What Makes a Genius, What Makes an Ordinary Person

As several figures descended, Li Chen was not the only one who noticed them. Luo Lin and the others saw them too.

"It seems the Tree Demon wasn't attacking us on its own. Someone was controlling it," Jianping said. He recognized their faces at a glance; after all, what had happened yesterday was still fresh in his mind.

Su Zhe kept his mouth shut. After all, he was partly responsible for the trouble.

"Oh? You know them?" Seeing their reactions, Li Chen naturally guessed what had happened. He gently pressed his finger against the sphere of light gathered beside him.

Su Zhe smiled awkwardly. "Yesterday, those Tree Demons were chasing us, and we ran into them, so..."

"So they're here for revenge today?" Meng Xi asked from the side.

Su Zhe nodded helplessly.

After landing, the group stared at them with killing intent. Su Zhe and Jianping must have caused them no small amount of trouble yesterday.

A man wearing a green lace-trimmed hat shouted, "Hey! You damn fatty, get over here and apologize!"

"Otherwise, none of you are walking out of the Secret Realm today!!"

Li Chen looked at the group, then at Su Zhe. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he said, "Baozi, do you want to apologize to them, or fight back?"

Su Zhe naturally did not want to apologize. Although they had indeed been in the wrong first, the others' attack had already struck them. If they had not attacked, he might have been able to swallow his pride and apologize. After all, he did not want to drag his teammates into it, and he was the one who had done everything.

Seeing Su Zhe's expression change, Li Chen knew his answer. Jianping, who stood nearby, said, "Su Baozi, I'm half responsible too, but this is a world where strength reigns supreme. If we'd been even a little weaker just now, their Tree Demon might already have beaten us half to death."

"Looking at it that way, both sides are in the wrong."

"It's just that we were indeed in the wrong first."

Although there were still some problems with what he said, he was right. It was wrong to hit someone, but the other side had already hit back, so they could not just stand there and take a beating either.

Li Chen frowned and said, "Since you've already decided, leave the Tree Demon to me. You can deal with the others yourselves."

Luo Lin and Meng Xi waved their hands, looking perfectly calm. Although they were teammates, it was better for them to make up for the trouble they had caused themselves.

Suddenly, Su Zhe stepped forward and shouted, "You still want an apology? Your damn Tree Demon already hit us in the face! Forget the apology—come over here and fight!!"

For an instant, even the forest seemed to fall silent, with only Su Zhe's voice echoing through it.

Lin Hua sneered and mocked them. "They really don't know their own limits. We have that Tree Demon helping us. Do they think they can hold it off while facing us at the same time?"

At that moment, a teammate beside him warned him, "Don't let your guard down. There's someone ranked in the top five on that team. If you're not careful and get knocked flat, I won't save you."

They had seen the dazzling explosion from atop the Tree Demon. Perhaps the person in the top five had caused it; otherwise, how could a group whose members were almost all ranked in the bottom thirty have possibly withstood that attack?

Lin Hua did not seem to take his words seriously. His hand was already reaching slowly toward the ground, and countless plants sprang forth under his power. Plants also began winding around his body, forming armor.

"I've never used this move against a person before. Today I finally got my chance."

Soon, he looked like a general, holding a spear made of plants, his body encased in plant armor. He pulled the plants connecting him to the ground out by their roots.

His teammates around him were somewhat shocked. They had not expected his ability to make plants grow could be used this way.

"Come on, let's go meet those guys and give them a taste of defeat. So what if one of them is in the top five? In the forest, I'm invincible." Lin Hua's face was full of arrogance.

Su Zhe and the others had also seen them begin to approach at high speed.

"Chen-ge, the boss is yours!! We'll take care of the mobs!" Su Zhe shouted as he charged out.

Although he had spent the past few days being beaten by those Tree Demons, he had not been slacking off. Every day, he ate the high-energy food his father had sent him. His physique had grown extremely formidable, and he had even developed a little resistance to the Tree Demons.

After giving the group a nonchalant glance, Li Chen walked toward the enormous Tree Demon. Quite a few glowing blades had gathered around him, only to shatter into fragments in an instant, guarding him like starlight.

"A Looking River Realm Tree Demon. Perhaps I can give it a try."

"Go!"

With a gentle wave of his hand, countless fragments of light shot through the sky toward the enormous Tree Demon like a swarm of insects.

By then, Su Zhe, Jianping and the others had also met their opponents. Jianping faced the arrogant Lin Hua.

"Heh... a swordsman? Looks like you're the one in the top five." Arrogant as Lin Hua was, his expression had turned serious. After all, he had only been talking before, but now that he had actually met Jianping, he could even feel a slight stinging sensation on his body beneath the plant armor.

As for how he knew this person was in the top five, anyone who entered the special class would naturally look into who the top ten were, giving themselves some targets.

"I didn't expect we'd meet again in the Secret Realm either." Jianping's expression was perfectly calm, even indifferent. The look in his eyes showed that he did not regard Lin Hua as a person at all.

"Heh... then let's fight!!"

"Let me see the strength of someone in the top five! Let's see if you're really qualified to sit on that throne!!" Lin Hua's spear shot out, thrusting straight at Jianping's head.

He did not believe he could kill Jianping, who ranked in the top five, with a single strike. Nor was he afraid of killing him: as long as Jianping still had a breath left, the academy could bring him back. He was not stupid, either. Perhaps someone was already watching the fight from somewhere.

Jianping merely gave him a cold glance. His blood-colored sword blocked the attack in an instant, and he said indifferently, "Too slow. If that's all you've got, you'll die here today."

"My master said, 'Harm others without harming yourself; when cutting weeds, remove the roots.'"

"Since you've attacked me, I need to strike back. And the price of my counterattack is that my enemy dies and I live."

In an instant, a red slash flew toward Lin Hua, catching even him a little off guard.

But with a movement of his finger, his armor came alive and instantly transformed into a shield, blocking Jianping's attack.

The shield split in two as if sliced apart. A blood-red phantom slash appeared before Lin Hua and dissipated. It had missed him by a hair.

Lin Hua's expression changed. He touched his forehead, where pale red blood flowed from a tiny wound.

His expression grew more excited. Plants appeared, winding around his fingers, and he murmured, "This is the fight I wanted!!"