Mu Qing swept his leg in a wide arc. Several North Campus students beside him cried out in agony, as if their legs had been broken. The crack of fracturing bones rang out, and they collapsed to the ground.
But Mu Qing was only one person, and speed wasn't his strong suit. A few North Campus students still managed to make it deep into the woods and were already chasing after Yang Shanshan and the others.
"Mu Qing, take this!"
Wang Haixuan charged in, white light shining beneath his feet. He was using a speed-type martial technique, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Mu Qing, both fists wreathed in flames as he struck.
"Get lost!"
Mu Qing roared and thrust out both fists. Blazing white lightning burst forth and exploded, blasting Wang Haixuan backward.
The web between Wang Haixuan's thumb and forefinger split open, and blood welled out.
He grimaced. Beside him, Liu Tianyu was sweating profusely.
"This guy has so much Origin Force?"
Their expressions shifted. They had already seen Mu Qing fight off a crowd of students, then continue battling the two of them for quite some time.
After one fierce fight after another, both of them had used up a great deal of Origin Force. Yet Mu Qing still had plenty left—an astonishing amount.
They had no idea that Mu Qing had Origin Force stored both in his dantian and in his mind.
"Mu Qing!"
A voice rang out.
Mu Qing turned to look. In the valley by Ape Nest, a tall figure drenched in blood charged out, his presence fierce and sharp.
It was Ling Fei, who had stayed behind to hold them off!
"Are you all right?" Ling Fei looked at the wounds covering Mu Qing from head to toe, his eyes trembling.
He had grasped the situation at a glance. Seeing Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan nearby, he could piece together what had happened.
He hurriedly offered to stay and help Mu Qing.
"No need. Go help Yang Shanshan and the others. Someone's gone after them!" Mu Qing refused.
At the same time, Mu Qing asked what had happened to the two beast leaders in the valley.
"I badly wounded one of them and used the chance to escape. It'll probably come charging out before long!" Ling Fei grinned.
After Mu Qing assured him several times that he would be fine, Ling Fei didn't linger. He ran in the direction Mu Qing had pointed out.
He was also at Blood Qi Seventh Rank. Mu Qing needed both Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan working together just to hold him off, so he had no strength to spare for keeping Ling Fei there too.
After knocking aside several North Campus students foolish enough to approach, Ling Fei raced into the woods, afraid that Yang Shanshan and the others would be caught.
"Damn it!"
Liu Tianyu's expression changed. He moved to chase after Ling Fei.
He had been too careless, overlooking Ling Fei's presence. Now that he saw Ling Fei was also at Blood Qi Seventh Rank, he realized at once that things had gone wrong.
Those North Campus students stood no chance against Ling Fei.
Mu Qing grinned, blood still staining his teeth. He blocked Liu Tianyu, unleashing a terrifying burst of strength that made Liu Tianyu cough up blood and stagger backward.
Now it was Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan's turn to feel aggrieved. The tables had turned, and Mu Qing was the one holding them back.
Wang Haixuan's eyes flickered. He had trained in a speed-type martial technique; perhaps he could shake Mu Qing and intercept Ling Fei.
"Roar!"
But just then, a huge figure burst out of the valley.
It was a black ape, its fur stained with blood. It let out a terrifying roar, its gaze instantly fixing on the crowd of North Campus students gathered near Liu Tianyu.
Beside it stood a gray giant wolf, a terrible wound gaping across its waist, blood still flowing from where Ling Fei had struck it.
After their bloody battle, the two beasts had gone completely berserk.
Their eyes swept across the area. Seeing no sign of Ling Fei, they grew even more frenzied and marked everyone as a target, launching a indiscriminate assault.
The badly wounded gray giant wolf reached the group of North Campus students, swiping its claws and tearing deep gashes into one student after another.
The Ape Leader wasn't as badly hurt. Its target was Mu Qing's group; it recognized him as one of the people who had stolen the Vermilion Fruit.
The Ape Leader swung a fist down, trying to kill Mu Qing.
But at that moment, Mu Qing moved and appeared behind Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan.
The Ape Leader remembered the two of them too. They had fought it before, so it showed no mercy now, swinging its long arms at them like whips.
Beasts had always possessed terrifying strength and blinding speed. Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan had no time to dodge. They could only hurry to defend themselves.
The Golden Bell Cover around Wang Haixuan shattered. He was sent flying backward, but escaped without serious injury.
Liu Tianyu fared worse. Song Yalan had only partially healed his injuries, and now the Ape Leader's sudden attack made him spit blood again and again.
They turned around, veins bulging as rage nearly made them cough up blood.
There was no sign of Mu Qing behind them. Looking into the distance, they caught a glimpse of a familiar figure darting between the trees before vanishing from sight.
Wang Haixuan couldn't take it anymore. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face flushing red, then turning ashen, the veins in his neck bulging.
He roared, "Mu Qing, I'll kill you!"
Liu Tianyu felt just as bitter.
He had planned so much, only for someone else to reap the rewards in the end. Mu Qing and the others had all escaped, and the Vermilion Fruit had been taken. He had gained nothing and now had to face two beast leaders.
"Let's go!" Liu Tianyu shouted. He still had a sliver of composure and ordered the North Campus students to leave.
Wang Haixuan, meanwhile, roared in fury. He had nearly lost his reason, vowing that he would kill Mu Qing.
The Ape Leader didn't care what they were saying. Its arms, as if cast from iron, crashed down again and again, smashing craters into the ground.
Still, even working together, the two wounded beast leaders couldn't make much headway against Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan—especially since Ling Fei had badly injured one of them.
After Liu Tianyu and the North Campus students drove back the two beast leaders, they left the area.
Only then did a trace of shock finally appear in Liu Tianyu's eyes.
He had led more than three hundred North Campus students, every one of them at Blood Qi Fifth Rank or higher.
But after this battle, only a little over a hundred and fifty students remained.
Some had been eliminated while fighting at Ape Nest, but most had been badly wounded by Mu Qing.
Only now did Liu Tianyu understand just how terrifying Mu Qing was. Surrounded by so many people and covered in wounds, he had still managed to take out so many of them.
"Whatever happens, I won't let this go!" Wang Haixuan said grimly.
"Neither will I," Liu Tianyu said heavily.
Then Liu Tianyu issued an order: every North Campus student was to hunt down Mu Qing. Anyone who provided information on his whereabouts would receive a serious injury's worth of compensation after the mock exam.
Wang Haixuan also called in the influence of the Wang Family. He declared that anyone who reported Mu Qing's location would receive a generous reward, which he would personally authorize.
The North Campus students felt both envious and afraid.
Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan had promised generous rewards to whoever found Mu Qing.
But the North Campus students were still frightened. Mu Qing had been drenched in blood, beating their companions one by one until they were badly wounded. If this had happened at school, it would have been considered an extremely serious incident. The strength Mu Qing had shown terrified them.
In the end, under Liu Tianyu's scolding, the North Campus students set out to search for Mu Qing, Yang Shanshan, and the others.
After all, this was a mock exam, and the teachers were present, so nobody would die. At worst, Mu Qing would badly injure them. If they found out where Mu Qing or the Vermilion Fruit was, Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan's rewards might even help them improve their cultivation before the College Entrance Exam.
Before long, the North Campus students found traces of blood among the trees. When the news reached Liu Tianyu and the others, their faces lit up.
Wang Haixuan gritted his teeth. He concluded that after the fierce battle, Mu Qing was at the end of his rope. He hadn't even had time to cover up the bloodstains.
He thought they couldn't afford to miss this chance. Mu Qing might well meet up with Yang Shanshan and the others; then they could capture them all at once and seize the Vermilion Fruit.
Liu Tianyu furrowed his brow slightly. He suspected that Mu Qing might have deliberately exposed his tracks to ambush them.
Mu Qing's terrifying strength had indeed frightened him, leaving him shaken and on edge.
In truth, Wang Haixuan had been partly right.
Mu Qing was now somewhere in the woods on Lake Heart Island. Wounds covered his entire body. He had kept forcing himself onward, but after managing to escape, he felt waves of weakness and exhaustion.
At the same time, overusing Weakness Perception had left the Mental Power in Mu Qing's mind almost completely depleted. His head throbbed relentlessly, and he badly needed to rest and recover.
But contrary to Wang Haixuan's guess, Mu Qing had no intention of meeting up with Yang Shanshan and the others.
Though his head throbbed with pain, the last sliver of reason left to him told him that Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan might come after him. So, to avoid dragging Yang Shanshan and the others into it, he ran in the opposite direction from the concealed cave.
This time, Mu Qing didn't know if he would make it through safely.
Perhaps I really will be eliminated after all...
Mu Qing stumbled onward, coughing up blood as he headed into the distance. His pace grew slower and slower, and his awareness faded with it.
Having his Mental Power completely depleted was a serious condition. The fact that Mu Qing had managed to resist Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan while his Mental Power was exhausted, and fight off so many North Campus students at once, was already astonishing beyond belief.
Now his mind was groggy, and the agony had turned numb.
"What is this...?"
Mu Qing realized he had reached a place that looked like a graveyard. Stone steles stood in rows, the trees were withered and yellow, and crows cawed.
A howling, bitter wind blew all around him. The temperature was completely out of season, the ground a cracked, brownish yellow, and the whole place desolate.
He had no time to wonder why such a strange place existed on Lake Heart Island. He pitched forward and collapsed, unconscious.
He was too tired.
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