One move — victory! Feng Jiu’er had won!

This outcome was beyond everyone’s expectations. Even Zhan Luori, who was long accustomed to an expressionless face, could not help but furrow her brow, her sharp gaze locking intently onto Feng Jiu’er’s scarred face.

By her own calculation just now, this girl should not have been a match for Honying. And her judgment of people was, at the very least, not poor.

Yet Feng Jiu’er had not only refrained from losing — she had won so brilliantly that it truly defied all reason.

Honying stood frozen in place, completely unable to process what had just happened.

By the time she came back to her senses, Feng Jiu’er’s long spear had already been withdrawn from her throat.

She… had Feng Jiu’er deliberately provoked her just now, throwing her into a rage so that she would make an error in her fury, and then exploited that opening to press her advantage?

Honying’s heart gave a jolt, yet she took a step back and clasped her fists toward Feng Jiu’er in salute: “Honying admits defeat!”

The onlookers who had been watching, after a moment of stunned silence, suddenly erupted in a burst of clamorous cheering: “Magnificent!”

“Indeed! The young lady was magnificent!”

“Magnificent!”

Feng Jiu’er gave a slight nod and retreated back into the crowd. The bout had reached its conclusion, and she was not one who sought the limelight — winning was all that mattered.

Yet Zhan Luori’s gaze followed her for quite some time, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly as a complex expression flickered through their depths.

After a long moment, she turned away and cast a glance at the examiner.

The examiner immediately gave a deferential bow and did not dare say a word.

Zhan Luori left, with Honying following close behind — red-faced and walking quickly — to go and accept her punishment.

Feng Jiu’er pondered that the results board would not be posted until the afternoon, so while everyone else was still occupied with the selection matches at the training grounds, she set off to wander around the Imperial Guard Academy on her own.

The main gate of the Imperial Guard Academy faced the main gate of the Dragon City Corps directly, but immediately behind the two academies at their center stood the Dragon Martial Corps.

That side was also lively and bustling right now, for the selection process was at its most intense and heated stage.

She wondered how the scenery on the Dragon Martial Corps’ side compared to that of the Imperial Guard Academy.

She looked up at the sky — still a good half-day ahead of her. With nothing to occupy her, she headed in the direction of the rear mountain.

Although the Dragon Martial Corps, the Dragon City Corps, and the Imperial Guard Academy were each housed within their own independent compounds, the rear mountain served as a shared collective training ground for all three.

A fair number of students who had already finished their matches had also come to the rear mountain to have a look around. Feng Jiu’er’s appearance drew no particular attention beyond a few extra glances at the unsightly scars on her face from those nearby.

After walking a circuit around the flat ground of the rear mountain, she suddenly turned and headed deeper into the forested area.

Amid the trees and hills of the rear mountain, there were actually a considerable number of superior medicinal herbs — some of them extremely rare and precious.

She wondered whether gathering them and taking them back would be considered theft. After all, this was the grounds of the Imperial Academy.

To avoid giving others grounds to criticize her, Feng Jiu’er took out from her small satchel the flask of water that Yanu had prepared for her.

After drinking it down in large gulps, she found a deserted and secluded spot, crushed the medicinal herbs she had quietly gathered, and let the juice drip into the empty flask.

Since she only had the one flask, Feng Jiu’er had selected only the most valuable — the spirit mushroom grass. Though it was not a true spirit mushroom, its medicinal value was nonetheless very high.

In her search for more spirit mushroom grass, she pressed deeper and deeper into the mountains, and before she knew it, she had ventured far into the heart of the ranges.

When she finally came back to her senses and looked around, the path ahead stretched vast and uncertain, and the path behind her was even more boundless and indistinct. Which way led back?

Suddenly, a withered leaf fell from the branches above. Feng Jiu’er’s eyes sharpened. She shifted her feet and moved quickly to one side. With a sharp whoosh, the leaf — which had been drifting down lightly — abruptly transformed in an instant into something like a blade, shooting toward Feng Jiu’er at terrifying speed!