Chapter Eighteen: The Frost Witch

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Shortly after, a series of knocks echoed at the door; the other members of the preparatory team had arrived.

"Come in," Tang Ruobing said.

Soon, a muscular man standing 1.9 meters tall walked into the training room. His presence was overwhelming; just standing there, he seemed as solid and immovable as a mountain. There was no doubt that he was the tank of the college entrance exam preparatory team.

The team consisted of five members: a warrior, a tank, a mage, a support, and the final member, who could be either an assassin or a marksman.

Ye Mingqiu suspected it was likely a marksman. Since the core of the team was Tang Ruobing—a powerful mage—and the assassin class specialized in stealth and pursuit, they provided little benefit to magical support. Marksmen, however, could apply various debuffs with their arrows and provide supplemental damage, sharing the pressure of being targeted. Their utility was far greater than that of an assassin.

The muscular man looked toward Tang Ruobing. When he met her cold, piercing gaze, his massive frame trembled. Clearly, it stirred up some unpleasant memories.

He quickly averted his eyes and turned toward Ye Mingqiu, who was practicing with his staff. He stepped forward and said with a smile, "Hey, brother, how's it going? I'm Lei Peng, the tank of our team."

"Hello there, I'm Ye Mingqiu, the support," Ye Mingqiu replied politely.

"Oh, support, huh? I've heard the support class is quite tough. Your initial stats have to be focused on spirit, and since your other attributes are generally low, passing the Spirit Realm Trials is notoriously difficult," Lei Peng sighed.

"It certainly is," Ye Mingqiu remarked.

In truth, not all support classes required spirit as their primary attribute; it was just the most common path. However, there were support classes that prioritized constitution, which made passing the Spirit Realm Trials much easier. Occasionally, one might see a tank transition into a support role, though it was rare. If every support class prioritized constitution, roughly 98% of all supports would essentially become tanks.

The already rare support class would become even scarcer.

"Brother, you're quite brave, actually. You dare to train in her private room? Aren't you afraid..." Lei Peng leaned in and whispered, but halfway through, he felt a gaze as sharp as an arrow strike him. He awkwardly turned his head, thinking to himself: *Isn't Tang Ruobing meditating? How could she notice me talking? I’m standing so far away, and I wasn't even loud. Can she really perceive everything I say?*

"What did you say?" Tang Ruobing asked coldly.

"No... nothing at all."

Lei Peng replied timidly, not daring to meet her eyes, while casting a pleading look at Ye Mingqiu. He looked truly pathetic.

"He said he wanted to exchange contact information with me. Since we're teammates, it's always good to build some unity," Ye Mingqiu said with a smile, smoothing things over.

"Oh," Tang Ruobing replied before returning to her meditation, saying no more.

"Whew!" Lei Peng exhaled a long breath, looking at Ye Mingqiu with gratitude as if to say, *Good brother, you're truly loyal to stick your neck out like that.*

Ye Mingqiu just smiled.

He took Lei Peng to a corner to exchange contact details on their communicators and said, "Brother, she's actually quite reasonable. I arrived early and, since I was just sitting around with nothing to do, I asked her if I could use her facility to practice. She agreed, which is why I'm training here."

Of course, this was a lie.

Ye Mingqiu had never asked Tang Ruobing beforehand; she simply hadn't bothered to object to his presence.

"Ah, I see! Since you both specialize in spirit and use staffs, and your own dedicated training room hasn't been approved yet, she must have considered that and allowed you to train in hers," Lei Peng realized.

Soon after, he nudged Ye Mingqiu with his massive, sturdy shoulder and added, "Still, you've got guts, man. I wouldn't have dared to approach her like that."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Why? Because..." Lei Peng instinctively wanted to speak, but fearing Tang Ruobing might overhear, he quietly pulled out his communicator and began typing.

*She is the legendary Frost Witch! During the Spirit Realm Trials, she once wiped out an entire nation by herself to complete a mission. She still holds the title of "Nation Destroyer." You ask why I'm afraid? Do you have any idea how strong she is?*

After typing it out, Lei Peng deleted the message. He didn't dare send it.

On the other side, Ye Mingqiu fell into deep thought.

*A nation destroyer?*

He suddenly remembered a time when Tang Ruobing had mentioned, during a casual conversation, that if she encountered a mission so difficult it couldn't be solved by her wits alone, she could simply solve the people who created the problem.

She had asked him: Should she kill the people responsible for the problem to complete the mission?

Ye Mingqiu said yes.

She then asked: If the leadership of an entire nation were corrupt, should she join an assassin organization to eliminate the entire ruling class, even if it meant the nation would collapse?

Ye Mingqiu said yes.

She continued: What if, to complete a Spirit Realm Trial, one had to kill many people—not just greedy ministers, but also innocent soldiers? What should she do then?

Ye Mingqiu replied: When soldiers choose to defend corrupt ministers, they are no longer innocent. When an avalanche begins, no snowflake is innocent.

They had talked about this topic for a long time that day.

Thinking back, beneath her cold and resilient exterior, perhaps there hid a delicate and gentle heart—one that needed to mask its identity while seeking comfort from others.

"Finally realizing how scary she is?" Lei Peng asked with a grin.

"It's fine. The Spirit Realm Trials present all sorts of situations, for better or worse. If a nation is in a wretched state, ruled by treacherous officials and a corrupt emperor, then its destruction might just be a form of liberation," Ye Mingqiu replied with a smile.

"Huh?"

"Let's talk about your class instead. Tell me a bit about the Spirit Realm Trials."

"Classes, huh!" Lei Peng puffed out his chest, looking proud. "My class is a Paladin, a Lord-tier class! And I even have the hero-tier advancement, Holy Knight. Pretty impressive, right?"

"Very impressive indeed!" Ye Mingqiu praised him sincerely.

A Lord-tier tank, with a future hero-tier advancement—at the high school level, this was an absurdly powerful foundation. He was truly deserving of being the top-tier tank on the preparatory team.

*I need to finish my own Spirit Realm Trial soon and secure a hero-tier class as well!*