Mid-term Exam, Part 14

In less than a quarter of an hour, the situation on the field completely changed.

The colossal cat rampaged through the crowd, striking without any restraint.

Even without actively attacking, its sheer tonnage was a formidable deterrent, and soon, seven or eight people were successively sent flying and eliminated.

The Orange King still felt it wasn’t enough. It happily bounced on the spot, loudly meowing as if showing off, “Haha!”
Its臃肿 body launched with incredible agility, performing a backflip, deftly turning around on the spot, and charging towards the clustered crowd.

The Sword School’s cat could actually do a backflip!

The Orange King was indeed unconquerable, but the other examinees and accompanying participants could be defeated.

If the Orange King could be used to eliminate other difficult opponents, it would be a good thing.

Thinking this, the surviving examinees on the field began to shower each other with puffed rice candy as if they cost nothing, hoping to get the opponent to smell of the candy, thereby attracting the Orange King’s attention.

[Puffed Rice Candy (Large Bottle): The spirit beasts’ favorite snack. With it, handshakes, lying down, spinning in circles, are all child’s play. Effect: Beast Lure *10]

This candy was somewhat similar to modern popcorn. Su Qing had seen Teacher Qing Ge use it to reward spirit beasts that performed well in the literacy class dictation tests. Whether swimming in water or flying in the sky, they all loved to eat it.

The puffed rice candy naturally tasted excellent. The fluffy white puffed rice was coated in a layer of golden honey syrup, which solidified to a crisp, making a crunching sound when bitten, both crispy and sweet.

No one knew what the Beast School’s small kitchen used as the raw material for the puffed rice candy, but each plump grain of puffed rice contained a small cluster of spiritual power.

Although not much, combined with the wonderful flavor and texture, it made the spirit beasts unable to resist.

Golden puffed rice candies rained down through the air, like a shower, and a warm, sweet aroma wafted over.

The surviving examinees were solely focused on attacking each other, ignoring this delicious treat.

The unclaimed puffed rice candies fell lonely to the ground, quickly piling up into small mountains.

Stepping on them, humans or beasts would hear a crunching sound, and the cracked candies released an even richer, sweeter scent.

The spirit beasts of the Beast Cultivators present couldn’t help but salivate, but they had all undergone professional training.

In this critical moment, they dutifully endured, focusing solely on receiving their masters’ commands and coordinating in battle.

However, the great fox Lihuo, being somewhat distracted due to its master’s absence, watched as one round puffed rice candy after another fell before its eyes, uneaten.

The pitiful tears that had clung to the corners of its eyes had, at some point, flowed down to its mouth.

“Slurp.”

It had dreamed of this scene as a cub: a rain of puffed rice candy falling from the sky, burying it, and it eating its fill until its belly was round, lying atop a mountain of candy, unable to eat another bite.

She had to admit, since they were all students from the same school, Su Qing realized that everyone had played their cards well, so much so that puffed rice candy was flying everywhere, shallowly covering the cafeteria floor.

Everyone was inevitably stained with some, and anyone in the cafeteria had their deliciousness index skyrocketing, becoming sweeter and more appetizing.

However, the Orange King was completely unaffected, because it wanted to eat meat!

Some knowledgeable students smartly pulled out braised chicken legs from their storage bags and began throwing them at each other.

[Braised Chicken Leg: Brewed with the cook lady’s secret brine, ranked first on the Sword School cafeteria’s must-eat list for a hundred years. What makes it so delicious? The answer is love. Effect: HP Recovery +20]

Su Qing thought, ‘It’s a bit difficult to feed the Orange King with resources that restore health.’

But this tactic still didn’t work. Why would the Orange King eat chicken legs when there were fresh, delicious students?

The scene was utterly chaotic. There were examinees eliminated by the Orange King, and there were examinees taking advantage of the chaos, ganging up and ambushing others while the Orange King stirred up trouble.

It wasn’t that no one tried to team up and attack the Orange King, but they quickly realized that having no health bar meant no health bar.

The Orange King was unconquerable in this exam; no amount of attack would faze it.

If the Orange King was in the mood, it would even open its cat mouth and swallow ultimate moves whole, then burp twice and spit them back out exactly as they were, blasting the students to smithereens.

No, it couldn’t even be called “exactly as they were.” The pungent cat saliva smell was comparable to a biochemical weapon, making people want to hold their breath until they passed out.

It was the undisputed overlord here; the other examinees had to do its bidding.

The first-year students were the most numerous, and thus the most eliminated under the Orange King’s indiscriminate attack, but the second and third-year students gained no benefit either.

Because the Orange King had entered the fray, Tian Ning was reluctantly released by the third-year students.

She was already skilled in fast attacks, and in a flash, she drew her sword and carved off the heads of two Golden Core cultivators, her eyes filled with murderous intent, sending an inexplicable shiver down people’s spines.

At this point, any reconciliation with the third-year students was impossible; taking advantage of their weakness was the only option.

After eliminating over a dozen people in succession, the Orange King visibly began to lose stamina.

Its four somewhat stubby legs, due to its massive body, unconsciously bent, and its white belly almost touched the ground, indicating that its excessive weight was indeed putting considerable strain on its knee joints.

The fat cat was panting a little, its cat tongue slightly out. It was a bit tired, but still very excited, its whiskers trembling as it looked around.

It wanted to go back upstairs to rest, but when it saw Su Qing, its two cat pupils suddenly lit up.

It hadn’t forgotten that this human owed it chicken legs and hadn’t repaid them. It was a cat that knew how to repay kindness!

Su Qing’s heart tightened; the feeling of being targeted grew stronger.

Perhaps it was because she and the Orange King were old acquaintances, and she also had a history of teasing it. The Orange King, whether in a burst of playfulness or appetite, began to cling to her relentlessly after knocking over a crowd.

Su Qing didn’t mince words with it. She dodged, attacked, and stroked it all at once.

She rolled on the ground, evading its swatting paw. The ground was heavily dented by the Orange King’s mangosteen-like paw, and cracks spread rapidly among the broken tables and chairs.

Su Qing felt a foul wind above her head, and a massive conical tooth grazed her side. She didn’t hold back, forcefully thrusting her Man Qing Sword into the Orange King’s soft, vivid red upper palate.

The opponent indeed halted its steps, aimed at the ground, and gagged, “Meow!”

Taking advantage of this opening, she gathered her spiritual energy and rose, light as a swallow.

While the Orange King was lowering its head, cursing and gagging, she used its collapsed nose bridge above its wet snout to push off, then glided smoothly along its fur until she stood on its back neck.

‘She’s on!’

Zhang Mingliang pointed at Su Qing, his voice trembling with shock. “She rode it? She just… rode it like that?”

Cui Huai nodded. “Yes, she rode it. You saw correctly.”

Zhang Mingliang was a little excited. “I want to ride it too!”

Cui Huai said indifferently, “You don’t want to, and it’s useless even if you do.”

Ling Yunxiao pondered whether to knock Su Qing down, but after all, they were both from the Body School—one’s glory was shared.

She loosened her finger joints, deciding to give her junior sister a chance, and punched a Array School disciple who was attempting a sneak attack.

That felt good.

Tang Yueling’s eyes lit up, and she began rummaging through her storage bag. Someone next to her tried to sneak attack her, but Tang Xueshan skillfully intercepted them.

The Orange King sensed the abnormality on its body and tried to turn its head to lick, but it greatly overestimated itself and underestimated the layers of fat folds around its neck.

An ordinary cat could barely lick its own back neck, let alone the Orange King, which struggled to lick its own hind legs.

This was like a silent mockery, a mockery of its obesity.

It must be said that Su Qing’s move was quite devious.

She made her move based on her understanding of the Orange King.

Although the Orange King was a spatial-attribute spirit beast with abilities akin to devouring and containment, its primary medium seemed to be its mouth, and the place of containment was its belly.

While it could devour all things, it would probably find it difficult to devour itself.

But the Orange King was not a cat to give up easily.

Its eyes rolled, and it immediately performed a fierce tiger roll, wanting to roll on the spot and crush Su Qing beneath its bulk.

Su Qing’s posture was very stable. She had experienced waterfall body tempering and fierce gales. Maintaining balance on a rolling cat was not that difficult for her.

Tang Yueling’s eyes twitched. ‘Don’t reward Su Qing, she’s practically ecstatic already.’

Her hands, however, were not hesitant. Pale golden runes overflowed from her fingers, and with a burst of brilliant spiritual light, a rope, soft as a swimming snake yet tough as a vine, flew out.

This was precisely the Binding Immortal Rope, a magical artifact commonly used by Beast School cultivators.

Chen Xin’hao used to bind Yuanbao to a chair with a Binding Immortal Rope to make him attend classes obediently and not destroy the house. It was also one of the treasures Tang Yueling had salvaged from the Artifact School.

The fox-like eyes at the corners of her eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a hint of mischievous intent.

Compared to the behemoth that was the Orange King, this slender Binding Immortal Rope had too little presence; trying to bind the Orange King with it would be far too difficult.

But it was enough.

Once a high-tier Binding Immortal Rope was deployed, it could automatically lock onto its target. Its speed was incredibly fast, swiftly flying towards the Orange King.

“Stop—!” Tang Yueling brought her two fingers together, guiding the Binding Immortal Rope.

Faint, fiery spiritual energy emerged from her clear black-and-white eyes. The Binding Immortal Rope suddenly came to a screeching halt before the Orange King. “Wrap!”

The Binding Immortal Rope, as if an extension of her arm, passed through the Orange King’s fuzzy short fur, winding around its neck, nose bridge, and chin, forming a rope-flower shape like a gift package.

Immediately after, Tang Yueling uttered the word “Bind,” instantly tying the Orange King’s cat head and back neck as tightly as a hairy crab, while the two ends of the Binding Immortal Rope were placed in Su Qing’s hands.

She tried to manipulate the Binding Immortal Rope. Tang Yueling had granted her permission, so she manipulated it very smoothly. Soon, she lifted the Orange King’s scruff.

‘Ahem, she was really just curious if the saying “picking up a cat by the scruff of its neck makes it instantly obedient” applied to the Orange King.’

The Orange King beneath her indeed trembled, stiffening for a moment.

Su Qing was also somewhat surprised. ‘The Orange King even had this habit. Was it truly a feline after all?’

She pinched its scruff, and the Orange King braked. She released its scruff, and the Orange King angrily jumped around, wanting to rampage and roll on the ground.

“Darn, darn, darn it! My back is not for you to just get on whenever you want! You’re bullying me too much! Except for scratching, no touching my back!”

Regardless, having grasped the trick of the scruff, she seemed to know a little about how to drive the Orange King, how to drive a cat-car.

Lihuo squatted on Su Qing’s shoulder, trembling with a mix of fear and apprehension, clinging tightly to Su Qing, unwilling to touch the Orange King at all.

If not for the master-spirit beast contract being transferred to Su Qing, and her summoning it, it would have run far away long ago.

This was the esteemed senior Orange King of the Beast School! Even other spirit beasts would give it a wide berth.

It wasn’t that no beasts wanted to beg for food at the cafeteria; being a beast wasn’t like being human, there was no talk of face or shame, just filling one’s belly. If they could also feed their masters, then their masters would surely revere them.

It was only because Senior Orange King vigilantly guarded every entrance to the cafeteria, not giving any other spirit beasts a chance, that it established its sole dominance in the cafeteria.

The great fox thought, ‘This human is so audacious, daring to ride even a divine beast. Compared to this, it almost forgave her for pulling its tail, throwing it, and causing it to lose all its baby teeth…’
‘Just kidding!’

However, the Orange King was not to be trifled with either.

Its fur suddenly puffed out, instantly swelling several times its size. The overly long cat fur instantly submerged Su Qing’s knees and calves.

The Binding Immortal Rope was abruptly pulled taut, appearing strained and rigid. Golden runes emerged from the rope, trembling as if they would shatter in the next second.

‘Not good!’

She had to stall it. Su Qing called out loudly, “Lihuo, do as we discussed!”

The great fox was terrified, its white fur bristling. But it was still somewhat eager to try, for who could have imagined that the mighty divine beast’s greatest fear was…

The Illusory Fire Eyes lit up, and transparent flames burned silently, instantly pulling the Orange King into an illusion.

The opponent was indeed a divine beast, but it, a dignified great fox, a small pride of the fox clan, could surely hold it back for a second, half a second, a tiny fraction of a second, just a tiny bit.

Moreover, it also had the trick this human taught it.

The Orange King’s vision blurred, and a vague human figure instantly took shape. The Orange King scoffed, “An illusion? Just an illusion wants to stop me?”

But then it felt a sudden pain in its hand. Looking at the person before it again, the person’s face became exceptionally clear.

A strong, somewhat plump woman wearing a white apron appeared.

Her face was kind, with two healthy rosy patches on her cheekbones.

She held a serving ladle and smacked the Orange King’s head, then angrily put a hand on her hip. “Orange King, being duplicitous again? Didn’t I tell you you can’t eat anymore, you need to lose weight? Why don’t you listen?”

The Orange King suddenly slammed on the brakes. Its honest, feline face began to dart left and right, showing a guilty expression. “It wasn’t me who ate it. I’m just a poor little kitten, how could I do such a thing? I didn’t do anything duplicitous.”

It clearly knew it was an illusion, but for some reason, its knees felt incredibly weak.

Before it could react, it instinctively started to slide into a kneeling apology.

Lihuo never imagined that the fearless divine beast senior would be afraid of a cafeteria cook auntie.

It couldn’t help but open its eyes wide in a daze. ‘It actually worked.’

And in the Orange King’s moment of distraction, countless tough grass threads climbed up, tightly wrapping around the Binding Immortal Rope, forcibly reinforcing the rope that was on the verge of snapping.

‘Consider him sensible,’ Tang Yueling in satisfaction, deciding to speak less ill of Jiang Xiaocao in front of Su Qing in the future.

The Orange King finally broke free from the illusion, only to see verdant grass threads swaying before its eyes.

It said angrily, “You sly little grass, turning your elbow outwards, betraying your senior! And here I gave you such a good name!”

Jiang Xiaocao innocently fluttered his eyelashes and sighed, “Senior, it’s ‘elbow,’ not ‘pork hock.’ Xiaocao merely doesn’t want to fail the exam; I’m not betraying anyone.”

All in all, no matter how much the Orange King tried to cheat, this cat-car was assembled, and its driver, Su Qing, was ready to go.

She looked at Tian Ning.

As their gazes met, both knew what mischief the other was planning.

Having been roommates for decades, their unspoken understanding was naturally profound.

Tian Ning drew her sword and charged towards the clustered second and third-year students.

Inside the cafeteria, translucent, glistening snow crystals suddenly began to drift down.