Reincarnated as a Mosquito, the School Beauty I Sucked to Tears is a Reborn Empress

Shadowland.

With a single Instant Teleportation, Chu Sheng arrived at a clearing in the inner region. He summoned New Roach Battle Treasure No. 2 and set it to a semi-dormant state.

Then, he removed New Roach Battle Treasure No. 1, reverted to his Primitive Form as a White-striped Aedes Mosquito, and used Instant Teleportation to return to the outer region, where he continued leading his insect swarm to sweep through the Demon Beasts.

[Life Essence +4,000]

[Life Essence +4,500]

[...]

Under Chu Sheng’s command, 32,000 Third-Grade Peak Insect Beasts formed dozens of legions. They appeared and disappeared all across the outer regions of the Shadowland. Each time they vanished, it meant another Demon Beast had been swarmed, killed, and successfully harvested.

As time passed, his total Life Essence quickly surpassed 100,000... and it was still climbing.

If he had taken the Inner Cores from these slain Demon Beasts to accumulate Points instead of harvesting them, Chu Sheng’s score would have already skyrocketed.

...

The academy competition continued.

After half a day, the top three academies all had scores over a hundred Points, while those ranked fourth to sixth were also approaching the 100-Point mark.

Only the Beast Taming Academy was still stuck at around 70 Points.

By this point, some academies had already started playing it safe to protect their scores.

No matter how many Demon Beasts you killed or how many Inner Cores you obtained, it would all be for nothing if someone else stole them in the end. It was better to focus on protecting the Points they already had.

However, playing it safe was easier said than done!

Besides having their positions periodically revealed... the ”shrinking circle” had also begun.

What was this ”shrinking circle”?

In the Shadowland, a bizarre phenomenon would occur at regular intervals—the Soul-devouring Demon Fog!

The Soul-devouring Demon Fog originated from the spatial boundaries of the Secret Realm. After a certain amount of time, a strange black fog would surge from the realm’s edges, spreading from all directions toward the center.

The black fog would only stop its advance just outside the core area, after which it would recede like the tide.

The entire process was like a tidal cycle.

The Soul-devouring Demon Fog had no effect on the Demon Beasts within the Secret Realm, but it was extremely dangerous for Spiritual Cultivators. It rapidly corroded their Mental Power. Once a Spiritual Cultivator’s Mental Power was eroded, they would lose all combat ability, becoming like lambs to the slaughter in the eyes of the Qi Blood-rich Demon Beasts.

Therefore, once the Soul-devouring Demon Fog appeared, all contestants were forced to move toward the center of the Secret Realm, causing their area of activity to shrink smaller and smaller.

This so-called ”shrinking circle” was simply the integration of this unique Shadowland phenomenon into the competition’s rules.

...

「At Hong Kong Island University, on the large sports field.」

On the big screens, several camera feeds were already showing the appearance of the Soul-devouring Demon Fog.

”Here it comes, here it comes! The most exciting part is here! The circle is starting to shrink!”

”Yeah, before this, most teams were focused on killing Demon Beasts. But from now on, there’s going to be more and more fighting and plundering between the academies!”

Seeing the Soul-devouring Demon Fog appear, everyone grew a little excited.

Just then, a student who didn’t understand the rules asked in confusion:

”In that case, when the circle shrinks all the way, won’t everyone be forced together until only one academy is left? All the Inner Cores would end up in that one academy’s hands, and the others would get zero Points?”

Hearing the student’s question, a teacher stepped forward to explain.

”Heh, first of all, the Soul-devouring Demon Fog usually only spreads to the edge of the core area, so the academy teams still have some room to maneuver.”

”Secondly, if you don’t want to be forced into the core area, you can also choose to withdraw early.”

’Withdraw early?’

That’s right. After the circle began to shrink, all contestants had the option to withdraw from the competition early, taking their existing Inner Cores with them.

Of course, withdrawing wasn’t that simple.

Once you chose to withdraw, your position and the number of Inner Cores you held would be continuously exposed. Only by surviving for half an hour would the withdrawal be considered successful. During that time, you would face relentless attacks from the other academies!

After a successful withdrawal, a patrolling teacher would escort you to the Secret Realm Exit to wait for the end of the competition. At the same time, the Inner Cores in your Storage Ring would be officially added to your score.

Under these rules, whether to fight to the end or withdraw early undoubtedly became a tactical choice!

For example, you could distribute the Inner Cores among several team members and have them all attempt to withdraw simultaneously. That way, someone was bound to succeed.

But this was a low-reward strategy, so most academies didn’t bother with it.

...

Sure enough, once the circle started shrinking, many contestants couldn’t handle the pressure. Fearing their Inner Cores would be stolen, they chose to withdraw early.

However, this also made them the most conspicuous ”hunting targets”!

The real ”battle royale” had officially begun!

As the Soul-devouring Demon Fog spread rapidly, the viable area shrank, and contestants were eliminated one after another.

Back on the large sports field, everyone was staring nervously at the big screens on the main stage.

On the big screens, the number of ”surviving” members for each academy team was rapidly decreasing!

The current rankings were as follows:

Elixir Academy: 160 Points, 15 members remaining.

Mind Master Academy: 132 Points, 10 members remaining.

Array Academy: 111 Points, 9 members remaining.

Warlock Academy: 92 Points, 10 members remaining.

Fengshui Academy: 70 Points, 8 members remaining.

Artifact Refining Academy: 60 Points, 9 members remaining.

Beast Taming Academy: 25 Points, 7 members remaining.

”Damn, under Lin Zhixia’s leadership, the Elixir Academy is totally taking off this time!”

”Yeah, Lin Zhixia is leading her team like a ruthless reaping machine. A good half of those who tried to withdraw early were hunted down and eliminated by her!”

”The Future Empress is on a rampage!”

”So far, not a single person who chose to withdraw has succeeded. Almost all of them got caught. It just shows how brutal this battle royale format is!”

As the crowd buzzed with discussion, someone suddenly noticed the Beast Taming Academy at the bottom of the list.

”Whoa, how did the Beast Taming Academy’s score get so low? Didn’t they have 70 Points just a minute ago?”

”Heh, didn’t you see they only have seven members left? They must have failed to withdraw, and all their Inner Cores got stolen!”

In the midst of the discussion, a tense and thrilling chase scene suddenly appeared on the big screens!

”Look! It looks like five people are about to successfully withdraw! Only one minute left!”

”They’re wearing black! Those are people from the Beast Taming Academy! But it looks like they’re being hunted!”

”Damn, this is intense! Those five are trying to withdraw as a group. If they get wiped out, won’t the Beast Taming Academy only have two people left?”

The crowd stared intently at the image on the big screens.

Among them, the most nervous were, naturally, the students in the Beast Taming Academy’s section!

Their Beast Taming Academy had no chance of surviving to the final circle, so their only option was to withdraw early.

Just a moment ago, they had watched time and again as members of their academy’s team failed to withdraw and had their Inner Cores stolen.

Now, if these five also failed to withdraw, the Beast Taming Academy’s score would plummet to single digits!

’Come on, come on, run!’

’Just hold on for one more minute!’

In the Beast Taming Academy’s section, all the students were screaming silently in their hearts.

They no longer hoped for a good result; they just wanted to preserve their last shred of dignity.

However, just as the withdrawal countdown reached its final five seconds, a brilliant flash of light flared across the screen.

Then, the Guardian Auras of the Combat Suits on the five Beast Tamers, who were fleeing on their Contracted Beasts, all activated simultaneously.

Withdrawal... failed!

On the big screens, the Beast Taming Academy’s data changed once more:

Beast Taming Academy: 5 Points, 2 members remaining.

Almost... a total wipeout!