Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Xu Xiaolan opened her eyes with great difficulty and stared at the aftermath of the cataclysmic explosion that had just occurred with a blank expression of confusion on her face.
What the hell was An Lin doing? She was extremely confused.
Xu Xiaolan gritted her teeth and stood up, but her body swayed lightly and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Her body had been severely injured by the sudden explosion, but she still forced herself to make her way toward the epicenter of the explosion.
It was there that she discovered An Lin, whose skin had been slightly charred while his clothes had almost been blown into shreds.
An Lin’s injuries were a lot more severe compared to hers, and if it wasn’t for his powerful physique as a Soul Formation Stage cultivator, his Defeat Judgement Seal probably would have been triggered a long time ago.
“An Lin, are you alright?”
Xu Xiaolan was initially planning to ask him why he did what he did, but for some reason, what came out of her mouth when she finally saw him was instead a concerned inquiry about his health.
An Lin shook his head with a smile and stood up while using his Evil-Slaying Sword as a crutch.
He turned his gaze to the woman who was slowly walking toward him to find there was a distance of less than a hundred meters between them.
An Lin gritted his teeth and stood up before pointing at her with his sword. He certainly looked like he had seen better days, but his voice remained clear and determined.
“Third Year, Class One, An Lin. Please enlighten me!”
Xu Xiaolan’s footsteps faltered as she looked at An Lin with an incredulous gaze. She chewed down on her lower lip and raised her chin with a proud expression. “I refuse to battle you!”
An Lin was slightly taken aback by her words before continuing, “As long as one student introduced themselves during a free-for-all battle, they have the power to force a battle!”
“You can do that, but I can also choose to run away. Do you think you’d be able to catch me in your current condition?” Xu Xiaolan replied with a solemn expression.
An Lin: “…”
“I will catch you. No matter where you go, I will find you!” An Lin looked deep into Xu Xiaolan’s eyes as if he was announcing something that was set into stone.
Xu Xiaolan’s heart trembled. His words were clearly extremely corny and inexplicable, but she suddenly found that she couldn’t bring herself to leave.
“Why did you do all this?” Xu Xiaolan asked.
“Eliminate me. I can’t win against anyone in my current condition, it would be the best possible outcome for me to be eliminated at your hands.” An Lin walked toward Xu Xiaolan with slow but steady steps.
Xu Xiaolan suddenly recalled her battle against Zuo Qiubing as she looked at An Lin’s determined expression. “The battle from yesterday…”
“It was me!” An Lin nodded in admission before Xu Xiaolan had a chance to finish her sentence.
Xu Xiaolan’s eyelashes trembled, and she slowly closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. “You eliminate me instead. I won’t feel any regret being eliminated by you.”
An Lin replied with a smile, “I told you the other day; I only bully others, not you.”
Xu Xiaolan was rooted to the spot by his words. The words that An Lin had spoken to her that day in the cafeteria slowly surfaced in her mind.
“We’ll see. We can’t all reserve number one like you have, please go easy on me when the time comes, Earth Immortal An Lin.”
“No problem. I only bully others, not you.”
She was only making a joke at the expense of An Lin that day.
An Lin’s reply was so nonchalant and even though she was a little ecstatic that An Lin would say something like that to her, she had thought that An Lin’s reply was nothing more than a joke made in response to her joke. Never would she have thought that An Lin would actually be so determined to uphold his vow.
Tears welled up in Xu Xiaolan’s eyes as she looked at An Lin. Lightning and flames burst forth on her Dragon Sparrow Sword, and she began to make her way slowly toward An Lin.
An Lin also began to make his way toward Xu Xiaolan, gathering speed as he went.
“Third Year, Class One, An Lin. Please enlighten me!”
“Third Year, Class One, Xu Xiaolan. Please enlighten me!”
Golden flames and lightning flashed past and a streak of crimson burst forth.
“Thank you,” An Lin clutched at the bleeding wound on his chest as he spoke.
His Defeat Judgement Seal was triggered and began to dissipate into specks of golden light.
“Why would you do this? What you’ve made me do is akin to bullying me…” Xu Xiaolan lowered her head and the Dragon Sparrow Sword trembled in her hand as a golden tear illuminated by her sword dripped down from her face.
An Lin looked at Xu Xiaolan to find that her beautiful features were stained with blood.
He wanted to wipe the blood from her face with his hands, only to find that his arms had already dissipated into golden light and he was soon enveloped by darkness.
Go f*ck yourself, you piece of sh*t system!
He cursed the system ten thousand times over in his heart.
All the students stared up at the image on the crystal screen, feeling like their brains had disintegrated into mush.
“Is this the legendary love-hate relationship?”
“Senior An Lin was defeated just like that? I can’t accept this! How could this happen!?”
“Sigh, I was so looking forward to seeing Senior An Lin in action during this free-for-all battle, who would have thought that things would end like this…”
“I seem to have suddenly understood something after seeing Xu Xiaolan’s expression.”
Just as all the students were caught in a heated discussion, a golden light flashed and An Lin appeared on the White Jade Plaza.
All the students turned to look at him with different expressions; some looked at him with a scorching gaze, others with confusion etched on their faces and there were also a few who took pity upon him.
An Lin took a deep breath and sat down on the ground. He closed his eyes and ignored everyone as the healing spell formation took effect on his body…
Above the enchantment enveloping the Forest of One-Thousand Peaks
The teacher responsible for combat capability evaluation, Cang Qing, was scratching his head in exasperation.
Vice-Principal Yu Hua was also completely dumbfounded. He came just to see An Lin’s new strength as a Soul Formation Stage cultivator!
But what spectacle was he treated to instead?
“Cang Qing, what do you think of all this?” Vice-Principal Yu Hua asked.
“I think there’s something fishy going on here!” Earth Immortal Cang Qing replied with a solemn expression.
Vice-Principal Yu Hua glowered at him. “Cut the crap, we all know there was something fishy with that battle!”
Earth Immortal Cang Qing wiped away the sweat pouring from his forehead and analyzed in a low voice. “I think student An Lin has given up on himself! Either that, or he was trying to hide his true strength so he could be eliminated from the free-for-all battle via self-detonation!”
Vice-Principal Yu Hua rolled his eyes. “Then he could’ve just self-detonated as soon as the event began, why would he intentionally involve others in the explosion?”
Earth Immortal Cang Qing hesitated for a moment before replying, “Could it be… that he did all of this for Xu Xiaolan?”
“Not just An Lin, but even Liu Qianhuan as well, it looks like they were both trying to help Xu Xiaolan. Sigh, I don’t understand young people nowadays anymore…” Vice-Principal Yu Hua sighed with exhaustion and resignation.
Earth Immortal Cang Qing looked at the few names of interest on his tally board.
Xu Xiaolan—Combat Capability: 1180, Achievement: 1320
Liu Qianhuan—Combat Capability: 1310, Achievement: 680
Xuanyuan Cheng—Combat Capability: 1030, Achievement: 890
An Lin—Combat Capability: 120, Achievement: 0
An Lin’s Combat Capability score was given based on his running speed as well as the speed of his sword strikes. If it wasn’t for Earth Immortal Cang Qing’s keen observation, he would’ve ended up with a Combat Capability score of zero.
“Could it be that An Lin no longer has the power to even make it onto the Immortal Rankings Board? Should we tweak his combat capability score a bit so he can at least squeeze his way into the top hundred? Otherwise, the stark contrast may deal too heavy a blow to him psychologically,” Earth Immortal Cang Qing muttered to himself.
Vice-Principal Yu Hua immediately aimed an enraged glare at him. “As a teacher, your evaluation can’t be swayed by your emotions, understand!?”
Earth Immortal Cang Qing heaved a forlorn sigh. “I know, but I’m can’t help but feel bad for Student An Lin.”
