Chapter 347: Shattered!
“An opening!”
The commentator’s voice sped up rapidly. “Jiang Qing’s attack, combined with her teammates, has forced Lian City’s support to stop suppressing him and focus on self-defense! Now Jiang Qing’s third extraordinary ability has been released!”
“We all know how terrifying that ability is—many times it can instantly turn the tide into a massive advantage!”
After the steel-wire-like beams of light shattered, the “scene” on the field distorted for a brief moment. Then, Qiu Hou—who had just successfully resisted the attack—suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Xu Zhi raised her head toward Jiang Qing. Above Jiang Qing’s closed eyes floated a golden glow, about the size of an eye, centered on her forehead. When Xu Zhi’s [Eye of Secret] touched that light, her vision twisted for an instant—like glimpsing fragments of a river of time, or being swept into the endless flow of years.
But it lasted only a moment.
In the next second, she saw through the essence of the ability.
Once activated, Jiang Qing could select a target and, using the present as a time node, read that person’s “future state” within the next hour. She could then choose one moment and bring that “future self” into the present.
The effect lasted two minutes.
And what she chose was to bring forth the version of Qiu Hou who would be severely injured later in this match—into the present.
The ability had many restrictions. It could even target herself—meaning that even in a desperate situation, Jiang Qing could briefly stage a “last flash of vitality.” However, it consumed a great deal of extraordinary energy and had a cooldown. Given the pace of league matches, it could only be used once per match.
With matches usually finishing within half an hour, even a single use was enough to be decisive.
Jiang Qing almost always used it to dismantle what she considered the most troublesome part of the enemy team. This time, she judged Qiu Hou to be that key point.
She didn’t even choose Chu Xiaoyue.
“So this is the arrogance of big cities.”
Xu Zhi sighed softly.
Meanwhile, Jian Fei—who had been blocking her like a stubborn wall—no longer paid her any attention. He turned and charged straight toward Lian City’s three backline members.
With Qiu Hou temporarily down and severely injured, they intended to turn that “temporary” into something permanent!
Aside from Jiang Qing and the [Heart]-attribute teammate, the other three from Lingzhou Academy all launched a charge toward Lian City’s backline. Though Jiang Qing herself stayed put, her abilities continuously supported her teammates.
The situation reversed instantly. In just a few seconds, Lian City Academy fell into a disadvantage. Chu Xiaoyue had no choice but to fall back to defend. At present, only Shu Yushan had real frontline combat strength in the backline, while Su Ran, though capable of fighting, was more important as a protector.
They had to keep Qiu Hou alive until Jiang Qing’s third ability ended!
While all her teammates retreated under pursuit, Xu Zhi alone moved against the flow—her target clearly Jiang Qing.
“We’re witnessing something incredible! Lian City’s freshman hasn’t chosen to fall back—she’s advancing deep into the enemy formation! It looks like she intends to single out Jiang Qing?!”
“Are you kidding?”
“Has she lost her mind?”
“Fine, she hasn’t been a burden so far—but what is she doing now?!”
Not only the commentator, but the audience as well couldn’t understand Xu Zhi’s decision.
But Xu Zhi knew exactly what she was doing.
If Chu Xiaoyue returned to defend and she herself held Jiang Qing in place, everything would be fine. If she also retreated instead of applying pressure to Jiang Qing, that’s when things would truly go wrong.
And besides—her goal wasn’t just to stall Jiang Qing.
She thought briefly, choosing not to release Xiao Yi just yet. The match hadn’t reached the point where she needed to go all out.
So, blade in hand, she charged straight at Jiang Qing under the astonished gazes of Lingzhou’s team.
This time, no one stopped her.
They had more important tasks—and none of them believed Xu Zhi could actually threaten Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing’s usual weapon was also a longsword. In her hand was a slender, faintly translucent blade that looked fragile—but any weapon forged from extraordinary materials could not be judged by appearance alone.
Most of Jiang Qing’s attention remained on the battlefield, aiding her teammates in attacking Qiu Hou. She noticed Xu Zhi rushing toward her and stayed alert—but with her [Heart]-attribute teammate backing her up, she didn’t feel truly threatened.
Thus, under the eyes of countless viewers in the highly anticipated finals livestream, the core member of Lingzhou’s championship-favorite team faced off calmly against what seemed to be an overreaching freshman.
At least, she still appeared composed.
Jiang Qing wasn’t careless. She didn’t underestimate Xu Zhi—in fact, she regarded her more seriously than any of her teammates did. But her focus still leaned more toward Qiu Hou.
As Xu Zhi closed in, Jiang Qing knew her opponent’s eyes could see through her abilities, so she didn’t waste energy trying to block her from afar. Instead, she planned to subdue her quickly in close combat.
But then—
Their eyes met.
The girl’s pale gray pupils locked onto hers, and in a tone as casual as a joke, she softly said:
“Don’t move.”
A joking remark—
Yet in that instant, Jiang Qing’s body truly froze.
A cold blade pierced into her chest, through her beating heart, bringing with it the breath of death.
As the blade passed through her body, the distance between them closed. Jiang Qing saw that Xu Zhi’s face didn’t show any joy at landing the hit—only faint dissatisfaction.
“So you really didn’t guard against me much.”
That was what displeased her.
The moment she finished speaking, Xu Zhi withdrew her blade and vanished in a swift movement. A faint glimmer of light flickered where she had just stood.
Jiang Qing raised her hand to cover the wound on her chest. Her teammate’s [Heart]-attribute ability was already at work. A simple piercing strike wouldn’t deal fatal damage—but it wasn’t without effect either.
She looked at Xu Zhi, a trace of surprise appearing in her golden eyes.
“I won’t make that mistake again. That just now—was it your ability?”
Her mind raced, analyzing the near “word-spirit” power Xu Zhi had displayed, trying to deduce its range and limitations.
Jiang Qing breaking free from the [Curse Speech] so quickly was within Xu Zhi’s expectations. Xu Zhi didn’t answer—she simply rotated her blade slightly and struck again.
No one had expected this matchup to pose any threat to Jiang Qing. Yet Xu Zhi’s very first move pierced straight through her chest. Even without hearing the commentary, Xu Zhi could imagine the shock.
But this was only the beginning.
Even if both were [Lamp]-attribute, foreign extraordinary energy entering the body would still create conflict. The first strike had only been a test. Now that she understood Jiang Qing’s resistance to [Curse Speech], Xu Zhi stopped holding back.
Her blade cut through the air, targeting Jiang Qing’s slender neck with blinding speed.
Even within her domain, Jiang Qing realized she couldn’t dodge—
So she had no choice but to block.
Clang!
The crisp collision rang out, followed by a drastic change in Jiang Qing’s expression.
What kind of monstrous strength was this?!
Was this even reasonable?!
She was also [Lamp]—why didn’t she have such power?!
Her gaze shifted to Xu Zhi’s arm holding the blade. It was perfectly steady. With such force, there wasn’t even a tremor. That arm—by all logic—should have been unusable after being pierced by her ability.
And yet—
There was still blood on the skin, but the wound itself had completely disappeared.
Powerful regeneration.
Even more terrifying strength.
Was this person really [Lamp]?
A flash of light sliced across Xu Zhi’s wrist. She reacted quickly, but still suffered a deep cut, exposing bone.
As blood spurted out, Xu Zhi saw Jiang Qing’s gaze fix on her wrist—confusion flickering within it.
Probably wondering why her bones hadn’t been severed outright.
Even so, such a wound—cutting clean through flesh—was horrifying. Yet Xu Zhi seemed to feel nothing. Smiling, she gripped her blade and brought it down heavily once more!
Jiang Qing could even see the blood splattering through the air as Xu Zhi moved, and as she raised her sword to block, the force caused the already-deep wound to spurt even more blood.
Was this person incapable of feeling pain? Did she lack basic human instincts?
Jiang Qing couldn’t understand.
Then Xu Zhi spoke:
“Until my extraordinary energy runs out, your domain’s effectiveness is reduced by half.”
She had originally intended to nullify it entirely—but found she couldn’t.
Her [Curse Speech] wasn’t strong enough yet to completely negate a domain ability, so she settled for halving its effect.
The moment the words were spoken, it was as if a rule had been established—a binding seal. Jiang Qing immediately felt it.
She had been weakened.
With Chu Xiaoyue already contesting her domain, Jiang Qing had been holding her ground, though unable to quickly finish off Qiu Hou. Now, with her power cut in half, she could no longer contend against Chu Xiaoyue’s domain.
Without her support, her teammates had no chance of killing Qiu Hou within that domain.
Jiang Qing realized—
She might have made the wrong choice.
The most troublesome opponent in Lian City Academy…
Might actually be this freshman in front of her.
There was no time to fix it. Her ability could only be used once.
The best option now—
Was to kill this freshman!
“Xiao Ling!”
She called out. Her [Heart]-attribute teammate immediately understood. Though she couldn’t match Xu Zhi in raw strength, she had ample extraordinary energy and team support. She refused to believe a freshman could maintain enough energy to suppress Jiang Qing’s domain indefinitely.
In truth, Xu Zhi was indeed consuming large amounts of energy to suppress the domain—but her reserves were more than enough to last through the match.
“Unbelievable!”
The commentator’s voice now carried genuine emotion.
“The situation has reversed yet again! Data shows that this freshman from Lian City possesses a word-spirit-like ability. She has successfully suppressed Jiang Qing’s domain, giving her teammates room to breathe—and even allowing them to push back against Lingzhou!”
“And although Jiang Qing still appears in good condition, and Xu Zhi has a wrist injury… based on Xu Zhi’s performance so far, the outcome is still uncertain!”
On screen, Jiang Qing took the initiative, combining her abilities and footwork to try to eliminate Xu Zhi.
Though she lacked Xu Zhi’s speed and strength, she still had her extraordinary energy as support.
But what surprised Jiang Qing was—
Why was Xu Zhi’s fighting style so… brutal?
Yes—brutal was the only fitting word.
Though traces of traditional blade techniques remained, most of her moves relied on raw force and speed, smashing down with overwhelming power.
The web between Jiang Qing’s thumb and index finger had already split open. Blood dripped from her wrist onto the ground. Without her [Heart]-attribute teammate, her hand bones would have shattered long ago. Even now, her fingers were numb from the impact, forcing her to consciously focus just to maintain her grip on the sword—something that should have been as natural as breathing.
And Xu Zhi—
Xu Zhi was the true anomaly.
At times, she even took attacks that seemed completely unnecessary to endure, as if she couldn’t be bothered to dodge trivial injuries. Compared to staying unharmed, she seemed far more concerned with ensuring her own strikes landed.
“…What kind of monster are you?”
Jiang Qing asked.
They were so close that Xu Zhi heard her clearly.
Without the glasses, Xu Zhi’s pale gray eyes were fully visible. Within them, there was no tension of battle, no concern for teammates, no pain from her injuries—
Only a strange joy Jiang Qing couldn’t comprehend, along with a faint, emerging bloodlust stirred by combat.
“Hm?”
Immersed in the long-awaited thrill of battle, Xu Zhi seemed not to have heard clearly. Blood dotted her beautiful face as she tilted her head slightly, smiling in mild confusion—then raised her blade again, ready to press the attack while Jiang Qing showed signs of fatigue—
“Don’t even think about it!”
A voice came from behind—it was the [Heart]-attribute teammate. She rushed in from the side with a standard-issue longsword, not much different from the one in Xu Zhi’s hand.
Xu Zhi slipped aside to dodge. Her misty gray eyes blinked once. Not only was she not annoyed at being interrupted, her smile actually widened. “That works too.”
Jiang Qing alone wasn’t enough for her.
For no reason at all, Xiao Ling felt a chill run through her heart. Watching Xu Zhi press Jiang Qing with that near-brutal fighting style was already enough to make her uneasy.
She had rushed in because she saw Jiang Qing falter for a split second—her head heated, and she acted on impulse.
But now, facing Xu Zhi directly, Xiao Ling found it hard to breathe.
It felt as though she wasn’t facing a girl younger than herself—
But a ferocious beast hidden beneath human skin.
No… even “beast” wasn’t enough.
It was more like a terrifying monster lurking in the mist, revealing only a pair of blood-red eyes, exuding a dreadful aura.
Xiao Ling’s steps unconsciously retreated by one pace.
And that single step drew a trace of displeasure from Xu Zhi.
The blade in her hand carried that fleeting irritation as it came slashing down!
“Xiao Ling!”
Seeing her [Heart] teammate move sluggishly as if gripped by fear, Jiang Qing shouted a warning.
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of Xiao Ling barely blocking Xu Zhi’s attacks, forced into heavy, consecutive steps backward.
When she raised her head again, the fear in her eyes had faded, replaced by resolve.
“Even if you really are some kind of monster, I won’t let you defeat me so easily!”
…What is this, some kind of cringey hot-blooded line?
Am I the villain or something?
Xu Zhi let out a soft scoff, lifted her blade again, and without even glancing at Jiang Qing, followed her own will, cutting straight at Xiao Ling.
“Not good.”
Seeing Xu Zhi’s slightly widened pupils, Jiang Qing realized that this strike was delivered with full force—something Xiao Ling could never withstand head-on!
She immediately released an extraordinary attack along Xu Zhi’s path, then took a brief breath.
Fighting Xu Zhi had already exhausted her. She still had to maintain her domain at all times, provide intermittent support, and had already spent a significant amount of energy on the earlier “descent.”
For the first time in this league, Jiang Qing felt… powerless.
And all of this—
Was because of a freshman no one had thought highly of.
That attack shot straight toward Xu Zhi’s chest. If she continued toward Xiao Ling, she would inevitably take the hit—and this wasn’t some minor area, but her chest!
Even so, Jiang Qing felt something was wrong.
Because she had just witnessed Xu Zhi’s reckless, life-risking style.
She even suspected—
Xu Zhi might not dodge at all.
And as if responding to her thoughts, the girl’s faint smile suddenly widened. Jiang Qing could see her white teeth, that overly bright grin so out of place at such a moment—
And her completely unflinching advance.
She truly had no intention of dodging!
It wasn’t as if she had no wounds!
What was she thinking?
Was she risking her life just to kill Xiao Ling?
No… that wasn’t it.
Her regenerative ability was simply too monstrous. What would be fatal to others wasn’t necessarily fatal to her.
But even so—
Taking it head-on would still mean serious injury!
Jiang Qing couldn’t understand.
She had done all she could. Xu Zhi was too close to Xiao Ling, too fast. There was no time to pull Xiao Ling away—she could only watch as Xiao Ling, face set with determination, raised her blade to block.
No, Xiao Ling—that’s the wrong choice.
Never before had Jiang Qing understood so clearly that even though Xiao Ling was a fifth-year [Heart] with exceptional talent, she couldn’t possibly withstand Xu Zhi’s full-force strike.
Xu Zhi wasn’t unaware of Jiang Qing’s attack.
She simply felt that right now—
She was in an incredibly good state. Better than she had felt in a long time.
Her mind burned hot. Her palms were scorching. She could almost hear the rush of blood through her body, feel her heart pounding powerfully, her extraordinary energy surging through her limbs, bringing overwhelming strength.
She knew this feeling.
She was “worked up.”
She had entered a “bloodthirsty” state.
Even her rationality was retreating, yielding to instinct. If she wanted, she could calm herself—cool down.
But—
Why should she?
A hint of excitement appeared in her smile. Looking at Xiao Ling’s resolute gaze, the blood coursing through her body seemed to ask—
Someone stands in your way. Why be calm?
Her fevered mind answered:
The only thing she needed to do—
Was to shatter her opponent.
Nothing else mattered.
—Clang!!!
After the thunderous collision of cold weapons came the sound of a blade being knocked away, followed almost immediately by the sound of steel cutting through flesh—cleanly severing a body—then striking the ground.
For the first time in a long while, Xu Zhi felt the sting in her hands from the recoil of overwhelming force.
The standard-issue blade she held, forged from ordinary extraordinary material, couldn’t withstand it. After cleaving through Xiao Ling’s body and slamming into the arena floor, it shattered outright.
In Xiao Ling’s eyes lingered the transition from resolve to terror.
She had never imagined—
She couldn’t even block a single strike.
Jiang Qing couldn’t help but close her eyes briefly. Xiao Ling was close to her—her first league appearance, exceptional talent, strong teammates. She had barely suffered injuries in the competition, let alone death.
Such a brutal end—
After this, she would probably need psychological counseling.
With that thought, Jiang Qing’s expression grew even more serious.
A sense of dread rose within her.
The freshman before her seemed to have turned into a killing machine slowly coming online.
And now—
She had only just finished warming up, shedding her outer disguise, about to reveal her true nature.
Xu Zhi released the shattered blade’s hilt and slowly straightened up. Then she looked toward Jiang Qing.
Her eyes closed briefly in satisfaction, as if savoring something.
At her chest was a gaping wound, large enough to see through to the other side of the arena.
The wound had split further from excessive force. Blood continued to pour out.
Yet its owner simply opened her eyes, wearing a satisfied expression, and looked at Xiao Ling’s “corpse” with approval.
“Not bad.”
“I admire people with courage.”
Her voice was clear and youthful—pleasant to hear.
Yet the moment Jiang Qing heard it, chills ran down her spine.
Once again, she realized—
The one standing before her might not be human at all.
But a monster.
Where had Lian City Academy found such a creature?
Was she some secret weapon they had cultivated?
But there was no time to think further.
Because now—
This monster was no longer satisfied with killing her teammate.
Next—
She would come for Jiang Qing.
Even with a fist-sized hole through her chest, even as blood continued to pour out, there was not a trace of pain on Xu Zhi’s face—
Only endless pleasure and unrestrained willfulness, utterly out of place for a [Lamp].
