Chapter 11692 — The Trial Selection Ends. Jin Le Is Stunned Speechless.

As one of the last three remaining, his strength was naturally nothing to write home about—but even so, surely it should not have come to such an absurd blunder, with even his own attack landing on his own head?

It all happened too suddenly; he had no time to react before the combined assault swallowed him whole.

The crux of the matter was that he had only two layers of True Mandate.

Everyone's eyes turned as one to Di Liankong.

Being caught in the middle might leave one dazed, but they, the onlookers, saw it all with perfect clarity: the one who had set this whole scene in motion was none other than Di Liankong.

"His paradigm ability isn't Piercing Thrust—it's Power Transfer!"

The crowd had a sudden revelation.

Until this very moment, Di Liankong had disguised it perfectly, leading everyone to believe his ability was Piercing Thrust. Who would have thought it was merely a smokescreen?

Power Transfer was its true core.

And that was precisely why he could control the power of others and redirect it all onto Jin Le's head.

But why?

Jin Le was scared out of his wits. Unlike Monarch Song, he commanded no assortment of defensive paradigms capable of repelling any attack without a single gap.

At this moment, under the full-force assault of three men—himself included—his outer layer of True Mandate was melted away outright, without so much as a decent splash.

Yet this was far from over.

Next came his final layer of True Mandate.

Jin Le plunged at once into despair.

Once this last layer of True Mandate was struck down, he would be gone—his soul and spirit annihilated on the spot, with not even his primordial spirit given a chance to escape.

Such was the drawback brought by the materialization of True Mandate.

At the final moment, Monarch Song finally made his move.

With a flicker of his form, Monarch Song abruptly appeared before him, then reached out one hand to seize the combined assault hurtling toward Jin Le.

As an instructor, he could decide who was eliminated, but he would not let a single candidate die here. That was his bottom line.

Boom!

All that power erupted within Monarch Song's grasp.

Everyone was stunned—all except Di Liankong, who seized the moment to launch another surprise attack, aimed straight at Monarch Song.

Using Jin Le as bait, deliberately staging such a scene—he had long guessed that Monarch Song would inevitably step in to save him, and this was precisely the opportunity he had schemed so painstakingly to win for himself!

But just then, Wei Zhao extended a single finger, pointing at Di Liankong from afar.

A flash of dark crimson gleamed and vanished.

Thunderflash.

Di Liankong's attack came to an abrupt halt. He stared blankly at the mere three layers of True Mandate remaining on his body, and unprecedented terror and fury rushed into his head at once!

"Wei Zhao!"

Di Liankong ground his teeth, his eyes murderous.

Wei Zhao regarded him with leisurely ease. "You called? Something you need?"

As he spoke, he extended another finger.

Di Liankong instantly did not dare to move.

That single Thunderflash had just cost him two layers of True Mandate. Another one, and he would not be able to withstand it.

The key point was that, after what had just happened, Monarch Song might not necessarily protect him.

Even if an instructor had his duties, who did not have a bit of a temper?

To be schemed against so thoroughly and then expected to shield him in return—did he take Monarch Song for a merciful Bodhisattva?

By now the dust and smoke had dispersed, and everyone froze in unison, their eyes going wide.

Another layer of True Mandate was gone from Monarch Song's body.

Clearly, it had been stripped away by the combined assault just now.

Di Liankong caught on and was immediately overjoyed. "Instructor, this should count as my passing, shouldn't it?"

Monarch Song glanced at him and gave a slight nod.

Although it had been a three-man combined assault, in the end it had been manipulated by Di Liankong, so this layer of True Mandate naturally counted to his credit.

On this point, there was little room for dispute.

Watching this, Shi Wushuang could not help but sneer. "Disgusting."

Di Xuanwang, however, felt no shame. "Junior Sister Wushuang, here I really must instruct you: with any ability, whether it works well is the first criterion. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant—so long as it gets you through."

Shi Wushuang said softly, "He can use his own ally as a stepping stone without the slightest hesitation. Is Senior Brother Di not afraid that one day you will meet the same fate?"

Di Xuanwang laughed heartily. "Not afraid."

Shi Wushuang nodded. "Good that you're not."

In the arena, having received Monarch Song's affirmative reply, Di Liankong promptly strutted off the field in triumph, even casting a deliberate glance at Wei Zhao.

"Brother Lin, I'll remember the consideration you showed me just now. We have a long road ahead."

Wei Zhao did not answer; he simply extended a finger at him.

Di Liankong's expression changed at once, and he dared not keep crowing.

A single Thunderflash landing on him meant two layers of True Mandate.

He was certain that Wei Zhao could not unleash Thunderflash without cost, and that it was absolutely impossible for him to use it again in a short time—but the problem was, he could not afford to gamble.

He had only three layers of True Mandate left on him now. If Wei Zhao were pushed too far and let loose another one, or even stacked Thunderblink onto it for a big one, his whole body might simply shatter.

And then where would he go to argue his case?

Even if Wei Zhao were punished and disqualified for it, in the end it was still he who would lose out.

Besides, Monarch Song had already said the matter was not serious, so whether Wei Zhao would even be disqualified remained up in the air.

Not daring to keep crowing in front of Wei Zhao did not mean Di Liankong had no other little schemes up his sleeve.

He immediately set about, without a moment's pause, to win hearts again, trying to rally his little clique back together.

Di Liankong knew very well that to keep contending with Wei Zhao, relying on himself alone would absolutely not suffice—only by sticking together could they stand a chance.

Yet this time, faced with his overtures, the rest of the crowd responded with marked coldness.

Jin Le's example was right there before their eyes, and no one wanted to be the next Jin Le.

Wei Zhao! It was all Wei Zhao's doing!

Di Liankong caught on, and his teeth itched with hatred all over again.

He did not think there was anything wrong with what he had done; all of it could only be blamed on Wei Zhao.

If not for Wei Zhao getting in the way, he would never have needed to risk such a desperate, underhanded move, and the others would still be gathered around him.

The more overbearing Wei Zhao became, the tighter they would have banded together!

But now, this whole lot was utterly wary of him.

The backlash from using Jin Le as a stepping stone to pass had already begun.

Di Liankong stole a cold glance at Wei Zhao. "All that scheming and plotting, and so this was your aim all along. Calling you sinister would be a compliment."

Wei Zhao suddenly turned his head. "Aren't you overthinking things?"

"..."

Di Liankong jumped in fright and instinctively covered his mouth. Those had all been thoughts in his head—he would not have dared say them aloud to his face.

Wei Zhao smiled indifferently. "It's fine. Go on."

Di Liankong had nothing to say.

The others wore varied expressions, but one thing was plain: more and more people now held Di Liankong in contempt.

At this moment, Monarch Song let another layer of True Mandate go, leaving him with only his final layer, and the one-day time limit happened to expire as well.

Jin Le was on the verge of tears but had none to shed.