Chapter 264: The Better-Looking the Man, the More Deceitful

"Of course." Su Mu smiled, his eyes fixed on Su Qing.

The two of them faced off in the arena, both wearing smiles. Judging purely by their expressions, the scene felt straight out of an idol drama.

The tall, handsome male lead had cornered the petite, lovely female lead against a wall, their eyes locked.

Yet the actual atmosphere in the arena had quietly frozen. The crowd watched the pair nervously, practically suffocating under the invisible pressure hanging in the air.

Click!

A flame sprang to life with the crisp snap of a lighter. Su Qing lit another cigarette and blew a smoke ring with perfect composure, her rosy lips curling to reveal a row of snow-white teeth.

"Handsome, provoking the strong comes with a heavy price. If you insist on doing this, the most I can promise is that I'll try not to ruin your face."

Su Qing said with a smile. She raised the cigarette for another drag, but a large hand clamped over hers. As she stared in astonishment, that hand plucked the cigarette from her fingers and tossed it to the ground.

"Smoking is bad for your health. Also... I'll go easy on you."

Smack!

With his other hand, Su Mu planted the Mithril Token squarely on top of Su Qing's head, deliberately ruffling her hair in the process.

When he withdrew his hand, the Mithril Token sat perched atop Su Qing's head, gleaming with a cold light.

Su Qing froze. She lowered her head slightly, letting the Mithril Token slide off and drop into her palm. Staring down at the sparkling metal, a dangerous smile crept across her face.

"In all these years, you're the first man to ever dare touch my head. Commendable courage. You know something, handsome? I'm usually a sucker for a pretty face. But just now, I made a decision that goes completely against my principles. I... am going to smash your face in!"

Boom!

A terrifying aura erupted from Su Qing. She tilted her chin up, her gaze turning sharp enough to pierce through anything, as her long black hair whipped around in the invisible energy field.

A visible ring of white air expanded outward from her feet. The ground itself struggled to bear the pressure, fracturing into a spiderweb of cracks beneath her shoes.

In that moment, Su Qing's silhouette faintly overlapped with that of King Chi.

A King was not to be slighted!

The next moment, Su Qing moved. Clenching her delicate fist, she threw a vicious punch straight at Su Mu's cheek. The sheer force behind the blow practically tore the air apart, setting off a string of sonic booms!

"Wait a minute."

The fair, delicate fist stopped a mere five centimeters from Su Mu's cheek. The intense gale from the punch blew back Su Mu's hair.

"What? Begging for mercy now? Too late!" Su Qing snarled. However, paired with her innocent, good-girl face, the threat carried absolutely zero intimidation and instead looked rather endearing.

Su Mu pushed up his Tinted Glasses, which had been knocked slightly askew by the wind, and said mildly, "A simple brawl is a bit too boring. How about we add a wager? Of course, if you're scared, pretend I didn't ask."

At those last few words, Su Qing instantly took the bait. "Fine, what are we betting?"

"I mentioned earlier that I plan to build my own team. If you lose, you join my team."

"And if you lose?"

Su Mu offered a faint smile. "Against someone of your level, I couldn't possibly lose."

Su Qing gritted her teeth, clearly infuriated. She admitted she had been momentarily swayed by Su Mu's looks, but after this brief interaction, she found him absolutely insufferable. Being looked down upon like this dredged up some bad memories.

The last time she had been looked down upon like this was when she faced Pride, the Head of the Seven Deadly Sins.

"Stop looking down on people! Since the day I was born, I've never known how to spell the word 'lose'!"

"It's fine. Today, you'll learn."

Grind!

That was the sound of her teeth grinding furiously together.

"If you lose, you'll be my beast of burden for the rest of your life!"

Su Qing let out a furious dragon's roar and was immediately about to swing her fist again.

"Wait a second."

"What now! Are you going to fight or not?"

"Given that you're my future team member, as your captain, I really don't want to hurt you. Tell you what: I'll give you three free moves. If you can manage to hurt me within three strikes—even if I lose a single strand of hair—I'll concede defeat. How about it?"

Su Qing was beyond furious. "There should be a limit to how much you look down on someone! Three moves, huh? I'll send you to meet your maker in one!"

Her long-charged fist finally lashed out.

Vast, majestic power surged outward. Her punch tore through the air like a meteor streaking across the sky—lightning-fast and utterly unstoppable, sending violent tremors through the surrounding air.

Bang!

The punch landed dead center on Su Mu's cheek, yet the expected impact never came. It was as if she had punched thin air; her fist passed straight through Su Mu's face.

Striking nothing but empty space, Su Qing paused in shock. She looked at the Su Mu standing before her, a flash of confusion passing through her eyes.

The next moment, Su Mu's figure shattered inch by inch, like flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water.

"An Illusion Technique?" Su Qing suddenly realized she had fallen prey to an Illusion Technique. She finally understood why Su Mu had locked eyes with her for so long and kept talking all this time. It had all just been groundwork to cast his Illusion Technique!

Hmph! It was true—the better-looking the man, the more deceitful he was!

The fury of being played with surged into her heart. If her true body were here, she definitely wouldn't have fallen for the illusion. But this avatar only possessed a fraction of her main body's strength, and the same applied to its mental power.

However, Su Qing didn't give up. To her, Illusion Techniques were only effective when they went unnoticed.

Immediately after, a faint golden firelight flickered deep within her eyes. The illusion Su Mu had constructed using Thousand Illusions of Fleeting Life was instantly shattered.

And with that, she found the exact location of Su Mu's true body.

Su Mu smiled at her. "One move."

Su Qing's face twisted in fury, not expecting her own words to be slapped back in her face so quickly. Driven mad by embarrassment, she threw herself at Su Mu.

Her speed pushed past the limits of what the naked eye could follow. To the watching crowd, it looked as if she were teleporting. With a sharp sonic boom, Su Qing vanished from where she stood.

When she reappeared, she was already right in front of Su Mu!

"Eat this!"

Bang!

Her fist punched straight through the air. Su Qing's body went stiff, and she stared blankly at her own hand, then at the completely unharmed Su Mu standing in front of her.

Just now, her fist had actually phased right through his body again.

"What's going on?"

Intense confusion filled her wide eyes. She was absolutely certain she had already broken the Illusion Technique, so why...

She glanced at Su Mu and instantly figured it out. "Phantom Stroll! Damn it!"

"Two moves," Su Mu helpfully pointed out from the side.

Su Qing's expression turned ice-cold. She stood rooted in place with clenched fists, saying nothing as she wrestled with a dilemma.

Should she tap into her true power?

Aside from overwhelming physical strength, this avatar could also channel a portion of her true body's flame. The only problem was that the golden Nirvana Holy Flame was far too iconic; it would easily link back to her true identity. However, dealing with these ignorant nightmare apostles, they probably wouldn't recognize it, right?

She hesitated.

But if she didn't use the Nirvana Holy Flame, how was she supposed to break this obnoxious man's Phantom Stroll?

Damn it! The limitations of an avatar were just too great. She had far too few tricks at her disposal.