121 Underground Melee

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Holding the final fragment of the ancient mirror tightly in her hand, Hu Qingqing said smugly, “Lin Zijian, are you ready to die?”

Despite Hu Qingqing’s provocation, I did not lose my composure.

Even if she was the awakened Heart Knight concealing her true strength, I still would not be afraid.

While searching for the ancient mirror fragments just now, I had discovered something sealed away. Now, I was going to break that seal.

I swiftly threw the ancient mirror from my hand. It floated in the air for a moment before coming to a stop.

Brilliant light burst from the mirror, striking and obliterating something on the ground. Once that strange object was destroyed, a familiar force filled the entire underground passage.

Hu Qingqing frowned. “An Ability Enhancement Field? There’s one here too?”

“Heh. That may no longer be the case.”

With the appearance of the Ability Enhancement Field, my powers returned to their peak. Just as they had at D University, nearly all restrictions on my abilities vanished.

The ones most affected by the field were non-awakened Contract Bearers like us. Feng Qian was the first to attack, controlling the blood to wrap around Hu Qingqing’s feet.

A wisp of green smoke rose as Hu Qingqing lifted her foot in pain.

She fired a beam of white light from her hand. Feng Qian answered by launching several blood bullets, and the two energies dissolved each other in midair.

Feng Qian rolled over to my side. He was not the only one.

Hu Xing’er and Xue Ning had both activated their abilities. Xue Ning’s figure blurred, as though she were using a substitution technique.

Two of Xue Ning’s doubles seized Hu Xing’er from behind and hauled her upward. At the same time, two more substitutes appeared beneath Hu Xing’er, lifting both her feet and hurling her into the air. The real Xue Ning then kicked her squarely in the back.

Hu Xing’er flew high like a kite with its string cut, spun once in midair, and landed steadily.

Clearly, Xue Ning’s attack had done little to her. With her ability fully unleashed, Hu Xing’er could easily create an air shield to block Xue Ning’s physical attacks.

“You think you can defeat me?” Hu Xing’er said arrogantly. It seemed that spending so much time with Hu Qingqing had changed her as well.

Xue Ning smiled and sent a water blade slicing toward her. Hu Xing’er shrieked and dodged aside.

“I’ll deal with her.” Hu Qingqing called for Hu Xing’er to handle the others while she confronted Xue Ning herself.

But even at three against two, we were not at a disadvantage.

“Feng Qian, go deal with Hu Xing’er. She’s immune to most physical attacks, so be careful.”

Feng Qian gave a quiet acknowledgment. The blood beads in his hand gathered together and shot one after another toward Hu Xing’er.

Hu Xing’er lightly tapped the ground with her foot and vanished in a blur, evading the attack. Feng Qian pursued her relentlessly.

The two of them began a guerrilla battle in the underground hall, while Xue Ning and I launched our first coordinated assault. Our opponent was Hu Qingqing, wielder of the power of balance.

As long as we avoided pure energy attacks, her power of balance would be of little use.

“Water Substitutes!”

Xue Ning summoned twelve substitutes once more—the greatest number she could currently control with her mental strength.

I activated the ancient mirror’s ability. “Radiant Layer!”

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The ancient mirror’s energy clung to Xue Ning, forming a flawless protective layer around her.

Strengthened by the mirror’s energy, the Radiant Layer could even reflect certain energy attacks.

The ancient mirror’s glow bathed all twelve of Xue Ning’s substitutes in turn. Twelve women shimmering with white light surged toward Hu Qingqing as one.

Even if Hu Qingqing was a ruthless policewoman, I refused to believe she could defeat twelve of Xue Ning’s substitutes without using her abilities.

The substitutes attacked Hu Qingqing’s face and chest with all their might. As expected, women were most terrifying when they fought viciously.

Either they would crush a woman’s chest or ruin her face. Still, there was no denying that Xue Ning’s strategy was effective.

The importance of a woman’s face and chest was beyond dispute. Even Hu Qingqing instinctively defended them.

Hu Qingqing’s combat skills were far better than we had imagined. She could completely repel one opponent with almost every move.

If the ancient mirror had not formed a protective layer around Xue Ning’s substitutes, their energy would have dissipated long ago.

Hu Qingqing’s attacks were never random. Every move had a clear purpose.

Each time, she used the power of balance to neutralize my defensive layer, injecting her own ability into the substitutes and intending to destroy them from within.

But Xue Ning and I were not fools. Whenever one substitute was attacked, Xue Ning immediately withdrew it from the battlefield.

The two of us would then replenish its energy, maintaining the substitutes in peak condition.

Another war of attrition took shape. Yet with the mental strength of Xue Ning and me, we could not possibly outlast Hu Qingqing, who had become awakened.

After becoming awakened, one could borrow power from external sources. Otherwise, like us, one had to rely entirely on one’s own strength to use an ability.

Hu Qingqing seemed to have recognized our disadvantage and began attacking Xue Ning’s substitutes even more fiercely.

To make them more agile and better able to evade attacks, Xue Ning reduced their number to just three. The three substitutes were able to tie Hu Qingqing down perfectly.

Hu Qingqing’s expression darkened. She probably had never expected two non-awakened Contract Bearers to hold her back here.

But then an unexpected visitor arrived.

It was Tang Zifeng, the very man who had provoked me in the tower of the Academic Ace Training Camp.

I had little impression of him, but the playing card in his hand had already revealed his identity.

Tang Zifeng, the Three of Hearts.

Tang Zifeng stared blankly at the three of us fighting. “Why are you fighting each other?”

“And why is there an Ability Enhancement Field here?”

Tang Zifeng was wearing casual sportswear, with a towel draped around his neck. Sweat still covered his forehead, suggesting that he had been passing by while out for a run.

The Ability Enhancement Field I had just triggered must have drawn him here.

“Tang Zifeng, didn’t you want to form an alliance with me? I accept now. I’m honored to become your partner—the strongest Contract Bearer of the Hearts faction.”

“Yes, I’m joining too!” Although Xue Ning did not understand why I was suddenly flattering this man, after everything we had been through, she knew I would never do anything that harmed our interests. She quickly echoed my words.

“There’s also a beautiful woman at our base who will be joining us.”

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As I spoke, I winked flirtatiously at Tang Zifeng. His body trembled, and he was clearly tempted.

Seeing that Tang Zifeng was about to become our ally, Hu Qingqing let out an irritated snort.

“Tang Zifeng! You belong to my Heart lineage!”

Hu Qingqing shouted, “Don’t forget our mission. We’re supposed to eliminate the other suits.”

“You actually want to ally yourself with these two Spades?”

The two Spades Hu Qingqing referred to were naturally myself, the Two of Spades, and Xue Ning, the Nine of Spades.

After hearing Hu Qingqing’s words, Tang Zifeng stopped just as he was about to walk over to us.

“I almost fell for your trick.” Tang Zifeng smiled slyly. “You wanted to lure me back to the Spades’ main base, didn’t you? Heh.”

“You little girl, I watched your trial livestream.”

“The girl with you isn’t from our Hearts faction.”

Under Tang Zifeng’s stare, Xue Ning’s face flushed faintly. That reaction only deepened his suspicions, and he hesitated for several seconds.

In the end, Tang Zifeng still took his place beside the Heart Knight, Hu Qingqing.

The moment Tang Zifeng began speaking, Xue Ning’s substitutes had already returned to our side. Now, we had gained another opponent: Tang Zifeng.

Xue Ning could only continue holding off Hu Qingqing while I split my attention to deal with Tang Zifeng.

We had to hold out until Lin Xiayue, Chen Hao, and Sun Xiaoxiao arrived to reinforce us.

Seeing that everything had been made clear, Tang Zifeng allowed the Three of Hearts in his hand to sink into his body.

The abilities of the Hearts lineage all originated from ancient magical beasts or divine beasts.

So far, they had revealed the Seven of Hearts, the serpent divine beast Teng Snake, which controlled gravity; the Five of Hearts, the avian divine beast Shenwu, which controlled air; the Six of Hearts, Schrödinger’s Cat, which controlled space; the Nine of Hearts, the crab divine beast Jingxie, which possessed the “Sharpness” effect; and the Ten of Hearts, the tortoise divine beast Taixu, which controlled sound.

Hu Qingqing had also inherited the ability of some ancient beast, but she had never truly revealed it.

What did the ancient beast possessing the power of balance look like?

As I pondered this, the phantom of Tang Zifeng’s contracted divine beast appeared behind him—a gigantic bat.

Purple energy surged into one of Tang Zifeng’s palms, and a strange inscription appeared there.

“Take this!”

“The power of the divine beast Heavenly Execution!”

“Never miss!”

Under Tang Zifeng’s control, the broken stones scattered around us seemed to come alive. They shot straight toward me.