A girl with a pair of wings on her back flew toward the night sky in blind panic. Every so often she glanced back at the monster flapping its fleshy wings in pursuit, her face wearing a vividly lifelike look of terror.
But the moment her silhouette appeared above the dense forest, spell light tore through the night and struck her dead on.
The spell burst. The girl came apart like a puff of smoke stirred to pieces. Her form shuddered, warped, and vanished.
Clearly, the girl rashly attempting Flight was nothing but a lifelike illusion.
"Got a bite."
Two girls lay hidden in the thick foliage, eyes sparkling, locked onto the several spots the spells had come from.
"Follow me."
Li Fei leapt down from the treetop. Her heavy landing immediately drew a few ferocious monsters.
She wasn't afraid in the slightest. She swept her sword across, crimson sword-light clearing a path, and charged straight for the spell launch points.
"Good evening."
She greeted them with great warmth.
"I—"
The mage she'd singled out cursed under his breath and crushed his badge.
"Hehe."
Li Fei smiled brightly. Her stocking-wrapped right foot skidded half a foot across the ground, kicking up a great cloud of dust. Then she twisted around and rapidly closed in on the next victim.
Some read the situation and left decisively. Others dug in for a hopeless fight and were eliminated badly wounded. The latter were the majority.
After all, these were young people charging boldly down the Transcendent path. Few would retreat without a fight, and even knowing they couldn't win, they couldn't resist testing themselves once or twice.
But these monsters weren't only born to counter mages, with absurd resistances and burst power. They also had vicious, cunning hunting instincts, each one like a seasoned, cold-blooded hunter. One second, a genius mage might still be sheltered by a spell barrier, trying to break out and turn the tide. The next, a few monsters that had silently appeared behind him would shatter the barrier, snap his neck or tear off his arm, and he'd lose his chance to "surrender and save his life."
"What a pity."
Li Fei glanced with mild regret at a severed arm not far away. There was a storage ring on one of its fingers, and she barely managed to resist the urge to loot the corpse.
The rules had no clause about "no looting corpses."
But just as Li Fei didn't dare kill carelessly, who knew whether the dead had some overpowered-protagonist fiancé, a high-Sequence father, or a master who happened to be a dean? That made their belongings scalding hot, and Li Fei had no intention of risking it by taking them away to fence. Put yourself in their shoes: if Miss Grace and Miss Stepdaughter joined this trial, died, and had their belongings taken, Li Fei would one day pick a dark, windy night and scatter the thief's entire family to the wind.
"Good work out there."
Naomi popped up from nowhere and looped her arm through Li Fei's.
The two of them hopped lightly and slipped back into Stealth, while the monsters were led away by magical illusions.
After that they stayed silent, waiting quietly for something.
Sure enough, a Transcendent's internal clock was precise. In under two minutes, gentle morning light burst forth and split the night open.
Sunlight flooded the island and melted the darkness away, inch by inch.
There was no sunrise, no rosy dawn clouds. Day and night simply switched, abruptly and without warning.
In the bright dawn, Li Fei looked around. The trees, which had swayed like ghosts, were lush and green once more.
But after the terror and torment of the night, the pleasant scenery looked a little sinister no matter how she viewed it. They were standing on an island of fair weather, clear water and white sand, yet a chill seeped into her bones.
Li Fei handed her a can of iced cola and took one for herself. With a "pop," she ripped off the pull tab and smiled lightly.
"Pleasure working with you."
"Mm-hm."
Naomi copied Li Fei, opened hers, clinked cans, and tilted her head back to chug half of it.
"Haaah..."
The harmless-looking girl let out a breath and marveled, "It's so spicy... no, wait, not spicy. It's like mead, with lots of bubbles, but without the taste of alcohol. It's delicious."
"It's a Loxibrook specialty. Come visit when you have time."
Li Fei curled the corner of her lips meaningfully. "We've got plenty of fun things there."
"Mm, mm! I'll definitely come."
Naomi nodded hard.
"Oh, right. What was that spell you used to shake the monsters off me?"
Li Fei asked, curious. "I don't remember ever seeing it."
"Divine Steps, Hundred Guises."
Naomi stuck out her pink tongue. "Right now it can put up to three people into [Stealth] at the same time and generate eight illusions... I had a sudden flash of inspiration when I comprehended intermediate [Stealth], and that's how I built the spell model."
—So this is what a proper Gold-grade student looks like? Creating her own spell at Sequence 7.
Melancholy crept over Li Fei. She remembered the notes of Nicole and Irena, which also held insights on "creating your own spells at a low Sequence."
Her smile didn't waver. "A very practical spell. You've got a bright future."
"It still has lots of flaws."
Naomi said shyly, "The mana consumption is too high, the Stealth duration is too short, the illusions are too fragile, the model has way too much redundancy... Once this is over, let's compare notes, okay, Spell Encyclopedia Lady?"
"Great idea."
Li Fei steered the conversation away. "Worthy of Death Island. Only one night has passed, but I'd estimate we've lost at least more than half of the outer ring competition. Let's push harder and thin out as many opponents as we can before the altars take shape. We also need to confirm where the altars are, and fast."
"Leave the scouting to me. I'll do my best."
Naomi raised a fist.
"Rest for a bit. We set out in an hour."
Li Fei didn't commit either way. She sat down right where she was and took out food and potions.
After half a night of hard work, she'd burned through a lot of battle qi and had almost no stamina left. Add the heavy blood loss, and even her calves were trembling a little.
But the payoff was considerable.
On the first day, she'd wandered around with her sword ganking people and eliminated only twenty or so, and she'd had to dodge any clusters of mages who had formed temporary alliances.
In the latter half of the night, though, she eliminated over fifty in under three hours!
All it took was an illusion flying up into the sky as bait, and some ill-intentioned fish couldn't resist spitting at the lure. Li Fei would use the chance to pin down their position, lead the monsters over, and blow up a fireball to make some noise... No matter how many there were, she could take them out with ease. Killing with a borrowed blade was simply too efficient.
On top of that, the genius mages were already stuck in a rat race in the dark jungle, trapping their classmates with summoned units and spell traps. In just one night, the island had grown a lot emptier.
Li Fei estimated that the outer ring survivors now numbered only around a hundred.
She wolfed down several baguettes stuffed with cheese and drained a three-liter keg of unicorn milk, then balanced it out with smoked meat and vegetable salad. She could feel her stamina recovering fast.
Then she took out a potion and asked Naomi to apply it for her.
Resistance means nothing if your movements are sluggish. No matter how thick-skinned you are, you just get kited to death. The island's monsters could slaughter mages so quickly clearly because of their blinding speed and terrifying killing power. Even Li Fei, with her astonishing agility, her Furnace Battle-Qi, [Succubus Dance Steps], and her luxury gear, had been in constant danger while luring monsters or breaking out. She'd taken plenty of hits. Her leg and waist injuries hadn't healed, and now there were new ones.
She summoned a few sprites to keep watch, then flopped onto the carpet without a shred of embarrassment. Her glossy, lovely back was crisscrossed with bloody gashes, a shocking sight.
Blushing, Naomi took the essential oil Li Fei handed her. She rubbed it warm between her palms before carefully pressing them to Li Fei's back.
The heavy blood loss had lowered Li Fei's body temperature, and her skin felt cool, yet it was still smooth and tender, and it set the girl's heart fluttering.
Of all the assorted topical medicines, Li Fei preferred essential oils to powders or salves. They didn't just heal the body. They also dissolved the barrier between healer and patient and created an intimate relationship between them, no matter which side was the patient. When Li Fei was hurt, oils let her physical advantages shine. When another girl was hurt, oils let her show off her exquisite handiwork.
She had to admit, the wound medicine Lady Zhihua had prepared for her fiancée was top quality. Within moments of applying it, the pain vanished without a trace, leaving only a faint, cool sensation at the wounds.
Li Fei lay on the carpet sunbathing for half an hour. When she got up, her eyes were bright and full of energy.
She casually tossed away the crushed can and said breezily:
"Let's go."
*
Darkness fell once more. Terror blanketed the island, and everywhere was a scene of rot and decay.
"Rua!"
A roaring evil dragon charged straight through the night forest.
"Don't come any closer!"
The gnome mage being chased cried out in grief and fury.
"What was that? Don't run, come over here and say it again."
Li Fei's hair streamed behind her. Her smile was sweet and bewitching, like a ghost seducing decent girls in the night.
This was already the second night. The Pied Piper plan was going reasonably well. As long as she drew a pack of monsters out to rampage across the island, nearly every opponent unlucky enough to run into Li Fei could only bow out in fury, or even die, with no room to struggle.
But the gnome mage fleeing for his life ahead also had Stealth, and his movements were exceptionally nimble. In the blink of an eye, he shook off the monsters Li Fei had stirred up and put distance between them.
Li Fei had slipped up for a moment and nearly let a cooked duck fly away. All she could do was press the chase relentlessly. She tailed him for over ten li through the perilous night before the gap finally began to close.
With the gnome's back almost within reach, Li Fei's smile grew even brighter. A soul-stealing light flashed through her eyes and was gone.
The mage fleeing ahead stumbled, dragged into a rose-tinted dream by [Bliss].
Squelch!
In that moment of trance, a sword ran him clean through, so hard it lifted his whole body off the ground. His legs kicked at the air like a rabbit's as he writhed and convulsed.
"Damn you..."
Through the agony, the gnome finally gave up any hope of luck. He gritted his teeth and crushed his badge, his face full of bitter resentment.
If Li Fei hadn't latched onto him like a maggot on bone, he'd had every confidence he could have lasted to the very end...
Li Fei naturally didn't care what a defeated dog thought. After dealing with the troublesome prey, she waved goodbye to the monsters, leaned back, and fell into a fragrant, soft, resilient embrace.
Naomi held Li Fei from behind and hopped lightly, and the two of them vanished from the monsters' senses.
Then slender fingertips stroked Li Fei's long, firm thighs through the stockings. Using her finger as a brush, Naomi wrote a line:
"Need a rest?"
Li Fei shook her head. Her palm gently climbed to the girl's wrist, and her slender index finger scribbled across the porcelain-white back of Naomi's hand:
"No time."
Naomi nodded. She discreetly breathed in the scent of tea clinging to the ends of Li Fei's hair, then let go of her reluctantly. She darted off like a hare and was gone into the dark, nimble and light, as if she had springs under her feet. She looked supple and full of bounce, like an energetic wildcat.
Li Fei didn't linger either. Her soft feet, wrapped in three layers of cheap sheer stockings, rose and fell silently in the night as she headed in a different direction.
The second night was already more than half over. Only a few dozen students were probably left in the outer ring, and fishing with illusions no longer worked. Fewer people was one reason. The other was that the survivors who'd lasted this long were all keeping an especially low profile, seeking no glory, only no blame. An illusion had flown through the night sky for a full five minutes without being attacked. Perhaps they'd realized something, too.
Since the fish weren't biting, the two little mage girls could only go on the offensive and split up to look for prey.
Suddenly, the red string on her wrist swayed and tugged Li Fei toward a certain direction.
It was a Transcendent item Naomi had given her, one for each of them. Whichever of them pulled on the red string, the other would feel it, and they could use it to communicate and find each other.
Li Fei turned around and ran without a word, and soon spotted the figure waiting for her.
Naomi stood demurely with both hands on her knees, looking cute and charming. A faint light fell into her pupils, and shadows danced in those big round eyes like the colors of a kaleidoscope.
When she saw Li Fei, she waved happily and mouthed, "Look."
Li Fei followed the light to its source and saw an oval "giant egg" a full meter tall. Its "shell" was crystal clear, and hazy radiance swirled inside.
In the center of the standing "egg," something green and glowing bobbed up and down, brimming with vitality. It was a little blurry, but judging by the outline, it had to be a small tree.
A Nature Altar!
Joy leapt in Li Fei. In her eyes, this thing was just potential points sitting on the ground, and the opportunity she was determined to claim on this trip.
She gave Naomi a thumbs-up, stepped forward to take her hand, and wrote out a line, pressing hard:
"Keep it up!"
In truth, this wasn't the first altar they'd found. Li Fei had pinned down the Life Altar's location before the second nightfall. If they could find the Death Altar too, half the outer ring objective would be done.
Naomi nodded hard, then casually flipped her hand around to clasp Li Fei's, using a calm expression to hide her pounding heart.
That subtle, probing little move naturally couldn't slip past Li Fei. But news this good, finding an altar, was enough for Miss Top Courtesan to reward her with two minutes of hand-holding. Besides, a taste of sweetness that stopped short could lower her partner's odds of stabbing her in the back and boost her drive to work.
So Li Fei smiled gently, slid her five fingers between Naomi's, and laced them together.
Three, two, one...
After a hundred and twenty seconds of countdown, Miss Top Courtesan raised their joined hands to forearm height, tightened her fingers, and pressed down slightly in a cheer-up gesture. Then she prepared to leave and go on searching for survivors.
But the moment her first step landed, she trod on an arcane trap. The damage was low, but it was well hidden, and it had variants like [Frost Trap], [Static Trap], and [Psychic Trap] that inflicted frostbite, paralysis, and slowing on anyone caught. Truly nasty.
Clearly, she and Naomi weren't the only ones who'd found this altar. Whoever had arrived first had already laid mines in advance, hoping to catch whoever they could.
"See you in half an hour."
Li Fei tossed out the words in a hurry, then turned into a deep-crimson phantom and shot away, a pack of monsters in tow, toward a direction she hadn't yet wrecked.
Naomi stood still a moment, watching her retreating back. The sweat on her palm still held a trace of tea fragrance and lingering warmth.
She pressed a hand to her pounding heart so hard that her palm sank in by several centimeters, as if she wanted to knead their body heat together.
Only when that silhouette had disappeared did Naomi turn away wistfully. With every step she took, her form grew blurrier, until in a moment she melted into the darkness.
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