Chapter 20: Xiao Yun Takes Action

She turned around impatiently to look at him and refused without hesitation, "No need."

Xiao Jinghuai’s face immediately darkened like iron. He had thought that her performance in class this month was not terrible, and since she had gained some weight and become noticeably more attractive, he felt a pang of sympathy. Yet, he never expected her to be so ungrateful.

At that moment, Su Yun Yue came running over, glaring angrily at Su Yun Qing. "You’re clinging to His Highness again! Su Yun Qing, have you no shame? You and His Highness have nothing to do with each other now, yet you still shamelessly behave like this!"

"Xiao Yue, don’t say that about Sister Yun Qing," Su Yun Qi said deliberately as she approached, her expression disapproving.

Su Yun Qing rolled her eyes at their pretentiousness, feeling disgusted by these two sisters. Her gaze was filled with disdain.

“Enough. Since you treasure His Highness so much, Su Yun Yue, then keep him tightly. As for you, Su Yun Qi, your hypocrisy is your own business—don’t come near me and make me sick,” she said coldly, her eyes brimming with contempt as she looked at them.

The three of them immediately fell into unpleasant expressions. She didn’t even want to spare them a glance and quickly strode into the forest, afraid that if she lingered, these three irritating nuisances would disgust her further.

“Your Highness, she’s gone too far, completely disregarding you. I was kindly trying to speak up for her, and this is how she repays me,” Su Yun Yue said with a face full of resentment as she stared at Su Yun Qing’s retreating figure. She wanted to lash out directly but calmed down instantly after recalling the previous incident, knowing there were too many onlookers.

Xiao Jinghuai was also displeased with Su Yun Qing’s attitude. He had kindly invited her, but she was ungrateful. He wondered how well she could perform without teammates.

“Hmph, she brought it on herself. If she ends up at the bottom, she can only blame her incompetence. Let’s go,” he said coldly, a trace of displeasure in his eyes.

While others were still forming teams, she had already taken the lead into the forest. She knew very well that no one would want to team up with her; after all, she was still seen as useless in their eyes, and no one wants to partner with a loser.

Knowing this, she naturally wouldn’t embarrass herself by forcing her way in. Instead, she seized the initiative while others hesitated.

She stepped into the dense forest, her heart utterly fearless. Her eyes shone with determination. This time, she had come to temper herself. If she remained afraid, what difference would there be from her former self? She refused to be anyone’s pawn again.

As she walked, she vigilantly scanned her surroundings to guard against attacks from wild beasts. Though they were only allowed to operate on the forest’s outskirts where the beasts were not lethal, she couldn’t rule out the presence of formidable spirit beasts.

The beasts were classified into ranks: demon beasts, spirit beasts, celestial beasts, sacred beasts, and divine beasts.

Most of the forest’s periphery was inhabited by demon beasts. As for spirit beasts, many had been driven away before their arrival, so they roamed the areas where spirit beasts had been expelled.

While moving, she released her two spirit pets, Xiao Yun and Xiao Wu, since the rules required spirit companions to fight as well.

Xiao Yun still looked as sickly as before. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it seemed a bit more energetic now. Even Xiao Wu’s feathers appeared brighter, though the bald patches were subconsciously ignored.

Suddenly, a tremendous roar exploded from the left, followed by a sharp gust of wind. Her eyes instantly hardened. She stepped sharply to the right front and sideways, narrowly avoiding the fierce figure charging at her.

Her quick glance revealed a leopard, its eyes greedy and covetous as it stared at her.

So it had taken her for prey. Want to eat her? Hah, let’s see about that. She hadn’t come here to be the leopard’s meal.

She gathered spiritual energy in her right hand behind her back, eyes fixed on the leopard. If it moved, she would strike immediately.

The leopard was also assessing her, cautious not to attack rashly, testing her strength.

“Master, let me handle this,” a faint voice suddenly echoed in her mind. She paused, instinctively looking at Xiao Wu on her shoulder, only to find it staring back with confused eyes—so it wasn’t Xiao Wu speaking.

Then she turned her gaze to Xiao Yun in her arms, who raised its head to look at her with determined, deep blue eyes.

It was the first time she had seen it so spirited. Curious about its intentions, she nodded slightly and whispered, “If you feel unwell, stop. I’m here.”

She kept her spiritual energy ready, prepared to back it up at any moment.

Xiao Wu suddenly realized and angrily flapped its wings, as if protesting that Xiao Yun had stolen its chance to shine.

Xiao Yun ignored it. Meanwhile, Su Yun Qing’s view was blocked by Xiao Wu’s flapping wings. “Xiao Wu, your wings are blocking my sight.”

Hearing that, Xiao Wu quieted down, glaring resentfully at Xiao Yun, who focused intently on the leopard.

Then Xiao Yun unleashed its spiritual energy. The once arrogant, majestic leopard collapsed, trembling and foaming at the mouth, utterly incapacitated.

“Master, may I have the beast core later?” Xiao Yun’s voice returned in her mind.

“Of course,” she answered immediately without hesitation.

She channeled her energy into her sword for a final strike, then located the beast core. Using a dagger, she dug it out.

Without asking, she handed the core to Xiao Yun and continued to carve valuable parts from the leopard to sell later, as she was still short on money.

She first pulled out the leopard’s teeth, which could be sold to weapon crafters for forging arms. Then she skinned it, as the hide could be used to make weapon whips or defensive armor.

She also cut several pieces of meat, then reluctantly left.

Had she not worried about carrying the whole beast, she would have taken it all. The meat would fetch a good price, and perhaps someone would buy the bones too.

After giving one last lingering glance, she sighed and left.

A red-clad observer who had sensed this scene twitched the corner of their mouth, unsure how to comment on her. They could only smile wryly and jot a number beside her name in their roster.

Then their gaze shifted to the group still debating team formation, disdain barely concealed. Others had already slain a beast, yet they were still picking teammates—what a waste of time.

Originally, Su Yun Qi intended to gather more members, but upon catching the red-clad observer’s expression out of the corner of her eye, she froze momentarily. Then she turned to Xiao Jinghuai and said, “Your Highness, I think the team is almost ready. Shall we move out?”