With a flip of his wrist, Siren drew a slender, gleaming silver rapier from an unknown source, viciously thrusting it upward toward the woman's chin.

The sword stroke was lightning fast, a visible aura of sword energy, about an inch long, projecting from the tip. Had this strike landed true, Siren's blade would have pierced clean through the woman's crown.

"Oh, so ungentle, so unfeminine!" The woman sucked in a sharp breath, and a long lady's cigar burned to ash in an instant.

Two thin wisps of smoke, carrying a slick, fragrant scent, jetted from her nostrils. The pale-blue haze struck Siren's chest like twin heavy hammers.

With a series of cracks, more than a dozen of Siren's ribs snapped. Stung by the pain, his rapier scraped past the woman's cheekbone, barely grazing her skin.

Almost simultaneously with Siren's attack, Aruipoya had already condensed a sphere of crimson fire, the size of a fist, between her hands. Just as Siren was knocked back by the twin plumes of smoke, Aruidiya's fireball shot out with the sound of thunder.

With a hiss, the fireball shot past Siren's body toward the alluring woman, the searing heat scorching a few of Siren's long, thin silver strands of hair. 16.\m 1|6| Official Trademark Four Dishes and One Nap Upload

Gu Xichen roared a curse, his body lunging forward abruptly. His slender frame shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, skimming the ground.

Less than a foot in front of Gu Xichen was the fireball Aruidiya had launched. Gu Xichen's claws, radiating intense cold, followed immediately behind the ball of fire, reaching crudely toward the woman’s left breast and lower regions.

Xin Jia leaped tens of meters into the air, rubbing his hands together before slamming them down toward the woman. A boulder several meters in diameter plummeted with a muffled tearing sound from nearly a hundred meters above her head.

Immediately after, the iron chain from Xin Jia’s waist sliced toward the woman with a sharp whistling sound, coiling into dozens of loops that spun out to wrap around her body.

"Blast it! These current test subjects are so uncooperative! How I miss those sweet boys from Inglis; they never whimpered, no matter what experiments I performed on them!" The woman casually extended her right palm, and a thin, purple shield of light sprayed forth. Aruidiya’s fireball smashed into the shield and detonated violently, the immense force blasting Gu Xichen, who was rushing in close behind, fifty meters into the air, shattering his assault.

"Especially that adorable little treasure, Dulu. I nurtured and taught him single-mindedly from the moment he was born. It took all my effort to mold him into a powerful psychic, only for him to be senselessly burned to death without a single struggle!" The woman waved her left hand lightly toward the sky, unleashing thousands of purple rays that shrieked out, accompanied by an eerie humming sound, slicing the falling boulder from Xin Jia into countless fragments.

Gu Xichen glanced down at the dense, sky-filling swarm of purple light and felt the hair on his body stand on end: they were thousands of purple scorpions, each bearing twin wings and sporting three sharp, venomous tails arching behind them! "Retreat!" Gu Xichen yelled.

The strength this woman exhibited was truly astonishing; even fighting together, escape seemed unlikely.

Especially given her connection to Vagri—who knew if this small island was already riddled with hundreds of elite troops awaiting only her signal to charge? Thus, Gu Xichen ordered Aruidiya and Siren to withdraw immediately.

Amidst a clamor of metal grinding, the chain Xin Jia had cast was sent flying by a single slap from the woman. Xin Jia was thrown back several hundred zhang by the massive recoil force transmitted through the chain.

Xin Jia rapidly chanted several incantations, and swirling gusts of yellow wind encircled him, steadying his body. A thin cloud materialized beneath his feet, carrying him rapidly toward Gu Xichen.

Gu Xichen snatched the chain thrown by Xin Jia, and Xin Jia hauled Gu Xichen, the yellow wind billowing all the way, flying straight out toward the outer sea.

However, it was evident that Xin Jia’s strength was severely depleted. After only about ten miles of travel carried by the yellow wind, both Xin Jia and Gu Xichen tumbled miserably into the ocean.

Aruidiya grabbed the battered Siren, and the Hestia Staff erupted from her body. Aruidiya spat a mouthful of blood onto the staff, activating three sharp dragons that roared and coiled toward the alluring woman.

The alluring woman hadn't expected Aruidiya to unleash such a potent fire attack.

The intense heat forced her to retreat repeatedly. She stared fixedly at the Hestia Staff in Aruidiya’s hand, sharp light glittering in her eyes.

Seeing Aruidiya, cradling Siren, transform into a ball of fire cloud and flee rapidly, the alluring woman flicked her slender finger, sending a hair-thin purple ray shooting out.

Aruidiya, fleeing in panic, cried out in muffled pain—a tiny, three-tailed purple scorpion had stung her calf sharply.

A faint purple mist rapidly spread across Aruidiya’s body. After only rushing a few kilometers, Aruidiya lost consciousness and plummeted heavily into the sea.

The icy seawater shocked Siren into momentary clarity. He hastily summoned a silver-winged angel, about three meters tall, to embrace him and Aruidiya and fly upward.

He rubbed his head against the massive, ample chest of the silver-winged angel while screaming at the top of his lungs: "Help! Evil Dragon, you bastard, you told me to come help... Ruiyuya is poisoned! Hurry up and save her!" Gu Xichen stomped hard on the air, traversing several kilometers of water surface to reach Siren, then flooded his zhenqi downward into the water.

Though his cultivation was extraordinary, he hadn't yet reached the realm of true aerial flight. Without relying on the cloud boots on his feet, he wouldn't have even managed to leap over those kilometers of water.

Spitting out a few mouthfuls of water in distress, Gu Xichen said with a wry smile to Siren, "Hurry and find that young Taoist with the cow's nose, see if the Asian Dao Alliance has a good antidote formula!" The silver-winged angel extended its large hands, grasping Gu Xichen and Xin Jia. It spread its wings and flew the four of them rapidly toward the island housing the Asian Dao Alliance base.

The alluring woman managed a clumsy evasion of the three pursuing fire dragons; the dense forest behind her was already engulfed in roaring flames.

Watching the direction Gu Xichen and the others fled, the alluring woman smiled softly.

"Under the kiss of my Scorpion Girl's darling, even a Mercury-level fighter won't live past three days! Hee hee, if they don't come looking for me, this little girl is doomed!" "What excellent test material; I truly wish I could bring them back to the Academy right now!" "However, I must settle accounts with Vagri. I asked him to help test the combat effectiveness of the squad, and they were utterly wiped out. He absolutely must pay the price!" With a few cold laughs, the woman twisted her body, and ripples appeared in the surrounding air. She stepped into the distorted air waves and vanished.

A few minutes later, large numbers of Roman and Federation fighter jets arrived at the island. The opposing forces did not engage each other but simultaneously launched a barrage of missiles and high-energy rays at the island, completely erasing it from the sea surface.

Gu Xichen and the others struggled to reach the Asian Dao Alliance base, where they met with the young Taoist Zhang.

The Nine Nether Dao's research into various potent poisons was second only to the Three Witches Sect within the Asian Dao Alliance. Penghua immediately examined Aruidiya’s venomous injuries, then looked up with a strange expression.

"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news. Which do you wish to hear first?" Gu Xichen stood aside with his arms crossed, saying nothing. Siren instinctively asked, "What's the bad news?"

Penghua sighed, "The bad news is that this potent venom is incredibly strong; this biological toxin has permeated every cell of Miss Aruidiya’s body. I temporarily cannot find a complete antidote."

Siren's facial muscles twitched violently, and he roared, "Then is there any good news?"

Penghua smiled oddly. He nodded, "The good news is that if you are willing, I can ask my master to accept her as a disciple. Our Nine Nether Dao doesn't mind taking on another female disciple, especially one as beautiful as this."

Penghua looked at Siren with 'sincere' warmth, smiling slightly, "You wouldn't mind having certain marital relations with a female zombie in the future, would you?"

"Go to hell," Siren roared. Ignoring his broken ribs, he landed a heavy punch squarely on Penghua's face.

"Awooo!" Siren shrieked in agony as the friction of his broken ribs caused intense pain. Penghua's face was as hard as steel; his knuckles were nearly shattered.

Gu Xichen pulled Siren back. He looked at Penghua and asked, "Is there any way to save her? Other than capturing that woman, is there any other method?"

The young Taoist Zhang coughed deeply, speaking slowly, "I can use our sect's secret spiritual elixir to sustain Miss Aruidiya's life; if that fails, I can use the Nine Nether Styx Qi to freeze her body so the poison cannot spread. As for a complete detoxification, short of capturing that woman, it’s a matter of pure luck." Taoist Zhang looked deeply at Gu Xichen and said, "Since there is a cave dwelling left by Senior Chen on Paradise Star, it is highly probable that there are other cave dwellings left by seniors. Perhaps there will be a detoxification elixir left behind by them!"

Gu Xichen stared at Taoist Zhang and said, "Perhaps, we will find nothing."

Taoist Zhang sighed, "That is better than dealing with that woman. The Federation Science Academy system is something even our Asian Dao Alliance is reluctant to provoke unnecessarily."

Siren stomped his foot heavily.

Gu Xichen sighed softly and nodded slowly.

Taoist Zhang smiled and pointed at Gu Xichen, saying, "We have already pressured Vagri through the Federation Military Department. Your people will be released by tomorrow at the latest."

Le. Xunshu City Hand Typeset. Gu Xichen nodded knowingly, "Ducat will surely die; you can rest assured of that. I stumbled upon some ruins last time; I will take you there to explore tomorrow."

Gu Xichen’s hand clasped tightly with Taoist Zhang’s.

Siren stared blankly at the unconscious Aruidiya, whose face was mottled purple, and two tears suddenly dropped.