After breaking through the spiderweb trap, Ji Chenxi strode forward without hesitation. He was so bold it made the people behind him nervous, worried there might still be invisible strands stretched across the path.
Luckily, they walked quite a long way without running into any danger.
Just when everyone was about to relax, something changed.
From above and at an angle, countless hidden weapons suddenly shot toward them. Sharp metal projectiles rained down, thick and packed so tight they almost sealed off their retreat. One freshman with weak nerves nearly burst into tears. With that many blades flying at them—if they got hit, would they even survive?
Bai Anran had never believed their lives were truly at risk. This was a joint freshman trial between two schools. No matter how serious it sounded, it was still just a student exercise. The school would never let anyone die. But now, in a trial meant to test their level, they were actually using a trap like this.
The moment the weapons came down, Ji Chenxi narrowed his eyes. A strange force rippled out from his body, and just like that, the projectiles that were about to strike froze midair, held firmly in place.
“Spiritual power control!!” someone shouted in shock.
Countless metal blades floated in the air, pointed straight at them—yet restrained by some invisible force. Ji Chenxi stood at the very front and walked forward at an easy pace, as if none of this even mattered.
Sharp blades. A silver-haired young man with delicate, striking features.
The scene was both dangerous and beautiful.
Facing the danger head-on, Ji Chenxi let out a soft “Mm.”
“Classmate Ji, you can already use spiritual power so smoothly? That’s insane. You haven’t even enrolled yet and you’ve already mastered it.” The overly friendly alpha from earlier hurried up beside him, chatting nonstop.
“It’s not just me,” Ji Chenxi said calmly. “Lu Jianhan and Anran can do it too. I just acted first.”
“So almost half our team can do this?!” The guy looked like he was about to lose it.
Ji Chenxi was about to nod, but then seemed to remember something. He softened his tone. “You’ll learn soon too.”
“Not necessarily. I heard even the seniors who enrolled a year before us—only a handful of them can release their spiritual power.”
This time Ji Chenxi didn’t answer right away. He frowned slightly.
Too simple.
Just this kind of hidden weapon wasn’t enough to be impressive. As long as someone could use spiritual power control, these things were basically toys. So what was he missing? What else was hidden among them?
His silence made the friendly alpha awkward. Just as he was about to laugh it off and change the topic, Bai Anran spoke up at the perfect time.
“Releasing spiritual power does take a bit of feeling. Once you find that sense of extension and practice more, you’ll be able to control it freely. When we enroll, there will be teachers guiding us.”
The guy shot Bai Anran a grateful look, thinking he was incredibly considerate.
Bai Anran was, in fact, very attentive. The reason he had let the alpha sit in awkward silence for a few seconds was because he had noticed something else—Lu Jianhan had been quiet ever since they entered the underground maze, and his face looked a little too pale.
It was a small detail, but enough for Bai Anran to glance at him a few more times. After helping the alpha out, Bai Anran looked for a chance to speak, intending to ask Lu Jianhan if he felt unwell—
Then he suddenly sensed a dangerous presence spreading through the air.
The feeling didn’t come out of nowhere.
The instant that sense of danger hit him, a massive explosion erupted.
“Boom—!”
A deafening blast and a burst of fire filled the space. Bai Anran’s eyes widened.
At such close range, with that kind of power, the explosion could tear them into pieces.
This was insane!
How could the school allow the seniors to set up a trap like this?
The moment the explosion went off, Bai Anran reacted fast and threw up his spiritual shield. A soft milky-white barrier with a faint glow spread out and wrapped around everyone. At the same time, he felt Ji Chenxi’s spiritual power surge forward. That powerful force didn’t shield them—instead, it rushed toward the hidden weapons that had triggered the blast, wrapping them up and compressing them again and again.
Even with Bai Anran’s shield and Ji Chenxi’s counter move, the heat from the explosion still hit them in waves. The light curtain around the blast kept shrinking and swelling, struggling to contain it. Ji Chenxi glanced at it once and hissed under his breath. “Run. It’s about to blow.”
The second he said it, he took off first, heading straight toward the direction where he sensed Chi Zhuo’s presence.
Seeing him move, the others didn’t dare hesitate and quickly retreated. Two of them, sharp enough to know this place was way beyond them, didn’t even follow—they ran straight for the exit.
Ji Chenxi respected everyone’s choice. He looked like the first to leave, but in truth, he held on until the very last person had run a good distance away before finally releasing the compressed heat wave trapped in his spiritual power.
Every single hidden weapon had been a bomb. Containing that level of destructive force, wave after wave, had drained quite a bit of his energy.
Originally, Ji Chenxi had planned to stick with Lu Jianhan and Bai Anran. Who would’ve thought that after dodging the explosion, Lu Jianhan—who had been only a few meters away—was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Looks like this maze could shift and change. Ji Chenxi didn’t insist on searching for them. Instead, he followed the faint trace of Chi Zhuo’s aura.
As Ji Chenxi drew closer, Chi Zhuo stood up at the same time and started walking out.
“Chi,” Lan Mu called, stopping him. “Why not just wait here for them? I even prepared a few little traps especially for them.”
“Your little traps won’t stop him.”
“So you’re going in yourself?”
Chi Zhuo didn’t answer. He had already stepped into the darkness, his figure swallowed whole.
“Fine, don’t talk if you don’t want to. Hope your cat hunt goes well.”
Not long after Chi Zhuo left, Lan Mu’s communicator rang. Clearly, the school leaders had seen the explosion just now and were worried the game might be forced to stop early. Lan Mu answered, scratching his messy hair with one hand and smiling as he said, “Director Fang, didn’t we just talk? Don’t tell me you already miss me.”
Unlike Lan Mu, who answered right away, Chi Zhuo simply pressed off the flashing screen and moved silently through the dark.
When Ji Chenxi felt that aura moving closer to him as well, the corner of his lips lifted slightly. With an easy motion, the dagger in his hand pierced straight through a small blue spider.
Along the way, he had no idea how many blue spiders he’d dealt with. He had sliced through countless webs too. One hand played lightly with the dagger, while the other held up the beam of light from his wrist device.
Under the faint white glow, Ji Chenxi dodged several traps. Most of them looked deadly at first glance, but they wouldn’t actually kill you—though whether you’d lose an arm or a leg was another story.
He wasn’t heading straight toward Chi Zhuo the whole time. Once he confirmed that Chi Zhuo was coming for him too, he stopped rushing for a direct clash. Instead, he began searching for the treasure spots marked on the map.
That was exactly why Ji Chenxi came down into the underground maze even though he knew there were traps waiting. If he wanted, he could’ve just set a fire and smoked them out. But where would the fun—or the points—be in that?
After wandering around for a while and easily dodging the smaller traps—ones he could handle much faster on his own—Ji Chenxi finally reached the spot marked on the map. Sure enough, he found a gold coin there. Stamped clearly on its surface was the emblem of the First Military Academy.
The second he picked it up, his wrist device—normally only good for one-way contact and a flashlight—popped up a message about the coin.
A gold coin worth ten thousand points.
Ji Chenxi raised a brow slightly and slipped it away.
With a faint smile, he spoke toward the darkness behind him. “I’m guessing there’s another coin—one with the Imperial Royal Academy’s emblem. I wonder if it’s in your hands, Senior.”
The light from his wrist device barely reached a few meters ahead. He couldn’t see Chi Zhuo at all. And yet he looked calmly toward a patch of shadow, smiling with quiet certainty.
Soft footsteps echoed.
A tall, cold-looking alpha dressed in black stepped out of the darkness and gave Ji Chenxi a slight nod. “You’re lucky. That coin is indeed with me.”
Chi Zhuo casually took out the coin and even tossed it once in his hand. The faint light cast sharp shadows across his face, outlining it in a way that was almost unfairly good-looking. Ji Chenxi admired the view for a second—then stopped wasting time and moved to snatch it.
They had fought several times before, but most of those matches had ended early or been interrupted. This might’ve been the first time neither of them was injured or restricted. Ji Chenxi’s spirit power leaned toward pure offense. His movements were sharp and fast, like a flash of light. As for Chi Zhuo—his spirit form was a black mamba snake. Speed was something he never lacked.
Both of them kept their strength capped at S-rank, which only made it clearer—they had finally met someone on their level.
Chi Zhuo was surprised by Ji Chenxi’s speed. At the same time, Ji Chenxi quietly admitted he had underestimated Chi Zhuo’s power and skill. The alpha’s extra ten years of life gave him experience and technique far beyond Ji Chenxi’s. Still, Ji Chenxi was fast enough to dodge most of Chi Zhuo’s attacks.
But the moment he failed to dodge—even once—he would fall into a weak spot. And turning the tide after that wouldn’t be easy.
They traded blows again and again.
Finally, in one split second, Chi Zhuo seized Ji Chenxi’s wrist—the one holding the dagger—and with his other hand, he caught Ji Chenxi at a fatal point.
Ji Chenxi’s reaction had been slower by just a fraction of a second.
“Your Highness,” Chi Zhuo said calmly, “looks like your points are about to become mine.”
Ji Chenxi didn’t sigh or look annoyed at being pinned down. Instead, he laughed. The sound was bright and cheerful, but when he spoke, his voice dropped low.
“Don’t you think this win would be a bit unfair, Senior? After all, I already burned through quite a bit of spiritual power dealing with those traps earlier.”
“That’s strategy too,” Chi Zhuo replied calmly.
Ji Chenxi nodded in agreement. “I think so too. But did you notice something? Ever since we entered the underground maze, Lu Jianhan hasn’t made a single move.”
Both of them were S-rank. And yet, even during the explosion earlier, Lu Jianhan hadn’t acted at all. That alone was strange.
Chi Zhuo suddenly realized something.
Lu Jianhan. Spirit form—phantom butterfly. Specializes in illusions.
For a brief second, Chi Zhuo’s mind blurred.
And in that tiny gap of time, Ji Chenxi flipped the situation completely, pressing him down onto the ground.
Ji Chenxi dropped to one knee, one arm locking around Chi Zhuo’s back to stop him from fighting back, the other holding that razor-sharp dagger against Chi Zhuo’s heart.
Having fully subdued him, Ji Chenxi leaned in close. Very close.
His smile was light, almost playful. Near Chi Zhuo’s ear, he whispered softly—his tone sounding almost intimate, yet completely casual.
“Sorry about that. Looks like I’m the final winner after all.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
