Chapter 157: The Oriole Behind
"How pathetic."
Watching the Black Wizard Apprentice who didn't even have time to shout the password before being directly blasted to death by collective Witchcraft, Jia Na, who had been observing coldly, sighed inwardly without any ripple in her heart.
Judging from the escape speed displayed by that fallen Black Wizard Apprentice, Jia Na could easily guess that the other party should be an apprentice with a Wind Element talent.
If Jia Na hadn't directly detonated the Parasitic Spore hidden on that apprentice at the last moment, perhaps, he might have really escaped.
Compared to apprentices like Jia Na who can only fly using Deformation Art, most who possess Wind Element
talented apprentices can fly by controlling the wind during their apprenticeship.
Moreover, their flying speed is extremely fast, much faster than Jia Na in "Butterfly Wing Form".
It was precisely because of this that Herman, who possessed the Gale talent, dared to snatch the disease rot fruit in front of everyone.
He was betting that others wouldn't be able to catch him.
"Bang bang bang bang"
Because of one fuse, the other four Black Wizard Apprentices, who already distrusted each other, immediately went to full-scale war.
Witchcraft filled the sky, like clusters of fireworks, constantly exploding on each other, brilliant and bloody.
"Buzz buzz buzz—"
Along with a puff of thick, highly toxic smoke dispersing, a swarm of entirely red magic mosquitoes flew out from the smoke, briefly suppressing the attacks of three of them.
"I'll gladly accept the disease rot fruit first~"
After the poisonous smoke, a sweet voice suddenly rippled out, and the magic mosquitoes that heard the voice became even more frantic, as if they had taken a stimulant.
Seeing that the time was right, a female apprentice wearing a gray wizard robe, under the cover of the magic mosquito poisonous smoke, quickly broke through the encirclement, turning into an afterimage, and fled into the distance.
"Damn it!"
The other three apprentices trapped in the magic mosquito poisonous smoke were also burning with anxiety when they saw that female apprentice escape.
However, under the triple negative states of Curse, poisonous smoke toxicity, and magic mosquito siege, the physical condition of the three people became worse and worse, and they had no time to spare to chase after the Mist Tower female apprentice who had already fled far away.
"Rustle—"
Just as the three were struggling to deal with the magic mosquitoes, more than a dozen emerald green thorny vines, like pythons choosing prey to devour, passed through the gradually dissipating poisonous smoke and directly tied the three of them up.
"Poof—"
Thorn Impalement, piercing the thigh.
Listening to the three shrill screams, Jia Na knew clearly that the Thorn Flower Fairy, who had been ambushing underground, had successfully launched a sneak attack.
Seeing this, Jia Na, who exited her "Tree Body Form", also immediately joined the battlefield. Accompanied by a wave of ethereal chanting, the three Black Wizard Apprentices trapped by the vines suddenly realized,
They had actually been ambushed!
"I surrender!"
Although their first reaction was to escape, the thorny vines on their bodies, as thick as wrists, had made it impossible for the three people whose physical condition was on the verge of collapse to break free.
Rather than losing their lives, the three could only retreat from the secret realm with regret.
"A total of three plaques, a good harvest—"
Poof—Just as Jia Na was counting her plaque harvest, suddenly, a Black Wizard Apprentice completely covered in shadows burst out from the bushes behind her.
Like a hyena waiting for an opportunity, holding the highly poisonous shadow sharp blade in his hand, he fiercely stabbed it into Jia Na's chest.
"Next time, be a little more careful."
Crack—
Just as the Black Wizard Apprentice, who thought he had successfully launched a sneak attack, was still feeling smug, an Ogre Flower appeared behind him without any warning and swallowed him in one gulp into its bright red flower bud.
"I surrender!"
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Feeling the strong sense of paralysis spreading through his body, the attacking apprentice dared not delay for a moment and decisively shouted the password,
and exited the secret realm.
"That makes four plaques now."
Jia Na, who had transformed back into her human form from the Ogre Flower form, looked at the other "dummy body" constructed from a mirror illusion lying on the ground. Jia Na gently waved her hand and dispelled the residual magic of the illusion.
Like Bell-Moonshadow, this Black Wizard Apprentice was also an extremely skilled shadow apprentice at hiding. Until just now, Jia Na actually hadn't discovered the other party's hiding place either.
However, for the sake of caution, Jia Na still tested first with a mirror illusion. This test indeed revealed a problem.
Currently, there are quite a few apprentices in the secret realm. Besides Jia Na, there might be others who also hold the idea of "reaping the benefits of others' efforts."
Therefore, the valuable quality of Caution allowed Jia Na to have the last laugh in this "Fisherman's War".
"Plop—"
Under the lock of Plant Vision, Jia Na quickly sensed the approximate location of the Mist Tower female apprentice who had just fled through the "Parasitic Spore".
Without any pause, Jia Na, who had transformed into "Butterfly Wing Form", flapped her wings and quickly flew along the scene transmitted by Plant Vision.
"Plop—"
Tapping her toes lightly, after flying for about ten minutes, Jia Na finally found the location locked by Plant Vision.
"It seems the Curse has taken effect."
From the perspective of Plant Vision, the aura of the "Parasitic Spore" suddenly disappeared at this location, and it hadn't been long since it disappeared.
From this, it can be concluded that the Mist Tower female apprentice should have been forced to withdraw from the secret realm here. "Found it."
After a careful search, Jia Na finally found the plaque dropped by the female apprentice next to a tree. "Fortunately, there's still time. If it had been delayed any longer, the plaque would have disappeared."
Due to the restrictions of the secret realm rules, if an apprentice's plaque is not picked up by the next person within five minutes after it is dropped, the plaque will automatically disappear. This also eliminates the possibility of someone trying to exploit the rules to pick up omissions.
"Counting this, I already have ten plaques."
Adding the tongues of three hundred and seventy-six Swamp Magic Frogs, if not considering the secret realm duration points and the first-year apprentice basic points, Jia Na has already obtained four hundred and eighty-six points.
"I wonder what rank my current score can achieve among all the apprentices—"
Rubbing the apprentice plaque in her hand, Jia Na couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
Since spatial items cannot be carried within the secret realm, all loot obtained by apprentices during the assessment, such as the tongues of Swamp Magic Frogs and the plaques of other apprentices, will be stored within their own "plaque".
Each plaque has the magic imprint of each apprentice. Therefore, even if an apprentice is eliminated, the next person who obtains the eliminated apprentice's plaque still cannot obtain the contents inside.
The various rules are interconnected, effectively blocking the possibility of "getting something for nothing" from all angles.
"Only fifteen hours are left until the end of the assessment—"
Feeling the surrounding Curse magnetic field strengthening again, Jia Na, who was silently keeping track of time in her heart, no longer delayed. She flapped the wings on her back again and quickly left based on the aura of the "seed" carried by Maluo-Haige.