Chapter 53

The library was ancient and worn, clearly having stood for many years. When it was first built, the surrounding area was just a circle of saplings, but now they had grown into towering trees with lush branches, shading the library and giving it a unique charm. However, the library's lighting was far from satisfactory.

Two doors stood there, one already fallen, the other shaken open. Inside was a wide corridor, dim and dark. Fortunately, everyone was a cultivator, and a Second Heaven realm of Soul Force was enough to see clearly in such light. They sniffed the air, detecting the smell of alcohol, and heard voices. Then, they saw a woman emerge from the darkness, holding a bottle in her left hand and a girl under her right arm—the red-clothed girl who had just burst in, apparently unconscious.

"Huh?" The students of Tianzhao Academy were stunned.

When they smelled the alcohol, they had a vague idea of who it might be, but seeing the woman holding the red-clothed girl like this left them feeling incredulous.

In their minds, she was just a woman who drank all day, a useless and decadent figure. Everyone wondered why such a person was still allowed to stay in the academy.

But now, the red-clothed girl, whom they had failed to subdue, had been so easily overpowered in the short time she had rushed into the library. Could this drunk woman have been hiding her true strength all along?

Everyone was silent in shock, except for one voice, cold and clear.

"Let her go."

Lu Ping spoke.

Just three words, but they were filled with unwavering courage and determination. Everyone knew he wasn't just talking; as he spoke, Lu Ping had already charged forward, rushing without hesitation.

"Be careful!" Everyone shouted instinctively, having already witnessed Lu Ping's speed and strength.

But the drunk woman only frowned slightly, not out of worry or caution, but out of curiosity. She looked at Lu Ping, wondering how a boy with no Soul Force could have such explosive power.

Lu Ping's fist swung out, and at that moment, a powerful Soul Force surged forth, colliding with the air and producing a sound like a hurricane.

All the students of Tianzhao Academy paled. What kind of power was this? If hit by such a force, could anyone survive?

At the top of the Sound Transmission Tower, in the sound transmission room.

When the punch was thrown, Wen Yan's expression immediately changed.

"Indeed..." She glanced at Xi Fan. "He wasn't using his full strength before."

"It's not just that!" Shen Chi said, noting that the power of the punch was still increasing.

"What is that?" Wen Yan suddenly exclaimed, as if she had seen something.

Xi Fan had a vague idea of what it was. He had only seen it twice and heard it twice, but the impression was deeply etched in his mind.

When this thing appeared, it was likely the peak of Lu Ping's power, a hypothesis Xi Fan had always had.

His judgment was correct. Lu Ping was now using his full strength.

He recognized the woman in front of him as the strong woman they had seen in the porridge shop in Wangshan Town, who had casually thrown one of the City Lord's twelve guards, Wei Yang, out and poured a bowl of porridge on his face.

The woman was very strong, but more importantly, Su Tang was in her grasp.

So Lu Ping held nothing back, using his full strength.

Ding, ding...

Chains appeared, clashing together.

"What is that?" The students of Tianzhao Academy looked in surprise at the sudden appearance of the chains. The drunk woman's expression also changed, but the frown of curiosity on her face relaxed.

"Remarkable," she said, then added, "but also a mess."

Boom!

The hurricane-like Soul Force swept over, and the woman's body was instantly torn in half. The bottle in her left hand shattered, spilling alcohol, while the right half, still holding Su Tang, continued to move.

What was happening?

Everyone's eyes widened, and in the blink of an eye, the right half had restored itself.

An afterimage?

They realized that the Soul Force had only hit an afterimage. The woman's movements were so fast that no one had noticed her actions, only the result.

The hurricane-like Soul Force was left behind as her left hand, now free of the bottle, reached out and locked onto Lu Ping's throat, lifting and pressing him down!

Boom!

Another massive sound, the collision of Soul Forces. The stone slabs in front of the library cracked and splintered, and Lu Ping's upper body was buried in the ground.

With a hiss, a bloodstain suddenly appeared on the woman's left cheek, blood droplets flying. She had been slightly injured while dodging Lu Ping's attack, but everything had happened so fast that the wound only now appeared.

The woman's expression remained unchanged, completely unaffected by the injury. Her gaze was still fixed on the chains hanging from Lu Ping's hands and legs. She seemed to be focused only on this, and the fact that such a powerful force had been used against Lu Ping did not seem to bother her.

Lu Ping's eyes, however, were fixed on Su Tang, who was still in the woman's grasp.

This woman was incredibly strong, stronger than he had ever faced, but no matter how strong she was, he could not give up. He had to save Su Tang.

His throat, tightly locked, made it hard to breathe, but a low growl still escaped. The chains, which had become blurry, suddenly became clear again, moving as if alive, clanging irregularly as Soul Force surged once more.

Rushing Soul Force? Resounding Soul Force? Air Soul Force? Pivot Soul Force? Power Soul Force? Essence Soul Force?

Before, the students of Tianzhao Academy had sensed no Soul Force from Lu Ping, but now, all six types of Soul Force were present, powerful and emitting a devouring aura. They felt an unprecedented threat and involuntarily stepped back. Thirty points? So terrifying, even three hundred or three thousand points would not be worth approaching; it would be suicide.

The drunk woman, whose expression had not changed much, now showed a significant change.

"Enough!" She withdrew her left hand from Lu Ping's throat, removing the immediate threat, but the Soul Force continued to rise.

The drunk woman paused, looking at Su Tang, and finally realized. The boy in front of her had not been concerned about his own danger but had been focused on the girl she was holding.

"Don't worry, she's fine." The drunk woman said softly, sending a pulse of Soul Force into Su Tang's body.

Hearing this, Lu Ping's momentum slightly diminished, and then Su Tang woke up.

"Ah, you're here." Su Tang was happy to see Lu Ping as soon as she opened her eyes.

"Yep, I'm here." Lu Ping said.

"That's good." Su Tang looked relieved.

"Are you okay?" Lu Ping was still a bit worried, even though the woman had let Su Tang go.

"I'm fine." Su Tang smiled, then glanced at the drunk woman. "Do you remember her?"

"Oh..." Lu Ping responded, and the Soul Force he had been forcing out gradually retreated. Finally, as he relaxed completely, the chains suddenly straightened, as if being tightly pulled, and a look of pain flashed across Lu Ping's face, but he gritted his teeth and did not make a sound. Blood surged to his mouth, but he forced it back down.

"Are you okay?" Su Tang noticed his unusual expression.

"I'm fine." Lu Ping shook his head.

"Idiot." The drunk woman also shook her head and suddenly slapped the top of Lu Ping's head with her right hand.

Puh!

Lu Ping immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and then fainted, his head drooping.

"You!" Su Tang was alarmed and swung a punch, which, despite her exhaustion, burst with unprecedented power, the wind from her fist felt by those several meters away. But the woman only lifted her right arm slightly, and in an instant, she had Su Tang back in her grasp, and Su Tang immediately fainted again.

Holding Su Tang with one arm and dragging Lu Ping by the other, the woman turned and walked back into the library.

The students of Tianzhao Academy watched in stunned silence, not daring to make a sound.

The red-clothed girl was hard to deal with, and the gray-clothed boy was even more terrifying, but no one had expected that the strongest of all would be the drunk woman who had always been in their academy, whom they had never taken seriously and even somewhat looked down upon.

Everyone looked at each other, watching the woman's back as she walked into the library, the sound of the chains dragging on the ground gradually fading away.

(Second update... at least an hour earlier than yesterday...)

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