Chapter 147
Chapter 147
“Not bad. At this rate, reaching the top three should be no problem.”
Qin Lan was highly satisfied with their performance.
He had spent those two days focused on smurfing, but he had still seen their level of strength.
They each possessed shortcomings individually, yet complemented one another in team combat and cooperated with exceptional coordination.
As long as they weren’t compared with a monster like Qin Lan, they undoubtedly ranked near the top of the Nine Academies.
“Su Xiaoyue still hasn’t gone all out… Is she saving her strength for Li Fengyun?”
Qin Lan fell into thought.
The later matches held little suspense.
Most of the time, Li Qing’s Air Manipulation and Qian Yang’s vines were enough to control the field and severely restrict their opponents’ movements.
Duan Tianpeng would then transform into a werewolf, charge headfirst into the crowd, and beat everyone he encountered.
The other team members only needed to protect Li Qing and Qian Yang while tossing out a few skills along the way.
Su Xiaoyue acted as the team’s central pillar throughout. She judged the opponents’ actions and immediately corrected her teammates’ mistakes, without displaying especially eye-catching power.
Only when they encountered Mo Qiong of Blazing Sun Academy did Su Xiaoyue truly demonstrate the meaning of “Shadow Queen.”
Blazing Sun Academy had enjoyed extraordinary luck in that match, drawing the volcanic battlefield, which greatly amplified Mo Qiong’s strength.
The scorching, solid ground made it difficult for Qian Yang’s vines to hide underground and launch surprise attacks.
Mo Qiong’s Lava Incarnation possessed immense strength and inflicted fire damage. Even Duan Tianpeng, who specialized in close combat, couldn’t compare with him.
The other Blazing Sun Academy members centered their formation around Mo Qiong. They used one skill after another to pressure and confine Clear Spring Academy’s position, hoping to force a direct confrontation.
Then Su Xiaoyue acted.
Under the entire audience’s gaze, the broadcast gave Su Xiaoyue a crystal-clear close-up.
Her body rose upon the shadows as if she stood atop a throne of darkness, looking down upon all living beings.
Every shadow around the competitors erupted at once, instantly binding all Blazing Sun Academy students except Mo Qiong.
“I can’t move!”
“Her Talent is too powerful! It can’t be an ordinary A-rank Talent!”
“Damn these shadows…”
Those students unleashed every method at their disposal, but only two or three barely broke free. Yet those few seconds were enough to decide their fate.
With Qian Yang and the others coordinating, the immobilized opponents were rapidly focused down and eliminated.
After only half a minute, Mo Qiong was the sole remaining member of Blazing Sun Academy.
The lava giant stood in the arena, radiating scorching heat. His voice rolled like thunder.
“Su Xiaoyue… You truly are a delightful opponent…”
“But do you intend to win this way? By ganging up on me? I thought you would possess more courage…”
Mo Qiong knew his side had already lost, but he refused to leave in such humiliation.
He deliberately tried to anger Su Xiaoyue and provoke her into fighting him one-on-one.
Then even if he lost, forcing her to reveal more techniques would raise his individual ranking.
“Childish.”
Su Xiaoyue merely glanced at him coldly, then ignored him.
She wasn’t a fool who could be enraged by a few words. Naturally, she wouldn’t grant Mo Qiong’s wish.
Her powerful trump cards existed to defeat Li Fengyun. Why waste them on him?
“Xiaoyue, why waste words on him? Just watch me deal with him…”
Duan Tianpeng couldn’t wait. He released a howl and pounced.
The flames across the giant’s surface swiftly scorched his werewolf fur, but he didn’t retreat. Instead, he grew even more frenzied and battled Mo Qiong savagely.
Li Qing, Qian Yang, and the others followed with perfect understanding, joining Duan Tianpeng in suppressing Mo Qiong.
The lava giant released a furious, deafening roar of astonishing might, but even it couldn’t endure their combined assault for long.
No matter how unwilling Mo Qiong felt, his incarnation was ultimately shattered, forcing him to surrender helplessly.
[Let us congratulate Clear Spring Academy…]
Thunderous applause swept through the stands as everyone cheered the contestants’ performances.
Quite a few people quietly memorized the names of those who had excelled, intending to approach them in the future.
Qin Lan had already returned to Clear Spring Academy.
The next match would begin tomorrow morning, leaving the competitors one night to rest and recover their strength.
Qin Lan didn’t chat much with Su Xiaoyue. He merely sent, “Good luck.”
She replied with an adorable kaomoji sticker.
There were no sweet words, but their feelings required no explanation.
Under cover of night, Qin Lan took out the combat uniform. He placed the Pure Hearts obtained from Lu Ming beside it.
“Uh, how do I use these?”
Qin Lan stared at the uniform and fruit on the table, momentarily troubled.
If he were using a Pure Heart himself, he would only need to eat it and wait for the flesh to digest naturally.
But this uniform…
After some thought, Qin Lan tore a small opening in the Pure Heart’s skin.
He squeezed gently, extracting a little juice and dripping it onto the combat uniform.
The instant the juice fell, a faint and concealed mental fluctuation emerged and swiftly absorbed every drop.
Delight filled Qin Lan’s heart.
His judgment had been correct!
The faint mental fluctuation clearly strengthened somewhat, but not enough. It remained extremely weak.
Qin Lan no longer hesitated. He squeezed out more juice and poured it all onto the combat uniform.
Drop after drop vanished. The uniform’s mental fluctuation grew increasingly distinct, even stronger than when it had whispered before!
Yet the change Qin Lan expected didn’t occur.
The combat uniform still lay quietly in place. Only the mental fluctuation communicated a faint sense of hunger.
It seemed to need a little more.
“Tsk… One isn’t enough? What an appetite.”
Qin Lan sighed, rather grateful he had extorted three Pure Hearts.
He took out the second Pure Heart.
This time, Qin Lan didn’t need to squeeze out its juice. The combat uniform flew into the air by itself and wrapped around the Pure Heart like a living creature!
After only a dozen seconds, the entire Pure Heart vanished without a trace!
The mental fluctuation finally solidified past a critical point and underwent a qualitative transformation.
An article of clothing still lay before Qin Lan, but with his mental power, it clearly felt as though a living person sat there.
“Awake?”
Qin Lan spoke calmly. This wasn’t a test, but communication.
He knew the consciousness attached to the combat uniform–Yin Manqing–had completely awakened.
Silence. Nothing happened.
“Playing dead with me?” Qin Lan looked displeased. “I just spent two Pure Hearts waking you up, and you’re still playing games?”
“How about I take this uniform to a funeral shop, have it altered into burial clothes, then find some unlucky old man and cremate it with him?”
Faced with Qin Lan’s violent threat, the mental fluctuation finally transmitted a voice.
“Who… are you?”
Qin Lan grew even more annoyed.
“You’re asking me? I went through all that trouble to save you, yet instead of introducing yourself, you question me first?”
“You really are a little too arrogant…”
Without another word, Qin Lan pulled out his communicator and began searching right in front of her.
“Bean… No, Smartbrain. Find the nearest funeral supply shop…”
“Choose the cheapest one.”
Now the consciousness truly panicked.
“Why are you like this…?”
“I’ll talk! Just end the call first…”