“Heh…Liao Lord Feng, truly a master…” Ji Fenglong smiled slightly and said, “I thought you had already used ten percent of your speed in that step you took backward out of the pavilion…”

Chichi—

Before Ji Fenglong could finish, two golden lights suddenly appeared from mid-air, drawing two bizarre arcs as they attacked her sides.

“…I didn’t expect you still had strength to spare…” As she spoke, she raised her right hand, blooming an eggshell-shaped Holy Essence Force Field in front of her, “It’s just…the flight speed of these two spells of yours is not as fast as you yourself.”

The next second, the two death playing cards that came flying hit the Holy Essence Force Field. The former…instantly turned into glittering dust.

“And…laughably weak.” Ji Fenglong looked at the golden dust and shook her head.

Bang—

Almost as she spoke, a sound of air being torn apart rang out from behind her.

That was the sound of Jue-Ge, in a continuous [Spirit Consciousness Gathering Body Art - Modified] state, taking a full-strength [Moon Step].

Relying on this propulsion, Feng Bujue's speed had reached the limit of his current state. If nothing unexpected happened, in 0.5 seconds, Jue-Ge would clamp down on Ji Fenglong with a very beautiful grappling move, winning this bet.

His battle strategy could be described as simple, clear, and efficient—a pre-emptive strike, feint to the east and attack in the west, and capture the enemy in one move. From the initial sudden acceleration to the feigned attack with the death playing cards, to the final flanking surprise attack, it was all done in one go.

However…this time, he miscalculated.

Chi—

Suddenly, a sound like boiling water rang out in mid-air, followed by a cloud of red bloody mist.

Then, there were three consecutive, heavy and powerful Moon Step sounds, each step taking him further away from Ji Fenglong's location.

“Hmph…Liao Lord Feng, how is it? Not hurt, are you?” Ji Fenglong slowly turned around, speaking in the direction the sound came from.

On the other side, within the bloody light, Feng Bujue's figure reappeared, his two forearms…covered in blood for some reason.

“So that’s how it is…no wonder you proposed a condition like ‘if I touch your body within a certain time, I win’…” Feng Bujue conveniently canceled his Spirit Consciousness Gathering Body Art, shook his arms, and muttered, “You were relying on your protective qi-shield, weren’t you…”

“‘Protective qi-shield’?” Ji Fenglong repeated, “This is the first time I’ve heard it called that…”

“Then what do you call it?” Feng Bujue asked.

“Heh…” Ji Fenglong smiled, “Actually, I don’t know what to call it either.” She paused, revealing a rather smug expression, “This move…is a technique I created myself after entering the Yuan Sheng realm, and I’ve hardly used it in front of people, so…it hasn’t been named yet.” As she said this, she simply put her hands behind her back, striking a posture of complete assurance, “Oh…right, Liao Lord Feng is a worldly expert, well-informed and knowledgeable, so he must have seen similar techniques to be able to call it by name. I think…we might as well call it the protective qi-shield.”

“Interesting…” As Feng Bujue muttered these three words, his mind was already racing, and he immediately saw a flaw, “Since you have a protective qi-shield, why did you still use Holy Essence Force as a shield to block my flying cards just now?”

“It was instinct, perhaps.” Ji Fenglong's expression did not change as she calmly replied, “It’s just like…even if you’ve already cultivated an Indestructible Body of Vajra, when a knife flies towards your face, as long as you have time, you’ll still use your hand to block it first.”

“Okay, then block it one more time and let me see.” As Feng Bujue spoke, a golden flash appeared in his hand, and the special effect five of the death playing cards [Soul Chasing (randomly consumes thirty cards, releasing 1-100 single playing cards with a power equivalent to "7" in an instant)] suddenly activated.

In the blink of an eye, a hundred golden rays flew out, and under the precise control of "Zero Time Difference Calculation," these light cards attacked Ji Fenglong from a hundred different angles at slightly different speeds.

“Tch…” Ji Fenglong spat unhappily when she saw this, and then clenched her fists with both hands, gathering her energy to make a move.

But seeing, vast Holy Essence, spilled out. In an instant, a shield with a radius of one zhang boomed up with Ji Fenglong as the center.

No matter how tricky the attack angles of the hundred golden rays were, or how well the time differences between them were coordinated, in the face of this all-around, no-dead-angle defense, they could only turn into nothingness.

“City Lord Ji, according to my observation…” Feng Bujue touched his chin, as if he was deep in thought, “Your protective qi-shield seems to have some flaws?”

Seeing that her previous deception had been seen through instantly, Ji Fenglong could only admit, “Hmph…there’s really no way…” She waved her sleeves, and withdrew the outer layer of Holy Essence Force Field, “That’s right, my qi-shield can only erode physical entities, it can’t defend against spells.” She raised her head, squinting at Jue-Ge, “It doesn’t matter if you know, anyway, my qi-shield…”

“…can last for the time it takes to brew a pot of tea.” Feng Bujue took over the other party’s words, saying with a smile.

“You…” Ji Fenglong’s expression changed drastically, and she was speechless for a moment. But a master is a master after all, and she quickly accepted the reality before her, and calmed down, saying in a deep voice, “Good! What a Feng Bujue.” Her eyes changed, and for the first time since they met, she cupped her fist in salute to Jue-Ge, “Liao Lord Feng is wise, calm, courageous, and resourceful. Ji admires you.”

“You flatter me, you flatter me.” Feng Bujue also gave a casual bow, as a matter of courtesy, “But…for me, even knowing all this seems to be of no help…after all, you are a Yuan Sheng cultivator, and your Holy Essence Force is as vast as the sea, it’s impossible to exhaust it in a short time. And as long as you still have strength to spare, the duration of the qi-shield won’t be shortened, and then…I’ll have no chance.”

“Hmph…that’s a very reasonable analysis.” Ji Fenglong continued, “Liao Lord Feng…are you planning to admit defeat?”

“No, what I mean is…” Feng Bujue said, “Let’s double the stakes.”

“What did you say?” Ji Fenglong was shocked when she heard this, she simply couldn’t believe her ears.

“The conditions remain completely unchanged, we’ll still determine the outcome based on whether I can touch your body.” As Feng Bujue spoke, he pointed to the hourglass in the sky, “You don’t need to reset the time, let’s just use the remaining time to gamble.”

“Hey, hey…what do you want to do again?” Xu Huaishang, in the stone pavilion, rested her chin in her hands, sat at the table, and said with dead fish eyes.

It seemed…Goddess Xu had resigned herself to fate…

“Then…how do we double the stakes?” Ji Fenglong originally thought that Jue-Ge wanted to use this method to reset the time or something, but she didn’t expect the other party to say that it wasn’t necessary, so she became interested.

“Hehe…” Feng Bujue smiled slyly, “City Lord should have also heard that along with me into the city, there is also Miss Lu. She is also as beautiful as a goddess, and can be said to be on par with that Miss Xu, each with her own merits…”

“Thank you for the compliment…” Xu Huaishang in the distance took a sip of tea, and calmly replied, “…Scumbag.”

Feng Bujue ignored her and continued, “I propose that the stakes be changed to…if I lose, not only will I leave Miss Xu behind, but I will also invite Miss Lu over for you, and I won’t take a single magic treasure.”

Ji Fenglong's expression clearly changed, and a look of anticipation appeared in her eyes, “If you win…then what?”

“If I win…I will naturally take Miss Xu away.” Feng Bujue shrugged and smiled, his expression looking incomparably relaxed and confident, “However, I still don’t want your magic treasures.”

“Oh?” Ji Fenglong was no longer just puzzled, she was even a little surprised, “Then what do you want?”

“Feng Bujue, before you answer her question, I must remind you.” Before Jue-Ge could speak, Xu Huaishang spoke first, “If you say anything strange…” She narrowed her eyes, glaring at Jue-Ge, “…I’ll call the police.”

“Call them if you want, I’m doing serious business here, stop interrupting with nonsense.” Feng Bujue impatiently rolled his eyes at her, and replied in a scolding tone.

Xu Huaishang had never been treated this way by a member of the opposite sex in her life, and she was stunned at the time…

And before she could come back to her senses, Jue-Ge had already turned his head to look at Ji Fenglong, and said seriously, “If I win…City Lord Ji will let me take a tour of your ‘Heavenly Book World,’ how about it?”