Nameless Fire and Fear

"Sigh."

Letting out a sigh as she watched Hu Liena charge toward her, Qian Ningshuang no longer had any intention of holding back.

"I don't know what you people in the Pope Hall are thinking, leaving so much data and theory at the Wuhun Research Institute to gather dust."

With a casual sweep of the Abyss Flower, the figure of Hu Liena, who had been charging forward, was sent flying sideways.

"You insist on believing in a so-called master who is nothing but a fraud. I've read his theories too; are all of you in the Pope Hall blind?"

Standing in place while gripping the Abyss Flower, Qian Ningshuang spoke coldly as she watched Hu Liena crawl up while clutching her stomach.

"Setting others aside, take you, a spirit-type spirit master. You don't bother to acquire a few offensive spirit skills and instead dump all your points into charm—what were you thinking?"

She kicked the figure that had rushed at her once again.

"Yes, specializing in one area is fine. Having all your spirit skills related to charm can make you an indispensable leader in team competitions."

The figure struggled to climb back up once more.

"But have you ever thought that your life can't just be a series of competitions! You will inevitably face a moment where you have to fight alone!"

This time, without waiting for the figure to charge again, Qian Ningshuang rushed to her front and slammed her into the ground with a single strike of her spear.

"I believe you aren't a moron with an underdeveloped brain; you should be able to figure these things out."

She looked down at the figure beneath her feet, who was still struggling and trying to climb up again.

"Why? Why must you insist on believing in the theories plaguing the mind of that idiot, and why must you insist on putting yourself in danger?"

Yes, Qian Ningshuang had initially intended to let Hu Liena see the gap between them, but now, watching Hu Liena, who kept trying to fight back, a nameless fire suddenly surged within her.

Why! With such a strong will, and being such a perfectly fine girl, why did you have to become the love-struck fool from the original story! And why did you have to believe in the brain-dead theories of Yu Xiaogang! Did you attend Wuhun Academy for nothing!

Stepping on Hu Liena, Qian Ningshuang turned to look at Bibi Dong on the viewing platform.

And you, Bibi Dong, I know you hold deep hatred for Wuhun Hall. If you were truly just seeking revenge, I wouldn't have an opinion, but why do you keep acting like a love-struck fool! As if the world would end without love! And you're in love with a piece of trash, a brain-dead idiot!

Love is merely an embellishment to life; it should not be a person's life goal or their everything!

Today, I, Qian Ningshuang, am going to tear apart that prince charming, that white moonlight of yours, Yu Xiaogang!

This time, Bibi Dong saw Qian Ningshuang clearly. After passing the sixth trial of the Rakshasa, it was the first time she had seen Qian Ningshuang's figure with such clarity!

However, the eyes of the figure she saw so clearly were filled with fury, like flames wanting to burn her to ashes!

Gone was the look from childhood, the way a young beast would approach its mother.

Looking at Qian Ningshuang's gaze, Bibi Dong felt no surprise at seeing her clearly. She should have been angry—angry at Qian Ningshuang's status as a member of the Qian family, angry at the way Qian Ningshuang was stepping on Hu Liena.

But she wasn't. There was no surprise or anger; there was only terror in her heart now.

She wasn't terrified of Qian Ningshuang's anger—the anger of a Great Spirit Master could do nothing to a Super Douluo.

She was terrified because Qian Ningshuang looked too much like Qian Renxue: the same golden hair, the same beautiful face, the same temperament like an Angel descending to the mortal world. She was terrified by the fury erupting from that golden-haired figure.

She was terrified of whether Qian Renxue also looked at her with such fury.

She was very afraid. She had always kept Qian Renxue in an unknown corner of her heart, always avoiding everything related to her.

But now, looking at the furious Qian Ningshuang, she thought of Qian Renxue, and she realized.

Some things cannot be made to disappear just by avoiding them. After so many years of neglect and avoidance, she wondered if Qian Renxue was now just as full of anger and hostility toward her as Qian Ningshuang was.

"Why, you ask? Because my teacher believes in his theories, and I believe in my teacher," Hu Liena said, having struggled for a long time but still unable to stand up from under Qian Ningshuang's foot.

"I also attend Wuhun Academy. I don't go to the Wuhun Research Institute, but I do go to the library in Wuhun City!"

"Of course I know! I know those theories are just a pile of garbage copied from here and there!"

"But it's what the teacher believes in. It's what the teacher asked me to do."

"Do you know what the teacher means to me? She is a mother! She is the one who saved my brother and me from the abyss of the orphanage!"

"Yes, I know very well that only Wuhun Hall has institutions like orphanages on the entire continent. Being able to grow up in an orphanage is already quite good, and I am very grateful to Wuhun Hall. I have already sworn that I will dedicate everything to Wuhun Hall!"

"But the orphanage still meant the abyss to me! Not enough food to eat, tattered clothes, a bed where my brother and I could only huddle together for warmth in the winter, adults who might beat us at any moment, the contemptuous looks from children on the street who had parents, and my brother, who was covered in bruises at any moment just to protect me!"

"But when the teacher took me out of the orphanage, all of that ceased to exist. Delicious food I had never seen before, warm and beautiful clothes, a comfortable bed that belonged only to me, looks of reverence—it was as if I had arrived in another world, the heaven described in books."

"Do you understand this feeling? Do you understand the feeling of going from the abyss to heaven?"

"It is only natural that I believe in the teacher who pulled my brother and me from the abyss to heaven, and I believe in everything she says!"

"Even if I knew there was a bottomless cliff ahead, if the teacher told me to jump, I would jump!"

"Oh, I forgot. You are the second granddaughter of the Great Consecrator, the apple of the Consecrator Hall's eye, the second young lady of the entire Wuhun Hall."

"You don't understand these things. How could you possibly understand!"

"You only know how to be arrogant, as arrogant as Tian Yao!"

"Arrogantly stepping on me, arrogantly criticizing everything about me, arrogantly criticizing the teacher—after all, no one dares to do anything to you."

"Just like Tian Yao, standing in front of me with arrogance, telling me as if she were bestowing a favor that my talent is okay and that I am qualified to join you."

"But by what right! By what right can you speak so arrogantly! Having never experienced what I have experienced, by what right do you come to judge my entire life!"

Looking at Hu Liena, who was already covered in tears, Qian Ningshuang froze, then moved the foot she had been pressing down on her. Yes, what right did she have? Was it because she was a transmigrator? Because she knew the original plot? Because she knew the fates and experiences of these original characters? Or because of the knowledge she had learned in her past life?

Yet, everything she had learned in her past life had not taught her that she could recklessly judge others or criticize them as she pleased.

On the contrary, it taught her that one should not preach kindness to others without having experienced their suffering.

She was truly arrogant, wasn't she? Was this the arrogance of a transmigrator?

"Sigh."

Sighing once more, Qian Ningshuang turned around, preparing to walk off the sparring stage. Her outburst today had been truly uncalled for; it seemed she needed to think more before acting in the future, and the arrogance of a transmigrator needed to be reined in.

"Announce the result, Second Grandfather."

Having lost all interest, Qian Ningshuang called out toward the spectator stand.

But Tian'e did not react, still watching everything on the sparring stage.

Qian Ningshuang realized something and turned around; that figure had stood up once again!

She should have been severely injured!

With her face covered in bruises and scrapes, Hu Liena spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground and wiped away her tear tracks and the blood at the corner of her mouth.

"Second Young Miss, this match isn't over yet! The second round starts now!"