Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Qin Lan had never encountered such a bizarre plotline before.
Until now, he’d assumed the only enemies he would face at Clear Spring Academy were the male students.
He hadn’t expected women to join the competition too.
At that thought, Qin Lan couldn’t help glancing at Su Xiaoyue several more times.
Was she really that charming?
She attracted men and women alike?
“I can’t tell whether this is good or bad…” Qin Lan mused. “Should I be proud that my girlfriend is so attractive, or worried that another woman might steal her away?”
The newcomer was a tall girl with a striking figure.
Her curly orange hair framed a stunning face, though her beauty was entirely different from Su Xiaoyue’s.
Su Xiaoyue was like a clear mountain spring beneath a gentle breeze and bright moon–soft and well-behaved. She really did look quite obedient; it was only her ferocious combat record that made her seem so domineering to others.
The woman before them, by contrast, was all biting frost and naked aggression.
She made no effort to hide her hostility toward Qin Lan. Her narrow, upturned eyes burned as she glared fixedly at him beside Su Xiaoyue.
Su Xiaoyue lowered her voice and explained, “Her name is Song Lingyan. She’s a senior… She’s stronger than me, much stronger. She ranked first in the previous Elite Program…”
“The fact that I haven’t been harassed much here is actually thanks to her… Most boys who tried to approach me were, um… dealt with by her.”
Su Xiaoyue hesitated over the words “dealt with” and stressed them pointedly.
Impressive.
Qin Lan could only raise a thumb.
“Xiaoyue, you rejected me so you could be with trash like this?”
Song Lingyan shifted her gaze away from Qin Lan, and her eyes instantly softened when they landed on Su Xiaoyue.
“Objection!”
Before Su Xiaoyue could respond, Qin Lan spoke indignantly. “What do you mean, trash like this?”
“Trash like me is hard to find, okay?”
Song Lingyan’s disgust deepened when Qin Lan butted in, and her tone turned vicious.
“Shut up!”
“Disgusting man… Just talking to you makes me want to vomit!”
“Get lost!”
Without warning, Song Lingyan attacked. Her curse energy surged, and a colossal phantom enveloped her body.
Seen from afar, it was a white tiger wreathed in blue-green lightning!
Her body grew taller and more powerfully built. Her muscles weren’t bulky, but their clean lines brimmed with the beauty of primal, savage strength.
The white tiger phantom overlapped her body. When Song Lingyan slammed down her palm, its paw unleashed a blast of claw-force threaded with lightning and accompanied by a thunderous boom.
It crashed viciously toward Qin Lan!
“A tier-four Curse Core?”
Qin Lan instantly judged Song Lingyan’s level and couldn’t help marveling.
—————-
A+ rank Talent: [Four Symbols Spirit Transformation]
Description: The user can communicate with the spirits of the Four Symbols in another world, receive their blessing of power, and temporarily enter a beast-spirit form. All attributes are comprehensively enhanced, and the user gains the corresponding special ability.
—————-
As expected of the previous Elite Program’s top student. Judging by her energy fluctuations alone, she was definitely no novice who had only just entered tier four.
According to Qin Lan’s senses, the destructive power of her palm strike already rivaled Dong Haoran’s Thunderclap Flash from back then.
It might even be slightly stronger.
Qin Lan’s expression grew a little more serious.
He had assumed an insurmountable gulf separated these students from true Anomaly Hunters, but perhaps his perspective had been too narrow.
It was true that most students lacked combat experience and possessed no cursed artifacts.
But the absolute best among them were, in reality, geniuses who simply hadn’t joined the Anomaly Hunter Bureau.
Even without experience battling anomalies in the Fallen Zone, they could still unleash astonishing power through simulated instances and their own formidable Talents.
The Song Lingyan before him unquestionably possessed the strength of a three-star Anomaly Hunter!
Of course, after all that explanation, she still wasn’t enough compared with Student Qin Lan.
After all… Qin Lan was a monster who had already touched the level of a four-star Anomaly Hunter. Factoring in his curse resistance and that chaotic pile of skills, he was actually harder to deal with than an ordinary four-star.
The white tiger phantom brought down one claw. Lightning blazed too brightly to look at and swallowed Qin Lan’s body in an instant.
Yet not a trace of it affected Su Xiaoyue.
Even while attacking, Song Lingyan remained extraordinarily considerate of Su Xiaoyue’s feelings.
How to put it… She truly was gentle, in her own way.
Several expensive trees transplanted to Clear Spring Academy at enormous cost exploded nearby amid violent crackling.
Anything touched directly by the lightning was reduced to charcoal on the spot.
Watching Qin Lan disappear beneath the lightning, contempt flashed through Song Lingyan’s eyes.
“I know you’re a three-star Anomaly Hunter. So what?”
“You’re hardly the first Anomaly Hunter I’ve defeated.”
She turned to Su Xiaoyue and spoke gently.
“Xiaoyue, look. I told you these filthy men can’t be trusted. He’s so weak–how could he possibly protect you?”
“I didn’t even use my full strength, and he’s already down.”
“Someone as outstanding as you deserves far better than him…”
Su Xiaoyue merely smiled and pointed toward the cloud of dust that was about to disperse.
“Senior Song, I should warn you. If you truly didn’t use your full strength just now…”
“Then you’d better go all out next time.”
Surprise instantly appeared in Song Lingyan’s eyes.
The dust settled. Qin Lan stood exactly where he had been, bare from the waist up, his shirt blasted into ash.
Fortunately, his pants were part of the combat uniform issued by the Anomaly Hunter Bureau. Otherwise, he would have been airing the bird in public.
Qin Lan brushed the stray electricity from his body and raised his head calmly.
“You know, your attacks feel like you’re flirting.”
“I could find any bathhouse scrubber in the northeast, ask whether he skipped lunch, and he’d still scrub harder than you hit.”
Song Lingyan’s expression changed when she saw him completely unharmed.
She knew exactly how powerful that attack had been. She had poured over eighty points of curse energy into it. Even if he could withstand the impact, her lightning should have left him in unbearable pain.
Song Lingyan had deliberately struck hard because she wanted Qin Lan to suffer.
Had another student taken that attack, they very likely would have died!
That was why Su Xiaoyue had called her insane. Once emotion took control, Song Lingyan cared nothing for the consequences, and she had caused plenty of ugly incidents before.
But her powerful family background and exceptional Talent meant Clear Spring Academy had never disciplined her.
“I’ll give you one more chance.”
Qin Lan raised his head and stared indifferently into Song Lingyan’s dark expression.
“Use your strongest move. I won’t fight back.”
“If you still can’t produce an attack that satisfies me, I’ll have no choice but to crush your confidence by somewhat violent means.”