Su Wuwei's eye twitched. He thought he knew why Ye Buyu had been the first to reach the depths of the forest.
While they had been burning, fighting, and clearing obstacles, she had simply pushed all those things aside and walked straight through. How could she not be fast?
Everyone else had taken a thorn-strewn path, while she had taken a paved road-a broad, open highway. It would have been strange if she hadn't been fast!
"Su Wuwei, lend us a light. We can't see."
"What do you take me for, a light bulb?" Resigned, Su Wuwei raised the flame in his hand to illuminate the path ahead. The branching passages in every direction were dizzying.
He sighed. He really couldn't ignore the stares boring into his back, so he gave everyone a brief account of what had happened as they walked.
Then he lifted his chin toward the white-haired, red-eyed girl ahead.
"That's Ye Buyu, the one who sent the message in the public chat."
"She's that badass?"
The piercing stares instantly shifted from Su Wuwei to Ye Buyu.
Su Wuwei raised an eyebrow and smiled. Much better.
Ye Buyu shuddered, breaking into a cold sweat under their stares. Spotting an arrow out of the corner of her eye, she pushed aside some dead branches and pointed at the wall.
"Look, there's an arrow here. Is it a marker left by that student, Kou Ying?"
The Observation Group leader's voice came through the terminal. "That's right. Follow the arrows."
He had been about to remind them, but apparently there was no need. Ye Buyu really was something special. Unfortunately, she had only awakened recently. If they lost her here...
There would be no ifs!
The Observation Group leader slammed his fist onto the desk, cracks spreading across its surface. A fierce look flashed in his eyes. Every one of these students had to come back!
Ye Buyu continued forward with most of the others, only to realize that Su Wuwei and several other examinees had stopped.
When Su Wuwei saw Ye Buyu turn back, he flashed a brilliant smile.
"You go ahead. We'll bring up the rear. Someone has to be here to meet Mu Bingge and the late arrivals."
Ye Buyu opened her mouth, but no words came out. Gritting her teeth, she turned and headed deeper inside.
Every examinee here had more experience handling situations like this than she did. In an emergency like this, there was only one thing she could do: follow the Observation Group's instructions as closely as possible.
She could use her eyes to reduce the time they spent identifying low-level calamities.
"No matter what you see, there are only dead branches here. Just push them aside."
The other students nodded. "We trust you. Leave your safety to us. You lead the way."
As the examinees entered the cave one after another, the Observation Group leader swiftly shifted his attention to Mu Bingge.
"I hope those two hurry," he murmured.
By now, Mu Bingge's arms and cheeks were wounded. Raging winds scraped across her face, leaving streaks of blood. Her long whip, once wreathed in blue mist, was now stained red as well.
The Void Cultist Yan You pulled down his hood and looked at Mu Bingge with a sneer.
"Geniuses are the most likely to die young. Trying to stop us all by yourself? How arrogant."
Mu Bingge gripped her whip, as resolute as ever. "How will I know unless I try?"
The Wind-Thunder Cantor, which had developed an independent consciousness, let out a piercing laugh.
"After all these years, humans are still so stubborn. How amusing. How amusing!"
The next instant, it raised a hand and swept it lightly toward Mu Bingge. A sound like silk tearing rang out, carrying a strangely exquisite, crisp note as a hurricane erupted.
Wherever it passed, rocks shattered and crumbled into sand, then were swept up into the storm. Tree trunks on the ground were carried away by the gale, crushed and splintered within its churning winds.
Mu Bingge stared coldly at the raging wind dozens of times her size, standing firm.
Crack!
Her bloodstained whip broke the sound barrier, carrying water vapor as it collided with the gale. Like a blade, it cleaved the raging winds apart.
"I'm not done yet."
The Wind-Thunder Cantor stamped its foot. Savage lightning flickered overhead, forming a thick bolt that struck straight down at Mu Bingge.
Yan You laughed grotesquely. "Heh, hahahaha! Number one on Great Xia's Genius Rankings, and today you'll die without even a place to-ugh, damn it!"
His strange laughter abruptly changed pitch, then cut off like a quacking duck whose neck had been seized.
All that remained was his fury at the interloper who had suddenly appeared.
Just as the Thunderbolt was about to strike Mu Bingge, a heavy Mo Dao came spinning through the air, severed the Thunderbolt, and plunged into the ground right in front of Yan You.
The Mo Dao's gleaming blade reflected Yan You's furious face. He glared across at the other side.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The Mo Dao trembled, pulled free of the ground, and flew back across the battlefield. A hand with clearly defined muscles caught it and swung it onto its owner's shoulder.
A burly, powerfully built young man curled his lips into a grin, baring a mouthful of white teeth.
"A Great Xia examinee, Lou Guanshan!"
"Mu Bingge, that's not very friendly of you. Playing the hero all by yourself is a bad habit." Lou Guanshan rolled his neck. "How could you leave me out of a chance to show off like this?"
Yan You sneered. "What difference does one more third-tier fighter make? You're just here to die."
The Wind-Thunder Cantor flickered forward, its metal arms wrapped in violent lightning and shrieking winds as it smashed them down at the pair. Both leaped up, narrowly passing it.
Lightning singed their hair, and wind blades sliced their skin. A dazzling flurry of attacks followed, too fast for the eye to track.
Lou Guanshan swung the Mo Dao in broad, powerful arcs, hammering savagely at the Wind-Thunder Cantor. Mu Bingge moved silently, like water flowing everywhere at once, striking when it least expected her.
Even together, however, they could only hinder the Wind-Thunder Cantor's movements, unable to inflict the damage they wanted.
Yan You rolled his shoulders and stepped toward them. "Let me spice things up and finish this quickly."
He raised his arm. His pale limb turned into fluttering scraps of paper, which formed dozens of sharp arrows aimed at the two.
Whoosh!
With Yan You's movement, the attacks formed from paper scraps came raining down. Lou Guanshan braced the Mo Dao upright against a punch from the Wind-Thunder Cantor, but was driven back step after step, his muscles spasming from the electricity.
He looked up to see a hail of arrows.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, he ignored the attack overhead, hoisted the Mo Dao, and charged straight at the Wind-Thunder Cantor.
"You're underestimating us! They're just arrows-we've got those too!"
Before he had finished speaking, streaks of green light shot in from another direction, accompanied by phoenix cries, tearing through Yan You's attack.
The clear wind rang like shattering jade; emerald feathers rode it like streaming light.
Mu Bingge caught sight of a graceful figure out of the corner of her eye. She immediately stopped worrying about Yan You behind her and launched a fierce assault on the Wind-Thunder Cantor.
Lou Guanshan breathed a sigh of relief. "Wan Lan, he's all yours!"
A girl holding a green longbow slowly stepped out, her long hair braided and coiled behind her head. A defiant smile curled her lips as she drew her bow and aimed straight at Yan You.
"So you're the bastard causing trouble? Watch me blow you apart!"
Before you continue