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In an instant, remember this, as it offers you an exciting novel to read.
After the effect of the Yellow Card ended, Dina leaped through the mud and water, landing above the house where Cui Ming was, pursuing him relentlessly. Cui Ming casually stepped out, blending into the crowd, continuing his stroll... Look, the best way to escape is to vanish. When a practitioner is not in a vanished state, their body is wrapped in a layer of Force, like a coat, making them easily detectable by Force Practitioners. However, once they vanish, they become indistinguishable from ordinary people.
Cui Ming wore clothes just like the crowd and donned a mask, expressionless as he scattered flowers while following the parade. Dina was on the rooftop of the house right next to him, angrily scanning the area. Cui Ming maintained a remarkably calm demeanor; being able to break into someone’s home while their master was present was a testament to his cultivated composure.
Dina had seen Cui Ming more than once but had always let him slip by. At that moment, a figure appeared atop the Clock Tower on South Street. Dina focused her gaze and recognized Beiyue had returned. Beiyue scanned the surroundings from the Clock Tower and almost immediately spotted Dina without any cover; without hesitation, he dashed toward East Street.
Dina flipped off the rooftop, holding a dagger in one hand while quietly waiting at the eaves.
Beiyue suspected nothing and relied on his auxiliary enhancement abilities to land directly on the street. At that moment, Dina made her move; she threw a dagger at Beiyue's body and instantly appeared beside him. Her body spun around as she unleashed a ten-meter-wide spiral of blades, countless daggers shooting out in all directions.
Before Beiyue could turn around, he sensed something was wrong; it was too fast. He instinctively glanced at the Life Stone tied to his left hand, noticing its life energy depleting at an alarming rate. The force of rotation brought with it another power that made Beiyue's movements sluggish, as if he were caught at the edge of a tornado, unable to break free while being swept along with the spinning force. Dina's youth and status as an examiner were certainly not mere coincidences.
This was the first time since becoming a practitioner that Beiyue found himself in imminent danger within mere seconds. Over the years, relying on his auxiliary enhancement abilities, he had always believed himself to be as solid as steel, repeatedly withstanding powerful attacks from Force Beasts. But this time was entirely different. It was too strong; the density was too high... I’m going to die... At that moment, Beiyue recalled Li Qing's words: "You are an auxiliary enhancement type; if you think of yourself as a shield, you are gravely mistaken. You are a warrior—a warrior who cannot be broken."
Dina sneered inwardly; how arrogant these auxiliary enhancement types were just an hour ago. Yellen, who specialized in enhancement types, had nearly lost his life against her attack; if it weren't for Ye Xin's timely support, she would have already slain Yellen. When dealing with someone like Beiyue or Yellen, Dina had her own insights—these individuals thought of themselves as unbreakable rocks but were actually easier to deal with than Ding Ze. If she ambushed Ding Ze, he would immediately activate his teleportation to escape from her storm of daggers. Meanwhile, they would still have to turn around to assess the situation...
Paralysis or Yellow Card... At Beiyue's moment of crisis, nearby Cui Ming immediately ended his vanishing state and drew a Yellow Card. This Yellow Card was completely ineffective against her dagger assault. Even if he immobilized her opponent, she could still strike... However, Cui Ming's eyes lit up; oh my goodness, it was a trump card—a card that was invincible in all realms—one he had drawn only three times over the past few years.
"Flawless." The trump card flew toward Beiyue and exploded upon contact with his body, enveloping him in a layer of golden light. The invincible trump card that could ignore collapsing heavens and earth... The sound of daggers changed instantly—from piercing flesh to ringing like metal striking metal. There were so many daggers that their sounds melded into one harmonious melody.
The whirlwind effect dissipated; Beiyue calmly turned around completely. Gripping his massive blade tightly, he struck down upon Dina's body. The spinning Dina was instantly thrown back as her Force shattered upon impact and rolled away for several meters. In this most critical yet vulnerable state... Beiyue followed after Dina with four blades flying through the air simultaneously—four blades merging into one. Since meeting his father's friend, Beiyue's technique had evolved; instead of wielding four separate blades during his descent, he now wielded one massive blade formed from their fusion—three blades merged into one 'Yan' blade—and with one slash downwards came an unstoppable force that shattered Dina’s Life Stone as she was automatically teleported away. A card remained where she had vanished.
Beiyue picked up the card and looked at it: Masked Assassin—four stars. Below it was a backstory stating that there had been rumors of a female Masked Assassin appearing in town who specialized in eliminating passing foreign merchants; no one had seen her true face because those who did were already dead—most of them never having seen her true face...
Cui Ming applauded: "Beiyue is magnificent." In Cui Ming's impression, Beiyue was like an impenetrable shield—no one could break through him—and yet he wasn’t lethal either. Today he had taken Dina’s life in just two moves, which left Cui Ming quite shocked. During their journey through Twilight City, Beiyue had indeed made progress; she had uncovered the secret of the massive blade. At the same time, Cui Ming felt some sadness; Beiyue’s growing strength indicated she had cast aside some unnecessary burdens. And given how little Beiyue possessed to begin with—what exactly had she discarded? Cui Ming pondered this deeply.
Mi Xiaonan arrived, still trying to understand what was happening. She heard Cui Ming say that Beiyue had taken down Dina with just two moves, leaving Beiyue astonished. Beiyue knew very well that if it weren't for Cui Ming's brilliant intervention, she would have already been defeated. Indeed, as an assassin, it was a matter of life or death with a single strike. Seeing Cui Ming's demeanor, Beiyue felt no need to say much; this guy was just pretending to be clueless. By now, the golden hue on Beiyue's body had completely vanished.
Beiyue was quite shocked by Cui Ming's move and asked, "What?"
"Flawless."
See? It was obvious that a clever person was playing dumb; she only mentioned something and already knew what Beiyue was asking about.
Cui Ming continued, "I've drawn this card three times in the past six or seven years. I’ve probably drawn cards for catching thieves over ten thousand times..." In prison, it was all about drawing cards, drawing cards, drawing cards... "Beiyue, your luck is extraordinary." It wasn't her luck; it was Beiyue's luck.
The trip to Twilight City, along with the assessment, had opened Beiyue's eyes. Especially Yellen's performance in the enhancement department—such immense attacking power from an enhancer, even surpassing her own major in enhancement—humbled Beiyue further. She didn’t feel like she had performed particularly well earlier.
Outside the arena, the President looked at the furious Dina beside him and asked, "Why choose Cui Ming first?"
Dina retorted, "Shouldn't we choose Cui Ming?"
"Not really," the President replied. "Among these five, Cui Ming is undoubtedly the most cunning. Aside from Ding Ze’s teleportation, once you catch any of the others, they are doomed to be killed. Cui Ming presents a variable; theoretically, he should be the easiest to eliminate. But in practice, due to his cunning nature, he should be the last choice rather than the first. Knowing yourself and your opponents means you should have some understanding of the other four; no matter how things change, their essence remains unchanged. But Cui Ming is Strategy; I doubt even he fully understands what Strategy entails."
Bald Wanderer suggested, "How about I send them a Five-Star Card?"
The President quickly replied, "That would be too much; just send a hunter down to warm up."
"Alright."
...
Li Qing successfully obtained a card. As the four gathered to support Ding Ze at Labyrinth Mountain, Dina appeared through teleportation. Before she could speak, Cui Ming had already drawn his Black Card... Dina hurriedly intervened; among these people, Cui Ming was the fastest to act—his fingers could send a card flying in an instant.
Dina first instructed the mage to teleport Ding Ze over and addressed the five of them: "After discussing with the President, I want to propose adding a Five-Star Card as a decoy. If you agree, even if you fail this mission, you will receive thirty basic points as a consolation prize. If you succeed for any reason, you'll receive fifty basic points as full marks."
Just as Beiyue was about to speak, Cui Ming interjected, "From what we can see, Dina, you should be the strongest four-star card in our mission, so getting fifty points as a base score is not a problem. Why should we add another challenge?"
This statement was quite deliberate; Cui Ming made an affirmative assumption that Dina was the only four-star card, the highest difficulty card.
Sure enough, Dina fell into the trap and responded, "Of course, there’s another benefit." This indirectly confirmed Cui Ming's assumption that the other cards were at most three-star difficulty.
Mi Xiaonan was oblivious, but Beiyue and the others immediately understood the implications. Beiyue was relieved that they hadn’t spoken up; otherwise, they would have fallen into the trap of exchanging what they already had.
Cui Ming remained composed. "What benefit?"
Dina replied, "If you can obtain this Five-Star Card, then one person will be unconditionally guaranteed to pass the assessment."
Cui Ming shook his head immediately. "No. If we agree to the new Five-Star Card entering the mission, then one person will be unconditionally guaranteed to pass the assessment. Dina, our current situation is very optimistic; entering the second half will definitely be of low difficulty. We don’t need to lose twenty points from our base score here. Admittedly, even low difficulty presents challenges, and we cannot guarantee that everyone will pass. So your offer isn’t enough." Cui Ming and Dina were on similar wavelengths, but Cui Ming wanted more; not only did he want fifty base points, but he also wanted a guaranteed pass card. This way, even if they couldn’t obtain the Five-Star Card, they would still pass and receive fifty base points—though personal scores would be deducted.
After thinking for a while, Dina asked, "Alright, but you must choose someone to guarantee their passage right now. This person will continue to participate in the assessment with you."
This was quite cunning; for an ordinary team, this condition could sow discord among members. Discussions would inevitably lead to disputes. Even if one person was ultimately chosen for a guaranteed pass, a rift would have already formed. Furthermore, in the second half of the competition, this guaranteed member could easily become a sacrificial pawn. Thus, while it seemed like a fair and friendly proposal, it actually concealed deeper intentions.
However, Cui Ming could not refuse because even in low difficulty during the second half, Beiyue could still fall. If the other four passed and Beiyue did not... Cui Ming looked around at everyone and patted Li Qing's arm; Li Qing nodded in agreement. Mi Xiaonan and Ding Ze had no objections either. Beiyue prepared to speak up when Cui Ming gestured for silence, indicating not to argue—he had his own plan.
Cui Ming said, "We will guarantee Beiyue." (To be continued.)
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