Maze perimeter, one hundred meters in the air.
After leaving the surveillance room, Xiaguang’s wings vibrated at high frequency behind her, freezing her in the sky as if she stood on solid ground.
She took a metal ring out of her pocket and flicked her wrist lightly.
Ka-cha!
The sound of machinery moving rang out.
The ring instantly extended and transformed, and countless colorful nanoscopic particles surged forth, constructing themselves into the grip of a streamlined, gigantic gun.
Alloy Iron Pieces of unknown function were loaded along the gun’s body, emanating an extremely dim blue, icy light.
The whole thing radiated a strong sci-fi vibe.
Xiaguang deftly shouldered the gun stock.
Her left hand reached forward to steady the foregrip under the barrel.
With her right, she pinched a beige Short Needle from her chest.
The needle had an unusual shape, like a bamboo insect from Earth, with four long slender legs.
Click!
The thin legs retracted, and the Short Needle was loaded into the chamber.
Three sets of lenses popped out in sequence along the rail, assembling into a blood-red scope.
Xiaguang tilted her head slightly and pressed her cheek against the cheek pad.
Her gaze locked through the crosshairs onto the blue-haired girl wreaking havoc inside the enclosure.
She decisively pulled the trigger, letting out a barely audible sound from between her lips:
“biu ….. “
A flash of rainbow light shimmered at the muzzle. The gun body jolted, yet not the slightest sound escaped.
A ripple spread out through the air, closing in an instant.
***
In the next moment, the beige Short Needle seemed to break through spatial limits, traversing several kilometers in just 0.5 seconds, suddenly appearing right beside Yun Ruoxi!
No ordinary person could ever react to such an ambush.
However, at the very instant the needle neared her body—
The blue-haired girl’s eyes flashed as if she sensed something, and she snapped her gaze toward the flying needle’s direction.
【70%】
She quickly lifted her left hand toward it.
Layer upon layer of invisible psychic barriers unfolded instantly along the Short Needle’s path!
At the same time, a spherical shield burst from within her, expanding rapidly outward!
【80%】
The students besieging her were struck by the expanding shield and sent flying, clearly losing their combat ability.
Yet, the beige Short Needle pressed on, its momentum undiminished.
In slow motion, it pierced through all her defenses one after another as if puncturing balloons.
At last, it struck deep into her waist and abdomen!
At the wound’s depth, the needle’s “claws” unfurled, greedily sucking blood like a real insect.
“Ugh!”
The persistent pain at her waist made Yun Ruoxi stagger, a flash of agony passing for the first time over her perpetually indifferent face.
She slowly straightened, veins bulging at her temple.
【85%】
Her gaze swept over the students felled by her psychic force. Suddenly, she stretched out her right hand toward them.
Then—
She clenched it in the air!
Surging psychic power transformed into dozens of invisible giant hands, pinning down their joints and torsos with precise control.
A dozen awakened students were forcibly lifted off the ground.
A trickle of blood slid down from the girl’s nose.
“Ahhh!”
With an angry shout, her trembling right hand swung with all its might, hurling the dozen or so students like stones dozens of meters away.
“Hah, hah, hah …”
Panting heavily, she slowly landed on the ground.
The more than ten weapons stuck in her back clashed softly with each rapid breath, producing a gentle metallic chime.
「That gun is so cool」
「But this is way too much copying, isn’t that bamboo insect bullet ripped straight from Hunter x Hunter’s flea?」
「It’s a tribute, just a tribute (doghead)」
「Lao Xi’s rampage is insanely awesome!」
Not far away.
The thrown students groaned, unable to get up for a time, clearly having lost their ability to fight.
After catching her breath, Yun Ruoxi’s toes lifted off the ground and her figure floated up once more, drifting slowly toward them.
But just then—
Ka-cha!
The main corridor door at the end of the passageway thundered open.
Suspended in midair, Yun Ruoxi’s advance abruptly halted as she looked toward the doorway.
Immediately after—
Her mouth suddenly opened, and wisps of gray-black mist slowly seeped out from her mouth, nose, and ears.
As her stellar bloodline continued to be awakened, the mist that blocked her five senses was being driven out as an impurity.
Lifting her head to gaze toward the distant sky, in the instant Yun Ruoxi’s eyes met Xiaguang’s, who was hovering in the air—
She understood her situation at once.
She gently raised her right hand, and thirty meters away, Aili was lifted softly by an invisible force and delivered safely to the wall.
With her left hand, she beckoned forward.
All the awakened students were forcibly gathered together.
The scattered weapons on the ground—and those in their hands—floated up, clattering down like sudden rain, stabbing into the floor to form a tightly packed circle.
“Anyone who leaves the circle dies.”
The sharp pain from that earlier gunshot seemed to have snapped Yun Ruoxi’s mind fully back into clarity.
Her voice hoarse, she issued the warning, then turned, striding without a backward glance toward the door that had opened for her.
“Elder Sister!” Aili called out urgently behind her.
Yun Ruoxi stopped, raised her right hand, and, under Aili’s hopeful gaze, clenched it into a fist.
Fragments of a comb on the ground floated up lightly, dropping into Aili’s arms like feathers.
An invisible hand gently ruffled her hair.
“Little Ai, wait for me ……. I’ll carve a bloody path out of here!”
Before her words finished, she had already soared through the doorway.
Ka-cha ..
The alloy door closed heavily behind her, shutting out all light and sight.
「Awake, but not fully—she’s still just as ruthless」
「No way, the more I see of this Lao Xi, the more I can’t hold it together. She’s just like Nagato, don’t you think?」
「Totally」
「Looks like we’re in for another thrilling fight, big-budget animation from start to finish!」
Beep!
The signal light switched from red to green.
The first alloy gate on the main corridor opened.
Two battered, but still energetic, male students strode quickly out.
Number 1424, Number 1123.
They immediately spotted the blue-haired girl floating midair with weapons jutting from her back. Their pupils shrank.
Just as they activated their abilities, intending to attack—
Invisible psychic force surged forth like a tide, instantly closing around their throats and yanking them off the ground.
They tried to resist, but their attacks were effortlessly blocked by the psychic shield around Yun Ruoxi’s body.
The next second—
Both were thrown directly back into the room.
Unwilling to give up, they charged out again, only to be slammed back even harder by an even stronger force, finally making them settle down.
Yun Ruoxi continued floating forward.
Buzz!
The second alloy gate opened, then the third, fourth, and fifth…
Each awakened student who emerged from the doors proved no match for her, repeating the cycle of “step out, get thrown back in—try to fight, get subdued.”
“Awakening progress analysis complete. Current progress: 85%.”
As Yun Ruoxi continued to wield her abilities, the star energy in her bloodline surged. The Analysis Probe finally finished its scan and returned the results.
Dr. Shizhi examined the transmitted data and revealed a satisfied smile: “Very good. Already at 85%. Give her even more pressure.”
Instructor Behemoth nodded slowly at these words and tapped the air.
In the next instant, doors six through fifteen in the surveillance feed thundered open.
This time, twenty students emerged, all with numbers ranked within the top eight hundred.
Among them—
Number 432 Lin Zhen, Number 498 Scarred-Faced Man, as well as Kaos and Yun Che—
Four figures deeply familiar to Yun Ruoxi were impressively present!