Ye Buyu closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight of Su Wuwei sliding down the protective barrier like a limp noodle.
"That was brutal."
Shi Can took out her notebook and scribbled away. "He's stronger than I imagined. If Wan Lan hadn't spotted him, Su Wuwei probably would have made it through without a scratch."
Forget a scratch-he wouldn't even have gotten the hem of his clothes dirty.
Su Wuwei's smile was brighter than sunshine, but his secrets ran deeper than the sea.
Ye Buyu looked away and turned her attention to the others in the arena.
Guan Xiaomei and Yu Qin had left the field, Wei Changming and Xiao Shuo had blasted each other out, and Wan Lan had sent everyone else out of bounds.
The arena, which had been bustling with fierce combat, abruptly fell silent. Only three people remained, facing one another in a three-way standoff.
Lou Guanshan planted his heavy Mo Dao in the ground.
"Just the three of us left. How are we doing this?"
Wan Lan glanced at the other two. "Want me to give you a few arrows' head start?"
Mu Bingge looked at them calmly. "Come at me together."
Lou Guanshan and Wan Lan both turned toward her, unwilling to accept that.
Lou Guanshan's lips curled. "You're as confident as ever."
Wan Lan had already drawn her longbow. "Don't cry when you lose."
Intense fighting spirit erupted from both of them. There were no unnecessary words, no insincere gestures of courtesy, and none of those tired, clichéd taunts.
Their rivalry had begun the moment the three of them entered the public eye. As her opponents, no one understood Mu Bingge's strength better than they did.
If she said she would take on both of them, she certainly had the strength to do it. They had no reason to refuse.
The Points Competition reached its final climax. The spectator stands were already packed with examinees, some bedraggled and others disgruntled, all watching this final melee.
A clear note rang out on the breeze, whipping up a violent gale that swept back Wan Lan's hair and revealed eyes and brows sharper than her arrows.
"Thousand-Blade Hurricane!"
The howling gale carried razor-sharp arrows, like a colossal beast devouring the air and gathering turbulent currents. It raised claws capable of piercing and shredding anything, then slammed them down.
Lou Guanshan held nothing back, immediately unleashing his strongest form.
He kicked the Mo Dao up from the ground. With a clear ring from the blade, cracks spread beneath his feet. The shattered earth heaved upward, and broken rocks formed armor that attached itself to his body.
"Earth Armor!"
Transformed into a man of stone, Lou Guanshan seized his Mo Dao and slashed at Mu Bingge with unstoppable ferocity.
He offered a perfect demonstration of a burly man charging in with a forty-meter blade.
Gasps rippled through the spectator stands.
"They weren't going all out before?"
"Holy shit, I feel like one bump from Lou Guanshan would put me to sleep forever, right on the spot."
"Is Wan Lan trying to tear someone to pieces with that attack?"
"Damn, even the shock waves could blow me into a complete idiot."
Ye Buyu looked at Mu Bingge worriedly. Could she handle an attack like that?
Unlike Ye Buyu, the teachers in the stands had no such concerns. Every one of them was watching the spectacle with excitement.
"These two have improved fast. They've both learned advanced skills."
"Come on, fight! Give it everything you've got! I wonder if they can beat that demon king this time?"
"Maybe. These two clearly came prepared. Anyone want to make a bet?"
"Shall we put something down, then?"
Watching the teachers prepare to take bets, Ye Buyu gaped. Had they forgotten there were students here?
Weren't teachers supposed to maintain a dignified image?
Beside her, Shi Can smiled. "Teachers are people too. They used to be students, and they went through those youthful years themselves. It's only natural for them to enjoy having fun.
"Maybe the Teachers were even more mischievous than you back then, and even more hot-blooded and melodramatic."
The teacher leading the betting laughed. "Exactly! We grew up; we didn't die inside. Ye Buyu, want to join in?"
Ye Buyu: ...
It did look... pretty fun.
"Then I'll bet on Mu Bingge. I believe in her."
Almost the instant she finished speaking, another tremendous surge of energy rose from the arena.
Having waited for the other two to finish gathering their power, Mu Bingge raised her head and walked forward, step by step. "You're stronger than before, but I've been improving too."
With every step, a water mirror lit up beneath her feet.
The moment Lou Guanshan brought his Mo Dao down, the sound of shattering glass rang out. Mu Bingge vanished, and dozens of mirror shards floated in the air.
Wan Lan's arrows shattered and dissolved the fragments, while countless blades formed from raging winds pierced the water-mirror shards.
Both caught glimpses of Mu Bingge in those fragments from the corners of their eyes, but neither could locate her actual body.
"Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water? When did she learn that? That's way too sneaky," Wan Lan complained.
Lou Guanshan raised his hand and sent out a shock wave, pulverizing the water-mirror shards around him.
"What's there to worry about? Just smash them all!"
Amid the swirling water-mirror shards, a hand reached out behind Wan Lan.
Wan Lan saw it in a shard in front of her and abruptly leaped away. Yet when she turned, she discovered that what she had just seen was only a scene reflected in a mirror shard.
"Come on, stop acting like a ghost! Can't you come out and fight?"
Before she finished speaking, a long whip shot out from her blind spot, coiled around her waist, and flung her away.
At the same time, Mu Bingge appeared before Lou Guanshan. The swirling mirrors converged, and before he could react, she stepped out of them and punched him, driving him back.
The spectator stands fell silent.
Only one thought echoed in their minds: She's too strong.
"Mu Bingge is so strong. How are they supposed to fight her?" Ye Buyu felt that her earlier worries had been entirely unnecessary.
Mu Bingge appeared and disappeared without a trace. If Ye Buyu had been in the arena, she would probably have been kicked out before she even knew what was happening.
Shi Can closed her notebook. "She's not unbeatable. Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water is an advanced skill of [Water Mirror]. At her current tier, Mu Bingge can't maintain it for long."
"So they just have to wait until it runs out?"
"No. Wan Lan and Lou Guanshan can't afford to wait. If they don't break Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water in time, they'll lose."
"Then how do they break it?"
"They just need to find the core water-mirror shard. It's not hard to spot if you look carefully."
Ye Buyu confidently narrowed her eyes at the shards in the arena, but after staring for ages, she still couldn't see anything special about any of them.
"I can't tell. They all look pretty much the same."
Shi Can covered her face. "Look at their positions, not their shapes."
"There's one shard that hasn't moved. See it? That's..."
Before Shi Can could finish, Wan Lan blasted that shard apart with an arrow, breaking Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water.
"I came prepared! I've studied Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water. Lou Guanshan, go!"
Wan Lan shook out her fingers. That had used up the last of her strength. She could only leave the rest to Lou Guanshan.
"Got it!"
Pressure as heavy as a mountain bore down from overhead. Mu Bingge glanced back at Lou Guanshan as he attacked with all his strength and chose to meet him head-on.
Boom!
Another deafening crash rang out, and dust billowed everywhere.
When the dust settled, Wan Lan and Lou Guanshan came into view, sitting on the ground, while Mu Bingge stood a short distance away.
The winner was clear at a glance, and the Points Competition came to an end.
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