Without Mu Nujiao's control, Ai Jiangtu and the other two were clearly struggling much more than before.
"Whoosh!!!"
Suddenly, a silver little sword shot from behind the Blue Valley Ferocious Beast, instantly slicing off one of its arms.
Immediately after, a streak of crimson light flashed past. Zhou Haoyu stepped onto a scarlet longsword and appeared above the Blue Valley Ferocious Beast.
The moment Ai Jiangtu and the others saw Zhou Haoyu appear, they let out a breath of relief.
The Captain showing up here meant that the other Blue Valley Ferocious Beast had already been taken care of.
Zhou Haoyu glanced at the stone pillar embedded in the ground earlier. With a grasp of his right hand in the void, he directly manipulated the stone pillar to smash down at the Blue Valley Ferocious Beast's head.
The creature's head lacked scale armor protection. Under the impact of the stone pillar, it exploded like a watermelon.
But it wasn't over. With the acceleration of Spiritual Energy, the pillar pierced straight through the Blue Valley Ferocious Beast's entire body.
Boom!!
The Blue Valley Ferocious Beast crashed heavily to the ground, the tremor spreading for a hundred meters around.
"This is way too ridiculous…"
Ai Jiangtu's mouth twitched. The four of them together couldn't kill that beast, yet the Captain disposed of it so easily.
No wonder he hadn't used Space Element during their spar. There was simply no way to fight him!
Ai Jiangtu even began to suspect that Zhou Haoyu's spiritual force had already reached the High Realm.
But he quickly dismissed that thought.
Even Super Mages rarely cultivated their spiritual force to the High Realm. How could a High-level Mage do it?
After finishing the beast, Zhou Haoyu landed beside Jiang Shaoxu.
Seeing her heavily poisoned, Zhou Haoyu frowned slightly.
He had expected that Zu Jiming would abandon Jiang Shaoxu, but he hadn't thought the guy would be this vicious, to actually poison his own teammate!
This poison certainly didn't come from the Blue Valley Ferocious Beast. With that level of strength, it wouldn't need poison against a Mid-level Mage.
Not long after, Nan Jue, Jiang Yu, Mu Tingying, and the others returned one after another.
Zu Jiming was hiding behind them, not daring to look at Jiang Shaoxu's condition.
"This toxin is unusual. Relying solely on Healing Magic won't be enough to fully cure it," Nan Rongni said after treatment.
"This is an antidote."
Zhou Haoyu retrieved a vial of potion from his Candle Dragon Bracelet and handed it to Nan Rongni.
The Candle Dragon Bracelet had a large space, and Zhou Haoyu habitually carried essentials, antidotes among them.
This antidote wasn't top-tier, only considered high-grade.
The most advanced healing potions were all in the Parthenon Temple, which Zhou Haoyu couldn't get yet.
But for detoxifying a Mid-level Mage, this antidote was more than enough.
With the antidote combined with Nan Rongni's healing, Jiang Shaoxu finally regained consciousness.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Zu Jiming hiding at the back of the group. Her gaze turned vicious as she snarled:
"Zu Jiming, very good. You dared to poison me? I'll tell you now—between us, it's either you or me, one must die!"
Even with her toes, Jiang Shaoxu could guess who did it. At that time, only their group was nearby.
Besides Zu Jiming, a Poison Element Mage, who else had that ability?
At her words, everyone's eyes fell on Zu Jiming, many with sharp suspicion.
Ai Jiangtu and Nan Jue in particular looked grave. Harming teammates during a trial was a severe violation.
Being expelled from the team was the least of it. Strict punishment was inevitable!
Zu Jiming's neck shrank back. He knew just how serious this was and quickly denied it:
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
As long as he refused to admit it, there would be no evidence proving he had poisoned her.
Inside, Zu Jiming was seething. The Blue Valley Ferocious Beast had insisted on chasing him—what could a Mid-level Mage like him do?!
As long as he survived, he didn't believe he had done anything wrong at that moment.
What frustrated him most was that the Blue Valley Ferocious Beast had charged in so ferociously, only to fail at even killing a single Mid-level Mage.
What trash.
Seeing Zu Jiming's attitude, Jiang Shaoxu grew so furious she laughed.
"You won't admit it? Fine. I'll tell my father and the others about this. Just you wait."
Zu Jiming's Zu Clan was indeed vast, but the Jiang Family behind Jiang Shaoxu was no weaker in fact, even stronger.
At least two Forbidden Curse Mages backed them.
The key difference was that Jiang Shaoxu held a core position in the Jiang Family,
while Zu Jiming, though of the Zu Clan's main line, could not be considered part of the true core.
Hearing Jiang Shaoxu's threat, Zu Jiming's heart began to panic.
At that moment, Zhou Haoyu suddenly stepped forward, his eyes locked onto Zu Jiming as he spoke:
"Zu Jiming, as Captain, I hereby expel you from the National Institute Team!"
A wave of shock swept through everyone. Their faces filled with disbelief and confusion.
Even Jiang Shaoxu was no exception.
She hadn't expected Zhou Haoyu to stand so firmly on her side. Her heart instantly filled with emotion,and she almost wanted to give herself to him right then and there.
Zu Jiming's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Zhou Haoyu.
"On what grounds!"
"I'm an official member of the National Institute Team! You don't have the authority to expel me!"
The Captain did have the right to request replacement of members,but it required reporting to the Mentor Group, and the final decision would be made by Feng Li and the other mentors.
As for Zu Jiming, being an official member, it was almost impossible to be replaced at the very first trial point.
"You think if I hand this over to the mentors, you'd still have even the slightest chance of staying?"
Zhou Haoyu held up a tiny poisoned stinger in his hand, the very stinger left behind by the poisonous bee.
Zu Jiming's pupils contracted.
How could that thing be in his hands?
That tiny object—how had he even noticed it?!
"The Blue Valley Ferocious Beast doesn't have anything like this. Using magic on Mo Fan earlier was one thing, but now you've gone as far as framing your own teammate.
Honestly, being kicked from the team is already lenient."
Zhou Haoyu's expression remained calm,
as though he was merely stating facts.
Had Zu Jiming not used poison, perhaps he might still have had a chance to remain.
But now, being expelled from the team was absolute and worse, he would face the Jiang Family's retaliation.
If the Zu Clan refused to intervene,
Zu Jiming might as well prepare to share a cell with Song He.
Now that the matter was settled, Zu Jiming collapsed to the ground in despair, his eyes dulling.
If expelled from the National Institute Team,
the Zu Clan would definitely abandon all investment in him.
His life would be over!
"Captain, I was wrong, I really know I was wrong!
I swear I'll never dare again! Please, just give me one last chance!
Just this once—I promise from now on I'll follow you unconditionally!"
Zu Jiming suddenly dropped to his knees in front of Zhou Haoyu, clutching his leg in desperation.
Right now, only Zhou Haoyu could save him.
"You're not realizing your mistake—
you're simply finished."
Zhou Haoyu's eyes went cold as he kicked Zu Jiming flying.
A piece of trash like this wanted to serve under him?
What a joke.
"Captain, I find you especially handsome today."
Jiang Shaoxu's eyes sparkled like stars.
...
For Advance Chapters
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