Chapter 144: Holy Blood

A slender palm gripping a Chinese-style ring-pommel dao in reverse thrust emerged from beneath the rubble, and with the ease of pushing aside building blocks, effortlessly flung several tons of concrete slabs into the air.

A woman with an Eastern flair—long black hair, clad in armor—or rather, a Hua Mulan transformed from the Princess puppet—leapt nimbly out of the ruins, her cold gaze sweeping the surroundings before locking onto the nearest target, Andre.

She slowly bent her knees, her thigh muscles tensing and compressing, then suddenly released.

So fast.

Even with a Transcendent's eyesight, one could only barely make out an afterimage diving down like an arrow. Andre was blasted flying more than ten steps, his feet scraping against the curb to barely halt his retreat.

He crossed his straight sword above his head, the blade firmly catching Hua Mulan's ring-pommel dao, veins bulging on his forehead as he used his entire body's strength to resist the downward momentum of the blade.

Hua Mulan's face was expressionless; her dao-wielding right hand maintained the suppression as she stepped forward half a pace, her left hand forming a blade that drove straight into Andre's right shoulder.

The dull palm-blade, empowered by brute force, pierced through the full-coverage bulletproof vest hidden beneath Andre's priest robe; the slender hand gripped the bone and tore casually.

Squelch.

Andre's entire right arm was ripped off at the shoulder, blood gushing wildly, yet his face showed no dizziness or pain. Instead, he laughed with savage fervor, aiming the severed cross-section of his shoulder at Hua Mulan.

"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. And unto every beast also!"

Accompanied by Andre's fervent chanting, the blood, glittering with specks of holy light, splashed wantonly toward Hua Mulan.

The latter, as if sensing something, did not pursue. She urgently dodged aside and raised her arm to shield her face, preventing the blood from splashing onto it.

【Item Name: Holy Blood Injector】

【Type: Cursed Object】

【Quality: Fine】

【Usage: Passive Effect】

【Effect: Holy Blood Elegy. After losing more than 30% of total blood volume at once, automatically triggers, launching Holy Light Pursuit against hostile targets stained with one's own blood. The user can control the Holy Light to a certain extent.】

【Cost: None】

【Cooldown: None】

【Note: The Holy Blood Injector is, at room temperature, 50 milliliters of red liquid contained in a syringe. Once injected into a human body, it automatically mixes with the blood, with an effective duration of 144 hours.】

【Note: This holy relic is manufactured by the Templar Knight Guild. The Templar Knight Guild welcomes all those with steadfast faith in our Lord to join. Contact email.】

【Note: Female practitioners should use the alternative Holy Blood Injector · Modified.】

As a member of the Templar Knight Guild, Andre had long before executing this mission injected the 【Holy Blood Injector】 into his own veins.

Now that the trigger condition was met, every splattered droplet of blood rose with dazzling holy light, gathering under Andre's control into a river of light beams that bombarded Hua Mulan.

The beams did not travel in a straight line; rather, like short-range combat missiles, they could advance in arcs.

Hua Mulan kicked up a roadside bench to shield herself, and during the brief interval while the bench was burned to ash by the Holy Light, she darted away like a rabbit taking flight, using her mobility to continuously evade the relentlessly pursuing Holy Light.

Even in the world of Transcendents, the conservation of energy holds true; one cannot maintain such a high-energy-consumption state indefinitely.

Andre stood in place, his face visibly growing paler by the second. Zhang Xueliang stood beside him casting healing skills, sealing the exposed blood vessels at the severed shoulder. Andre himself focused entirely, driving the Holy Light in pursuit.

"This one's tough to handle! No need for martial world rules against such heretics—everyone rush him together!"

Li Cheng roared, and amid Zhang Xueliang's feeble protest of "Why do you have to say lines only third-rate villains would spout, hey? Isn't that just begging for a flag?", he lunged forward, his blade sweeping horizontally across Hua Mulan's path.

The rusty great dao descended with tremendous force. Hua Mulan tumbled sideways, her long black hair streaming in the wind as the straight blade's edge sliced past, a few stray hairs falling to the ground and immediately fading into cloth-doll cotton fluff.

Having dodged that strike, another awaited. Hui Yu flashed out from behind Li Cheng, two chainsaws formed of liquid metal sealing off her forward path.

With chainsaws ahead and Holy Light behind, Hua Mulan gripped her dao in her right hand, pressed her left palm against the hilt, channeled her entire body's strength into the ring-pommel dao, broke through the chainsaw blockade, and drove it deep into Hui Yu's heart.

Puchi.

Impaled clean through by the ring-pommel dao, Hui Yu was utterly unaffected, instead grinning wickedly as both arms closed in to embrace Hua Mulan.

As a liquid-metal robot, Hui Yu's physical recovery ability was extremely powerful; each restoration required only a small amount of energy. Even when subjected to fire, freezing, electric shock, and other attacks, she could recover—though it required more recovery time and energy.

Incidentally, the operating principle of the liquid metal on Hui Yu's body remains unknown. Apparently, she can replenish energy through charging and normal eating; whenever she feels drained, she just goes and touches the electric meter at home to perk herself up.

One can only say: liquid metal—truly miraculous.

At that moment, Bai Lang made his move. He summoned more Medusa serpents, unleashed a petrifying gaze, and forcibly pinned Hua Mulan in place, preventing her from continuing to struggle.

The Holy Light Pursuit originating from Andre behind had already arrived; all the players held their breath, awaiting the outcome.

Twenty meters, ten meters, five meters.

The Holy Light, at the instant of imminent impact, suddenly veered off, missing by a hair's breadth as it blasted into the lawn, plowing a trench over twenty meters long.

Li Cheng and Bai Lang turned their heads in unison to look at Andre.

It was not that Andre had exhausted his strength or done it deliberately; rather, a shell fired from the ruins had interrupted his casting, forcing him and Zhang Xueliang to dodge in two different directions, thereby severing his control over the Holy Light.

"Elliott!"

Bai Lang ground the name out from between his teeth. There was Elliott, the pink-haired bunny, crawling out from beneath the ruins in a sorry state, the briefcase dangling from his hand.

He had been buried deep beneath the rubble the entire time; when the Princess puppet broke free, it had not bothered to bring him along, and only now had he managed to climb out on his own.

It was precisely because of this interruption that Hua Mulan gained a breather. With a single slash from bottom to top, she cut through Hui Yu's upper body, seized the chance to break free and retreat several steps, her figure first shrinking then expanding, her long hair turning from black to white, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties-era soldier's armor on her body transforming into a blue sequined gown.

"Get back!"

Li Cheng's pupils contracted as he shouted. Hui Yu, unable to restore her upper body in time, kicked her feet rapidly against the ground and retreated explosively more than ten meters.

The transformation forms of the shattered cloth doll were not without pattern: each time she transformed, she would first revert to puppet form. And after each transformation completed, the cloth patches on her body representing that Princess would fade to grayish-white.

This form was the fourth Princess—Queen Elsa from Frozen.

(End of Chapter)