Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

Ye Chen and the woman in black stood only ten steps apart, silently facing each other.

The ridge beneath our feet was so narrow that only two people could walk side by side, with sheer cliffs hundreds of meters high on either side. The wind echoed through the cliff walls, creating a series of sounds, as if unseen wild beasts were roaring deep in the valley.

The woman in black placed her hand on the hilt of her knife, ready to strike at any moment.

The woman with black hair continued to breathe steadily, her chest barely rising and falling, as if the fact that Ye Chen had discovered her whereabouts had not affected her at all.

Those narrow eyes were like two drawn short swords, fixedly watching Ye Chen's every move.

"I'll ask you one last time, the token, will you give it to me or not?" The woman in black's voice was colder than the wind and very domineering.

"Beautiful lady, I'm giving you one last answer: I'm not giving it to you, so what?" Ye Chen had removed the lollipop from his mouth, and his expression had become serious.

"You're asking for it."

The moment the words left her lips, the woman in black moved.

Her movements were incredibly fast; Ye Chen couldn't even see her trajectory clearly, only a blurry black shadow flashing past in the moonlight.

The next second, the woman in black drew her short sword, the blade tracing a silvery-white arc in the moonlight, aimed straight at Ye Chen's neck.

This strike was executed without any fancy movements, clean and efficient to the extreme. The blade carried a chilling killing intent, and its speed was even three points faster than Han Song's spring kick.

As the blade approached, Ye Chen leaned back, the tip of the blade grazing his nose, the force of the wind stinging his cheek.

"Your swordsmanship is good, but you're too hasty." Ye Chen's feet seemed to be on springs. His right hand had already gripped the three silver needles in his sleeve. With a flick of his wrist, three cold glints shot straight at the black-clad woman's wrist and shoulder.

The woman snorted defiantly, held her short knife horizontally in front of her, and precisely deflected two silver needles with the blade. She dodged the third needle by sidestepping. Her movements were fluid, fast, accurate, and ruthless, without the slightest unnecessary action.

The woman in black barely slowed down. As she dodged the silver needles, her short sword slashed upwards, diagonally cutting from bottom to top. The airflow generated by the blade emitted a sharp hiss, as if even the air itself was being torn apart by this strike.

Ye Chen instantly unleashed his Ghost Shadow Step technique to its fullest extent, his entire body sliding out like a fish close to the blade, narrowly avoiding the attack.

As soon as Ye Chen regained his footing, the woman in black's short knife followed closely behind, not slashing or cutting, but stabbing.

Each strike was faster than the last, the blade transforming into a continuous silver ribbon under the moonlight, like a silver snake dancing along the mountain ridge, each strike precisely aimed at Ye Chen's vital points.

This swordsmanship is so skillful yet seemingly simple, so fast that no pattern can be discerned.

Ye Chen could only dodge, keep dodging. The Ghost Shadow Step technique was extremely limited on such a narrow mountain ridge. Several times he had to dodge by brushing against the edge of the cliff. The pebbles under his feet were trampled and fell into the abyss with a clatter, and for a long time no sound could be heard hitting the ground.

"Your Ghost Steps are quite good," the woman in black said coldly between strokes of her sword, her voice surprisingly calm.

The woman in black's next words shocked and terrified Ye Chen: "Unfortunately, there are gaps in the transitions between your footwork, especially when changing direction. Your right foot is half a beat slower than your left. This is a habit left over from long-term training in the mountains, and you haven't been able to break it even after ten years of trying."

Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat.

The woman with black hair saw through the most fatal flaw in his footwork.

Even Han Song and Du Qiansui failed to notice this flaw, yet she dissected it perfectly.

Either her eyesight far surpassed those two, or she already knew his footwork well in advance.

"Are you from Medicine King Valley?" Ye Chen asked, dodging a horizontal slash.

The woman in black paused briefly with her knife, then intensified her attack, each strike aimed directly at Ye Chen's vital points: "You are not worthy to know."

Ye Chen was forced to retreat repeatedly, and the meridians in his right arm began to ache faintly during such intense dodging, and the flow of his internal energy became increasingly sluggish.

Ye Chen knew that things couldn't continue like this. This woman's strength was at least at the mid-stage of the Transformation Realm, and her swordsmanship was terrifying. If he continued to be suppressed by her, it would be too late when the poison in his right arm took effect.

Ye Chen suddenly did something that surprised the woman in black: he stopped and stopped dodging.

The short knife arrived as expected, its tip pointed directly at Ye Chen's chest.

Ye Chen took a deep breath and tilted his body slightly to the right, letting the short knife graz his left arm.

The blade tore through the sleeve of his left arm, leaving a shallow bloodstain on his skin, and the blood instantly soaked the fabric.

But instead of retreating, he stepped forward to meet the blade, his right palm emerging from his sleeve, his middle finger bent, and flicked the blade at an extremely tricky angle.

Clang!

With a crisp metallic clang, the short sword was jolted to one side by the impact.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Ye Chen moved forward again, his left hand forming a claw as he grabbed the black-clad woman's wrist.

He used all his strength in this grab, his fingertips gleaming faintly with golden light under the moonlight, his inner energy flowing into them, so fast that it created a sound of air being torn apart.

The woman in black clearly hadn't expected Ye Chen to launch such a desperate attack. She tried to draw her knife with a flick of her wrist, but Ye Chen's left hand had already grabbed her sleeve.

Just as the woman in black was about to change her moves, Ye Chen's right palm struck her left shoulder with a powerful palm strike.

The woman in black's expression changed.

She didn't have time to draw her sword, so she could only loosen the hilt and use both palms to block Ye Chen's attack.

Ye Chen's right palm collided with her two palms, and the collision of their internal energies produced a muffled boom. The mountain ridge beneath their feet was shaken open, and gravel tumbled into the abyss.

Ye Chen felt an extremely powerful internal force surge from the opponent's palm, causing his internal organs to churn.

His right arm wasn't fully healed to begin with, so he only used 60% of his strength in this palm strike, using the remaining 40% to protect his heart and meridians.

Ye Chen was still shaken and staggered back four or five steps, his left foot slipped and half of his body was hanging over the edge of the cliff.

At the critical moment, a slender yet strong hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him back.

Ye Chen crashed heavily onto the ridge, his chest heaving violently. He looked up and saw that the woman in black had also taken three steps back, with a dark red palm print on her left shoulder, clearly indicating that she had been seriously injured by the Breaking Palm.

Her knife fell onto the stone between the two of them, a thin layer of dust clinging to the blade.

She pressed her injured left shoulder, her breathing becoming rapid for the first time, and a complex expression appeared in her gaze as she looked at Ye Chen.

"You're not from Medicine King Valley. Not everyone knows the Breaking Palm technique. Are you a disciple of Medicine King Valley?"

"My name is Ye Chen, the sixteenth generation disciple of Medicine King Valley." Ye Chen sat on the ground, panting heavily. His old wound on his right palm had not yet healed and a new one had been added. He gasped in pain, but he still forced a smile on his face.

"Hey beautiful, you've already dropped your knife, are you still going to fight?"

The woman in black stared at him for a long time, a subtle, unreadable emotion flashing in her eyes.

She didn't pick up the dagger, but slowly straightened up.

The injury to her left shoulder was clearly quite serious. After regaining her composure, she said, "I'm not fighting anymore. So you're the person Father was talking about."

Ye Chen was shocked by the woman in black's words: "You...know my martial uncle, Su Youdao?"

The woman in black remained silent for a moment, as if she had made a great decision, and then slowly removed the veil from her face.

Under the moonlight, a cool and exquisitely beautiful face was revealed, with distinct and delicate features, and a kind of exotic heroism between her brows, making her look somewhat unlike a Han Chinese.

She had a tiny cinnabar mole below the corner of her left eye, which shimmered with a reddish glow in the moonlight.

"My name is Ayiguli, my martial uncle calls me Guli. I come from the Western Regions, and Su Youdao is my adoptive father."