Your and My Destinies Are Intertwined

With danger looming, Lin Xun had no time for nonsense.

Ignoring any urge to complain, soul power erupted beneath his feet. Disregarding the dragging stiffness caused by the shockwave, he shot forward in a sudden burst.

In that split second, he grabbed Gu Yue's wrist before she had fully regained her balance.

The girl's palm was slightly cool, carrying a gentle warmth from elemental soul power. But Lin Xun had no mind for that now and yanked hard.

"Move!"

The immense pulling force sent Gu Yue's body flying sideways.

The instant the two of them left their original spot—

Dense, razor-sharp stone spikes and a violent torrent of shockwaves slammed viciously into the ground where they had just stood.

Earth exploded, a deep crater appeared, and shattered stones sprayed everywhere!

They had escaped a direct hit by the narrowest margin.

Having narrowly avoided the fatal blow, Lin Xun dragged Gu Yue into several consecutive rolls and retreated several meters, barely escaping the shockwave's central kill zone before they finally steadied themselves in a sorry state.

The two of them panted lightly.

A fierce wind swept through the forest once more, sending dust swirling through the air.

Gu Yue's hair was slightly disheveled, and a trace of lingering fright showed on her cool, delicate face. She instinctively shook off Lin Xun's hand.

She raised her eyes toward the Dark Gold Baboon in the distance, which still radiated residual force, her gaze filled with surprise.

"This soul beast... still has a trump card?"

Lin Xun shook out his numb arm. Looking at his slightly reddened palm, he could not help muttering a curse under his breath.

"It has more than a trump card."

"This isn't some ordinary thousand-year soul beast. It's a top-tier build with a health-lock and berserk cheat activated."

If they had been half a second slower just then, they would have been carried out of this virtual trial today.

Gu Yue tilted her head to glance at him, recalling how he had grabbed her and dragged her into a frantic escape just moments ago. She spoke irritably.

"Who was it that said his fighting style was the most efficient and guaranteed victory?"

"And now we almost got wiped out in one wave. Doesn't that hurt?"

Lin Xun raised a brow, completely unfazed and shamelessly thick-skinned.

"Was that a tactical mistake? That was the opponent having no sense of fair play."

"I'd already cut it badly enough to expose a fatal opening, yet it could still unleash an ultimate on the spot and turn things around. Anyone would have suffered there."

In the distance, the Dark Gold Baboon panted heavily after unleashing its ultimate, its massive body rising and falling slightly.

Golden Bone Shattering Quake was terrifyingly powerful, but it consumed an enormous amount of energy.

Yet its killing intent had not diminished in the slightest.

Blood still seeped faintly from its sealed wounds. Its scarlet eyes remained locked on the two of them nearby, already prepared to launch a second counterattack.

Within the trial forest, the murderous atmosphere rose to another peak.

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes slightly, tightening his grip on his sword as soul power rapidly gathered around him.

Gu Yue was frowning as she considered a response. Several ideas involving elemental combinations to restrain it had just flashed through her mind when she instinctively opened her mouth. "I have a way..."

Before she could finish, a familiar push suddenly came from her lower back. It was not forceful, but it caught her completely off guard, shoving her stumbling several steps forward.

"Hey?!"

Gu Yue staggered and nearly fell. The meridians numbed by the shockwave had not yet recovered, leaving her utterly stunned for a moment.

It was one thing for Lin Xun to grab her hand and pull her away in that desperate moment earlier. But now, the instant she opened her mouth, he had shoved her out again without a word to draw aggro.

Twice in a row!

Her cool, fair cheeks instantly flushed red. Her long lashes trembled fiercely several times as the frustration that had been building inside her abruptly exploded. She snarled at Lin Xun in exasperation, "Lin Xun, you bastard! You pushed me again?!"

The girl's cheeks puffed out slightly with anger, and none of her usual calm, composed demeanor remained. All she felt was fury at being repeatedly used as bait, and she wanted nothing more than to hurl an ice spike at the guy behind her who had secretly pushed her.

The Dark Gold Baboon in the distance had already been holding back a bellyful of rage. Seeing Gu Yue practically deliver herself to it, it immediately let out a hoarse, vicious roar.

Its thick hind legs stomped down hard on the fractured ground, and its massive body lunged straight at her.

Its heavy beastly body whipped up a howling gale. Its fan-sized claws spread open, gleaming with a chilling light as they tore toward Gu Yue's shoulder, as though it wanted to rip this girl who had repeatedly interfered with it apart in a single blow.

"Happy now?!" Gu Yue twisted aside in a miserable dodge, avoiding the incoming claw. She turned back to glare fiercely at Lin Xun, who stood safely nearby with a calm expression as he held his sword and charged power. Her teeth clenched. "You did that on purpose!"

"Don't rush." Leaning against a tree trunk, Lin Xun chuckled as his second and third soul rings lit up in succession.

Besides Meng Hongchen's capsule, the first capsule of his third soul ring was also being used for the first time. On the capsule was a green-haired girl, with a massive green serpent behind her.

Dugu Yan, Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor!

The heavy beast claw crashed down with a thunderous bang!

The ground instantly caved in, and shattered stones exploded in every direction.

Gu Yue reacted with extreme speed. A faint glimmer flashed through her black eyes as she mobilized the spatial element and teleported half an inch away.

She barely dodged the killing blow.

But the successive shockwave backlash, coupled with her hasty use of elemental power, caused the soul power within her body to abruptly break off.

The instant she landed, her body stiffened, and she fell completely into a brief paralysis, unable to move at all.

Now!

Lin Xun's eyes lit up from not far away, and he did not hesitate in the slightest.

He viciously inserted two capsules into the enhancer of his soul power longsword. A crisp click rang out, and emerald light instantly spread across the entire blade.

The poisonous aura of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor instantly filled the battlefield, mixed with the chilling cold of the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad.

The two strands of soul power intertwined, making even the sword blade tremble faintly.

"It's over."

Lin Xun shouted lowly. Soul power erupted beneath his feet, and he shot into the air.

With his speed at full force, he became a black shadow as he lunged straight for the Dark Gold Baboon's shoulder!

The Dark Gold Baboon had just missed its pounce and was off balance, with no time to adjust its posture.

Even though Gu Yue felt terrible all over, she forcibly squeezed out a thread of wind element and lightly wrapped it around its leg, slightly slowing its movements.

That brief instant of opening.

Was enough.

Pfft!

The longsword struck with perfect accuracy, viciously plunging into the baboon's shoulder blade—the one and only wound on its body—and pierced deep into its flesh.

The next second, dazzling green light exploded!

Combined skill, Cold Phosphor Corroding Toad Miasma!

The Jade Phosphor Serpent poison, mixed with the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad's dual toxins, surged wildly into the baboon's body along the blade.

The hardened keratin shell that had barely sealed the wound was like paper before the deadly poison, shattering instantly.

The toxin raced through its bloodstream and spread throughout its entire body in an instant.

The Dark Gold Baboon's body abruptly stiffened before it began to tremble violently.

The fundamental reason Lin Xun and Gu Yue had found this Dark Gold Baboon so difficult to deal with was that neither of their attacks could break through its defenses.

That was why Lin Xun had continuously attacked that wound from the very beginning—so that at this moment, he could inject the poison into the Dark Gold Baboon's body and destroy it from within.

An incomparably shrill howl echoed through the entire dense forest.

The pain drove it completely out of control. It wildly swung its thick arms, trying to fling away the longsword embedded in its body.

The surrounding trees were swept by its flailing limbs and snapped apart one after another with thunderous crashes.

Lin Xun gripped the hilt tightly. No matter how wildly it struggled, he did not budge in the slightest.

With a slight twist of his hand, the blade stirred again, forcing even more deadly poison into its vital organs.

Gu Yue, who had recovered somewhat behind him, watched the scene with both anger and helplessness.

Remembering how he had forcibly shoved her out as bait earlier, she gritted her teeth and muttered.

"I'll admit you're impressive. I'll let it slide this time."

Meanwhile, the Dark Gold Baboon's ferocious momentum was rapidly collapsing.

Its crimson beast eyes were swiftly stained by green toxic mist. Its limbs went weak, and the muscles throughout its body spasmed without stop.

Its prized diamond-like physique was being wildly corroded from the inside by the poison.

Its massive body swayed before finally crashing to its knees, leaving only pained whimpers.

Outside the virtual trial, a translucent virtual screen hung in midair, clearly projecting every moment of the fierce battle in the forest.

Leng Yaozhu's cold eyes were already filled with incredulous astonishment, while deep amazement gathered between her brows.

No one knew the trial parameters of this Dark Gold Baboon better than she did.

This was not an ordinary thousand-year soul beast template, but an elite mutant specifically tuned by the trial system. Its diamond beast hide was nearly impervious to blades and weapons, its physical defense was practically unbeatable, and it possessed an innate berserk talent that locked its health. When critically wounded, its offense and defense doubled. It also had a large-scale shockwave killing move. It had very few weaknesses and an extremely high margin for error.

According to the trial's rating standards, even a team of two peak three-ring genius soul masters would be at their limit if they could barely hold on until the baboon exhausted itself. Defeating it head-on and killing it completely was simply outside the theoretical range of possible clearance.

Yet everything happening on the screen completely overturned her judgment.

From the seemingly reckless close-quarters struggle at the start, to repeatedly enduring shockwaves in search of an opening, to the final, ruthlessly ingenious killing setup.

Using Gu Yue as bait, they precisely locked all of the berserk baboon's attention onto her. Then, taking advantage of the instant it threw itself into a full-force killing pounce and became rigid from losing its balance, they seized the only damaged wound on its body and poured the dual toxins directly into its organs and bloodstream.

Using the tiniest flaw as a breakthrough, they had ground down the foundation of this top-tier mutant soul beast through an internal toxin eruption.

"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant."

Leng Yaozhu murmured softly, her once-calm heart completely stirred.

She had seen countless gifted youths. Most either relied on overwhelming soul power to kill by force or crushed their opponents with top-tier soul skills. This kind of calculated fighting style—one that understood people's hearts, saw through beastly instincts, excelled at using weakness to scheme against strength, and borrowed momentum to break deadlocks—was extraordinarily rare among the younger generation.

Lin Xun's combat instincts and tactical mind were dozens of levels beyond those of his peers.

Within the dense forest, the battle had already been decided.

The enormous Dark Gold Baboon had completely lost the strength to struggle. Its massive body lay limp upon the ground, twitching constantly as emerald poisonous mist seeped from its pores. Its fur, once as tough as refined iron, shriveled and darkened at a visible rate.

The ultimate snake venom intertwined with the ice toad's cold poison, completely sealing its soul power circulation and corroding its internal organs.

After several weak whimpers, the Dark Gold Baboon's huge head crashed heavily onto the ground. The scarlet light in its beastly eyes faded completely, and the savage, violent aura around it vanished without a trace.

A moment later, its enormous body turned into countless tiny motes of light, automatically absorbed and dispersed by the virtual trial space. The shattered mess on the ground slowly restored itself as well.

The system's crisp notification announcing their successful clear quietly rang out through the forest.

Lin Xun pulled out his longsword and casually shook off the lingering poisonous mist on its blade. He let out a long breath, and his taut back finally relaxed.

The intense burst of exertion, coupled with the sustained charging, had left his entire arm sore and numb. More than half his soul power had also been depleted.

He turned to the girl beside him, who still looked somewhat annoyed, and grinned teasingly. "So, Gu Yue, would you say that move guaranteed our victory?"

At his words, a faint blush instantly returned to Gu Yue's cool cheeks. Remembering how she had been forcibly shoved out as bait and made to face the beast's deadly pounce, the anger in her heart flared up again.

The girl glared at Lin Xun, who looked utterly calm and unbothered. Biting her red lip with pearly teeth, she said indignantly, "You really did it on purpose! You were using me as bait and scheming against me from start to finish!"

That sudden shove had caught her completely off guard. She had nearly been severely injured by the baboon's claws, her heart pounding throughout the entire ordeal. Meanwhile, this guy had stayed in the rear, charging his attack and setting up the situation, only to reap all the rewards in the end.

There was no one more sly than him in the world!

Rather than restraining himself at her reaction, Lin Xun smiled even more leisurely. He slowly sheathed his sword and defended himself with a perfectly serious expression. "All warfare is based on deception. What battle is fought without sacrificing bait?"

"Besides, I precisely calculated its attack rhythm. It absolutely couldn't have hurt you. At most, it gave you a scare."

"Look, we cleared the trial perfectly, took down a top-tier soul beast without a single injury, and everyone won. Isn't that a win-win?"

Gu Yue was left speechless by his twisted logic. Her chest rose and fell slightly, and she was both angry and helpless.

Yet she had to admit that his calculations had indeed been precise. Without that perilous bait tactic just now, they never would have caught that fleeting opportunity for a killing blow. The two of them would most likely have only ended up in a stalemate before losing.

Though Lin Xun had stolen the spotlight in this trial, Gu Yue's performance had also been good. Besides, it had really only been a formality.

After Leng Yaozhu briefly explained a few matters, Gu Yue and Lin Xun headed out, preparing to return to the academy.

The moment they left the Spirit Pagoda, a clear and pleasant female voice, carrying a hint of indifference, suddenly sounded softly beside them.

"Are you Lin Xun?"

Hearing the voice, Lin Xun turned his head and looked over.

The woman stood quietly beside the walkway, tall and slender. Her golden dress accentuated her cold, ethereal bearing. Her features were exquisitely beautiful and her skin fair and translucent, yet her entire person exuded an aloof, frigid air that kept strangers at a distance.

Even though he had already seen her before the trial, meeting her gaze again at this moment still sent that sensation shooting straight from the depths of his heart to the top of his head.

Lin Xun raised an eyebrow slightly and nodded. "That's right. I'm Lin Xun."

Looking at the girl before him, whose bearing was noble and cool, Lin Xun remained calm and gentle as he politely asked, "Senior, is there something you need?"

Di Qiu'er gazed silently at him. Deep within those golden eyes that contained the power of destiny, emotions unnoticed by anyone else churned.

Seeing that she had no intention of saying more, Lin Xun did not linger. He gave a slight nod and said with the same proper manner, "If there's nothing else, then Gu Yue and I will be leaving first. We need to return to the academy for class."

Beside him, Gu Yue's delicate brows furrowed slightly as her cool gaze swept faintly over Di Qiu'er. She then looked away, gave a soft hum, and turned with Lin Xun at her side.

The two young figures walked forward side by side, moving along the breezy walkway toward the distant academy. Their steps were light, free of any attachment.

Only after their backs had completely faded into the distance and disappeared at the end of the road, leaving no trace of anyone else nearby—

Di Qiu'er, whose posture had remained straight all this time, finally allowed her tightly drawn back to loosen slightly.

Stubbornly, she slowly raised her head.

Her exquisite, fair jawline was drawn taut, her neck slender and graceful. She refused to let even the slightest vulnerability show, desperately restraining the surging emotions within her. Raising her fair, slender right hand, she gently covered most of her face, hiding the reddened corners of her eyes.

There was no sound.

Only burning tears silently slipped from her golden eyes, flowing quietly down her cheeks, passing through her fingers, and falling without a sound.

Proud as she was, she had never been willing to reveal even the slightest weakness before others. No matter how shattered her heart was, she only dared to pour out her suffering when no one was around.

Maintaining that proud posture with her head raised and face covered, Di Qiu'er's lips moved faintly as she murmured under her breath.

"Idiot..."

"Our fates are connected, our destinies intertwined..."

"How could I possibly... not recognize you..."