QT Cannon Fodder's Record: Dekachapter 204 (Patreon)

Chp 2031: Communication Gap

When Ning Shu saw Lian Bingmeng look at her like she was frustrated with her lack of drive, Ning Shu was a little puzzled. Why was she looking at her like that?

Lian Bingmeng said to Ning Shu, "How could you sleep during class? The way you look as if you’ve given up seriously makes people anxious."

Ning Shu patted the dust off her butt and looked at Lian Bingmeng. "It’s not like you don’t know that my summoned beast is a blade of grass. How could it possibly fight?"

Ning Shu had basically come to just watch. It was none of her business; she was a passerby who was just there to buy some soy sauce.

"Even the strong are working to improve themselves but you’re just sleeping..." Lian Bingmeng let out a long sigh. "I don't even know what to say to you anymore."

This was simply what top students were like ah… There was truly no way for them to communicate successfully with trash students.

When it was time for lunch, Ning Shu returned home and saw Little Bean training while sitting cross-legged on the sofa. He looked as small as a bean.

Mother Yue was putting dishes on the table. Their lunch had become quite a bit richer. There were now two dishes and even meat.

Now that the family had a little money, Mother Yue was happy to improve their meals.

Besides, cultivating the Unsurpassable Martial Arts also required a lot of energy. Mother Yue's complexion was better than before now that she didn't have to labor all day and night. With the addition of the Unsurpassable Martial Arts, her body would only get better and better.

"Mother." Ning Shu greeted as she sat down. Mother Yue said to Ning Shu with a smile, "You’re back! We’ll eat when your father is as well."

Ning Shu propped up her chin to look at Mother Yue and said while giggling, "I think Mother has suddenly become very pretty."

"Nonsense." Mother Yue tapped Ning Shu's nose. "Your appearance at an older age is incomparable to that when you’re young."

"Mother, you should go buy some jewelry to wear, it’ll definitely look good," Ning Shu said with a smile. "Anyway, money’s not as tight now as before. Mother should also dress up and act lovey-dovey with Father."

"Stop talking nonsense, it's not easy for us to have money, we shouldn’t squander it." Although Mother Yue was berating Ning Shu, there was a smile on her face. It was clear that since life had become easier recently, she was now a lot more relaxed.

"Money is earned to be spent. If there’s no money, your daughter will just earn it back," Ning Shu said with her chin propped up. She could now just go anywhere a bit dangerous, kill some monsters, get some monster crystals, and the family would have money.

As long as you were strong, it was quite easy to make money. However, if you were weak, it was really hard.

"Big Sister, you're back." Little Bean jumped off the sofa and threw himself into Ning Shu's arms. Ning Shu was knocked back a few steps by Little Bean's strength and coughed a bit.

"Little Bean, you have to control your strength, you know?" Ning Shu crouched down and placed her hands on Little Bean's shoulders. "Don't always just train, you should also go out to play with other children."

"What's the fun in that!? They can’t beat me and then just go home and complain to the adults when they lose. It's boring," Little Bean said with a pout.

"See, just as Big Sister said, as long as you train well, you will definitely get very strong," Ning Shu said with a smile.

Little Bean nodded. "I will definitely become very strong and protect you guys."

Father Yue came back to eat and then went back to work. Ning Shu went to her room to cultivate.

Because there was a spirit gathering information in the Yue home, it was very enjoyable to cultivate in the Yue home.

Ning Shu headed back to the academy when it was time. Ning Shu felt that it was rather useless for her to go to the academy since she could only watch others train.

More than a month quickly passed. The academy tournament was also about to start.

However, Little Grass still hadn’t woken up. Who knew how much longer it was going to sleep?

Ning Shu communicated with the green ball of light. Previously there was no reply but this time there was a response. A soft, gentle voice sounded in her mind. "Master..."

Ning Shu was stunned for a second. Its intelligence had developed from that of a single-celled organism to a human being?

"You’re awake?" Ning Shu summoned Little Grass and Little Grass floated in front of her.

It didn’t look like this brat changed at all.

"Let me see what developments have happened this time," Ning Shu asked, crossing her legs.

"Master, you better watch carefully." A young girl’s gentle voice sounded.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2032: Flower Pollen!

Little Grass extended a lot of vines. Ning Shu looked and didn’t see much difference from before.

Suddenly, a bunch of leaves sprouted on the vine and flower buds appeared. All the flower buds bloomed in an instant, creating a magnificent sight.

"Wow, you know to pretty yourself up now?" Ning Shu was speechless as she examined the flowers that grew on the vine.

"Master..." Little Grass felt quite wronged. "The pollen in my flowers is parasitic and can grow a lot of grass."

"This..."  was very powerful!

"Not bad, not bad." Ning Shu immediately smiled as she spoke. Now, not only could Little Grass entangle others in its vines, but it also had a spore-like parasitic lethality.

Feeling Ning Shu's joy, Little Grass stretched out a leaf and scratched her a little. "Thank you, Master..."

But what Ning Shu was most happy about was Little Grass’s intelligence. Although its speech showed immaturity, at least it could communicate.

Before, they could only rely on their telepathy to communicate.

She heard that summoned beasts, when strong enough, could become human. Ning Shu wondered if Little Grass had that possibility.

Ning Shu gave Little Grass the rest of the wisdom pills.

"Drop some flower pollen on me and see what happens?" Ning Shu said.

"Master, this flower pollen, when dropped on the body, will be very painful. Grass will even grow on you." Little Grass's voice was unusually soft and cute. Just by hearing this sound, Ning Shu felt like a soft and cute loli was standing in front of her, staring at her with wide, glistening eyes.

But how uneducated did this little thing think she was?

How could pollen grow into grass? Couldn’t only grass seeds do that?

"It's okay, I want to try it. Can you control the flower pollen?"

Vines wrapped themselves around Ning Shu's ankle, and beautiful red flowers eagerly bloomed one after another. No one could have imagined that such beautiful flowers were hiding murderous intentions.

When the flower pollen touched their skin, Ning Shu felt like something pierced into her skin for a split second. It was very painful. It felt like something had taken root in her skin and was about to germinate.

"Quickly withdraw." Ning Shu grimaced through the pain.

Little Grass quickly withdrew the vine that was entangled around Ning Shu.

Once again, Little Grass obtained a new skill.

Although Little Grass was weak, its vitality was stronger than that of animal summoned beasts. Even if a vine was cut off, Little Grass wouldn’t suffer any damage.

But in cultivating Little Grass, Ning Shu spent a lot of time and resources.

No one had any idea of her struggles.

"Very good, not bad." Ning Shu praised Little Grass. This increased her chances of defeating Lian Bingmeng in the tournament by a bit.

Ning Shu was secretly quite afraid of that mysterious pearl.

Lian Bingmeng definitely had a lot of hidden trump cards. Although she had several powerful summoned beasts, no one knew exactly how many summoned beasts Lian Bingmeng could summon.

With the mysterious pearl’s blessing, Lian Bingmeng was definitely a lot more powerful than she had let on.

"Master, Master..." Little Grass called Ning Shu in a soft voice.

"What is it?"

"I just felt like calling Master."

Ning Shu:  …

A feeling of unease suddenly sprung in her heart. Before, she had disliked Little Grass for being so stupid. However, now that it had developed a sense of intelligence, Ning Shu felt like it was developing in the direction of a non-stop chatterer.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2033: Is It Because Your Summoned Beast Is Too Weak?

The academy’s tournament was a one-on-one competition. There would be several fights happening simultaneously on different stages with the top 50 being chosen to enter the finals.

Only the matches of the top 50 could be called intense and brilliant. As such, right now it was just a warm-up match.

Ning Shu was currently facing a student whose summoned beast was a wolf.

This boy saw that Ning Shu hadn’t even taken out her summoned beast and sneered a little, “Why aren’t you taking out your summoned beast？”

“Is it because your summoned beast is too weak?” The boy’s expression was incomparably relaxed.

Summoned beasts were their summoner’s pride and joy. Thus most summoners were extremely happy to release their summoned beasts. The only exception was when someone’s summoned beast was too weak or ugly.

Ning Shu was expressionless.

"Since you won’t release your summoned beast, then I won't have mercy on you. Don’t expect kindness just because you’re a girl." The boy moved his neck a bit and waved at his summoned beast. "Go snap her neck."

The wolf viciously bared its teeth at Ning Shu, crouched, then lunged toward her.

Ning Shu stood still and didn’t move.

"Are you that scared?" The boy curled his lip and waited for the duel to end with a relaxed expression.

Ning Shu looked at the wolf that was charging towards her, and directly stuck out her foot and kicked the fiendish wolf off the ring.

The boy stared stupidly as his summoned beast fell off the stage, and the complacent expression on his face froze.

"You..." The boy pointed at Ning Shu with a very aggrieved expression...

"Yue Shuangshuang wins." The instructor shouted loudly.

"Instructor, she didn't even summon her beast, it's not fair!" the boy shouted.

The instructor said with a stern face, "Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough? She defeated you even without a summoned beast, yet you have the face to call that unfair."

The boy dispiritedly hung his head and descended the arena.

Ning Shu returned to her seat. Instructor Wen, who was sitting in front of the students, turned his head, looked at Ning Shu, and asked, "Have you started practicing martial arts?"

Ning Shu nodded. "Yes."

"Very good. However, you are a summoner – you still have to find a way to cultivate your summoned beast." Instructor Wen's expression was gentle.

"Thank you, Instructor," Ning Shu said gratefully.

"Don’t feel too pressured. You by yourself won’t likely be able to match your opponent who has themselves and their beast. How far you get to will just be how far you get to." Instructor Wen didn’t want Ning Shu to put too much pressure on herself. It was also because he knew that Ning Shu wouldn't be able to reach the end.

Ning Shu hummed in agreement, then looked towards the arena where Lian Bingmeng was dueling.

Lian Bingmeng's summoned beast in this battle was the chubby, fleshy winged dragon. It very arrogantly plucked off all of the opponent's summoned beast’s fur.

That summoned beast originally looked like a lion, mighty and domineering. But after its fur was all plucked off, it only looked funny as it stood there, pitifully skinny and naked.

The lion summoned beast immediately hid behind its owner, amusing the audience.

The owner’s face was also a bright red. He panickedly put his summoned beast away and ran offstage with his tail between his legs.

The adorable fleshy winged dragon jumped into Lian Bingmeng's arms with a cute look on its face.

Lian Bingmeng couldn't help but poke at the fleshy winged dragon with a doting expression. "Seriously, how can you pluck off all their fur?"

"Lian Bingmeng wins."

Lian Bingmeng got off the arena holding the fleshy winged dragon, sat down next to Ning Shu, and asked Instructor Wen who was in front, "Instructor, what do you think of my battle just now?"

Instructor Wen was silent for a while, before he finally said, "Summoned beasts, like humans, also have dignity."

"Yeah, I’ve always respected my summoned beasts and treated them as friends. I’ve never thought of them as animals," Lian Bingmeng said with a smile, petting the cute fleshy winged dragon.

The fleshy winged dragon stretched out its tongue and licked Lian Bingmeng's face in an incomparably intimate manner.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2034: A Soldier Can Be Killed, but Never Humiliated

Instructor Wen glanced over at the fleshy winged dragon and lightly said, "A soldier can be killed, but never humiliated. That summoned beast would have rather been beaten black and blue than have all its hair plucked out."

"You should restrain your summoned beast more in the future," said Instructor Wen.

Lian Bingmeng's expression turned ugly for a split second and her petting motion froze. She tried to explain herself. "Little Dragon is just mischievous. It had no malicious intentions. Besides, the hair will grow back."

Instructor Wen frowned and stopped talking, staring instead at the battlefield situation in the arena.

"How did it go for you? Did you lose?" Lian Bingmeng felt a little awkward and could only talk to Ning Shu. Lian Bingmeng resentfully stared at Instructor Wen's back.

Ning Shu said, "I was lucky and won."

"Your luck is pretty good," Lian Bingmeng lightly said. Her mood dropped a little.

The top 200 were selected on the first day of the tournament. Ning Shu had successfully advanced to within the top 200. In Lian Bingmeng's words, she was a lucky bastard!

When Ning Shu was battling, she didn’t release Little Grass even though Little Grass kept begging to come out.

Little Grass got very agitated when she saw the summoned beasts. She thought that even if she couldn’t eat two-legged people, the four-legged summoned beasts should be fine.

When Ning Shu ignored it, she kept calling in a soft and cute voice, "Master, Master..."

She was so persistent Ning Shu felt like her head was about to explode. Eventually, she directly roared at Little Grass to shut up.

Little Grass called out “Master” with a very resentful and pitiful voice.

After the battles, Ning Shu went home to train.

Tomorrow the tournament would continue. Ning Shu took a look at the remaining competitors and saw that some people in the academy were very strong.

Ning Shu had to practice hard to ensure that she could reach the end and stand in the same ring with Lian Bingmeng.

Defeating Lian Bingmeng in front of thousands of audience members without giving her any reason to take revenge— Yue Shuangshuang would probably love that.

After all, what Yue Shuangshuang wanted the most is to break away from Lian Bingmeng. When she was by Lian Bingmeng's side, anything that she did that was against Lian Bingmeng's will was a crime.

Little Grass hovered beside Ning Shu, absorbing the spiritual energy around her.

She was rather behaved though. She didn't make a single sound so as to not disturb Ning Shu.

After Ning Shu finished cultivating, she opened her eyes and checked inside her dantian. The energy was a little golden but the dragon-shaped energy was still white. For that to become golden, a lot more spiritual energy would be needed.

She could only slowly cultivate it.

"Master, I want to fight," Little Grass said softly to Ning Shu.

"I know that you’re lusting after those four-legged summoned beasts. Listen to me, that kind of beast can't be eaten, got it?" Ning Shu was super worried.

There was seriously way too much to worry about.

"Then what can I eat?" Little Grass said aggrievedly.

"You can eat it only if I say you can eat it, got it? Would you die if you didn’t eat!?" Ning Shu said in an annoyed tone.

"I would."

Ning Shu:  …

"Master, I’m a plant, I need nutrients." Little Grass aggrievedly said.

Ning Shu took out a few monster crystals for Little Grass. "Is this enough to sustain you for a few days?"

"Thank you, Master." Little Grass directly absorbed the monster crystals which turned into dust in a single moment.

Ning Shu:  …

"Are you just going to absorb energy endlessly?" Ning Shu suddenly had a bad feeling about this. If it could absorb anything, wouldn’t its vines end up covering the entire world in the future?

"No, I only need energy when I need to get stronger," Little Grass said simply.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2035: While There Is Life, There Is Hope

Ning Shu secretly let out a sigh of relief when she heard Little Grass say that. If it had needed energy endlessly as it did now, she simply wouldn’t be able to supply it.

"Little Grass, don’t just absorb anything and everything you see, got it?" Ning Shu said. There were many shops on the street that also contained tons of monster crystals. If Little Grass went crazy and absorbed them all, she’d be in for it.

Ning Shu didn't think the current Little Grass was very strong. This world was full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons—there were concealed talents and dangers everywhere.

"Why?" Little Grass asked in confusion.

As soon as Ning Shu heard its voice, she imagined a little loli standing in front of her with a questioning expression.

"Because they might kill you," Ning Shu said.

"If they aren’t able to kill me, then can I absorb them?" Little Grass then asked.

Ning Shu:  …

"It depends on the specific situation." Ning Shu rubbed the space between her eyebrows.

"For example, if you are facing a wild monster, you can absorb and swallow it after you kill it." Ning Shu endured her temper to explain patiently,  “You can also kill and absorb them if they want to harm you or put your life in danger.”

"If they don’t hurt you, don’t hurt them."

"Oh..." Little Grass “oh”-ed, not really understanding what Ning Shu was saying.

"Also, if you can't beat them, you have to run away, understand? So long as the green hills remain, there will never be a shortage of firewood—while there is life, there is hope. You can always find a later opportunity to kill that f–cker." Ning Shu diligently lectured Little Grass.

"I don't understand..." Little Grass said in a confused tone.

Ning Shu deeply inhaled. "Take it slowly."

The next day, the academy tournament continued.

Those who could enter the top two hundred were relatively strong.

"Release your summoned beast! Are you really going to try to fight me and my summoned beast with just your bare hands?"

The girl standing opposite Ning Shu wrinkled her brows. Beside her stood a fox-like summoned beast.

Ning Shu nodded and released Little Grass. However, it was only a blade of grass the length of a palm.

Little Grass didn’t reveal its fierce appearance and instead looked like it couldn’t be more ordinary

"This is your summoned beast?" The girl pointed at Little Grass with a weird expression. "Are you going to fight me with a blade of grass?"

"Master, I’ll entangle her and root grass in her body." Little Grass’s cute voice said extremely malicious words.

"Shut up. Just stay on the side and watch." Ning Shu rolled her eyes.

"Spirit fox, attack..."

The spirit fox received its owner’s command and rushed towards Ning Shu's face.

The spirit fox’s speed was very fast. In the blink of an eye, it was already right in front of Ning Shu.

Ning Shu dodged the spirit fox’s attack with a tilt of her head. The spirit fox disappeared in an instant and appeared again behind her. Ning Shu abruptly turned around, reached out her hands, and grabbed the spirit fox’s neck.

But her hands were also scratched by the spirit fox, causing fresh blood to well up.

"Master, let me wrap myself around her." Little Grass saw that Ning Shu was injured and started making a ruckus again.

Ning Shu threw the spirit fox with great force off the arena. The spirit fox whimpered a few times and seemed like it wouldn’t be able to get up again.

"How dare you treat my spirit fox like this?" The girl's eyebrows stood up sharply. She glared at Ning Shu and charged toward Ning Shu with her fists clenched.

A summoner‘s power completely came from their summoned beast. This girl's jack-of-all-trades kung fu was no match for Ning Shu’s. Ning Shu instantly stopped her by catching the girl’s wrist and arm, then forcing them behind the girl’s back.

The girl struggled. "Let me go!"

"Yue Shuangshuang wins!" The instructor shouted.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2036: You Must Be Stronger Than a Lot of Other People

Ning Shu released the girl’s arm. The girl indignantly descended the arena while holding her spirit fox, glaring at Ning Shu as she left.

Ning Shu wiped her wound with a handkerchief and returned to her seat.

"Take this and drink it." Instructor Wen took out a bottle of medicine and handed it to Ning Shu.

"Thank you, Instructor." Ning Shu took a sip and felt incomparably refreshed. It was very different from the shoddily-made medicine she’d previously tried.

After drinking the medicine, the bleeding from the wound gradually stopped.

"You’ve exceeded my expectations by entering the top 200. To be able to get here, you must be stronger than a lot of other people." Instructor Wen said gently.

"Thank you, Instructor." Ning Shu grinned a little and turned her head to observe the situation in the other arenas. Mu Ziqi’s arena caught her eye. Mu Ziqi's abilities were quite strong, especially his summoned beast, which could even spit fire.

Fire was especially effective against wood. Ning Shu would need to be very careful if she had to face it.

Lian Bingmeng won flashily using sparks and lightning, putting on a show without using an ounce of effort. The tournament was just like a game to her.

Instructor Wen’s words probably had a bit of an effect. Lian Bingmeng's summoned beast, the fleshy winged dragon had stopped plucking out the hair of other summoned beasts.

Nevertheless, it still played around with them.

Lian Bingmeng's expression was helplessly pampering.

When Lian Bingmeng got off the arena, someone brought her water.

Ning Shu consecutively went up to fight a few times. However, Ning Shu was still defeating her opponents on her own, only having Little Grass watch the battle.

Ning Shu didn't want Little Grass’s abilities to be revealed right now. That would give others, especially Lian Bingmeng, a chance to prepare and defend themselves.

What made Ning Shu quite speechless was that one opponent's summoned beast was huge. It seemed to be as heavy as an elephant and forced Ning Shu to use up a lot of her strength to knock it down.

She was so tired that her body was full of sweat.

"You just..." The opponent blankly stared at Ning Shu. He obviously did not expect Ning Shu to have the strength to knock down such a heavy summoned beast.

"Yue...Yue Sh-sh-shuangshuang wins." The instructor shouted while looking at the fallen elephant.

Ning Shu got off the ring and Lian Bingmeng looked at her in surprise. "How are you so strong?"

"I was born like this." Ning Shu said with a grin.

"How come I didn’t know about this?" Lian Bingmeng narrowed her eyes and thought for a while, but couldn’t recall any memory or information regarding Yue Shuangshuang's extraordinary strength.

"Not bad, you might be able to make it to the top 100." Instructor Wen nodded, rather gratified.

Lian Bingmeng's expression was a little unpleasant. "I was so worried for you, but you didn't even bother to tell me about your natural-born superpower."

"You never asked."

Lian Bingmeng's expression became even more ugly. Who would have imagined you had a natural-born superpower?

She had never shown it to others before and had hidden it deeply.

"No wonder you didn’t accept my gifts. You could even lift your opponent’s summoned beast with that strength. It doesn't matter if your own summoned beast is weak." Lian Bingmeng patted her fleshy winged dragon. "You never regarded me as a friend."

Yue Shuangshuang had deliberately hid it from her.

"I don't usually have the opportunity to show my strength. It's normal that you wouldn’t know. Besides, everyone has their own secrets." Ning Shu couldn't take seeing Lian Bingmeng act like this.

Lian Bingmeng was probably dissatisfied with her victory. It was probably that she likely felt surprised and annoyed that someone she’d always seen as weak and pitiful suddenly became kind of powerful.

"Actually, I've always been curious, You couldn't summon any summoned beasts before, so how are you suddenly able to summon so many beasts now? How did you do it?" Ning Shu stared at Lian Bingmeng.

Lian Bingmeng's eyes flickered a little. "Didn't you say that everyone has their own secrets? Can’t I can't have a secret? The previous rumors of me being a failure were false."

Lian Bingmeng left with the fleshy winged dragon in her arms, not wanting to sit with Ning Shu anymore.

It just so happened that Mu Ziqi came to look for her so the two left together.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2037: Could Probably Make It Into the Top 50

Ning Shu had triumphantly progressed all the way into the top 100 only relying on her own brute strength. Little Grass hadn’t done anything from beginning to end.

Ning Shu had become the biggest upset in this tournament. No one would have thought that Ning Shu, this trash summoner, would make it to the top 100 by relying only on her physical strength.

Although they were surprised, most thought that Ning Shu wouldn’t advance any farther. A person simply couldn’t compare to a summoned beast; it wasn’t enough to just have physical strength.

As she advanced farther, it was very likely that any kind of powerful summoned beast would be able to defeat Ning Shu in seconds.

Ning Shu didn’t care. In any case, she still had energy to spare and could probably make it into the top 50 without Little Grass.

On the contrary, Instructor Wen was quite surprised. Some of the students he’d had high hopes for were eliminated while Ning Shu, who he’d had placed no hope in, advanced.

"Very nice job." Instructor Wen praised Ning Shu softly.

"Thank you, Instructor." Ning Shu said with a smile. She would definitely make it to the top 50. The opportunity to defeat Lian Bingmeng in a just and honorable way could not be missed.

As long as she defeated Lian Bingmeng, she would be freed from Lian Bingmeng's forced friendship.

Instructor Wen leaned back in his chair as he watched the arena match, then shook his head. "The weaknesses of summoners have already been exposed. Everything depends on the summoned beast – the summoned beast has to both fight the enemy and protect their master."

"Once something happens to the summoned beast, the summoner has no power." Instructor Wen said with a sigh.

"Some summoners also train in martial arts," Ning Shu said.

Instructor Wen shook his head. "Only summoners are highly regarded. Many people look down on martial artists. Besides, a martial artist can only do a little bit of weak kicking and punching."

Ning Shu's expression was indifferent. How could there not be a method like internal strength training in this world?

Her Unsurpassable Martial Arts were sure to shine here.

When the time came, she would be able to gain more faith power again. Ning Shu felt good just thinking about it.

"Instructor Wen, do you also practice martial arts?" Ning Shu asked, unable to imagine the gentle and jade-like Instructor Wen rolling up his sleeves and lifting a stone weight.

"Yes, I do." Instructor Wen nodded.

Ning Shu imagined Instructor Wen taking off his shirt and working out, wow...

"What are you guys talking so happily about?" Lian Bingmeng sat down and said to Ning Shu, "I can’t believe you made the top 100. Congratulations. You’re really good at punching and kicking. Let’s have some fun when we face each other in the arena."

"Okay..." Ning Shu nodded, recalling that Lian Bingmeng seemed to know ancient martial arts. While she was a mercenary in the modern world, her teacher was from an ancient martial arts family.

Ancient martial arts practiced the pinnacle of martial arts. Even drifting flowers and fallen leaves could be used to injure others; grass, trees, bamboo, and stones could all be dangerous as well.

There were very few people who knew that Lian Bingmeng practiced ancient martial arts. Ning Shu couldn’t help but wonder what level Lian Bingmeng’s martial arts were at.

Lian Bingmeng narrowed her eyes and stared at Ning Shu for a while. Ning Shu met her gaze, then Lian Bingmeng was the first to avert her eyes. Lian Bingmeng said to Instructor Wen, "Instructor, I have something to ask you."

"What’s the matter?" Instructor Wen gently said.

Lian Bingmeng glanced at Ning Shu. Ning Shu got up, planning to get some water.

As if she wanted to listen in.

Ning Shu went to the gate of the academy to buy some water and snacks. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw someone dressed as a servant at the academy entrance talking to Mu Ziqi.

She didn’t know what the little servant said, but it caused Mu Ziqi’s face to turn angry and sad. The rims of Mu Ziqi’s eyes even reddened and his fists clenched.

Ning Shu could guess what had happened.

Almost instantly, Ning Shu recalled themMiss of the Mu family who’d died in the man-eating tree forest. Could it be that the miss had a good relationship with Mu Ziqi?

Anyway, her body had already been completely destroyed so there was no way to track her death.

Ning Shu watched Mu Ziqi while nibbling on some snacks. Mu Ziqi, with reddened eyes, waved his hand to dismiss the servant.

The servant bowed and quickly ran away. Mu Ziqi wiped at his tears and fiercely slammed his fist against the wall.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2038: I Didn’t See Anything

Ouch, that must’ve hurt!

Ning Shu smacked her lips.

Mu Ziqi turned around and saw a girl staring at him. At first, he ignored Ning Shu and was about to enter the academy, but then he turned his head to stare and actually walked directly toward her. Mu Ziqi stood in front of Ning Shu, towering above and looking down at her.

Ning Shu quickly swallowed the snack in her mouth. "What are you doing?"

"Did you see everything just now?" Mu Ziqi's face was grim and his brows were furrowed tightly.

Ning Shu shook her head. "I didn't see anything."

Fudge. He was about to vent his anger on her. She was just a passerby, he shouldn’t go too far.

"Why are you following me?" Mu Ziqi said in a low voice.

Ning Shu:  …

Fudge, he was purposefully trying to find a fault with her.

"I wasn’t…"

"Let me tell you… whatever your name is, I won't like you back even if I die. Stop being delusional." Mu Ziqi said contemptuously.

Ning Shu:  …

Ugh, this f-cker was intentionally doing this. Just because he felt bad, he needed to jab at other people to make them feel the same.

"If I find you stalking me again, I'll kill you." Mu Ziqi said coldly.

"I…"

"Don't show up in front of me ever again. If you do, you won’t live to see tomorrow’s sun." Mu Ziqi turned around and left.

Ning Shu: … Fuck, could you please let the other person finish their sentence?

She hadn’t said a single complete sentence.

Ning Shu amitabha-ed a little, hope you die of your grief.

Ning Shu finished eating the snacks, entered the academy, and returned to her seat. Who knew what Lian Bingmeng had said to Instructor Wen, but her face had a reserved yet beautiful smile and she kept staring at his side profile.

Ning Shu stared at the battles going on in the arena. Mu Ziqi was in one of them and had become even more provoked. All of his opponents were getting brutally wounded by him.

Not only did he get his own summoned beast to cripple the opponent's summoned beast, but he also violently physically beat his opponent.

The opponent panickedly admitted defeat and sharply screamed for help from the judging instructor.

Mu Ziqi’s opponents must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck.

Several students in a row were severely beaten by Mu Ziqi. After beating them, Mu Ziqi would throw two bottles of high-quality medicine over and coldly say that although it was just a friendly competition, it was inevitable for there to be some unintentional injuries.

Mu Ziqi was so much stronger than his opponents, how could the injuries he dealt possibly be unintentional? The opponents would pick up the medicine on the ground, glare at Mu Ziqi, and limp off the arena with their summoned beast.

Mu Ziqi felt heartbroken so he vented his anger on others. As long as they had to face off against Mu Ziqi, the students would tremble in fear and trepidation.

Some people directly forfeited.

The current Mu Ziqi was quite terrifying. His behavior was so vicious that it was like he was taking revenge with deep hatred in his heart.

When Lian Bingmeng saw him like this, she hurriedly went over to him.

Probably to comfort him.

Ning Shu only hoped not to have to face Mu Ziqi when the top 50 were to be chosen out of the 100. Mu Ziqi clearly needed to vent his anger right now and she didn't want to be the one he did it to.

She didn’t want to show her cards so soon.

There was no advantage in showing her trump card too early. Right now others only regarded her as a strong and bulky barbarian girl. As such, when the time came, she’d be able to catch them off guard.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2039: My Older Sister Died

Mu Ziqi's instructor told him to stop being so relentless towards his opponents. As long as he won, he should end it peacefully.

Mu Ziqi’s face was ashen and he didn’t speak, ignoring the instructor’s words. There was nothing the instructor could do. After all, this was his proudest student who also had an impressive family background. Mu Ziqi’s grandfather was a pillar of the empire.

"Mu Ziqi, what's with you?" When Lian Bingmeng found Mu Ziqi, she talked to him with concern.

Mu Ziqi wiped his face and said in an unusually gloomy voice, "My older sister died during the clan training."

"This..." Lian Bingmeng looked surprised. "How did she die?"

"The people in our family only found her clothes. The corpse had already decayed and been absorbed by the man-eating trees." Mu Ziqi's eyes were red. "She was my biological sister."

Lian Bingmeng comforted Mu Ziqi. She gently said, "A storm may arise from a clear sky; human fortunes are as unpredictable as the weather. Your sister wouldn’t want you to be so heartbroken."

"My sister was strong and a strong elder associated with our clan even went with her. It’s impossible for her to have died so easily. The family is currently investigating her cause of death."

"So you guys suspect that there’s another reason behind your sister's death?" Lian Bingmeng asked. "But how can you confirm that suspicion when there isn’t a corpse?"

"The Mu family has the capacity to investigate." Mu Ziqi exhaled and looked at the beautiful contours of Lian Bingmeng’s face. "Thank you for comforting me, it’s just hard for me to accept her sudden death"

"It's alright, we are comrades. Your pain is my pain, we will bear it together." Lian Bingmeng reached out and patted Mu Ziqi’s shoulder. "You have to cheer up."

"Thank you." Mu Ziqi‘s gaze, as he looked at Lian Bingmeng, was filled with love and warmth.

Ning Shu here had prayed not to bump into Mu Ziqi early on. However, in the end, she had to face him in the elimination rounds that narrowed the top 100 to the top 50.

"The next fight—Mu Ziqi vs Yue Shuangshuang."

Fr*ck.

"Shuangshuang, Mu Ziqi's sister just passed away. Forgive him if anything happens."

Ning Shu was about to enter the ring when Lian Bingmeng grabbed Ning Shu and told her such.

Ning Shu:  …

Excuse me??

What does that mean?

"So what?" Ning Shu asked.

"Take this." Lian Bingmeng stuffed a bottle of medicine in Ning Shu's hand. "Mu Ziqi's biological big sister recently died. If Mu Ziqi crosses the line with you, you’ll be able to understand, right??"

"You like him, so you can empathize with how much he’s suffering right now." Lian Bingmeng urged Ning Shu earnestly.

Ning Shu: →_→

What did that even mean? Just because Mu Ziqi’s sister died, she should be his punching bag? Why should Ning Shu care that Mu Ziqi’s big sister died, she wouldn’t care if even his entire family died.

"What if I can't understand?" Ning Shu looked indifferent, tilting her head and looking at Lian Bingmeng.

Lian Bingmeng was momentarily stunned before she immediately frowned and said, "He’s grieving right now."

"What does that have to do with me?" Ning Shu irritatedly said. "You know that he's much stronger than I am, should I be thankful for your medicine? Why don't you urge him to restrain his emotions instead! Wow, he’s excused from his actions because his big sister just died. "

It wasn’t like anyone owed Mu Ziqi anything. What gave him the right to vent his anger on them?

"Don't you like him? Why can't you understand his current mindset? It’s his big sister!" Lian Bingmeng said.

"Exactly, I can't understand it, I can't understand it." Was there something wrong with her brain? What the hell?

"Yue Shuangshuang, enter the arena." The instructor on stage loudly shouted. Mu Ziqi looked around with a dark expression.

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho

Chp 2040: Just Set Her on Fire

"When you go up and fight, try your best, and then just stop at that. This competition is not child's play." Instructor Wen frowned slightly and said to Ning Shu.

"Yes."

Ning Shu entered the arena and stared at Mu Ziqi.

Mu Ziqi was in a bad mood. If it weren't for the academy tournament, he definitely would have already gone home. Staying would only make him more irritated and distraught.

However, Mu Ziqi also wanted to acquire the academy’s resources. There was a rumor that this time’s first-place reward was very generous. He had to get it.

When Mu Ziqi saw that his opponent was Ning Shu, he frowned, impatience filling the space between his brows. His facial color was quite ugly.

"Just set her on fire. So annoying." Mu Ziqi said to his summoned beast. Mu Ziqi would go up and beat his other opponents himself. But facing Ning Shu, Mu Ziqi was only filled with impatience and disgust. He didn’t even want to beat her up.

She’d seen his downcast appearance at the academy gate earlier. Plus, she’d also previously confessed to him, not considering how she was way below his league.

Mu Ziqi's summoned beast was pretty much the same as his sister's—a beautiful and huge bird.

It looked like a phoenix. However, it couldn’t be reborn from ashes and was actually a luan bird. If it achieved the former, however, it had the potential to evolve into a phoenix.

Mu Ziqi's luan bird let out a clear cry, flew into the air, and opened its mouth to spew a long stream of fire toward Ning Shu.

Ning Shu hurriedly dodged, but a flame still got on her cuff. Ning Shu quickly patted the cuff, but the flame didn't weaken at all.

Flames raged wildly on the ground.

Ning Shu suddenly jumped directly over the flames and sent a punch toward Mu Ziqi.

Seeing Ning Shu rushing towards him, Mu Ziqi grimly laughed. She really thought she was so great now that she had a little bit of strength.

Mu Ziqi took a step back, closed his eyes slightly, and then summoned another summoned beast, the iron-winged spirit bull.

The entire body of the iron-winged spirit bull looked as if it was made of rocks. As soon as it came out, it mooed and charged toward Ning Shu, directing the sharp horns on its head toward her.

If Ning Shu was really hit by the iron-winged spirit bull, she’d end up half dead. Even if she didn’t die, she’d be disabled.

Mu Ziqi really was cruel.

Ning Shu wasn’t about to collide with that barbarian bull. Instead, she turned her body sideways and dodged its attack, then grabbed its horn and flipped herself up to sit on the iron-winged spirit bull’s back.

The iron-winged spirit bull thrashed around, trying to throw Ning Shu off.

Ning Shu clutched its horn tightly, and then mobilized the energy in her body, sinking it into her dantian.

Then with all her strength, Ning Shu knocked it to the ground. The iron-winged spirit bull was slammed onto the ground with a thud, causing the arena to cave in a little.

"Moo moo..." The iron-winged spirit bull shouted shrilly and mournfully.

Ning Shu gathered her entire strength, swung the bull around in a circle, and threw it to smash into Mu Ziqi.

Mu Ziqi's expression was a little stunned, but he still reacted quickly and immediately put his summoned beast away.

The audience members were speechless. Ning Shu had swung around a bull as if she was playing with it. How much strength did she have?

"Chirp chirp..." The luan bird, who was flying in the air lowered itself, letting Mu Ziqi jump on its back. They then flew into the air, condescendingly looking down on Ning Shu.

Ning Shu might be strong, but strength wasn’t useful in this situation.

"Teach her a lesson. Don’t let her off easily." Mu Ziqi's expression was malevolent. His iron-winged spirit bull had sustained severe injuries.

Did you really assume you could be successful in all your endeavors just because of a little strength?

How naive!

Translator: chiss

MTL Editor: Taconite

TLC: Kaho