Lin Zijian VS Li Xinxin

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“But, Ergou, how come I never knew you survived?” I asked bluntly, showing no regard for her forced queenly posture.

“Only Xia Qingqiu, Zhou Zitong, and Jiang Tingjie made it out of the Law School alive.”

“Zijian, you seem to forget—we weren’t in the same year.” Li Xinxin explained, “The freshmen and sophomores had separate trials.”

“But we went to the same high school,” I retorted.

“That’s true, but I don’t really know what happened,” she replied evasively. “Anyway, it’s good that we can meet now.”

“But,” I pressed on, “if what you say is true, shouldn’t we also bump into juniors and seniors?”

Previously, I’d encountered Zheng Wei in the game—a person who wasn’t even a student at D-University but was still participating. Could it be that this game wasn’t just for students? I found myself deep in thought.

Jiang Linlin, pouting at the side, chimed in, “Xin-jie, you have to help me! This pervert saw me completely naked!”

Li Xinxin looked me up and down. “My, Lin Zijian, it’s only been a year or two, and you’ve become such a lecher?”

“It wasn’t like that!” I hurried to explain. “It’s all a misunderstanding.”

“Xin-jie! Look at him!” Jiang Linlin jabbed a finger at me. “He’s still holding my pajamas! If that’s not being a creep, what is?”

I quickly tossed the clothes back, waving my hands. “It really was just a misunderstanding!”

“Ergou! You believe me, don’t you?”

“Ergou, we’ve been friends for so many years—you have to take my side.”

I watched as Ergou’s smile faded, replaced by several black lines of irritation.

“Ergou,” I ventured, sensing nothing amiss. “What’s wrong?”

“Er—?”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Gou—?”

Before I could finish the second syllable, a fierce gust of wind slammed into me, sending me flying until I was plastered against the wall.

“Damn.” I was utterly powerless, the pressure from the gravity field rivaling Lin Xiayue’s ability.

“Xinxin, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” A wise man knows when to yield; I begged for mercy, and only then did Li Xinxin withdraw her power.

“So, you’re an ability user too,” I said, getting up and brushing the dust off my clothes.

“Hmph! You’d better be careful! Xin-jie’s power is super strong!” Linlin boasted.

“It’s nothing. Nowadays, most survivors have abilities,” Li Xinxin said with a smile, tucking away her deck of cards.

“Don’t underestimate Linlin just because she’s petite—her ability is quite formidable too! She can launch sneak attacks!”

“Xin-jie, stop! That’s a girls’ secret,” Jiang Linlin cut her off abruptly, and Li Xinxin decided to say no more.

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A sneak attack, now that’s interesting.

“Hey, Lin Zijian, want to have a match?” Without waiting for an answer, Li Xinxin grabbed me and leapt out the window.

“Oh my god! This is the fifth floor!”

Before I could even scream, we landed steadily on the ground.

“It’s been ages. Let’s have a spar!” Without waiting for my reply, Li Xinxin brandished a bronze fan, fanning a slicing wind blade straight at me.

“Shit!” I hastily countered the wind blade with a beam of light from my right hand.

First attack—blocked.

Li Xinxin’s face remained calm as she flicked her fan twice, sending two more wind blades at me from different angles.

Focusing, I fired beams from both hands, neutralizing her attacks.

“Come on, Xinxin, are you even trying? If you don’t get serious, I’ll start attacking.”

Her power was easy to read—wind manipulation, with the fan as the catalyst. If I could seize it, she’d lose for sure.

She sensed my intentions, waving the fan at me tauntingly. “Figured it out, have you? Well, take it if you can. Here I come!”

I unleashed three light projectiles, aiming for her left wrist, right wrist, and abdomen—areas that wouldn’t cause serious harm. My goal was to disarm her in the chaos, ending the match swiftly.

Her eyes flashed with panic as she rapidly summoned six or seven wind blades to intercept my shots. I was surprised she could control so many, but the outcome was as I anticipated.

Her wind blades failed to block my attack. Seeing she was about to be hit, I watched her expression closely, ready to stop if she showed any sign of yielding.

Yet, even as terror filled her eyes, she gritted her teeth and kept sending wave after wave of wind blades, her lips pursed in stubborn defiance—she’d rather die than beg for mercy.

But then, a sense of danger prickled at my instincts—the same sense that had saved me several times before. I didn’t dare ignore it.

Gathering light energy, I activated my shield. “Light Armor—activate!”

All of this happened in a split second.

Just before my light projectiles struck her, a crisp collision sounded, and Li Xinxin’s expression turned wicked. She sneered, “You’ve fallen into my trap.”

As she spoke, an overwhelming force yanked at me from all sides, pulling me apart. She’d set a trap as soon as we’d jumped out the window; her earlier attacks were merely probing, lulling me into lowering my guard.

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The real killing blow was the tornado of wind blades swirling around me. I stood at its center, relying solely on my light armor to resist the onslaught.

“Xinxin, aren’t you afraid you’ll accidentally kill me?” The growing power of the tornado pressed me close to death—I could feel my body about to be shredded.

Li Xinxin replied casually, “If you’ve survived this long, how could you be that weak?”

“You…”

I realized that if I didn’t use my full strength, I might really die here. My mind blazed with energy. I had been holding back, worried about hurting her, but now I could hesitate no longer.

“Flash!”

I mimicked Meimei’s technique. Since we both wielded light energy, I could replicate her flash effect. Though it had no attack power, it disrupted Li Xinxin’s assault for an instant—the tornado vanished.

When her vision cleared, she slowly landed on the ground.

“So you were hiding your strength?” she accused. “You weren’t even serious before. Do you look down on girls?”

“That’s not it at all!” I hurried to placate her. “Girls are to be cherished, not fought.”

But even as I said it, I realized how unconvincing I sounded—even to myself, much less to Li Xinxin.

And I had forgotten something—despite her elegant appearance, she was still the tomboy I remembered from years ago. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have challenged me to a duel the moment we met.

“Zijian,” she said, “you’re really weak.”

Unaware of my thoughts, Li Xinxin twirled her fan lightly, unleashing a completely different, explosive power.

“Damn, so you weren’t using your full strength either!” I leapt aside just as the spot I had occupied was obliterated by a wind blade—so fast I barely saw it. Only my danger sense saved me.

It was clear—her power was at least equal to mine, if not greater.

“Rapid-fire Light Blasts!”

Raising both hands, I shot out light energy like cannon fire.

Li Xinxin smiled coolly, and her fan instantly expanded, forming a shield before her.