piratefiction Chapter 69 Crisis Resolved
Chapter 69 Crisis Resolved
Just then, a series of hurried, chaotic footsteps sounded in the distance. Li Xuanfeng, leading hundreds of soldiers from the Martial Arts Alliance, finally arrived, albeit belatedly. His face wore a perfectly timed expression of righteous indignation as he shouted, "That Blood Shadow Demon dares to run rampant in Qingyang City! Don't panic, young friend Lin Chen, I'm here to help you!"
As he spoke, he waved for the soldiers to pursue and kill the remaining assassins, then quickly walked up to Lin Chen with a concerned expression: "Young friend Lin Chen, are you alright? It's all my fault for being late and causing you this fright."
Lin Chen stared at him coldly, without saying a word, only his chest heaving violently.
He knew perfectly well that if Li Xuanfeng truly wanted to help, he would have arrived long ago. Instead, he waited until he had wiped out most of the enemies and Xue Wuhen was severely wounded and fleeing before appearing. This was clearly an attempt to reap the benefits without lifting a finger and absolve himself of all responsibility.
Li Xuanfeng seemed completely oblivious to the disdain in Lin Chen's eyes, continuing his act: "Young friend Lin Chen, it's all thanks to you that we repelled the Blood Shadow Legion. Don't worry, I will definitely petition the Alliance headquarters to award you a first-class merit!"
"Is that so?" Lin Chen spoke calmly, his voice carrying a chilling undertone. "Then who was it that transferred the guards of the Demon-Suppressing Tower and let the Blood Shadow Legion in?"
Li Xuanfeng's expression changed drastically, his eyes flickering uncertainly: "Young friend Lin Chen, what do you mean by that? How could I have transferred the guards? It must have been Wang Hu's remnants who did it!"
"Enough, Li Xuanfeng."
An aged yet authoritative voice interrupted his sophistry. Master Xuan Chen approached with a group of people, a black communication talisman in his hand. "I have intercepted all the records of your secret conversation with Xue Wuhen. You used the pretext of supporting Ximen to transfer the guards of the Demon-Suppressing Tower, and then secretly passed a message to Xue Wuhen, instructing him to launch a sneak attack on Lin Chen and seize the Starry Heart-Protecting Mirror. The evidence is irrefutable. What else do you have to say?"
As star power was injected, the communication talisman transmitted the nauseating conversation between Li Xuanfeng and Xue Wuhen, every word clear and distinct.
Li Xuanfeng's face turned ashen, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. He knew he was finished, completely finished.
"Guards! Seize Li Xuanfeng and take him back to the Alliance headquarters for trial!" Master Xuanchen shouted sternly.
The soldiers immediately stepped forward and surrounded Li Xuanfeng, the cold iron shackles snapping shut on his hands. Li Xuanfeng hung his head, silent, his eyes filled with endless despair.
The crisis has finally been resolved.
Lin Chen's tense nerves relaxed, and he felt a sudden dizziness, his vision blurred, and he almost collapsed. The battle just now had almost drained him of his last bit of star power, and the wound on his back had reopened, warm blood soaking through his clothes, sticky and cold.
"Lin Chen!" Su Muyue struggled to support him, her eyes filled with worried tears. "How are you? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Lin Chen forced a smile. "I'm just a little tired."
Master Xuanchen strode over, checked Lin Chen's pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "It's alright, just exhaustion. I have some Mind-Concentrating Pills here; take one, rest well, and you'll be fine."
Lin Chen took the pill and swallowed it. A gentle medicinal power quickly spread throughout his body, and the deep-seated fatigue immediately dissipated.
Just then, a long-suppressed cheer suddenly erupted in the distance.
"Communications are back! Our cell phones have a signal!"
"Great! I can finally contact my family again!"
Lin Chen looked up and saw the surviving students trembling as they pulled out their phones, shouting excitedly. The battle had lasted too long, and communications had been cut off. The restoration of the signal now seemed to proclaim that they had finally returned from hell to the human world.
Zhao Lei ran over, carrying the bent iron rod, his face beaming with the excitement of surviving a close call: "Lin Chen! Communication is back! We can finally get in touch with the assessment command center!"
"The assessment command center?" Lin Chen was stunned for a moment, somewhat dazed.
"Right!" Zhao Lei slapped his thigh, seemingly just coming to his senses. "You forgot? We originally came here to participate in the graduation practical assessment! Now that the battle is over, we don't even know if our points will still count, or if we can graduate smoothly."
These words immediately sparked discussion among the surrounding students.
"Yeah! I'm only 200 points away from getting into a second-tier university!"
"I killed three second-tier ferocious beasts, I should pass, right?"
"Hopefully the points still count, otherwise this trip will have been for nothing, and we almost lost our lives."
Lin Chen subconsciously raised his wrist, looking at the black identity bracelet he had worn since the first day of the assessment. The screen had been shattered in the fierce battle, but it still stubbornly lit up beneath the spiderweb-like cracks, clearly displaying a line of jumping numbers.
He then suddenly remembered that they, the senior high school martial arts students, had come to participate in the national unified graduation combat assessment. Who could have imagined that an ordinary assessment would turn into a life-or-death battle concerning the survival of Qingyang City?
Unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, thousands of miles away at the Xingwu University Admissions Office, a top-secret file about him had been solemnly placed on the principal's desk. The first page of the file bore a striking line of text:
"Lin Chen, a candidate for the first generation of Martial Emperor successor, is under close observation."