Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Drive Beasts to Hunt Instructors, Start Brawling, and Farm Points with Instructors
Sui Xuan Chu’s instincts screamed. He rolled to dodge.
But his mental power was drained, his stamina sluggish, and the lightning strike came down like it had eyes.
Boom.
It hit him full-on.
His hair stood up, smoking. His clothes charred and tore, leaving only his underwear. He stood there blackened like burnt coal, body twitching in agony.
Wolf nudged the tall instructor with a wince. “Hu Ban Lan, easy. He’s 2s lightning and you’re 4s lightning. Don’t kill him. Writing the report will be a nightmare.”
Hu Ban Lan flipped Wolf a middle finger without even bothering to hide his contempt. “You think I’m you? So stupid you handed them an opening the second you showed up and got taken out?”
Wolf’s earlier humiliation—getting dropped by freshmen the moment he stepped onto the field—had been pinned to the internal network like a trophy. Every legion mocked him for it.
He couldn’t even argue back. He swallowed it and swore he’d win his face back.
“Fine, fine,” Wolf muttered. “You’re the strongest. The most badass. Happy now?”
Hu Ban Lan snorted. “Since you know I’m badass, good.”
Then he glanced toward Cheng Lin Yue and the sleeping figure she hugged like a lifeline. “That little girl who beat you up the hardest still hasn’t woken up. What’s going on?”
Other instructors chimed in, curious. “Yeah. That pure human girl is their squad’s combat ceiling. We’ve crushed her teammates and she’s still sleeping like this?”
“After killing over a hundred three-headed giant pythons, maybe she didn’t fall asleep—maybe she passed out.”
“Sleeping or unconscious, easy,” someone said. “Rock-paper-scissors. Whoever loses goes and wakes her.”
“Yeah. Even if she has no ability, I want to test fists with her.”
“Are you children?” another instructor scoffed. “Rock-paper-scissors? I don’t have time. Those two dogs put out the fire and still tried to bite me. I just stepped their heads into the mud.”
Cheng Xiao Ting and Huang Da Zhuang, scorched and furious, had rushed again—only to be pinned under boots, their beast heads pressed into rotten mud. Their back legs clawed uselessly at the ground.
Hu Ban Lan’s lips curled. “Fine. I’ll go myself.”
He tossed a casual little bolt at Sui Xuan Chu on the ground.
Sui Xuan Chu was already in agony. The extra bolt made his body jerk; foam leaked from his mouth. He looked half-dead.
Wolf and the others looked away. Lightning users—men or women—were always vicious. The Commander-in-Chief was. Hu Ban Lan was too.
Hu Ban Lan crouched in front of Cheng Lin Yue and the sleeping girl she clutched. His face was smeared with camouflage; his grin was all teeth.
“You little girl are weird,” he said. “I’m instructor group. What do I want? Of course I’m here to make you smash the forfeit—”
“Ahhh! Die! Die!” Cheng Lin Yue screamed before he could finish. “Get away! I’m not quitting!”
She yanked out insecticide spray and blasted it straight into his eyes.
Perfect shot.
Hu Ban Lan hissed, one hand clapping over his eyes and the other snatching Cheng Lin Yue by the collar. He lifted her off the ground with one brutal jerk.
Cheng Lin Yue shrieked and triggered her water-element ability, slamming a column of water at him.
Even blinded, Hu Ban Lan reacted fast. He dodged and slammed her down hard into the dirt.
Yan Yu, barely able to stand, forced his blink ability through the pain and lunged—
Hu Ban Lan drove a backfist into Yan Yu’s stomach, sending him flying into a tree again.
Laughter burst from the instructors, sharp and nasty. Wolf laughed the loudest, the sound echoing through the jungle.
“Hu Ban Lan!” Wolf crowed. “I told you not to be so reckless. They’re sly. You didn’t believe me—now you do!”
“Yeah,” another instructor said. “Look at that little mouse girl—so scared she’s about to shift into beast form, crying and panicking while she shoots hidden weapons at you.”
Hu Ban Lan fumbled a bottle from his storage button and poured water over his eyes. They still burned, but his vision cleared enough to see shapes.
“What now?” someone asked. “Leave them here until they smash the beacon, or—”
“You should worry about Xin Yi instead.”
The voice cut through them like a blade.
Jiang Tea Tea stepped out from the darkness, yawning like she’d just woken from a nap.
“Instructors,” she said lazily, “the giant alligators are coming for you.”
She’d been rooted underground in the rich jungle soil, trying to absorb earth essence. But her squad’s shouting and fighting had erupted nearby—too loud, too close, ruining her chance to recover.
She’d had no choice but to rip herself out of the ground and slip over under invisibility.
In the short time it took her to arrive, her teammates were already beaten down. Worse, Cheng Lin Yue had hugged the sleeping copy of her twig-body so tightly Jiang Tea Tea couldn’t reveal herself.
So she waited.
She waited until Cheng Lin Yue was thrown aside, until the instructors’ attention shifted toward the thunder of approaching beasts.
Then she appeared.
The instructors stared at her—this “fragile little flower,” yawning like she didn’t have a care in the world.
Sui Xuan Chu and the others looked at her like drowning people spotting a lifeline. They struggled, desperate to crawl to her.
Jiang Tea Tea yawned again as if bored, then walked to Sui Xuan Chu, hauled him upright, and tossed him lightly toward Cheng Lin Yue.
Then she walked to Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting, both pinned in the mud.
She looked at the instructor standing on them and asked politely, “Mind lifting your foot?”
The instructor snorted. “Classmate, you want me to lift my—sure. Beat me—”
Jiang Tea Tea pointed toward the oncoming stampede. “Giant alligators are here. After we farm the alligators, can we farm you?”
The mutant giant alligators were already visible, charging.
If the instructors didn’t lift their boots now, they’d be slammed anyway.
They lifted their feet, grudging. “Fine. We’ll let you off for now.”
Jiang Tea Tea bent once and reached twice, tossing Huang Da Zhuang and Cheng Xiao Ting back toward Cheng Lin Yue. Then she grabbed Ju Que and Zhang Ting Zhou and tossed them over as well.
She stepped forward, placing herself between her battered teammates and the circle of instructors.
She glanced back at her squad, unhurried. “Classmates—hold your breath. Big Sis will get your face back.”
Her squad stared at her like she’d gone insane.
One person against thirty-four instructors?
Wolf and Hu Ban Lan sneered. “Classmate, aren’t you afraid the wind will cut your tongue? The giant alligators are already—”
“I know.” Jiang Tea Tea’s smile was thin. “The one who should be afraid is you.”
She raised a green tea leaf to her lips and blew.
A piercing, razor-sharp note screamed through the Primeval Forest, echoing into the night sky.
The mutant giant alligators heard it and went berserk. Roaring, they charged straight at the instructors.
The instructors’ faces changed. “Jiang Tea Tea—do you know beast-taming art?”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t answer. She couldn’t. The leaf stayed in her mouth as she blew again, louder, sharper, sending the sound wider.
Birds shrieked awake. Aberrant beasts thrashed. Even three-headed giant pythons in the distance slid out of the river, drawn by the call.
High above, Adjutant Ai stared at the feed, shocked. “Commander-in-Chief—Jiang Tea Tea can tame beasts! That’s unbelievable!”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes stayed fixed on the screen. “Not just in the age of cold weapons,” he said quietly. “Even now. If she can tame beasts, she’s irreplaceable.”
Down below, the instructors were forced to spread out, fighting the alligators that crashed into them.
Jiang Tea Tea bit down on the tea leaf, chewed it, and swallowed.
Then she hooked a branch off the ground with her foot and launched herself straight at Wolf.
Wolf triggered his ability and rushed her—
Jiang Tea Tea twisted midair, dodging the blast by a hair, and whipped her branch across his forehead.
Smack.
Skin split. Blood ran. His head rang; his vision went blank for a heartbeat.
Jiang Tea Tea spun and kicked him hard, knocking him out of the air.
She shouted back at her squad, voice crisp and merciless. “Sui Xuan Chu! Huang Da Zhuang! Cheng Lin Yue! Catch the instructor—kill the instructor—start farming points!”