Preliminary Round Strange Events (Part 6)
"Is this your... third move?"
Linyin asked persistently, her voice a little hoarse. The gap in strength was too great. She had never felt so helpless. If she didn't seize this whim of Flora's, she would lose even her last chance of winning.
However, Flora seemed completely deaf to the sounds of the outside world. The crimson in her eyes spread to the whites of her eyes, and the barbs growing from the ends of her hair lengthened at an infinite rate. Countless crimson vines gushed out of her body, and in just a few seconds, she was practically transformed into a fortress of rose vines.
"Stop asking!" Biqi stopped Linyin from provoking Flora. "The Palace Master has lost control. Number Nine, I can't form the formation by myself. Come and help me!" She shouted anxiously to Song Baiyue, trying to get closer to Flora, but was whipped away by a thorny blood vine and fell to the ground.
Song Baiyue answered Biqi with his action. Without moving his feet, the phantom beast armor burst out with dazzling silver light, and layer after layer of silver light was superimposed on Linyin.
"The bet isn't over yet." Linyin pointed at Pinkie Pie, "You answer for your Palace Master. Is this considered the third move?"
"You..." Bi Qi's nose trembled with anger. "Number Nine, have you forgotten who you really are? The Palace Master values you so much that he gave you the only Heavenly-level mythical beast he cultivated after sacrificing so many embryos. Now, for an outsider, are you really going to betray us completely?"
There were more and more blood vines, and Flora, who was rooted and wrapped by the blood-colored vines, let out a sharp scream.
"Please! We're the only ones here who can form the Heart Purification Formation. We've practiced this, haven't we?" Pinkie Pie struggled to her feet, attempting to grab onto Song Baiyue's armor. Kitty spit out a string of bomb bubbles, but Pinkie, without her armor, didn't dare take them head-on and was forced to dodge awkwardly.
"What is the Qingxin Formation?" Lin Yin asked Song Baiyue.
"It's a battle formation that drains our strength and allows her to regain her sanity."
Linyin instantly understood Song Baiyue's concerns - once Flora regained consciousness and Song Baiyue lost her combat effectiveness, they would become even more passive.
"You can take the kitten and leave now." Song Baiyue's face was covered with a few specks of dust, but his eyes looked even clearer. He looked at Lin Yin seriously, "With your speed, you can definitely escape."
Linyin smiled bitterly, "You know I won't leave."
She watched the vines grow ever more dense and dense, realizing she had to act. With each passing second, the vines spread wider and wider. This was the student dormitory area for the participating students. If an accident occurred, it would certainly deal a heavy blow to the reputation of the Fantasy Beast Hall, but the casualties of innocent students were also inevitable.
We cannot let other innocent people be implicated because of her.
"You know, the path you choose must also be my destiny."
Song Baiyue looked at her with the utmost tenderness, slashing his wrist fiercely. Using the blood as a guide, a brilliant silver light enveloped Lin Yin. "Then go ahead and do what you want. I'll cover for you."
Linyin's eyes were a little hot. She gritted her teeth and turned back, pressing her hands on her chest, and the Wuji True Qi flowed down along the lung meridian.
The world without breath, activated.
The whole world fell into silence.
The surroundings seemed to be vacuumed, the air completely frozen. Pinkie desperately opened her mouth, but no breath came in. Deep green veins appeared on Flora's vine-like skin, and her whole body heaved violently in search of air, but like a fish out of water, her struggles were in vain.
Having lost their source of power, the surrounding vines began to retreat into the ground, and those that were unable to retreat in time could only twitch and wait.
it works!
Linyin saw hope. As long as she persisted long enough, all these vines would be withdrawn!
However, the damage caused by the Breathless Realm was too alarming. Lin Yin felt a bursting pain in her lungs, and as time went on, the pain continued to spread throughout her body.
The more pain Linyin felt, the brighter the silver light grew. Song Baiyue relentlessly channeled the healing silver light, ignoring the blood gushing from his wrist. Overexertion made his face grow paler and paler, more and more transparent.
Lin Yin gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to say anything to ask him to stop, and with the help of the silver light, she increased the power of the Wuxi Realm again.
The air seemed to be dyed with a layer of brilliant gold. When they touched the blood vines that had no time to retreat, they all hesitated and looked around, not knowing who they were fighting for.
Faintly, it seemed to be heading towards Biqi.
"thump."
The silver light could not withstand the speed of consumption. The long-term compression caused Linyin's meridians to burn and wither. She no longer had the extra strength to support her own body, and she fell to her knees uncontrollably.
The kitten was whirling in panic. With a determined heart, its fur stood on end. Its golden pupils shrank to a thin line. It let out a whistle that didn't quite sound like a cat's meow, and slammed its front paws down on the ground. Invisible ripples spread out from it, and wherever the blast passed, the blood vines curled up and withered. The rose blossoms with hideous human faces screamed shrilly, and petals fell, turning into foul-smelling black water.
However, the good times didn't last long. After just ten seconds, the kitten collapsed, seemingly drained of all its strength. It struggled to stand, but its furry legs trembled and refused to obey. At first, only tiny drops of blood oozed from the tip of its nose, but eventually, its entire fur began to soak with blood. Clearly, suppressing the blood vine was draining its life force.
At the same moment, Linyin spat out a mouthful of blood. The last wisp of Wuji Qi rushed through her meridians, which seemed to be twisted and dried out, causing excruciating pain. Even with just this little bit of Qi, she was almost unable to control it.
The vision was a little blurry, as if a piece of blood vine that had escaped the net had come back to life, and the tip split into three sharp spikes and stopped in the air.
Half a second later, the vine changed direction, as if it finally realized that its target should be her.
She noticed it and tried to move away, but she no longer had the strength to lift a finger. The wound on her thigh was bleeding profusely, forming a pool of blood.
The blood vines stretched straight out, charging towards her. With her Wuji Qi still visible, she could clearly see the red and black tips of the vines and smell the stench of decaying human blood.
Three meters.
Two meters.
One meter.
Lin Yin could no longer hold on, the Breathless Realm shattered, fresh air rushed in, and everyone started coughing violently.
Just as the tip of the vine was about to pierce her throat, a figure fell from the sky.
The blond man was covered in wounds, his exposed skin covered in burn marks. He didn't even have time to transform into armor, so he used his flesh and blood to block Rinne, allowing the vines to pierce his shoulders.
A few drops of warm blood splashed on Flora's almost Fujita face.
"Wake up," he whispered, moving with difficulty to Flora's front, and stroking her vine-like face with his bloody fingers. "That bastard Electra is not here."
"Lucien, why did you run out... And what did you call the Grand Palace Master? Bastard?" Becky widened her eyes.
Lucien hung his head in silence, his messy blond hair plastered to his sweat-soaked forehead. He stared intently at Flora, his deep blue eyes like a deep ocean that could absorb all pain.
"It's okay," he said, his voice still deep and pleasant, even though his shoulder was pierced. "I'm here."
"What are you doing? Will this work? Take out the vine quickly and form a heart-clearing formation with me!"
Pinkie was practically going crazy. She could tell there was something special between the Palace Master and Lucien, and she even resented the Palace Master's partiality towards him. But—didn't he know what kind of person the Palace Master was? Did he think he was some kind of panacea? Or that he was the princess who awakened the demon king through "true love"?
Judging from his appearance, he had suffered a lot to escape from the tower where the traitor was imprisoned. He still couldn't understand - to the Palace Master, he was at most just a toy that would not betray him and had the power of life and death?
Lucian shook his head.
He knew that the essence of the Qingxin Formation was to use the life force of others to soothe the vines, and each time it did so, it would drive Flora one step closer to complete madness. Moreover, this time, if Flora regained her fighting strength, Song Baiyue and the others would be doomed.
He wouldn't choose this way.
No one expected that the remaining ferocious blood vines seemed to be truly tamed and began to slowly peel off from Flora's body.
Flora's sluggish pupils actually began to focus a little, reflecting Lucien's haggard yet intoxicatingly handsome face. She unconsciously grasped Lucien's clothes, and her rapid breathing gradually calmed down.
"Take your girl and cat away now!" Lucien ordered Song Baiyue, but he didn't even have time to look back at him.
He took advantage of the situation and hugged Flora, stroking her back with his slender fingers. Only at such a special moment could he do something to her that he only dared to do in his dreams. Flora's face was pressed against his chest, and he could feel her tense body gradually relax.
The rustling sound of the retreating vines was like the melting of spring snow. As the last blood vine fell from Flora's wrist, Lucien lowered his head and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
Flora opened her eyes.
Lucien held her in his arms, unable to see her clear eyes, nor could he see the slender red thread quietly crawling out from her palm and wrapping around his neck like a lover's fingers.
"Lucian, it's you..." Her voice was a little confused and sweet, like she was talking in a dream.
Lucian shuddered.
He had only heard her call him like this in his deepest dreams. It wasn't a cold command, nor was it deliberately distant. It was just his name. The three syllables were held between her lips and teeth, so tenderly that it made his heart beat wildly.
The thin red thread quietly pierced into the side of his neck, his eyes as blue as the sea were covered with a layer of gray mist, and his body turned uncontrollably towards Song Baiyue.
Flora still lay weakly in his arms, her lips pressed against his ear, and she ordered him in the sweetest voice she could: "Take Song Baiyue away."
Lucien walked towards Song Baiyue woodenly, every muscle trembling in his resistance, but to no avail. The blood vine that had pierced Lucien's shoulder, nourished by his flesh and blood, began to wriggle again, extending from the wound.
Phew.
The blood vine pierced Song Baiyue's heart accurately. The silver-haired boy groaned and looked down in astonishment at the rose blooming on his chest.
The blood stained the white training suit a shocking red.
"Sorry." Lucien's eyes were empty, and his throat trembled as he uttered an apology.
“…”
Song Baiyue lost too much blood and could hardly feel his own body.
"No!"
Linyin struggled to get up, but her legs were as weak as mud and she fell heavily to the ground again.
"Don't...come...to...me..."
Song Baiyue could hardly make any sound and could only make the same lip movements over and over again.
"No..." Linyin shook her head desperately. She wanted to ignite the Wuji Qi again, but the excessive use of the Wuxi Realm had severely damaged her meridians. Her thought only made her spit out two more mouthfuls of blood.
Flora raised her hand slowly and gracefully. Following the trajectory of her hand, space was like fragile silk, and a hole was torn open, revealing the chaotic nothingness behind it.
Song Baiyue's silver hair was blown up by the wind from the space rift. He was so weak that his whole body almost became transparent, like a handful of moonlight about to be torn apart by the strong wind.
"Don't...come...to...me..."
He looked at Linyin, trying to raise the corners of his mouth in a soothing arc, and continued to repeat silently. Every time he opened and closed his lips, more blood flowed out, but he seemed unaware.
Warm liquid rolled down from Linyin's eye sockets, falling to the ground drop by drop, a bright red color.
"No……"
She could only shake her head, unable to tell whether she was resisting his instructions or the fact that he was about to leave.
The vine, carrying Lucien and Song Baiyue, disappeared into the crack in an instant.
Linyin could only kneel on the ground and feel the wind as Song Baiyue left.
Flora waved away Pinkie's support and stood alone at the edge of the gap.
"Third move, you caught it."
Her face was pale, and her mask had shattered when the vines transformed just now, revealing her extremely delicate and beautiful face. "I won't kill you, and I will let your cat go for now. However, my own men will take it away."
Lin Yin realized with horror that this bet did not include Song Baiyue's stay or departure. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and was in a state of panic. "He is your subordinate, you can't do that to him..."
"Shut up." Flora interrupted her mercilessly, "You have some talent, and I also cherish your talent - but that's all."
"To be frank, who do you think you are?" Flora had never felt so weak before, but she stood straight, looking down at Rin, who was unable to stand up. "I spared your life today, but it was just a whim. When you can stand before me without falling, come and negotiate terms with me."
Flora and Pinkie Pie also disappeared, and everything was blown away by the wind.
Is it a dream?
Please, it must be a dream.
Rinne crawled over, trembling, and lifted the unconscious kitten into her arms.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
