“It’s okay.” Earth Rooster blinked at Earth Monkey. “You don’t have to feel insecure about your looks.”
“Damn it, insecure? I was doing just fine before I met you two. Now I *really* feel insecure.” Earth Monkey waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll shave, comb my hair, and wash my face once we get out of here. Can you just shut up for now?”
With that, he cleared his throat and spat on the ground.
Earth Rooster had a feeling this wasn’t just about shaving or washing his face.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the two Celestial-level fighters struck again.
A few medium-sized chunks of ore suddenly flew through the room, and thin vines wrapped around the two Earth-level fighters.
Fists and kicks flew as the seemingly frail young man and woman fought with practiced precision. Earth Rooster was quickly knocked to the ground, and after holding out for a while, Earth Monkey was sent flying too.
“Damn it…” Earth Monkey rolled to his feet. “They seem a bit stronger than before…”
Earth Rooster stood up as well, glancing at the two Celestial-level fighters. Sensing that their “rage” had built up enough, she turned to Earth Monkey and winked.
Earth Monkey nodded, cleared his throat, and taunted the two Celestials: “Hey, are you two even trying? Celestial Monkey, forget about that useless ‘Twin Blossoms’ you can’t even use properly—you’ve got ‘Primordial Matter’ and ‘Wild Growth,’ plus Celestial Rooster’s ‘Ingenious Craft’ and ‘Lush Wood’… All these abilities sound like they’re made for each other, yet you fight like it’s a joke. None of these ‘Divine Arts’ have even seriously injured us yet.”
“We were careless earlier…” Celestial Monkey muttered. “But it won’t happen again… right?”
She looked at Celestial Rooster, only to find his expression still dark. He stared at Earth Monkey, as if wary of something.
“Celestial Rooster, aren’t you going to use your ‘trump card’?” Celestial Monkey said. “These two aren’t easy to deal with… There’s something about them…”
Fighting them was inexplicably infuriating. Every time Earth Rooster touched her, it disrupted her “conviction,” while Earth Monkey seemed to predict her next “Divine Art” and dodge in advance.
Even the most oblivious person would realize by now that these two Earth-level fighters were anything but ordinary. They clearly wielded some unseen “Divine Art.”
But how had they smuggled it onto the “Train”?
Had no one noticed anything strange about them in all the years from Mortal to Earth rank?
“My trump card… right now…” Celestial Rooster still looked troubled. “Celestial Monkey, maybe you should undo ‘Twin Blossoms’ first…”
“Undo it? What do you mean?” Celestial Monkey frowned. “Are you saying my injuries are dragging you down?”
“No…” Celestial Rooster snapped, annoyed. “I’ve taken damage too, and it’s reflected back on you. We’re suffering double the injuries—it’s not helping us fight!”
“That’s not what you said when we activated ‘Twin Blossoms’!” Celestial Monkey yelled. “You said bonding would help us harmonize Yin and Yang! And now you want to undo it?”
“Are you missing the point?” Celestial Rooster raised his voice. “Don’t you want to win?!”
“Oooh, look at you two,” Earth Monkey chuckled. “Little lovebirds, bickering already? When we first walked in, you were speaking in sync. Now you’re arguing separately—did you just break up?”
Seeing him stir the pot, Earth Rooster laughed too: “Don’t be ridiculous! They’re closer than ever—heart to heart, life to life. If one dies, both die. Their bond’s way deeper than ours.”
“Oh, really?” Earth Monkey grinned. “My bad, I thought they were splitting up.”
Listening to their back-and-forth, Celestial Rooster and Celestial Monkey’s expressions darkened further.
“But honestly, little Celestial Monkey, you’re a bit confusing,” Earth Rooster crossed her arms. “You’ve got ‘Twin Blossoms,’ yet all you know is ‘Life Link’? That thing has so many uses! Heal yourselves, hurt us—anything!”
“You…” Celestial Monkey trembled with rage, her fury boiling over. “Do you really think just because you can hurt us, you can defeat a ‘Celestial’?”
“Yep,” Earth Rooster nodded. “If we can wound you, we can kill you. And with your lives linked, it’s even easier for us.”
“You delusional old men and women make me sick…” Celestial Monkey hissed through gritted teeth.
Hearing that, Earth Monkey gasped and frantically waved his hands at her.
Celestial Monkey scowled. “What? Why are you waving at me?”
“You idiot!” Earth Monkey said urgently. “Insult my looks all you want, but you—”
“Shut up…” Earth Rooster’s veins bulged on her forehead, yet her smile stayed sweet. “Little brat, did you just call me an ‘old woman’…?”
“With that weird face of yours, how am I supposed to know your age?” Celestial Monkey sneered, her delicate features twisted with anger. “This ‘big sister’ couldn’t possibly be younger than me, right? Tell me—do you even need primer when you put makeup on your feathers?”
Earth Rooster nodded slowly. “Good, good… Nobody interfere. I’m tearing this little bitch’s mouth apart myself.”
With that, she lunged forward, brawling wildly with Celestial Monkey. They grabbed each other’s hair, both seething with rage.
Earth Rooster didn’t care about dignity anymore, snarling, “I’ll show you whether I use primer or not!” She seized an opening and clawed three bloody gashes across Celestial Monkey’s face—promptly splattering blood onto Celestial Rooster’s cheek as well.
“Ahh!!” He yelped in panic. “Celestial Monkey! Undo ‘Twin Blossoms’ now!”
“You—” Celestial Monkey wrestled with Earth Rooster, shouting, “Celestial Rooster, if you don’t use that damned trump card of yours, I swear I’ll drag you down with me!”
Earth Monkey watched with amusement, then gave Celestial Rooster a meaningful look. “Kid, maybe it’s time to show us what you’ve got.”
“You… don’t understand,” Celestial Rooster gritted his teeth. “If I reveal my ability… it’ll be trouble…”
“What trouble?” Earth Monkey countered. “You want to undo ‘Twin Blossoms’ to save yourself, but she won’t let you. You know that, right? Right now, you two aren’t in sync—she’s way angrier than you, her ‘conviction’ is shaken. Staying linked only weakens you both.”
Celestial Rooster hesitated, visibly torn.
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