Mid-term Exam, Part 16

The Cloud Weaving and Rain Dispensing array’s attack power was not high, but as a Tier 2 top-grade array disk, its strength lay in its extremely vast coverage.

Its core function was to mobilize water spiritual energy from the heaven and earth, forming clouds and rain.

Of course, to successfully make it rain within its range, the array disk also needed to incorporate indispensable elements like ice, wind, and thunder.

In summary, this was not an easy array to learn. It was impossible for Su Qing to pick it up quickly in a short time.
Fortunately, there were Array School students present.

What the Array School members knew, the first-year students knew.

She was also a first-year student, so it logically followed that she also knew it. This was very reasonable.

Unfortunately, the Cloud Weaving and Rain Dispensing array consumed a lot of spiritual energy.

Pei Jingzhi couldn’t sustain it for long; in just a short while, he looked pale due to excessive spiritual energy consumption.

But it was already enough.

Fine rain lines wove into a curtain of rain before Su Qing’s eyes.

In just a few breaths, the air grew humid, the ground beneath their feet became damp, and even the Orange King’s soft fur was beaded with tiny, transparent water droplets.

The cool water droplets landing on its body somewhat dispersed the Orange King’s agitation; the tip of its tail, which had been vigorously slapping the ground, softened.

For cultivators, making the heavens produce strange phenomena was indeed difficult, but avoiding a little rain was a trivial matter.

Furthermore, none of those present were fools; they naturally understood the connection between ice and water, and each, like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, employed every means, ensuring not a single raindrop touched them.

However, these people ultimately underestimated Tian Ning, underestimated the kind of monsters the Qi family had produced with the strength of their entire clan.

Indeed, compared to her twin brother, Tian Ning was only considered a defective product in the Qi family.

She was not a genius who could automatically upgrade as her spiritual energy arrived; she needed to cultivate diligently, practice her sword day in and day out for a decade, and undergo all the inevitable severe criticisms and inner demons.

But even so, her innate talent and formidable power remained unimaginable, for trying to find the limits of genius from a mortal perspective was simply too difficult.

Su Qing stroked along the Orange King’s fur, smoothing it down, alleviating its discomfort from excessive exercise.

Her technique was excellent. The Orange King “meowed” in response, quite adaptable.

The great fox Lihuo desperately pressed against Su Qing’s neck, trembling. After its display of power, its reason returned, and now it was terrified that this senior from the Beast School would settle accounts with it.

At this moment, it was extremely adaptable, no longer disdaining Su Qing at all. The fox and human were getting along incredibly well, almost like a single entity, making Shi Zeyu outside feel a pang in her heart. “That’s my fox…”

Zhang Han’yi nodded, crossing his arms. “Your fox is hers now.”

“…Has anyone ever told you Array School people are really annoying?”

“Frequently.”

Shi Zeyu was speechless for a moment. “That attitude, not being ashamed but proud, is even more annoying.”

Zhang Han’yi gave a fake smile. “Thanks for the compliment?”

Su Qing looked up at Tian Ning.

The female cultivator in black had a snow-white complexion, like ice sculpted from jade, yet her dark hair was exceptionally black. Wet with rain and stirred by the wind, it resembled flowing ink.

The contrasting black and white, though seemingly monotonous, exuded a rich and vibrant allure from her, as if desire, interwoven with life and danger, had materialized. 

Of course, what was most striking was the divine sword in her hand.

The snow-white sword body reflected eyes as deep and dark as a cold pool, yet within those eyes, a sharp sword light was also reflected.

Tian Ning, like her sword, was extremely light and incredibly fast.

She moved.

A clear “Om” suddenly rang out.

It was like the sound of snow grains striking a blade, or the resonance of a sword edge cutting through the sky.

Tian Ning’s figure blurred. In the blink of an eye, she flashed repeatedly into the crowd.

The Snowfall Sword, except for a faint glimmer at its tip, was so restrained that not a trace of cold light was revealed, indicating the profound depth of her killing intent.

This soft sound was extremely familiar to the third-year students, because this first-year had relied on this move to directly claim the heads of twelve third-year students. She was simply too fast!

At this moment, these subtle movements made everyone’s hair stand on end. The trembling sense of crisis along their spines instantly surged to its peak.

Some first and second-year students hadn’t even reacted yet, but the third-year students, hearing this hum, unhesitatingly unleashed their strongest defenses and killing moves.

The third-year students all roared, “It’s this move again? Is it never-ending?! How could we let you succeed again!”
Xie Fengwu, a third-year Pill School student, said coldly, “Activate the sword array!”

The remaining five Golden Core cultivators’ sword lights flashed, and immense sword intent poured out, assailing her from five directions. That was not all.

The five destined swords, like inverted meteors, once again shot skyward, their blades weaving into a dazzling net of light.

Forget a single strand of hair, even a speck of dust falling into it would instantly be cut into countless fragments.

The rest of the people, knowing the principle of striking while the iron’s hot, continuously attacked during this siege, unleashing a dazzling array of killing moves in quick succession.

Everything happened extremely quickly.

Su Qing finally understood.

These seniors were desperate to kill.

They weren’t holding anything back, wanting to strike first and gain the upper hand before Tian Ning could make her move.

After all, she had now absorbed twelve Golden Core cultivators.

If they waited for her to make a move, they might truly never return.

Su Qing understood clearly.

With her current strength, stopping them would be difficult, but she had the Orange King at her disposal.

Without saying anything else, it wouldn’t be difficult to throw the scene into chaos once more.

But she didn’t move.

Instead, she stroked the Orange King’s folds of fat, which had accumulated from its obesity, and scratched it, negotiating, “Good Orange King, will you listen to me carefully in a bit?”

“Hmph, no, no, I won’t listen.” The Orange King’s cat eyes narrowed in enjoyment, but it grumbled, “Didn’t you eat? Use more strength, yes, right there, harder!”

Human claws should be used to scratch cats.

Su Qing’s hands kept moving.

She casually asked, as if unintentionally, “What’s in the Orange King’s belly? Why can it eat everything?”

This fat cat’s belly was so round that it was almost touching the ground.

Su Qing wasn’t sure if letting it continue to devour would put a strain on its body.

“Hah!”

The Orange King was scratched comfortably, and its words flowed out smoothly.

Besides, it originally had a desire to show off. “My belly has everything, can hold anything. Nothing is a problem.”

Su Qing was thoughtful. Since eating was bad for its health, could she try a different approach?

However, the reason a natural sword bone was a natural sword bone was precisely because Tian Ning’s understanding of the sword had long surpassed ordinary people’s realm.

Before Tian Ning learned to hold chopsticks, she had already grasped a sword hilt.

Since birth, she had been accompanied by swords, practicing day and night, diligently and tirelessly.

She could go a day without food, but not a day without practicing her sword.
Her sword revered killing; she used killing as defense.

Moreover, her target was never just one person.

No matter how complex the killing moves, none could surpass speed.

Moreover, Tian Ning’s sword intent was far above everyone else’s.

Alone with her sword, she instantly vanished from her spot like mist, only to reappear in the distance.
The figure in black moved through the crowd, breaking through layers of killing moves.

A biting cold pervaded, frost condensed, and a snow-white world spread beneath her feet.

The moisture in the air silently responded. The surging lightning and fire artifacts, the flashes of blades and swords, all seemed like leaves struck by frost.
Flames extinguished, thunder froze, sword array killing moves, and flashes of blades and swords transformed into ice and snow, then instantly scattered into large snow crystals, vanishing from their original spots.

What was even more terrifying was that many people felt the temperature in their blood dissipate geometrically.

Even the inner walls of their spiritual meridians and blood vessels became unusually painful, as if the water in their bodies had condensed into chilling, icy fibers.
“This… what kind of move is this?!”

Someone trembled, squeezing out words. He tried to circulate spiritual energy to resist the cold, but found that even his spiritual energy was frozen, and waves of bone-chilling pain came from his spiritual meridians.

It wasn’t just him; almost everyone caught in this icy domain felt their bodies stiffen.

To even seize the elements within others’ bodies… it was truly terrifying.

Although a large part of the reason was due to stat bonuses, Tian Ning had long since advanced to late Golden Core stage cultivation, even pressing close to Nascent Soul.

But another part of the reason was that Tian Ning was, after all, a Heavenly Spiritual Root, the most unattainable, perfectly pure single spiritual root aptitude.

Not only in sword intent, but her mastery of elemental attributes was also far above everyone else’s.
The name of genius, immeasurable in power.

But the matter was far from over.

When Tian Ning flashed to the end of the cafeteria, the Snowfall Sword returned to its sheath with a clear chime.

A blanket of pristine white frost enveloped the surroundings, and no one uttered a sound.

Everyone present was actually immobilized by her single move, temporarily frozen and unable to move within this icy domain.

Tian Ning lightly lowered her eyelashes. Her voice was cold, but not surprised. “The one thousand six hundred thirty-second time. Success.”

“Thousand Kills of Frost Shadow.” Tang Yueling’s beautiful face was somewhat twisted, with an indescribable complexity, her tone a little resentful. “She finally mastered it.”

Tian Ning’s sword technique followed the path of an instant kill, excelling at catching opponents by surprise.

In other words, her sword was highly specialized, not adept at group attacks but skilled in assassination.

Her sword techniques were sharp and precise. Every strike aimed directly at a vital point, seeking to achieve the greatest results with the smallest cost.

Her sword was not for showing off skills, but for survival.

However, Tian Ning was also someone who had genuinely experienced the beast tide front lines.

When the beast tide rampaged, tens of thousands of demon beasts surged forth.

Without means to contain them within an area, one would be very passive.

Thus, during her three years on the beast tide front lines, she diligently honed her group attack methods every day.

She traversed mountains of corpses and seas of blood, failing countless times.

Tang Yueling, being by her side, understood her perfectly.

She just hadn’t expected this move to be perfected by Tian Ning during the midterm exam, under the heavy siege of Golden Core cultivators.

However, Tian Ning’s group attack was, after all, different from ordinary people’s—her group attack still carried the shadow of an instant kill.

Such talent, and the ability to disregard talent and strive openly and honestly, truly made one… unsure whether to praise or to envy.

Tian Ning had stalled everyone.

According to the veiled hints they had exchanged earlier, the next step was for Su Qing to bring out the Orange King and either send the restrained crowd flying or devour them completely.

However, the Orange King already had a heavy physical burden.

Su Qing wasn’t sure if letting it eat these ice-bound people would give it a stomach ache or indigestion.

After all, its belly was now so round that there was no gap between it and the ground.

A cat’s digestive system is very fragile.

In a flash, Su Qing hesitated no longer, deciding to do the opposite. She said sincerely, “Orange King, I’m sorry.”

“Apologizing only now?” The Orange King, immediately becoming smug because of Su Qing’s lowered head, meowed chaotically, its eyes rolling around. It said proudly, “Too late! You must offer me ten thousand chicken legs as tribute, and then give me a hundred full-body massages…”

‘Only then can I forgive you.’

It merely opened its mouth, but for a moment, it was caught unawares by a sneak attack from a figure.

That person was none other than Fang Buwei, whom Su Qing was controlling.

The Orange King was furious.

It swallowed Fang Buwei whole, its fur bristling, and roared in anger, “You cunning human! And here I was, feeling benevolent just now, thinking of forgiving your slight disrespect…”

Mid-sentence, its body suddenly stiffened.

Then, its entire body convulsed as if electrocuted, shaking like a wavy line.

Its neck stretched out for two li, and with all its might, it let out an earth-shattering retch, “Ugh—!”

Unluckily, the direction its cat mouth was aimed at was precisely the group of people who had been restrained.

Indeed, the Orange King had only eaten a small Fang Buwei, but this small Fang Buwei actually carried:

[Catnip Grass *10000: Take it away, I don’t like to eat grass!]

And what would be in the belly of a Taotie cat?

Su Qing watched as half a mountain, covered in saliva, was first spat out by the Orange King, spinning and growing larger, to smash into the pile of people.