The wild, overgrown grass was a chaotic mess. Jian Feilan and the others were on edge, as though they weren't watching the confrontation between Lin Chengxiu and the shadowed figure, but rather an impending battle with themselves. Their breaths became measured and cautious.
But… after a long pause of about ten seconds, the shadowy figure suddenly lunged for the large goose lying on the ground.
However, with a swift jerk, the goose was dragged into the underbrush, and faint golden threads, delicate and translucent, could be seen pulling it in.
Was it possible for Lin Chengxiu to materialize light into a tangible form?
Even the shadowy figure seemed surprised, but it was unmistakably light.
"Is this the 'Light Fluid'?"
Light and darkness aren't primary elements; although omnipresent, they are more ethereal and transient. They don't resonate easily with the human body, making their mastery in arcane arts particularly difficult.
Yet light is commonly used by healers. A healer proficient in light elements is revered as the most orthodox 'nanny,' their radiant light enough to restore life to all teammates.
But Lin Chengxiu clearly wasn't following the healer route. Otherwise, she would have invested heavily in constitution, as many healing skills rely on converting physical vitality into restorative energy. With her frail body and weak defenses, she clearly wasn't a fit for the 'nanny' role.
Her focus was on offensive light magic, but the strength didn't seem to match her level. It was rare to see someone with such a mismatch in attributes.
Her agility and perception, however, were extraordinary.
The shadowy figure had lost track of the large goose. With a flicker in his eyes, he turned and disappeared, slipping into the shadows.
A more powerful opponent decided to withdraw, not out of fear, but because his opponent was slippery and hard to grasp, unwilling to waste time or energy.
As soon as the tension lifted, the atmosphere lightened.
The candidates in the waiting area reacted similarly.
"Too strong!"
"I didn't expect there to be students this powerful, apart from Sakk and the others. And from our own Jingyang!"
"Lin Chengxiu is from Jingyang, but that shadowy figure isn't."
"Of course it is! You've forgotten the shadowy figure from the second phase of the assessment?"
"Holy crap, it's him! No wonder the mask looked familiar."
Everyone marveled in awe, their excitement tempered by the knowledge that none of the other competitors on screen were their children.
Jian Feilan and the others, seeing the shadowy figure leave, turned their attention back to Lin Chengxiu, who was now facing them.
"Lin Chengxiu, we're from the same city. With Dongchen and Gaoyang watching us, we should form an alliance…"
She hadn't even finished the word "alliance" before—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One by one, they were struck down, each with a blow to the head.
Lin Chengxiu then took out a coffin and began placing their unconscious bodies inside, one by one.
What was even more unsettling was the way she arranged the "bodies."
To save space, she expertly stacked them in an alternating head-to-tail manner. This way, a large coffin could hold many bodies.
After squeezing them in tightly, she pressed the lid shut over the bodies of Zhang Fulan and Jian Feilan.
"I have to say, she reminds me of my grandmother, who would pickle salted fish like this."
"Yeah, my grandmother used to pickle vegetables like that too, but she would also press a heavy stone on top."
"This Lin Chengxiu is really professional. She's like a kid who does housework often—just missing the salt!"
Their parents' faces twitched, muttering curses under their breath, but something felt off in the air.
"Does anyone else think this feels strange?"
"This coffin looks familiar…"
"Did Lin Chengxiu use this coffin before?"
"It doesn't seem like it, but the one who took it out…"
Just as some sharp-eyed individuals were about to say a name, "Lin Chengxiu" wiped her face, ending the transformation and returning to her original appearance. Now that no one else was around, there was no need to waste elements or energy on maintaining the illusion.
The illusion was exhausting.
"Damn!"
"It's really Oakes!"
"My God, he's so strong?!"
"This pervert!"
It was a clear double standard. Both were pickling salted fish, but Lin Chengxiu was a good kid, while Oakes was a pervert.
Yao wasn't the chosen one. The screen didn't favor her, so when Lin Chengxiu's true identity was revealed, the crowd was still stunned.
The Teng family stood up, shocked, but then noticed that the Xie and Lan families remained unusually calm. An awkward silence followed before they quickly sat down again.
Was the emperor not in a hurry, but the eunuchs were?
The Xie family wasn't in a hurry—they were simply dumbfounded, unable to fathom how a useless illegitimate child raised on a trash planet could become so powerful.
But at the core, this world was governed by family values. An elder quietly contacted Xie An and the other elders via communicator but received no response.
Strange—was there some secret mission in the family?
He held back his suspicion.
The Lan family, on the other hand, was hiding their panic.
"This kid is too elusive. Second Master…"
Lan Bing was ranked above Oakes, but the gap in strength was insurmountable.
The Lan family members were lost, looking at Lan Luoqi, whose expression grew heavy as he considered whether he had this kind of strength and strategy back in his middle school exams.
He hadn't.
He had been pampered as a legitimate child, enjoying the best resources. But Oakes had received nothing.
If this was the case, the future was clear—Oakes would surpass him by a wide margin.
A dangerous future.
Unfortunately, there were no more assassination opportunities now… Lan Luoqi grew restless, rubbing his fingers against his palm. Suddenly, a message came through.
Xuan Yu: "It's already arranged. He promised that if I make it into the top 100 of the Belruk Provincial High School entrance exam, he will accept me as his disciple. The Xie family issue can be set aside for now."
That meant once he passed the exam and became his disciple, the Xie and Teng families wouldn't be a threat.
Lan Luoqi's eyes lit up, but there was also confusion. "Who is he?"
Unfortunately, Xuan Yu didn't reveal that. This nephew was always deep in thought, only revealing his plans after the fact.
But anyone who could make such a stringent request was no ordinary person.
The top 100 of the Belruk Provincial High School entrance exam—what did that mean? Lan Luoqi hadn't even made it into the top 1000 when he took his exam.
There were millions of students taking the exam every year. Getting into the top 1000 was a remarkable achievement—those who made it to level 60 were set for life.
Those who passed could rest easy.
Meanwhile, in the audience, Zhou Linlang was puzzled. "Why did she pretend to be Lin Chengxiu? Was it just to frame him?"
Given what she knew about this little sister, it couldn't be that simple.
The consumption of maintaining the illusion was high. Faking for the sake of framing was inefficient, considering how strong her combat abilities were, only slightly weaker than the shadowy figure.
The strongest candidates were known to be from Dongchen's Sakk and Liu Yun, Gaoyang's Old Lu and his four companions, and Jingyang's mysterious shadowy figure.
These seven were at the peak of overall strength and could easily sweep anyone.
"Why go so far to impersonate Lin Chengxiu?" Zhou Linlang murmured, "That means Lin Chengxiu is not just any ordinary person. She must have touched on something that threatened her interests…"
Yao's plans were coming to fruition. The first two steps were complete.
The final step was to head to the mortuary.
Much had likely transpired in the past 12 hours since she had left, including several large-scale skirmishes. Candidates from the three cities had already clashed.