When I Bloom, Hundred Flowers Die
The staff carefully informed Shen Ruoshui that Shen Shouli had once again refused to leave the cocoon pod connection for medical treatment. Shen Ruoshui's expression remained unreadable.
He showed nothing outwardly, but inwardly he wondered just who that stubborn kid took after.
Not his lively, lovely grandmother, not his quiet, gentle father, nor his intelligent, cunning mother.
Stubborn as a mule!
Shen Shouli was helped back to the Empire students' section, unaware that in his grandfather's mind, he'd just been compared to a donkey.
He stared fixedly at Xu Lingqu's figure on the stage.
A Hundred Flowers' Bane mech was summoned, and Jia Xianglan sneered at her.
"Using an A- mech to come seek death on my turf." His face brimmed with mockery. "I'll give you ten minutes to slowly summon Hundred Flowers' Bane's main weapon..."
The moment he finished speaking, within three seconds, the petals on the Hundred Flowers' Bane piloted by Xu Lingqu detached from the main body one by one, dancing in the air before swiftly converging to form the main weapon.
Liu Ming had taken over the Hundred Flowers' Bane's internal systems, but that wasn't what helped Xu Lingqu summon it. It was truly Xu Lingqu herself who, within three seconds, summoned the main weapon—something even S-level students struggled to bring out.
The entire arena was shaken into awe. It was the first time everyone had witnessed such a smooth, flawless summoning process of Hundred Flowers' Bane's main weapon—and in three seconds, no less!
Liu Ming's only purpose in taking over the internal systems was to help Xu Lingqu observe the moments when Jia Xianglan's mech stats were boosted.
When necessary, it would directly modify the stats of the Hundred Flowers' Bane Xu Lingqu piloted—fighting fire with fire.
It had initially thought Xu Lingqu would refuse such a tactic, since it wasn't exactly righteous. But Xu Lingqu had told it: when you know your opponent is cheating, trying to compete fairly with them isn't called justice—it's called stupidity.
Liu Ming felt itself growing fonder of Xu Lingqu by the minute.
Jia Xianglan's words were abruptly cut off by Xu Lingqu. While he was still stunned, she manipulated Hundred Flowers' Bane to soar into the air, delivering a horizontal slash toward his piloted Chen Dao.
With the first strike, Jia Xianglan hastily scrambled to the side, clumsily crashing Chen Dao to the ground in his panic—a truly sorry sight.
Seeing this, Xu Lingqu turned her wrist to withdraw the blade, and as Jia Xianglan barely managed to stand, she swept in with a horizontal cut from the side.
Facing the second strike, Jia Xianglan immediately raised his arm to block. At the same time, the defense stats on Chen Dao's right arm soared, but Xu Lingqu's second strike didn't land on that arm.
She made a slight mid-course adjustment to her stance, and the strike shifted direction, hacking fiercely into the shoulder of his Chen Dao.
Jia Xianglan's whole body sank, the sheer force driving him to his knees. He looked frantically at his mech's damage value and found it already at the critical threshold for defeat. He couldn't keep passively taking hits like this!
From this position, the modified weapon couldn't damage Xu Lingqu's cockpit, but at least it could help him break free! With that thought, Jia Xianglan activated his modified weapon once more. Spikes jutted out, and sure enough, Xu Lingqu had to dodge.
He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Xu Lingqu didn't retreat far. She merely sidestepped to his flank, and with a flash of Hundred Flowers' Bane's main weapon, she directly hacked the protruding spike clean off.
Cut it off.
That was a modified weapon personally designed for him by Master Cheng, with stats on par with Chen Dao's own level—and it had just been sliced through by an A- mech's main weapon.
Jia Xianglan refused to believe it. He wanted to accuse Xu Lingqu of cheating, but he knew full well in his heart that he was the real cheater. If an investigation were launched now, both he and his father would be finished.
He could only grind his teeth and swallow the bitterness. With his modified weapon destroyed, he hurriedly put distance between himself and Xu Lingqu. Chen Dao's greatest strength lay in long-range attacks. He rapidly raised one of Chen Dao's hands, which transformed into a sniper rifle, and fired a giant bullet at Xu Lingqu.
Surely she couldn't dodge that one! This was Chen Dao's sniper shot! Jia Xianglan thought as he fired, ready to savor the sight of Xu Lingqu's Hundred Flowers' Bane being pierced through. But instead, he saw Xu Lingqu raise her blade before her, and the bullet was split clean in half!
"Are you kidding me? Is she joking with me?... How? How is this possible?" Jia Xianglan was utterly shattered at this point. Why was this A- Hundred Flowers' Bane so powerful in Xu Lingqu's hands?
Cutting through his cheating, stat-boosted, modified-weapon-equipped Chen Dao was like slicing through vegetables!
While he was briefly trapped in his breakdown, Xu Lingqu piloted Hundred Flowers' Bane to close in once more, like death itself shadowing him. This time, she didn't use her main weapon—she simply punched Jia Xianglan's Chen Dao over, sending it crashing to the ground.
Jia Xianglan had no strength to resist and could only be beaten down by her.
He thought in despair that this blow would send his damage value straight to the point of defeat.
He had lost to Xu Lingqu without a shred of dignity, just as he had lost in the finals when she pinned him to the ground and severed his fingers.
Except—Jia Xianglan's tears did not burst forth as he'd expected the moment he was struck down. He actually wasn't judged defeated!
This was because Liu Ming had forcibly held Jia Xianglan's damage value at a node just shy of defeat, refusing to let it move.
How could Xu Lingqu let Jia Xianglan die so easily?
She raised the main weapon of Hundred Flowers' Bane and viciously stabbed it straight down at the position of Jia Xianglan's cockpit.
The tragedy was reenacted once more, and the entire arena fell silent again—but this time, a strange sense of satisfaction spread through people's hearts.
Jia Xianglan, the rule-breaker, had been repaid in kind. That was a good thing!
Shen Shouli watched in disbelief at everything happening on the arena stage. Was this what Xu Lingqu wanted him to stay and watch—this prepared strike of hers?
But what Xu Lingqu wanted Shen Shouli to see was more than just that one strike. She quickly withdrew the main weapon and stabbed it into Jia Xianglan's cockpit once more. Not only did she stab it in, she twisted the blade, viciously shredding the cockpit apart.
Only after the second strike did Liu Ming release its control over the damage value. Jia Xianglan was finally judged defeated, but at this moment, he could neither cry nor mourn—because whatever pain Shen Shouli had just endured, Xu Lingqu had made him feel more than twice over...
Just as Jia Xianglan had stabbed into Shen Shouli's cockpit moments ago, Jia Tu had indulged the Sky Network's inaction. Now, he had no grounds to condemn Xu Lingqu's actions either.
Jia Tu collapsed in despair, looking toward his son. At that moment, Director Yin appeared at the podium, a smirk on her face. "President Jia, go check on your son's condition. I'll take over the rest of the tournament."
Jia Xianglan had already fallen unconscious from the pain. Jia Tu pointed at her with trembling hands. "At a time like this, you're still thinking of seizing my power?"
Director Yin answered with a smile. "I return that same sentiment to you."
Jia Tu had no choice but to withdraw from the arena and rush to check on his son. The match continued as usual, and Xu Lingqu became the new champion.
Still with that same Hundred Flowers' Bane, she cut down the Federation's remaining 48 students one after another. No one lasted more than twenty exchanges against her—whether S-level or any other level, Xu Lingqu treated them all the same.
The only thing the Federation students could be grateful for was that Xu Lingqu no longer pierced through people's cockpits as she had with Jia Xianglan. They wouldn't have to taste the same pain.
By the time she had eliminated the last Federation student, everyone present was shocked past the point of numbness. But at that moment, Xu Lingqu submitted a request to Yun Zhongxiao to switch mechs.
Yun Zhongxiao snapped back to reality and stammered out an approval, hastily signaling the podium to use one of the Empire's two mech-switch privileges.
She had already swept through the Federation! Why would she suddenly want to switch mechs at a time like this?
Everyone was puzzled, but no one dared to question it.
The Hundred Flowers' Bane was put away, and Xu Lingqu, before the eyes of all of humanity across the stars, summoned Chi Ren on this very arena stage.
Chi Ren—the mech that only those with Psychic Power Level S and above could summon.
She pointed Chi Ren's black long blade at the only remaining Federation student, signaling him to face her as soon as possible.
She'd used Hundred Flowers' Bane all this while for two reasons: first, to achieve the ultimate humiliation against the Federation, and second, because once she summoned Chi Ren, Ares would surely come to forcibly halt the arena.
Xu Lingqu was very good at managing her time.
Everyone in the arena's audience stood up. At this moment, all of humanity across the stars—whether watching the livestream or in the venue—was stunned, and even the three generals couldn't remain composed.
Shen Ruoshui put his hands on his hips, turning to Xu Chengbi with an incredulous expression. "Isn't she B-level?"
Xu Chengbi's forehead veins bulged. He had no idea what Xu Lingqu's true Psychic Power Level was! No wonder! No wonder she had dared to slam the table and defy him back then! How had she fooled the Military Department's systems?
It was Gina! Gina had helped her conceal it. Xu Chengbi clenched his fists tightly to suppress his rage.
On the big screen, the last remaining Federation student ultimately chose to forfeit rather than face her. Xu Lingqu set a new record, becoming the champion with 48 consecutive victories.
But everyone knew that this 48-win streak was not Xu Lingqu's limit—it was the limit of the Federation's student count.
In the end, the results were announced: the Empire Academy claimed victory.
In the physical venue, people in black-and-red uniforms surrounded the area.
Xu Lingqu opened the cocoon pod hatch.
The Ares chief inspector, Jiu Ze, appeared before her and said with utmost respect, "Emperor Andrew requests your presence at the palace."
She stepped out of the cocoon pod. A Stealth-class vessel sat in the center of the venue, with the full force of Ares in full gear escorting her.
Xu Lingqu walked into the Stealth's doorway, then deliberately paused and looked back at Xu Chengbi, whose face had turned pale with fury.
She offered a faint, contemptuous smile and stepped directly inside the Stealth.
How could Xu Lingqu, in such a state, possibly be suffering from addiction?
Xu Chengbi was furious beyond measure, but utterly helpless.
He had thought this adopted daughter was merely a pawn in his hands, completely under his control—only to be outmaneuvered by that very pawn in the end.
It turned out he was the one being played all along...