Golden sword light reflected off the sky, briefly flashing across Marian's eyes.

The bright, sharp blade was almost impossible to see. Even with her enhanced vision, she could only make out a blurred outline.

At that moment, time seemed to slow down.

Her pupils clearly reflected the figure of Li Cheng颐 in front of her.

'Killing intent... I can feel it... But... it's not right.'

This feeling was different from the one she was once so familiar with.

In a split second, her figure shifted slightly.

Her body twisted into an odd curve with the precision of a top-notch ballet yoga dancer.

The golden blade narrowly missed her, completely missing its target.

But it wasn't over.

Li Cheng颐 wielded the golden swords, this time with both hands.

One in each hand, one a horizontal slash, the other a diagonal slash, simultaneously attacking her from two different angles.

Swish!

Repeating the previous scene, Marian's body suddenly contorted, defying physiology, accurately dodging the two blades.

She stood in place, not even moving beyond a one-meter radius.

Yet, despite this, she wasn't even grazed by the golden swords.

"Decades are enough time for me to push many things to a level incomprehensible to ordinary people."

She struck out suddenly, her right palm precisely hitting Li Cheng颐's wrist, disrupting his rhythm.

"Just like now."

Bang!

With a burst of force, a muffled sound erupted between them.

Li Cheng颐 was forced back by a tremendous force. He steadied himself, frowning as he stopped more than two meters away from her.

It wasn't that he didn't want to continue, but even though he had unleashed true killing intent, she still showed no intention of retaliating.

He had only pretended that he really wanted to kill her, but in reality, it wasn't difficult for someone to temporarily hypnotize themselves for a short time.

Regardless of whether Marian held a grudge against him, he couldn't waste such potent fertilizer material all at once.

But now, strangely, Marian simply wasn't erupting with emotional killing intent?

"Why aren't you attacking? Just dodging and defending?" He stared at Marian, asking through a voice changer, completely ignoring the enthusiastic onlookers who were already preparing to call the police.

"You weren't sent by him at all." Marian smiled. "Young man, you revealed your flaw the moment you used that technique."

She advanced step by step, closing in.

"If you were one of his people, you would have been shaken to see that I had mastered his skills. But you didn't react at all..."

"..." Li Cheng颐 had no idea who "he" was. Now it seemed this old hag wasn't so easily fooled.

"Your technique is clumsy, probably just a beginner's. You think you can test me with so little skill? Are you underestimating me too much?"

Marian flicked her right hand lightly, and a gray dagger appeared in her palm.

An upward thrust.

Swish!

The tip of the knife aimed at Li Cheng颐's face mask, slicing towards him at high speed.

But while Li Cheng颐's technique was poor, his physical attributes were genuinely enhanced in all aspects.

Modern technological gene enhancements often only target one or a few aspects, never achieving his comprehensive enhancement.

This strike came openly, but the explosive speed from the moment the knife was drawn to the point of impact was extremely fast, almost like a sneak attack.

Li Cheng颐 raised his hand, completely ignoring the knife tip in front of his face, and instead slashed his sword towards her chest.

Given the thickness of her chest, she would definitely be hit first!

He relied on the secondarily evolved Wisteria Scale Armor he wore. With such protection, an ordinary blade tip couldn't harm him.

Forced to, Marian quickly retreated, parrying.

Clang!

The two separated again.

This time, it was another draw, but Li Cheng颐 sensed that Marian's raw strength was definitely inferior to his.

However, she used some extremely clever technique to dissipate most of his strength.

Then, borrowing the remainder of his strength, she rebounded it back, launching a counterattack.

In reality, the intensity of her true exertion was at most a quarter of his.

As the clanging of collisions continued to erupt, each of Li Cheng颐's attacks was accurately intercepted. Her weapons were no longer the trash he could easily break. Clearly, they were high-strength, high-density special alloys.

After dozens of sword strikes, he knew that he probably couldn't deal with her without using the Flower Language.

But once the Flower Language ability was used, it could cause casualties if they weren't prepared and on guard.

He only hoped to scare Marian, so that he could come back to 'withdraw' again next time and the time after that.

But the current situation put him in a dilemma.

'Forget it.'

Finally, with the last sword strike blocked again, Li Cheng颐 decided to give up.

He learned a lesson from this experience.

Flower fertilizer should still be selected from the young. The old are difficult to activate malicious thoughts. The mental effort required is too much; it's not worth it.

Taking two steps back and calculating the time, the people from the Safety Department would arrive soon. He had to leave.

Li Cheng颐 retreated quickly.

"Want to leave? So, what did you come here for?" Marian asked quickly.

"You're somewhat different from what I imagined," Li Cheng颐 replied. He turned to leave.

Swish!

In an instant, Marian's figure actually created an afterimage, slicing past him from the side and blocking his path.

She stood on the concrete platform between the sidewalk and the road, holding a gray knife in each hand.

"Did I allow you to leave?" A strange glint flickered in Marian's blue eyes.

"You allow?" Li Cheng颐 was astonished. He was already showing mercy by not killing her. He didn't expect this person to dare block his way.

"You should move."

His voice deepened.

"Although I have more patience for top-quality materials, my patience is limited."

"Then come and kill me?" Marian laughed. "If you can."

She extended her slender fingers, pointing to her heart. "Cut here."

Bang!!

In an instant, a muffled sound.

Li Cheng颐's right leg cracked the ground. The golden sword created a blurred afterimage, violently slashing towards Marian.

Clang!

The two clashed again.

Gray knife and golden sword collided, then separated.

Marian was about to dissipate the force, but this time her expression suddenly changed.

Her knife-wielding right hand suddenly uncontrollably swung towards the ground on her left.

Not only that, but her whole body seemed to be controlled by some kind of enormous force, lunging towards the ground on her left.

Swish!!

At the same time, the second golden sword pierced straight out from her back, aiming for her heart.

"!!!!?"

Marian's pores constricted. The deadly threat, which she hadn't felt for many years, instantly surged through her heart.

She wanted to counterattack and parry, but her body couldn't move at all!!!

Pfft.

The golden sword pierced through her clothes from her back, landing on the bulletproof vest, creating a gash.

Marian violently broke free from the control, rolling away to create distance.

Rising again, she half-knelt on the ground, staring intently at Li Cheng颐, who was sheathing his sword and turning around.

"Who exactly are you!!?"

Just now, she was truly on the brink of life and death, almost losing her life.

What exactly was that strange technique...?

"If you block my way again, I'll kill you," Li Cheng颐 said coldly. He strode away into the distance.

As the saying goes, one comes full of expectations, but leaves disappointed. He thought he could easily harvest malicious thoughts.

But he overlooked one problem.

The stronger a person's will and determination, the more stable their thoughts and emotions tend to be, making them difficult to break and causing huge fluctuations.

He had overlooked this point, and the result was what it was now.

Marian remained unmoved.

His quick charge failed.

Quickly flashing into a corner and taking off his clothes, Li Cheng颐 removed his mask in the shadows, out of view of the camera.

'Arrogance +15'

'Arrogance +17.'

"?" He suddenly paused.

What were those malicious thoughts just now??

Before he could recover.

'Anger +17'

'Anger +13'

'Anger +10'

Three more powerful waves of malicious thoughts poured in quickly.

Li Cheng颐 was dumbfounded, watching as the malicious thoughts, which were barely halfway full before, instantly broke through the limit, reaching the maximum value of one hundred.

'Titan Sunflower has reached the highest level and cannot continue to evolve.'

'Final evolution has been activated, Flower Language evolving, Flower Scale Armor evolving...'

The Evil Flower's prompt instantly appeared.

Li Cheng颐 snapped back to reality from his astonishment, quickly turning his head to glance in Marian's direction from the corner.

There were several men and women, who at first glance weren't ordinary characters, surrounding Marian, their faces full of concern.

The men were strong, the women were lithe, and their auras were all extraordinary.

Watching these people slowly regain their composure and restore their emotions as Marian explained, he even saved the subsequent processing steps.

For a moment, Li Cheng颐 didn't know which of these people the malicious thoughts came from.

But without a doubt... they were all there because of Marian.

It seemed that he had injured Marian, causing these people to experience huge emotional fluctuations.

And what surprised him even more was that Marian was not only strong herself, but she also had so many strong people around her.

It seemed circles really did matter.

'Interesting... if one direction is dark, another is bright.'

Putting away the jammer, Li Cheng颐 felt the Titan Sunflower, which had completed its third evolution, and slowly began to strengthen his entire body.

He put away his phone and walked out of the alley in a cheerful mood, leaving in the opposite direction from Marian and the others.

*

*

*

Fuzong Province, Yunshan County.

As a remote small county town almost isolated from the world, Yunshan County had well-developed transportation, but it had never been able to develop.

The people here were relatively closed off, living honest and simple lives generation after generation, and strangely lacked any curiosity about the outside world's development.

Whether young or old, they all seemed to be content to stay here, living quietly, being born, aging, getting sick, and dying.

Getting off a roadside in the county, Li Cheng颐 felt a strange aura permeating this county as soon as he entered.

Whether it was the way people walked, drove, or went in and out of stores to shop, they all gave him a lazy, listless feeling.

Beep beep.

His phone rang.

It was Song Ran.

Picking it up and answering, Li Cheng颐 immediately heard a faint cough coming from the other end of the phone.

"Brother Song, are you okay? I've arrived in Yunshan County. How do I get there now?"

"Come to the Pengcheng Library. We're here," Song Ran replied.

"Library?" Li Cheng颐 was a little puzzled, but he immediately stopped a car and took a taxi to the place.

The person who picked him up at Qun'an Airport got out of the car as soon as they arrived in Yunshan County, as if bringing him to this place was all that person was concerned with.

As a result, Li Cheng颐 was left alone on the street, having to rely on maps and taxis to get to his destination.

Standing on the side of the road, he took out his phone and opened the ride-hailing app.

But after sending out the order, he actually had to wait a full ten minutes before a car accepted the order and drove towards him.

Li Cheng颐 could clearly see at least five or six taxis passing by.

Soon, a white car with a taxi sign on top slowly stopped in front of him.

(End of chapter)