Cruel Hands Destroy Flowers

Ning Rongrong's team passed through a thicket. In the forest clearing ahead stood four people.

It was Tang Wulin's group of four. Seeing them, Ning Rongrong thought to herself that this would be hard to fight.

Ye Zhi and Luo Guixing were both four-ring Soul Ancestors, and when Tang Wulin had introduced himself, he had said he had two rings. So even if he had broken through yesterday, he probably had not obtained his third soul ring yet. Xie Xie had three rings, but even so, this would not be easy.

Ning Rongrong's gaze fell on Wu Siduo off to the side. Wu Siduo and the other two had already made their preparations for battle as well.

Next, the fight would begin.

Ning Rongrong held the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda in her palm. The pagoda emitted a gentle light, rings of radiance spreading outward from its body.

Her gaze fell on Wu Siduo, Dai Yun'er, and Zhu Zhuqing.

"Seven Treasures are famed. First: strength!"

Golden light shot out from the pagoda, landing accurately on her three teammates.

"Seven Treasures are famed. Second: speed!"

A second beam of golden light shot out and landed on the three of them.

Right now, Ning Rongrong could increase all three of their strength and speed by thirty percent. Her role could basically be considered finished now; next, she could only leave it to the other three.

And what she had to do was protect herself, avoid being eliminated too easily, and show her value in front of Wu Siduo.

But her gaze soon fell on Ye Zhi across from her.

Ye Zhi stood behind Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, holding a nine-tiered pagoda in her hand.

Beneath Ye Zhi's feet, four purple soul rings slowly rose.

Purple, purple, purple, purple.

Four thousand-year soul rings.

Ye Zhi raised her hand, and the light of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda lit up. That radiance was even richer than that of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.

"Nine Treasures turn forth with glazed light. First: strength!"

"Nine Treasures turn forth with glazed light. Second: speed!"

"Third: soul!"

"Fourth: defense!"

Four beams of golden light shot out. Tang Wulin and the other two received a fifty percent amplification to their strength, speed, soul power, and defense.

Ning Rongrong's expression could not help changing. The amplification of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda could be said to be quite a bit higher than that of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, especially since Ye Zhi's soul power level and soul ring configuration were both better than hers.

Now Ning Rongrong only hoped Wu Siduo would not abandon her. She really wanted to cling to this powerful backer.

"Don't panic."

Wu Siduo's voice came from beside her, sounding extremely dependable.

Ning Rongrong raised her head and looked at Wu Siduo.

Beneath Wu Siduo's feet, four soul rings slowly rose.

Four purple soul rings.

Ning Rongrong's eyes instantly lit up. The other side had four purple soul rings, but so did theirs. Wu Siduo also had four purple soul rings.

And Wu Siduo was an agility-attack battle soul master, not a support-type.

With the same four-purple configuration, Wu Siduo's combat strength was countless times stronger than Ye Zhi's.

"We've got this, we've got this."

Ning Rongrong cheered inwardly.

"Big Sister Wu Siduo can handle two by herself without a problem."

But she had not expected that an even greater surprise was still to come.

Dai Yun'er took a step forward, her long golden hair gleaming in the sunlight.

Beneath her feet, four soul rings slowly appeared.

Purple, purple, purple, black.

Three purple soul rings and one black soul ring.

A ten-thousand-year soul ring.

Ning Rongrong's mouth opened slightly, her eyes going perfectly round. Not only were Dai Yun'er's first three soul rings thousand-year ones, she even had a ten-thousand-year soul ring?

She had not expected that this girl, who looked just as clever and mischievous as herself, would actually have a ten-thousand-year soul ring. She truly could not be underestimated.

But in that case, Ning Rongrong was even more overjoyed. Wu Siduo and Dai Yun'er's soul ring configurations could be said to be absolutely heaven-defying.

It was just that she was dragging them down a little. Ning Rongrong's gaze fell on Zhu Zhuqing. Zhu Zhuqing had taken the assessment together with her, but she had not yet seen Zhu Zhuqing's soul ring configuration.

And in the next moment, two yellow soul rings appeared beneath Zhu Zhuqing, the same configuration as hers. Ning Rongrong breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart. Thank goodness she was not the only freeloader.

At this moment, the battle had already begun. Xie Xie quickly started exchanging blows with Zhu Zhuqing. Zhu Zhuqing's Nether Civet had received Ning Rongrong's amplification in both speed and strength, but Xie Xie himself had three rings, and he also had Ye Zhi's fifty percent boost. The gap between the two of them was pulled even wider.

Zhu Zhuqing could barely keep up with Xie Xie's speed, but her attack power was clearly insufficient. Her sharp claws struck Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger, only scraping out a few sparks, while every strike of the opponent's dagger carried a fierce edge.

"Careful—!"

Ning Rongrong shouted.

Zhu Zhuqing turned sideways to avoid one of Xie Xie's thrusts, then retreated two steps, her chest heaving violently.

But several scrapes had appeared on her arm as well, blood flowing out.

"Sorry. I don't want to get rough either, but... when it comes to the class president's position, Boss really is the best fit."

Xie Xie looked at Zhu Zhuqing before him with a soft laugh.

On the other side, Tang Wulin's vines blotted out the sky and covered the earth, surging toward Wu Siduo from the ground, from the air, from every direction. Every vine was extremely thick, golden patterns flowing over them as they gave off a faint pressure.

Wu Siduo's figure wove through the vines, her sharp claws hacking nonstop, but after those vines were cut apart, they rapidly regenerated. Their numbers did not decrease; instead, they only grew.

Three purple soul rings appeared beneath Tang Wulin, and Ning Rongrong stared at him in disbelief. Hadn't he still been at two rings when he introduced himself the day before yesterday? How had he suddenly become a three-ring Soul Master?

And... three purple soul rings. Ning Rongrong felt as if her worldview was crumbling. Why did every single one of these people's soul ring configurations start at the thousand-year level?

On the other side, Luo Guixing was fighting Dai Yun'er. Luo Guixing was slightly inferior to Dai Yun'er, but relying on his spatial martial soul, he could still keep circling around her.

Ning Rongrong stood at the very back, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hand continuously releasing light, maintaining the boosts for Wu Siduo and the other two.

But she knew clearly in her heart that Ye Zhi's boosts were far stronger than hers.

Fifty percent against thirty percent—the gap was not small at all.

"This can't go on."

"Zhu Zhuqing won't last much longer..."

Before the words had even fallen, Xie Xie's figure split into two in midair, and two identical silhouettes attacked Zhu Zhuqing from the left and right at the same time.

Zhu Zhuqing barely blocked the one on the left, but the dagger of the one on the right was already pressed against her waist.

"It's over."

Xie Xie's voice came from behind Zhu Zhuqing.

The dagger stabbed in, and Zhu Zhuqing's body turned into points of light, scattering into the air.

Ning Rongrong's heart sank fiercely.

Xie Xie withdrew his dagger, turned around, and looked at Ning Rongrong with those eyes, a trace of a smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.

"Heh heh, I'm here to save the day."

Xie Xie's figure flickered, charging in Ning Rongrong's direction.

Ning Rongrong's pupils abruptly contracted.

Was he starting on the support now?

Ning Rongrong wanted to protect herself as best she could, but her physical strength was not that tough. Even if she tried to dodge, she could not, and right at that moment, the Light Dragon Dagger stabbed in.

Ning Rongrong's figure turned into points of light and disappeared.

"Sigh, I guess I really did destroy flowers with a ruthless hand. Took out two girls in one go."

Xie Xie shook his head and sighed.

"I... I'm just gone like that?"

Ning Rongrong thought that the people who had just been eliminated by Wu Siduo probably felt the same way.

No ability to resist at all.

Ning Rongrong came out of the Virtual Pod and discovered that a screen had appeared outside, still playing the scene of the fight.

Watching Wu Siduo and her teammate fight against four people on the screen, Ning Rongrong felt unwilling in her heart. She had dragged them down.

If only... she were a little stronger.

On the screen, the battle between the two sides was still far from ending.