Chapter 65
Chapter 65
“What?! You can still use Thunderclap Flash?!”
Qin Lan cried out in despair and hastily met the attack, only to be sent flying by another punch.
This time, he smashed through another wall. After crashing to the ground, he spent more than ten seconds struggling pitifully back to his feet.
“Cough, cough… So powerful…”
Qin Lan coughed weakly.
In truth, his injuries were not severe–at least, nowhere near as severe as he made them look.
By defending with all his strength and relying on his high Constitution, Qin Lan could just barely endure the attacks without suffering serious damage.
Thunderclap Flash emphasized speed and electrical control rather than raw destructive force. Its damage was still within a range Qin Lan could tolerate.
“Those two attacks have cost him 50 points of energy in total…”
Qin Lan stumbled forward two steps, looking so weak that he had to brace himself against the nearby wall to remain upright.
Anyone who saw him swaying on his feet would think he could not withstand another punch.
“Surrender, Little Qin.”
Seeing his condition, Dong Haoran offered a well-meaning warning. “Taking two of my Thunderclap Flashes is already enough to prove your potential.”
“Given more time, you may truly surpass me one day.”
“But right now…”
Dong Haoran shook his head regretfully. “You’re not ready.”
Qin Lan sneered inwardly while forcing an expression of bitter defiance onto his face. “Is that so? You think this is enough to break me?”
“Even if I lose… I’ll fall on my feet!”
The bold declaration impressed Dong Haoran, raising his opinion of Qin Lan yet again.
“Good!”
“That courage and willpower have earned my respect!”
Lightning erupted across Dong Haoran’s body once more. This time, however, tongues of flame danced among the bolts.
“In that case…” Dong Haoran’s voice deepened. The temperature around him soared, and brilliant patterns of fire emerged across his skin. “I’ll give you a spectacular finale!”
“Watch closely–this next punch is going to look incredible!”
…
“What the hell is going on?”
“Why did the screen go black? I can’t see anything!”
“It’s rigged! The Four-School Joint Examination is absolutely rigged!”
Outside, teachers and students shouted their dissatisfaction because every feed from the simulated instance had gone black.
The broadcast had been cut the moment Qin Lan encountered Dong Haoran, leaving no one outside with any idea what was happening.
Accusations that the examination was rigged quickly gained momentum. The people from No. 1 and No. 2 High School were especially furious, and many joined forces to pressure the proctors.
“This… This should be a technical malfunction…”
“Please remain calm. We’re doing everything we can to identify the problem…”
Several proctors scrambled to restore the surveillance feed, but the screens stubbornly remained black.
Fatty Wu stared at the display, his expression turning grave.
“Something’s wrong.”
“Feels like we aren’t the only ones playing dirty.”
Li Shan broke into a sweat. “What are you talking about? We didn’t play dirty. Everything we did was legal and fully compliant…”
Fatty Wu snorted and turned toward the principal of No. 4 High School.
The other man smiled back, his expression laden with meaning.
“That bastard must have sent someone formidable inside too…”
Fatty Wu’s face darkened. He had already realized what kind of situation Qin Lan had encountered.
He would never believe that a 1-Star anomaly could hold Qin Lan up.
Another student? That was even more impossible.
After considering every possibility, the only explanation was another special candidate like Qin Lan, someone who had entered the examination through less-than-ordinary channels.
“Only people from the Anomaly Hunter Bureau could interfere with a simulated instance developed by the United Government.”
Fatty Wu sneered.
The others might not understand, but he knew exactly what was going on.
“All I can do is hope that kid makes it through… Whoever they sent in can’t be easy to deal with.”
…
“Seriously, how much stamina do you have left?”
Dong Haoran’s confidence from the start of the battle was long gone. Now he was genuinely frustrated.
Moments ago, he had unleashed his strongest move: Thunderfire Cyclone.
The attack combined both of his Twin Talents, sending out two separate attacks and intertwining them into one.
With a combined 60 points of curse energy, it struck Qin Lan head-on and nearly caused the entire instance to collapse.
Yet when the thick smoke dispersed, Qin Lan still struggled “miserably” back to his feet.
His clothes were torn apart, his body was covered in bloody wounds, and large patches of exposed skin had been charred by lightning and fire. Even so, he remained stubbornly upright.
He was like a cockroach that simply refused to die.
“Cough, cough, cough… What a powerful attack. I really don’t think I could take another one…”
Qin Lan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and launched into another exaggerated performance.
“Damn it, stop acting!” Dong Haoran stared at him in horror. “You’ve been coughing like you’re about to collapse this whole time, but you’re still full of energy!”
“You’ve been faking it all along!”
Qin Lan looked displeased. He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
“Tch. You saw through me already…”
He looked terrible, but his injuries were only superficial.
Thunderfire Cyclone did not inject all 60 points of energy in a single attack. Instead, each of Dong Haoran’s two Talents supplied 30 points.
In essence, they were two abilities activated simultaneously.
That meant Qin Lan’s curse resistance weakened them separately.
As a result, the burning and electrical effects that reached Qin Lan were not particularly strong. They had merely charred his skin.
Dong Haoran’s physical force, however, was another matter.
By Qin Lan’s estimate, Dong Haoran’s Strength had definitely exceeded 35 whenever he attacked.
Across the last several exchanges, Dong Haoran had utterly overwhelmed him in both Speed and Strength.
Even with advance preparation, Qin Lan had not enjoyed taking those hits.
“I refuse to believe this…” Dong Haoran swallowed. He now regarded Qin Lan as an opponent on his own level and did not dare lower his guard in the slightest.
Lightning gathered around his left hand again while waves of fiery heat erupted from his right. Unwilling to accept the situation, he charged at Qin Lan once more.
This time, Qin Lan dodged.
He had taken the previous attacks without evading for two reasons: to lure Dong Haoran into using more abilities and to accurately measure his strength.
Standing still and continuing to get hit would now be plain stupid.
[Death’s Curse: Sluggishness.]
Without hesitation, Qin Lan placed Sluggishness on Dong Haoran, causing his Speed to plummet.
“What?!”
Dong Haoran’s expression changed. He had never expected his invincible speed to be restricted!
Under the curse’s influence, his movement speed fell by almost half.
Boom, boom, boom!
Naturally, his charged attack missed.
To defeat Qin Lan once and for all, Dong Haoran had poured almost all his remaining curse energy into this strike. His reserves were now nearly dry.
Faced with Death’s Curse, he had no energy left to neutralize its negative effect.
Qin Lan’s war of attrition had succeeded spectacularly.
“Now it’s my turn.”
Qin Lan flashed in front of Dong Haoran with a radiant smile.