“This is outrageous! It’s simply absurd!”
Chu Jianghe slammed the table in anger, making the thermos jump, and shouted, “Lu Sheng, that kid slacked off on his own, and he even dragged He Wanying down! A waste of talent! A waste of opportunity!”
He was anguished and made a snap decision, and he said, “After the match they must be forcibly separated! In a city-level league, He Wanying can never team up with Lu Sheng again! It’s irresponsible to the school and to her own future!”
He didn’t care if young people were dating, but he would not allow them to put off important matters at such a critical time; once the league ended and they got into a top combat academy, there would be plenty of time for romance.
“Let me see how many points they have, and they better not be too low…” Chu Jianghe suppressed his anger and cast his gaze at the central points holo-screen, and he worried that He Wanying had been held back by Lu Sheng and would be at the bottom of the rankings.
However, everything froze the moment the leaderboard came into view.
『Personal Ranking』
Lu Sheng: 72 points, He Wanying: 72 points, Zhao Qingtian: 57 points.
…
『Team Ranking』
Lu Sheng Team: 144 points, Zhao Qingtian Team: 86 points, Lu Ningyu Team: 68 points.
…
Chu Jianghe’s expression froze instantly and his mouth opened slightly, as if he had been put under a petrification spell.
“They were actually leading by a huge margin?!”
“What is going on?!”
Deep in the Poison Fog Desert, they sat beneath a sun umbrella.
Lu Sheng gently raised his hand to signal for the nimble jade hands behind him to stop.
“Master, won’t you let me keep going for a little longer?” He Wanying’s voice carried a barely noticeable lingering desire; she stopped and looked at Lu Sheng with clear eyes that still held a trace of unmet expectation.
Lu Sheng blinked in surprise and looked up to meet He Wanying’s gaze, and the reaction felt off.
Yesterday she had been reluctant to change into black stockings for the massage, so how could she be proactively serving today and even feel a bit disappointed when stopped?
It had only been one day, and this icy campus belle had already adjusted herself like this; did the Contract have this hidden effect?
He suppressed his odd feeling and did not show it, instead pointing at the nonexistent watch on his wrist and saying, “That’s about enough, enjoyment time is over. Time to get to work.”
The two had fought at high intensity in the Secret Realm for over two hours, their points far ahead, and both had advanced to Level 3.
Maybe she was in too good a mood, or maybe her class instinct (E-rank masseur) was at work; He Wanying actually volunteered to give “hard-fighting” Master Lu Sheng a relaxing massage.
Lu Sheng naturally accepted, which led to the vacation scene Chu Jianghe had seen.
However, Lu Sheng glanced at the points board; although firmly in first place, the lead was not unassailable, only a matter of a few dozen points.
Three hours of trials had passed, and ordinary students’ Basic Antidote Pills had been exhausted, prompting them to withdraw one after another after leaving combat.
Those remaining were the grind kings who had bitten the bullet and bought Basic Antidote Pills out of pocket, trying to push for higher ranks; this small amount of points was still not secure.
“Let’s go!”
The two packed up the beach chairs and sun umbrella into the class-holder backpack and continued to press into the heart of the desert.
They had not gone far when panic-stricken shouts mixed with violent explosions came riding on the sand-laden wind!
“Little Bai! Block it with a firewall!”
“Ah! My leg is stuck!”
“Heal! Sister Yu! I’m out of mana!”
“Careful! It’s disappeared again!”
Several frantic figures staggered out from behind the dune, and it was Lu Ningyu and a few of her teammates.
『Lu Ningyu』『Qi Gong Master (B)』『LV2』
『Tong Yan』『Venom Assassin (B)』『LV2』
『Cheng Xiaoxiao』『Winged Archer (B)』『LV2』
『Wang Baixue』『Flame Mage (B)』『LV2』
『Zhang Yu』『priest (C)』『LV2』
Five girls… four B-rank talent combat class 『Flame Mage』 holders and one common C-rank ordinary combat class 『Flame Mage』 holder… made a lineup that was among the best in all of Lanjiang No. 3 High School, and now the team ranked third on the team leaderboard, behind Zhao Qingtian.
However, at the moment the five girls were a sorry sight, their equipment damaged, their bodies marked with burns, abrasions and sticky webbing, each face written with terror and despair as they issued scattered counterattacks while desperately retreating.
Behind them, accompanied by a scalp-tingling rustle and vibrations through the ground, a colossal creature burst through the waves of sand and gave relentless chase!
It was a creature far larger than an ordinary Six-Eyed Sand Spider!
Its carapace was a deep, dark gold, and its six compound eyes flashed with a cruel crimson light.
As its massive chelicerae opened and closed they grated like metal, and though it did not move quickly, the oppressive weight of it felt like a physical boulder bearing down on everyone’s chest!
『MegaSix-Eyed Sand Spider (elite)』
『level: LU5』
『HP: 8651/12000』
『Skills: Web Immobilization (C), Advanced Mimicry (A), Paralyzing Powder (C), Advanced Toxin Injection (A), Low-level Fire Immunity (C), Life Steal (B)』
An elite-level monster!
Monsters in the Secret Realm could be categorized by type as BOSS, elite, or normal.
BOSSes were rare; almost every species of monster had only one BOSS, which would only respawn after being killed and following a certain cooldown period.
Elite-level monsters sat between BOSSes and normal monsters.
They were weaker than BOSSes but far stronger than normal monsters.
Their main characteristic was extremely high HP.
An ordinary Six-Eyed Sand Spider was already a newcomer’s nightmare, and this elite MegaSix-Eyed Sand Spider was a nightmare among nightmares!
Its enormous HP, combined with concealment from『Advanced Mimicry』, sustain from『Life Steal』, lethal damage from『Advanced Toxin Injection』, strong control from『Web Immobilization』, and『Low-level Fire Immunity』, greatly reduced Flame Mage Wang Baixue’s output.
The Lu Ningyu Team looked pale and powerless before it!
At that moment, the team’s core priest Zhang Yu had already run out of mana, her face as white as paper; Flame Mage Wang Baixue’s firewall grew ever weaker and was about to extinguish, and the attacks from Venom Assassin Tong Yan and Winged Archer Cheng Xiaoxiao struck the giant spider’s thick carapace and only produced scattered sparks.
Lu Ningyu gritted her teeth and stood at the forefront with qi force swirling, but her Qi Gong wave could only barely shake the giant spider and could not inflict real damage, and her own HP had nearly run out!
“It’s over…”
Seeing the giant spider easily break through the last layer of firewall and its six crimson eyes lock onto her, the last glimmer in Lu Ningyu’s eyes was extinguished.
They were out of ammo and energy, and barely had the strength to flee!
Just then, out of the corner of his eye he spotted two figures on a nearby dune… Lu Sheng and He Wanying, looking as relaxed as if they had just returned from a vacation!
In his despair, a faint sliver of hope flared in his heart, and he used nearly his last strength to scream in that direction, “Lu Sheng! He Wanying! Save…”
Before his cry finished, the terrifying giant spider had already raised a truck-sized chela and, with a shriek that tore the air, crashed it down onto Lu Ningyu’s head!