Central Plaza. Far in the distance, atop the Bell Tower.
Luo Qingyu, who had been on the verge of leaving with a disdainful look, heard the statement. In that instant, her sexy red lips formed a perfect "O."
"Holy crap!"
Luo Qingyu couldnât help but swear, but a brilliant light instantly exploded in her eyes:
"This line... this tone... Why does it sound so familiar?"
She turned to Shen Yixuan, her voice filled with excitement:
"Back when *that person* was still around, didnât he say something just as arrogant? That âdonât waste my time, you lot of trashâ vibeâitâs exactly the same!"
The "that person" Luo Qingyu mentioned was a legend at Jing University from a few years ago, widely acknowledged as the top prodigy of his generation. He had once suppressed all his peers to the point that they couldnât even raise their heads.
A hint of appreciation also appeared in Shen Yixuanâs eyes.
"Heh, it looks like our Jing University has welcomed another incredible little monster."
...
ăIn front of the announcement board.ă
A full five seconds after Gu Yuexiâs words landed, the crowd finally snapped out of their sense of disbelief.
What followed was a towering inferno of rage.
If her previous "lateness" was a slight against them, then her current "come at me together" was a public trampling of their dignity!
"Gu Yuexi! What is the meaning of this?!"
A challenger holding a long staff took a fierce step forward, cracking the stone tiles beneath his foot.
He was so furious he began to laugh:
"Are you here to humiliate us?"
"Some Future Empress you are, putting on such an act? Do you really think I, Lei Hu, am trash?"
Another person stepped out with a cold sneer, Spiritual Power surging violently from his body.
"BZZZâ"
Just then, Chu Sheng, who had been resting in Gu Yuexiâs hair, heard the word "trash," and his eyes instantly lit up.
âI know this one!â
âIsnât this that classic, famous scene with the senior martial artist?â
It shot out, hovering in mid-air, and directed an extremely arrogant vibrational frequency at the indignant students:
"BZZ BZZ BZZ! BZZ BZZ BZZ BZZ BZZ!"
(Hey, donât get me wrong. Iâm not targeting you. Iâm saying... everyone here is trash.)
However.
Unfortunately.
This was the real world, not a TV series with built-in subtitles.
To everyone elseâs ears, Chu Shengâs series of "buzzes," filled with mocking intent, was truly just... a mosquito making noise.
No one could understand him.
Gu Yuexi rolled her eyes speechlessly.
âThis damn mosquito is so dramatic.â
She reached out, snatched Chu Shengâwho was still striking a pose in mid-airâand pressed him back onto her shoulder. Then, she looked at the furious upperclassmen, her tone still calm:
"My apologies. I didnât mean to humiliate anyone."
She was serious.
In her eyes, this was simply the most efficient solution.
"I just donât want to waste time."
"Fighting you one by one is too slow. Since the result will be the same regardless, why not choose the fastest method?"
This explanation was even more infuriating than no explanation at all.
What did she mean, "the result will be the same"?
Did she mean that whether we fight her one-on-one or as a group, weâre guaranteed to lose?
"Good! Very good!"
A fourth-year student was trembling with rage. He took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth:
"Since Sister Gu is in such high spirits and so confident, weâll grant you your wish!"
"Everyone, letâs not worry about the dishonor of ganging up on her. Sheâs thrown down the gauntlet, and if we donât accept, itâll just make us look petty!"
"Letâs just see what earth-shattering abilities this legendary Sister Gu has to back up that heaven-swallowing arrogance!"
At his command, the surrounding crowd quickly retreated, clearing a large open space in the Central Plaza.
ăIn the center of the field.ă
Gu Yuexi stood alone, a mosquito resting on her shoulder.
Opposite her stood more than twenty prodigies from Jing University, their auras fully unleashed and varying in nature.
The tension was palpable.
Still feeling unsatisfied, Chu Sheng rubbed his front legs together on Gu Yuexiâs shoulder and buzzed again:
"BZZZ (Whatâs the plan? You or me?)"
A slight smile played on Gu Yuexiâs lips:
"Whatever."
After her Mental Power broke through to the Sixth-Grade, Gu Yuexi had also become completely invincible within the Middle-Grade Realm.
Aside from the few Seventh-Grades who were worth a little attention, the other small fry were not even worth mentioning to her now.
She paused for a moment before continuing:
"How about we compete to see who takes down more?"
Gu Yuexiâs voice wasnât loud, but it carried clearly to the ears of everyone in the crowd.
The onlookers were all dumbfounded.
A huge battle was about to begin, so what was Gu Yuexi doing?
Who was she talking to?
Was she... communicating with that mosquito?
What did she mean, "compete to see who takes down more?" Was she treating this duel as a game? Was she treating these twenty-plus prodigies like a dish to be served, discussing how to divide them up???
This was just too arrogant!!
"How arrogant!!!"
The upperclassmen on the other side felt as if their dignity was being ground into the dust.
"Attack!!"
Forgetting all about composure, the Seventh-Grade Realm upperclassman roared and was the first to charge out!
In an instant, more than twenty beams of Spiritual Power lit up simultaneously. A kaleidoscope of Skills swept toward the girl and the mosquito like a tsunami!
...
The battle began quickly.
It ended... even more quickly.
Everyone had expected a brutal battle of encirclement, or at the very least, a war of attrition where Gu Yuexi would be struggling to fend off the attacks.
But reality delivered a resounding slap to everyoneâs face.
Gu Yuexi moved.
Her movements werenât fast; in fact, to many, the afterimages she left made it seem as if she were taking a leisurely stroll.
But every step landed precisely in the blind spots of her opponentsâ Attacks.
The Seventh-Grade upperclassman at the very front brought his staff crashing down with the sound of wind and thunder, but he hit nothing but air.
Gu Yuexi had only shifted her body slightly, and the staffâpowerful enough to shatter mountains and split stoneâscraped past the tip of her nose.
Before the upperclassman could even change his move, he felt a terrifying Spiritual Spike viciously stab into his mind!
"Ugh!"
The upperclassman grunted, and his movements froze instantly.
By the time he recovered, one of Gu Yuexiâs slender fingers was already pointed at the spot between his eyebrows... Of course, it stopped a centimeter away. Wouldnât he have died happy otherwise?
ăOn the other side.ă
If Gu Yuexi was a precision scalpel, striking vital points with every clean and decisive move,
then Chu Sheng was an omnipresent Ghost, its figure flitting left and right. Every time it paused, another student fell.
The spectating students went from initial shock, to gaping mouths, to eventual numbness.
They watched as their usually impressive upperclassmen couldnât even last a single move against Gu Yuexi.
They watched as the seemingly insignificant mosquito tanked a full-power blow from a Peak of Sixth-Grade cultivator without a scratch.
And even...
in the lulls of the battle, they could see Gu Yuexi occasionally glare at the mosquito, as if annoyed that it was stealing her kills.
Was this a fight?
This was basically a grinding session to level up!
...
Ten minutes.
Just ten minutes.
In the plaza, the once-violent fluctuations of Spiritual Power had completely subsided.
The dust settled.
The twenty-plus challengers, once so aggressive, were now lying scattered on the ground in disarray.
Some were rubbing their swollen faces, others were still twitching unconsciously, and a few were staring at the sky with expressions of existential dread, as if pondering deep philosophical questions: âWho am I? Where am I? Why did I lose to a mosquito?â
Gu Yuexi stood in the center of the field, her white clothes without a single wrinkle, her hair not even out of place.
Chu Sheng landed lightly on her shoulder.
A smirk appeared on Gu Yuexiâs lips:
"Me, fourteen."
Just as Gu Yuexi was thinking their little competition with the damn mosquito had ended in a tie...
Chu Sheng buzzed:
"BZZZ (Heh heh... I got fifteen!)"
Gu Yuexiâs expression changed. There were only twenty-eight challengers in total, so how could he have gotten fifteen?
Her gaze swept across the scene, and she didnât know whether to laugh or cry.
That damn mosquito, seeing that the numbers didnât add up, had actually dragged in a student from the crowd, beat him up, and added him to the count...