The Assault on the North Campus Students

"You're breaking through?" Mu Qing's face lit up with joy, too. He hadn't expected Jiang Yuanjie to break through at a time like this.

Without another word, Jiang Yuanjie hurriedly closed his eyes and began cultivating. Surging waves of Blood Qi poured through his body, and behind him, the phantom image of a camera flickered into view. Its lens glinted with an eerie, pitch-black sheen that sent chills down anyone's spine.

Mu Qing was startled, too. He noticed that the lens of Jiang Yuanjie's Blood Spirit Camera looked just like an eye—cold and merciless, as if it could see through everything.

So that's it! Jiang Pangzi's powerful perception is connected to his Blood Spirit! Mu Qing was now certain.

"Mu Qing, hurry up and recover your Origin Force, too. I'll keep watch," Ling Fei said, rising to his feet.

After reaching Blood Qi Sixth Rank, his Origin Force surged, and he hadn't used up much of it earlier. He was the first to recover.

Mu Qing nodded. "All right. My fight with Luo Ya taught me a lot."

With that, he sat down.

As soon as Mu Qing sat cross-legged, he immediately made contact with the Purple Lightning Bamboo in his mind.

In an instant, he entered the state of Heaven and Earth Fusion.

Time was running short. It was already the middle of the night, and they needed to attack the North Campus team as much as possible before dawn, weakening their strength.

At the same time, Jiang Yuanjie's breakthrough made Mu Qing feel the pressure.

After all, he was the only one in their group still at Blood Qi Fifth Rank. Everyone else—even Ji Jia and Yang Shanshan—had already broken through to Blood Qi Sixth Rank.

"Buzz!"

A series of humming sounds, audible only to Mu Qing, rang incessantly in his ears, seeming to carry a certain rhythm. His consciousness drifted free, as if his soul had left his body.

He looked upon the world around him. Streams of energy from heaven and earth surged into his mind, transforming into a dense reserve of Origin Force.

The Blood Refining Technique practically ran on its own, without Mu Qing needing to consciously control it. It absorbed wisps of energy from heaven and earth, refining them.

In the state of Heaven and Earth Fusion, his cultivation speed was incomparably faster than Ling Fei and the others'. He absorbed energy from the world around him, and even though he could only draw a tiny fraction from each stream, it still brought him enormous benefits.

In just half an hour, Mu Qing's mind was filled with dense Origin Force. His recovery was even faster than Ji Jia and Yang Shanshan, both of whom were at Blood Qi Sixth Rank.

At the same time, the wound on his chest had clotted into a blood scab. For now, it wouldn't split open again.

Though his Origin Force had recovered, Mu Qing remained seated cross-legged, continuing to maintain his state of insight into Heaven and Earth Fusion.

The greatest use of Heaven and Earth Fusion wasn't to quickly restore Origin Force, but to cultivate.

The Blood Refining Technique inside him ran furiously without needing his control. At the same time, he sensed the subtle mysteries of the world around him, as energy from heaven and earth washed over his body.

In this state, he grew a little stronger with every passing stretch of time.

Only by relying on Heaven and Earth Fusion could Mu Qing hope to catch up with the others as quickly as possible.

However, after about an hour, Mu Qing's face suddenly turned deathly pale. His brows knitted tight, and his consciousness, which had been drifting through the world, instantly returned to his body.

Mu Qing felt wave after wave of sharp pain in his mind, a torment like ten thousand ants gnawing at his heart!

He took several deep breaths before finally recovering a little. Beads of sweat had already formed on his forehead.

"Hey, you lecher, are you okay?" Yang Shanshan's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

Mu Qing opened his eyes and saw that Yang Shanshan had recovered her Origin Force and was standing beside him.

She was wearing her school uniform, which was torn in a few places, though not as badly as Ji Jia's. Her jewel-bright eyes were fixed on Mu Qing with concern.

Earlier, when she'd seen Mu Qing cultivating, she'd been surprised to notice that his aura was different—ethereal, almost. So she'd watched him for a while.

But she hadn't expected his expression to suddenly twist in pain, sweat to break out all over him, and his face to turn deathly pale, as if he'd come down with a serious illness.

"I'm fine," Mu Qing said, shaking his head. He knew what was happening: he'd exhausted his Mental Power.

Entering the state of Heaven and Earth Fusion consumed Mu Qing's Mental Power. But his cultivation level was too low for him to sense his own Mental Power, so he couldn't stop in time before it ran out.

Only when his Mental Power was completely depleted and his mind began to hurt did he realize it had been drained.

"I need to close my eyes and rest for a while." Mu Qing left it at that, closed his eyes, and lay down on the ground.

There was no shortcut to recovering Mental Power. Mu Qing could only rest.

"Tch, you lecher. I bet you're just slacking off so you can sleep!" Seeing Mu Qing ignore her completely and lie down, Yang Shanshan was immediately furious.

"What's wrong, Shanshan?" Ji Jia asked as she walked over. She tidied her crimson hair as she spoke to Yang Shanshan.

She had clearly recovered her Origin Force, too. Unlike when Luo Ya had been chasing them, she now possessed the full strength of Blood Qi Sixth Rank!

Yang Shanshan pouted. "What else? That lecher's evolved into a lazy pig."

Ji Jia chuckled, then curiosity surfaced on her delicate face. "Why are you always picking on Mu Qing? Did he offend you before?"

She'd noticed something odd. As Yang Shanshan's best friend, she remembered that Mu Qing hadn't interacted with Yang Shanshan much.

But now that she thought about it, Yang Shanshan seemed to have held some kind of prejudice against Mu Qing both before and now. She often even held Ji Jia back, telling her to keep her distance from him.

"Hmph, I just don't like him! Or that hateful Lineage of his!" Yang Shanshan pursed her lips and furrowed her delicate brows, but clearly didn't want to say more.

"His Lineage?" Ji Jia's expression shifted, puzzled. But seeing that Yang Shanshan didn't want to talk about it, she let it go with a smile and didn't ask again.

Once everyone had recovered their Origin Force, their eyes turned to Jiang Yuanjie.

They were waiting for Jiang Yuanjie to break through.

Once he broke through, they would set out—and their plan depended on Jiang Yuanjie's powerful perception.

Half an hour later...

A powerful aura surged from Jiang Yuanjie's bulky, corpulent body. Silver light poured from his Blood Spirit Camera in wisps, swirling around it and flickering brightly.

"Haha!"

Jiang Yuanjie opened his eyes, silver light flashing across them. He drew in his aura and let out a long breath.

His face was alight with excitement. "I finally broke through! And my perception seems to have gotten even stronger. Before, I could only sense the general situation nearby, but now I can clearly sense auras!"

His perception had grown stronger along with his cultivation. It was an unexpected bonus!

"Hm?"

Mu Qing woke at just the right moment and rubbed the space between his brows.

Yang Shanshan pouted and muttered, "So you're still alive. I thought you were dead!"

Ji Jia tugged at Yang Shanshan, then looked at Mu Qing with concern. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

Ling Fei and Jiang Yuanjie looked at Mu Qing, too, thinking his injuries had flared up.

"I'm fine." Mu Qing shook his head, but didn't explain.

He looked at Jiang Yuanjie, sensing his powerful aura, and asked, "You broke through?"

Jiang Yuanjie nodded. "Are we setting out now?"

"We're setting out now!" After resting, Mu Qing had managed to recover somewhat. He checked the time on his communication device and said, "It's already past two in the morning. We don't have much time, so we need to hurry!"

Everyone's expressions turned serious.

"Follow me!" With his perception greatly enhanced, Jiang Yuanjie was brimming with confidence as he led them through the trees.

He'd sensed three people nearby. If nothing unexpected had happened, they were from the North Campus group.

"Boss Liu Tianyu is going after the Ape Nest tomorrow at noon. They say there are lots of medicinal herbs inside. If we do well, maybe we'll get some, too!"

As they approached, the group heard a voice.

They immediately concealed themselves. They hadn't expected to hear some useful information as soon as they arrived.

"Don't get your hopes up. Even though we're all top students, we fell behind as soon as the mock exam began because we didn't break through to Blood Qi Sixth Rank right away."

Another voice spoke.

A sigh followed.

"Yeah. All the people at Liu Tianyu's side are Blood Qi Sixth Rank, like Luo Ya. I've even heard he recruited Wang Haixuan from the East Campus, who's at Blood Qi Sixth Rank, too. They'll probably take all the benefits for themselves. We'll only get to drink the leftovers."

"Wang Haixuan!"

The people hidden in the shadows were taken aback. Mu Qing's brows knitted, too. He hadn't expected Wang Haixuan to have joined Liu Tianyu.

"Damn it! I knew Wang Haixuan was no good!" Ling Fei said with an angry snort.

"Exactly!" Yang Shanshan chimed in at once, her little mouth chattering away. "If that guy ever falls into my hands, sooner or later I'll take a pair of scissors and snip off all five of his limbs!"

Ji Jia's brows furrowed. Her opinion of Wang Haixuan had sunk to rock bottom, too.

Earlier, when the North Campus students had been chasing them, they'd thought Wang Haixuan, who was also from the East Campus, would help. But he'd simply turned and left—and now he'd joined forces with Liu Tianyu.

"Who's there?"

The three people nearby reacted swiftly. Hearing a noise, they immediately turned on the lights of their communication devices and shone them over. Mu Qing and the other four were completely exposed.

Mu Qing pressed a hand to his forehead and looked at Ling Fei and Yang Shanshan, feeling utterly speechless.

"Couldn't you two hide properly and try ambushing them for once?"