The referee could not help but frown at the sight. Li Xiaolan was currently slumped on the ground, her lips trembling incessantly. She was clearly trying to say something, yet she could not make the slightest sound.
With the situation turning critical, he quickly leapt onto the arena and came between the two of them, purposely raising his voice to ask: “Do you wish to surrender!?”
But Li Xiaolan’s throat seemed to be blocked by something, and she could only emit broken, gasping breaths. She struggled to raise her hand to gesture, but her fingers shook violently in mid-air.
The referee turned and asked: “Are you unable to speak? If you want to surrender, nod; if you do not, shake your head.”
Hearing this, Li Xiaolan let out a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to nod, her neck suddenly jerked back in a bizarre manner, and her head began to shake violently and uncontrollably!
The spectator stands erupted into an instant uproar.
“Is she mad?!”
“She’s already in this state and she still won’t surrender?”
“Does she really want to die on the arena?”
The chatter surged like a tide, creating a massive clamor.
The referee was stunned for a moment, his brow filled with helplessness and confusion. He glanced at Li Xiaolan, then at Lin Lumi, and finally let out a long sigh, his voice low: “…The match continues.”
Li Xiaolan’s body instantly lost all strength. Her eyes turned toward the spectator stands, her gaze passing through the layers of people to lock firmly onto the area where Wen Jing was seated.
Wen Jing sat upright in her chair with a calm expression, a hint of impatience hidden deep in her eyes. Meanwhile, the female disciple beside her was still forming hand seals with her fingertips.
In this lifetime, she was probably doomed to fall here. If there was a next life, she, Li Xiaolan, would definitely make Wen Jing pay back this blood debt in full!
Following that, Li Xiaolan closed her eyes as if accepting her fate.
However, Lin Lumi’s attack did not fall as expected. Opening her eyes, she saw Lin Lumi standing in her original spot, calmly looking at the spectator stands, delaying her move.
She seemed to be waiting, and she also seemed to be observing.
Suddenly, Lin Lumi raised her hand and clapped lightly, the sound exceptionally crisp at this moment.
“So that’s how it is—” The corners of her lips curved up slightly, her tone flat. “I was wondering what you were looking at just now. Found you.”
The moment her words fell, her figure suddenly blurred, and she vanished completely within a swirl of spiritual energy.
In the next instant, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, she had already leapt onto the spectator stands, her toes tapping lightly on the back of a chair. Like a swift white crane, her sleeves fluttered.
The back of the chair trembled slightly beneath her feet. She stood high above, staring down coldly at Wen Jing.
Wen Jing was startled by Lin Lumi and suddenly fell backward.
“Are you insane!?” Wen Jing screamed out in terror. She instinctively retreated two steps, her hand propping herself up against the back of a chair. “Why aren’t you fighting properly on the arena? What did you run over to my side for!”
Lin Lumi ignored her. She swept her gaze across the row of people before her, finally locking her eyes onto the female disciple who had been casting the spell just now.
“So it was you.”
Lin Lumi stared at her, sizing her up with extreme care, from her hand seal gestures to her posture—not missing a single detail.
The female disciple suddenly felt a bit of fear. Just as she was about to make an excuse, both of her hands were bent in the opposite direction by Lin Lumi in the next instant. The moment her joints dislocated, she shrieked in agony.
And at the exact moment of that shriek, Li Xiaolan, who had been silent on the arena for a long time, suddenly regained her voice.
“I surrender! I surrender!”
The referee below was stunned for a moment, but then immediately struck the gong: “I announce that for this match, Lin Lumi wins!”
In the spectator stands, applause, gasps, and discussions intertwined.
Yet, Lin Lumi did not look pleased.
She lowered her eyes, her expression indifferent, and slowly withdrew her hand before turning her gaze toward Wen Jing.
“For the sake of dealing with me, you didn’t even hesitate to sacrifice the life of your subordinate. Is it fun? You are a princess after all; shouldn’t you love and protect the common people? How can you do such despicable things?”
Saying this, she let out a cold laugh: “Oh, right, loving and protecting the common people is a quality only found in the royal family. A fake can never become the real thing.”
“You bastard! How dare you speak impertinently to this Princess!” Wen Jing shook with anger, suddenly standing up as her rage reached its peak.
She raised her hand, preparing to slap Lin Lumi hard across the face. But at that very moment, her hand suddenly froze in mid-air, stopping dead in its tracks.
Time seemed to freeze.
Wen Jing’s pupils dilated abruptly, her entire face written with terror.
Lin Lumi tilted her head slightly, her voice flat: “Isn’t it just a technique to control another person’s body? What a coincidence, I just learned it too.”
She smiled softly, yet coldness flickered deep in her eyes.
A crisp slap rang out.
Wen Jing’s right hand suddenly turned and slapped herself hard on the cheek.
For a moment, the crowd did not react.
Immediately after, several more crisp slaps sounded in succession, as loud as whips cracking against a face and carrying echoes. It beat her face until it was completely red and her hair was in disarray.
The originally noisy crowd fell dead silent in an instant.
Inside the private box, Jiang Yunong’s eyes went wide as she watched this scene.
She couldn’t help but cover her mouth.
This feeling was, truly, so satisfying.
So a woman could actually be this cool!
Seeing that the other’s face was already red with broken capillaries, Lin Lumi finally withdrew the Immobilization Spell and returned to the arena.
She steadied her stance, bowed deeply to the surrounding audience, and only then walked down from the arena.
Disciples in charge of aiding the wounded ran up with a stretcher and carried Li Xiaolan away.
In the spectator stands, those who were leaving left, and those who were expressing their amazement did so.
Meanwhile, Wen Jing fainted directly from pure rage.
Lin Lumi cast a flat glance over, and without the slightest hesitation, she immediately sought out Hua Tian to go collect the money they had won last night.
All along the way, Hua Tian chattered on non-stop: “Lumi! Do you know, you were really too cool just now! You knocked the opponent flat with just one palm strike! How come I never knew your strength was this high before!?”
Facing this question, Lin Lumi thought about it carefully before replying: “Probably because in the past, I always competed against Mu Heng, and we always fought to a draw. If I fight against him, it is indeed very hard to win. But for someone of Li Xiaolan’s level, it really is just a matter of a single slap.”
Hearing this, Hua Tian recalled carefully; Lin Lumi indeed seemed to have never fought anyone else in the academy.
She swallowed and asked: “By the way, Lumi, what is your cultivation level?”
“Uh… I don’t really know either.”
Hua Tian frowned: “You’re being too humble now. How could you not know? But as far as I know, the other disciples sent by His Majesty to participate in the assessment have already succeeded in drawing Qi into their bodies. I am at the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation stage. Looking at your level just now, could it be…”
Hua Tian sucked in a sharp breath: “You haven’t already established your Foundation, have you!?”
“That’s not it,” Lin Lumi replied frankly.
Hua Tian breathed a sigh of relief: “It’s fine, it’s fine. If you really had established your Foundation, I would still congratulate you.”
“How should I put it… I’m not actually that weak, either.”
“Huh?” Hua Tian tilted her head, “What do you mean?”
Lin Lumi smiled: “It’s nothing. Let’s just hurry up and collect the money we won!”