"She... just... blew the magical beast's brains out?" the direct disciple stammered, completely shaken.
Some were so stunned they couldn't even speak. It took a long moment before they found their voices again.
"How... exactly did she do that?" Others felt the same, finding it nothing short of terrifying.
"Teacher Cai, is this the true effect of the basic mental cultivation method?" Lin Chan asked, voicing the doubt deep in her mind.
"Exactly," Teacher Cai said, a smile breaking across his face. "After all these years, I have finally waited for a disciple capable of unleashing the true power of this method."
Boom!
At that very moment, Liu Rushuang finally emerged from the illusion realm. She looked incredibly disheveled, a stark contrast to Song Nianchu in the other display.
Lin Chan heard the commotion from Liu Rushuang’s side, glanced over, and then turned her gaze to Huo Wen. "Your genius Junior Sister Liu... has come out."
Huo Wen said nothing. Despite his reluctance to admit it, he knew by now that Song Nianchu was no simple opponent. This only made him more determined to get rid of her.
The other direct disciples in the Formation were also using the mental cultivation method to deal with the magical beasts, but when compared to Song Nianchu, they looked like mere amateurs.
After stepping out of the illusion realm, Liu Rushuang immediately went looking for a magical beast. She had no idea how much time she had wasted.
When she finally saw a magical beast appear before her and prepared to manifest her mental cultivation method into a combat technique, the beast vanished instantly. Liu Rushuang was dumbfounded. The scene before her shifted as well.
She muttered to herself, "Didn't they say the second stage involved magical beasts? Why did it suddenly disappear? Did the rules change?"
Outside, the other disciples didn't know what to make of her words.
"It seems Liu Rushuang doesn't even realize she missed the entire second stage."
"That’s right, we’re already in the third stage."
"So, does that mean Liu Rushuang’s score for the second stage is zero?"
"Yes, she has no results for the second stage."
"It’s mostly because she spent way too much time in the first stage."
"Since I joined the sect, I’ve never heard of anyone spending that long in the first stage, let alone finishing the second with a score of zero."
"Is Liu Rushuang... setting a new record?"
"It was just an accident," Huo Wen said, stepping forward with a cold face to defend her, unwilling to hear anyone disparage her.
The other disciples might not have cared much about Liu Rushuang, but they had to respect Huo Wen. After all, he was Elder Wu’s most favored disciple.
"Look, Song Nianchu and Liu Rushuang have crossed paths."
Seeing Song Nianchu covered in blood and radiating a murderous aura, a flicker of schadenfreude flashed in Liu Rushuang’s eyes. "Nianchu, how did you get so hurt?"
The other disciples arrived at that moment as well.
"What happened to all of you?" Hearing the noise, Liu Rushuang looked over and saw that the others were also covered in blood—looking even more wretched than Song Nianchu.
"Junior Sister Liu, you didn't encounter any magical beasts?" one of Liu Rushuang’s sycophants asked, looking confused as he noted that her clothes were clean and showed no signs of battle.
"Magical beasts?" Liu Rushuang frowned, trying to recall. "I just encountered one and was about to fight when the Formation scene changed."
"Do you mean to say you encountered a magical beast but arrived here without having to fight it?"
"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Liu Rushuang looked at their expressions and states of exhaustion, finally realizing that something was wrong. "Are we already in the third stage?"