Chapter 161: I Beg You, Let Me Go

Faced with such a thorny rose, Qin Chuan overbearingly refused to let go. His left arm wrapped tightly around her in a fierce embrace, and he said with a hint of mischief, "I'm not letting go."

When Qin Chuan was fast asleep, his senses were dull, but now that he was awake, his spirit core bestowed upon him intense perceptions.

At this moment, her intoxicating fragrance assaulted his senses. Zi Hanyu’s eyes held a mixture of panic and anger, and a deep blush spread across her face, making her look like a perfectly ripe honey peach.

"Jerk, let me go!"

Zi Hanyu struggled fiercely a few more times, only to find that she simply could not break free from Qin Chuan's arms, which were as unyielding as iron bands.

Reminiscing back to how it all began, Qin Chuan and Zi Hanyu had shared quite a beautiful, albeit unusual, encounter.

At that time, Qin Chuan was merely a spirit sword, yet he had accidentally seen Zi Hanyu completely bare. That intense shock remained deeply buried in the recesses of his soul.

For a moment, Qin Chuan fell into a trance, recalling the illusion within the First-Star Path of Life and Death, where that version of Zi Hanyu had been exceptionally tender toward him.

Sensing that Qin Chuan seemed somewhat distracted, Zi Hanyu felt a surge of joy, opened her mouth, and bit down hard on Qin Chuan's right arm.

"Ouch! Why are you so hard?!"

With that bite, Qin Chuan felt nothing at all, but Zi Hanyu's teeth were left buzzing and numb instead.

"Elder Sister! Elder Sister!"

At that moment, the distant cries of Zizi suddenly echoed through the air, yanking Qin Chuan back to reality.

Panic instantly gripped Zi Hanyu's heart, and she hissed softly, "Let me go quickly!"

Qin Chuan thought to himself that if he did not subdue Zi Hanyu now, she would surely cause him endless headaches in the future.

Therefore, since Zi Hanyu wanted to be overbearing, Qin Chuan had to be even more overbearing than her.

Thus, not only did he refuse to release her, but he also hugged her even tighter, saying with a careless shrug, "I won't let go."

"You..."

At this very moment, Zi Hanyu could only glare at him with furious eyes, utterly helpless against Qin Chuan. Seeing Zizi approaching closer and closer, she lowered her head for the first time in her life.

If Zizi were to witness this scene, she, the eldest sister, would never be able to show her face in public again.

"Elder Sister, where are you?!"

Zizi's anxious shouts rang out once more. Zi Hanyu had no choice but to lightly bite her lower lip and plead in a soft, yielding voice, "Qin Chuan, I beg you, let me go."

Her demeanor appeared both gentle and pitifully vulnerable.

This low, gentle murmur was a hundred times softer than anything before it, making Qin Chuan feel as though he were hearing the voice from the illusion once again.

At this moment, the navel chakra on Qin Chuan's abdomen flashed with a brilliant orange light, pulsing slightly.

Although Qin Chuan had not yet fully reconstructed his flesh and blood, his navel chakra had already ascended to level 7, causing some truly wondrous phenomena to occur.

Zi Hanyu was visibly startled, the blush on her face intensifying even further as she scolded angrily, "Jerk, why did you touch me there?!"

This remark left Qin Chuan completely dumbfounded. He stared blankly and blurted out, "Where did I touch you?"

Ordinarily, these words were merely Qin Chuan's reflex to a situation he didn't quite understand.

However, Zi Hanyu clearly misinterpreted his meaning. She bit her lower lip once more and snapped furiously, "Jerk, down there!"

"Down there?!"

Startled, Qin Chuan quickly released Zi Hanyu. He had originally wanted to settle the matter once and for all, but he hadn't expected things to become increasingly ambiguous instead.

Swish!

Zizi anxiously flashed into the grove. Seeing that both Qin Chuan and Zi Hanyu were safe and sound, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

However, Zizi failed to notice that Zi Hanyu's expression was somewhat unnatural.

"Elder Sister, what just happened was truly a misunderstanding. I was the one who kissed Qin Chuan."

Zi Hanyu shot Qin Chuan a fierce glare, grabbed Zizi by the hand, and pulled her away. "Hmph! You've grown quite bold, haven't you? Daring to pull stunts like this—just you wait and see how I deal with you. From now on, stay away from Qin Chuan; he's nothing but a jerk!"

"Elder Sister, how can Qin Chuan be a jerk? He's a wonderful person!"

"I say he's a jerk, so he's a jerk!"

"Elder Sister, you're just being unreasonable!"

......

"Master, in my opinion, you should just take Zizi's elder sister as well. Otherwise, you're bound to have endless headaches in the future."

At this moment, Long Ao also ran over to join the fun, leaving Qin Chuan utterly speechless.

"My dear Dragon Brother, such a thorny rose is far too prickly to handle."

"Doesn't that just make it all the more challenging and fun?"

"......"

After all this commotion, Qin Chuan felt like stepping out for some fresh air, as he had not yet had a chance to explore the Purple Spirit City.

Therefore, a short while later, Qin Chuan left the Purple Spirit Manor alone.

At that moment, several pairs of eyes in the shadows locked onto Qin Chuan's retreating back.

"Qin Chuan has come out. Go and report it immediately."

"Understood."

Qin Chuan originally intended to visit the Pavilion of Rare Treasures to see if there were any good items, but suddenly, the system's notification chime sounded in his mind.

"Ding! Black Wind Cliff scout detected, Level 45."

A trace of surprise flickered in Qin Chuan's heart. The efficiency of Black Wind Cliff was truly impressive; they had tracked him down so quickly.

In truth, this had all been arranged by Zi Feng, who had even provided a portrait of Qin Chuan. If Black Wind Cliff still couldn't find him after all that, they might as well pack up and quit the Spirit Realm.

Qin Chuan paid it no mind. A level 45 scout was mere child's play to him, so he continued strolling leisurely through Purple Spirit City.

Purple Spirit City was indeed exceptionally prosperous, fully equipped with all sorts of commerce and entertainment. With the Spirit Combat Tournament about to commence, countless cultivators were swarming in from all corners of the Spirit Realm.

None of these individuals had cultivated for even a century, yet among them were many monstrous talents.

A hundred years might seem like a long time, but to these people, it was merely the snap of a finger.

Consequently, given this limited timeframe, their levels were not exceptionally high. Those who managed to reach level 50 were already considered super geniuses, while level 60 powerhouses were practically unheard of.

After taking a stroll around the city, Qin Chuan walked out of Purple Spirit City and found a scenic spot with favorable geomancy to quietly wait for the fish to take the bait.

Roughly half an hour later, six figures appeared in the woods near Qin Chuan.

These were operatives from a Black Wind Cliff stronghold, all rigorously trained and specially stationed in Purple Spirit City.

Their missions consisted of assassination and intelligence gathering, which meant their movement techniques were extraordinarily swift.

In other words, they were scouts and assassins, and it was quite obvious that assassins were the ones who had arrived.

As assassins, they naturally stopped at nothing. Their spirit weapons were coated with the lethal poisons of Black Wind Cliff, and the weapons themselves were tailored for bizarre and treacherous combat styles.

All six of them wielded narrow, slender swords, each standing at level 50 with core stats hovering around the 3,000 mark.

"The target appears to be waiting for us."

"Rumor has it that this person is only level 30, but he penetrated deep into the inner sect and eliminated a level 50-plus inner sect elder, so that intel cannot be entirely accurate."

"That being the case, this person has concealed his true strength."

"Indeed, that must be it."

"What should we do now?"

"Wait for nightfall."

As members of the Ghost Clan, nighttime was when they could unleash their absolute maximum combat prowess.

In the dead of night, they held two major advantages. First, darkness did not impair their vision in the slightest; second, their innate racial traits would be fully triggered.

All six of them were Phantom Wraiths who had assumed human form, meaning that in the dark, they were practically invisible, receiving a 10% boost to their movement speed.

In reality, Black Wind Cliff was far more powerful than anyone imagined; it was just that their hidden strength in the shadows had never been exposed to the world.

Qin Chuan sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, looking as though he were deep in cultivation, while he was actually studying the Phantom Unrivaled and Ghostly Traceless techniques.

These two sets of footwork were extremely peculiar, relying entirely on spiritual power as their foundation. If a user were only level 10, they could only master the first tier.

Qin Chuan lacked spiritual power, so he merely wished to draw inspiration from their footwork. He had been researching these concepts for some time now.

Combining positioning techniques, skill flickering, and the respective strengths of both footwork manuals, he had cobbled together a style suited entirely to his own needs.

Qin Chuan called it: Dance of Death.