Wang Haixuan Appears

Compared to Liu Tianyu, Mu Qing's current points were nothing to write home about.

He guessed that Liu Tianyu was likely not just targeting people from the three major campuses, but had already begun hunting down groups of beasts; otherwise, he wouldn't have accumulated so many points.

It stood to reason that the Ape Nest was his next target.

Mu Qing lowered his gaze and discovered that the person in tenth place on the leaderboard was actually Wang Haixuan, with over 1,100 points, while Song Yalan was ranked sixteenth with over 800 points.

His expression immediately turned much more serious.

"How are Wang Haixuan and Song Yalan ranked so high?" Ling Fei and Jiang Yuanjie exclaimed. Both of them had gathered enough points to reach 300, activating the leaderboard on their Recorders.

Ji Jia and Yang Shanshan leaned in to look at the leaderboard.

They were still a few points short.

"Judging by Liu Tianyu's behavior of rallying the North Campus to plunder the three major campuses, he must be an extremely domineering person. The top ten spots are currently under his control!" Mu Qing nodded and said in a low voice.

"And now, with Wang Haixuan appearing in the top ten, and even the weaker Song Yalan reaching sixteenth place, it's clear that Wang Haixuan has reached an agreement with Liu Tianyu to cooperate in some way!"

Arcs of electricity flickered in Mu Qing's eyes. He cleared his thoughts and deduced that there was some connection between Wang Haixuan and Liu Tianyu.

"We are all still around ninetieth place; our rankings are too low. However, plundering North Campus teams can help us rise in the rankings quickly!" Ling Fei said.

A series of successful raids had pushed his points over 300 in a short time, and he had clearly tasted the benefits.

Everyone nodded one after another, realizing that to reach the top ten, the only way was to seize points from the North Campus.

To enter the top ten, Mu Qing needed over 900 points. It would be very difficult to obtain that by hunting beasts alone!

Unless Mu Qing and his group also possessed the strength of the entire North Campus like Liu Tianyu, they could not easily crush beast herds to gain massive amounts of points.

"Besides that ten-man team nearby, there are two other teams: one with six people and one with four," Jiang Yuanjie said in a low voice.

He had been sensing for a long time, and sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead. The prolonged focus required to perceive the surroundings had left him feeling somewhat exhausted.

"Let's deal with the two nearby teams first, then go find that ten-man team!" After pondering for a moment, Mu Qing made his decision.

According to Jiang Yuanjie's perception, that ten-man team did not possess any particularly powerful auras, meaning there were no stage six experts. However, since they were numerous, it would inevitably cause some commotion when they attacked, so they had to ensure no other teams were in the vicinity!

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Mu Qing's idea.

The next moment, led by Jiang Yuanjie, Mu Qing's group headed toward the six-man team.

Not long after, Mu Qing and the others set an ambush to deal with this team.

Although the opponents had six people, their overall strength was inferior to the previous teams they had encountered. Caught by surprise, Mu Qing's group took them down in an instant, though they only gained a dozen or so points from the raid.

At their feet, the North Campus students lay on the ground; some had charred skin, while others were covered in wounds and bleeding profusely.

To maximize efficiency, everyone had unleashed their signature martial arts. Jiang Yuanjie's Mount Tai Press had even snapped the bones of his opponent.

While finishing off his opponents, Mu Qing noticed that Ji Jia's Blood Spirit was a bronze-colored ancient sword. It was covered in rust, yet it was surrounded by a divine glow, which was very strange.

She used a finger technique, seemingly treating her finger as a sword. When she unleashed it, it even pierced through trees; it was a formidable high-level martial art.

On the other side, Yang Shanshan's Blood Spirit was quite peculiar. It was a portal, semi-transparent and flickering in and out of existence. The interior of the portal was pitch black, and looking at it for too long made one's hair stand on end.

The martial art Yang Shanshan displayed was the same as Mu Qing's—a fist technique. It emitted strange fluctuations that made it impossible to discern its specific attribute, but its power was undeniably strong; it was clearly also a high-level martial art.

Both Yang Shanshan and Ji Jia had impressive backgrounds. Not to mention high-level martial arts, they could even obtain even more precious techniques, though before becoming true martial artists, they could only practice high-level ones at most.

Mu Qing had been able to buy a high-level martial art thanks to the money his father left behind. Although it was considered bottom-tier among high-level techniques, its power was still quite impressive.

Jiang Yuanjie and Ling Fei, on the other hand, were still using mid-level martial arts.

As for the North Campus students lying on the ground, they were all severely injured but not dead.

After all, this was a mock exam. Every move they made was being recorded, and all actions were unfolding under the watchful eyes of the school teachers.

They could only knock their opponents unconscious. If anyone were truly in life-threatening danger, the school teachers would intervene.

The people knocked out by Mu Qing and his group would naturally be handled by the teachers; they didn't need to worry about them. They only needed to crush their Recorders to eliminate them from the competition.

"There seemed to be some movement over here just now!"

At that moment, a voice came from not far away, followed by a series of footsteps.

Jiang Yuanjie closed his eyes to sense the area and said, "It's that four-man team! No, wait—one of them has an exceptionally powerful aura. It's a stage six Blood Qi expert!"

His expression shifted slightly.

Because they had been further away before, he could only barely sense the number of auras.

Now that the group was constantly drawing closer, Jiang Yuanjie could roughly gauge the strength of their auras.

"Stage six Blood Qi?"

The group's expressions tightened slightly. Anyone who could reach stage six Blood Qi was an expert.

However, when they learned from Jiang Yuanjie that there was only one particularly powerful aura in that team—suspected to be a stage six Blood Qi expert—they immediately breathed a sigh of relief and didn't take it too much to heart.

They had to remember that they had four stage six Blood Qi experts on their side, and although Mu Qing was still at stage five, his performance was already no less than that of a stage six expert.

"Well met. A student at the sixth stage of Blood Qi must be carrying a lot of points!" There was a hint of excitement in Mu Qing's eyes.

Their current ranking on the leaderboard was still too low, and the top ten felt like a distant dream. If a fat sheep like this arrived now, it might just boost one of their rankings by a dozen spots in an instant!

"Hide!" Mu Qing commanded, crouching down and slipping into the woods.

The others followed suit, concealing their figures one after another.

Ling Fei took a moment to drag the six unconscious students to the side, covering them with weeds.

The aura of each person gradually converged, like venomous snakes lurking in the shadows, ready to launch a terrifying attack on the newcomers at any moment.

"Strange, I clearly saw movement coming from this direction just now."

The four-man team approached, and one of them spoke up.

"Something's not right. I smell a burnt stench and the scent of blood!" The leader was a sixth-stage Blood Qi martial artist. His voice reached Mu Qing and the others, making them pause as they felt a sense of familiarity.

"Young Master Wang, why don't we go and regroup with Song Yalan and the others? They're not far away, and there are ten of them!"

"Yeah, so many of our brothers have been eliminated, and we can only rely on Liu Tianyu. But I don't think Liu Tianyu has good intentions; it's better if we all stick together!"

These words reached the ears of Mu Qing and his group, causing them to shudder.

As it turned out, the team approaching them was none other than Wang Haixuan and his men.

For some reason, more of their people had been eliminated, leaving only a dozen or so. These four were led by Wang Haixuan, while the ten-man team Jiang Yuanjie had sensed earlier must have been Song Yalan and the others.

"Don't worry, I've reached an agreement with Liu Tianyu. He won't do anything to us, and he'll even give us three of the top ten spots." Wang Haixuan waved his hand, though a trace of hatred lingered on his face.

That was hatred for Mu Qing.

Previously, Mu Qing and Ling Fei had lured a pack of Gray Wolves toward them. Although Wang Haixuan was furious, he believed his group could easily handle the pack and gain a massive amount of points by killing them.

However, after Wang Haixuan killed three fifth-stage Gray Wolves, a pack of sixth-stage Gray Wolves attacked—there were over a dozen of them. Even worse, after the dozen sixth-stage Gray Wolves appeared, a terrifying giant wolf at the seventh stage of Blood Qi emerged.

This force was almost on par with the Ape Nest that Liu Tianyu was targeting. How could they possibly be a match? In the blink of an eye, many of them were severely injured.

If it weren't for the fact that some were on the verge of death, forcing the teachers stationed at the edge of Lake Heart Island to intervene personally, Wang Haixuan and his group would likely have been eliminated.

While the seventh-stage giant wolf was terrifying, anyone capable of becoming a high school teacher possessed at least the cultivation of a top-tier Martial Master and a sixth-rank bloodline. Just by standing there, the teacher made the wolf pack feel threatened, causing them to retreat.

Wang Haixuan and his men had lost many members and suffered heavy injuries, taking a long time to recover, which was why their hatred for Mu Qing was so intense.

Yet, he had no idea that the very Mu Qing he loathed was lurking just a short distance away.

Though they were all students from the East Campus, Ji Jia and Yang Shanshan had no fondness for Wang Haixuan and had no intention of showing any mercy.

Wang Haixuan approached slowly, catching a whiff of blood, and followed the scent.

Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable palpitation, as if some terrifying existence were lurking in the dark.

The surroundings were pitch black, and although the communication device in his hand emitted a dazzling light, it was difficult to see the specific details of the area.

He grew vigilant.

At that very moment, Mu Qing, who was closest to Wang Haixuan, unleashed all the power within his body.

Mu Qing had been crouching on the ground, but in an instant, he stood up. His slightly hunched back tightened like a bow, and he lunged forward.

Crackling.

A burst of incandescent electric arcs flickered, and lightning wrapped around Mu Qing's arms as four bolts of white-hot thunder energy condensed instantly.

"Die!"

Fearing that Mu Qing might not be a match for Wang Haixuan, Ling Fei also struck immediately. Sharp, blinding golden light bloomed from his broad palms as he struck toward Wang Haixuan.

The two fierce killing blows were within reach in the blink of an eye. Wang Haixuan's expression changed drastically as he felt the intense threat radiating from both Mu Qing and his companion.