Chapter 40: You Won!

There’s still one minute and thirty seconds left.

"You really think that only the two of you could stop me?" she asked curiously.

"We could begin," Mo Shiyan replied with such an answer, magical energy running throughout his body.

"Then let me see what kind of surprise the both of you could give me," Ling Mengyao said as she lifted a hand above her. A few seconds later, a pale-purple light materialized above her palm, then suddenly transformed into dozens of slender beams of light, targeting them.

They both exchanged glances, and ran in opposite directions. Jiang Zihan unleashed a strand of thread to wrap around a tree, and used it to pull him over to dodge the beams of light, while Mo Shiyan quickly jumped forward and twisted his body in mid-air in order to dodge all the attacks.

Then Mo Shiyan materialized the Celestial Bow in his hand, and drew the bowstring to its fullest before targeting Ling Mengyao. The arrow split into multiple arrows in mid-air, all striking toward her. She took a glance at it, her expression indifferent as her hand reached out to block all the arrows with a protective barrier.

One minute and ten seconds...

Jiang Zihan rushed behind her, lowering his body as a sweeping kick targeted at her legs. Ling Mengyao turned around and immediately jumped backward. Then she tapped lightly on the ground as she kicked toward Mo Shiyan, who was planning to attack from the side, which caused him to roll across the ground.

At the same time, Jiang Zihan released a few strands of thread, coiling them around Ling Mengyao’s ankles and wrists while her attention was attracted by Mo Shiyan. Then, with a sudden clench, they tightened around her, causing her to be unable to move at all.

Thirty seconds...

Another arrow shot toward Ling Mengyao again. She tilted her head a little, and a strong wave of pale-violet magical energy spread from her body, breaking those threads into dust. Then she stepped forward and unleashed a beam toward Jiang Zihan.

Twenty seconds...

Looking at the timer, he bit his lower lip, planning to take the hit when Mo Shiyan suddenly stood in front of him to block the damage; blood rolling down from the corner of his mouth.

"Shiyan!!" Jiang Zihan cried out, but seeing that Ling Mengyao was already preparing for the next attack, he quickly coiled a strand of thread around a tree trunk and pulled the tree over to hurl it at her.

Ten seconds...

Ling Mengyao suddenly disappeared in place and appeared in front of Jiang Zihan, her hand reaching toward his forehead. Jiang Zihan instinctively wanted to jump backward, but was shocked to realize that he could not move at all. Just as Ling Mengyao’s hand was about to touch him, the time was up.

0 seconds...

Seeing this fact, Ling Mengyao lowered her hand before letting out a bright smile and said, "Congratulations. Time’s up, and you’ve won."

Hearing her announce the result, Jiang Zihan took a deep breath before he sat down on the ground, panting heavily. Noticing that Mo Shiyan was still standing, he also pulled him over to sit beside him.

"Just as I promised before, this Divinewood Shield is yours," Ling Mengyao said as she handed the magical artifact shield over to him.

Jiang Zihan placed it in his bag. Then he hesitated a moment before asking, "You..."

Before he could even finish the sentence, Ling Mengyao seemed to understand what he was planning to say and directly replied when she sat down beside him. "You could just call my name, Mengyao. I know you want to ask about Chu Linyuan. However, if you are thinking of defeating him, then you could directly remove that thought from your mind.

"Why is that...?" he tentatively asked.

Is it because you think that we’re definitely no match for him...?

Just as Jiang Zihan was lost in his thoughts, Ling Mengyao’s words brought him back to reality. She shrugged her shoulders before replying, "It’s because we just had a combat a few weeks ago, and Linyuan lost to me. So I don’t see the point of you going back to challenge someone I’ve already beaten."

Jiang Zihan: "..."

Okay... it seems like I have thought too much.

Hearing footsteps from behind, Jiang Zihan turned his head and saw Shen Qingci walking toward him, carrying Shen Qingyi in his arms with a princess carry.

"How was Qingyi?" Jiang Zihan asked with concern.

Shen Qingci shook his head before replying, "She’s okay; just asleep."

In the next moment, Ling Mengyao’s voice brought back their attention. "If you all are ready, I could send you out of the forest right now. You are the only ones here anyway."

"...What about the other freshmen?"

"They will all be outside."

Before Jiang Zihan had the chance to ask anything else, a light purple circular object appeared in Ling Mengyao’s hand. She clenched her fist, and the object shattered. "We’ll meet again... if fate allows."

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves standing at the entrance of the Interstellar Ice Hunting Academy.

"We’re finally back..." Jiang Zihan muttered, as he felt that it had been so long already.

Seeing that they had come out of the training field, a senior student who had been waiting nearby waved a hand at them with a bright smile on her face. But when she saw Shen Qingyi, her expression turned serious as she quickly walked over. "Is this student injured? Hurry up and bring her to the school infirmary!"

The three of them exchanged glances before following her toward the infirmary. On the way, she handed each of them a card.

"This is...?" Shen Qingci asked, his voice hesitant.

"This is an Ice Point Card, used to store your Ice Points. Since you four were the last freshmen to leave the training fields, you all should have an idea of what Ice Points are, so I won’t explain it in detail."