Lín Zhī watched the final digit settle on the system panel, and the taut string in her heart finally loosened a fraction. She turned her head, locking eyes with Xiao Ye outside through the thick, blood-stained ice wall. Her expression was calm, bordering on indifferent, as if she were looking at an ant.
"Want points?" Lín Zhī’s voice, though weak, clearly penetrated the ice. "Do you even deserve a piece of the pie?"
As the words fell, the number on the Points Ranking Board locked in, and Lín Zhī ended the hunt once and for all with a terrifying, landslide figure. That red number hung like a massive mountain, leaving Xiao Ye in second place unable to catch his breath. With a thought from Lín Zhī, "Clatter," the ice crystal labyrinth disintegrated instantly, turning into ice powder that drifted down amidst the black mist.
Lín Zhī did not look at Xiao Ye again, nor did she collect any spoils. Commanding the Ice Crystal Spirit Elephant, she turned and disappeared into the deeper mist of the forest. Though her figure swayed slightly from behind, at this moment, no one dared to question her power.
Only Xiao Ye remained on the battlefield. He was covered in fallen ice powder, and his hair and eyebrows were frosted white. The Nether Demonic Tiger lay on the ground, whimpering as it licked the wounds sustained from colliding with the ice wall. Xiao Ye stood where he was, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked, his nails sinking deep into his flesh. In normal times, if anyone had treated him this way, he would have rushed forward to fight to the death. But he did not pursue.
The disdain for freshmen and the superior, high-and-mighty attitude in his eyes had vanished without a trace. In their place was a morbid excitement and obsession. He stuck out his tongue and licked the blood seeping from a cut on his lip caused by ice shards, the metallic taste spreading in his mouth. Xiao Ye stared fixedly in the direction where Lín Zhī had disappeared, his eyes blazing as if they were about to catch fire.
"Ruthless... and singular..." he muttered, his voice trembling with a hint of laughter. "Lín Zhī... now this is interesting. We'll see each other when the semester starts."
... Meanwhile, at the Kanaan Beast Taming Academy, in the principal's office, an encrypted red file was transmitted to the desktop. The white-haired elder, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. His gaze fell upon that staggering points figure, and his fingers tapped lightly on the desk.
"Investigate Lín Zhī's background," the elder said in a raspy voice. "Especially the source of the mutation in her Ice Crystal Spirit Elephant. This aura is quite unusual."
... Hum. A deep, ancient bell tolled over the Black Mist Forest, announcing the end of this bloody assessment. Beneath Lín Zhī’s feet, a Teleportation Array formed from countless streams of data lit up, swallowing her exhausted figure. As the light dissipated, hundreds of freshmen appeared one after another in the Central Plaza.
Lín Zhī stood at the edge of the Teleportation Array; her face was paler than before she entered, and her lips were devoid of color. Yet, the icy sharpness in her eyes had not dimmed, keeping the air around her several degrees colder. Her gaze immediately bypassed the crowd and fell upon Xiao Ye not far away. The other party was also looking at her, his eyes complex, no longer filled with contempt or provocation.
The entire plaza was deathly silent. Every survivor, whether disheveled or composed, subconsciously looked up, their eyes fixed on that massive Points Ranking Board. The previously frantic scrolling numbers had settled. 1st Place: Lín Zhī. Points: [Redacted]. That long string of numbers hung at the top of the board, leaving a massive gap between her and the second-place contestant. Awe, fear, and disbelief rippled silently through the crowd.
In the midst of the dead silence, Xiao Ye moved. He pushed past the people in front of him and walked directly toward Lín Zhī. Everyone held their breath, their nerves taut, thinking that a final, decisive battle for the title of "Freshman King" was about to erupt. The Nether Demonic Tiger behind Xiao Ye whimpered softly; the vicious aura on its body had receded significantly, and it appeared listless, evidently having suffered greatly against the ice wall.
He stopped three meters from Lín Zhī but did not take action. Xiao Ye looked up, glanced at the glaring Points Ranking Board, and then took a long, deep look at Lín Zhī. He suddenly grinned; the malice was gone from his smile, replaced by pure fighting spirit and a trace of recognition for a powerhouse.
"I lost," he said, his voice not loud, but clearly audible across the entire plaza.
The entire venue was in an uproar. That lawless mad dog had actually admitted defeat in public? Xiao Ye looked around, raised his voice, and spoke with his characteristic arrogance: "This assessment, you won, Number 9. However, this is just the beginning. After the semester starts, I will get my revenge."
Having said that, he whistled, patted the tiger on the head, and turned to squeeze out of the crowd, leaving behind only a wildly rebellious silhouette and a group of stunned freshmen. Faced with this sudden declaration of victory and the various complex gazes cast toward her, Lín Zhī remained expressionless, as if none of this had anything to do with her. She did not bask in the glory of the victor, nor did she say a single word more. She simply turned and, dragging her exhausted body, walked step by step toward Villa Number 9.
Beneath her powerful silhouette, she was suffering from an exhaustion she alone knew, on the verge of collapse. Just as she stepped off the high platform and her toe touched the stone path, Lín Zhī’s body swayed uncontrollably. Her knees went weak, her vision blurred, and she nearly collapsed in public. She reacted quickly, driving her dagger into the ground with the back of her hand a second before losing control, using the hilt to steady her tottering frame. The entire movement was fast, appearing to the onlookers as nothing more than a stumble.
However, this scene was keenly captured by Han Zonglin on the high platform and Shěn Zhúyǐng beneath a phoenix tree in the distance. Han Zonglin’s brows knitted together instantly. Shěn Zhúyǐng, leaning against the tree trunk, shook his head slightly, a hint of realization dawning in his perpetually sleepy eyes.
Lín Zhī had not even left the plaza. "Stop," Han Zonglin caught up quickly, blocking her path with an unprecedentedly solemn expression. "Come with me."
He did not waste words, leading Lín Zhī toward the instructors' lounge nearby with a demeanor that brooked no refusal. Bang. The door closed, and a barrier of Spiritual Power instantly blocked any external snooping. Inside the lounge, only the two of them remained.
"You were burning your Spirit Origin just now," Han Zonglin said with piercing accuracy, his eyes sharp as he stared into Lín Zhī’s icy blue eyes. "The scale of Domain Strangulation you used is simply not something your current total Spiritual Power can sustain. You were gambling with your life!" His voice carried repressed anger.
Lín Zhī stayed silent, not denying it. Watching her unyielding stance, Han Zonglin’s anger turned into a sigh. He drew a crystal bottle from his robe; inside, a drop of golden liquid emitted a halo, brimming with life energy. "This is Dragon Blood Essence, an Advanced Spirit Recovery Potion. Drink it."
He handed the bottle to Lín Zhī, his tone turning grave. "The principal has already taken notice of you. Remember, there is only a thin line between a genius and a madman. The academy needs a genius who can grow steadily, not a madman who will burn herself out for the sake of victory."
The principal’s attention... Lín Zhī took the potion, feeling the powerful life force within it, and felt a shock in her heart. She did not hesitate, uncorked the bottle, and drank it in one gulp. A warm current instantly surged from her throat through her entire body; her parched Sea of Consciousness was moistened, the pricking pain finally beginning to recede slowly, and the feeling of total physical collapse lightened considerably.
Lín Zhī instinctively looked out the window. In the distance, beneath the phoenix tree, Shěn Zhúyǐng was leaning against it, as if he had been waiting a long time. He sensed her gaze, raised the Clear Heart Bell in his hand, and shook it gently toward her. Ding. A soft sound penetrated the Spiritual Power barrier, ringing directly in her mind. Shěn Zhúyǐng wore a smile at the corner of his mouth, his eyes appearing to see through everything. Afterward, he turned and vanished into the shadows of the campus.