Chapter 25 - 21: When It Comes to Acting, I’m Serious

Chapter 25: Chapter 21: When It Comes to Acting, I’m Serious

Outside the Secret Realm, several Teachers watched the broadcast of Lu Chen, Zheng Liu, and the others, unable to stop themselves from discussing the situation.

Recalling Zheng Liu and her group’s previous actions, Chen Fugui spoke with considerable dissatisfaction. "Zheng Liu and her team are using some rather underhanded tactics. Just how many students have they thrown under the bus now? I wonder if Lu Tongxue will be able to see through their plan this time."

Li Youquan, who was standing to the side, had a different perspective on Chen Fugui’s words.

"Old Chen, you’re wrong about that. Real-world experience is far more treacherous than this trial. What Zheng Liu and the others are doing is just child’s play.

"Taking a step back, isn’t it better for them to suffer all these losses in school rather than getting taken advantage of out in the real world after they graduate?"

Although he wanted to refute this, Chen Fugui couldn’t help but nod. "True. Old Li, what you’re saying isn’t unreasonable. The real Cultivation Realm is indeed far more cruel."

As the Teachers who had been monitoring the exam from the very beginning, they were naturally well aware of what Zheng Liu and her group had been up to.

At first, when the three of them crossed paths, they merely formed a simple partnership. They worked together to hunt the Demon Fiends in the outer forests of Five Springs Mountain to earn points. However, their situation changed on the third day after they encountered the Blood Amber Demon Wolves.

The formidable pack forced the three of them into an exhausting struggle for survival, leaving them with no choice but to flee. Thanks to Xu Jianliang’s special Magical Treasure, they always managed to escape just before the wolves could surround them.

During one of their escapes, they unexpectedly ran into other students. Although these students had no desire to get dragged into the battle against the Demon Wolves, the wolves didn’t care. They simply treated the other students as prey and launched a fierce assault.

Instead of offering a helping hand, Zheng Liu and her group deliberately diverted the wolf pack’s attention onto their fellow students. While the wolves were distracted, the trio worked together to slay the ordinary Demon Wolves, frantically farming points. Finally, before the Blood Amber Wolf Leader could finish off the other students and turn its sights back on them, the three slipped away.

From then on, Zheng Liu and the others treated the wolf pack as their personal hired thugs. They continuously lured the wolves into attacking other students, only to safely reap the spoils of the ensuing chaos.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this behavior—using their classmates as bait while watching safely from the sidelines—utterly despicable.

What was truly surprising was that the mastermind behind this scheme wasn’t the fake-innocent Zheng Liu, nor was it the seemingly shrewd Xu Jianliang. It was actually Chai Xi, the most honest-looking and taciturn member of the trio. It just went to show that stereotypes were unreliable. Not all Body Refining cultivators were simple-minded muscleheads; some were cunning schemers who loved to play tactical mind games!

And now, Lu Chen was their newest target to throw to the wolves.

But what Zheng Liu and her group didn’t know was that the best Hunters often appeared in the form of prey.

Inside the Five Springs Mountain Secret Realm.

Although Lu Chen didn’t know about the trio’s track record of dirty deeds, he could roughly guess what they were plotting. Thus, when Xu Jianliang offered to take on the Blood Amber Wolf Leader, Lu Chen voluntarily stepped forward instead.

"Leave the leader to me."

"Huh?!" Zheng Liu and the other two stared at Lu Chen in dumbfounded shock.

They wondered why they had never noticed that this kid had the selfless resolve to take the hardest tasks upon himself!

Under normal circumstances, the trio would have been more than happy for Lu Chen to volunteer to fight the strongest wolf. But since Xu Jianliang possessed a specific Magical Treasure for the job, they really didn’t want Lu Chen to do this. It went completely against their plan.

Xu Jianliang opened his mouth, wanting to say something. However, Lu Chen seemed to anticipate his thoughts and beat him to the punch.

"My Cultivation is the lowest, and I don’t think I can make it to the second round of the mock exam anyway. Let me hold them off for you. Find a chance and get out of here."

"This..." Looking at Lu Chen’s deadpan expression, Zheng Liu and the other two felt like their brains were about to overload.

Knowing full well how dangerous it was, he was voluntarily giving the chance to escape to three people he had never met before. Even if this was just a mock exam with no real life-or-death stakes, the radiant heroism emanating from Lu Chen still made Zheng Liu and the others deeply ashamed of their own Huis.

What a remarkably noble character!

For a brief moment, Xu Jianliang even wanted to tell Lu Chen the truth—that he actually had a Magical Treasure that specifically countered the Blood Amber Demon Wolves. He wanted to tell Lu Chen to let him handle it while Lu Chen just waited on the sidelines to be eliminated. But in the end, all those words were completely shattered by Lu Chen’s overwhelming aura of righteousness.

Not giving Xu Jianliang any chance to speak, Lu Chen took the initiative and marched straight toward the Blood Amber Wolf Leader a short distance away.

Looking at Lu Chen’s resolute back, the trio fell silent. They had to admit that, despite the kid’s terrible personality and lack of gentleness toward girls, he was an absolute, unadulterated real man. When push came to shove, he actually stepped up to the plate!

Because Lu Chen had stepped forward, their original plan was massively disrupted. Fortunately, the trio reacted quickly and seamlessly switched to "Plan B." That plan was to slack off and stall, letting Lu Chen draw as much aggro as possible. Once Lu Chen was pushed to his absolute limit and teleported out by his wristband, they would immediately break away from the Blood Amber Wolf Pack and search for the next unlucky bastard to exploit.

However, just as they had a plan, Lu Chen had one too.

Although Lu Chen wasn’t sure what gave Xu Jianliang and his group the confidence to escape the Blood Amber Wolf Pack, he was certain of one thing: whatever the enemy wanted to do, you just had to do the exact opposite.

Xu Jianliang had offered to deal with the Blood Amber Wolf Leader? Excellent. Then Lu Chen had to make sure he couldn’t! As long as he could make Xu Jianliang uncomfortable, Lu Chen would be perfectly content.

Judging from the changes in the trio’s expressions, his decision was undoubtedly a brilliant one. They wanted to compete in acting? He wondered, "As someone who has lived two lives, how could I possibly lose to you lot? What a joke! I, Lu Chen, might not have much, but I’ve got plenty of drama in me!"

As Lu Chen strode out of the cave, he said in a deep, solemn voice, "I wish you all... a prosperous Cultivation journey."

Without giving the three of them any chance to stop him, Lu Chen immediately took a step forward and fiercely charged at the car-sized Blood Amber Wolf Leader. Facing Lu Chen as a challenger, the Blood Amber Wolf Leader responded with a resounding, thunderous roar.

AWOOO!

Following the leader’s command, the pack of wolves immediately swarmed forward. Yet, perhaps to defend its dignity as the alpha, it didn’t allow the other Demon Wolves to interfere in its duel with Lu Chen. On the expansive muddy ground, a massive empty ring was forcefully cleared out.

THUD!

The Blood Amber Wolf Leader took a heavy step forward. The rainwater clinging to its fur was violently shaken off all at once, transforming into a fine, misty haze. In the blink of an eye, the massive beast closed the distance to Lu Chen, raising its claws and viciously swiping down.

Lu Chen’s figure blurred as he narrowly dodged the terrifying strike by a hair’s breadth. The Magic Sword in his right hand lashed out swiftly, slashing against the Blood Amber Wolf Leader’s abdomen.

CLANG!

The razor-sharp Magic Sword failed to slice through the Blood Amber Wolf Leader’s skin. Instead, it sent a shower of blinding sparks flying, leaving behind only a shallow white scratch. It was as if Lu Chen hadn’t struck flesh and blood at all, but rather Unbreakable, hundred-times-tempered steel. The physical resilience of a Demon Fiend was fully on display in this single moment.

Of course, all of this was built on the premise that Lu Chen was deliberately acting.

Having failed to land a decisive blow, Lu Chen immediately engaged in a hit-and-run skirmish with the Blood Amber Wolf Leader. He struggled desperately to dodge the alpha’s attacks, only finding the briefest of windows to strike back. He looked for all the world like he was being completely suppressed and battered by the beast.

Yet, even though Lu Chen was drastically pulling his punches, his performance still deeply shocked Zheng Liu and the others. They wondered how a lowly Human Dao Class student like him could actually fight an evenly matched battle against a Qi Cultivation Sixth Level Blood Amber Wolf Leader. Were current Human Dao Class students all this powerful? Compared to him, they felt like utter trash.

However, the incoming wolf pack gave them no luxury to continue spectating, forcing them to immediately engage the swarm. Acting was acting, but they still had to show some real skills. At the very least, during this current phase, they genuinely had to fight the Blood Amber Demon Wolves in earnest.

Seeing that Zheng Liu and the others were now fully tied down by the rest of the pack, Lu Chen’s eyes slowly narrowed, his expression turning highly intriguing.

It was a good thing Mu Xiaoye wasn’t here. Otherwise, she would have undoubtedly cried out in alarm. She would have demanded to know what wicked scheme Lu was plotting this time. Whenever his eyes narrowed and that little smirk appeared, someone was in for a world of pain!