CHAPTER 270: CHAPTER 270: ARROGANCE ON DISPLAY

"Brothers, go! Capture these two for me!" The voice of the man in the cloak carried a hint of excitement.

Xia Mian squinted slightly, her gaze resting on the specially crafted cage. Inside, Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi were in a strange state. Despite being roasted until their faces were flushed, and sweating profusely, they still hadn’t woken up!

"Their life souls are trapped elsewhere," the Little Tree Demon voluntarily explained. "If the other party intends to refine their corpses, life souls aren’t needed."

Xia Mian waved her hand, and a gust of wind rose, instantly extinguishing the campfire that was set up on the ground.

Before finding the life souls of the two, she didn’t want to watch them be roasted into charcoal.

Although extinguishing the campfire casually was supposed to be no big deal, the man in the cloak acted as if he’d encountered something terrifying, staring wide-eyed at Xia Mian.

This pile of fire, though it looked ordinary, was no regular campfire; it was Corpse Refining Fire!

How did this girl in front of him manage to extinguish his Corpse Refining Fire with a mere wave of her hand?!

At this moment, the man in the cloak’s judgment of Xia Mian rose to a new level.

This girl, he couldn’t afford to provoke her.

Even if he wished to turn her into a corpse puppet, he didn’t have that capability!

"You have quite the nerve, daring to snatch people right under my nose?" Xia Mian’s voice was chilling, her gaze even colder.

"What are you, anyway? We corpse refiners have corpses we want to refine, not people we fear to provoke!" one of the cloaked men sneered, paying no heed to Xia Mian.

Just a snot-nosed brat, daring to interfere in the affairs of corpse refiners, and she’ll be turned into a corpse puppet in no time!

"No one you fear to provoke?" Xia Mian sneered coldly. The next moment, with a flick of her wrist, a Spiritual Power Whip lashed towards the boastful man.

Though the whip’s motion was slow, the man couldn’t dodge, watching helplessly as the whip sliced his flesh, leaving blood flowing!

"You are out of line!" The man in the cloak’s expression darkened instantly. These corpse refiners profited by refining and selling corpses, and they had provoked many powerful figures over the years. But no one had ever acted as rashly as Xia Mian!

"Out of line!" Xia Mian laughed, her smile tinged with cold indifference. "I’ll show you what ’out of line’ is!"

After speaking, she raised the Spiritual Power Whip again, this time lashing it towards the man in the cloak.

The man in the cloak wanted to flee, but his feet felt nailed to the ground, immovable.

He could only watch as the whip struck his body.

With this lash, he could feel his flesh and bone separating!

The man in the cloak screamed, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, pain piercing to the core.

"Damn bitch!" he cursed, glaring at Xia Mian, his hands making big gestures. As he did, a dazzling blue flame suddenly sprang up between his hands!

The flame rose into the air, growing larger and larger until it became a massive fireball!

The next moment, the man in the cloak flung the fireball towards Xia Mian!

The blue fireball carried such heat, it seemed capable of evaporating the air.

If hit by that thing, the body would surely turn to char in an instant.

"Daring to show off with such petty tricks!" Lu Zechuan squinted, his finger moved, and the dry grass in the courtyard shot up and entwined ghost-like around the blue fireball. With a hissing sound, the blue fireball changed direction, heading straight back for the man in the cloak!

The man in the cloak was instantly aghast. The flames contained within the fireball were no ordinary fire; being burned by it, the life soul would be directly incinerated!

But fortunately, he had created this thing; he could still control it.

The man in the cloak changed hand gestures again, trying to redirect the fireball to attack Xia Mian once more.

But before he could finish, green plants started growing wildly at his feet, climbing directly up to his ankles!

Digging into his flesh...

These were once simple plants that could easily be crushed underfoot, but now they cut his flesh like blades!

Yet, the man in the cloak’s feet were bound, unable to move. He could only watch as the green plants sliced his flesh, exposing the white bone beneath!

"Hand over their life souls, and I’ll spare your life!" Xia Mian said softly, her eyes coldly fixed on the man in the cloak.

The man in the cloak was already drenched in cold sweat from the pain, his lower legs nearly devoured by the green plants beneath.

He gritted his teeth, glaring at Xia Mian, "Offending us corpse refiners, you will die a horrible death!"

Xia Mian lowered her eyes, a mocking smile playing at her lips. "Is that so? I’d love to see it."

With that, Xian Mian flicked her hand, sending a wave that cleanly severed the man’s head!

As his head fell, Xia Mian finally got a clear look at his face.

"It’s him," Lu Zechuan frowned, recognizing the man as the one who had tried to snatch a room from them at Jufang Pavilion earlier that day, but was eventually kicked out by the staff.

"He certainly got what was coming to him," Xia Mian said, glancing at him before withdrawing her gaze.

These corpse refiners, committing heinous acts, turning living humans into corpse puppets to sell, without morals or limits, should not exist in the world!

Xia Mian’s threat and immediate action had terrified the remaining cloaked men.

Earlier, she merely injured them, but now, she had outright beheaded their leader!

"Hand over their life souls, and you might still have a chance to live," Xia Mian smiled, showing a seemingly innocent grin to the rest of them.

The rest felt only a chill run down their spines!

This woman may look stunning, but her smile was spine-chilling!

"We’ll hand them over!" one of the cloaked men cowering in the corner said, trembling.

Afterwards, he reached into his chest pocket, trembling, and pulled out a Glazed Bottle.

"Bring it here!" Xia Mian frowned, shouting in a low voice.

With caution and fear, the man approached Xia Mian and handed the Glazed Bottle to her.

Xia Mian took the Glazed Bottle, glancing inside to see clusters of white light bouncing around.

Xia Mian focused on them for a moment, sensing the auras of Xia Weizhang and Gu Zhi within these clusters of light.

"Can we leave now, ma’am?" The cloaked man who had surrendered Gu Zhi and Xia Weizhang’s life souls was trembling in his legs but mustered the courage to ask.

Xia Mian gave them a look, "Leave? Of course, you can."

Xia Mian smiled pleasantly, and the man seemed to relax, turning to scamper away when Xia Mian suddenly spoke, "Halt!"

"With your practice of Magic, harming countless, you think you can walk away alive from under my nose? Then abolish it first!" Xia Mian’s voice was icy and sharp, her gaze cutting like knives, making them dare not look directly.