Zhao Jinglian Condemned by All

Jiang Ping'an's side quickly took formation as the match was about to begin. Princess Bailing stood at the rear as commander and spellcaster; Zhang Jingtian and Lu Zhaisheng stood to either side in front of Princess Bailing, protecting her from the left and right. Hong Feng stood at the very front to withstand attacks—Zhang Jingtian had lent him a set of top-grade defensive armor—while Jiang Ping'an roamed the flanks, either harassing the enemy or supporting his teammates.

The referee loudly announced, "The match begins!"

The instant his voice fell, three people from Zhao Jinglian's side shot toward Jiang Ping'an together, swift as lightning.

Seeing this, Jiang Ping'an found it somewhat hard to understand. However, rather than retreating to seek his teammates' protection, he unleashed the Willow Branching Movement, dodging almost in place and drawing their fire.

Besides, he had the Primal Chaos Body Protection True Qi shielding him. He was not worried in the slightest about being surrounded by several Primordial Sea Realm cultivators.

According to the tournament rules, of the nineteen victorious teams, only the two strongest members of each team had a chance to compete for the championship. Therefore, he needed to show a suitable amount of his strength during the match and could not keep too low a profile.

The three enemies' attacks came one after another. Relying solely on the Willow Branching Movement, Jiang Ping'an drifted like willow fluff, graceful as an immortal, evading the first wave of fierce attacks, the second wave, the third wave...

The three enemies launched three or four rounds of savage attacks at Jiang Ping'an, yet still failed to so much as touch the hem of his clothes. They suddenly realized the truth in horror and cried out, "This is bad! Zhao Jinglian's intelligence was wrong! Fall back!"

They hurriedly retreated, only to discover in shock that Zhao Jinglian and their other teammate had vanished.

It turned out that while they had joined forces to assault Jiang Ping'an, Princess Bailing had decisively given up on supporting him and commanded her team to attack Zhao Jinglian, who was skilled in spells, with all their strength. Zhao Jinglian had failed to wait for her three teammates to defeat Jiang Ping'an and return to defend her. Instead, she and her other teammate were swiftly defeated by Princess Bailing's four-man group and then lifted off the arena by an Instructor through the air.

"Jiang Ping'an, well done!" Princess Bailing could not help praising Jiang Ping'an aloud.

Five against three, with their condition virtually intact—their odds of victory were far more than merely good.

Jiang Ping'an only smiled faintly and did not respond much to Princess Bailing.

"You should surrender. Save some strength for the next match." Princess Bailing did not immediately order an attack.

The three enemies exchanged glances, then conceded their defeat with resignation.

"Team Number 135 wins!" the referee announced loudly.

Below the arena, the watching students did not cheer much for Princess Bailing, because the victory had come too easily. Instead, they could not help bursting into laughter, mocking Zhao Jinglian's team's tactics as worse than dog shit.

The students' gazes naturally fell upon Jiang Ping'an, committing his face to memory.

They had realized that Jiang Ping'an's movement technique was simply too powerful. Three Primordial Sea Realm students had attacked him with all their strength for three or four rounds, yet they had not even touched the corner of his clothing.

Under the gaze of victory, Jiang Ping'an and the others walked down from the arena.

The moment Jiang Ping'an stepped off the arena, Zhao Jinglian suddenly rushed in front of him.

"Zhao Ping'an, you sinister, cunning bastard! You caused my defeat!" Zhao Jinglian's eyes were bloodshot, her anger and grievance reaching their utmost limit.

She believed that Jiang Ping'an had deliberately stayed away from Princess Bailing's team, luring her into sending people to surround and attack him with all their strength.

Losing this match meant that her ranking could only fall below seven hundred and fifty. Worse still, she had become the laughingstock of many people.

Just moments ago, she had been unanimously blamed by her teammates.

Jiang Ping'an could roughly guess Zhao Jinglian's state of mind. He deliberately chuckled, then said nothing.

Sure enough, Zhao Jinglian was driven even further into a frenzy. Pointing at Jiang Ping'an, she shrieked, "Aunt Zhang, kill him for me!"

The Aunt Zhang she spoke of was a middle-aged female servant standing behind her. She wore a long black dress and a black gauze-veiled hat. She rarely spoke, but a deep aura lay hidden within her.

It turned out that Su Yingluo had worried that her daughter would suffer grievances at Taiwu Academy, so she had sent a powerful middle-aged woman at the Divine Treasury Realm Fifth Heaven to protect Zhao Jinglian at all times.

"Everyone, you saw it and heard it! Someone can't accept losing and wants to kill!" Not only was Jiang Ping'an unafraid of Zhao Jinglian's death threat, he immediately pointed at her and shouted, "Her name is Zhao Jinglian, daughter of Young Lord Zhao Yingpeng of the Zhennan Marquis Estate! Everyone, remember her well. If you face her in an arena match and win, you may lose your life..."

Jiang Ping'an's shout drew contemptuous gazes from the surrounding students. Their eyes landed on Zhao Jinglian as they whispered among themselves and pointed at her.

"You—you, shut up!!!!" Zhao Jinglian screamed in a flustered rage. She was so furious that she completely lost her reason and immediately attacked Jiang Ping'an.

After Jiang Ping'an had accused her so loudly in public, her reputation would surely stink to high heaven from now on. How could she not fly into a rage?

However, the instant she made her move, Aunt Zhang, the servant behind her, grabbed her. "Young lady, calm down. This is Taiwu Academy..."

Aunt Zhang had not remained completely unmoved. Since this was Taiwu Academy, she did not dare act openly, so she tried to use the pressure of the Divine Treasury Realm Fifth Heaven to suppress Jiang Ping'an. Yet for some unknown reason, it had no effect at all. Not a single word of Jiang Ping'an's shout had faltered.

"Aunt Zhang, hurry and kill him! I want to tear out his tongue..." Zhao Jinglian shrieked madly.

Seeing that persuasion was useless, Aunt Zhang had no choice but to seal Zhao Jinglian's mute acupoint, then forcibly take her away.

Although Zhao Jinglian had been forcibly taken away, the students' discussions about her on the martial arts plaza showed no sign of stopping.

"How terrifying. She wants to kill people just because she lost a match. Who would dare compete seriously?"

"Exactly. That Zhao Jinglian is far too arrogant and overbearing!"

"Can't afford to provoke her, can't afford to provoke her. She's the precious daughter of the Young Lord of the Zhennan Marquis Estate. Didn't you see it? She had a Divine Treasury Realm servant following behind her, and not an ordinary Divine Treasury Realm expert at that."

"Is there still any justice at Taiwu Academy? Winning a match means risking your life. They might as well let people from the Zhennan Marquis Estate take first place directly. What is the point of competing at all?"

The more the students discussed it, the angrier they became, and all of them condemned Zhao Jinglian.

This was especially true for the genius students from ordinary families. They truly feared that if they defeated members of the imperial clan, the feudal lords' families, or the great aristocratic families, they might suffer a fatal disaster. Those people might not dare kill within Taiwu Academy, but what about outside it?

At that moment, a voice shouted, "Brothers, we must demand an explanation from Supervisor Cao and the Hall of Law Enforcement! Are our lives in danger if we win the tournament or not?"

No one could tell who had shouted it.

That was because Jiang Ping'an had sent it out using ventriloquism.

He had added one hundred times the Proficiency Points to his Secret Sound Transmission, gaining insight into an even stronger version of it. Not only could he secretly transmit sound to multiple people at once, he could also make others mistake the direction from which the voice came.

Amid this chaotic, clamorous environment, no one realized that it was Jiang Ping'an who had stirred the flames.

The shout immediately received an enthusiastic response from many students. "Right! We must demand an explanation and get this matter clarified!"

Thus, a group of hot-blooded, indignant students left the martial arts plaza together and marched in a mighty stream toward the Hall of Law Enforcement.