Number One Dungeon Supplier

"Hah!" Shang Xia laughed as she ignored the taunt while checking the guards' belongings. And as the relic movement was being tracked by one of her comrades, it was about time to commence the theft as well as the assault against the defence minister.

But before she could even do a thorough check on the unconscious guard, the door exploded right in front of her and Ryuli slammed her umbrella right towards Shang Xia's direction. Naturally, the mastermind of the operation was of a high grade and was able to absorb the brunt of the attack. However, Ryuli was not giving her any chance to recover and aimed for her vital points.

Even if Shang Xia could dodge them, Ryuli would opt for collateral damage and attack her joints to render her powerless. Yet, Shang Xia was battle hardened enough to unleash a counter which involved snatching the guard's firearm on the floor and returning the favour back at Ryuli. And just as the bullets were leaving the gun chamber, Ryuli had already anticipated the attack and opened her umbrella, using it as a shield to deflect the shots away.

Only upon seeing the umbrella in action, Shang Xia realised that she hit the jackpot and laughed. "You… You are that rumoured State Agent that uses the umbrella!"

"Wow, I am not sure whether I should be glad to know that I am rather infamous in the Banned Emperor's circle of assassins and terrorists." Ryuli said as she closed her umbrella once more and unleashed waves of chi towards the Shang Xia, causing her to move backwards. The Dragon Girl then moved forward and kicked the two guards to the sides of the room, hoping that they would not get hit by their duel. (Well, she hoped but could not guarantee if things get rough.)

"Always as ever, concerned about others. If you had been ruthless, my people would not have escaped and known your presence." Shang Xia said as she ditched the firearm and took out two daggers, both exquisite looking. Ryuli also noticed that those daggers had a peculiar arrow symbol on them. One was pointing up, away from the blade and the other down towards the blade's point.

"Thanks to them, we have also managed to find a few more shitheads that were willing to spill information. It's a fair trade I guess." Ryuli was calmly holding her ground as she assessed whether those blades would be a goner for her. "But from the looks of your face, you are more concerned how I got my powers back when you were very sure that there was no chi signature coming from me."

"Care to explain?" Shang Xia tightened her grip on the daggers and refocused her chi. She knew that fighting against the legendary umbrella cultivator which probably had more kill count than any other state agents would be suicidal and detrimental to her current plan. If Shang Xia falls, others could replace her easily since they had assigned roles but to delay Ryuli until her plan unfolds was her main concern.

"Maybe. When I see you in the afterlife," Ryuli said as she leaped forth and aimed her umbrella like a rapier, performing a frightening strike towards Shang Xia. Regardless of her prideful demeanour, she had to thank the heavens and stars that the conversation was on point. If not for the discussion between her comrades to give her the clues needed, Ryuli might actually be staying in the toilet like a prison cell.

She honestly could not believe that the inscription charm, the one that has a panda with a Christmas design, a fleeting gift from Kong Rong during their previous team up had actually helped her regain her chi. It had been lying in a storage ring for the longest time possible and she figured that if those cultivators that Shang Xia was talking about were using the inscriptions charms from a certain Panda Dungeon Supplier, it did not hurt to give it a try. Thus, the charm which was supposed to be a magical beam attack had been converted into a battery of sorts by absorbing the stored chi within it. Ryuli knew the chi was dense enough for a short term burst, forcing her to go all out if need be, but to her surprise, the chi resonated with Ryuli, helping her to kickstart her dantian core once more.

Based on her limited knowledge on chi regeneration, she could only deduce that the presence of the very same chi had prompted the inactive dantian core to awaken. Something like an electric shock to boot up the heart during a cardiac arrest but this time, it was akin towards a very specific electric pulse to boot the heart up. But that's the thing that had her perplexed.

Her chi was literally a combination of chi and mana together and the way she understood it and it was something like a signature, the only person who could kick start her dantian core again was her very own maqi or…her master's.

And that was the reason why she felt extremely confused. How could the owner of Dungeons and Pandas, a supposed disciple to her master, have the very same Maqi as her? After all, if her master did help unlock Jin's Maqi, his chi would still be slightly different and that deviation would be sufficient to cause her dantian core to not react. The only conclusion she could draw was that her master was Jin himself but age wise, she had verified that he was born approximately a year or two later than her.

As if things were not that complicated enough in her head, the Banned Emperor knew about the relic which was why they had set this heist up for it. It meant that there was a leak of information or even a mole in their midst which was something she had to deal with when they were out of this messy situation.

For now, she had decided to place all of the confusion and frustration into her attacks, and release them out on Shang Xia as a means of distress. But one thing was for sure when this whole fiasco was over.

"Find that bloody panda owner and get the truth out of him."