Chapter 36: Play a Game with Me~

So mysterious—no wonder she was known as the "Butterfly Princess of the Void". Ling Mengyao floated gently in mid-air, then gave her teammates a glance. One of them nodded to her before he signaled the others to leave the area.

A piercing scream rose in their direction, followed by hurried footsteps. Jiang Zihan frowned as he looked toward that direction, noticing that Ling Mengyao’s teammates were ’eliminating’ the rest of the freshmen.

In less than five minutes, only the five of them remained in the distance. He reached out, wanting to help the other freshmen when Ling Mengyao made a simple hand gesture, and a protective barrier suddenly surrounded them, including herself.

Jiang Zihan tentatively reached out and touched the barrier. However, the moment his fingertips made contact, he felt a weak electric shock course through him. It did not hurt and felt more like a warning to him. He knew that it was Ling Mengyao warning them to not pass this boundary.

He slowly lowered his hand and frowned even more. It seemed like the four of them would have to face her themselves.

Suddenly, Ling Mengyao’s voice echoed within the area.

"Now that there’s no one bothering us, I’ll give you a chance~" Ling Mengyao said playfully as she performed a graceful flip in mid-air. In the next moment, a pair of magnificent butterfly wings formed on her back, allowing her to stabilize herself in mid-air.

"Let us play a game together~ You all have ten minutes. As long as any of you are able to withstand my attacks and still be standing after those ten minutes, then you win. Otherwise... you lose," she explained.

Before they had the chance to say anything, she suddenly materialized a miniature shield above her palm and reached it out in front of them. "Of course, games are more fun when there’s a prize. So as long as any of you win, this would be yours~" she said with a soft voice.

"This is... a magical artifact shield?" Shen Qingyi gasped. She couldn’t believe what she just saw.

"Exactly~" Ling Mengyao nodded. "It’s called a Divinewood Shield, a C-Rank magical artifact. It has high resistance against poison and undead-type attacks, and although it’s not one of the most powerful C-Rank magical artifacts, it could be very effective as long as it is used correctly."

"These types of artifacts are usually worth more than 60,000 Star Dusts," Shen Qingyi whispered in their ears.

Although her family was pretty rich and was even capable of providing them with a Teleportation Talisman for any danger they might face, she couldn’t say that they would provide her with something as valuable as a C-Rank magical artifact. Even the whip in her hand was only a D-Rank magical artifact.

"Wait... did I hear it wrong...?

Did she just say sixty thousand...? Sixty thousand Star Dusts?!!

At first, Jiang Zihan had no idea how valuable the artifact actually was. However, after hearing Shen Qingyi’s explanation, his eyes immediately lit up as he started to calculate how long it would take him to earn so much money.

Inside Mo Shiyan’s mind, the little "Jiang Zihan" had already imagined himself lying down and swimming in a pool of star dust. There was even more star dust falling down from the sky.

Mo Shiyan rubbed his forehead helplessly when he saw that image, though he seemed to fully understand how obsessed Jiang Zihan was with money.

"So? Do you accept it?" Ling Mengyao asked as she tilted her head to the side.

The both of them exchanged a glance at each other and nodded their heads. Seeing this, the smile on Ling Mengyao’s face grew larger, and in the second, a timer dropped on the ground. "Then... let us start the game~"

Right after that, Ling Mengyao had disappeared in place and appeared right behind Shen Qingyi. "Let me take care of you first, little miss~"

Her hand reached out as magical energy had gathered in her hand. Shen Qingyi’s pupils shrank immediately as she instinctively rolled forward to dodge that attack.

BOOM!

The magical energy from Ling Mengyao’s palm grazed her shoulder, and the ground behind her immediately exploded, which led to shattered rocks flying all around.

Shen Qingyi pressed her hand on her other arm, but blood was still seeping through her fingers.

"Not a bad reaction," Ling Mengyao lightly chuckled. Then her tone suddenly changed, "However, just dodging won’t let you win me."

Hearing her words, the corner of Shen Qingyi’s mouth rose after she lowered her head. "Really?"

Ling Mengyao’s expression changed a little when she twisted gracefully in mid-air to avoid the slashing strike coming from behind. "You were playing tricks on me?"

At the same time, Jiang Zihan caught the opportunity when Ling Mengyao attacked and unleashed all of his magical energy. The next moment, a complicated pattern emerged beneath his feet, pulling all of them into his domain with a vast sea of stars.

Ling Mengyao looked around at her sudden change of surroundings, where a sigh of interest flickered through her eyes. She casually tested the space with a fierce slashing strike. However, what surprised her was that the attack suddenly disappeared before it even touched the boundary. It was as if it had been swallowed by the empty space, without any effective use.

"It’s useless. Any attack performed in this space from all outsiders would have its power reduced by half, while my own attacks are strengthened by fifteen percent. You would not be able to break out of my domain," Jiang Zihan explained as he bent down and pressed a hand on the ground. In the next second, several strands of thread struck directly toward Ling Mengyao.

Ling Mengyao raised an eyebrow as she flew around and dodged those threads playfully. Then suddenly, an arrow shot straight toward her. She merely raised her right hand and a transparent magical barrier appeared right in front of her. The arrow slammed into it, causing only a few ripples before the arrow fell onto the floor.