Chapter 22 – Something's Wrong—A Hundred Points Worth of Wrong

“Jianliang, do you feel something’s a bit off?”

In front of the cave, Xu Jianliang, who was entangled with six or seven demon wolves, heard Zheng Liu’s words.

With a serious expression, he said, “It is a bit strange, I always feel…”

Before Xu Jianliang could finish speaking, a crimson demonic power ray swept toward him.

The attack came quite abruptly. If Xu Jianliang hadn’t been fully focused and possessed some skill himself,

he might not have been able to dodge it.

And this sudden misfortune was originally a demonic technique used by the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf to attack Lu Chen.

But after Lu Chen dodged it with an agile movement, the attack coincidentally struck in Xu Jianliang’s direction.

‘Is this kid doing it on purpose, or is it an accident?’

Xu Jianliang, who had narrowly avoided it, looked at Lu Chen fighting the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf not far away and couldn’t help but think this.

It was no wonder he overthought it; similar situations had occurred too many times.

So many that Xu Jianliang no longer considered them accidents.

Once could be an accident, twice could be a coincidence, but three times, four times?

It can’t be that every time you dodge a demon’s attack, the attack just happens to hit me.

Even guided missiles aren’t as accurate as you!

Something’s off, one hundred percent off.

This kid… couldn’t be acting with us, could he?!

Even Xu Jianliang had noticed the problem, and Chai Xi, an old schemer who appeared honest on the surface but was full of twists and turns inside, naturally noticed it too.

He used the spear in his hand to push back several Blood Amber demon wolves in front of him, then turned to Zheng Liu and Xu Jianliang on both sides and whispered, “This kid is doing it on purpose. We shouldn’t keep acting with him; he must have discovered our plan long ago.”

“He’s doing it on purpose?”

Zheng Liu looked at Lu Chen’s strenuous appearance as he fought the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf and still found it hard to believe.

This life-threatening, all-out effort, and you say he’s acting?

Is his acting too good, or am I, Zheng Liu, too stupid? Why can’t I see it at all???

It was no wonder Zheng Liu thought this way; Lu Chen’s current performance was truly too deceptive.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, Lu Chen was currently being overpowered by the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf.

And every dodge he made seemed like a necessary reaction.

And you’re telling me he’s acting?

If he really is acting, wouldn’t that mean Lu Chen, with Qi Condensation Stage Three cultivation, could steadily defeat the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf at Qi Condensation Stage Six?

As soon as this thought emerged, Zheng Liu shook it out of her head.

Because if Lu Chen really had such astonishing combat talent, how could he be a student of the Humanity Class? Shouldn’t he have entered the Heaven’s Path Class long ago?

After all, besides looking at students’ cultivation Aptitude, the Heaven’s Path Class also highly values students’ Comprehension Ability!

Does Lu Chen have this ability?

Zheng Liu thought probably not, or rather… she didn’t want to believe he did.

But Chai Xi’s next words completely shattered Zheng Liu’s self-deception.

“Xiao Liu, haven’t you noticed he hasn’t been injured at all from start to finish?”

“And our position… is getting worse and worse.”

A single remark awakened the dreamer. Zheng Liu looked at them, who had already retreated into the cave, and finally realized.

Lu Chen appeared to be fighting the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf, buying them time to escape.But in reality, every time they tried to break through the encirclement,

Lu Chen would always coincidentally fight the alpha wolf right on their retreat path.

After several such encounters, they unknowingly found themselves forced back into the cave.

Now, Lu Chen’s battle with the alpha wolf was deliberately confined to the cave entrance, completely blocking their escape route.

“Damn, now that you mention it, this guy really has been toying with us!”

Xu Jianliang belatedly turned to the other two, unable to hold back his curses.

He had initially thought Lu Chen was a selfless, righteous person.

How mistaken he had been! Utterly mistaken!

Fake, it was all fake.

He had tried to interact with Lu Chen as a weaker peer, only to be met with betrayal and mockery.

No more pretending—it was time to reveal his true strength!

“Zheng Liu, let’s stop playing along with him. It’s time to get serious.”

“Agreed!”

Zheng Liu’s pretty face turned cold as she immediately retrieved a Magical Artifact—the Spirit Fox Brush—from her Storage Bag.

Gripping the brush, she wielded it as if painting in the air.

A surge of Spiritual Power condensed into shimmering specks, flowing like water through the bristles of the Spirit Fox Brush.

With a final stroke, a crimson Talisman materialized before her.

Five Elements Talismans—Crimson Flame Talisman!

“Go!”

At that moment, Lu Chen, who was battling the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf, sensed the danger and vanished from his spot in an instant.

The next second, the Crimson Flame Talisman, now a raging inferno, struck the spot he had just occupied, hitting the alpha wolf instead.

An explosive blaze engulfed the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf.

When the flames subsided, the wolf’s body was covered in scorch marks.

Though the torrential rain and the demon’s naturally resilient physique spared it any serious harm,

the humiliation of being ambushed enraged the alpha wolf.

Snarling, the Blood Amber Alpha Wolf scanned the direction the Talisman had come from, only to find no one there.

Not only had Zheng Liu and the others disappeared, but even Lu Chen, who had been entangled with it moments earlier, was nowhere to be seen.

Confused and sword in hand, the alpha wolf could only let out a furious roar.

“Awooo!”

Hearing this, the surrounding wolf pack immediately scattered, resuming their search for Lu Chen and the others.

Meanwhile, in a wooded area about a hundred meters away from the Blood Amber Wolf pack,

Xu Jianliang clutched a glowing orb, breathing heavily.

“The Stealth Orb is running low on Spiritual Power. Let’s find a place to hide and put some distance between us and these demon wolves before making further plans.”

The Stealth Orb was the very Magical Artifact that had given Xu Jianliang the confidence to lure the wolf pack and trap other students.

When activated, it not only concealed their presence but also rendered them briefly invisible,

making even the keen-scented Blood Amber Demon Wolves unable to detect them.

It was thanks to this artifact that Xu Jianliang and his group had repeatedly escaped the wolves’ clutches.

Originally, the plan was for Xu Jianliang to use the orb during his fight with the alpha wolf, causing it to lose its target abruptly

and redirect its fury toward Lu Chen.

This way, they could not only earn points by hunting ordinary demon wolves in earlier skirmishes

but also have someone else take the fall, ensuring their own safe escape.

But Lu Chen’s proactive engagement with the alpha wolf had clearly disrupted their scheme.Although this reduced their initial pressure, it also made the alpha wolf’s behavior unpredictable.

However, considering the rule that students are not allowed to attack each other during the first phase of the mock exam, violators would have points deducted, Xu Jianliang ultimately had to swallow this unfairness and not seek trouble with Lu Chen.

After all, everyone’s points were hard-earned, and there was no need to act impulsively.

Besides, if Lu Chen couldn’t be tricked, they could just target someone else.

There was still plenty of time left in the first phase of the assessment, and they weren’t far from the core area anyway.

They had no reason to continue pretending to get along with Lu Chen.

Yet, the thought of how Lu Chen had just toyed with them left the group fuming.

Zheng Liu stamped her foot in anger and said fiercely, “Hmph! How dare he mess with us? Let him deal with those demon wolves on his own!”

“Jianliang, do you think that guy can escape from the wolf pack?”

“Jianliang? Jianliang?”

Zheng Liu called out several times but noticed Xu Jianliang still hadn’t responded. Instead, he was staring grimly in a certain direction.

Puzzled, Zheng Liu immediately followed his gaze.

When she saw the figure leaning against a tree not far away, her expression also turned grim.

Because the person under the tree was none other than Lu Chen.

Lu Chen looked at the group and said with a smile, “Fellow students, where are you planning to go?”

“How about… taking me along?”

As he spoke, Lu Chen proactively walked toward them.

But Xu Jianliang and the others stepped back repeatedly.

Seeing this, Lu Chen said regretfully, “We’re just classmates greeting each other. Your coldness… is quite disheartening.”

“Don’t you think so, classmate Jianliang?”

Xu Jianliang turned his head in shock, only to find that Lu Chen—who had been ten meters away just moments before—had silently appeared right beside him.

When… when did he get here???

(End of chapter)