Chapter 32 Graduation 4: Bombing the Arena
"What's wrong with you?"
Seeing Xu Xing frozen in place, silent for a long time, Xi Yun looked at her with teary eyes.
Xu Xing's face remained expressionless. She suddenly pressed down on Xi Yun's hand, lowered her eyes, and said, "I'm sorry, I can't save him. That pill could only buy me a little time..."
Xi Yun stared blankly at her, seemingly not having heard anything.
Xu Xing withdrew her hand, her gaze sweeping over the crowd. She pushed aside the disciples who surrounded her, her hands touching quite a few people.
Back at Yaoguang Courtyard, Wang Lianhua asked worriedly, "Is that child alright?"
In just a short while, several more disciples were severely injured and had to leave the stage. One of the disciples from Yaoguang Academy didn't even make it off the stage; he was beaten to death right there on it...
Hearing Jia Xinhong's angry and heartbroken voice, Xu Xing grabbed Wang Lianhua's hand, moved her lips but couldn't utter a single word. She suddenly looked up at the group of high-level cultivators watching the disciples' competition on the high platform.
This isn't a competition, nor is it a graduation assessment; it's making them fight each other.
Zhai Yuzhi must be up to something. Is her refusal to join the rule prohibiting deathmatch because she wants to see this happen?
Xu Xing no longer cared about her identity. She was only at the Qi Refining stage, which was not something she could concern herself with. But why did Senior Feng and Senior Wen remain silent even though they already knew about this?
Is it because the casualties are all disciples with low cultivation levels and mixed spiritual roots, so there's no need to care? Are the lives of talented disciples precious, but others aren't? Is this the way things are in this cultivation world?
Since they don't care, she, who has no right to care, is determined to give it a try!
"This competition is quite unique."
"The current dean of the Immortal Academy is Zhai Yuzhi? I had only heard that she was gentle, but I never expected her to have such ruthless methods."
"But many of the junior disciples were injured or killed. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"Those people who come out of the Immortal Academy are destined to be menial laborers anyway, so it's no big deal if a couple of them die or get injured."
Some cultivators, feeling sorry for Jin Chu, secretly observed his expression. Seeing that the person of the highest status present had not spoken, they naturally could not object to Zhai Yuzhi's actions.
Jin Chu remained expressionless, his eyes slightly narrowed as he stared intently at the stage.
Let's wait a bit longer. There isn't enough evidence yet. We need to wait until "Zhai Yuzhi" makes some more mistakes before we can take her down in one fell swoop.
From afar, Feng Ling noticed Xu Xing's gaze. She frowned slightly, and although she knew Xu Xing couldn't see her movements, she still shook her head very gently.
Jin Chu already had a plan, and today Zhai Yuzhi's identity could be exposed on the spot. Xu Xing, being just a junior disciple, only needed to complete her graduation assessment normally.
"Aunt Lian, you're in the sixth match of the fifth arena? Can we switch? Let me take your place in this match, okay?"
Xu Xing finally spoke, his voice very soft.
The disciples offstage have no problem, so the problem lies onstage. The person currently remaining on the fifth arena is Li Yuan, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will be the one remaining when the sixth match begins.
Wang Lianhua was taken aback. She didn't know what had happened, but looking at Xu Xing's expression, she inexplicably felt that Xu Xing was in a bad mood.
"Go ahead."
Wang Lianhua grasped Xu Xing's hand in return and smiled, "Although I don't know what you want to do, Aunt Lian just wants you to remember that no matter what you do, you must protect yourself, understand?"
"Senior Jia..."
Jia Xinhong clutched his hair, unable to bear watching the pitiful sight of one Yaoguang Academy disciple after another being carried off the stage. Hearing Xu Xing's voice, he raised his reddened eyes.
"..."
Xu Xing moved closer to him and quietly wrote a few words in his palm.
Jia Xinhong's eyes widened in disbelief. Did Xu Xing know what she was saying? How dare she, a mere Qi Refining Level 4 disciple, attempt to sabotage this assessment?!
"I know I can't do it, so I'm asking you for help. Do you really want to just stand by and watch the disciples of Yaoguang Academy die one by one under the swords of their own fellow disciples?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Jia Xinhong glanced at Xie Qianyan and Zhai Yuzhi, then his gaze hardened. He placed a bag in Xu Xing's hand and took several other items from Xu Xing.
He will be their teacher until these students graduate from Yaoguang Academy. They may die in various places on the Lingwu Continent during their travels in the future, but they cannot die in a sect's graduation assessment at this time!
"you……"
With trembling lips, Jia Xinhong finally managed to utter only three words: "Be careful."
On the viewing platform, Wen Lu watched and gradually felt something was amiss. After all, she had taught at Yaoguang Academy for a period of time, and seeing the young people who had called her teacher suffer such tragic deaths and injuries, she felt somewhat unbearable.
"What are the results of the investigation into that batch of pills?"
Feng Ling glanced at Jin Chu, "It is said that there are no results yet, but what is certain is that the supplementary pills that the Immortal Academy has been distributing to its disciples over the years are not the batch produced by the Pill Pavilion."
"I noticed that those disciples all showed murderous intent after they went on stage. Why would they kill their own fellow disciples during an assessment? Something's not right..."
"Let's wait and see. Master Jin should be prepared."
"Xu Xing is on stage? Is Li Yuan facing her? I remember his father is a master weapon refiner, I'm afraid Xu Xing won't be able to win."
"Don't even mention winning; perhaps you should hope she's not too badly injured."
On the fifth arena, Li Yuan raised an eyebrow when he saw Xu Xing. "It's you. I'll go easy on you since we were on the same team."
Xu Xing replied, "Go easy? You're destined to lose, so you'd better go all out sooner rather than later, so you don't lose too badly."
Li Yuan, who was already at the seventh level of Qi Refining, laughed instead of getting angry. He didn't know where Xu Xing got his confidence from, "A mere fourth level of Qi Refining..."
"I didn't realize you were so sharp-tongued. I'd like to see what tricks you have up your sleeve!"
Xu Xing laughed and said, "You don't know what methods I have, but I do know what methods you have. Isn't it all because of your father?"
"What do you mean?"
Li Yuan gripped the spear tightly, his gaze fixed intently on Xu Xing.
"Hard to hear? I'm telling you, you're all thanks to your father! The weapons in your hand, the magical artifacts in your storage bag, weren't they all given to you by your father? Without your father, you're nothing!"
Li Yuan threw his gun, his face darkening, and said, "I'll make you regret what you said!"
Xu Xing narrowly dodged the attack, but facing a Qi Refining Stage 7 expert was indeed too much of a challenge. Fortunately, although her spiritual power was insufficient, her body was still quite agile.
The armor around her chest spread out, covering her entire body. After only a few moves, Xu Xing felt extremely strained.
Li Yuan scoffed, "I thought you were hiding some trump card? Turns out you were just talking the talk. You think you can beat me with these weak shields?"
"And what about you? Without me, could you have completed the Xuan Shuo Trial back then? You should be thanking me!"
Xu Xing couldn't beat him, so she simply stopped fighting. She sat cross-legged on the edge of the arena, activated her spirit shield bead, and gritted her teeth to use a mid-grade spirit stone to increase her defense.
Mid-grade spirit stones are different; they can last a long time and are very thick. Li Yuan's attacks didn't even create a crack.
Sitting inside the spirit shield, Xu Xing swaggered out and pulled out some melon seeds, cracking them open while continuing to provoke Li Yuan, "Are you angry? Well, someone as simple-minded and with such low spiritual roots as you can only use Thunder Explosion Beads to blow things up."
Seeing her actions, which clearly showed her contempt for him, Li Yuan gritted his teeth. "A mere five-elemental root dares to mock me? Thunderburst Bead? You think I wouldn't dare use it?"
The Thunderburst Bead was the most lethal magical artifact he possessed, and he had originally intended not to use it until the very last moment. Li Yuan thought he had seen through Xu Xing's trick and believed that she was afraid of the power of the Thunderburst Bead and was deliberately provoking him.
Fellow Daoist Li, I apologize. I only said this to borrow your magic weapon!
Seeing that Li Yuan had indeed fallen for the trick and actually took out the Thunder Explosion Beads, Xu Xing's eyes lit up, and he almost couldn't hide the expectant expression on his face.
However, Li Yuan only threw out a second-tier Thunderburst Bead, which only shattered the spirit shield without damaging the arena in the slightest. Xu Xing was very disappointed and placed another spirit stone to support a new spirit shield, then began to imitate Li Yuan's speech, "A mere second-tier Thunderburst Bead..."
"It seems your father doesn't value you much, giving you such a low-level magic weapon. I thought it would be something amazing, tsk tsk tsk."
What is Xu Xing doing?
"Why are they even using Thunderburst Beads? Those things are very lethal; even the low-level ones shouldn't be underestimated!"
Wen Lu and Feng Ling both looked somewhat disapproving.
Zuo Qiuxu was somewhat anxious, "Li Yuan has quite a few high-level magic artifacts, I'm worried about Xu Xu..."
"Don't worry, she's always been very smart." Xiang Yuquan felt that Xu Xing had a good grasp of things.
Jia Xinhong had just gone for a walk around the area below the arena, and when he came back, he stared intently at the fifth arena, his palms slowly sweating.
There are restrictions on the arena; they cannot go up during the match. That's all he can do; the rest depends on Xu Xing…
"You're asking for it!"
Li Yuan was furious and wanted nothing more than to knock Xu Xing off the stage and make her unable to utter another word!
Without further hesitation, Li Yuan reached out and took out a fourth-tier Thunderburst Bead! This was his biggest trump card; even a Golden Core cultivator would have no power to resist a fourth-tier Thunderburst Bead!
Sensing the terrifying aura of lightning above, Xu Xing swallowed hard, feeling extremely nervous. She only had one chance and absolutely could not fail!
"Oh no! Li Yuan has gone mad! He actually dares to use such a high-level magic weapon!"
Wen Lu suddenly stood up, wanting to go down and stop them, but Feng Ling grabbed her arm, saying, "You can't get in!"
Zuoqiu Xu pleaded, "Master, you must have a way! Please save her!"
Feng Ling's expression was also very grim. She leaped to the highest point and came to Jin Chu's side. "Hall Master Jin, we planned to take down Zhai Yuzhi today. Why not do it sooner? Those disciples are not in good condition. If this continues, I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties."
Wen Lu followed and pleaded, "Although half of them have low cultivation levels, they may still have opportunities to grow. They will all be the backbone of Yuxiao in the future. Please, Hall Master Jin, save their lives!"
Other cultivators overheard this and looked over as well. "Isn't it inappropriate to interfere in the affairs of the Immortal Academy?"
"That's right, cultivation is no easy task. Letting them suffer a bit is for their own good."
"But those fourth-tier Thunderburst Beads are really..."
Wen Lu was extremely anxious. She watched helplessly as Li Yuan threw out the Thunder Explosion Bead. Without thinking twice, she leaped down, wanting to save Xu Xing's life.
But it was too late!
The fourth-tier explosive magic weapon collided with the spirit shield, instantly creating a powerful shockwave! A blinding white light suddenly appeared!
"Xu Xing!"
"slowly!"
"Wait! It doesn't look like it exploded?!"
Why is there water?
The Thunderburst Bead did not explode immediately, but instead rose into the air under the protection of the magical artifact. Suddenly, a stream of water surged from the bottom of the fifth arena, spreading upwards and connecting with the Thunderburst Bead. The next moment, Xu Xing removed the protective artifact, and the Thunderburst Bead emitted a huge explosion!
"Boom—"
The surging water collided with the thunder, a thunderclap suddenly appeared, and amidst the mist, the water carrying lightning meandered down and struck straight onto the arena!
"Boom—"
The arena groaned under the weight of the lightning strikes. One, two, and just before the third bolt struck, Jia Xinhong roared, "Save them!"
Di Nian, Xie Qianyan, and other instructors then seemed to wake from a dream and removed the restrictions. They flew up and, together with Wen Lu, Zuo Qiuxu, and others who arrived a little later, evacuated the disciples on the other arenas to prevent them from being injured by lightning.
"Dean! An unexpected incident has occurred, and the competition must be suspended!"
"What's going on? Why is there sudden lightning?"
"Is someone undergoing tribulation on the platform?"
"No, this lightning is not a tribulation lightning. I just saw that a disciple on the fifth arena used a lightning explosion bead, but for some reason it generated lightning."
"Could it be that a disciple just happened to use the Water Spirit Orb?"
Jin Chu's gaze remained fixed on the trial platform. If anyone dared to meet his eyes, they would know that he was only looking at the arena.
It's the fifth one.
Fu Shuang, the young disciple you've chosen is indeed extraordinary.
On the fifth arena, which was covered by water, Li Yuan and Xu Xing were separated by lightning.
Thunder and water together form lightning. To stop this absurd graduation assessment, Xu Xing had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure. The arena has been blown up; can the competition continue?!
Despite the protection of the water-repelling pearl and the protective magic artifact, Xu Xing was still seriously injured. Fortunately, she borrowed a magic artifact from Jia Xinhong, otherwise, the one she made herself would not have been able to withstand the lightning!
She swallowed the blood in her mouth, looked at Li Yuan who was enveloped by a protective magic artifact, and thought to herself, "Fellow Daoist Li, I'm sorry, I'll treat you to a meal later."
"Boom—"
The next moment, the arena could no longer withstand the impact of the lightning, the bottom pillar broke, and the entire arena collapsed with a roar!
Amidst the flying sand and stones, Xu Xing could only deploy his last spiritual shield to protect himself before crashing heavily to the ground.
In her hazy consciousness, she vaguely smelled a faint fragrance, and something soft as a feather gently lifted her up...
"Dean Zhai, the arena is destroyed. Why don't we call it a day and reschedule the assessment?"
Zhai Yuzhi stared at Jia Xinhong, then glanced coldly at Xu Xing, who was being held in Wen Lu's arms. "It's just one arena destroyed, there are still eight left, aren't there? It won't affect anything, let's continue the competition!"
Had Xu Xing's efforts been in vain? Jia Xinhong was still unwilling to give up, "But, these disciples..."
“I said continue! Jia Xinhong, can’t you understand what I’m saying?!”
"What if I ask you to stop this competition?"
Before anyone knew it, Jin and Chu had moved from the high platform to the side of the trial platform.
"No matter how powerful Master Jin is, he has no authority over the Immortal Dao Academy. I am the Dean of the Immortal Dao Academy!"
"Really? What if you weren't the dean?"
Jin Chu curled the corners of his lips and looked behind him.
With a clear deer cry, Wei Ze brought the Wind Spirit Deer, whose injuries had largely healed, to the trial platform.
"Wind Spirit Deer? I heard it backfired on its beast contract and was dealt with by Dean Zhai. How come it's here?"
"What did Master Jin mean by that? What do you mean by saying that Zhai Yuzhi is not the dean?"
The cultivators on the high platform were discussing among themselves, and some even sat closer to join in the fun.
"The battle is not over yet! I'm going to kill!"
"Let me go!"
The disciples who were brought down from the arena were still restless, their eyes bloodshot, their minds hazy, their minds filled only with killing intent.
The instructors sensed something was wrong and quickly tied them up. Now that the head of the Punishment Hall and the dean of the Immortal Dao Academy were facing off, they couldn't say a word and could only silently watch the situation unfold.
Jin Chu's gaze swept over the disciples with their ferocious expressions. "Dean Zhai, why don't you explain first what's going on with these disciples who seem to be insane, and the pills you gave them?"
"And why is the Wind Spirit Deer's contract broken but not yet dissolved?" Jin Chu pointed a finger at the Wind Spirit Deer's brow, and a dark golden pattern appeared, with intricate runes flickering within, seemingly about to break.
"Could it be possession?!"
"The soul perished but the body didn't, that's why the contract is like this!"
"Go and report to the elder immediately!"
Unexpectedly, they discovered it so quickly. "Zhai Yuzhi" had a gloomy look in her eyes. However, she knew that she could not hide it for long. The remnant soul of the woman in her body was always causing trouble, preventing her from integrating well and causing her cultivation level to plummet.
The Wind Spirit Deer attacked repeatedly after realizing its master had changed soul form. If not for the remnant soul's interference, it should have been killed outright! Today it certainly brought her trouble, but she had already achieved half of her goal in coming to the Jade Cloud Sect…
"Do you know why I chose today? Even if you kill me, what can you do? This generation of disciples has been completely ruined!"
Zhai Yuzhi suddenly burst into laughter, waved her hand, and countless blood mists scattered out. Apart from the disciples who had competed on the stage, the other disciples also became dizzy. Soon, they picked up their weapons and began to fight each other!
"This is... Boiling Blood Essence!"
Jin Chu's face turned completely cold. He grabbed a disciple and examined him. Only then did he understand why the confiscated pills could only be found to contain unknown substances, but their uses could not be determined. It turned out to be demonic blood!
The essence of this demonic beast needs to be drawn out with boiling blood! If these disciples are tainted by its demonic blood, their path to immortality will be ruined!
Once this matter gets out, I'm afraid no disciple will dare to join the Jade Cloud Sect for the next few years!
Even the largest sect needs an influx of fresh blood. Without new disciples, a sect will eventually fall. This demon is actually planning to do just that!
Seeing that "Zhai Yuzhi" was trying to escape by turning into black mist in the chaos, Jin Chu immediately gave chase!
The remaining cultivators began to subdue the crazed disciples. Most of them were at the Qi Refining stage and were easy to deal with, but...
"Why are these disciples unharmed?"
Among a group of disciples who were shouting and yelling for battle, a group of Yaoguang Academy disciples who stood there blankly and at a loss stood out.
The disciples of Yaoguang Academy looked at each other, then at the disciples of Tianshu Academy and Yuheng Academy who had suddenly gone mad and been knocked unconscious, completely bewildered as to what had happened.
Jia Xinhong was both happy and worried when he discovered that most of his disciples were unharmed.
However, not all disciples of Yaoguang Academy were unharmed. Several disciples, including Zhao Jia, who often followed Li Yuan, went mad, while a few disciples of Yuheng Academy remained clear-headed.
As Tong Yuanbai gazed at the disciples who were still conscious, a thought suddenly popped into his mind: these people all seemed to be long-term customers who bought pills from him!
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Author's Note: Thank you Jiajia and Baibaibai for the nutrient solution, love you! =3=
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