She drank hastily, but it was too late.
Xie Yue was forced to change direction to avoid the suddenly growing blue grass, and bumped into Yan who was struggling to get up.
As the two rolled around in a ball, Lin Xia had already swept across the finish line like a gentle breeze, completing the second handover of the marker.
The third round trip: When Lin Xia rushed towards the finish line for the third time, Xie Yue finally saw the secret.
Every time Lin Xia stepped on a path, tiny, almost imperceptible seeds of blue silver grass would seep out from the soles of her feet.
The grass seeds instantly took root in the metal cracks under heavy pressure, relieving the impact and quietly absorbing the earth's energy to nourish themselves!
Before the three could regroup, Lin Xia's figure, having completed the final turnaround, was already standing at the starting line.
Yue Guan clapped his hands and chuckled:
"Three round trips, the marker is correct—trial passed."
In the shadows on the sidelines, Bibi Dong's scepter gleamed faintly.
Lin Xia transformed the gravity trial into a body-forging ritual, with each round trip being a cycle of life energy tempering.
Within the jade pendant's space, the blue-silver grassland surged like waves, and in the ebb and flow of life and death, his soul power quietly broke through to level sixteen.
When Xie Yue and the other two struggled to climb back to the starting point, they saw that Lin Xia was surrounded by a pale green aura, and the flush from the intense exercise was being quickly soothed by the surging vitality.
"monster..."
Yan, supporting his trembling legs, hissed.
"Lin Xia!!!"
After resting for a while, Hu Liena finally struggled out of the excruciating pain. Her voice was sharp with shock and anger, completely losing its usual captivating magnetism.
She abruptly looked up, her pink eyes burning with the fury of a wounded dignity, staring intently at Lin Xia not far away:
"Why did you stop our ambush just now...?"
The roar of questioning almost burst from his throat.
But Lin Xia's actions were faster than her words.
He didn't even lift his eyelids, but suddenly raised his hand, without the slightest hesitation or any extra gesture, and pointed coldly to a spot—in that direction, there was only a tall, silent Yan, whose expression was changing rapidly at this moment.
"Ask your good teammates."
Lin Xia's voice rang out, like shattered ice shards deep within a frozen river, carrying a distinct chill and a hint of nonchalant cruelty.
"A game of stabbing someone in the back...is that fun?"
"Stabbing in the back"—these four cold and sharp words, carrying a heavy accusation, crashed into the dead silence, stirring up invisible ripples.
The flush on Hu Liena's face, caused by pain and anger, vanished the instant Lin Xia finished speaking, as if drained by some invisible force.
Her eyes, slightly red from the pain, suddenly widened, the surging anger within them freezing instantly, replaced by an almost dizzying disbelief.
Almost instinctively, with an uncontrollable stiffness in her body, she followed Lin Xia's finger, which was like a spear of judgment, and turned her gaze inch by inch toward that spot.
Xie Yue struggled to sit up, her hand still covering her waist where she had been hit, her muscles tense.
He didn't lose his temper and roar like Hu Liena, but in the depths of his cold, star-like eyes, all the sharp scrutiny instantly transformed into a razor-sharp coldness.
He didn't immediately help Hu Liena up; his gaze was also fixed on Yan.
Yan's tall body swayed violently under the immense gravity. It wasn't the gravity that caused him to stagger, but rather the violent tremor that revealed his hidden secrets in public.
His previously composed face instantly lost all color, leaving only a deathly ashen look, like a rock about to crumble.
His lips opened involuntarily, as if he wanted to shout "You're talking nonsense!", but his throat felt as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand, and he couldn't utter a single clear syllable.
Those eyes, which often shone with arrogance or ferocity, now held only the panic and disbelief of having their disguise stripped away in public.
Sweat, not entirely from the weight training, rolled down his stiff temples in large beads.
"you?"
Xie Yue's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a blade chilled by ice, easily piercing through the deathly silence.
He sat on the ground, seemingly ignoring the pain in his waist and ribs for the time being, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, locked on Yan's bloodless face.
Is what Lin Xia said true?
Hu Liena's throat bobbed violently, emitting a suppressed, muffled sound.
She didn't look at Lin Xia again; her gaze remained fixed on Yan.
She asked why Lin Xia suddenly attacked them.
So what we saw earlier wasn't fake; Yan really did crash into Lin Xia, but Lin Xia noticed, which prevented a major disaster.
The other party was just retaliating, while he and his brother were just incidental targets of the other party's retaliation!
Hu Liena didn't even dare to imagine what would have happened to them if the other party had used their full strength just now!
The Spirit Hall is their home, and even if there are disagreements within the family, it shouldn't come to this.
But Yan, out of jealousy, is now trying to disrupt the stability of this family!
After figuring everything out, Hu Liena looked at Yan with disappointment in her eyes. All she wanted now was for Yan to apologize.
At least before the relationship completely deteriorates.
Lin Xia has already gained the approval of her and her brother. With such a genius, Hu Liena doesn't want to stand on the opposite side, especially since this person is valued by His Holiness the Pope!
I..."
Yan finally spoke, his voice dry and hoarse like sandpaper, each word sounding as if his vocal cords were being torn apart.
"He...he Lin Xia! Nonsense!"
In his panic, he instinctively tried to bite back, his finger pointing at Lin Xia trembling violently with excitement.
"It was him...he deliberately tried to harm you! He sabotaged the training! I didn't..."
"What are you anyway?"
Xie Yue's question interrupted Yan's incoherent ramblings. He didn't raise his voice, but the coldness of his voice was enough to freeze the air.
"Lin Xia, is what you're saying true? Were you the one who secretly sabotaged us before?"
"I...I didn't! There's no evidence! He...he..."
Yan's voice grew weaker and weaker, his rebuttals feeble and powerless.
Cold sweat completely soaked the front of his training uniform.
Faced with Hu Liena's disappointed gaze and Xie Yue's cold and piercing scrutiny, the word "evidence" seemed like a huge flaw, making his denial appear even more obvious.
His facial muscles twitched, his eyes darted around unfocused, and his massive body became increasingly unstable under the combined pull of gravity and invisible pressure.
Just then, Lin Xia, who had remained silent like an ice sculpture, slowly curled her lips upwards, revealing an extremely contemptuous curve.
It felt like watching a clown's clumsy performance.
Xie Yue no longer covered the painful area in his waist and ribs with his hands, but clenched them into fists, his knuckles turning white from the force. After struggling to stand up, his movements were somewhat stiff, the pain in his waist and ribs affecting him.
He stood before Yan and sighed.
"Apologize!"
Hu Liena also struggled to her feet, the movement causing her to furrow her brow slightly as it aggravated her injuries, but she still managed to stand up straight.
She didn't speak up to help, but her gaze remained fixed on Yan.
Yan stood frozen in place, his head feeling as if it were being pulled downwards by heavy chains, unable to lift it.
After a long pause, Yan managed to squeeze out a few broken syllables from deep in his throat, almost drowned out by his heavy breathing:
"…Feel sorry..."
His voice was dry and hoarse, like rusty iron scraping against each other.
"Not clear enough!"
(End of chapter)