were on him again. Their attacks grew fiercer, and he was beginning to struggle.
Seeing this, the man quickly reached for the paintings, only to find that all the paintings on this floor were damp and unusable.
"When did..." Disbelief filled the man's eyes. A moment later, it dawned on him. Earlier, Xiao Man had darted around the room. At that time, she hadn't just been evading his attacks; she had been destroying his paintings!