Chapter 152: Two Women Battle Lu Fan

Lu Fan was about to voice his worry when Liu Ruowu gave a clear shout, directly shaking her head to refuse, speaking rather impolitely:

"Hmph! Lu Fan, I, Wang Wu, don't need your worry. Stop fretting here. Let me tell you frankly: I don't care at all about anything inside the Dragon Tower. My true target is you!"

"Me? What you're saying is……"

Lu Fan blinked slightly, his face full of bewilderment, somewhat at a loss! But upon recalling his encounters with Wang Wu inside the secret realm, where she repeatedly opposed him, he seemed to have a faint clue.

"What do you want? Divine ability inheritance? When the time is right, I can naturally pass it on to you!"

He only felt it somewhat troublesome; Wang Wu's strength should not be underestimated. More importantly, her relationship with him, if exploited by others, would be extremely thorny.

"Hehehe!"

Suddenly, a lovely laugh echoed in the void, inexplicably winding up a gust of yin wind; Xiulan twisted her waist and walked out from a cave.

"Lu Fan, the little trick you played at the Transmission Dao Assembly, I've already told Miss Wang. You're quite bold, pretending to be your own master's teachings to deceive a crowd. Miss Wang is the daughter of the Dragon Elephant Wang family; she cannot be lightly insulted by you!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Fan's face sank instantly. The "trick" Xiulan mentioned is hardly anything. However, the Original Body Dharma Image is linked with his own essence and spirit; if discovered by his past-life enemies, it would be disastrous.

At such a moment, he couldn't help but feel some regret. Although the Original Body Dharma Image can gather the faith source power of all rune cultivators in the Bright Moon Empire, it also exposes him to the world. If this were known to the Holy Martial Hall, and finally reach the ears of that old traitor Yuwen Pojun who presides over the Transmission Dao, he would likely be unable to escape this lifetime.

"Lu Fan, I sincerely wish to become my master's disciple. If he is inconvenient, let you transmit the art on his behalf; I, Wang Wu, have no objection."

Wang Wu's eyes turned cold; she shook her silvered hands, and two ice rings appeared. She said coldly: "I hate most when people deceive me, yet you have repeatedly lied, spouting nonsense. Today I will capture you and punish you on behalf of my master!"

As her voice fell, the two ice rings swung sideways and flew out of her hands, turning into two arcs that lunged at Lu Fan in a pincer attack.

Lu Fan's face looked somewhat strange; hearing Wang Wu's words, he felt there was more left unsaid. Given her aloof nature, knowing he had deceived her, her anger and hostile actions were not surprising.

But she had just clearly stated that she didn't care about the true contents of the Dragon Tower; her real target was him, Lu Fan.

No time to think further; the two ice rings flew toward him. Even before they reached him, a chilling lethal aura had already sealed his surroundings. He lightly stepped on the python's head and leapt upward.

"Clang——"

The ice rings struck each other, instantly changing their pincer motion; they scattered simultaneously, flying toward the high-altitude light formation.

"Zizzle!"

A frigid cold burst forth, dissipating into the void and closing in on the light formation. Ice crystals hovered beneath the formation; the chilling aura eroded, actually condensing a layer of ice between the light formation and the Dragon Elemental Gang Curtain.

The swirling rune vortices drifting on the light formation came to an abrupt halt; the momentum devouring the Dragon Elemental Gang Curtain was thus stopped.

"Wait……"

Lu Fan suddenly understood, turned his gaze, fixed on Xiulan, and said coldly: "So it's you meddling! You secretly learned my Formless Dharma Seal, and moreover dared to peek at my seal formula—your gall is not small!"

"Hehehe!" Xiulan laughed, her blossoms trembling, she pinched an orchid finger, pointed at Lu Fan and said cheerfully: "These days, your fame has soared; even Martial Kings and Martial Venerables have suffered defeats at your hands. The true divine ability must be this light formation above your head! I and Miss Wang are both passionate about rune dao, eager for knowledge—you won't withhold it, will you?"

This sounded somewhat solicitous, but martial arts supreme secrets, rune seal divine abilities—surely they are not to be lightly transmitted; who would readily pass them on? Any martial artist or rune cultivator hearing this would likely fly into a rage.

"Is that so?"

Lu Fan wore a cold expression, staring at Wang Wu as he spoke. He felt it wasn't that simple; the Wasteland Seal was indeed powerful, but Wang Wu, such a proud person, would never oppose him just for something like this.

"Hmph! Exactly so!"

Wang Wu bit her lip, speaking fiercely. She seemed somewhat annoyed, even carrying a hint of deliberate opposition—like an angry little girl; her heart didn't truly think this way, yet her words were outright contrary.

"This seal formula is too strange; without the strength of a grand spellcaster, I won't pass it to you!"

Lu Fan shook his head; in his mind rose the scene from that day inside the Lu family treasury, where the remnant thoughts of the wild beast had congealed into form. Although he had suppressed it then, the wild beast still broke out repeatedly, now lurking out of control—a major threat.

This Wasteland Seal must never be lightly imparted to others!

"I don't need your charity! I, Wang Wu, will obtain what I want myself! I only ask you one thing: who was it that refined the Innate Soul Liquid for me that day?"

Wang Wu furrowed her beautiful brows, gave a cold shout, decisive and unyielding, giving no consideration to Lu Fan's words.

"Is that important?" Lu Fan frowned slightly, gave a light laugh. That day he had posed as a senior expert, stepping in to refine the Innate Soul Liquid for Wang Wu. He had originally hoped to disentangle himself from her, but now it seemed the entanglement only deepened.

Not far away, Xiulan wore a smile, blinking her clear, big eyes, continually scanning Lu Fan and Wang Wu.

"Innate Soul Liquid? What grade of alchemical concoction is this? Sounds quite potent! Its effects must be extraordinary; is the refining method also rather strange?"

Perhaps out of a young lady's intuition, Xiulan instinctively sensed something, racking her brains to guess. If she hadn't spoken, it would have been better; once she said this, Wang Wu's entire face turned utterly cold, as if frozen by nine-heaven frost.

"Hmph! I knew you wouldn't come clean, so there's nothing to be done. Jiang Xiulan, you previously proposed I agreed; now let's join forces and attack!"

With a cold shout, Wang Wu rose, hovering; her soft, boneless jade hand made a flick, and the ice layer above her head in the void trembled instantly.

"Shasha"—softly, countless ice crystals fell; the whole space seemed swept by nine-heaven winds. Ye Fei, standing on the python's head, felt his whole body icy cold, even his blood flow slowed.

Protective true qi surged out, repelling the icy chill. He was about to advise Wang Wu a couple more words when his figure suddenly flickered; beneath his feet, the Kun Python, with a "plop," dropped its raised body to the ground.

Caught off guard, he fell, face covered in dirt, his whole expression grim: "I said, how bold you two are—turns out you seized the Kun Python's weak point."

Snakes are cold-blooded, most afraid of icy cold. Though the Kun Python had refined a great amount of dragon-element purple qi, it had not yet shed its mortal body. Moreover, being controlled by Lu Fan's Five Elements Controlling Spirit Technique, its reactions were sluggish, and it succumbed in moments.

Wang Wu first used the power of the ice rings to separate Lu Fan's condensed light formation and Dragon Elemental Gang Curtain. Though it appeared the main target was Ye Fei, in reality it was to paralyze Lu Fan, the true goal being this Kun Python.

"Hehe!" Xiulan swayed her posture, walking forward slowly, appearing frail as a willow in the breeze, yet the aura around her was not drifting ghostly qi—it was exceptionally intimidating.

"Lu Fan, you're so formidable, and with the Kun Python aiding you. Let alone us two weak girls; even if that demon hand and dragon ape joined forces, they likely couldn't match you. If we can't subdue this Kun Python, I, Jiang Xiulan, wouldn't dare face you and invite disgrace!"

"Oh! It seems I was careless; this big fellow's strength is enough to rival a fifth-stage peak expert, possibly even stronger. I originally thought with its aid, inside the secret realm I'd be invincible. Never expected to be defeated before you two!"

Lu Fan shook his head; his words carried a hint of self-mockery.

"Hmph! As long as you know, hurry up and surrender; it'll spare you some fleshly pain!"

Seeing Lu Fan like this, Wang Wu gritted her teeth in anger, for some reason a surge of fire rose in her chest and abdomen. She gave a cold snort, then rolled her gauze sleeve, sending out waves of wind and surf.

"Whoosh——"

The raging wind swept, scattering ice crystals in the void; wind blades carried this chill, everything seeming to freeze, turning into blade fragments that surged toward Lu Fan.

"Interesting! It looks like you've long wanted to strike me; wind-attribute divine ability does little against me, and would be reversed by my talisman fire. But the wind surge technique mixed with such icy lethal force—my previous methods truly had no effect!"

The icy cold wind had already swept around him, causing a pain like knife cuts on his face. Yet Lu Fan remained nonchalant, instead giving a light laugh and an expression of approval.

Now not only Wang Wu, but Xiulan also couldn't bear it. She had repeatedly suffered losses at Lu Fan's hands, her resentment building. In this situation, Lu Fan remained unchanged, his expression unaltered—truly infuriating.

"Surname Lu, take this move!"

She gave a sharp shout, flipped her silvered hands, and the skull ring shot out, expanding in the wind, instantly swelling to the size of a human head.

With a "gaga" sound of turning bones, the skull head opened its mouth, exhaling a wisp of yin wind and black qi, which rode the surrounding swirling cold wind and rushed toward Lu Fan.

The bitter wind was harsh, and suddenly a trace of yin evil ghost qi appeared; the whole void dimmed and lost its light. Lu Fan, right in the midst of this tempest, couldn't help but stare—evidently startled by the momentum of the two working together.

"Not bad! With your strength, you two can definitely protect yourselves, so I won't be distracted!"

In that brief moment, Lu Fan's expression recovered; he gave a slight nod, then immediately stopped looking at Wang Wu and the other, instead raising his head to gaze at the sky with a solemn look.

"This..."

Wang Wu and the other both blinked, somewhat bewildered. Though they had joined forces and exerted all their strength, they were determined to make Lu Fan look bad! This move was astonishingly powerful, and they were quite pleased with it. No matter how formidable Lu Fan might be, they were confident they could take him down.

But Lu Fan also had no idea what was going on; this was too strange to be merely relying on some hidden trump card. Rather, there seemed to be other presences in this void, enough to keep the two of them occupied.

At such a moment, even if facing another opponent, they probably wouldn't have time to ponder oddities—first unleash a divine ability, then see the aftermath; that would likely be the most appropriate course.

However, the two's mighty aura suddenly shifted, and they instinctively switched from offense to defense.

"Boom—crack!"

Above the void, the icy layer wrapped in cold evil qi suddenly split open a huge gap. A thunderous boom echoed, as if heaven and earth were collapsing.

Then a streak of purple light formation shot out, turning into a wave of qi that shattered that ice layer into powder. Yet it wasn't over; the force unleashed by the eruption of the purple light formation surged toward the Dragon Origin Vigorous Curtain above.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The earth shook and the void trembled. Purple qi light pillars rose from the Dragon Origin Vigorous Curtain and directly bombarded downward.

Just as it touched the ground, it suddenly halted; amidst the misty transformation, it turned into the phantom of a magic beast.

"Roar—"

Waves of resentful qi surged skyward, and in an instant the bitter cold wind and yin evil ghost qi that had been swirling around were scattered away.

In the blink of an eye, several purple shadow demon beasts materialized, their bodies entwined with resentful evil; a single glance made one feel a chill run through the body, and an involuntary urge to retreat arose.

"What the hell is this?"

Xiulan turned pale with shock; though she was skilled in ghost dao divine abilities, seeing these purple shadow demon beasts made her mind and spirit tremble violently. Even the skull floating before her sent forth a feeling of timid dread.