Prevail

However, the overall composition of Guan Jinyue's team was ultimately superior.

That Life-attribute healer could always release healing halos at the right moment, relieving the pressure on Ross and Guan Jinyue, and even dispelling some of the negative effects applied by Su Yuehe and Chen Guan.

The heavy shielder could also occasionally seize the opportunity to disrupt An Changqing's or Long Ao's rhythm with heavy shield bashes.

The battle continued for a while.

Long Ao, unable to break through after attacking for a long time, was instead drained of much of his stamina by Ross's endless stream of atomic attacks, gaining several new wounds on his body. Su Yuehe, who was the most lacking in mana, also began to see her spiritual energy bottom out.

Sweat appeared on Chen Guan's forehead. His mental energy was dwindling, and the disruptive effect of his illusions on Guan Jinyue was weakening.

An Changqing and Guan Jinyue remained in a stalemate.

They couldn't drag this out any longer.

An Changqing made a decision in his heart. With a flash of golden light in his eyes, a streak of golden sword aura struck the ground at Chen Guan's feet. This was their pre-arranged signal.

Chen Guan understood tacitly and squeezed out his last bit of mental energy.

Illusion: All-Encompassing Manifestation.

This was not an illusion targeting a single person, but rather turning all his remaining mental energy into a bizarre illusionary domain that covered nearly half of the square.

Overwriting reality to create a shared dream was still beyond him, but maintaining it for just a brief moment was not difficult.

In this instant, everyone engaged in the battle saw countless overlapping and inverted scenes before their eyes. Familiar teammates turned into enemies, enemy attacks came from inconceivable directions, the ground beneath their feet seemed to flow, and the sky spun...

Even powerhouses like Guan Jinyue and Ross couldn't help but experience a momentary lapse in concentration under the sudden impact of this area-of-effect illusion.

The weakest of them, the healer, let out a muffled groan, and the healing halo gathering in his hands directly dissipated.

Now!

An Changqing suddenly erupted, pushing his sword intent to the extreme. Ignoring the sword blade that Guan Jinyue might swing at him, he let go of his golden longsword. It transformed into a golden rainbow piercing heaven and earth, shooting straight toward the healer who was disrupted by the illusion and temporarily devoid of protection.

Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao! Force Guan Jinyue to turn back and defend!

At the same time, Long Ao roared. Ignoring the sharp metal blades stabbing toward him from all around, he gathered all his strength into his right fist. Compressing his crimson aura to the limit, he blasted toward Ross, who was also affected by the illusion, like a burning meteor.

Guan Jinyue indeed turned back to defend. Space rippled as she attempted to intercept the golden sword rainbow.

However, although Chen Guan's illusionary domain was beginning to collapse, the residual effects still made her half a beat too slow.

The golden sword rainbow brushed past the edge of the heavy shielder's shield. Although its trajectory was slightly deflected by the shield and failed to directly hit the healer, the fierce aftermath of the sword aura still sent the healer flying backward, coughing up blood, and temporarily losing the ability to cast spells.

On the other side, Ross hastily reconstructed his barrier to defend against Long Ao's full-power punch.

Boom!

The crimson meteor collided with the barrier, erupting in an earth-shattering boom. The barrier shattered, and Ross was knocked back repeatedly, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, his breathing chaotic.

Long Ao was also sent flying by the recoil force. Deep wounds were slashed across his body by several metal fragments, and upon landing, he struggled to stand up for a moment.

The illusionary domain completely dissipated.

The battlefield was a mess.

On the Huaqing team's side, although An Changqing was still standing, the longsword that flew back into his hand trembled unceasingly. Long Ao was severely injured and collapsed on the ground. Chen Guan's face was as pale as paper, his mental energy exhausted. Su Yuehe slumped on the ground, her staff dim.

For Guan Jinyue's team, the healer was unconscious. Ross was heavily injured, his consciousness already somewhat blurry. The heavy shielder's shield was ruined, and he had collapsed to the ground. Only Guan Jinyue, although her breathing was somewhat chaotic and the light of her moonflower longsword had dimmed slightly, still maintained considerable combat prowess.

She glanced at her heavily injured teammates, then at the four members of the Huaqing team who had almost lost their combat capability, and fell silent for a moment.

Then, she sheathed her sword.

"We surrender."

Her cold and clear voice rang out.

The referee was stunned for a moment, then announced loudly, "The winner of the Team Cooperation Combat Finals is Huaqing Academy's Team One!"

The entire venue was silent at first, and then erupted into unbelievable exclamations and applause.

The Huaqing team had actually fought so hard under such a disadvantage that they forced the opposing team to voluntarily surrender.

Guan Jinyue walked up to An Changqing and gave him a deep look. "A very good tactic, a gamble at all costs. You win."

An Changqing raised his head with difficulty and forced a smile. "You let us win. If we were talking about true strength, we might not have won."

Guan Jinyue was noncommittal. She turned and walked toward her teammates, beginning to treat their injuries.

The people on the field were quickly taken off by the arriving medical personnel for treatment.

Even though they had won, everyone had paid a price. Chen Guan, in particular, had severely overdrawn his mental energy and needed time to recover.

However, Chen Guan glanced in the direction Guan Jinyue had left.

He couldn't help but feel that Guan Jinyue's surrender was too straightforward, which seemed weird. With her spatial abilities, it wasn't impossible for her to turn the tables on her own even when her teammates had basically lost their combat capabilities.

After all, their side's combat power was also pretty much crippled; only An Changqing was left with enough strength to put up a fight.

It was too strange...

...

Medical Center.

"Guan Jinyue, who allowed you to make that decision!"

Chen Guan paused his steps. That was Ross's voice. However, his voice no longer had its former composure and carried a rather exasperated and furious tone.

"Move aside."

Guan Jinyue's distinctively cold and clear voice drifted over. She didn't explain, remaining as haughty as ever. Yet, it was hard for anyone to feel uncomfortable with it, as if everything was perfectly justified and this was just how she was supposed to be.

"Shouldn't you give the three of us an explanation? Why is it that we fought with everything we had, yet with just a light and breezy surrender, you negated all our efforts?"

Bang! It sounded like something being smashed. Guan Jinyue looked at Ross, whose eyes were bloodshot, pursed her lips, and said, "I am no match for them."

Tap, tap, tap. The sound of footsteps faded away. Guan Jinyue walked straight past Ross and strode away.

Chen Guan stood there for a moment before finally choosing to turn and leave. Ross's words had more or less confirmed his suspicions: Guan Jinyue had still been holding back.

He turned and returned to his ward. His physical injuries were mostly healed, but his mental energy wouldn't recover anytime soon. The recovery of Grey Energy was much slower than that of ordinary mental energy.

Just then, a video call came in. Chen Guan answered it, and the voices of his three teammates began to come through.

"Why did she surrender?" On the screen, Long Ao frowned, looking completely puzzled. "Even though that woman is annoying, her strength is undeniable. If she had fought to the bitter end back then, we probably would have lost."

It wasn't just Chen Guan and Long Ao who found it strange; it was a question shared by many at the time. Guan Jinyue's final choice seemed fishy.

An Changqing pondered and said, "Perhaps she judged that if we continued fighting, even if she could win, she and her teammates would pay an unbearable price, which would affect the upcoming Secret Realm Tournament. Or perhaps... she never cared about their ranking in the team battles to begin with. Her goal has always been winning the Secret Realm Points Tournament."