Chapter 11691 — Thank You, Instructor: Four Squads, Three Ten-Layer True Mandate Prodigies Burst Forth—and the Only Squad Without One, Squad C, Produces an Even More Terrifying Mo Luoyi. And That Is Only "Somewhat Interesting"?
Everyone had a strong premonition.
If these people were to formally enter the Heavenly Dao Academy, the Academy would likely soon usher in a brand-new era—an era belonging to monstrous new students!
Every eye was drawn to Mo Luoyi; even the other two top-tier candidates with ten-layer True Mandate seemed dull and colorless before him, let alone Di Liankong and the others still locked in their final struggle.
Di Liankong and the other five, of course, knew nothing of any of this—nor did they have the leisure to care.
Their only thought at that moment was to snatch a layer of True Mandate off Monarch Song under the watchful, covetous eyes of one another.
Boom!
With a small mushroom cloud, one layer of True Mandate on Monarch Song's body was finally gone.
Monarch Song glanced at one of the long-faced men. "Li Man, you have passed."
Li Man was instantly overjoyed. "Thank you, Instructor!"
One man's joy was another's sorrow. He could step down at his leisure, but the faces of the remaining five, Di Liankong among them, only darkened further.
Di Liankong especially could not help but shoot a venomous glare at Wei Zhao at the edge of the arena.
That last exchange—Li Man had not been the only one to strike; several others had attacked at the same time, and Di Liankong was naturally among them.
Monarch Song ultimately awarded the result to Li Man. The others were unconvinced at heart, but unconvinced or not, they could only swallow it and keep their mouths shut.
Di Liankong was seething.
In a situation like that, no one should normally have been able to beat him to the prize—but just at the instant he was about to strike, Wei Zhao's toe had suddenly shifted.
And so he had been a beat too slow.
Otherwise, no matter what, it would never have fallen to Li Man.
But as things stood, the five of them were now competing for four slots, the contest had grown fiercer, and the scheming and backbiting among them had ratcheted up another notch in intensity.
Wei Zhao watched with relish. "A bunch of ruthless bastards, every one of them playing mind games."
Every second, every instant, was an endless repeated game of calculation.
Frankly speaking, if not for his absolute strength as a foundation, he might not have been able to out-scheme these people on cunning alone.
Every last one of them—toss them into the Inner Royal Court, and they would all carve out a place as some local leviathan; even the seven great princely houses would not be able to keep them down.
Soon enough, the same scene played out again.
Monarch Song was stripped of another layer of True Mandate, and this time it was still not awarded to Di Liankong.
The reason was simple: just as Di Liankong was about to move in for the kill, Wei Zhao shifted again.
Now only four were left, for three slots.
Di Liankong was gnashing his teeth.
But in this situation, he truly did not dare provoke Wei Zhao outright. After all, Wei Zhao had already passed; whatever game Di Liankong wanted to play, the man could afford to play along—but he himself could not.
Di Liankong could only grit his teeth and speak up. "Instructor, candidates are not permitted to attack one another, are they?"
Monarch Song looked at him. "It is not a big problem."
"..."
Di Liankong was instantly cursing up a storm inside.
What did "not a big problem" mean? What did that even mean?
But he also caught the implication in the other man's words.
In principle, candidates would not attack one another—but if someone actually did, the punishment would not amount to much.
After all, every one of them was protected by True Mandate; Di Liankong in particular had more than one layer. Even if someone launched a sneak attack, no one's life would be at risk.
Which meant Wei Zhao could interfere at will, whenever he pleased, with complete peace of mind.
Di Liankong drew a deep breath, voluntarily withdrew from the fray, and came before Wei Zhao. With a solemn expression he said, "Brother Lin, I apologize to you for what I did earlier. I admit I was a bit despicable, but I hope you can understand—we are all trying to stay, and in the end one must exhaust every means."
Wei Zhao looked at him with amusement. "Is this an apology? Or are you trying to teach me a lesson?"
Di Liankong forced out a fawning smile. "An apology. I sincerely apologize to you, Brother Lin, and I also give you my word—so long as you show mercy, I absolutely will not contend with you in the trials to come. I will cooperate with you with all my strength. Will that do?"
Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Your guarantee does not seem very credible. How about you swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao?"
"..."
Di Liankong was instantly struck dumb.
Words could be tossed off freely, but an oath he did not dare make lightly—especially an oath on the Heavenly Dao. Break it, and the consequences were unthinkable.
Do everything in your power to keep Wei Zhao outside the gates of the Heavenly Dao Academy—that was the death order Prince Dixuan had given him.
If he dared swear such an oath, then even if he was lucky enough to scrape past this current hurdle, Prince Dixuan would never let him off.
He had seen Prince Dixuan's cruel methods with his own eyes.
Wei Zhao scoffed. "You do not even dare swear an oath on the Heavenly Dao. Not a shred of basic sincerity. Are you playing games with me?"
Di Liankong said in a low voice, "I will put it plainly. Brother Lin, if you trust me this once, there is still room for cooperation between us down the line. But if you are dead set on dragging me down, on getting me eliminated from here, then I can only tell you—you are dreaming."
Wei Zhao laughed. "Now that part you have got right. I am exactly the sort who dreams too much."
With that, he pursed his lips in a little gesture.
"If you do not hurry, there will be one fewer slot again."
Di Liankong gnashed his teeth in fury, but he did not dare delay any longer and could only rejoin the fray.
Yet he was still a step too late.
Monarch Song let slip another layer of True Mandate.
Now it was three men fighting over two slots.
The situation entered its final, white-hot stage.
Including Di Liankong, the remaining three were all seeing red. No longer was it mere scheming and calculation—they had begun trading real, solid blows.
After all, Instructor Monarch Song himself had said it: attacking one another was not a big problem.
At a time like this, they were ready to kill; there would be no holding back.
Still, to give credit where it was due, Di Liankong's strength clearly held the advantage over the other two, and once all courtesies were cast aside, that advantage was magnified many times over.
If nothing else, when it came to playing dirty, Di Liankong had his repertoire.
Yet every time he gathered himself to move in for the finishing blow, he would see Wei Zhao raise his hand over there.
How was he supposed to play this?
Di Liankong ground his teeth in fury and could only let yet another opportunity slip through his fingers.
The good news was that, under his focused watch, the other two could not find a suitable opening either; each was now guarding against the others.
Second by second, minute by minute, the one-day deadline drew ever nearer, and at last Di Liankong could hold back no longer.
The other two were the same.
The moment the three of them chose to strike was exquisitely subtle—almost perfectly simultaneous.
Great minds thought alike.
What happened the next second left everyone present stunned.
Di Liankong and the other two launched their attacks at the same time, their target naturally Instructor Monarch Song—but at the final instant, just as all their force was about to land on Monarch Song, the spearheads suddenly turned and fell upon the head of one of the candidates.