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Chapter 243: Darkness Ability User

This delicate lady went by the name of Merryshadow. Xia Fei had no idea why she was given such a name, but he could not find a sliver of cheerfulness on Merryshadow’s face. Her rosy cheeks made her seem somewhat abashed. Despite facing a dangerous opponent like Fangyuan, her head was still bowing to her chest.

While she was a lady who had barely experienced the world in any sense, she did have an ample chest on her, which was a contrast to her scrawny figure.

Almost all men would have the instinct to protect fair maidens and would not raise a hand to women, unless they were forced to do so, much less this demure-looking lady who did not appear to be a martial arts practitioner at all.

Fangyuan had his hand on his hip, or to be precise, his roll of fat, as he let out a bellyful of laughter. “Is there really no one else in the Assassin Sect?! Aren’t you afraid of your fellow sects making fun of you for sending such a delicate, little lady out to fight?!”

He did not raise his voice, but it easily filled the sparring field. At that moment, the entire stadium with thousands of disciples across all ages could feel their ears turning red. It was already unfair that they were doing a three-versus-one match, and having sent out a young girl, who was barely an adult, now only made for a greater loss of words.

Merryshadow was blushing hard as she answered in a small voice, “I’m a woman, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to fight.”

Her voice was so soft that Fangyuan had to cup his ear with one hand, a playful look dancing across his face as he asked, “What did you say? You’re so quiet only ants can hear you.”

Merryshadow held her two fists in front of her as she angrily shouted with all her might, “I KNOW HOW TO FIGHT, TOO!”

No one had expected that such a delicate, young lady could produce such a sonorous sound, akin to a thunderbolt that streaked across the sky, sharp and clear.

Fangyuan continued to laugh heartily as he punched his two fists together. “Very well! I’m not about to go easy on you just because you’re a girl. Get ready to die!”

Merryshadow’s face went ashen, while her lips trembled. If Xia Fei were in her shoes, he would most definitely have a thousand different ways of responding. Be it with sophistry or chicanery, Xia Fei would always be able to turn his enemy dispirited. Unfortunately, the one in the ring at this moment was the cute Merryshadow. She did not know any repartee, nor was she quick-witted enough. All she could do was stand there and dumbly stew in her anger.

Xia Fei chuckled. “This lady has lost her inner composure. When the fight really starts, no matter how skilled she is in her combat techniques, she’ll surely lack her usual standards. She’s fallen for her enemy’s psychological assault, and that’s a huge taboo as a martial arts practitioner.”

Phantom pursed his lips. “All humans have their flaws. The Assassin Sect ought to have secretly provided plenty of psychological guidance in order for them to breed killers. How could there be someone like her still around?”

Xia Fei laughed. “Psychological guidance may not be as effective as you say. You’re from the Assassin Sect as well, claiming to be a poet, but it just so happens that you suck at the latter. A person often has to adjust their psychological states themselves. Instead of forcibly correcting them, it’s better to let the disciples manage and adjust themselves.”

Phantom had no response to Xia Fei. It was true that he had no right to speak when it came to psychology, for he was hardly even a qualified killer himself.

The electronic gong sounded and the second match was officially underway. Silvershadow was squeezing his thighs hard as he watched on; Merryshadow was his direct disciple, so he was extra concerned with the outcome of this fight. After all, not only did this matter concern the face of the Assassin Sect, his face was on the line as well.

In the ring, Fangyuan was eyeing Merryshadow with contempt, yet he did not make the first move. Anyone could tell from his gaze that the youth had a dismissive attitude about this, while Merryshadow politely gestured for him to make the first move. The lady was clearly well-educated in terms of etiquette in her demonstration of a measure of propriety even inside the ring.

After waiting for several seconds, Merryshadow could tell that Fangyuan had no intention of taking the initiative. Believing that this was him underestimating her, she could not help but flare up inwardly again. Arching her brow, her eyes emitted a cold glare as if she had already gotten somewhat flustered.

It was impermissible to let anger have free rein when fighting, though that did not mean a warrior was incapable of demonstrating their strength if they were piqued. Some people were able to explode forth two hundred percent of their offensive power when furious, displaying their strength fully. Meanwhile, some would let the rage get to them and turn blind, even going as far as to lose their sense of reason.

Because Xia Fei would not lose his keen perception of combat opportunities when angered, not to mention forget to analyze his opponent’s every move and action as a result of the rage, Xia Fei had a feeling that Merryshadow was neither an intuitive nor an analytical warrior, so the fury she was feeling was not about to be of any help to her.

With a twist of her wrist, Merryshadow could no longer stand it and made the first move.

A black space suddenly appeared, enveloping both Fangyuan and her in it.

“A darkness-type ability user!” Phantom exclaimed. “Merryshadow is a darkness ability user, so she may be able to defeat Fangyuan this time around!”

Xia Fei was stunned. No one would have guessed that the quiet Merryshadow would actually be a legendary darkness ability user, possessing the capability to control darkness.

The darkness ability actually referred to the dark-matter type, and as the name suggested, it was an ability to manipulate darkness.

It was as if darkness was her plaything, able to change and form it as how she arbitrarily wished. The sun was still shining several seconds ago, but as long as this darkness ability user waved her hand, the sky would no longer have even a sliver of light. Even if someone had a portable light device in hand, there would be no way of escaping the darkness.

In that endless darkness, a warrior could only act according to their instinct, and that was her trump card. Every move that the opponent made would be well in her grasp.

If it was simply an ability that could deprive the enemy of their vision, the darkness ability would not be considered as one of the legendary-grade special abilities out there. What made it even more bizarre was the fact that darkness ability users could integrate themselves into the darkness and attack.

This was to say that the darkness Xia Fei saw in front of him was no different from Merryshadow herself.

Furthermore, darkness ability users had an even more terrifying attack in their arsenal: Corrosion.

As long as it reached a certain rank, that mass of darkness would act like a pool of sulfuric acid, slowly seeping into the enemy’s skin and bones, destroying their very body and flaying their nerves.

The darkness would be like an omniscient fiend, or like one million ants, unhurriedly consuming the enemy until not even scum remained.

‘No wonder not even the people of the Assassin Sect know what Merryshadow’s ability is... Turns out she’s a legendary darkness ability user,’ Xia Fei mumbled to himself in surprise.

Merryshadow’s darkness ability was similar to Fangyuan’s demonic-type ability. It could even be considered as an extremely rare ability.

That was why the Assassin Sect had kept her hidden with much secrecy. After enough time passed for Merryshadow’s abilities to reach a certain standard, she would most definitely become a warrior with superb offensive prowess.

As a hitman organization, the Assassin Sect would often collect some of the children with very special abilities and bring them onto the mountain to train. The abilities both Smokeshadow and Merryshadow demonstrated were very suitable for assassination, though the latter’s ability was more powerful than the former.

All of a sudden, Xia Fei could not help but be reminded of Xiaoyu. Could some unknown sect have kidnapped her because she had the Amethyst Guard special ability and was taken in as a disciple somewhere? Could it be a hitman organization just like the Assassin Sect?

Xiaoyu was a pain that Xia Fei forever harbored in his heart. Just thinking about her would make him feel some measure of sadness, and his expression would turn grim along with it.

In the distance, Silvershadow revealed a delighted smile. The darkness ability was something that came by chance; it was fortunate of him to have been able to take Merryshadow as his disciple.

“Now that the sect is in trouble, it is still me and my followers who are truly dependable.”

The corner of his eyes furtively glanced over at Darkshadow and Moonshadow. Darkshadow was always prudent, wielding his greatest trump card in the sect: the Deathguards. That was why Silvershadow had always seen him as the greatest threat, but it was a good thing that Darkshadow did not have any ambition whatsoever, and he was even less capable when it came to cultivating disciples of his own. What budding talent he had were all thrown into the Deathguards, unlike Silvershadow who had kept the truly talented for himself.

No matter how good a disciple was, they would all turn into muted killing machines once they joined the Deathguards, incapable of independent thought beyond heeding orders. No amount of such machines would be able to help Darkshadow come up with schemes or plots. This was like having a computer and a cunning friend; the former was very useful but was ultimately just a tool. When it came time to a fight for power, the computer would be unable to come up with any ideas by itself, and all it could do was execute one’s plans.

Conversely, a disciple would be completely different. A Deathguard was guardian to the entire Assassin Sect. They would be fair and impartial, so even if Darkshadow had the right to control these Deathguards, it would not be his for life. As long as Carneshadow gave the word , the Deathguards could very easily change hands.

A disciple would be subordinate to their master. Though they all belonged to the same sect, emotions and connections always mattered to humans. A disciple would of course always be more partial to the master who took them in, and this was a fact that had remained unchanged since ancient times.

As for the always noble and strange Moonshadow, Darkshadow hardly even gave him a second thought. Out of the three elders, Moonshadow was the most wise and resourceful. He was also the most knowledgeable; from combat techniques to pharmacology and arts to culinary skills, Moonshadow had learned everything he could learn and was adept at them all.

Being knowledgeable was naturally commendable, but the key was that Moonshadow had devoted too much of his time and effort in his hobbies that he failed to attend to matters in the sect and cultivate his influence. Not only did he have few disciples, all of them personally dabbled in the literary arts like their master. Even the disciple he was most fond of, Phantom, had long met his end. In terms of the path to dominate the Assassin Sect, Moonshadow was truly weak and insignificant.

Actually, even if Phantom was still alive, Silvershadow had never viewed him positively. In that man’s eyes, everything beyond combat techniques and martial arts was worthless. The reason why Phantom was Moonshadow’s favorite was that he shared the worthless pursuits his master had.

It had to be mentioned that Silvershadow had truly gone crazy, obsessing over authority and profit. His disciple Merryshadow was presently putting her life on the line in the ring, yet he was privately ruminating over his standing and order here on Nameless Mountain.

He ought to consider that if the Assassin Sect lost these matches, the discipleship itself would hardly even survive. Standing? Perhaps the only one left standing in the sect would just be he himself.

The wily old Craneshadow had very clearly seen Silvershadow’s ambition from miles away, which was why he had passed the Deathguards to the unambitious yet capable Darkshadow to manage, intentionally forging a balance in the mountain. As for the knowledgeable Moonshadow, Craneshadow had never once considered him as part of the equation.

This was when a series of thunderous crackles erupted from that mass of darkness on the ring, rocking the entire sparring field vigorously. Some of the disciples who were unprepared for this all blocked their ears, a look of horror on each and every one of their faces.

For some reason, neither Merryshadow or Fangyuan were in a hurry to make their move. Several full seconds passed while they were engulfed in darkness, and it was only at this moment that the fighting had truly begun.

Nothing happened when they did not exchange blows, yet the moment they did, it was too thunderous and earthshaking.