Li Yunxian unleashed all her remaining defensive magical tools at once, then glanced quickly at Lian Ping and Yu Juanshu.
She could sense a crack forming in this artificial Secret Realm.
So… if someone dies at this moment, it really means death!!
Previously, Li Yunxian could ignore the deaths and injuries of her classmates and focus solely on looting the Hunters, but now, under these circumstances, that was impossible.
However, Li Yunxian only gave the two a brief look and said nothing more.
Yu Juanshu had Du Sen, that overly doting guy, as his teacher, and Lian Ping also had her own Fenshen Stage teacher.
In this world, cultivators at slightly higher levels often lived for hundreds or even thousands of years, and their teacher-student relationships followed tradition, indistinguishable from family ties.
Even though these teachers knew this Secret Realm was for training purposes only, designed so no one would actually die, and had prepared high-level defensive magical tools for them all—
In other words, the only real danger now was her alone!
Li Yunxian’s heart tightened. She immediately exerted all her strength, riding her sword upward with flying sword technique, pushing her speed to the limit to burst out of the valley.
Almost instantly, the shockwave from the Golden Core self-destruct exploded behind her.
The surrounding air twisted. The Xiayun Sword pushed its speed to the maximum, draining all the Spirit Stone energy from Li Yunxian’s body until she had nothing left to support herself.
At the apex of her ascent, she lost strength and fell alongside the Xiayun Sword from over a thousand meters high.
Feeling the free fall, Li Yunxian coughed, swallowing the bloody taste in her throat, and quickly pinched a Spirit Stone.
Floating Technique!
Just as she was about to hit the ground, her body suddenly became light, gently descending to the surface.
But even this minor impact was too much; Li Yunxian could no longer hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Even though she had pushed herself to the edge, rushing to the very boundary of the Golden Core explosion, the force was beyond what her barely Foundation Establishment-level physique could endure.
She had at least seven broken bones all over her body and many internal injuries.
Li Yunxian weakly stared at the breach in the Secret Realm caused by the Golden Core explosion.
She sensed the frantic, frantic efforts of the professors outside the academy rapidly patching the damage.
Outside the Secret Realm, Su Wenjing also felt Li Yunxian’s probing divine sense.
He roughly understood what had happened inside and frowned, asking carefully with his mind: “Are you okay?”
In response, Li Yunxian sent a divine sense blow back at him.
Knowing there was a Golden Core stage involved, and that this sly fox had even left behind Stone Lotus resources to aid the enemy—without those Stone Lotuses, the Golden Core would have been finished instantly; there wouldn’t even have been a chance for a self-destruct!!
Su Wenjing immediately covered his head, gasping in shock.
Since Li Yunxian was still trying to hit him, it looked like she was fine.
And indeed, the answer was that she was fine.
Only her wallet was hurting.
***
Feeling the breach in the Secret Realm quickly closing up, Li Yunxian withdrew her divine sense that had spread out, then pulled out the restorative pills she had refined from her storage magical tool.
After gulping down a handful like candy beans, within seconds Li Yunxian was already able to support herself on the sword and stand up.
She walked toward Lian Ping and Yu Juanshu.
Their defensive magical tools were powerful, but their teachers probably never imagined they would face a late-stage Golden Core’s self-destruct.
At this moment, both of them were just as injured as Li Yunxian—barely alive.
“Fine, let’s all take medicine together,” Li Yunxian thought with a resigned look.
But after only a few steps, she suddenly stopped, her face filled with shock as she looked toward Yu Juanshu’s position.
Her divine sense clearly detected that Yu Juanshu was dead.
And… it was Du Rong who killed him.
Li Yunxian: “???”
Huh?
Completely unaware of the grudges and entanglements between the two, from Li Yunxian’s perspective, Yu Juanshu always backed Du Rong and was completely on his side.
But the outcome…
Li Yunxian’s expression was hard to conceal as strange.
She glanced at the damaged area of the Secret Realm.
It had already been temporarily patched up, just barely repaired, but Yu Juanshu seemed to have died right at the critical moment.
Please don’t be really dead…
Li Yunxian changed direction, heading toward where Lian Ping was.
At the same time, by Yu Juanshu’s location, Xie Man’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at Du Rong withdrawing his hand from Yu Juanshu’s chest.
“Brother Rong?” Xie Man doubted what her eyes had seen.
Du Rong forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth, his palm stroking Yu Juanshu’s eyes filled with disbelief and staring at him, forcing them closed.
A heaven-sent opportunity.
There was no better time than now.
He didn’t want Yu Juanshu to leave alive, sharing the resources left behind by his father.
But Du Rong was no match for Yu Juanshu.
Sometimes, the gap in talent was an insurmountable chasm.
Plus, the Secret Realm was filled with dangers; the Hunters and beasts they encountered mostly started at Foundation Establishment.
Without Yu Juanshu, Du Rong wasn’t even sure if he could survive safely.
But now it was different.
This was already the day before the Secret Realm closed.
Yu Juanshu died because he cooperated with Lian Ping and Li Yunxian to kill the Golden Core.
Not to mention Lian Ping, even Li Yunxian was willing to stand up and fight for a classmate.
Such a loyal and righteous person would surely protect Yu Juanshu’s legacy.
And the materials meant for Yu Juanshu from the Three Deaths of Jin Dan event—since Yu Juanshu was dead, there was no doubt Du Rong would inherit them.
If Lian Ping felt guilty toward the surviving Du family because of Yu Juanshu’s death—and with Du Sen already punished—her Fenshen Stage teacher wouldn’t mind lending a hand to take care of Du Rong during the next year.
For Du Rong, nothing was more profitable than Yu Juanshu dying right now.
He was even annoyed that his father had given Yu Juanshu such excellent defensive magical tools, allowing him to survive the Golden Core explosion without dying on his own.
Man.
He actually had to kill him personally.
No one knew how disappointed Du Rong was when he arrived looking for Yu Juanshu and saw he was still breathing.
“It was Brother Juanshu who couldn’t withstand the impact of the Golden Core’s self-destruction, his heart vein ruptured and he died, you understand?” Du Rong’s gaze was cold as he scrutinized Xie Man.
Xie Man’s back turned icy.
She felt like a venomous snake was staring her down, ready to tear her apart if she answered wrongly.
Only now did Xie Man fully realize what kind of person Du Rong truly was.
Forcing herself calm, eyes shining with tears, she looked at Du Rong and questioned him wrongedly, “You doubt me? How can you doubt me?”
This familiar line struck Du Rong speechless. His voice softened instinctively as he coaxed Xie Man, “If I doubted you, would I have let you stay with me all along?”
“Well, then why are you so harsh with me!” Xie Man glared angrily at Du Rong.
Her righteous attitude put Du Rong at ease.
After all, Xie Man had seen him fight for his life against Yu Qiyao in the Life-and-Death Arena, and only blamed Yu Qiyao, fully siding with him.
With her as his witness, who could question Yu Juanshu’s death?
“I was wrong.” Du Rong looked at Xie Man with eyes full of tenderness.
Li Yunxian listened to the intimate back-and-forth between the two with a strange expression, while stuffing the restorative pills—no, Dan Yao—into Lian Ping’s mouth.
Feeling her injuries rapidly heal, Lian Ping touched her wounds in disbelief, confirming they were visibly closing.
“What is this you’re giving me?!” Lian Ping was shocked.
“Oh, some Hunter’s stockpile, I don’t know whose,” Li Yunxian answered casually.
Lian Ping:
Yeah, right!!
Even when making excuses, put in some effort, don’t use the same excuse every time!!
Lian Ping’s mouth twitched.
But Li Yunxian’s answer clearly meant she didn’t want to explain anything.
To offer such an important item for her to use was already a great kindness. Lian Ping knew when to stop and didn’t press further.
She sat up and changed the topic, asking Li Yunxian, “How is Yu Juanshu?”
Of course, this question wasn’t really about Yu Juanshu’s condition, but rather a subtle way to ask if Li Yunxian would help him after she stopped feeding him medicine.
After all, the three of them had more or less been through life and death together.
If Li Yunxian didn’t want to intervene, Lian Ping could give Yu Juanshu a couple of pills and join in the lie about the Hunter’s stockpile.
They’d lie together and later explain to the teachers.
Since she had her Fenshen teacher, no ordinary person would ask Li Yunxian about it.
This was an extra layer of protection for Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian was silent for two seconds before answering with a strange tone, “He’s dead.”
Lian Ping: “???”
“Impossible.”
Lian Ping blurted out.
During the explosion, both were blasted away by the fierce self-destruct, but Lian Ping still managed to check on Li Yunxian and Yu Juanshu’s status with her divine sense.
Li Yunxian’s speed was too fast for Lian Ping to see, but she still knew Yu Juanshu’s condition.
He was definitely as badly injured as her, not at the point of immediate death.
“Du Rong killed him.” Li Yunxian had no qualms about speaking the truth directly.
Then she recalled Du Rong and Xie Man’s cozy ‘conspiracy’ and added to Lian Ping, “But there’s no evidence.”
Lian Ping:
Lian Ping: “Ah?”