What was that supposed to mean?!
She just saw things a little differently from other people, and her healing ability was a little strange, that was all.
As she thought it over, Ye Buyu glanced sideways, her face darkening with exasperation. Haha, I can't even convince myself.
As the words "X days until the Gaokao" on the blackboard counted down to zero, Ye Buyu finally saw Mu Bingge again before entering the Level-Four Red-Label Zone.
At first glance, she was as ethereally beautiful as ever, cold and unfeeling.
Ye Buyu bounded over to Mu Bingge like an agile white cat. "Mu Bingge, you're finally back."
"Mm." With a single glance, Mu Bingge could tell that Ye Buyu had reached the First Tier and wasn't too far from the Second Tier.
"Congratulations on reaching the First Tier."
Ye Buyu's cheerful figure froze. Her steps grew heavy, and even her bright eyes dimmed.
"Only the First Tier..."
Mu Bingge reassured her, "Reaching the First Tier in just over two weeks is pretty good."
Ye Buyu waved a hand listlessly. "You don't understand. My ability is a little weird."
"Isn't it [Life Breath]?"
"It is, but it's mutated a little. Anyone I heal is forced to pay a price."
Mu Bingge lowered her eyes and considered it. "Then wouldn't paying the price in advance eliminate the side effects?"
Ye Buyu sighed and squatted down to draw circles on the ground. "I've tested it, and that does work, but it's asking a lot of people. Besides, at a critical moment in battle, who has time to pay the price first?
"And I'm only at the First Tier right now. The healing works pretty well, but it burns through too much mana. All I can do is interrupt an opponent with an elbow strike."
She tipped her head up to look at Mu Bingge. "Are you sure you want to take me along? I might hold you back."
But Mu Bingge shook her head. "You won't. Just keep yourself safe and leave the rest to me."
"Wah... You're so nice." Ye Buyu was moved to tears.
An almost imperceptible smile curved Mu Bingge's lips. Seeing that it was nearly time, she explained:
"Once we enter the Space Elevator, we'll be sent to the exam site after verifying our identities. The drop-off points are random. I've already registered us as teammates, so I'll come find you as soon as we're inside."
Ye Buyu nodded furiously. This overwhelming sense of security was just too awesome!
When they arrived before the towering Space Elevator, a dense crowd of young students had already begun lining up. Anxious parents were kept outside the base station, watching their children head inside. The clamorous voices were filled with earnest hopes and worried reminders.
"Good luck, son! I'll be right here waiting for you to come back. Stay safe!"
"Sweetheart, it's a Level-Four Red-Label Zone this time. Whatever you do, don't go running into dangerous places alone. Mom will be cheering you on."
The teachers were also giving their students reminders and one final round of pep talks.
"Ask for help when you need it. Don't worry about losing face. Losing face is fine; losing your life isn't."
"Remember, even though this is an Assessment, your score doesn't come first. If there's danger, you must help one another, even if that means breaking the rules. Understood?"
"Go, children. See the world with your own eyes. Be the ones to Burn the Night, Wield the Light, and forge the dawn anew!"
On this day, during Great Xia's most important annual event, the Gaokao, these examinees were indisputably the protagonists of the world.
Half of the Space Elevator's hundreds of cabins had been specifically reserved for the city's Gaokao examinees. Space Elevators throughout Great Xia were all doing the same thing.
Besides providing passage to the Third Zone, this base station, which could accommodate over a hundred million people, also handled transportation for ordinary citizens. When Ye Buyu had traveled from Zhaoyang City all the way to Everbright City, she had taken this very same high-speed transport.
Following the staff's directions, Ye Buyu and Mu Bingge verified their identities, put on specially designated backpacks, and lined up to enter an elevator cabin with the other examinees.
While waiting in line, Ye Buyu discovered something: standing beside Mu Bingge was seriously stressful.
One careless moment, and those eyes burning with fighting spirit would sweep over poor, weak little her.
After being put through the ordeal of everyone's attention, she developed a genuine awe for the person ranked first in the Genius Rankings.
She realized just how powerful the person she'd latched onto was: the undisputed pinnacle of this year's Gaokao candidates.
Once they entered the elevator cabin, the ravenous examinees stopped letting their attention wander. Ye Buyu took a deep breath and pulled out a tissue to wipe the sweat from her palms.
She had only taken interprovincial trips before. This was her first time riding an elevator cabin bound for the Third Zone, and she wondered whether she would experience any unusual effects.
The engine started, and the elevator cabin rose steadily, farther and farther from the ground. Then, tens of thousands of meters up in the sky, it abruptly accelerated.
In that instant, Ye Buyu felt as though a two-hundred-pound fat man had slammed down on her back. The blood throughout her body began flowing backward, and even her blood vessels felt swollen.
After that extreme acceleration, the crushing pressure receded. Before Ye Buyu could catch her breath, a terrifying sensation of weightlessness shot from the soles of her feet to the top of her skull, sending her heart pounding wildly.
It's fine, it's fine. It's just weightlessness. As long as my feet are on solid ground, there's nothing to fear.
Just as she thought she could make it safely to the ground like this, the floor vanished beneath her feet. It was like riding a giant pendulum ride without the pendulum, a roller coaster without the coaster, or a cable car with a snapped cable!
"Fuck!"
Howling, frigid wind instantly poured down over her head, lashing her eyes so hard she couldn't open them. The wailing gale tugged at her body like a stepfather and stepmother in the middle of an argument, violently pulling the child between them back and forth.
Had she still been an ordinary person, Ye Buyu probably wouldn't have been able to open her eyes at all. Thanks to the soaring physical capabilities of an Awakened, she slowly opened them, saw the traces of the wind's wild dance, and faced reality.
They were like popcorn blasted out of an enormous popcorn machine, scattering through the air like petals strewn by a celestial maiden as they hurtled toward the earth through the dancing gale.
The backpack behind her clicked and clacked. A few hundred meters above the ground, a protective shield burst into existence, shutting out the fierce wind and enclosing them as they descended.
Like white dandelion seeds scattered by the wind, they disappeared into the dark, gloomy forest of gnarled, tangled trees.
Only after landing safely did Ye Buyu finally relax. She glanced at the terminal on her wrist and discovered that Mu Bingge was still quite far away.
With her strength, her chances of making it all the way there were exactly equal to her chances of being killed by a Calamity. Better not tempt fate.
"I'll find somewhere safe nearby to hole up and wait for the big shot to find me."
Ye Buyu still remembered the Assessment task: explore the area they were in, with rankings determined by the extent and quality of their exploration. In other words, people from the University Alliance were probably observing their actions in secret.
She looked around, and the sheer number of abnormal sights left her utterly speechless.
Well, damn. I've landed in a Calamity pit.
The metal wreckage jutting out of the distant mountainside looked eerie no matter how she viewed it. Then there were the black currents of wind surging through the dark forest nearby, like scythes, occasionally releasing shrieks that tore through the air.
They sounded like a coin sword striking a ghost, sharp and hoarse.
Oh, and there was a robot five meters away, staring fixedly in her direction.
"..."
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