Chapter 56

Behind the artificial lake.

Wang Junqi stood on a five-square-meter patch of open ground, her eyes tightly closed, and her mind reached an unprecedented level of concentration.

She could clearly feel the light yellow earth elements gathering from all directions.

The breeze rustled the leaves, and her hair swayed gently. Wang Junqi stood there like a stone, motionless.

Her heart reached an unprecedented state of tranquility.

This was Wang Junqi's favorite place to cultivate. She was a person with a solitary disposition and rarely spoke to anyone except for her teacher, Liu Hong, and the principal, Meng Laik.

Speaking of which, Wang Junqi's background was quite pitiful. She was destitute and had no one to rely on. If it weren't for Meng Laik discovering her back then, she might have frozen to death on the street.

Perhaps it was because of this life experience that she had an almost fanatical pursuit of strength.

Although there were many children at the Grassroots启蒙 School, Wang Junqi had no friends. She was known as a prodigy, but few people knew about the efforts and hardships she had endured behind the scenes.

As a gentle breeze blew by, Wang Junqi suddenly opened her eyes, her sharp gaze locking onto the leaves that had been blown off the trees.

The earth elements gathered around her were already poised to strike. With a single thought from Wang Junqi, they instantly formed into sharp earth spikes.

The sound of the earth spikes piercing the air could be heard as they suddenly launched.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Wang Junqi ran over to check the results of her recent move.

"One, two, three... " She counted the leaves pinned to the tree trunk by the earth spikes, exactly fifty in total.

If another child had achieved such results, they would have been overjoyed, but Wang Junqi was not at all satisfied.

"Just two more leaves, when will I reach the ideal one hundred?"

Wang Junqi was usually a quiet person in front of others, but when she was alone, she often talked to herself.

At this moment, the scene of her battle with Dongfang Xiuzhe once again flashed through her mind. The ghostly movements as swift as the wind still made her heart race.

"Why is he so strong?"

Wang Junqi was very curious about the reason. After living with Dongfang Xiuzhe for a few days, she found nothing particularly special about him, so why did he have such astonishing strength in battle?

"Why can he always create bizarre magic? What's the secret?"

Wang Junqi had seen Dongfang Xiuzhe use strange water magic several times. She couldn't understand how someone who had only recently started learning magic could wield it as flexibly as a part of their body.

"Does he really have a secret? Should I ask him? But will he tell me?"

On her way back to the dormitory, Wang Junqi was still somewhat distracted. As she passed the artificial lake, a strange sound caught her attention.

Under Wang Junqi's shocked gaze, the center of the artificial lake began to boil like water, and nine water columns shot up into the sky, transforming into nine dragons that spiraled and danced.

Dongfang Xiuzhe looked at Wang Junqi, who was standing at the door with a questioning look, and felt a headache. He hadn't expected his secret to be discovered.

But it was fortunate that the person who discovered it was Wang Junqi.

Dongfang Xiuzhe cleared his throat a few times and then asked somewhat awkwardly, "Did you see everything?"

Wang Junqi nodded, her eyes filled with enthusiasm.

"Really troublesome!" Dongfang Xiuzhe sighed.

Half an hour later.

Dongfang Xiuzhe and Wang Junqi were sitting on the lower bunk, their bodies touching.

"Don't be so stiff with your fingers. Bend your index finger inward, like this... No, like this!" Dongfang Xiuzhe guided Wang Junqi's basic hand gestures for forming seals.

It had to be said that Wang Junqi's small hands were very smooth, feeling like jade when touched.

Wang Junqi learned with great dedication, repeatedly asking, "Is it like this?"

Seeing Wang Junqi's eager and obedient demeanor, Dongfang Xiuzhe knew he had made the right decision.

"I never thought this little girl's weakness would be here. Hehe, now that I've discovered it, how can you escape my grasp?" Dongfang Xiuzhe felt a sense of satisfaction, but his face remained expressionless.

He found that Wang Junqi was a person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, almost obsessed with the pursuit of strength. Just by agreeing to teach her the secrets of forming seals, she was immediately won over, not only promising to keep the secret but also showing a rare, cute expression.

The basic hand gestures for forming seals were only about twenty, and more complex seals were derived from these.

Wang Junqi, living up to her reputation as a prodigy, mastered the basic seal gestures after just a few tries.

When she successfully cast her first earth magic using the seals, she was so excited that she hugged Dongfang Xiuzhe, looking like a lively little gray rabbit, which made Dongfang Xiuzhe smile.

From then on, Wang Junqi's attitude toward Dongfang Xiuzhe changed from cold to inseparable. They often went out to practice together and even started eating together.

Under Dongfang Xiuzhe's guidance, Wang Junqi's strength improved rapidly, and her magic became increasingly sharp.

On a tree branch, Liu Hong woke up from her meditation, her face pale.

It was that dream again, or rather, she had recalled the memory she least wanted to face.

"Three years have passed since that incident, and I still can't let it go!" Liu Hong's lips curled into a bitter smile.

Looking up at the white clouds in the sky, Liu Hong's mind once again conjured up the image of her enemy.

A robust body, a bare chest with muscles like rock, thick chains wrapped around his arms, a large hammer on his back, and a prominent tattoo on his chest, the character "狂" (Rage)!

Thinking of this man, Liu Hong's eyes glinted with cold light, and her body trembled slightly with excitement.

She didn't know his name, but his appearance was deeply etched in her mind.

She would never forget that this man had torn apart the mercenary group she had worked hard to build with his bare hands. She would never forget the expressions of her former comrades as they died under those hands.

"Rest assured, I will avenge you one day!" She vowed in her heart, and her expression gradually returned to normal.

At that moment, two suspicious figures caught her eye, making her feel surprised.

"Huh? Isn't that Qiqi and Dongfang Xiuzhe? Why are they walking together, and what are they up to so secretly?"

Curious, Liu Hong's figure flashed, and she quietly followed them.