The First Summoner - Chapter 121

Shen Yan looked at Qiu Yaqian and summoned the Spirit Phoenix Divine Sword. She said nothing, but her actions made her answer clear.

She would fight.

Qiu Yaqian was an independent cultivator, yet her Heaven-rank aptitude and high cultivation made everyone regard her as another dark horse in this year’s Western Region Academy entrance examination.

Understanding Shen Yan’s response, Qiu Yaqian immediately swung her saber at her. Their weapons clashed. That first exchange merely tested each other’s strength.

Shen Yan retreated two steps and regarded Qiu Yaqian warily.

Her opponent could not be underestimated. Qiu Yaqian’s saber art was fierce. It had few flourishes; it was simply powerful.

Qiu Yaqian studied Shen Yan in turn. She had known Shen Yan could fight above her level, but had not expected her to retreat only two steps before the saber strike.

As they tangled again, Wen Yuchu’s music swelled in intensity. Waves of sound attacked without warning, entering their seas of consciousness and wreaking havoc until their heads threatened to split.

Qiu Yaqian was clearly uncomfortable, for her mental power was not very strong.

Shen Yan’s mental power was formidable. She merely frowned and felt no discomfort yet.

“Gale Sword Form—”

“Thousand-Stream Turn!”

Shen Yan swung at Qiu Yaqian. Her blade dissolved into shadows that twisted and turned a thousand times as they closed in on Qiu Yaqian’s chest.

Qiu Yaqian raised her saber.

Clang!

The attack forced her back several steps. Without hesitation, she moved like a cloud and appeared before Shen Yan in an instant, driving her saber forward.

Shen Yan turned her wrist, bringing the Spirit Phoenix Divine Sword up to block.

Qiu Yaqian offered a well-meaning warning. “Summon your otherworldly beast. Otherwise, you’ll lose to me in less than seven and a half minutes.”

“Only the end will reveal the victor,” Shen Yan replied calmly.

Qiu Yaqian paused, then laughed heartily.

“Good!”

She agreed.

Out of respect for Shen Yan, Qiu Yaqian decided to hold nothing back. In her eyes, Shen Yan was an opponent worthy of standing against her.

Her attacks became ferocious.

Every move was vicious, beyond what an ordinary person could withstand.

Shen Yan neutralized each one with exquisite skill.

Wen Yuchu’s music gradually softened. Precisely because of that, the sonic assault grew even stronger. The slightest carelessness could leave one’s sea of consciousness severely damaged.

Chi Yue lifted his eyelids slightly, irritation flashing through his dark brown eyes. He disliked the music. If he disliked it… he would destroy it!

Countless green vines burst from the ground and surged rapidly toward Wen Yuchu.

Wen Yuchu plucked the strings unhurriedly.

The music actually slowed the vines’ advance.

Chi Yue’s expression remained cold. He raised a hand, and black vines suddenly grew from his palm. They moved nearly twice as fast as the green ones.

Whoosh—

“Aaaagh!”

A scream suddenly rang out.

Everyone started in surprise. Zhu Hezhou had been forced into the center of Chi Yue and Wen Yuchu’s battlefield. One of Chi Yue’s black vines happened to pierce viciously through his chest, spraying crimson blood.

Zhu Hezhou’s face contorted with pain and went deathly pale as he screamed.

Outside the secret realm, the expressions of the Wenxin Palace members changed.

“The young palace master…”

The lord of Wenxin Palace slammed the table and shot to his feet. “Outrageous! Zhuge Youlin and Jiang Xianyue deliberately harmed my son!”

“If not for them, my son would never have been accidentally injured by Chi Yue, the Chi family’s young master!”

The Wenxin Palace contingent seethed with rage. They wanted to flay Zhuge Youlin and Jiang Xianyue alive!

Someone advised, “Accidents are inevitable in a fight. Palace Lord, there is no need to be so furious. Besides, Zhu Hezhou wasn’t struck in a fatal spot.”

“Exactly. Yesterday, the Zhu siblings joined forces to torment several other contestants. Why didn’t the lord of Wenxin Palace get angry then?”

“Heh. Everyone else may be injured, but no one from Wenxin Palace can? How overbearing!”

The mockery made the palace lord’s aged face even more furious. Just then, another agonized scream came from Zhu Hezhou.

“Aagh!”

Everyone’s attention snapped back to him.

Chi Yue pulled the vine from Zhu Hezhou without hesitation, then swatted him aside like garbage.

Zhu Hezhou hit the ground with a thud and rolled, coughing blood without pause.

In his condition, he should have been sent for treatment long ago.

Zhuge Youlin and Jiang Xianyue had already left him covered in severe wounds. Now, after taking another attack from Chi Yue, he should have lost consciousness once he spat blood. Wen Yuchu’s sonic assault instead filled his head with splitting pain and kept him painfully awake.

Zhu Hezhou knew that staying here meant certain death.

He laboriously reached for his own token, intending to crush it.

But the rules allowed only someone else to destroy a contestant’s token. He had no right to withdraw himself.

When Zhu Hezhou realized that, his composure collapsed completely.

Blood covered nearly half his face. Spotting Yu Changying from the corner of his eye, he wanted her to crush his token. He stretched a trembling hand toward her.

“Help… help me…”

Yu Changying saw his miserable state and frowned in apparent sympathy as she walked toward him.

Hope surged within Zhu Hezhou.

The next instant—

It was extinguished.

As Zhuge Youlin and Jiang Xianyue fought, they drifted this way again, forcing Yu Changying back repeatedly.

“Aah… aaaagh!” Zhu Hezhou’s mind broke. He screamed like a madman, glaring at them with hatred and killing intent.

The pair appeared not to notice him and continued fighting fiercely.

Their battle was real. So was their covert cooperation against the Zhu siblings.

Elsewhere, Xiao Zechuan and Pei Wusu began fighting.

The current battles were Shen Yan against Qiu Yaqian, Chi Yue against Wen Yuchu, Zhuge Youlin against Jiang Xianyue, and Pei Wusu against Xiao Zechuan.

Zhu Miaoqing lay unconscious.

Zhu Hezhou, tormented again and again, was barely alive.

Qi Lingxuan dared not act rashly.

Yu Changying silently watched the show.

In the end, Yu Changying kindly crushed Zhu Hezhou’s token so he could leave and receive treatment.

The situation finally devolved into a chaotic melee.

Chi Yue’s Mist Net dragged everyone into the fog. He planned to deal with them all at once, only for Pei Wusu to split the mist with one sword strike and charge straight at him.