Chapter 26 - 22: Something’s Wrong, 100% Wrong

Chapter 26: Chapter 22: Something’s Wrong, 100% Wrong

"Jianliang, do you feel like something’s a bit off?"

In front of the cave, Xu Jianliang heard Zheng Liu’s words while locked in combat with six or seven Demon Wolves. His expression turned grave. "It is a bit strange. I keep feeling..."

Before Xu Jianliang could finish his sentence, a scarlet beam of Demon Power swept toward him. The attack was incredibly sudden; had he not been fully focused and possessed a decent amount of Power himself, he might not have been able to dodge it.

This unexpected disaster was originally a Demon Skill the Blood Amber Wolf Leader had aimed at Lu Chen. However, after Lu Chen dodged it with a nimble Body Technique, the attack coincidentally blasted straight in Xu Jianliang’s direction.

Having narrowly avoided the strike, Xu Jianliang stared at Lu Chen battling the Blood Amber Wolf Leader nearby and suddenly wondered, "Is this kid doing this on purpose, or is it just an accident?"

He couldn’t be blamed for overthinking it; similar situations had occurred far too many times. It happened so often that Xu Jianliang could no longer brush it off as an accident. Once could be an accident, and twice could be a coincidence, but what about three or four times? It couldn’t be that every time Lu Chen dodged the Demon Fiend’s attack, it somehow ended up hitting him instead. Even guided missiles weren’t this accurate! Something was off—one hundred percent off.

"Is this kid... just putting on an act for us?!" he wondered.

If even Xu Jianliang noticed the issue, Chai Xi—an old fox who appeared simple and honest on the outside but was full of schemes on the inside—naturally saw it too. He forced back several Blood Amber Demon Wolves with the spear in his hand, then turned his head and whispered to Zheng Liu and Xu Jianliang on either side of him, "This kid is doing it on purpose. Let’s stop playing along with him. He must have seen through our plan ages ago."

"He’s doing it on purpose?" Zheng Liu looked at how desperately Lu Chen was fighting the Blood Amber Wolf Leader, still struggling to believe it.

He looked like he was giving it his all in a life-or-death struggle, yet Chai Xi was claiming he was acting. "Is his acting just that good, or am I, Zheng Liu, just too stupid? Why haven’t I noticed a thing?!" she wondered.

It made sense for Zheng Liu to think this way, as Lu Chen’s current performance was incredibly deceptive. After all, no matter how one looked at it, he was being completely suppressed by the Blood Amber Wolf Leader. Every dodge he made seemed like a frantic, necessary reaction. And yet, they were telling her this was an act?

If he really was acting, didn’t that mean Lu Chen—with a Qi Cultivation Third Level Cultivation—could easily defeat a Qi Cultivation Sixth Level Blood Amber Wolf Leader? The moment this thought popped up, Zheng Liu quickly shook it out of her head. If Lu Chen truly possessed such stunning combat Talent, how could he be a student in the Human Dao Class? Shouldn’t he have entered the Heavenly Dao Class long ago? After all, aside from a student’s Cultivation Talent, the Heavenly Dao Class also placed a heavy emphasis on Comprehension!

Did Lu Chen have that kind of ability? Zheng Liu felt that he shouldn’t, or rather... she didn’t want to believe he did.

However, Chai Xi’s next words completely shattered Zheng Liu’s self-deception.

"Liu, haven’t you noticed that he hasn’t suffered a single injury this entire time?

"Moreover, our position... is getting worse and worse."

His words awakened her from her delusions. Zheng Liu looked around and realized they had already retreated back into the cave. She finally understood.

Lu Chen appeared to be fighting the Blood Amber Wolf Leader to buy them time to escape. But in reality, every time they tried to break out of the encirclement, Lu Chen would coincidentally shift his battle with the Wolf Leader right into their path of retreat. Over and over again, they were unknowingly forced to retreat back into the cave. Furthermore, Lu Chen’s combat radius with the Wolf Leader was now locked right in front of the cave entrance, completely blocking their escape route.

"Damn it, now that you mention it, this kid really is playing us!" Xu Jianliang looked at the two of them in hindsight and couldn’t help but curse.

And here he had actually thought Lu Chen was a righteous hero sacrificing himself for others! His trust had been misplaced—completely and utterly misplaced! It was all fake. Everything was an illusion. He had originally wanted to interact with Lu Tongxue under the guise of a weakling, but all he received in return was betrayal and mockery.

"I’m not pretending anymore. I’m laying my cards on the table. I’m an expert!" he fumed internally.

"Zheng Tongxue, Chai Tongxue, we don’t need to keep playing along with him anymore. Let’s get serious."

"Alright!"

Zheng Liu’s pretty face turned icy as she immediately pulled out a Magical Artifact, the Spirit Fox Brush, from her Storage Pouch. Gripping the Spirit Fox Brush, she flourished it through the air, painting with unseen ink. A massive amount of Spiritual Power manifested into specks of light, flowing like water through the bristles of the Spirit Fox Brush. As the brush stroke ended, a talisman was formed. A crimson Talisman materialized out of thin air in front of Zheng Liu.

Five Elements Basic Talisman: Crimson Flame Talisman!

"Go!"

At that very moment, a sudden flash of intuition hit Lu Chen as he fought the Blood Amber Wolf Leader, and his figure instantly vanished from his spot. In the next second, the Crimson Flame Talisman transformed into a raging inferno, striking his previous position and landing squarely on the Blood Amber Wolf Leader, who couldn’t dodge in time.

Explosive flames instantly engulfed the Blood Amber Wolf Leader’s entire body. When the fire dissipated, the Wolf Leader was covered in scorched ash. Because of the ongoing torrential rain, and the fact that a Demon Fiend’s physique vastly surpassed that of a Cultivator, it didn’t suffer any substantial damage. However, the feeling of being sneak-attacked infuriated the Blood Amber Wolf Leader.

The Blood Amber Wolf Leader looked in the direction the Talisman had come from, only to find that there was no one there. Not only had Zheng Liu and the others disappeared, but even Lu Chen, who had been tangling with it just moments ago, was nowhere to be found. Left looking around in complete bewilderment, the Blood Amber Wolf Leader had no choice but to unleash an angry roar.

"AHOOO!"

Hearing this sound, the surrounding wolf pack immediately scattered, searching once more for any traces of Lu Chen and the others.

...

Meanwhile, in a forest over a hundred meters away from the Blood Amber Wolf Pack, Xu Jianliang was holding a Treasure Pearl in his hand, panting slightly.

"There isn’t much Spiritual Power left in the Concealing Treasure Pearl. Let’s find a place to hide first, put some distance between us and those Demon Wolves, and then figure out our next move."

The Concealing Treasure Pearl—this was the Magical Artifact that gave Xu Jianliang the confidence to lure the wolf pack and sabotage other students. Once used, this Treasure Pearl not only masked their auras but even granted a brief Effect of invisibility. Not even the Blood Amber Demon Wolves, with their keen sense of smell, could detect them. Relying on this Magical Artifact, Xu Jianliang and the others had managed to escape the wolf pack time and time again.

Originally, according to their plan, Xu Jianliang would seize an opportunity to use the Treasure Pearl while dealing with the Wolf Leader, causing it to instantly lose its target. This would force the beast to vent its rage on Lu Chen. By doing so, they would have not only gained a substantial amount of points from hunting ordinary Demon Wolves in the prior battle but also secured a scapegoat to cover their safe retreat.

However, Lu Chen’s initiative in taking on the Wolf Leader undoubtedly ruined their chance. Although this reduced their initial pressure, it also made the Wolf Leader’s actions unpredictable. Yet, considering the rule that prohibited students from attacking each other during the first phase of the mock exam—with violators facing point deductions—Xu Jianliang ultimately had to swallow his frustration and refrain from causing trouble for Lu Chen.

After all, everyone’s points were hard-earned; there was no need to act out of spite. Besides, if they couldn’t screw over Lu Chen, they could always just find someone else to trick. In any case, there was still plenty of time left in the first phase of the assessment, and they weren’t far from the core zone. They had absolutely no need to continue pretending to play nice with Lu Chen.

But the moment they thought about how Lu Chen had just made fools of them, the group still felt a surge of indignation. Zheng Liu stomped her foot in anger and said viciously, "Hmph, to think he dared to toy with us! Just let him play with those Demon Wolves all by himself!

"Jianliang, do you think that guy will be able to escape from the wolf pack?

"Jianliang? Jianliang?"

Zheng Liu called out a few times, only to find that Xu Jianliang still hadn’t responded. Instead, he was staring in a certain direction with an awful expression on his face. Puzzled, Zheng Liu immediately followed his gaze.

When she saw the figure leaning against a tree a short distance away, Zheng Liu’s expression turned just as ugly. The figure under the tree was none other than Lu Chen.

Lu Chen looked at them and smiled. "Fellow classmates, where do you plan on going?

"How about... you take me along?"

Saying that, Lu Chen took the initiative to walk toward them. However, Xu Jianliang and the others backed away repeatedly.

Seeing this, Lu Chen spoke with a hint of regret. "It’s just classmates greeting each other. Your distant behavior... is breaking my heart a little.

"Wouldn’t you agree, Jianliang Tongxue?"

Xu Jianliang turned his head in shock, only to find that Lu Chen, who had been ten meters away a second ago, had silently appeared right beside him.

"When... when did he get over here?!?" he thought in horror.

...

PS: Starting tomorrow, I will update two Chapters punctually at 6:00 PM every day! There’s also one more Chapter being published before 9:00 PM today.