89: Chapter 89 The fledgling eagle will eventually spread its wings.

As the words fell.

"Whew—!"

The sound of wind being torn overhead turned abruptly shrill.

The 【Sword of Apocalypse】 descended with the weight of ten thousand jun, striking squarely and without deviation onto the immobilized forehead of the Echo Frog!

"Croak—!!!"

An extremely shrill scream pierced the sky.

The giant sword pierced the Echo Frog's skull, and the terrifying holy flame energy exploded within its body instantly.

"Boom!"

The massive shockwave even traveled down the frog's leg to Chen Xi, numbing his arms and splitting the web of his hands.

But he gritted his teeth, refusing to let go, stubbornly bearing the recoil force to ensure the Echo Frog took the full brunt of the damage!

Its health bar evaporated by a huge chunk instantly!

"Beautiful!"

Chen Xi glanced at the BOSS's health, and only 25% remained!

He took another look at the countdown on his wristband.

【Remaining Time: 00:05:00】

The final five minutes!

"Xiao Xiao! Don't stop! Keep going!!"

Chen Xi roared, released the frog's leg, and performed a roll to dodge the Echo Frog's frantic kicking.

He did not retreat; instead, he rushed forward again.

Relying on his agility attribute, which far exceeded that of Professionals of the same level, he darted frantically around the Echo Frog.

Using his body to draw the BOSS's aggro, he forcibly directed all of its dense sonic attacks onto himself.

"I'll tank it! You just focus on dealing damage!!"

Watching that figure, standing firm despite the perilous situation beneath the monster, Su Xiaoxiao's eyes grew slightly warm.

She took a deep breath, her eyes becoming firmer than ever before.

Since it had come to this...

Su Xiaoxiao no longer had any reservations; she poured all the Ice-Thunder power within her into her magic staff without holding anything back.

The gem at the top of the magic staff bloomed with dazzling light, and the space behind her began to twist violently.

"Sword Prison!!!"

Accompanied by a cold, angry shout.

Thousands of ice swords flashing with cold light poured out from behind her like a white galaxy.

Carrying the will to kill, they submerged the dying, struggling Echo Frog!

...

Meanwhile.

In the extreme west of the Echo Gobi, in a hilly area.

This place had already turned into a purgatory.

"Swish—!"

Water Elementalist Liu Miao was held in mid-air by a massive water tornado.

She waved her hands, and wave after wave of monstrous tides appeared out of thin air, forcibly gathering the gargoyles rushing in from all directions.

"Brothers! Now is the time!"

"Coming!"

Liu Yao roared and slammed his hands onto the ground.

"Earth Spikes!"

Countless sharp stone pillars erupted from the ground, violently knocking away and piercing the monsters that had been dizzied by the water flow!

Immediately after.

"Blazing Inferno!"

The fourth brother, Liu Yan, spat out raging flames, turning those monsters fixed by the stone pillars into burning torches.

"Golden Light Slash!"

The one finishing it off was the captain, Liu Xin.

His skin turned dark gold, like a golden statue, and he charged into the monster horde wielding a long sword, transforming into a golden whirlwind, frantically weaving through the pile of monsters.

With a swing of his blade, he decapitated them for all to see!

This smooth, flowing Five Elements coordination instantly cleared out dozens of monsters!

"Hoo... hoo..."

After killing the last monster, Liu Yan sat on the ground, let out a heavy breath, his face covered in sweat and soot:

"Tired... I'm exhausted."

"Second Brother, how is it?"

Nearby, Liu Sen, who was responsible for reconnaissance, still had his fingers deeply buried in the soil.

His complexion was paler than before, and cold sweat rolled down his forehead like soybeans.

"Not... not looking good..."

Liu Sen's voice was extremely dry, carrying a trace of trembling:

"The combat fluctuations over there... on Echo Mountain... are too intense!"

"I can feel the plants crying out in sorrow..."

He suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with horror:

"The BOSS's aura... is extremely weak!"

"It's like a candle in the wind, liable to extinguish at any moment! It... it's probably about to die!!"

"What?!"

Liu Yan was so shocked upon hearing this that he jumped up:

"No way?! Are they really that monstrous?!"

"How many minutes has it been?!"

"We're running out of time!"

Everyone looked at the eldest brother, Liu Xin.

Liu Xin raised his wrist and looked at the countdown that was rapidly ticking away.

【Remaining Time: 00:03:00】

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and he roared through gritted teeth:

"There are still 3 minutes!"

"We still have a chance!"

"Forget about over there! Let's focus on our own job!"

Liu Xin raised his dripping long sword and pointed at the final wave of monsters ahead:

"Don't stop!"

"Keep killing for me!!"

"Squeeze out every last drop of blood for me!!!"

...

Jiangcheng Professional University, Principal's Office.

The huge projection screen was split in two. On the left side, Su Xiaoxiao controlled a sky full of sword rain, bombarding the area.

On the right side, the Five Rings Team, like tireless machines, were frantically harvesting the monsters' lives.

The air was filled with an extremely tense atmosphere.

"How exciting!"

Li Zhenhai put down his teacup, leaned forward slightly, his gaze piercing and spirited:

"Setting aside the tricks played by those few misguided youngsters, this year's Freshman Challenge Tournament at your Jiang University is truly spectacular!"

"Especially this last-minute chase; until the very last second, no one can say who will take first place!"

These words seemed to be praising the competition, but in reality, every word was like a needle pricking Vice Principal Zhou Hanguang's heart.

Zhou Hanguang shuddered violently, and cold sweat broke out on his back again.

He knew clearly in his heart that the "youngsters" Li Zhenhai referred to were pointing directly at his own good-for-nothing rebellious son!

If he didn't make a statement now, he would truly be a complete fool.

Zhou Hanguang quickly straightened his posture, put on an expression of deep distress, and echoed:

"Yes, yes! Li Zhenhai is absolutely right!"

"The original intention of this Freshman Challenge Tournament should be just like this: speaking with hard strength, seriously grinding monsters, and healthy competition! Constantly engaging in crooked ways, and even forming gangs to gang up on classmates, is indeed highly inappropriate! It's simply outrageous!"

After speaking, he rolled his eyes, then appropriately offered a bit of flattery, trying to ease the atmosphere:

"However... Li Zhenhai, you were a bit modest on one point."

Zhou Hanguang pointed to the earth-shattering lightning sword rain on the left side of the screen and sighed:

"I feel that the strength gap between these two teams is actually quite large. If it weren't for those... *cough cough*, those messy little interludes that delayed time."

"According to the terrifying combat power of these three people from the Nirvana Battle Team, they probably would have left everyone in the dust and taken first place by a wide margin long ago! How could there be such a tense scene?"

Minister Li laughed upon hearing this and waved his hand:

"The process isn't important; we only look at the results. As long as it's results-oriented, that's fine."

Although he said this, Minister Li's hand hidden in his sleeve clenched into a fist unconsciously.

As the Minister of the Military Department of the South District, he knew the weight of this first place.

It was a ticket to the South District Challenge Tournament, a ladder to reach higher levels, and even a direct path to the Military Department.

But at the same time, it also meant having to go Outside the Border to face those bloodthirsty, cruel, and lawless real ferocious beasts.

Thinking about his precious daughter, whom he had pampered since she was little, having to go to such a dangerous place where she could lose her life at any moment, Minister Li felt his heart pounding.

But then he thought again, looking at his daughter's firm and vibrant eyes on the screen, he felt incomparably gratified.

The fledgling eagle must spread its wings eventually.

"I hope... you can truly take first place."