Beyond saving

The Wind-Thunder Cantor could hardly bear to watch. This Void Cultist really was beyond saving. The way he had been forced to release the students was still fresh in his mind, yet he still dared to talk tough.

In a clash, the faster side seized the initiative. He knew full well how unusual his opponent's ability was, yet kept giving her openings.

Would it kill him to stop making threats?

Yan You could not pull his hand out of his chest, nor could he continue tracing the formation to summon calamity. He was stuck halfway, unable to move forward or back.

His face turned green, as though he were constipated.

He stared fixedly at Ye Buyu, his eyes bloodshot, as if he wanted to burn her image into the depths of his mind-and, even more, kill her from a distance.

Ye Buyu timidly backed away a little, but still muttered, "Looks can't kill. Stop trying."

She had to put some distance between them. Although Yan You's current action had stopped, he had paid the price, which meant he could stand up now.

The danger had not passed.

But Lou Guanshan's blade had already arrived. Before Yan You could rise, the sharp, heavy Mo Dao swept precisely across his neck.

His head flew off, but Lou Guanshan did not lower his guard. The feeling through his blade was wrong: light as a cloud, without the resistance of cutting through anything solid.

White scraps of paper fluttered through the air and gathered again. Yan You glared at Ye Buyu with eyes bulging in rage. Remembering the examinees' gazes, he wanted to swallow her alive.

Kou Ying stepped in front of Ye Buyu. "Careful. He seems to be targeting you."

"I know." Ye Buyu picked up the Flower Edict and gripped it tightly, ready to put a bullet in him at any moment.

Especially this Void Cultist in front of her-wait, where had he gone?

In the instant Ye Buyu blinked, Yan You vanished from her sight. The shadow of paper scraps flashed at the edge of her vision. She raised her hand and fired, but hit empty air.

The instant the bullet left the barrel, a sharp pain struck the back of her neck. Ye Buyu's bright field of vision slowly dimmed until her body collapsed beyond her control and her consciousness sank into silent darkness.

Shit. I'm dead this time.

Yan You grabbed Ye Buyu by the back of her collar. With his other hand, he caught Kou Ying's mechanical staff firmly, then flung him away like garbage, sending him crashing into the wreckage of the split-open warship.

Lifting a hand to slick back his hair, Yan You looked provocatively at the remaining students, his eyes filled with pitch-black malice. His lips curled with disdain. "I gave you far too much credit. Did you really think you could win?"

"All you did was buy time with a special ability. Did you really think an ability that immature could get you out alive?"

An ability involving rules was certainly troublesome, but if it could not be activated, its wielder was still helpless prey.

Yan You shook the unconscious Ye Buyu and sneered at the furious gazes turned on him. "Weak little ants don't have the right to look at me like that."

The Wind-Thunder Cantor simply raised his scepter and aimed at the remaining students. Why waste words? Killing them was the priority.

Lightning shot straight toward them. Mu Bingge blocked the attack at once, but her swirling Water Mirror gradually dissolved under its impact, and her face turned deathly pale.

"I can't hold it! Get out of here!"

The instant the Water Mirror dissipated, Mu Bingge vanished and reappeared elsewhere.

The Wind-Thunder Cantor did not stop. He kept attacking, and a pillar of lightning descended from the sky, utterly destroying the abandoned warship. The Teleportation Channel was shattered, and the students left behind were barely clinging to their strength.

"Well, we really are out of options." Su Wuwei wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his amber eyes clouded with gloom.

Thanks to Ye Buyu's outrageous maneuver, most of the students had already evacuated. Only a handful remained.

Aside from Ye Buyu, whose fate was unknown, there were the three renowned figures-Wan Lan, Lou Guanshan, and Mu Bingge-and that unlucky mechanical expert, Kou Ying.

He knew the others, too. They all had some reputation and were strong contenders for the top ten in this year's Gaokao.

There were Meng He, with the mental-type [Mind Hypnosis]; Chu Lie, with the elemental-type [Thunder Annihilation]; Wei Changming, wielder of the special-type [Telekinesis]; and Yu Qin, the [Necromancer], among others.

Wounded in the explosion, Meng He leaned against Yu Qin's back and gave a weak, bitter laugh. "Shame I never got to show what I could do. I didn't think this would be how we ended. Yu Qin, you might be the only one who survives. If there are any bodies left, remember to take us home."

Yu Qin looked toward the Wind-Thunder Cantor watching them hungrily from the sky. Fierce winds swept away the smoke and dust, and flickering lightning aimed at them again, carrying the unmistakable presence of death.

"Probably not. My [Necromancer] can't keep me alive on my own yet. We'll probably be blown to dust. We can keep each other company at the River of Forgetfulness and set the sun alight."

Beside them, Chu Lie closed his eyes in frustration. "Then that really is... a regrettable ending."

Wei Changming tried to manipulate the nearby objects to fight back, but could not muster even a shred of strength. They had exhausted everything in that last defense.

"I always used to think I had strength to spare. Only when you get completely crushed do you realize how fucking helpless you are."

High in the sky, the Wind-Thunder Cantor watched them. On the ground, Yan You crushed a scorched clod of earth underfoot and kicked aside Lou Guanshan, who was kneeling on one knee and still trying to resist.

He lowered his gaze, looking down on them all.

"What a fine sight. We couldn't wipe out more of Great Xia's examinees, but destroying you seeded contenders will be enough to give the Social Security Bureau a headache.

"It'll cast another shadow over Lan Huaiyu, too. Failing to save her students for the second time, watching the promising talents she so carefully nurtured get crushed by the Void Order again-that is the Void Order's revenge."

Yan You crouched and pushed Wan Lan's head down. "Don't glare at me like that. You have neither the right nor the strength now. If you want to blame anything, blame yourselves for choosing the wrong path."

"Oh, right."

Yan You suddenly smiled, narrowing his eyes at the battered group as a thought struck him. "Does anyone want to join the Void Order? If you make the right choice, there's no reason you can't live.

"Your lives have only just begun, after all. Doesn't it feel like a waste? With talent that only one in ten thousand possesses, with gifts surpassing most people's, wouldn't dying here be such a shame?"

"Pah." Wan Lan forced her head up, her bloodstreaked face full of scorn. She shakily raised her middle finger, her gaze as fierce as ever.

"Even after I become a ghost, I'll turn into the sun's blazing fire and burn you bastards to death!"

Yan You's expression chilled as he looked toward Meng He and the others. "Are you making the same choice?"

Wei Changming answered by sending a pebble hurtling at him.

"Sorry. We'd still like to stay human."

Meng He and Yu Qin ignored him altogether. Chu Lie copied Wan Lan and raised his middle finger, defiance written all over his face.

"If you're going to kill us, do it. Why waste words?"

Lying facedown on the ground, Kou Ying moved his fingers slightly. Something dark stirred deep in his eyes, as bottomless as an abyss.

He looked at Yan You through half-open eyes, his heart sinking. Was it already time for the end?