Chapter 265: The Shy King Chi

"Giving up? That's fine. There's no shame in backing down," Su Mu said with understanding.

"Go to hell!!"

At Su Qing's furious shout, a brilliant golden flame erupted around her fist.

Her punch landed squarely on Su Mu.

In an instant, the golden flames engulfed him.

"Hmph. If you surrender now, I'll..."

Before Su Qing could finish her triumphant boast, the golden flames incinerated Su Mu, leaving nothing behind.

Su Qing froze. "Dead... He's dead?"

She knew the Nirvana Holy Flame wielded terrifying power. Even channeled through her avatar, it could threaten a Gold tier powerhouse. Because of that, she had deliberately held back. She hadn't wanted to kill Su Mu—she merely intended to teach him a lesson. How could she have anticipated that he was so fragile he would crumble at a single touch?

As the golden flames dissipated, Su Mu was completely gone, seemingly burned to ash. The only thing left behind was a puddle of water.

"Hey, you all saw that. This has nothing to do with me. He was just too weak. I didn't do it on purpose," Su Qing said, turning to the tense crowd.

But as she spoke, she realized their expressions were wrong. Their eyes weren't focused on her; they were fixed firmly on the empty space right behind her. They looked like they had just seen a ghost.

"Three moves," Su Mu's voice rang out from behind her.

Su Qing's face tightened. She whipped around in disbelief, only to find Su Mu smiling at her.

"You... what kind of Law is this?"

Even King Chi, an absolute apex powerhouse, was somewhat bewildered at this moment. Although she had lived deep within the Imperial Palace for a long time and rarely interacted with the outside world, she had read practically every ancient tome hoarded within its walls. She knew ninety-nine percent of all the Laws in the world like the back of her hand.

Yet she had never seen whatever Law had just brought Su Mu back from the dead.

Su Mu saw the confusion in her eyes, but he didn't bother to explain. He hadn't used a Law at all—he had used the Sea God's Undying Body!

He wasn't sure if there was any method to break the Undying Body in the Real World, but he was absolutely certain that a mere avatar of King Chi was nowhere near capable of destroying it.

"Little sister, you lost. Welcome to my team."

"I... lost?" Su Qing was momentarily dazed; it was incredibly difficult for her to associate the word "lose" with herself.

"I actually lost!?"

She was one of the Seven Kings, the ruler of the Chiyan Empire, the world-dominating King Chi, and she had lost!? To a no-name Silver Grade Nightmare Apostle who had seemingly popped out of nowhere?

At that moment, the psychological blow Su Mu dealt her was immense. It felt exactly like an adult arm-wrestling a kindergartner and being ruthlessly crushed.

"You're cheating! I don't care, I didn't lose. Let's go again!" Without skipping a beat, Su Qing threw a tantrum, stomping her feet in anger.

But after only a few stomps, she suddenly froze. Her body went limp and she collapsed to the ground. Even her flip-flops slipped off, revealing her delicate, pale feet.

"The... the curse..." Su Qing panted heavily. Black curse marks had already crawled up her swan-like neck, forming a stark contrast against her pale skin.

She had been so infuriated by Su Mu just a moment ago that she had completely forgotten about the curse while chasing him around. Now that she finally realized it, the curse had already spread to almost her entire body.

As the curse invaded deeper, she distinctly felt the connection between her main consciousness and this avatar growing thin.

Damn it! She hadn't spent enough time acclimating to this avatar. To only realize the curse was taking over once it had spread across her whole body—she had been far too careless.

If her avatar died just like this, she would be scolded to death by that old geezer when her consciousness returned!

She could already picture that old geezer Dongfang Yuan's lecturing face.

In truth, this was exactly why Dongfang Yuan and Gongsun Quan had been so reluctant to let King Chi join the Dragon Seeking Plan. She was simply way too unreliable.

There was no telling what kind of absurd stunts she might pull.

Ultimately, King Chi had been too arrogant. As one of the Seven Kings, she hadn't taken the curse seriously deep down. True, a curse of this caliber wouldn't even count as a tickle against her true body, but she had completely forgotten that she was currently using an avatar.

Because of that contempt, the moment Su Mu angered her, her mind had been entirely focused on how to deal with him, completely neglecting the curse.

By the time she reacted, it was already too late. The curse interfered with the connection between her mind and the avatar, drastically weakening her control over the body. Right now, even standing up was a monumental task, let alone forcefully shoving the Mithril Token onto someone else.

Just then, a large hand slowly reached out and plucked the Mithril Token from Su Qing's body.

"You..."

"As your captain, I naturally can't just stand by and watch my team member die," Su Mu said with a smile. He reached out and pulled Su Qing up from the ground.

At the exact same moment, the curse on Su Qing instantly transferred to Su Mu.

The fully erupted curse spread wildly across Su Mu, enveloping his entire body in the blink of an eye. His handsome face was quickly covered in black curse marks.

The curse didn't reset its progression when it switched targets. Instead, it acted like a ticking time bomb—as time passed, the intensity of the outbreak only escalated.

Now that it was in Su Mu's hands, he was essentially holding the baton on its final lap.

"Hurry up and give the Mithril Token to someone else!" Su Qing urged anxiously. She didn't know why, but even though she found the man in front of her incredibly annoying, deep down she didn't want him to die just like this.

"It's too late."

The black curse marks had crept over every inch of Su Mu's skin. They even stained his eyes.

"Hold on, I'll go grab someone for you!" Su Qing grew increasingly frantic. She was just about to take action when Su Mu pulled her back.

"There's no need for that."

"You're about to die, and you're still sticking to your bullshit principles?" Su Qing was visibly moved.

To her surprise, Su Mu merely shook his head. He spoke at the same unhurried pace: "A curse at this level isn't enough to kill me."

Under Su Qing's shocked gaze, the curse fully detonated. The black marks merged into one as an intensely evil and bizarre aura violently erupted. Within that aura, Su Mu's body dissolved inch by inch, ultimately turning into a puddle of seawater.

Immediately after, the seawater writhed and surged upward, shifting and morphing back into Su Mu. The black curse marks that had previously covered his entire body were completely gone.

Wearing a gentle smile, he extended a hand toward Su Qing. "Welcome to my team, little sister."

That gentle smile left Su Qing feeling somewhat dazzled. As if guided by some unseen force, she reached out and firmly grasped his large hand.

A moment later, she seemed to snap back to reality. Her small face flushed slightly as she hurriedly pulled her hand away, her gaze darting around erratically. "I... I never said I was joining you."

Her current behavior was exactly like those veteran netizens who constantly made dirty jokes online—acting bold and experienced on an ordinary day, but turning out to be more innocent and bashful than anyone else when faced with the real thing.