Defeat

"Golden Bell!"

Wang Haixuan reacted incredibly quickly. With a loud shout, golden light burst from his body as Origin Force surged within him and gathered across his skin.

Mu Qing's Thunderstorm Fist and Ling Fei's Sharp Metal Palm slammed into his chest, yet rang out like a great bronze bell. It was bizarre!

Wang Haixuan staggered backward, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. But his chest showed no serious injuries—only a small patch of charred skin and a few bleeding cuts, all superficial.

"Golden Bell Cover?" Mu Qing and Ling Fei's expressions changed. They hadn't expected Wang Haixuan to have trained in this defensive martial skill!

They'd heard of Golden Bell Cover. It could be purchased at West Lake High School for five hundred thousand. As an Advanced Martial Skill that could save your life at a critical moment, it commanded such a high price.

It wasn't surprising that Wang Haixuan, a young master of the Wang Family, could afford a Golden Bell Cover worth five hundred thousand. What puzzled Mu Qing and Ling Fei was that he'd actually trained in a defensive martial skill.

The next moment, Wang Haixuan roared. Flames flared around his fists, and he charged at the two of them, his strikes like a dragon and a tiger.

Seeing Mu Qing and Ling Fei, his eyes turned red. Hatred surged through him, and he wanted to tear them limb from limb!

Mu Qing and Ling Fei were startled. They recognized the martial skill Wang Haixuan was using: the Advanced Martial Skill Dragon Tiger Fist, worth three hundred thousand!

So Wang Haixuan possessed two Advanced Martial Skills and had mastered them both to a high degree. His aptitude was frightening.

Mu Qing barked a sharp cry. Lightning coiled around his arm again, and four streaks of Blazing White Lightning gathered as he punched.

Ling Fei followed close behind. Sharp golden light flared from his palm as he unleashed his full strength. Sharp Metal Palm was powerful enough to rip apart giant trees!

Roar! Growl!

Wang Haixuan swung his fists, flames bursting from his body in waves. His fists cut through the air, and the sounds of dragons roaring and tigers growling rang out.

Scorching heat spread around them, and flames coiled around his fists.

A powerful gust of pressure exploded. Both sides were sent retreating dozens of steps. Mu Qing and Ling Fei suffered burns, but nothing serious.

On the other side, Wang Haixuan had taken on the attacks of both Mu Qing and Ling Fei alone, yet he'd only suffered minor injuries. Faint golden light shone from his body, and now and then a great bronze bell seemed to flicker into view.

He'd actually used Golden Bell Cover at the same time as Dragon Tiger Fist!

"Wang Haixuan is a formidable enemy!" Mu Qing's expression was grave. For the first time, he felt he was facing such a powerful opponent.

At a critical moment, Wang Haixuan had split his attention and used Golden Bell Cover to block the fierce attacks of Mu Qing and Ling Fei.

Ling Fei's expression was just as solemn. He leaned toward Mu Qing and murmured, "Wang Haixuan has probably already touched the threshold of Blood Qi Seventh Rank. If we let him leave safely this time, he might have reached Blood Qi Seventh Rank by the next time we face him!"

"Keep him here! Eliminate him!" Mu Qing shouted.

He and Ling Fei charged forward again, lightning and golden light flashing as they unleashed a terrifying aura.

"Haha! It's no use. The two of you aren't my match!" Wang Haixuan laughed arrogantly. Flames grew denser around him as he unleashed Dragon Tiger Fist once more.

But inwardly, he was also shocked.

Ling Fei's breakthrough to Blood Qi Sixth Rank wasn't surprising. But Mu Qing's aura clearly showed only Blood Qi Fifth Rank, and yet the power he unleashed far exceeded that level—almost on par with Blood Qi Sixth Rank!

This discovery kept Wang Haixuan from letting his guard down. In fact, Mu Qing put even more pressure on him than Ling Fei did.

The three of them fought at close quarters, their fierce powers crisscrossing. Wang Haixuan used Dragon Tiger Fist and held his own, while golden light flashed across his body. His entry-level Golden Bell Cover could already help him withstand many powerful attacks.

Yet the fiercer the battle grew, the more uneasy Wang Haixuan became. The pressure Mu Qing put on him was immense, as if Mu Qing knew his weakness. Every punch came with a surge of violent lightning that left his whole body trembling.

Blazing White Lightning coiled around Mu Qing's hand. He threw a punch along a strange trajectory, meeting Wang Haixuan's Dragon Tiger Fist head-on. Arcs of electricity leaped between them, and the flames rapidly dimmed!

A faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

From the very beginning, Mu Qing had relied on the Purple Lightning Bamboo to sense the weakness in Wang Haixuan's Dragon Tiger Fist.

But Wang Haixuan was no ordinary opponent. Even after Mu Qing discovered his weakness, he could still hold his ground. The fierce flames made it impossible for Mu Qing to strike the weak point.

But Mu Qing and Ling Fei had two people on their side. After Ling Fei launched a ferocious assault, Mu Qing finally seized his chance and broke through Dragon Tiger Fist.

Wang Haixuan's face filled with shock. His confidence had vanished. His Dragon Tiger Fist had actually lost to Mu Qing—it had been broken!

Ling Fei closed in and slammed a palm into Wang Haixuan's chest. A great bronze bell faintly appeared over his body, blocking the terrifying force.

Wang Haixuan staggered backward, spewing mouthfuls of blood. The golden light around him dimmed too; Ling Fei had broken through it.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Several figures hurried over to Mu Qing and the others. They were Jiang Yuanjie, Ji Jia, and Yang Shanshan.

They'd already dealt with the others and now intended to help Mu Qing fight Wang Haixuan.

A strange light flickered in Wang Haixuan's eyes. He quickly turned and fled, Origin Force surging wildly through his body.

Mu Qing and Ling Fei alone were enough to defeat him. If the other three joined in, he would definitely be eliminated today. He could only escape and wait until he broke through to Blood Qi Seventh Rank—or find Liu Tianyu—before he could deal with Mu Qing and the others.

"Not so fast!"

Mu Qing and the others shouted and charged after him.

Just then, Mu Qing's sharp eyes caught something: a tattered school uniform was tied around Wang Haixuan's waist, seemingly used as a makeshift bundle. It bulged as though something was inside.

Lightning coiled around Mu Qing's arm, and he reached for Wang Haixuan.

Wang Haixuan realized what Mu Qing was after. He gritted his teeth as Origin Force burst beneath his feet. Pale light flashed, and his speed suddenly increased severalfold.

Mu Qing's expression changed. He quickly clenched his fingers into a fist, and four streaks of Blazing White Lightning shot out, exploding in midair. The terrifying force swept over Wang Haixuan and scorched a black mark into his body.

Wang Haixuan still escaped. White light flashed beneath his feet as he sped away, vanishing in only a few blinks.

Everyone looked at one another. They hadn't expected Wang Haixuan to escape despite being surrounded by so many people.

"I think Wang Haixuan hasn't just trained in two Advanced Martial Skills, but three," Ji Jia suddenly said. Her crimson ponytail swayed in the breeze, her figure captivating.

Mu Qing furrowed his brows, realizing Wang Haixuan was more formidable than he'd imagined.

After discussing it, they all realized that the martial skills Wang Haixuan had trained in covered three kinds: offense, defense, and speed!

The defensive and speed-based martial skills were especially rare and extremely expensive.

"He got away this time, but next time, he won't escape so easily!" A sharp gleam flashed in Mu Qing's eyes. He stepped forward and picked up a tattered school uniform from the grass.

The uniform had already been torn when Wang Haixuan had used it as a bundle. Whatever he'd put inside had been knocked loose by the lightning Mu Qing unleashed.

Mu Qing looked inside the uniform and saw bundles of medicinal herbs, crystalline and faintly glowing.

The herbs gave off a rich medicinal fragrance. Yang Shanshan's small nose twitched, and her eyes lit up. "These herbs contain a tremendous amount of energy!"

Clearly, Wang Haixuan and the others had dug them up from some beast's lair. They were extremely precious. Perhaps Wang Haixuan had planned to gather enough herbs and use their abundant energy to break through in one go.

Unfortunately, Wang Haixuan hadn't expected to be ambushed by Mu Qing and the others. The herbs he'd worked so hard to obtain had been taken too.

Everyone took two herbs each, leaving three extra in Mu Qing's hands.

"Mu Qing, you should take the remaining three. You're the only one among us still at Fifth Rank, though your combat strength can match Sixth Rank. If you break through to Sixth Rank, you might even be able to stand against Liu Tianyu!" Ling Fei said.

As soon as he said this, everyone's spirits stirred and their eyes brightened.

Right now, the greatest threat to them was Liu Tianyu, who was at Blood Qi Seventh Rank and could easily defeat someone at Blood Qi Sixth Rank.

It was Liu Tianyu's presence that had forced them to hide and rely on Jiang Yuanjie's powerful senses to ambush others.

"I agree. It'd be best to give the remaining three to Mu Qing," Ji Jia said with a nod.

Everyone agreed that Mu Qing should get the three extra herbs. After all, he'd knocked them off Wang Haixuan himself.

Besides, Mu Qing had already displayed strength that astonished them. He could stand against someone at Sixth Rank while only at Fifth Rank, and they were eager to see whether, after breaking through to Sixth Rank, he'd be able to contend with someone at Seventh Rank!

Seeing this, Mu Qing nodded and put away the three extra herbs. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was already growing faintly bright.

After a moment's thought, he realized refining the herbs would take quite a while. He turned to the others and said, "Let's refine the herbs and recover our Origin Force first. Then, when Liu Tianyu and the others attack the Ape Nest, we'll make our move!"

From the teams they'd dealt with earlier, they'd already learned that Liu Tianyu would gather all the North Campus students around noon and launch an assault on the Ape Nest.

Mu Qing naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass. They could fish in troubled waters!

"Follow me! I sense that all those teams are gathering in the same direction. If we strike again, we might alert them," Jiang Yuanjie said.

He led everyone farther away.

Mu Qing and the others gave up on attacking Song Yalan's team of ten.

The North Campus teams were already gathering. They might discover that some groups had been ambushed by Mu Qing and the others. If they struck again now, something might go wrong.

After putting some distance between themselves and the North Campus teams, they found a place beneath the trees and sat down to rest, recover their Origin Force, and refine the herbs they'd taken from Wang Haixuan.