Defeat

"Golden Bell!"

Wang Haixuan reacted with lightning speed. He let out a loud shout, and golden radiance erupted from his body, his internal Origin Force surging and gathering across his skin.

Mu Qing's Thunderstorm Fist and Ling Fei's Sharp Metal Palm slammed into his chest, producing a sound like a resonant bronze bell—it was incredibly bizarre!

Wang Haixuan was sent reeling backward, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. However, his chest showed no serious injuries; there were only a few charred patches of skin and a few bleeding cuts, all of which were merely superficial.

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

They had heard of the Golden Bell Cover; it could be purchased at West Lake High School for 500,000. It was a high-level martial skill capable of saving one's life at a critical moment, which explained its exorbitant price.

As a young master of the Wang Family, it wasn't surprising that Wang Haixuan possessed a 500,000-value Golden Bell Cover, but the real question was why he would bother training in a defensive martial skill, which struck Mu Qing and Ling Fei as strange.

The next moment, Wang Haixuan let out a roar, firelight blooming on his fists. Like a dragon and a tiger, he lunged toward them.

Seeing Mu Qing and Ling Fei, his eyes turned bloodshot. Hatred surged in his heart, and he wanted to tear them both to pieces!

Mu Qing and Ling Fei were startled; they recognized the martial skill Wang Haixuan was using—it was the 300,000-value high-level martial skill, Dragon Tiger Fist!

It turned out that Wang Haixuan possessed two high-level martial skills and had mastered both to a high degree. His aptitude was terrifying.

Mu Qing gave a sharp shout, lightning coiling around his arms once more. Four strands of searing white lightning coalesced, and he threw a punch.

Ling Fei followed closely behind, his palm glowing with sharp golden light. He unleashed his full power; his Sharp Metal Palm was enough to tear through giant trees!

Roar! Howl!

Wang Haixuan swung his fists, streaks of fire erupting from his body. The wind from his punches actually carried the sounds of a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl.

A scorching heat dissipated into the air, and his fists were wreathed in flames.

A powerful blast of wind pressure exploded outward, forcing both sides to retreat dozens of steps. Mu Qing and Ling Fei suffered some burns, but nothing serious.

On the other side, Wang Haixuan, having withstood the attacks of both Mu Qing and Ling Fei, had only sustained minor injuries. A faint golden light shimmered on his body, and from time to time, the image of a large bronze bell seemed to flicker into existence.

He had actually managed to use the Golden Bell Cover simultaneously while executing the Dragon Tiger Fist!

"Wang Haixuan is a formidable enemy!" Mu Qing's expression turned solemn. This was the first time he had felt such pressure from an opponent.

At the critical moment, Wang Haixuan had split his focus to activate the Golden Bell Cover, blocking their fierce onslaught.

Ling Fei stood to the side, his expression equally grave. He whispered to Mu Qing, "This Wang Haixuan has likely already touched the threshold of the seventh stage of Blood Qi. If we let him leave safely today, he might already be at the seventh stage of Blood Qi the next time we face him!"

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

He and Ling Fei charged forward again, lightning and golden radiance flickering incessantly as they erupted with terrifying power.

"Haha! It's useless! You two are no match for me!" Wang Haixuan laughed arrogantly, the firelight on his body growing more intense as he unleashed the Dragon Tiger Fist once more.

However, he was secretly shocked.

He wasn't surprised that Ling Fei had broken through to the sixth stage of Blood Qi, but the aura Mu Qing displayed was clearly only at the fifth stage of Blood Qi. Yet, the power he unleashed far exceeded that, barely differing from the sixth stage!

This discovery made Wang Haixuan stop taking them lightly. In fact, Mu Qing exerted even more pressure on him than Ling Fei did.

The three of them became locked in a fierce struggle, their various sharp powers intertwining. Wang Haixuan used the Dragon Tiger Fist without losing any ground, and the golden light on his body—the entry-level Golden Bell Cover—helped him deflect many powerful attacks.

However, the more they fought, the more Wang Haixuan felt a sense of dread. The pressure Mu Qing put on him was immense, as if he knew his every weakness. Every punch Mu Qing threw carried violent lightning energy that made his whole body tremble.

Mu Qing's hands were wreathed in searing white lightning. With a strange trajectory, he countered Wang Haixuan's Dragon Tiger Fist. Arcs of electricity leaped out, and the firelight instantly dimmed!

A faint smile curled on his lips.

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

But Wang Haixuan was no ordinary person; even after his weakness was exposed, he could still put up a fight. The fierce firelight had prevented Mu Qing from striking the weak point directly.

However, there were two of them. After Ling Fei unleashed a violent wave of attacks, Mu Qing finally seized the opportunity to break through the Dragon Tiger Fist.

Wang Haixuan's face turned pale with shock. His initial confidence had vanished; the Dragon Tiger Fist he had unleashed was no match for Mu Qing and had been shattered!

Ling Fei lunged forward, slamming a palm into Wang Haixuan's chest. A faint image of a bronze bell flickered on his body, absorbing the terrifying force.

Wang Haixuan retreated violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The golden radiance on his body dimmed as Ling Fei broke through his defense.

Swish! Swish!

Several figures quickly arrived at Mu Qing and Ling Fei's side—it was Jiang Yuanjie, Ji Jia, and Yang Shanshan.

They had already dealt with the others and now intended to help Mu Qing take down Wang Haixuan.

Wang Haixuan's eyes flickered with a strange light. He turned and fled, his internal Origin Force surging wildly as he bolted toward the distance.

Mu Qing and Ling Fei were enough to defeat him on their own; if the other three joined in, he would definitely be eliminated today. His only choice was to escape, wait until he broke through to the seventh stage of Blood Qi, or find Liu Tianyu before he could deal with Mu Qing and his group.

"Don't you run!"

Mu Qing and the others roared, rushing forward in pursuit.

At that moment, Mu Qing's sharp eyes caught something: wrapped around Wang Haixuan's waist was a tattered school uniform, seemingly used as a makeshift pack. It looked bloated, as if it contained something.

Without hesitation, he coiled searing white lightning around his arm and reached out toward Wang Haixuan.

Wang Haixuan noticed Mu Qing's target. Gritting his teeth, he channeled Origin Force into his feet, and a flash of light erupted, increasing his speed by several notches.

Mu Qing was startled. He quickly curled his fingers into a fist, and four strands of searing white lightning shot out, exploding in mid-air. The terrifying force swept toward Wang Haixuan, leaving a charred mark on his body.

Wang Haixuan managed to escape. With white light flickering beneath his feet, he moved with incredible speed, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

The group looked at each other in dismay; they had not expected Wang Haixuan to be able to escape after being surrounded by so many people.

"I think Wang Haixuan hasn't just cultivated two advanced martial arts, but three!" Ji Jia suddenly spoke up, her crimson ponytail swaying in the wind, her figure captivating.

Mu Qing frowned, realizing that Wang Haixuan was even more formidable than he had imagined.

After analyzing the situation, they all realized that the martial arts Wang Haixuan practiced covered attack, defense, and speed!

Among them, the defensive and speed-type martial arts were extremely rare and carried a very high price.

"He got away this time, but he won't find it so easy to escape next time!" A sharp glint flashed in Mu Qing's eyes as he stepped forward to pick up a tattered school uniform from the grass.

The uniform had already been somewhat torn, and Wang Haixuan had used it as a bundle to carry something inside, which had been knocked loose when Mu Qing unleashed his lightning.

Mu Qing looked at the uniform and saw that it was wrapped around several herbs, crystal clear and even glowing faintly.

These glowing herbs had transparent leaves and stems emitting a white light; there were thirteen of them in total!

"Such a rich medicinal scent," Yang Shanshan said, her small nose twitching as her eyes lit up. "These herbs contain very potent power!"

Clearly, this was something Wang Haixuan and his group had dug up from some beast nest; it was very precious. Perhaps Wang Haixuan had intended to gather enough medicinal materials to rely on their surging power to make a breakthrough in one go.

Unfortunately, Wang Haixuan had not expected to run into an ambush by Mu Qing and his group, and the herbs he had worked so hard to obtain were snatched away.

Each person in the group took two herbs, leaving three extra in Mu Qing's hands.

"Mu Qing, you should take the remaining three. Among us, you are the only one still at the fifth stage, yet your combat power can rival the sixth. If you break through to the sixth stage, you might even be able to contend with Liu Tianyu!" Ling Fei said.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's bodies trembled, their eyes bright.

Currently, the greatest threat to them was Liu Tianyu, who was at the seventh stage of Blood Qi and could easily defeat those at the sixth stage.

It was precisely because of Liu Tianyu's existence that they had been forced to hide and rely on Jiang Yuanjie's powerful sensory abilities to launch sneak attacks.

"I also think it's better for the remaining three to go to Mu Qing," Ji Jia nodded, agreeing as well.

Everyone agreed that Mu Qing should receive the extra three herbs; after all, it was Mu Qing who had knocked them off Wang Haixuan.

Moreover, the strength Mu Qing had displayed so far had already shocked them deeply. Since he could already rival the sixth stage while only at the fifth, they were eager to see if a Mu Qing who had broken through to the sixth stage would have the power to contend with the seventh!

Seeing this, Mu Qing nodded and put away the three extra herbs. He looked at the sky and noticed it was already beginning to brighten.

Thinking that refining the herbs would require a significant amount of time, he said to the group, "Let's refine the herbs first to recover our Origin Force. We will strike when Liu Tianyu and his group move against the Ape Nest!"

From the teams they had dealt with earlier, they already knew that Liu Tianyu would gather all the North Campus students at noon to launch an offensive on the Ape Nest.

Mu Qing naturally would not let this opportunity pass; they could fish in troubled waters!

"Follow me! I can sense that those teams are all converging in one direction. If we strike now, we might alert the enemy!" Jiang Yuanjie said.

He led the group toward the distance.

Mu Qing and the others gave up on attacking the ten-person team led by Song Yalan.

The North Campus teams were already gathering, and they might discover that some teams had already been attacked by Mu Qing's group. If they struck now, there might be unforeseen complications.

After moving far away from the numerous North Campus teams, they found a spot to sit cross-legged under the shade of the trees to rest, recover their Origin Force, and refine the herbs they had seized from Wang Haixuan.