"How long are you going to keep hiding? Don't you think that right now, you look more like a rat lurking in the shadows for a sneak attack than we do?"
Jinchuan scanned the surroundings, shouting his taunts with growing irritation as he failed to locate his target. After a few more moments of silence, Cipher remained nowhere to be seen.
"Wuya, you don't think she ran away, do you?" Jinchuan asked, frowning at the man beside him.
Feng Wuya shook his head firmly, dismissing the notion.
"My barrier isn't just a physical obstruction. Even if she turned into a spiritual entity, she wouldn't be able to escape. Furthermore, I had Lin Zhenyi place a spatial blockade anchor on my barrier. Even if she possesses spatial-type items, escape is impossible."
"Tsk. Then she must be using some kind of invisibility item to lay low."
Hearing Wuya's explanation, Jinchuan turned back toward the open space.
"Since you love to hide so much, let's see how you deal with this!"
As he spoke, violent energy began to coalesce in his palms once more. Unlike before, however, Jinchuan didn't release it immediately. He kept the power suppressed within his hands, allowing it to grow larger and more unstable by the second.
"Oh? It hasn't even been that long, yet you're already this desperate? You've started acting like a rabid rat, snapping at everything in sight."
The purple glow faded, and Cipher appeared directly in front of the two men, tossing out a casual insult to the arrogant Jinchuan.
The primary reason she had stayed hidden was to identify the man standing next to him—the one called Feng Wuya. After all, she only had one shot. If [A Wisp of Aura] truly possessed the power to kill through his barrier, it would be best to eliminate the source of that barrier first.
"Finally decided to show yourself?" Jinchuan fixed his eyes on Cipher, his gaze dark and predatory. "I thought you were going to hide forever like a turtle in its shell. Since you're out, prepare to die!"
The energy in his hands swirled even faster.
Cipher didn't show a hint of panic at the sight. Instead, she adopted a look of weary resignation, her voice dripping with disdain.
"Heh. It seems if I don't show a bit of my true ability... you'll both keep assuming I'm helpless against you, won't you?"
"Hmph. Pure bluffing."
Seeing Cipher laugh in the face of a dead end, Jinchuan frowned and threw back another sneer.
"Whether it's a bluff or not... why don't you feel it for yourselves?"
Cipher flashed a smile. Before either of them could react to her speed, she released [A Wisp of Aura], guiding it to coil around her hand.
In an instant, a sensation of absolute death swept through the interior of the barrier before seeping outward.
The faces of Jinchuan and Feng Wuya twisted in shock. Standing less than five meters from Cipher, the impact they felt was nothing short of horrific. No living creature can escape the primal fear brought by death—not even A+ rank powerhouses.
Under the influence of that lethal aura, Feng Wuya's barrier began to tremble. The energy Jinchuan had been gathering turned chaotic and unstable. They stared at Cipher in terror; none of them had anticipated such a sudden, terrifying transformation.
"Well? What do you plan to block this power with? That fragile barrier of yours?"
Watching their fear, Cipher slowly closed the distance, her voice calm as she addressed Feng Wuya.
Feng Wuya didn't respond. He simply began stacking barriers in front of himself with frantic desperation. However, the cold sweat pouring down his forehead betrayed his true thoughts.
"A pointless struggle."
With those words, Cipher arrived directly in front of Feng Wuya.
'Feng Wuya believes I can break his barrier. Therefore, just as he thinks, I can break it with ease.'
After chanting this internally, she reached out toward him.
Countless layers of barriers attempted to obstruct her hand, but under the influence of her Deceitful Divine Power, they popped like soap bubbles at the slightest touch.
Feng Wuya wanted to retreat, but he found that the fear of death had paralyzed his entire body, leaving him unable to move an inch. He could only watch as his defenses shattered layer by layer, until that slender hand—adorned with golden nail polish—tapped him gently on the shoulder.
★ ★ ★
Looking down at Feng Wuya, who had collapsed to the ground with a smile on his face as he closed his eyes in bliss, Cipher withdrew her hand. She turned her attention to Jinchuan, who was now completely consumed by terror, standing frozen like a fool.
"Now, it's your turn."
Hearing her voice, Jinchuan finally snapped back to reality from the depths of his extreme dread. The energy in his hands dissipated as he instinctively tried to back away. He only managed a single step before his legs gave out, leaving him slumped on the ground.
He looked at Cipher as she approached, then at the lifeless body of Feng Wuya. Even though the aura of death had faded, the fear in Jinchuan's eyes remained.
"No... spare me... please spare me... The Alliance Leader told me to take you alive, I didn't want to kill you, I just wanted to scare you... Spare—ugh!"
A cold flash of light streaked through the air. Blood sprayed from his throat. Without his barrier, Jinchuan was nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter in Cipher's eyes.
He clutched his neck, trying to say something more, but because his windpipe had been severed, he could only produce a wet "hissing" sound. Eventually, the light faded from his eyes, and all signs of life vanished.
"Sigh. In a world with such complex abilities, my own offensive methods are still too few. I hope I can pull more high-damage items like this in the future."
Cipher sighed, feeling a bit of regret over using up the Wisp of the Hermit Princess's Aura.
She offered a silent prayer for a gacha pull, and the familiar subtitles appeared before her eyes once more.
[System is currently updating. Gacha function is closed.]
'Just when is this thing going to finish updating? I can't pull, and it's not giving me any Stellar Jades either!'
Cipher looked at the two men she had just killed, complaining inwardly with a hint of irritation.
As if the system had heard her grievances, a mechanical voice accompanied by new subtitles suddenly popped up.
[System update complete. New functions and new methods for obtaining Stellar Jades have been added.]