Chapter 61: The Hunt for Lü Qing'er

When the giant crystal wall at the foot of White Spirit Mountain projected the image of Lü Qing'er being surrounded and attacked, countless gasps of shock erupted, and gazes filled with astonishment.

"That's Lü Qing'er from South Wind Academy? First place on the leaderboard."

"She's being targeted? That's Shi Kong, and Xiang Liang, Chi Su, Zong Fu—tsk tsk, they're all in the top few of the leaderboard."

"South Wind Academy is in danger this time. Shi Kong clearly came prepared; he's probably been planning this for a long time. If Lü Qing'er is eliminated by them, then South Wind Academy, having lost its first place, will likely be surpassed by East Abyss Academy this year."

"These guys have such thick skin, ganging up on such a pretty young lady."

"It's not against the rules, you can only say Lü Qing'er was too careless."

"."

All sorts of voices echoed at the foot of the mountain, but everyone was thrilled, because no matter how you looked at it, this battle was likely to be the most spectacular moment of this Grand Examination.

In the pavilion, Yan Yan Lingqing and Cai Wei also cast their gazes onto the crystal wall, their pretty faces somewhat solemn.

"Lü Qing'er might be in trouble," Cai Wei said.

"This is an operation targeting South Wind Academy," Yan Yan Lingqing said, hitting the nail on the head.

The other side had grasped Lü Qing'er's movements with such precision, and not only deployed Shi Kong, but also brought in three other people from the top five of the leaderboard. This clearly left Lü Qing'er no chance of escape.

"This is troublesome."

Cai Wei's willow brows furrowed slightly. Because Li Luo was from South Wind Academy, she naturally stood on their side. Moreover, this young lady Lü Qing'er had previously given Xi Yang House a hand, so sentimentally, she didn't want to see Lü Qing'er eliminated.

But clearly, her thoughts could not change this carefully designed encirclement.

In the main pavilion, the atmosphere quietly grew heavy, and the flow of air seemed to freeze.

Because of the old dean's face that had suddenly darkened, on his body, vigorous and powerful phase force faintly appeared and disappeared, and a powerful oppressive aura spread out.

But Governor Shi beside him paid no heed to that oppressive aura; instead, the corner of his mouth held a faint smile.

"Governor Shi seems to have put in quite a bit of effort for this encirclement, hasn't he?" the old dean's gloomy voice rang out.

This encirclement involved not only East Abyss Academy, but also people from three other academies, so this was a long-planned scheme, not something done on the spur of the moment.

Xiang Liang, Chi Su, and Zong Fu were merely students. Their choosing to cooperate with Shi Kong was most likely at the instruction of the academies behind them. And being able to bring several major academies together to oppose South Wind Academy—in the entire Tian Shu Prefecture, probably only Governor Shi had that ability.

Governor Shi wore a smile and said, "South Wind Academy has held the title of the number one academy in Tian Shu Prefecture for too long. Given the current situation, one can only say it reflects the will of the people."

"Governor Shi coming to this Tian Shu Prefecture really is like one turd spoiling the whole pot," the old dean said sarcastically without any mercy.

A flash of anger crossed Governor Shi's eyes as he said lightly, "This is you forcing my hand, old dean."

"Don't worry, for this year's Wang Ting political performance review, I will still give you a poor rating. When the time comes, Governor Shi should be moving on as well," the old dean said coldly.

A cold smile finally surfaced on Governor Shi's face as he said, "Then you can rest easy. If you lose the signboard of the number one academy, South Wind Academy's review will no longer carry that much weight."

The two men's gazes never met, but the annoyance and hatred in their words made the atmosphere in the main pavilion utterly oppressive.

As for Instructor An Lie, he kept his eyes to himself and his nose to his heart, completely not getting involved in the dispute between the two sides, because he had seen this kind of situation many times. As long as no one broke the rules, he wouldn't chime in.

His gaze was only fixed on the image on the crystal wall, and he secretly shook his head in his heart. Facing such a dire situation, that young lady named Lü Qing'er was likely done for.

In the ruins strewn with broken walls and rubble.

Lü Qing'er stared coldly at Shi Kong ahead, her crisp voice carrying a biting chill: "For this moment, you've truly gone to great lengths."

"This is the greatest respect we can show you, Qing'er," Shi Kong said with a smile.

Lü Qing'er shook her head slightly, knowing that talk was useless. Immediately, ice-white phase force surged on her delicate frame, and on her hands, the ice silkworm silk gloves now had fine white scales bristling outward, looking like a beast's tongue. A light squeeze from those would probably scrape off a strip of flesh.

Clearly, these specially made ice silkworm silk gloves were Lü Qing'er's weapon.

Xiang Liang, Chi Su, and Zong Fu also immediately circulated their phase force, each taking out their weapons, their gazes sharp and wary as they locked onto Lü Qing'er.

The atmosphere in the field froze for an instant.

The next moment, Xiang Liang and the other two suddenly struck, transforming into three streaks of light from three different directions, shooting out violently, their fierce attacks enveloping Lü Qing'er.

Lü Qing'er's long hair flew and danced under the urging of phase force. Facing the joint attack of the three, she not only did not retreat, but instead actively went to meet them.

Ice-white phase force whistled, causing the surrounding air to drop in temperature. In the ruins beneath her feet, a faint frost appeared.

Boom!

Four streams of phase force collided directly, causing phase force shockwaves. But the ones whose expressions changed were Xiang Liang and the other two, because they clearly felt just how domineering Lü Qing'er's ice phase force was, directly scattering all of their phase force.

"As expected, Nine Seal strength!"

"Upper Seven Quality Ice Phase!"

These thoughts flashed through the three men's minds as they pounced out once more.

"Scorching Flame Palm!" Xiang Liang roared, fiery red phase force whistling around his body. With a palm strike, a blazing red-hot palm print blasted toward Lü Qing'er.

"Poison Vine Art!"

Chi Su pressed his hands together, and emerald-green phase force raced along the ground, vaguely transforming into green vines that, like lightning, lashed toward Lü Qing'er's jade-like feet.

"Water Whip!"

Zong Fu also waved his sleeve, and a blue water whip tore through the air, carrying moist energy as it attacked toward Lü Qing'er's brow.

The three were clearly well prepared, their strikes quite coordinated, simultaneously covering all of Lü Qing'er's vital points.

"Ice Ring!"

Yet Lü Qing'er suddenly stamped her jade-like foot, and an ice-blue halo erupted centered on herself. Wherever it passed, ice condensed, and the attacks from Xiang Liang and the other two were all neutralized.

Xiang Liang and the others' momentum stalled.

But Lü Qing'er suddenly attacked Xiang Liang. As her slender jade hands swept through the air, wrapped in cold air, it made one's whole body shiver.

Under Lü Qing'er's assault, Xiang Liang instantly fell into a disadvantage, extremely wretched. If not for Zong Fu and Chi Su's swift rescue, he would have been defeated before long.

The fierce battle erupted in the ruins, dazzling to behold.

But what was astonishing was that even in a three-against-one, anyone could see that in this battle, Lü Qing'er still held the upper hand, suppressing the three.

Such combat prowess drew endless exclamations from countless people outside the mountain. This pretty young lady was actually so fierce.

"Shi Kong, aren't you going to make your move?!"

As the situation grew increasingly ugly, Xiang Liang finally couldn't help but roar out.

Boom!

And at the very instant his voice fell, a faint thunderclap seemed to explode within these ruins, a streak of Lei Guang flashing past like lightning, stabbing straight toward Lü Qing'er.

The sudden, fierce offensive caused Lü Qing'er's eyes to narrow, yet she was not flustered, for after all she had long anticipated Shi Kong's entrance.

Immediately, on the silk gloves, cold phase force gathered, as if faint ice crystals were surfacing on the gloves, spreading outward.

She struck out with a palm, clashing head-on with that spear tip pulsing with Lei Guang.

Sizzle!

Frost and Lei Guang swept outward the instant they collided, spreading across the ground.

And Lü Qing'er's delicate frame trembled slightly, both she and that attacking figure shooting backward.

This was, in this Grand Examination, the first time Lü Qing'er had failed to gain the upper hand against an opponent.

On her fair, lovely face, a touch of Solemn surfaced; her gaze fixed on that figure ahead wreathed in Lei Guang phase force, she said slowly: "An upper seventh-grade Lei Xiang, truly overbearing."

"Qing'er, your upper seventh-grade Ice Xiang is no simple matter either," Shi Kong said with a smile.

"But in today's situation, you won't be able to escape."

Lü Qing'er was silent for several breaths. This Shi Kong's strength was in no way inferior to hers, and now with Xiang Liang and the other three joining the siege, she was indeed at a great disadvantage.

Only, if they truly thought that this would be enough to make her, Lü Qing'er, surrender without a fight, that would be far too naive.

"Since you want to play, then I'll play you to the end," Lü Qing'er said in a cold voice.

Hearing her words, Xiang Liang and the others felt a chill in their hearts.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Lü Qing'er suddenly reached out and gently pulled off the ice silk gloves from both her hands.

And the moment the gloves came off, her hands were revealed.

Seeing this, Xiang Liang and the others' pupils contracted sharply, and a Solemn expression also surfaced on Shi Kong's face.

"So this trump card has finally been played."

(End of chapter)