CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: LANZI, YOU WEREN’T DEAD?

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

"I’ll kill you—"

A deep voice, as if talking to oneself.

But the chill in the voice seemed capable of freezing the soul. Neither Xu Xiangwen nor Gong Feiyu had ever felt such a terrifying aura from Jiang Xinyu.

At this moment, Jiang Xinyu’s face was unrecognizable, but the rising chill enshrouded her like a Fairy from the Moon Palace.

The moment the words left her lips, Jiang Xinyu’s figure dashed toward the Demon in front of her. Her hands crossed, and the temperature around the Demon plummeted.

"Hmph! A desperate surge of power? Even if you unleash your full strength, you’re still just a young girl at the early Star Cloud stage..." The Demon crossed his hands before him, and a fire dragon erupted from his mouth.

Meanwhile, an Ice Dragon shot out from Jiang Xinyu, fiercely colliding with the fire dragon.

In an instant, the Ice Dragon was engulfed in flames, turning crimson. Almost simultaneously, it shattered explosively, and endless icy dewdrops rained down from the sky.

The Demon’s eyes narrowed slightly; Jiang Xinyu’s figure had vanished from his sight. He perked up his ears, listening intently to every movement around him. Suddenly, the Demon punched the ground.

The solid earth instantly cracked, layer by layer, and stones floated upwards as if gravity had vanished. Scorching flames flowed through the fissures in the ruptured ground, turning the earth beneath into a living hell.

Despite the punch’s effectiveness, the Demon’s expression changed instantly.

"What? She’s not below."

High above in the clouds, a figure burst through the mist—Jiang Xinyu, clad in ice armor, rapidly spinning ice blades in her palms as she fiercely thrust towards the Demon.

The Demon whirled around, spewing a mouthful of flame that engulfed Jiang Xinyu.

"Hmph! A mantis trying to stop a chariot..."

A drop of rain landed on the Demon’s face. He reached out to wipe away the droplet...

Not good!

By the time the Demon realized his flames hadn’t instantly killed Jiang Xinyu but had been blocked by her ice blades, she had already broken through the inferno, thrusting her sword towards his chest.

SHH— A piercing whistle cut through the air. The rapidly rotating ice blade, possessing a cutting force even more terrifying than a wind blade, tore into the Demon’s chest armor, which couldn’t hold for even a second. The sharp blade pierced the Demon’s chest.

"Die—"

BOOM— The Demon’s body was torn apart by the powerful torque, his limbs and torso scattering everywhere.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Jiang Xinyu suddenly clutched her chest and began to cough.

"Xinyu, how are you?" Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu rushed over, asking anxiously.

"It’s nothing, just two broken ribs." As she spoke, she lifted her head, her deep eyes gazing at Wang Lan’s fallen body. Her face was as calm as a still lake, yet her eyes held a sorrow as profound as an autumn pond.

"Take Wang Lan’s body... Let’s go home together. It was my fault for bringing him here..."

"No one could have expected this. At least you’ve avenged Lanzi," Gong Feiyu said gravely.

"This revenge is far from over!" Xu Xiangwen’s eyes filled with tears as he ground his teeth. "Lanzi’s life won’t be avenged until we take the lives of a hundred thousand Demon Clan members!"

"You almost got me there..." A playful laugh rang out. Suddenly, not far from Wang Lan’s side, the Demon Jiang Xinyu had supposedly killed crawled out from the depths of the earth.

Seventy percent of his bone armor was shattered, and fresh blood flowed unceasingly.

But he... was still alive!

"You really can’t underestimate human Star Martial Warriors these days... If I hadn’t created a decoy clone just then, you might have actually killed me. But in battle, luck is crucial. I was lucky enough to survive, which means you’re the unlucky ones. Little girl, you have no strength left to fight, do you? You’re quite a fine experimental subject. Using you to create Biochemical Demon Soldiers would surely result in a very successful product line..."

SHH— Suddenly, the Demon felt his body become incredibly light, his vision swirling. Then, his perspective froze. A headless corpse appeared beneath him.

That headless corpse... doesn’t it look like me?

This sudden turn of events left Jiang Xinyu and the others momentarily stunned. Wang Lan had suddenly sprung up from the ground, beheading the Demon with a lightning-fast slash. The speed was imperceptible, the move breathtaking. The Demon’s head thudded to the ground.

"Cross-level kill. Reward: 500 experience points, 50 skill points..."

Only then did Wang Lan let out a long sigh of relief. It’s finally dead.

A warm current swept over him, and Wang Lan successfully advanced to Starlight Nine. He had entered at Starlight Five, thinking it would be a long journey to reach the Star Shine Stage. To his surprise, in just six days, he had reached Starlight Nine. Just one more level, and he would reach the Star Shine Stage.

At the Star Martial Arts Campus of Suzhou No.1 Middle School, one-third of the students were at or above the Star Shine Stage. Though not placing him at the very top, it was certainly among the foremost ranks.

If he continued growing at this rate, catching up with Jiang Xinyu before graduating from high school wouldn’t be just a dream.

"Lanzi? You... you... you’re not dead?"

"I was faking it." Wang Lan sheathed his sword, turning back with a charming smile.

"Holy crap! How... how did you do that? That Demon clearly... clearly... Wait, where’s the wound on your chest? Did I imagine it?"

Jiang Xinyu also stared at Wang Lan incredulously. That stab, piercing the heart, would have surely killed any normal person.

Actually, at that moment, Wang Lan himself had thought he might die. But luckily, he possessed the Leopard King’s Soul Bead. Its surging Star Power provided a continuous supply of energy for his Self Healing Star Martial Skill to repair the injury.

Even so, Wang Lan had to continuously use Self Healing for ten minutes to save his life.

It was also fortunate that he had upgraded his Self Healing Star Martial Skill to the peak of Bronze Nine. If it had been any lower, the healing speed wouldn’t have outpaced the speed of death, and Wang Lan would have truly died.

"Although many Star Martial Warriors awaken without Innate Abilities, quite a few do possess them. Haven’t you ever asked what my Innate Ability is?" Wang Lan said, hands behind his back, his tone feigning a profound loneliness.

"What is your ability?"

"An Undying Body?"

"I wish. Unfortunately, my ability is just average—a plain self-healing ability. I can use Star Power to accelerate the healing of my injuries."

"A Medical Attribute talent?" Jiang Xinyu asked, her eyes brightening.

"I can only heal myself... At best, I’m just a durable punching bag, I suppose?"

"Lanzi, why didn’t you tell us you have a Medical Attribute talent? Do you have any idea how sought-after medical talents are? If you can heal yourself, you might be able to heal others. Medical Star Martial Techniques are strictly guarded by major families and Star Martial Academies. If you reveal this talent, many Star Martial Academies will compete for you, and even some Star Martial families will extend an olive branch. If you ever learn Medical Star Martial Techniques, you’ll become the team’s most protected member! You’ll just lie back, eat, and drink, and when necessary, ’donate’ some blood to save everyone. What a life! Enough to make anyone die of envy..."

"Get lost! Even if I learn Medical Star Martial Techniques in the future, I still have the heart of a warrior. Xinyu, your injuries..."

"It’s nothing!" Jiang Xinyu coughed lightly, pulling her hair forward to cover the burn on her cheek. "I look pretty ugly now, don’t I?"

"If only my ability could heal others..." Although I was in a daze earlier, I saw how desperately Jiang Xinyu fought for me. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t moved.

"It doesn’t matter. Once we get out of here, I can ask a Medical Star Martial Warrior to treat me. I won’t be an ugly monster forever."

"Collect Wang Youle’s bag and belongings. Let’s get out of here quickly. Since one Demon appeared, we can’t be sure there aren’t others. We must be cautious."

Gong Feiyu picked up Wang Youle’s backpack and suddenly froze. He opened it and pulled out an egg-sized Soul Bead.

"The Spider King’s Soul Bead? He had it?"

Seeing this, Xu Xiangwen’s face instantly darkened. But in the end, he bit his lip and refrained from cursing.

"Forget it, he’s dead..."

"Uh, since Wang Youle died, will we be in any trouble?" Wang Lan asked Jiang Xinyu.

"No trouble at all. What trouble could there be from being killed by a Demon? The country might even posthumously award Wang Youle a martyr’s medal. Died fighting a Demon Clan spy to the death—born ordinary, died gloriously," Gong Feiyu said, lightly patting Wang Lan’s shoulder with a smile.

As long as Wang Lan was alive, Gong Feiyu could genuinely smile. After all, surviving such desperate circumstances was incredibly fortunate, and the relief of their own survival somewhat tempered the sadness of their teammate’s death.

"Let’s go. No more delays."

Wang Lan carried Jiang Xinyu on his back, and together with Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu, they quickly left. As for why Wang Lan was carrying Jiang Xinyu... well, the official explanation was that both Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu were injured.

Less than ten minutes later, they encountered another group of figures approaching. Xu Xiangwen, more cautious this time, immediately signaled a warning. They relaxed only after confirming that this elite unit was part of the garrison for the Novice Trial Grounds.

In Suzhou City—no, in the entire Jiang Province—all Trial Grounds were under the jurisdiction of the Southeast Military Region’s Star Martial Army. The Novice Trial Grounds were defended by a battalion of five hundred, intermediate grounds by two battalions, and Advanced Trial Grounds by a regiment of two thousand.

The stationed Star Martial Army was responsible for maintaining stability in the Trial Grounds, rescuing Trialists, and responding immediately to any emergencies.

Typically, garrisons rotated every six months or annually.

After Xu Xiangwen fired the signal flare, a Star Martial Army rescue squad mobilized immediately, reaching the scene within fifteen minutes.

Because the Trial Grounds were part of a Different Dimensional Space with bizarre physical Laws, most machinery couldn’t function properly. Therefore, they had to rely on their own feet to reach the scene. Arriving in fifteen minutes was quite an impressive feat.

"Was it your group that sent the signal?" the leader of the approaching unit asked, stopping and scrutinizing Wang Lan and his companions. They actually recognized this small squad; they had witnessed the girl now being carried on Wang Lan’s back use an Ice Snow technique to annihilate a large number of Flaming Leopards in their designated region.

"Yes. We discovered a Demon Clan experimental base and were attacked by a Demon..."

"What did you say?"

The leading Star Martial Warrior took only a single step—Wang Lan was certain it was just one—yet that step seemed to cross an immense distance, as if shrinking the world.

Even Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu, standing in front, didn’t have time to react before the military captain appeared right before Wang Lan.

So powerful...

"You said a Demon Clan base? Where is it?"