Mu Qing's eye twitched violently.
After seeing Jiang Pangzi's over-the-top wailing yesterday, he'd known things were going badly.
Well, now his notorious reputation had spread far and wide. What puzzled him was that although Song Qing had been badly beaten by his Thunderstorm Fist, he shouldn't have died. Could the News Department have exaggerated?
Mu Qing scrolled through the news section again, his face darkening as he realized most of the posts were about him. He'd never been this famous before, not even as a top student.
"Looks like this has gotten out of hand."
Mu Qing gave a bitter laugh, feeling both affection and resentment toward the Purple Lightning Bamboo in his mind.
He'd planned to keep a low profile and show his full strength during the mock exam, giving Wang Haixuan a surprise. But the strange state brought on by the Purple Lightning Bamboo had wrecked his original plan.
"Still, the Purple Lightning Bamboo Dad gave me seems to have terrifying abilities, far beyond those of an ordinary Blood Spirit!"
Mu Qing rubbed his chin and focused on the Purple Lightning Bamboo in his mind. This time, he reached out to it of his own accord.
Suddenly, Mu Qing shuddered. His eyes brightened as mist churned around the Purple Lightning Bamboo, and hazy purple qi rose into the air, trailing down in wisps.
Mu Qing's pupils gradually lost focus. His gaze turned vacant, and his consciousness seemed to leave his body, entering a strange state.
It was the same bizarre state that had helped him quickly comprehend the first three stages of Thunderstorm Fist last night!
He could enter it on his own!
Mu Qing's heart surged with delight. Ignoring the news on the school website, he hurriedly immersed himself in comprehending Thunderstorm Fist.
He didn't need to summon his Blood Spirit. Just like when practicing the Blood Refining Technique, he sat cross-legged on his bed. His eyes were tightly shut, and on the outside, he seemed perfectly normal.
Only he knew what was happening. In his mind, the Purple Lightning Bamboo swayed gently. The blazing white patterns etched upon it trembled, giving rise to five branches. Each bamboo leaf fluttered, scattering purple mist as arcs of electricity flickered within it.
An eerie, intangible energy spread out, sending ripples through his mind.
Mu Qing's body was now completely unconscious, as if his whole being were immersed in wave after wave of insight into Thunderstorm Fist.
The third stage of Thunderstorm Fist, which he had only just comprehended last night, was now advancing toward the fourth at an astonishing speed.
More than twenty minutes later...
"Ugh!"
Mu Qing's face suddenly paled as he was forced out of the state of insight. His lips were white, his brows furrowed, and exhaustion showed in his eyes.
"So entering that state through the Purple Lightning Bamboo isn't without limits. It must mainly consume my Mental Power." Mu Qing collapsed onto the bed, breathing hard. A piercing pain throbbed in his brow, only easing after a long while.
"The reason I managed to grasp the third stage last night wasn't just because of that state. The first few stages of Thunderstorm Fist are also pretty easy to learn." After resting for a while, Mu Qing understood.
Mu Qing couldn't help feeling that his father was even more mysterious than he'd thought. The Blood Spirit Potion he'd given him could not only let someone possess Dual Blood Spirits, but also had such an unbelievable ability to help him quickly comprehend martial skills!
Even if the state drained all of Mu Qing's Mental Power after only twenty-odd minutes, its effects were still terrifying. He had mastered the third stage of Thunderstorm Fist, and he believed that entering the state a few more times would let him master the fourth.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Mu Qing had recovered some of his Mental Power.
"My Mental Power hasn't fully recovered yet. I'd better practice Origin Force first." Mu Qing seized every moment. Since he couldn't enter the state of insight for now, he would practice something else instead.
The mock exam was the day after tomorrow. It would test the strength of the students at West Lake High School, and the whole campus would take part.
The prize for placing in the top ten was ten bottles of Blood Refining Potion, worth a million each!
His father had bought him several bottles of Blood Refining Potion before, hoping to help him break through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank. Mu Qing knew all too well how surging the power contained in the potion was.
Ever since his father had sent over the Blood Spirit Potion, Mu Qing hadn't been able to reach him—or rather, had no way to contact him. After all, Mu Yu had given Mu Qing all his communication devices.
Mu Qing knew his father must be busy with that so-called important matter.
"The surging energy in Blood Refining Potion can stir the power in one's bloodline to a certain degree. It probably won't let me break through directly, but it should at least boost my cultivation by a good bit." Mu Qing took a deep breath, silently resolving to place in the top ten of the mock exam.
Now that he had the Purple Lightning Bamboo, he had both the ability and the confidence to do it!
"Huh? Mu Qing!"
A tall figure walked into the dorm. He was wearing a school uniform, and when he saw Mu Qing, he froze.
It was Ling Fei.
"Did you spend all night practicing in the Cultivation Room?" Mu Qing stopped the Blood Refining Technique he'd been running halfway through and looked at Ling Fei, whose expression seemed tired. He asked.
"No..." Ling Fei gave Mu Qing a strange look. "The Student Council president called me in last night. Something happened at East Campus that enraged the school's higher-ups. Everyone in the Student Council spent the whole night investigating. Nobody got any sleep."
"The school's higher-ups were enraged!" Mu Qing stared at him in surprise.
Ling Fei had joined the Student Council in his second year of high school. The Student Council's job was mainly to deal with unusual incidents at school or punish students who broke the rules.
As a result, the Student Council was made up of the strongest students from each grade, almost all of them top students.
Mu Qing had received an invitation to join the Student Council before, but at the time, he hadn't been interested.
In a sense, the Student Council was made up of students who were all top-student material.
Whatever could keep the whole Student Council investigating all night must have been serious—especially if it had enraged even the school's higher-ups.
"You broke through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank and awakened your Blood Spirit?" Ling Fei suddenly asked.
"Yeah. I broke through not long ago, and I even bought an Advanced Martial Skill." Mu Qing nodded. There was plenty of news about him on the school website, so Ling Fei had obviously learned of his breakthrough there.
"Looks like you'd been saving up your strength. You just broke through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank, and already you've trained Thunderstorm Fist to the third stage." Ling Fei paused, then his expression darkened slightly. "Actually... the matter the Student Council is investigating has something to do with you."
"Me?" Mu Qing froze, confusion filling his eyes.
"That's right." Ling Fei nodded. "Last night, the Student Council received word that a student at East Campus had turned into a mummified corpse. All the blood had been drained from his body, and he was completely dead."
"Turned into a mummified corpse?"
Mu Qing cried out. He'd never heard of anything like this since entering West Lake High School. No wonder it had enraged the school's higher-ups.
"Why do you say it has something to do with me?" He still didn't understand. His delicate face was clouded with confusion, yet for some reason, unease welled up inside him.
"I remember the news on the school website said you fought Song Qing last night and took him down in three punches?" Ling Fei didn't answer right away.
"You mean... the student who turned into a mummified corpse was that guy, Song Qing?"
Mu Qing's pupils suddenly contracted. He wasn't stupid; at the strange look on Ling Fei's face, he immediately put two and two together.
"That's right." Ling Fei smiled bitterly. "You were the only one who had a conflict with Song Qing last night, and you showed no mercy, beating him half to death. The News Department exaggerated things so much that some students thought you'd killed him on the spot."
"According to the Student Council's investigation, Song Qing was seriously injured and unconscious after you beat him. After you left, someone went to help him up, only to find that his skin had shriveled. It was as if all the blood had been sucked from his body—he'd become a mummified corpse."
"So the Student Council, and even the school's higher-ups, suspect I did it?" Mu Qing shuddered, disbelief flashing in his eyes.
He knew how powerful Thunderstorm Fist was. Song Qing had been careless and hadn't used Origin Force to defend himself in time, which was why Mu Qing had managed to injure him so badly. But three punches couldn't possibly have killed him.
Something must have happened that Mu Qing knew nothing about.
"I don't think you'd do something like that. Even if you hated someone, you wouldn't act so irrationally." Ling Fei gave a bitter laugh, then continued, "But the timing is just too suspicious. You'd barely left when Song Qing's body shriveled up and became a mummified corpse."
"In fact, not just the school's higher-ups and the Student Council—students all over campus are saying you practiced some sinister martial skill and sucked Song Qing dry until he became a mummified corpse."
Mu Qing's expression turned grave. He'd only just broken through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank, and now this had happened. For all he knew, he might not even be allowed to take the mock exam—or the College Entrance Exam.
"The Student Council was originally going to arrest you in the middle of the night. But then word came in that a student at West Campus had also turned into a mummified corpse, drained of blood at exactly the same time as Song Qing."
"You were at East Campus, so there was no way you could have gone to West Campus to harm that student. The Student Council and the school's higher-ups temporarily abandoned their plan to arrest you, but you're still a prime suspect."
Ling Fei sighed. He'd done everything he could to help Mu Qing.
He'd been happy to hear that Mu Qing had finally broken through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank, but he hadn't expected Mu Qing to suffer such undeserved trouble.
"Ding-dong!"
Suddenly, the communication devices belonging to Mu Qing and Ling Fei chimed.
The next moment, a voice message began playing automatically.
"Attention, all senior-year students. With the College Entrance Exam approaching, we're holding the mock exam at three this afternoon to help everyone adjust to the exam environment and pressure as soon as possible. The mock exam is expected to last three days. Please prepare promptly and take part." A sweet voice came from the communication device.
"The school's higher-ups are probably doing this to keep an eye on you!" Ling Fei said sharply. "They want to leave you unprepared and see whether they can spot any clues during the mock exam—figure out whether you're the culprit."
Mu Qing took a deep breath. Suddenly, a terrifying glint burst from his eyes.
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