By the time Li Meirong was fully conscious and aware of what was happening, her fingers had already scrabbled at Liang Rou Yan's wrist, an instinctual survival response. The futile struggle hadn't loosened the madwoman's grip in the slightest.

Li Meirong's eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, although she was only able to make sense of the figures above her due to their silhouettes under the moonlight.

As her gaze focused, she took notice of the hundreds of small mushroom that had sprouted all over the madwoman above her, born from the woman's very flesh akin to a horde of human parasites.

'Aren't you going to kill her? It's alright to kill her. I won't hold it against you.' A joyful, tinkling sound echoed in her mind.

It was the bell, or rather, her own heart. Whichever it was.

Once it delivered its speech, a wave of powerful energy suffused every vein coursing throughout Li Meirong. It was a power the likes of which she had never experienced before, until suddenly, she could perceive the fundamental nature of Liang Rou Yan's aura.

As if Li Meirong's sight had developed a new talent, she began to see a faint, flowing mist surrounding Liang Rou Yan. To her untrained eyes, it seemed frail. Weak. And yet, she could tell that this mist represented the Foundation Building stage.

Li Meirong had realized with a jolt that during the time she had fainted, Liang Rou Yan had ascended to a higher level, reaching the same rank as her.

'No, silly. You're wrong. You passed. You passed.' The bell sighed, responding to Li Meirong's mental assumptions. It sounded as though it was growing tired of explaining things to a child.

Li Meirong rasped out in confusion, "What are you?"

'Don't you already know?' The bell asked, laughing, 'Kill her. Don't you want to? She made you suffer so much. Do it.'

"I don't-" Li Meirong was about to respond to the homicidal bell, but was cut off by the madwoman above her.

"What am I?!" Liang Rou Yan repeated Li Meirong's question. She snarled at the face of the girl in her grip, thinking she was referring to her instead. "Can't recognize your own handiwork? You pulled a nice trick on me, but I won't yield!"

Despite her speech, Liang Rou Yan began to panic. By now she was supposed to have choked Li Meirong to death, and yet, no matter how much force she put into squeezing the latter's throat, it felt like she was incapable of even breaking the damned skin!

In contrast, Li Meirong grew bolder and stronger with each passing second. She no longer felt deprived of air, even though Liang Rou Yan didn't cease her attempt to strangle her. It felt more like something was itching at her neck, a little bug crawling on her skin.

The moment Li Meirong had opened her eyes, the tables had turned.

'Kill her. Kill her.' The bell urged.

Li Meirong ignored the bloodlust raging in her head. She peeled off Liang Rou Yan's fingers, one at a time. "Let go."

"Why can't I kill you?!" Liang Rou Yan wailed, her mushroom-filled shoulders quivered as her fingers were forcibly pried off. Her cries were that of a woman who had lost her reason to live, a proud and arrogant opponent who finally admitted defeat.

"Let go, now!" Li Meirong commanded, her voice clear and firm, leaving no room for negotiation to her demand.

Forced into submission by the oppressive force of the command, Liang Rou Yan unclasped the rest of her remaining fingers' tight hold on Li Meirong's throat and crawled backwards on all fours.

She bared her teeth and banged her fists on the ground beneath. "You should have died from my lightning strike! How did you manage to ascend into a higher rank instead? How is this possible? Not possible. Not possible..."