NOVEL NEXT chapter 237 - Wind Boots
"Fu Ning, Zhuge Yu, you two actually teamed up."
Inside the bungalow, Zhongli Ying looked at the two with surprise. One was Fu Ning, an peerless sword cultivator who ranked first among the Five-Star Geniuses, and the other was Zhuge Yu, a successor of the Zhuge Family whose intelligence bordered on demonic.
With one possessing extraordinary combat prowess and the other exceptional strategic insight, what suspense could remain in the competition once these two teamed up?
"Mhm."
Fu Ning nodded. Perhaps due to the need for a pure personality in sword cultivators, this white-clothed youth spoke very little, giving off a subtle sense of aloofness.
"Thank you for saving me."
Zhongli Ying sincerely expressed her gratitude. Billions of her hometown people were silently supporting her, and she certainly didn't want to be eliminated just like that.
"Zhongli Ying, we saved you with a purpose."
Zhuge Yu looked at her, his voice a little lazy: "I hope you can join our team."
"I'm willing!"
Zhongli Ying said ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ without hesitation.
In her opinion, the combination of Fu Ning and Zhuge Yu was absolutely the strongest among all combinations in the Genius Battle, bar none.
Being able to be teammates with these two gave her great hope of making it to the final ten-person arena battle.
Only a fool would refuse.
Zhuge Yu was not surprised by Zhongli Ying's choice. He spoke to himself:
"Now we just need a tank. It's time to talk to Yue Shenghe."
What, Yue Shenghe!
Zhongli Ying's eye twitched. Zhuge Yu's ambition was truly great; he actually wanted to rope in the top two Five-Star Geniuses, Fu Ning and Yue Shenghe, all at once.
If he really managed to form such a team, what would be left for anyone else!
At this moment, the live stream room, which had been paying attention to the three, also began to discuss.
"Wow, this lineup is too dreamy! Fu Ning, Zhuge Yu, Zhongli Ying, and now they want to bring Yue Shenghe into the fold."
"If those four combine, they'll absolutely slay gods and Buddhas alike."
"Zhuge Yu for crowd control, Fu Ning for main melee offense, Yue Shenghe as the defensive anchor, Zhongli Ying for ranged firepower – this team composition is simply perfect."
"This is too unfair, isn't it? If those four team up successfully, what chance do others have to survive?"
"I really hope Yue Shenghe accepts Zhuge Yu's invitation. If those four cooperate, the battles will definitely be beautiful to behold."
"May I make a suggestion?"
At this moment, Zhongli Ying spoke.
"What suggestion?" Zhuge Yu asked.
Zhongli Ying said seriously: "Once the team is successfully formed, we will definitely need to find a few opponents to cultivate team chemistry and practice."
"Mhm."
Zhuge Yu nodded.
"Then I want to designate a target."
Zhongli Ying bit her silver teeth tightly, "Black Crow, a C-Level Examiner."
Although she had inadvertently joined a stronger team, Zhongli Ying still couldn't forget the anger and humiliation of fighting hard for a long time with her former teammates, finally defeating the Thousand Shadow Ghost Vine, only for Black Crow to snatch their equipment.
Furthermore, due to Black Crow's diversion of trouble, Ao Zihong and Ji Yufei were tragically eliminated by the "God" Examiner. All of this was caused by Black Crow.
She could imagine how many people were laughing at her just now, how many were gloating.
If she didn't vent this resentment, she might not be able to sleep for days and nights.
"Black Crow."
Zhuge Yu knew why Zhongli Ying would make such a request.
However, just as Zhongli Ying said, after the team was formed, they indeed needed a few opponents to hone their team chemistry. Since they had to choose someone anyway, they might as well go with Zhongli Ying's suggestion.
Zhuge Yu held the compass in his hand, and a faint spiritual energy flowed into it, causing the compass to glow.
"Oh, strange, I actually have some connection with him."
Zhuge Yu calculated something, his expression slightly surprised. "A connection? You don't mean a friend you know, do you?" Zhongli Ying asked.
"No, the connection line is very short, it might just be a passing encounter."
Zhuge Yu explained, then said: "Alright, once I invite Yue Shenghe to join, our first opponent will be him, Black Crow."
Upon hearing this, a smile bloomed on Zhongli Ying's face, but it was a cold smile.
Black Crow would not have a good end for offending a woman.
We'll see.
"Ah-choo!"
Qin Tian rubbed his nose, "Who's cursing me?"
He thought about it; there were quite a few people who should be cursing him, such as Liu Yu and Dan Xiao at the very beginning, the three who were treated like fools, Mo Qingyu, and just now Ao Zihong and Ji Yufei.
Oh my, he had offended so many people in just one day.
Amitābha, what a sin, what a sin.
Qin Tian held the boots he had taken in his hand, his spiritual power touching the spirit patterns on the boots.
Soon, a stream of information emerged in his mind.
Wind Riding Boots, a speed-type spirit artifact.
Its function was very simple, emphasizing only one word: speed!
Wearing the Wind Riding Boots not only saved more energy and increased speed during long-distance travel, but also greatly enhanced short-distance dodging and maneuvering. "Try them on."
The moment Qin Tian slipped the Wind Riding Boots onto his feet, a cool current of air spiraled upwards from his soles. The inner lining of the boots was as soft as clouds,
yet possessed a peculiar toughness, automatically conforming to his foot shape like a living thing, perfectly encasing every inch of his skin.
"Buzz—" As spiritual energy was injected, the spirit patterns on the boot surface lit up one by one, emitting a faint greenish glow.
Qin Tian felt his feet suddenly lighten, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted. He tentatively wiggled his toes, and the ground surprisingly gave a wondrous sense of buoyancy, as if he were stepping on an invisible cushion of wind.
Even more wondrously, when he slightly concentrated his thoughts, the spirit patterns on the sole of the boots resonated with his spiritual power.
Tiny whirlwinds formed around his ankles, gently lifting his body. Qin Tian could even clearly sense the direction of the surrounding airflow, as if he had suddenly gained the ability to converse with the wind.
He tried taking a step forward—"Whoosh!"
His body shot out more than three zhang, nearly hitting the wall, uncontrollably.
Qin Tian hastily stabilized himself, the spirit patterns on the soles flickering, seemingly mocking his clumsiness.
Only then did he realize that these boots were exceptionally sensitive to spiritual energy feedback; even a slight misstep could lead to loss of speed control.
"Interesting."
A glint of excitement flashed in Qin Tian's eyes. He took a deep breath and began to carefully adjust his spiritual energy output.
Gradually, he found that subtle sense of balance—like taming an untamed wind-element spirit beast, neither suppressing it too much nor letting it run wild.
When the first ray of dawn pierced through the clouds, Qin Tian's figure had already transformed into streaks of afterimages in the courtyard.
Each step left faint greenish wind traces on the bluestone slabs, vanishing in an instant.
He would suddenly leap into the air and flip, then abruptly stop and change direction. The whirlwinds stirred up by his boots swept up fallen leaves, dancing in elegant trajectories in the air.
"Now this is more like it."
Qin Tian stopped on the eaves, gazing at the rising sun in the east.
The spirit patterns on the surface of the Wind Riding Boots gradually faded, but that wondrous feeling of being one with the wind was already deeply imprinted in his bodily memory.