767 Eavesdropping

Chaoge stared at Feng Wu. “…What a coincidence. There just happens to be Frost Essence in the terrain for the physical tryout?”

Feng Wu smiled at her.

“I see!” Chaoge smacked her own thigh. “You made this happen, didn’t you? You asked Grand Secretary Fang to pick this terrain where that Frost Essence is, right?”

Feng Wu shrugged. “Grand Secretary Fang hasn’t always been the vice-principal, has he? But I did suggest he choose Proud Snowfield for the physical tryout.”

“Xiao Wu! You’re incredible!” Duan Chaoge was amazed. She then gloated. “I overheard the other candidates complaining about this terrain earlier, saying it was too difficult. If they knew it was you —”

“Shhh —” Feng Wu shushed her with a finger.

Chaoge covered her mouth and stared at Feng Wu in bewilderment.

But one of Chaoge’s good qualities was that she always followed Feng Wu’s orders.

Feng Wu led Chaoge to the back of a snowdrift, and they sat down out of the wind.

The snowdrift was as tall as a wall. No one passing by on the other side could see them.

They heard someone talking on the other side.

“Have you heard?”

“What?”

“There’s a super impressive candidate among us this time! That person got tossed into Zone 2 when we were teleported in!”

“Wow! Zone 2?! Aren’t magical beasts there Level 5 Spiritual Grandmasters at least?”

To newbies like them who hadn’t made it into Imperial College, a Level 5 Spiritual Grandmaster was something they could only dream about.

“That’s right. I was told that the person killed three Spiny Frost Beasts all at once!”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously!”

“Who could that be? With what they can do, they’ve got to be the best candidate this year!”

“Someone said it was Yu Mingye!”

“The legendary sacred son of the Dark Court? Well, I’m not surprised if it’s him. He’s surpassed the Spiritual Grandmaster stage already. No Spiritual Grandmaster is his match.”

“But some say that it wasn’t him, for he headed for the center of Proud Snowfield as soon as he entered.”

“So, it wasn’t him?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Who else, then?”

“Apart from the sacred son, three top candidates were mentioned this year: Ning Chenxi of Anyuan Province, Xuanyuan Yi of the Xuanyuan family, and Gongsun Qing.”

“Gongsun Qing? So, Miss Gongsun, the third daughter of the Gongsun family, is one of the three top candidates?” someone said in a pleased tone.

Miss Gongsun was here with them?

Feng Wu and Chaoge exchanged looks.

Neither of them had heard of this Miss Gongsun, but it was clear that those talking on the other side all knew who she was.

For many cried out in surprise.

“Miss Gongsun? Gongsun Qing?”

Gongsun Qing’s people gloated and proudly replied, “Yes, we have Miss Gongsun Qing with us here.”

All the others were instantly thrilled and showered Gongsun Qing with praise and flattery.

After all, Gongsun Qing was one of the top candidates in the bunch.

Since they were lucky enough to run into her, of course they would jump at the opportunity.

“Miss Gongsun, I’m Tao Shuang.”

“Miss Gongsun, I’m Yin Yi.”

“Miss Gongsun, I’m Du Jian.”

“Miss Gongsun, I’m…”

Gongsun Qing only had two people with her. They were two siblings, Shi Xun and Shi Xuan.

The brother and sister raised their eyebrows in satisfaction. They were part of Gongsun Qing’s clique and felt like they could share Gongsun Qing’s fame.

768 The Aloof Girl?

Gongsun Qing darted a glance at them in a nonchalant manner, gave them a little nod, then went back to her cultivation.

Soon, Tao Shuang and the others struck up a conversation with the Shi siblings.

Shi Xun asked, “Hey, do you remember Feng Wu, that top student in the written exam? Maybe she’ll be the dark horse of the physical tryout.”

“Hahahaha —”

Tao Shuang and the others guffawed.

Shi Xun frowned. “Why are you laughing?”

Tao Shuang said, “You’re not from the imperial capital, so you probably don’t know this: Feng Wu lost her cultivation ability for good.”

“But hasn’t she recovered after so many years?”

“Of course not. How can one recover a lost ability? Feng Wu is going to spend the rest of her life a cripple, but she just won’t accept it. She just had to force her way into this exam. Is she asking for humiliation or what?”

“That’s so true. Feng Wu got excellent marks in the written exam because she’s always been bright. It’s no surprise that she got the top score, but when it comes to the physical tryout… well, she better hide herself well.”

“That’s so true. Unluckily for her, we have the toughest terrain this year — Proud Snowfield. We can withstand the cold by activating our spiritual essence, but Feng Wu… I don’t think she can stand it.”

“She may not be able to walk out of Proud Snowfield alive in seven days.”

Everyone was discussing Feng Wu animatedly.

Chaoge was infuriated by everything she heard.

She wanted to rush out and beat up everyone who was trashing Feng Wu behind her back.

Feng Wu stopped her and shook her head with a smile.

“We talk about other people behind their backs and we get talked about the same way. Big deal.” Feng Wu shrugged.

Moreover, she had deliberately concealed her true capability so that she could take advantage of the way everyone underestimated her. She couldn’t care less about their comments.

But Chaoge cared. She was the hot-headed one. Feng Wu could only shake her head with a wry smile.

But Chaoge always obeyed Feng Wu. Since Feng Wu had stopped her, she would suppress her anger no matter what.

No one noticed that Gongsun Qing, who was supposed to be cultivating, hadn’t been paying any attention to it at all this whole time.

Her mind had wandered off the moment she heard Feng Wu’s name.

“Feng Wu, I thought I would have a chance to face you in combat, but here you are, still a cripple. I can kill you as easily as stepping on an ant!” Gongsun Qing smirked.

Everyone stopped talking and stared at Gongsun Qing in bewilderment.

That was so arrogant. Gongsun Qing sounded as aloof as a princess!

“Can you?”

A quiet voice came from behind the snowdrift.

“Who’s there?!”

Gongsun Qing was astonished!

Someone had been hiding there and she hadn’t noticed at all? She only became aware of the person once they spoke!

With a wave of Gongsun Qing’s hand, a gust of wind struck the snowdrift!

The snow toppled onto Feng Wu like a thick wall!

Feng Wu snorted. She didn’t need to do anything, for Little Phoenix had opened its beak.

Whoosh —

A fireball charged at Gongsun Qing, right for her face.

Orange-red flames filled the air and columns of fire flew around like blazing dragons, frightening everyone.

They were shocked!

“What bird is that?!”

No one noticed Feng Wu and Chaoge, for Little Phoenix had drawn all their attention.

But Little Phoenix turned all its attention on Gongsun Qing!

769 The Little Girl Back Then?

Although Little Phoenix was proud, sharp-tongued, and wouldn’t admit to being Feng Wu’s mount itself, it couldn’t stand it when other people looked down on Feng Wu!

Its master had left an explicit instruction, telling it to protect the dumb little Feng Wu. How dare these people say those things? They were practically insulting the mighty Little Phoenix!

“You ignorant human! Die!”

The angrier Little Phoenix became, the more deadly its fire was.

Balls of flame hurtled at Gongsun Qing one after another!

Gongsun Qing wasn’t called one of the top three candidates for nothing. The girl was very capable.

What was more, she specialized in the ice attribute!

In this terrain, she was at home!

In order to defend herself against Little Phoenix’s attack, she activated the ice element, and snow rose into the air, forming an ice shield around her!

Columns of fire pounded at the shield, but couldn’t break it no matter what.

They had reached an impasse.

Exasperated, Little Phoenix kept spitting out more fire!

Attack! Attack! Attack!

The ice shield around Gongsun Qing grew thinner and water dripped down around her.

However, Feng Wu noticed that Little Phoenix was running out of spiritual essence and was gasping for air.

Feng Wu patted the bird. “Little guy, you can stop now.”

“No!” Little Phoenix shook its head grumpily without turning its gaze away from Gongsun Qing. It snorted. “Little Feng Wu might be dumb and silly, but that’s for me to say! No one else can say anything bad about her!”

This little bird… Feng Wu shook her head in resignation.

Little Feng Wu? As in Feng Wu?

Everyone looked at Feng Wu in disbelief when they heard the name!

“You’re Feng Wu?!” Tao Shuang cried out.

Yin Yi said, “Yes! Yes, it’s her! I saw with my own eyes when she made that bet with Princess Mu at the city gates. That’s right! She’s Feng Wu!”

A hush fell over the crowd as soon as Yin Yi said those words…

It was only a moment ago when…

They had been trashing Feng Wu behind her back while Feng Wu herself was only a wall away from them. She must have heard everything… That was so embarrassing!

Gongsun Qing flew into a humiliated rage. She glared at Feng Wu. “Did you hear what we said?”

Feng Wu found the question idiotic. “What do you think?”

“So, you did nothing when you heard what we said – that’s because we were telling the truth! You’re a good-for-nothing!” Gongsun Qing stared at Feng Wu with contempt.

“Do you have an old grudge against me or something?” Feng Wu asked curiously.

“Y- you don’t remember me?!” Gongsun Qing was dumbfounded!

Feng Wu was confused. “Why should I remember you?”

Gongsun Qing opened her eyes wide. “You, you… Did you forget the little girl by the lotus pond five years ago?!!!”

Five years ago? A lotus pond?

That did jog Feng Wu’s memory.

“The little girl I kicked into the lotus pond for bullying my brother Xiaoqi?” Tilting her head, Feng Wu studied Gongsun Qing. “That was you? The plump meatball?”

The plump meatball? Pffft —

Gongsun Qing almost choked!

She was widely regarded as a beauty now and people worshipped her! But to Feng Wu, she was just a meatball?!

Patting Gongsun Qing’s slim shoulder, Feng Wu said, “Hey, Meatball, here’s the thing —”

770 A Bad Feeling

Patting Gongsun Qing’s slim shoulder, Feng Wu said, “Hey, Meatball, here’s the thing. Keep treating people like this and you won’t have any friends left.”

“I’m not your friend!” Gongsun Qing glared at Feng Wu!

However, at that moment, Feng Wu raised her hand.

Whoosh —

Little Phoenix showered the crowd with another round of fire.

Everyone, apart from Gongsun Qing, was caught off guard.

“What are you doing?!” Gongsun Qing flared up. She tried to run out to help the others.

To Gongsun Qing’s disbelief, she couldn’t throw off Feng Wu’s hand.

“That’s impossible!”

Gongsun Qing was baffled by the realization.

Exactly how powerful was this Feng Wu?!

Shi Xun and Shi Xuan, Gongsun Qing’s two friends, and Tao Shuang, Yin Yi, Du Jian… everyone was caught inside a circle of fire.

Of course they tried to fight back, but Chaoge was working with Little Phoenix!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

All five of them were on the ground in less than three minutes!

“Let go of me!” Gongsun Qing struggled with all her might. To her disbelief, Feng Wu was so strong that she simply couldn’t break free!

Was Feng Wu really a cripple?

Shi Xun and the others were no match for Chaoge and Little Phoenix. Before long, they were all rolling around on the ground, wailing loudly.

Chaoge looked at Feng Wu, who nodded back at her.

Chaoge’s eyes lit up!

Grabbing Shi Xuan, Chaoge sucked all the spiritual essence out of the latter’s headband before moving on to Shi Xun, Tao Shuang…

All the headbands were emptied, except for Gongsun Qing’s.

Gongsun Qing was shocked!

They had been working hard and had hunted quite a few magical beasts. By now, everyone had three to four stars lit up. And Feng Wu had stolen their spiritual essence just like that?

“You —”

Gongsun Qing wanted to say something, but Feng Wu took her by surprise and hit her in the carotid artery on her neck with the side of her palm.

Feng Wu was already a much more capable cultivator and there was no way Gongsun Qing could dodge that sudden attack.

Gongsun Qing’s vision went dark. The last thing she saw was a shadow flitting past her. She then passed out.

Feng Wu took away all the spiritual essence which Gongsun Qing had obtained from hunting.

“Xiao Wu, you’ve absorbed the spiritual essence, but why aren’t your stars lighting up?” Duan Chaoge asked in confusion.

Feng Wu sighed.

She wanted to light up all her stars.

And she wanted to use the spiritual essence for her cultivation.

But the cub had absorbed all the spiritual essence, and there was nothing she could do.

Feng Wu was almost in tears.

Poor Gongsun Qing and her friends. They had been robbed of their spiritual essence because they had talked trash about Feng Wu behind her back.

“That’s not enough! I’m still mad!” Chaoge stomped her foot.

Feng Wu glanced at her. “How about we do it again when they’ve lit up all seven stars?”

“That’s a great idea!” Chaoge was thrilled.

It would be like reaping chives.

They only had one harvest so far. All they needed to do was wait for the leaves to grow, and they would be able to harvest again.

If Gongsun Qing heard their plan, she would have a heart attack.

Chaoge had four stars already, but Feng Wu’s headband remained dim.

“Xiao Wu, where are we going now?” Chaoge asked.

Feng Wu said, “The stars can wait. What’s more pressing now is to find the Frosty Night Beast. It has the Heart of Frost Essence.”