Chapter 35: The Final Battle

Once the plan was finalized, they quickly began to take action.

The first step would be to search for other new students (especially those who had already awakened their ability), and gather them to fight against the seniors’ assault. Otherwise, they would basically get defeated one by one.

The next step would be to ’eliminate’ the senior teams one by one, preventing them from relaying information or cooperating with each other as they do.

"Run! Hurry up and run faster!" one of the seniors shouted as he ran even faster into the woods.

"Damn it! When have these freshmen become so strong?! Weren’t they getting crushed by us just a few hours ago?!" another senior cursed while quickening his pace.

"I... I heard that it was because they were brought together by a freshman team. They’re now fighting back."

"Who has that ability to gather those freshmen that were initially like scattered sand?"

"I remember hearing his name before. I remember his name was... Jiang Zihan..."

Achoo!

Jiang Zihan suddenly let out a sneeze at the same time as he rubbed his numb, freezing arms.

"Zihan...?"

"I’m okay. I just somehow have a strange feeling that someone’s talking about me," Jiang Zihan replied, though he did not think too much before continuing to focus on what was in front of them; he scanned through the surroundings cautiously.

After attacking the senior teams one by one as they planned, there were only two out of the twelve senior teams remaining, which were the First Team and the Fifth Team. Now their goal is to search for the First Team and ’eliminate’ them before the Fifth Team gets to know what has happened.

They had managed to move so efficiently, all thanks to Shen Qingyi’s keen perception of Hunter’s auras. However, before they were able to ask Shen Qingyi to locate where Ling Mengyao was, her team had already found them.

"So, everyone’s here. It seems like we don’t have to search for you guys one by one~" Ling Mengyao said with a gentle smile as she slowly walked toward them. Although the smile on her face seemed warm, the aura surrounding her showed that she’s definitely not as simple as she looks, such that none of them had let their guard down.

Her footsteps were basically soundless. If it wasn’t that she exposed herself, they wouldn’t even notice that she had arrived.

Mo Shiyan targeted an arrow in her direction, though Ling Mengyao had disappeared immediately in the next second.

Shen Qingci’s eyes immediately widened as he scanned around the surroundings. Where did she go?

He instinctively looked toward Shen Qingyi, though she also shook her head.

Jiang Zihan also turned around, though he did not see anything behind him. That’s impossible. I clearly sensed a spatial fluctuation coming from that direction.

His Hunter ability was related to space and time, so he could easily sense any spatial disturbances in his surroundings. However, he had somehow sensed Ling Mengyao’s presence appearing behind him just a few seconds ago, although it suddenly disappeared.

"AHHHHH!"

A sudden scream of agony broke the tense atmosphere. Mo Shiyan’s expression sharpened as he quickly ran toward the freshmen who had been attacked. He bent down and checked her condition, realizing that she had already lost consciousness.

Jiang Zihan and Shen Qingci also rushed over in the first second, but by the time they arrived, Ling Mengyao had already disappeared.

"It seems like the information we got isn’t fully correct; Ling Mengyao’s Hunter ability should also be connected to space. That’s why she could defeat an experienced A-Rank Hunter, because they weren’t even able to find where she is," Jiang Zihan explained as his expression darkened.

Ling Mengyao seems to be even more troublesome than they had thought.

While Jiang Zihan was still lost in his thoughts, another piercing scream came from the other direction. The moment he planned to turn around and check what happened, he suddenly felt a soft breeze brushing past his left ear. His pupils shrank as he instinctively stumbled a few steps backward. Then he materialized several strands of thread above his palm and tried to wrap them around Ling Mengyao, though they did not catch anything.

In the next second, Ling Mengyao’s figure reformed in mid-air, with hundreds of butterflies dancing gracefully around her. If it wasn’t that they were opponents, Jiang Zihan would definitely have marveled at how beautiful the scene in front of him was.

Just at this time, Shen Qingci moved. He appeared behind Ling Mengyao at lightning speed and planned to strike when she couldn’t move. However, just as his dagger was about to pierce her, it wasn’t able to move any further inside.

Jiang Zihan saw it clearly. There was a protective barrier protecting her through the entire process. The second Ling Mengyao could move, she reached out, and before Shen Qingci could react, she threw him out. As Shen Qingci tried to balance himself in mid-air, Ling Mengyao caught the opportunity and was able to give him a punch on the abdomen.

Fortunately, Shen Qingyi had reacted fast enough. With a flick of her wrist, the whip coiled around her waist lashed out, wrapping around her brother’s waist and pulling him back to the ground. Although the punch did not land directly on him, just the force of its shockwave was enough to make Shen Qingci cough up a mouthful of blood.

"So... strong..." Shen Qingci forced these words out of his mouth as he pressed a hand on his chest. He subconsciously looked up, searching for her presence, though she had already disappeared in place.

The next second, Ling Mengyao appeared beside Mo Shiyan.

"Shiyan, on your right side!" Jiang Zihan immediately yelled out.

Mo Shiyan frowned a little before he instinctively reached out and grabbed Ling Mengyao’s wrist. Ling Mengyao was stunned for a second, as she did not think that he would do something like this.

In the next moment, she let out a gentle smile before suddenly dissolving into hundreds of butterflies, scattering into the air before reforming again several meters away.