Chapter 401: Witch
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lily's scream echoed in the dark warehouse. Before the echo ended, she disappeared from their vision. Next, she appeared behind Lin Huang like a ghost. Under the black robe, her inhuman black claws reached out towards his neck with black mist on them. Her phantom movement was beyond what Lin Huang's eyes could capture. However, with his Micro Territory that was active at all times, nothing could escape him within a radius of a hundred meters, including Lily's peculiar movement.
Sensing her appearance behind him, Lin Huang did not escape, but he stretched out his grade-5 sword relic, Dragon Slayer, to his back. Before the golden glow left the sword, the sword sliced through the air cleanly.
Bang!
As the sword and the claws collided, a loud bang was heard. With the help of the force, Lin Huang dashed towards Fatty and Zhang Mengmeng. Lily backed off and disappeared into the dark again.
As Lin Huang was closer to Fatty, he was ready to chop off the black chain that was restraining Fatty with his sword. Suddenly, a shadow appeared next to Fatty. Black needles fired like bullets at Lin Huang faster than the speed of sound. He stopped moving while slashing the sword maniacally in the air like it was a giant shield blocking all the black needles.
Suddenly, he felt danger coming from behind. He activated his Cloud Steps and Seraphic Speed, then stepped a hundred meters away and saw the black shadow disappear.
"What was that?" Lin Huang was puzzled. At that moment, he could sense danger coming from his back again. He stepped away immediately. Under the bright moonlight, he turned around and saw a shadow disappear from where he stood again.
"A shadow?!" Lin Huang could tell it was a shadow. Although he had no idea what the shadow was doing, the sense of danger came from it. Lin Huang trusted his instincts.
"Lin Huang, the moment you stepped into this warehouse today, there's no way you'll leave alive. Give up all your useless struggles now," Lily's voice echoed.
"Lily, if you had gone for the psychotherapy sessions last year, perhaps you'd have been living like a normal kid just like everybody else now. Mr. Wei's love wasn't real. It was an odd feeling that you have towards him after his brainwashing. He never loved you. You were a toy to him and you could've been thrown away anytime he wanted. You know very well who he really was. His death is a release for you…" Lin Huang shouted.
"So, you thought my dad is dead! He's not dead. He was saved by the Grandmistress! She sent me to Phoenix Island for training… Phoenix Island is like hell… Hahaha…" Lily sounded like a lunatic, her laugh scaring Lin Huang.
However, Lin Huang got some information from what she said. "Mr. Wei didn't die? How is that possible!? There was a hole in his head, so how did he manage to survive?"
"An ordinary person like you could never imagine Grandmistress's special ways! Dad will be revived two years later," Lily sounded like she was talking to herself.
Lin Huang frowned as he listened to Lily's crazy talk but he could tell that what she said was true. He could not imagine what kind of person the so-called Grandmistress was.
"The Grandmistress that you're talking about, who is she?" Lin Huang asked.
"Grandmistress is dad's mother. She's the most incredible woman in the entire world." Lily sounded insane.
Now, Lin Huang finally found out that Mr. Wei had a powerful background. He thought it was odd that the Grandmistress did not get anybody to assassinate him for the past one year. Could Lily be here to fulfill some odd fetish? Lin Huang was half right; training Lily to get revenge was the Grandmistress's fetish. She did send assassins on Lin Huang's tail, but the assassins were always stopped by the Leng family.
"My dad asked me to kill you and keep your dead body in the freezer. By then, Grandmistress will extract your soul to feed the worms. Two years later, when dad is revived, he'll slice your body into pieces as you watch and use different ways to cook you every day. When your body is all eaten, he will chop off your head and make it into a spittoon and get Grandmistress to put your consciousness into the spittoon…"
"It seems like killing that pervert didn't teach him a lesson. Next time when I see him, I'll wipe away his soul and consciousness so that he won't be able to live ever again." Lin Huang was furious.
"And that Grandmistress? I shall chop off her head one day," Lin Huang added.
"Too bad you won't be able to survive until that day," Lily mocked and attacked again.
Three giant shadows dashed towards Lin Huang by sliding on the ground.
"It's redundant to play shadows with me!" Lin Huang shouted, "Come out, Witch!"
A human-form monster with a horn on its head appeared in front of Lin Huang. The monster was a female with a pliant body. It was one of the fiend Monster Cards that Lin Huang had obtained the last time.
"Monster Card
"Rarity: Epic
"Monster Name: Witch
"Type of Monster: Fiend (Beginner)
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-level
"Skill 1: Magic of Gu
"Skill 2: Poison Magic
"Skill 3: Witchcraft
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Card Remarks: Trainable"
Lin Huang had seen the skills description before. The Witch had the most secular skills. She only had three skills that were of different abilities. For Magic of Gu, she had mastered tens of worms with different functions. Some could control human minds from parasites, some could store venom, while some were cannibal worms that could devour an adult's flesh to his skeleton within seconds…
Meanwhile, Witchcraft included some soul-type attack, defense, and psychic abilities. It included some peculiar abilities such as shadow control, plant control and even summoning monsters from another dimension.
As Lin Huang had seen the Witch controlling shadows before, he decided to get her to fight Lily. Seeing the three shadows that were coming, the Witch stomped hard, and a giant fiend-form shadow grew under the moonlight.
The fiend shadow that the Witch created appeared within seconds. The three shadows that Lily was controlling sensed something was wrong, so they attempted to go around it to get to Lin Huang. However, the fiend shadow entered Lin Huang's own shadow at the speed of light before the three shadows could even move. He was speechless as he watched his shadow became a gigantic fiend shadow. As the shadows were fighting, he had no idea how he could help. He did not have any idea what would happen to him if he touched Lily's shadow.
The fight among the shadows on the ground was intense; it was like an intriguing shadow play. The shadows collided with each other and separated so fast that Lin Huang could only grasp a little bit of what was going on. The fiend shadow was certainly much stronger than the three shadows. Although it was surrounded by the three shadows, it was winning. It stood on its spot, barely moving, while the other three were constantly in motion. They backed off once they were attacked, not daring to fight the fiend shadow face-to-face.
The battle lasted for more than a minute, and it became stagnant. Just when a shadow was attacking, the fiend shadow retaliated by transforming one of its shadow hands into a massive mouth and snapped at the shadow. The other two shadows wanted to help, but they were chased away by the other enormous hand. The shadow that was captured was whimpering like a wounded beast. However, it was soon swallowed, and there was complete silence.
After settling the first shadow, the fiend shadow seemed to grow a few times bigger. It turned around and looked at the other two shadows. It extended its claws and transformed them into two thick chains, then dashed towards the two shadows. Under the moonlight, the two shadows were running for their lives. Soon, one of them was captured by the chain. It struggled hard, but its efforts were redundant. As soon as the fiend shadow pulled the chain, it captured the shadow with its claws and consumed it.
Knowing that it could not escape, the last shadow left the ground and transformed into a thick, black mist. Soon, it became Lily. Lin Huang was surprised to see that as he did not expect any of the shadows to be Lily herself. As soon as she turned into a human again, Lily screamed at Lin Huang while she attempted to escape,
"How could this happen? I have already sealed the space! You shouldn't be able to summon your monsters!"
"Nothing is impossible. Since I couldn't summon my monsters, it's obvious that I have my own way of making it happen." Lin Huang did not explain much.
Lily, who was escaping, stared deadly at Lin Huang, then turned around and dashed towards Fatty and Zhang Mengmeng.
"Since I can't kill you, even if I die, I must kill these two!"
"Witch, kill her!" Lin Huang frowned and instructed.
The warehouse became even dimmer as Lin Huang's shadow changed back to normal. He had no idea when the fiend shadow had left his shadow and where it had gone to. All the dark corners were alive. It looked like the entire warehouse had become the fiend shadow's playground.
Any spots with shadows were transformed into chains. They were like tentacles that grew and sped towards Lily as if they had lost their minds. No matter where she was running to, the chains would follow her. They even left the ground and became individual feelers. Suddenly, Lin Huang noticed that Lily had no shadow!
Soon, she was surrounded by the black chains that were coming from everywhere. As the first chain curled up her ankle, the rest followed like maggots. As he watched Lily groaned in the chain hold, Lin Huang held his head down and sighed, "I hope you'll be reborn into a better family in your next life."
She had gone through a year of touch training and exhausted her talent, but all she could manage was holy fire-level and at the most, white flame-level. Although Lin Huang was restricted, the Witch was a blue flame level after all. Moreover, it was a fiend with many odd abilities, so even a gold flame-level might not defeat it. Lily was just an appetizer to it, and it could defeat her easily.
As the black chains faded and Lily disappeared in the black robe, Lin Huang turned around and ran towards Fatty and Zhang Mengmeng. The both of them were hung 20 centimeters from the ground. Zhang Mengmeng was still staring blankly while Fatty looked up to Lin Huang slowly as he was getting closer.
"That black-robed person…"
"She's here for me. I'm so sorry to drag the both of you into it… But she's dead now. I'll get you out of this place." Lin Huang was guilty as Fatty was out of breath and there was a wound on Zhang Mengmeng's face. If not for him, Lily would not have captured the both of them. Lin Huang sliced away the hooks on their backs with his sword, and the both of them landed on the ground. Zhang Mengmeng seemed to only snap out of it and starting crying.
"Mengmeng…" Fatty looked at Zhang Mengmeng in concern.
"Don't worry. I'll break you free now." Lin Huang sliced the chains that were binding their bodies.
"Mengmeng, are you alright?" Ignoring his pain, Fatty attempted to help Zhang Mengmeng up, but his pain restricted him.
"Alright, you should rest since you're in pain. Let me do it." Lin Huang shook his head and held Zhang Mengmeng's arms in an attempt to help her up.
Suddenly, Zhang Mengmeng looked up and stabbed Lin Huang's stomach with a blade.
"Die, Lin Huang!"
"You…" There was no way Lin Huang could avoid the attack as it was too close, and he did not see that coming.
"Mengmeng, what are you doing?!" Fatty was shocked.
"Hangyi, we can only be together if he's dead." Zhang Mengmeng did not look as shy as she had been anymore.
"Who are you?" Lin Huang pressed on his wound and backed off meters away. Blood was flowing freely from the stab wound.
"I'm the real Lily. The one that you killed just now was just a crazy personality split of me that I sealed in one of my shows… Everything was planned by me, not by her," Zhang Mengmeng finally revealed who she really was.
"I thought she could kill you so that Hangyi won't see me doing this. Too bad, that crazy lady is useless…"
As Lin Huang backed off, Zhang Mengmeng did not pursue him and proceeded to say with a smirk, "There's no need to struggle, Lin Huang. My blade is coated with venom from a Fiendish Pufferfish, and there's no antidote in the entire world. You only have one hour to live…."
The Fiendish Pufferfish was a poisonous monster from the abyss, and a drop of its venom could kill a holy fire-level. Such venom could infect one's life directly. It looked like a drop of ink dripped into a glass of clear water and could affect the person's Life Power.
"Mengmeng, why would you do that?" Fatty did not expect Zhang Mengmeng to attack Lin Huang. He was still confused by what was happening.
"Hangyi, Grandmistress will kill me if I don't finish Lin Huang. She's trained me for a year and given me a month to accomplish this assassination. If I fail this mission, no matter which part of the world that I run to, she'll be able to find me. Grandmistress's way isn't what you can ever imagine it to be." Zhang Mengmeng looked like she respected this Grandmistress very much as she spoke of her.
"The Lily that I recall doesn't look like this. Who are you really?!" Yang Ling had confirmed Zhang Mengmeng's face was real. However, it was odd that she said she was the Lily that he knew a year ago.
"It's all your fault!" Zhang Mengmeng glared deadly at Lin Huang.
"If not for you, I wouldn't have been with Grandmistress and be sent to Phoenix Island which was hell. On the island, the psycho lady Poison Sting would use different ways to torture me every day. She called that training, but I was already tortured to death on the 12th day that I arrived on the island. The lady kept my soul and consciousness and got Grandmistress to send a human android to the island. She then inserted my soul and consciousness into the android, which is what you're looking at right now. Since then, she tortured me more and more each day, which was also how I managed to level-up from an ordinary person to holy fire-level. I managed to finish the training a month before the expected time.
"However, such psychotic training put me through many meltdowns. The lunatic that you killed just now was my split personality. Although she was a lunatic, I should thank her because if not for her, I wouldn't have been able to complete the 11 months of training.
"After the training was completed, I returned to Division7 looking everywhere for Lin Huang, but there's nothing much. I went to Wulin Town, but your house has been vacant for a very long time. I even looked for your sister Lin Xin. However, it seemed like she disappeared at the end of last year. I then found out that you're close to Hangyi, that's why I got closer to him so that I could get to you…"
Zhang Mengmeng looked at Fatty after she said that.
"So, you've never loved me? Your intention of being with me is to kill Lin Huang?!" Fatty's tears flowed from his swollen eyes.
"Ahh, that's why there was no response from the Love Rock because you've never loved me. Not even a tiny bit, I've been living a lie!"
"Hangyi, I admit that I approached you with intentions to use you, but I truly fell in love with you later on… Since I was young, nobody has ever treated me like how you do. You're the only person who treats me sincerely, not like the rest of them who either use me or treat me as a toy. I love it when I'm with you. As long as I'm with you, I feel safe even if you don't say or do anything. As for the Love Rock that had no response…" Zhang Mengmeng was choking back tears as she went on.
"Because you're dead…"
"What?" Fatty was shocked to hear what Zhang Mengmeng said.
"I actually wanted to kill you when we first met at the assessment as well as engulf your soul and consciousness. I wanted to extract everything about Lin Huang from that." Zhang Mengmeng took a deep breath and told the truth.
"But after browsing your memories, I found out that you had no idea where Lin Huang was. Helpless, I used the way that Grandmistress taught me and extracted your consciousness and sealed part of your soul into your body to 'revive' you as well as wipe away the part of your memory of being dead."
"In reality, you're dead and your soul no longer exists. Your consciousness looks like it exists, but it's just a part of mine…"
"Since I 'revived' you, I approached you so that I could retrieve Lin Huang's location from you. However, after spending time with you for a few days, I realized that I enjoyed being loved by you. It's a feeling that I have never experienced before. Since then, I regretted killing you. I came up with many plans and looked up many documents on how to revive you. However, your soul is a unique thing. As soon as it dies, it can't be revived or reversed."
"The Love Rock can sense the souls of both people. It will only light up for souls who are connected. You don't have a soul, so our palms didn't light up…"
Not only was Fatty shocked at what Zhang Mengmeng said, even Lin Huang, who was not far away, was dumbfounded.
"But I thought about it. It doesn't matter if you're alive or not. As long as I keep inserting your soul for you, you can maintain what you are now and we can be together forever." Zhang Mengmeng smiled at Fatty.
"If you had kept this as a secret, I would have chosen to believe you. But now… How am I supposed to believe you?" Fatty looked up while tears kept pouring down his face.
"After I kill Lin Huang and inform Grandmistress, I'll remove this part of your memory. You won't remember it was me who killed Lin Huang and you won't remember whatever I'm saying now. We can still live happily ever after. I can even accompany you to Lin Huang's funeral…"
"Enough! Everything isn't real!" Fatty stopped Zhang Mengmeng from saying any further
"Zhang Mengmeng, if you really love me, stop creating illusions to trick me and stop lying to yourself. Let me go. I would rather be dead than live in your illusion."
"You're abandoning me?" Zhang Mengmeng looked at Fatty with tears in her eyes.
"If that's what you think then sure, I don't want to be with you anymore. Let's break up!" Fatty looked into Zhang Mengmeng's eyes.
"How dare you?!" Zhang Mengmeng was furious as she strangled Fatty's neck and dangled him in the air.
"I never thought you would be like every other man who treats me like a toy and throw me away when you don't need me anymore… If that's the case, I shall kill you too!"
"Fatty!" As Lin Huang shouted his name in warning, the Witch came to his rescue. Fatty, who was in Zhang Mengmeng's grasp, turned into a scarecrow. The Witch appeared in front of Zhang Mengmeng and slapped her on the chest. She flew backwards from the blow…
"Lin Huang, if you kill me, he'll die too! His consciousness comes from mine. If my consciousness disappears, his will too." Zhang Mengmeng spat blood as she was struck on the warehouse wall by the Witch. As she had made the wall impenetrable to prevent Lin Huang from escaping, she would have gone through the wall as a result of the Witch's attack if she had not.
"Since you're only left with an hour to live, why not you allow Hangyi and I to leave? Give Hangyi to me. As long as I remove this part of his memory, he'll love me like he always does. As long as I live, so will he." Zhang Mengmeng landed on the ground slowly. Her two ponytails were loose. Her messy hair and her peculiar facial expression made her looked like a ghost under the moonlight.
"You're still so stubborn!" Lin Huang sympathized with her at first, but now he was irritated. He crushed the Healing Card that was in his hand, and the blade that had stabbed his stomach was pushed out of his body slowly. As that happened, a small capful of purple liquid came out together with the blade. It was the Fiendish Pufferfish's venom. As soon as the venom was excreted, his wound started to heal at a pace that could be seen with the naked eye. Suddenly, the Witch appeared in front of Lin Huang and looked desperately at the venom.
"Take it if you want it." Lin Huang nodded to her. The Witch opened her mouth and swallowed the purple liquid. It only took a moment for Lin Huang's body to recover to his peak performance after the venom left his body.
"What just happened? How is this possible!? There's no antidote to the Fiendish Pufferfish's venom! And how did you manage to heal yourself so quickly?!" Zhang Mengmeng was shocked by what she was witnessing. She shook her head vigorously, unable to accept what she was seeing.
It had taken her so long to plan out everything, so she was sure that Lin Huang would definitely die from the Fiendish Pufferfish's venom as there was no antidote to it. However, she did not expect him to be able to get rid of the venom just like that. All her efforts had gone to waste.
"Mengmeng, stop dwelling on your mistakes." Seeing that Lin Huang had recovered, Fatty advised Zhang Mengmeng to move on. He hoped that Zhang Mengmeng could escape. Perhaps, Lin Huang would not kill her for the sake of Fatty. However, if Zhang Mengmeng insisted on staying, Lin Huang would not let her go just like that.
"Dwell on my own mistakes? Hangyi, there's no turning back for me. I have wasted too much time. I don't have much time to complete the mission. I'm only left with less than ten days. If I don't kill Lin Huang, Grandmistress won't let me go." Zhang Mengmeng behaved like a lunatic as she cried and laughed at the same time.
"I can only live if I kill him, then we can be together!" Zhang Mengmeng said and raced towards Lin Huang.
"I'm sorry, Fatty," Lin Huang apologized, then he turned around and nodded to the Witch. The Witch then stood in front of Lin Huang and Fatty. As she opened both her hands wide, countless of black worms flew towards Zhang Mengmeng. These worms were called Lifesiphon Worms. They were the size of an adult thumb. They were completely black, and they were fed by the Life Power of various creatures. Their mouths were like scissors which could cut open the skin of any creatures easily and enter their bodies. These worms usually lived in colonies of tens of thousands. Even an immortal-level would not want to offend them.
Zhang Mengmeng recognized the worms. Although she was delirious, she decided to run away from the worms. As the worms chased after her, she ran helter-skelter and shot daggers at Lin Huang. She knew she could not fight the Witch. Although she did not see how exactly the Witch had killed Lily in the black robe earlier, she could tell how dangerous it was from the energy wave that had been created when they were fighting. The Witch took a very short time to kill Lily and it was obvious that the Witch was much more powerful.
Just like Lily who had lost her mind, Zhang Mengmeng knew very well that her ability was the same. It was impossible to defeat the Witch. She would have to kill Lin Huang by avoiding the Witch. As she ran, Zhang Mengmeng approached Lin Huang's direction. At the same time, she threw black needles, targeting at Lin Huang, completely ignoring the Witch.
Lin Huang slashed his sword in the air and blocked all of the black needles that got in his way. Meanwhile, as Zhang Mengmeng was pulled a distance away, her body split into two. Soon, from two of her, there were four, then eight… She looked like a cell that was going through mitosis. In less than a second, there were 32 Zhang Mengmengs now.
The Witch could not tell which was the real one. She extended her palm into the air, and countless vines grew out of her palm. She was like a giant tentacle monster as the monstrous tentacles that were tens of meters long dashed towards Zhang Mengmeng. Even Lin Huang could not tell which was the real Zhang Mengmeng after activating his ocular skill.
Suddenly, he felt a shadow encroach into his Micro Territory, rushing towards him. He did not even turn around but just stabbed his sword backward. The Star Dome was powerful. There was a tearing sound in the air as well as white stripes that appeared as his sword collided with the shadow. Following a loud bang, Zhang Mengmeng groaned while the shadow came back to her.
"How is that possible?! Even Poison Sting couldn't tell which is my real body!" Zhang Mengmeng spat blood out again. She did not see Lin Huang's sword coming. Although she managed to escape from death, she was badly injured in the intense collision. Without Lin Huang saying a word, the Witch appeared behind Zhang Mengmeng like a ghost. It was too late when she realized that. The Witch's fingers were like venomous snakes preying on their food as they pierced Zhang Mengmeng's back. The entire hand had come out through Zhang Mengmeng's chest…
An immense pain bloomed from her chest. Zhang Mengmeng looked down and saw the bloody hand reaching out from the front of her body. The long nails were like beast's claws and she finally knew what had happened as she looked at the inhuman limb. The Witch slowly retracted her hand, and Zhang Mengmeng seemed to lose all her strength as she fell to the ground. Tears were pouring while she tried her very best to look at Fatty's direction.
"Hangyi, I'm sorry…"
"Mengmeng!" Fatty struggled his way to Zhang Mengmeng and held her in his arms. Lin Huang wanted to stop him. However, he just could not do it while his hand hung in the air.
"I'm sorry. The thing I regret the most in this life would be killing you. How great would it be if I didn't kill you that day…" Zhang Mengmeng touched Fatty's swollen face.
"Mengmeng, I don't blame you. The days that I spent with you were the happiest days of my life." Fatty's tears were streaming down uncontrollably.
"Me too. I'm happy whenever I'm with you. You give me a sense of security… Perhaps, that's what real happiness feels like." Zhang Mengmeng was getting weaker and it became hard for her even to speak.
"I would love to be your bride…"
"I've thought of marrying you and having kids. We would see our kids grow up while our heads turn white…" Fatty laid his face on Zhang Mengmeng's forehead and said softly.
"Hangyi, is reincarnation real in this world?" Zhang Mengmeng asked feebly.
"If it's real, I would like to see you again in my next life… Promise me you'll meet me on the Three Lifetime Mountain… Okay?"
"Okay!" Fatty nodded firmly.
"You're so fat. I'll definitely recognize you… Don't you dare not recognize me…" Zhang Mengmeng smiled.
"How can I not recognize you? The most beautiful one among the crowd has to be you." Fatty hugged Zhang Mengmeng hard while shaking and crying uncontrollably.
"It's a promise then… In my next life, I'll be your bride…"
"Mmm!" Fatty could not speak anymore.
Soon, Zhang Mengmeng's hand that was touching Fatty's fell away limply. She was dead, but her face was calm like she had never been before with a light smile.
"Mengmeng!" Fatty screamed from the top of his lungs.
Lin Huang watched silently as Fatty cried in devastation with Zhang Mengmeng in his arms. Zhang Mengmeng's consciousness was now dead, and because Fatty was part of her consciousness, his would die very soon too.
"Xiao Hei, will the Healing Card work on Fatty?" Although he knew the answer, Lin Huang asked anyway.
"The Healing Card only works on living humans but he's already dead. If one's soul or consciousness are partially damaged, the Healing Card could still be used as a remedy, but the problem is, his soul has been dead since the beginning. The Healing Card can't create another soul of a person as there's only one such thing."
"How long does he still have?" Lin Huang asked.
"At the most, half an hour. The main consciousness has died, and what he has is just a part of it, so dying is just a matter of time."
Lin Huang was solemn. Fatty was one of the first friends that he made since he traveled to this world. He did not expect that killing a bastard a year ago would involve Fatty, who was innocent, and as a consequence, his life was sacrificed. As Fatty cried for more than 20 minutes, he started to realize that there was something going on in his body. He felt weak and tired, and he wanted to sleep.
"Lin Huang…" He called out to Lin Huang in panic.
Lin Huang appeared in front of him immediately and held his shaking body steady.
"I feel so tired. Am I dying?" Fatty managed a frail smile.
Lin Huang did not say anything. Observing his response, Fatty knew that he did not have much time left.
"Lin Huang, you're my best friend. I have a favor to ask…"
"Please tell me. Anything for you." Lin Huang nodded.
Fatty worked on his Emperor's Heart Ring's contact page. "I have sent you two sets of recipes. One is Dad's and another is mine. I hope you can bring back my dad's recipe to my family. Give it to my grandmother. He was the only real chef in our family, and he gave me the recipe, so you must bring back the recipe. As for my recipe, it's not a complete one. I have noted down many recipes that I imagined cooking. I hope that you can give this to a real Food Hunter. Let him or her make my recipes happen…"
"Sure, I will find the best Food Hunter and get him to make all the recipes come true!" Lin Huang smiled and nodded confidently.
"Also, Ke Lai Hotel… The hotel was my dad's hard work but now that my dad is not around and I'm leaving soon, my family might sell the hotel. I hope you can purchase the hotel and keep the business going. The revenue of the hotel is good so that you won't lose money. Keep a copy of my dad's recipe, hire a good chef to learn all his signature food and keep the Yin family's recipe going. If possible, I hope my recipes will appear in the hotel too…"
"I'll take care of Ke Lai Hotel for you."
"Don't be sad for me. Although I've only lived for 17 years, I'm happy that I did. My grandmother said fate determines how long a person could live. I had a great dad and a grandmother who loves me. Also, I met the love of my life and she loved me too… I have no regrets in this life…" Fatty smiled. He got weaker and eventually, he passed away.
"Fatty…" Lin Huang had tears surging in his eyes. He had seen many deaths in this world but he had had no feelings at all. It was his first time seeing a good friend die. A friend who was a glutton, who loved meat. The kind and sincere Fatty was dead.
He put Fatty's body into his storage space. Just when he wanted to store Zhang Mengmeng's body, there was an odd energy wave that came out of her body.
Lin Huang backed off immediately as he sensed intense danger. Just as he backed off, Zhang Mengmeng's body expanded like a balloon.
Bang!
It only took a moment for her body to expand to its maximum before exploding. A raw spark flew up and the intense explosion obliterated the entire warehouse. Lin Huang was thrown down in the wave. The warehouse turned into ruins within seconds.
The explosion extended 10 kilometers away and the blast was heard even further away. Most of the residents on the east side of the White Capital heard it. Some who were closer saw the bright spark. Fortunately, the warehouse was located at the edge of the eastern suburb and it was secluded. Besides some other warehouses with goods, there was no residential area nearby, so there was no casualty.
The explosion happened out of nowhere. Luckily, Lin Huang was fast enough to activate the Dark Shield. Not only that, the Witch created a black spherical defense layer that covered the outside of the Dark Shield. Under the double protection, Lin Huang and the Witch were unhurt. As soon as the explosive was over, Lin Huang removed the defense layer to see the entire place covered in smoke. Zhang Mengmeng's body that was not far away had completely disappeared.
"That must have been a self-destruction programme by an android. It only exploded after Fatty died. Does that mean Zhang Mengmeng's consciousness is completely finished now?" Lin Huang guessed.
"That's great. Now, I don't have to wipe away the evidence."
He looked around to make sure he did not leave any trails. He then summoned the Viridescent Thunderhawk and left.
A while after he left, a couple of shadows ran towards the warehouse. They were the powerful humans around who were puzzled by the wreckage, but they left after discovering nothing around the site. Lin Huang went straight back to the dorm in Martial Hunter College.
"Brother, how come you're back so early today?" Lin Xin was confused as Lin Huang usually only headed back after 12 but it was not even 11.
"Fatty is dead…" Lin Huang muttered after sitting wordlessly on the couch in the living for a while.
"Brother Fatty…is dead?" Lin Xin was shocked. She had not seen the news coming.
Lin Huang then told her about what had happened.
"I'll drop by Fatty's house tomorrow to pass his body and his remaining belongings to his family," Lin Huang said softly.
"I'll follow you." Lin Xin was worried about Lin Huang's condition.
"That's great. Since Zhang Mengmeng managed to come to the White Capital, it would be dangerous for you to stay here alone."
Fatty's hometown was in Nanmu Town, which was also a D-grade foothold like Wulin Town that was under the territory of Baqi City. It was almost 1,300 kilometers from Baqi City. After breakfast, Lin Huang brought Lin Xin to Baqi City which he had pinned on his dimensional relic earlier. They then rode on the Viridescent Thunderhawk and headed towards Nanmu Town.
It was past eight in the morning when they arrived and the town had started to get crowded. The appearance of the Viridescent Thunderhawk had attracted the attention of the crowd. Lin Huang recalled the Viridescent Thunderhawk after he found out where the Yin family house was quite easily. The foothold was small, only slightly bigger than Wulin Town. Lin Huang did not summon the Viridian Wolf and walked to the Yin residence by foot with Lin Xin instead.
On the way, Lin Huang was thinking about how to break the news while Lin Xin followed without saying a word. She was not as bubbly and capricious as she always was. Seven to eight minutes later, they finally arrived at the big courtyard that the pedestrians had told him about. The Yins were clearly a prosperous family in town. From the look of the courtyard, it looked like it was at least 1,000 square meters large.
There was an old man sitting in a pavilion not far behind the entrance and the black wooden door was locked.
"What do you want?" When the old man saw the both of them, he stood up and asked.
"Is this the Yin residence? I'm Yin Hangyi's friend and this is my sister. Yin Hangyi asked me to come here to see his old lady," Lin Huang politely explained.
"You're Master's friend? Please give me a moment while I inform the housekeeper." The old man called someone and hung up after a short exchange of words. He then opened the door.
"Please come in. The housekeeper is waiting for you at the door." He opened the door and smiled at the both of them.
They walked through the courtyard. There was a middle-aged man in a black tuxedo who nodded to them at the entrance. It was obvious that he was the Yins' housekeeper.
"Please follow me to the living room." The housekeeper brought the both of them to the left side of the halls and headed to the living room.
As they entered the living room, the housekeeper got them tea and asked casually, "How do I address the both of you?"
"My name is Lin Huang and this is my sister Lin Xin," Lin Huang said.
"Oh, so you're Mr. Lin Huang. Master always talks about you. He told us that you're young and capable and that you've achieved a lot at such a young age." The housekeeper was much friendlier after confirming who Lin Huang was.
"I wonder what brings Mr. Lin Huang and Ms. Lin Xin here today?" The housekeeper served them some tea.
"Hangyi asked me to see his grandma." Lin Huang knew that it was best if he announced the news to the head of the family.
"Oh, is that so? She just woke up and is having breakfast now. I'll inform her. Please give me a moment." The housekeeper did not ask further and excused himself.
"Brother Fatty is quite rich." Lin Xin smiled.
"This is all the effort of Fatty's father's business. Now that his dad and Fatty aren't around anymore, the business must find it hard to go on. Many people have gone to the restaurant for Fatty's dad's recipe. Fatty picked up 50% to 60% of his dad's talent. There's nobody else in the Yin family who is talented in cooking…" Lin Huang knew why Fatty asked him to purchase the hotel as the family would sell it to others if he did not.
"Without the revenue of the hotel, it seems to be hard for the family to maintain their lifestyle." Lin Xin observed.
"So, as soon as they know about Fatty's death, if they're smart, they will sell the hotel because if they continue to manage it, they'll definitely lose money. Since it's still making money now, the earlier they let it go, the better for them." Lin Huang nodded helplessly.
"Why not you buy the hotel, brother? We can get some good chefs to come up with some unique dishes. Even if we don't make much, at least the business won't be losing money," Lin Xin suggested.
"Fatty hoped that I would purchase it as well, but I can't be the one who initiates that. We need to hear what the grandma says." Lin Huang knew if he was to suggest that himself, to the Yins, he would seem like he was robbing a burning house instead of trying to help.
After taking two sips of tea, the housekeeper came back to them. "Please follow me to Grandma."
The both of them trailed behind him and headed to the second floor. On the living room, there was an old lady with white hair on the couch, sandwiched between two women. Lin Huang guessed that they were Fatty's aunts.
The old lady waved to the both of them. "Since the both of you are Hangyi's friends, don't be shy and come sit down. Make yourself at home.
"Hi Grandma, hi Aunties," Lin Huang greeted the three of them. The housekeeper left after bringing the both of them tea.
Lin Huang was seated on a chair that was not far from the couch and was comfortable. However, Lin Xin looked slightly uneasy.
"I heard from the housekeeper that you're Lin Huang?" The old lady chuckled.
"Yes, I'm Lin Huang. This is my sister, Lin Xin."
"Hangyi mentioned about you before. He said you saved his life once. He also told me that you have great abilities and that you're a genius," the old lady complimented.
"Hangyi was kidding…" Lin Huang did not know how to break the news anymore.
"Oh yeah, let me introduce yourself. I'm Hangyi's grandmother and these two are Hangyi's aunties." The old lady suddenly realized that she did not introduce the three of them.
"Do you know that Hangyi has a girlfriend now? Although the girl is pretty, I'm worried that she doesn't really love Hangyi. Think about it. If she's so pretty, which part of Hangyi would attract her? Since you're his friend, watch out for him on my behalf. I don't want him to get cheated…" The old lady did not stop talking. Lin Huang finally knew where Fatty got his chatterbox mouth from.
She was interrupted by one of the aunties. "Mom, don't just talk about yourself. Hangyi went traveling and now he asked his friend to come here, so there must be something important," the aunt said.
"Look at me, forgetting about what's important. Hangyi must have something urgent to tell us?" The old lady asked. Lin Huang was struggling as he did not know how to break the news. He was looking for the opportunity to break it gently but there was no way that he could, judging from the old lady's conversation.
Now that the three of them were looking at him with anticipation, he did not know how to say it anymore. The old lady seemed to notice something was wrong from Lin Huang's expression.
"Lin Huang, did something happen…to Hangyi?" The old lady asked carefully. Lin Huang's silence made the ambiance awkward.
"Just tell me, I can take it." The old lady took a deep breath and nodded at Lin Huang. She seemed to know what had happened as there were tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Hangyi is…dead…" Lin Huang felt terrible but he told the truth anyway.
"Hangyi is dead…"
The light in the old lady's eyes extinguished but she was much calmer than Lin Huang expected. He was worried that she might not be able to take the news. Nevertheless, she was much stabler than he imagined.
"It's my fault…" The old lady slapped her thigh hard.
"Mom, don't say that!"
"It has nothing to do with you!"
Yin Hangyi's two aunties stopped the old lady from hurting herself further. Lin Huang and Lin Xin were puzzled.
"How is it not my fault?! The fortune teller said that I'm no good for this family. My two husbands are dead. Now, so are my two sons, one daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. If I'm dead, nothing like that will happen to anyone!" The old lady cried and blamed herself.
Now, finally, Lin Huang and Lin Xin understood why she blamed herself.
"What happened, Lin Huang? Hangyi was just traveling with his girlfriend. How did this happen?" The aunty asked Lin Huang as she wanted to change the topic.
"Hangyi and his girlfriend got kidnapped in the White Capital. It was too late when I arrived. Hangyi wasn't dead yet when I got there but there was no way that I could save him." Lin Huang hid the truth. He had to lie as the less the Yin family knew about the Grandmistress, the safer they would be. They might want to take revenge if he told them the truth. It would be a disaster if the Grandmistress found out about their attempt to seek revenge.
"Kidnap? Why didn't they call us to ask for ransom?" Hangyi's aunt asked.
"The kidnappers didn't want money. They were actually after Zhang Mengmeng as there was something from her family that they wanted. She was a royalty outside of Division7, so she was targeted before she even came to Division7. It was unfortunate that Hangyi got dragged into this. As Zhang Mengmeng's family couldn't come to terms with the kidnappers, the both of them were killed. Zhang Mengmeng's body was taken away by her family while Hangyi's is my storage space."
Lin Huang came up with the story and intentionally said that Zhang Mengmeng's family was royalty outside of Division7 as the Yin family was a normal family after all, so it would be difficult for them to get any information that was outside of the division. They would need a massive amount of Life Crystals to get out of the division. A year's worth of Life Crystals was equivalent to one million credit points. Getting to the nearest Division8 or Division6 would cost each person thousands of Life Crystals.
The Heart Network ran individually in every division. Besides people of a certain level, the information of each division was isolated. Normal people would only receive information about the division that they were residing in. If they did not know anyone from other divisions, they would basically know nothing about other divisions for all their lives. They trusted what Lin Huang said as Fatty always mentioned about him and his extensive network as far as the old lady and the others remembered. They had even seen their photos together, so they were not skeptical about Lin Huang at all.
"Can we see…Hangyi's body?" The old lady was sobbing but she heard Lin Huang loud and clear.
Lin Huang nodded and took out Fatty's body. He lay his body on the carpet in the living room. The aunties took a quick glance and looked away while the old lady stood up calmly. She walked towards Fatty's body with her walking stick slowly. Although Fatty was slightly unrecognizable as his face was swollen, the old lady could tell that it was her grandson, Yin Hangyi.
"Hangyi…" She tossed her walking stick aside and knelt on her knees. She looked devastated as she touched Fatty's head lovingly.
"Why did you leave just like that? Didn't you say that you want to be a Food Hunter and make monsters into delicious dishes for your grandma?"
The old lady lost control as she wept and talked to Fatty. Lin Huang's eyes turned red as he watched while Lin Xin wiped her tears quietly. Yin Hangyi's aunts were crying as they stood aside and the atmosphere became gloomy.
Around 20 minutes later, the old lady finally calmed herself down, wiped her tears and looked at Lin Huang.
"Hangyi's face…"
"He was tortured before he died. He must have been protecting Zhang Mengmeng. There was only a sword gash on Zhang Mengmeng's face, nothing else," Lin Huang nodded and explained.
"Hangyi sent me both his dad's and his recipes to me. Those are the only remaining possessions that he has. Let me forward that to you," Lin Huang said to the old lady.
"Did he…say anything before he died?" The old lady asked.
"He said he has a grandmother who really loves him, a great dad and that he met the love of his life. He has no regrets in his life," Lin Huang conveyed what Fatty had said.
The old lady started crying again after hearing that. Lin Huang stood aside while waiting for them to feel better and did not say anything else. Ten minutes later, the old lady had finally calmed down. She stood up with her walking stick and her daughters' help.
"Lin Huang, who are the kidnappers?" The old lady had the plan to take revenge.
"I've killed the kidnapper but I've no idea who they are. I'll get to the bottom of this and give all of you an explanation," Lin Huang said as he did not want to get the Yin family involved.
To the royals, an ordinary person's strength was weak. Even a small royal in the Division7 could kill the Yin family easily, let alone the Grandmistress who mastered the immortal-level Poison Sting. Lin Huang even suspected that the Grandmistress could be from the core zone. It was too bad that he did not get sufficient information about the Grandmistress from Zhang Mengmeng.
"Don't you hope that we get to the bottom of this ourselves?" The old lady managed to understand what Lin Huang said.
"Yes, as this incident involves the royals, it could possibly be one of the popular families from the other ruling, so let me do it. Hangyi is my friend. I'll take revenge behalf of him. One day, I shall chop of the mastermind's head and bring it to your family." Lin Huang looked determinedly into the old lady's eyes.
The old lady nodded her head slowly as she looked at Lin Huang's conviction.
"Alright then, I shall let you handle that. Hangyi has passed, so we have many things to handle anyway. And Hangyi's funeral…"
Following the old lady's arrangement, Lin Huang and Lin Xin stayed with the Yis for the following two days. On the third day, Fatty's funeral went as planned. After Fatty was buried, Lin Huang bade farewell to the old lady and left with Lin Xin.
In the giant castle in Division2 that was as impressive as an art piece, a lady in a purple dress, who looked like she was in her thirties, sat on the single couch. She was caressing a skull with her right hand. A middle-aged man in a black tuxedo, who looked like a butler, knocked three times on her room.
"What?" The lady turned around and glared at the butler.
"Grandmistress, there's something wrong with Lily's android." The housekeeper bowed slightly in respect.
"That girl contacted you?" The lady in purple dress raised an eyebrow.
"No, but someone in the lab found out that her android's signal has gone dead. The lab reported that she's most possibly self-destructed, but there could be something wrong with the signal," the housekeeper explained.
"Where did the girl last appear?" The lady asked.
"In the White Capital in Division7."
"That could mean she failed the mission." The lady in purple dress squinted.
"Mother, do you mean that Lily might have been killed by the fellow named Lin Huang? How is that possible?" The skull in the lady's hand shouted out of nowhere.
"The fellow was only an iron-level a year ago. Lily's completed her training and she's already a white flame-level. No matter how much of a genius he is, it's impossible that he could defeat Lily!"
"Shan Er, to some geniuses, it's possible to level up from iron to white flame-level in a year. Lily isn't very talented. Whatever she's managed to achieve with all her strength is nothing to the talented," the lady explained calmly.
"Of course, it could be the people who have been protecting the young boy. After all, the Leng family interrupted us a year ago. Perhaps, they have been secretly protecting this young boy called Lin Huang."
"The Lengs… One day, I'll show them the price to pay for interrupting us Weis!" The skull's eye sockets had a blue glow coming out of it. As it spoke, its jaw opened and closed.
"Grandmistress, should we…" the housekeeper trailed off.
"Send someone to get to the bottom of this. See if it's really been destroyed or is it some other factors. After all, it would be trouble if the families in Division7 found out about the android. Leaking of our technology will be nothing, but if the Union Government is informed, they'll definitely come for us," the lady instructed immediately.
"Destroy it as soon as you find it."
"Mother, then how about Lily?" The skull was concerned.
"That girl can't even manage to handle a small matter, so why should we keep her? Two years later, when you recover, I'll get someone to find you a better girl," the lady said in determination.
"Yes, Mother." Wei Shan decided to give up on Lily.
"Grandmistress, should we get rid of Lin Huang as well?" The housekeeper asked.
"Don't bother about him. If he's truly being protected by the Leng family, even an imperial-level might not be able to kill him. Moreover, the White Capital is the largest city in Division7, so the Union Government would be notified if something big happened. Our mission should be the top priority. Confirm where the android is. If it's still alive, bring it back for recycling quietly and try not to be seen by anybody," the lady in purple dress highlighted the priority of matter.
"But, Mother, what if he killed Lily by himself without the Leng family's protection?" Wei Shan the skull could not help but ask.
"That means he's a powerful genius and is worth being Shan Er's grindstone. Two years later, he shall be your first target then." The lady in purple dress grinned.
"But, Mother, what if I lose?" The skull sounded like it was hesitating.
"If Shan Er dies in his hands, that means he's worth being part of my collection. By then, I'll kill him myself and make him into a beautiful art piece."
Wei Shan's heart sank when he heard what she said. Throughout the year, he had been suspecting if his birth mother did not care about his life. At most, he was just an experiment for her and was nothing more precious than Lily who was also an experiment. He read between the lines of what she said. Instead of saying that Lin Huang was his grindstone, more accurately would his bringing Lin Huang's grindstone. There was only one reason for his existence, which was to test if Lin Huang was worthy of being in his mother's collection. If he lost, his mother would focus on Lin Huang and not him. If he won, Lin Huang would lose his mother's attention and made his existence more valuable.
"Don't worry, Mother, I'll definitely win!" The skull gave a determined answer.
"Mother believes that you will win too." The lady in purple dress caressed the skull and smiled.
"I understand. I shall do the arrangement now." The butler understood what Grandmistress meant. He did not react at all as he knew who this Grandmistress really was throughout the years. As expected, her own son was only a chess piece that she could get rid of any time she wanted.
…
Lin Huang had no idea that he had just escaped death. Since he got back from Fatty's funeral, the first thing he did was to contact Leng Yuexin to ask for her help to retrieve Wei Shan's real identity. However, he was warned again and again by Leng Yuexin not to investigate into that as Wei Shan might be related to the core zone.
Lin Huang's life was back to normal. He woke up at 6.30 a.m. every morning and headed to the library around 7 a.m. He would stay there until 6 p.m. and train his sword skills at the training room until midnight. He pretended as if nothing had happened a few days ago. In reality, Lin Huang did not give up on the investigation. He remembered Zhang Mengmeng mentioning that Wei Shan was still alive and would take revenge on Lin Huang two years later. Lin Huang was waiting for that day to come. The truth would come out as soon as he captured Wei Shan alive!
Lin Xin could sense that although Lin Huang looked the same as when Fatty visited, he had been hiding how he really felt by flooding himself with a hectic schedule. She had nothing to say as she knew Fatty was one of Lin Huang's best friends. Words could not make him feel better; all he needed was time.
Half a month soon passed by. Xiao Hei's notification came when Lin Huang was in the training room in the middle of the night.
"Congratulations, you have accumulated legendary-level skill 'Star Dome' card pieces x10,000. Would you like to combine the card pieces into a complete Skill Card?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang said without thinking twice."
"10,000 Star Dome card pieces have been deducted. Combination taking place."
"Congratulations, you have obtained legendary-level Skill Card - Star Dome."
"Skill Card Name: Star Dome"
"Rarity: Legendary"
"Type of Skill: Combat Skill"
"Skill Level: Transcendent Combat Skill"
"Status: Available"
"Card Remarks: Worth having!"
"Worth having…"
It was the first time Xiao Hei had given such good comment on a card. The best remark before was just 'not bad'.
"Now that I've mastered this, it's almost time to kill the sword type monsters." Lin Huang had gathered all the information of the double-mutated sword type monsters two days ago. He did not head out to kill the monsters as he was close to 10,000 Star Dome card pieces. He could feel that he would obtain the skill as soon as he collected 10,000 card pieces. That was why he had postponed his trip.
He looked at the time. It was almost 11 p.m. Since he had gotten the Skill Card, he did not want to train anymore. He kept his sword and returned to the dorm. Lin Xin, who was in her bedroom on the second floor, was still awake. She knew it was Lin Huang when she heard the door creak open downstairs. She sat up immediately, put on her slippers and went downstairs.
"Brother, how come you're so early today?"
"Yeah, I'm heading out tomorrow. I might take a few days." Lin Huang nodded at Lin Xin.
"What for?" Lin Xin was worried.
"To kill a couple of monsters," Lin Huang told the truth.
"I'm following you!" Lin Xin said immediately.
"Alright, then. Pack your bag. We'll leave early in the morning tomorrow." Lin Huang thought about it and agreed. There was nothing dangerous on this trip and Lin Xin had been cooping herself up at home for many days. Moreover, he did not have to hide certain things from Lin Xin.
Lin Huang had gotten Lancelot to achieve a double kill when they were in the Volcano Hell. As a result, he had obtained two sword servant cards. Later on, Lancelot killed three sword type monsters before the Mystery Auction started, so Lin Huang obtained another three sword type Monster Cards. He had only received five sword servant cards out of the nine that he needed. They were the Greatsword Fiend that was skilled in handling heavy swords, the Fiery Swordfiend with fire attributes, the Frigid Swordswoman with ice attributes, the Hatted Swordsman of multiple sword skills and the Sword Knight with its sword and shield.
Besides the Greatsword Fiend which was single mutated, the rest were all double mutated monsters. Lin Huang finally had some leads on the remaining four double mutated sword type monsters after almost a month of browsing. Lin Huang's trip this time was mainly to unlock Lancelot to get the remaining four cards. Of course, he would bring Charcoal along to feed it dracaena in the isolated space where the Starlight Beasts were.
After washing up early in the morning, Lin Huang and Lin Xin locked all the doors and windows in the dorm, threw out the trash and headed out for breakfast. It was almost 8 a.m. after they were done with breakfast and Lin Huang summoned his dimensional relic at a place that was less crowded where he pinned the coordinates for Jinchuan City.
Jinchuan City was a B-grade foothold, and Lin Huang had never been there before. It was pinned by Mr. Fu earlier coincidentally. Lin Huang heard that there was a sword type monster less than 2,000 kilometers from the foothold. Therefore, this became his first destination. After passing through the dimensional relic, Lin Huang and Lin Xin appeared in a bedroom of a luxury hotel.
There was a young, naked couple in the midst of sex. They cringed when they saw the both of them appear in their room. Lin Huang made a shield to cover Lin Xin's eyes and pulled her out of the room. They took the elevator and arrived at the top floor of the hotel.
"Brother, the coordinates that your dimensional relic pinned is really…"
Lin Xin was still blushing. Although she had not seen the scene clearly, she could tell what the couple was doing from the moaning.
"Ahem… It's not my fault. It was my Master who set the coordinates. I've never been to Jinchuan City." It was not Lin Huang's first time in such an encounter. His first time was when a lady got out of the shower with her towel, but this time was even more embarrassing than the last one.
"Well.. Let's see where we should go," Lin Huang changed the topic immediately and looked at the map on his Emperor's Heart Ring. After ascertaining the direction, he turned around to face southwest.
"It's 1,993 kilometers straight ahead from this direction…"
He then summoned the Viridescent Thunderhawk. He helped Lin Xin up on it, then pulled himself up. He patted the Viridescent Thunderhawk's back and instructed, "Around 2,000 kilometers southwest."
The Viridescent Thunderhawk nodded and flew up into the sky.
"Brother, can this hawk understand what '2,000 kilometers' means?" Lin Xin learned that most monsters did not have the concept of numbers, let alone understanding the measure of distance in human language.
"Thunder understands. Don't worry." Lin Huang nodded.
Chirp!
The Viridescent Thunderhawk heard their conversation and chirped, seeming to agree with what Lin Huang said.
After flying for more than an hour, the Viridescent Thunderhawk started slowing down. Lin Huang looked at the map and saw that they had traveled more than 1,700 kilometers away. Lin Xin could sense the deceleration and saw from the map that Lin Huang projected that the destination was not far away.
"It really understands!" Lin Xin exclaimed.
Soon, the Viridescent Thunderhawk flew lower. It retracted its wings slightly and started gliding downwards. The map showed that they were even closer to their destination.
"It should be somewhere around here." Lin Huang patted the Viridescent Thunderhawk's back when his location matched the coordinates on the map.
The Viridescent Thunderhawk circled in the air, spiraling as they flew lower. They landed on top of the hill that was only hundreds of meters high. Lin Huang looked around and found out that he was less than 10 kilometers from his prey.
"Stay here. It might be dangerous if you get any closer," Lin Huang said and got the Viridescent Thunderhawk to let Lin Xin down. He then summoned the Witch and instructed her, "Protect my sister."
The Witch nodded. Lin Huang then rode on the Viridescent Thunderhawk and headed to the jungle where the monster was. The monster he picked this time was a Spiritsword Supreme. It was a unique monster, and its form was different from all the monsters that Lin Huang had killed before. It looked like a sword. If it had to be categorized, it would be a psychic monster.
Lin Huang had researched about the Spiritsword Supreme before. There were two reasons why this monster was tough. Firstly, it could control other sword type monsters that were near it, and it only appeared where there were many sword type monsters. Another reason was that it was 90% immune to sword assaults. That being said, any sword type monster or human fighting it would only have 10% efficiency when the attack reached the Spiritsword Supreme. That characteristic alone made it more powerful than any sword monsters of the same level.
Due to those reasons, Lin Huang did not think that Lancelot could kill the Spiritsword Supreme by fighting on his own. He was only worried that Lancelot would be controlled by the Spiritsword Supreme as he was also a sword type monster. If that happened, getting Lancelot to kill Spiritsword Supreme would be considered an impossible mission. The terms of unlocking stated that Lancelot would have to fight alone whereby Lin Huang was not allowed to help at all.
The Viridescent Thunderhawk arrived less than one kilometer away from where the Spiritsword Supreme was discovered. Lin Huang recalled it and summoned Lancelot, the Ruthless Sword Master. Lancelot wore black armor with a sheer black mist surrounding his body. He stared at Lin Huang, apparently puzzled by the reason he had been summoned.
"There's a Spiritsword Supreme nearby. It's one of the monsters that I picked for unlocking," Lin Huang explained.
Lancelot's cyclops eye turned red as he surveyed around. Suddenly, he seemed to be attracted by something and headed out. Lin Huang looked around and noticed that there was a giant golden sword covered by plants more than a kilometer away.
"Spiritsword Supreme!" Lin Huang screamed as he did not expect to find the monster so quickly.
Lin Huang followed as he saw Lancelot tearing forward like a lightning bolt. Lancelot was only a complete gold-level while the Spiritsword Supreme was already a white flame-level. Moreover, the Spiritsword Supreme was 90% immune to sword attacks, so it was difficult for Lancelot to defeat it if he was to fight alone. Therefore, it was crucial for Lin Huang to help him.
As they dashed less than 100 meters away, they heard the sound of leaves rustling getting closer and closer. Suddenly, dozens of shadows leaped from the branches and blocked them. It was a bunch of apes with golden hair. To be exact, they were Boulderblade Apes. There were more than 30 of them. They had golden hair and they were over a meter tall. They held a rock sword in each of their hands as they hissed at Lin Huang and Lancelot.
Lin Huang had read about the Boulderblade Ape in the monster encyclopedia before. They were gold-level monsters that lived in groups. Although they looked like apes, they were oviparous. They were born to be good at mimicking various sword skills and they were born with rock swords in their hand. It was still a mystery to humans how the sword that was clearly not made from flesh could appear when they grew in eggs.
Many scientists did experiments on the apes and concluded that the rock sword was the ape's symbiosis just like an extra limb. However, nobody could explain such a theory. There were results that documented how the Boulderblade Ape's sword was comparable with a human's gold-level weapon. The appearance of such monsters in groups spelled trouble for other gold-level humans, but to Lin Huang and Lancelot, they were nothing.
"Shall I do it or you do it?" Lin Huang looked at Lancelot.
Lancelot did not say a word while transforming himself into a black lightning bolt and rushing into the monster crowd. Despite being agile, the Boulderblade Apes could not do anything within Lancelot's Death Zone. Lancelot swung his black sword again and again without looking at any of the apes. The apes' heads were pierced through the air while their brains were scattered all over the place. Their agility and speed were an irony in the Death Zone. No matter where they ran, Lancelot only needed a swing of his sword to kill them.
That was how powerful a double mutated monster was against a regular monster; such a vast difference in ability could not be solved by quantity. Within minutes, all of the Boulderblade Apes had their heads pierced opened. Carcasses were strewn everywhere on the ground. Lancelot did not even turn around or look at Lin Huang. Instead, he dashed straight towards the Spiritsword Supreme.
Lin Huang shook his head and followed him immediately. He thought to himself that all of the monsters that he summoned had their own attitudes, but he was not sure if that was a good or bad thing. Stepping through the Boulderblade Apes' carcasses, the both of them were blocked by a bunch of skeletons after just taking a few steps ahead.
These skeletons had rusty swords of different forms in their hands. Some of them held a sword in one hand, while some had two in both. They were more and more of them emerging from the ground. Within seconds, there were more than 100 of them.
"The Undead Swordsmen…" Lin Huang frowned.
The Undead Swordsmen were soul type monsters whereby they were formed from swordsmen who had died with strong consciousness intact. After they passed on, their consciousness still remained in the dead bodies and did not wither away with the corpse for some reason. Such monsters had memories of their sword skills when they had been alive, so their abilities were pretty solid. Before Lin Huang could tell Lancelot that such monsters had to be killed by destroying their heads, or else they could regenerate their bodies, Lancelot broke into the skeleton crowd. His method of attack was the same as before. Every swing of his black sword could kill one Undead Swordsman easily. Each and every one of them either had their heads pierced through, cut into half, or blasted as every swing aimed at their heads.
Watching the Undead Swordsmen fall one by one, Lin Huang realized that his concern was unnecessary as Lancelot was much smarter than he imagined and he was aware of the Undead Swordsmen's weakness. Since Lancelot was enjoying himself, Lin Huang did not bother to help him. However, he noticed that the more monsters that Lancelot killed, the black mist that surrounded his body grew thicker.
"Is this an illusion?" Lin Huang mumbled to himself.
"The thickening black mist isn't your illusion. The Ruthless Sword Master is a monster that kills for a living. The more he kills, the stronger his ability becomes. Besides, as the number of kills reaches a certain level, he will level up automatically," Xiao Hei explained.
It was Lin Huang's first time hearing such a thing.
The monster encyclopedia had records about the Ruthless Sword Master which he had read. However, perhaps there were not many Ruthless Sword Masters that had appeared in the past as the studies in the monster encyclopedia were not detailed. It just covered some basic information, and even the recording of the skills was incomplete. Lin Huang had a more comprehensive understanding of the monster compared to what the encyclopedia stated, which was why he did not know that the Ruthless Sword Master had such a characteristic.
"In reality, all monsters with the title of 'Ruthless' has similar hidden abilities to level up by killing."
"'Ruthless' title?" It was Lin Huang's first time hearing such a theory.
"Some of the monster's titles are not given by humans, but they're born with it. Some creatures see them, and they will have matching titles in their head. The Ruthless Sword Master is one of them. 'Ruthless' is his title, so no matter which level it goes up to, it will always have the title in his name. Titled monsters are unique monsters to date; they will be extremely powerful as they level up to a certain level."
"Besides the Ruthless Sword Master, you own another Monster Card which is also a titled monster. The Nephilic Judge's title is 'judge.'"
"Titled monsters… It seems like I must train these two properly." Lin Huang's eyes lit up as he looked at Lancelot after hearing this brand new concept. From what Xiao Hei told him about Lancelot becoming more powerful by killing, Lin Huang gave up on his thought to help him and just stood aside to spectate. Lancelot managed to kill almost 300 Undead Swordsmen within ten minutes. The black mist surrounding his body was getting thicker and thicker.
Lancelot looked up at the Spiritsword Supreme's direction and dashed forward.
After being blocked twice, Lancelot and Lin Huang's journey was a smooth one. They arrived at the area where the Spiritsword Supreme was safe and sound. It was an empty area with no trees. To be exact, not only were there no trees, but there was also no grass to be seen. In the stretch of jungle, the empty space stood out even more like a bald patch on a head of thick hair. The Spiritsword Supreme was pierced into the bald ground quietly.
What caught Lin Huang's attention were the four human-form sculptures surrounding the Spiritsword Supreme. He could sense that there was something wrong with these sculptures. They were around two meters tall, and all of them looked like armored humans with a sword each on their waists. The figures were so detailed that if it not for the colorless rocks, they would look no different from real humans.
There were not many records on the Spiritsword Supreme in the monster encyclopedia. Although Lin Huang had done his research before coming here, he had never heard of the sculptures. Although he could not sense any aura from the sculptures, his instinct told him that there was definitely something wrong with them. Even Lancelot slowed down, apparently sensing something odd as well.
Nevertheless, Lancelot was impatient. After sensing no obvious danger from the sculptures, he headed towards to the Spiritsword Supreme.
"Wait!" Lin Huang stopped Lancelot with his hand. Lancelot stared perplexedly at Lin Huang. He took out his grade-5 gun relic and turned on the silencer. He then started shooting at one of the sculptures. Despite the shots being fired, nothing happened to the sculpture at all. He noticed that as the golden Life Power bullets collided with the sculpture, they disappeared. They looked like they had been absorbed by a layer of invisible shield.
"Something is really wrong with these sculptures…" Lin Huang was sure of that after testing them. However, the sculptures did not come alive like how he imagined. Lancelot stared at the sculpture that Lin Huang had shot. After confirming that it did not move, he dashed towards it. Within seconds, Lancelot appeared before the Spiritsword Supreme. The black mist surrounding his body peaked, and even his black armor was completely enveloped in the mist, blurring him from anyone's vision. As the black mist climaxed, he extended the black sword in his hand. It was like a black lightning bolt that moved so quickly that even Lin Huang thought he would not be able to avoid it if it came at him.
The tip of the black sword broke through the speed of sound, and it only got faster and faster. As it almost collided with the Spiritsword Supreme, his speed surpassed three times more than the speed of sound.
Bang!
Time seemed to stop as they collided. A while later, the banging and the explosion that broke through the sound barrier happened almost at the same time. The intense soundwave created a strong wind that devoured the entire space. The entire area was covered in sand. Lin Huang embraced his body with his hand while staring at the position where they both collided. Although he had superb vision, he could not see if the attack was successful or not.
Suddenly, a black shadow backed off from the area. Lin Huang looked closely and found out that it was Lancelot who was being attacked. Instead, he backed off on his own will. Just as Lancelot was doing so, Lin Huang sensed a powerful aura that was awakening. A humming sound was sent underground and he could even feel the earth trembling slightly. The sculptures were cracking as pieces of their outer body crumbled away.
"I know they would be revived!" Lin Huang knew this would happen. It was impossible for the sculptures to be there just for decoration.
He turned around and looked at Lancelot, now finally understanding why he had backed off. The outer bodies of the four human-form sculptures' were peeling away, revealing four real hunks with swords. They did not look like monsters. Instead, they looked more like humans. The Spiritsword Supreme that pierced into the ground at an angle seemed like it was pulled off by an invisible hand and floated in the air.
Lin Huang could finally see the real image of the Spiritsword Supreme. It was a giant sword of around 1.5 meters long. It was completely golden besides its silver handle and tip. The handle to the body looked like they were made of the same material. Although the patterns on the handle were different from those on the body of the sword, they seemed like they had been created by the same sculptor. The patterns were beautiful and it seemed like that they were alive.
The Spiritsword Supreme did not look like a harmful weapon but more like a beautiful sword that was a work of art. It was more suited in the museum for being admired instead of being used in battles. However, the aura that came out of the Spiritsword Supreme was white flame-level, and so were the four human-form sculptures.
The Spiritsword Supreme floated in the air and rotated for a couple of rounds with its tip pointed to the ground. It then pointed its tip at Lancelot and Lin Huang's direction. The four hunks with swords seemed to respond to an unheard instruction and raced towards the both of them.
"It seems like I'll need to summon some assistants…" The cards appeared on his hand, it was the Malachian Fiend and the Inferior Imp.
"Monster Card
"Rarity: Epic
"Monster Name: Malachian Fiend
"Type of Monster: Fiend (Beginner)
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-level (Gold Flame-level)
"Skill 1: Ultimate Destruction
"Skill 2: Demonic Explosion
"Skill 3: Ultimate Armor
"Skill 4: Demonic Regeneration
"Skill 5: Fiendish Strength
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Remarks: Monster's combat level is oppressed by your own
"Card Remarks: Trainable
"Monster Card
"Rarity: Epic
"Monster Name: Inferior Imp
"Type of Monster: Fiend (Beginner)
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-level (Gold Flame-level)
"Skill 1: Fiend Vision
"Skill 2: Abyssal Fire
"Skill 3: Meteoric Descent
"Skill 4: Demonic Regeneration
"Skill 5: Demonic Telepathy
"Skill 6: Fiendish Strength
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Remarks: Monster's combat level is oppressed by your own
"Card Remarks: Trainable
…
Lin Huang then crushed the cards with his fingers and summoned the two blue flame-level fiends.
"Kill these four fellows," he instructed the two fiends.
As the two fiends heard the instruction, they ran towards the four guards with their swords. They were clear about their attack strategy as each of them fought two guards without interrupting each other. The Malachian Fiend did not care about the swords the guards were brandishing in their hands. He was like a tank that tore towards them, fighting with his fists that were like hammers that collided with the two swords. The two guards that were just slightly shorter than him reeled backward from his attack.
Meanwhile, the Inferior Imp was fighting with his fists as well but he attacked from a distance away from the guards. As he struck his palm into the air, the two guards fell from getting hit in their chests. They turned into a pile of sand. The Malachian Fiend noticed that the Inferior Imp's attack was more effective than his, so he then dashed towards the two guards. Both of the guards did not have anywhere to run to, and soon the Malachian Fiend had their heads in his vice-like grip. Their heads were crushed and they turned into a pile of sand just like the other two.
Blue flame-level was two levels higher than white flame-level after all. Moreover, the two fiends came with the ability to perform cross-ranking battles, so killing these white flame-level summoning creatures were nothing to them. Just when Lin Huang and Lancelot walked closer, something odd happened. The four piles of sand on the ground curled towards the Spiritsword Supreme like living tentacles and covered it immediately.
"Is it going to transform itself?!" Lin Huang was shocked to witness that as he did not know that the Spiritsword Supreme had such an ability.
"It seems like the person who compiled the monster encyclopedia had no clue what the real Spiritsword Supreme could do!"
It was impossible for the person who had compiled the encyclopedia to encounter each and every monster in it. Most of the information came from researchers and contributors who had encountered the monsters themselves. Having said that, putting the book together was still not a relaxing task.
The monster encyclopedia exclusively for Gold Hunters that Lin Huang had in his possession had been compiled by more than 20 Hunter Association staff in a span of six years. In reality, the information in the monster encyclopedia was considered complete. However, as the amount of the Spiritsword Supreme beings over the years was limited and many did not want to offend them, the information on that particular monster was incomplete.
The Spiritsword Supreme that was not far away soon gathered the sand its guards had dissolved into and used to create a giant of five meters tall, completely hiding within the giant's chest. What Lin Huang thought was odd was that the giant that was transformed was not a white or crimson flame-level anymore. It was now a blue flame-level. He did not expect the Spiritsword Supreme to be so tough to handle before he came here.
As it transformed into a giant, the Spiritsword Supreme glared at Lin Huang. It seemed to notice that Lin Huang was the mastermind instead of the Ruthless Sword Master who was standing next to him.
"Human, you killed my brothers and disturbed my slumber. Do you want to die?!" The Spiritsword Supreme shouted at Lin Huang.
"Beat it up until it turns back to its original form, but don't kill it," Lin Huang did not bother about the Spiritsword Supreme's threats while instructing the two fiends.
The fiends were excited as they watched the giant coming together. They were born with the instinct to fight and only managed to warm up when they were summoned earlier. They were keen to fight as there was a monster of the same level standing in front of them. After hearing Lin Huang's instruction, the two fiends charged towards the sand giant.
With its mighty explosive strength, the Malachian Fiend arrived before the sand giant first and punched hard at the giant's abdomen. The sand giant seemed to notice the impending hit, so it struck out its fist as well.
Bang!
An intense blast rang out. It was hundreds of times louder than thunder. Lin Huang, who stood close by, felt like his eardrums were going to pop and he covered his ears immediately.
Although the collision did not cover as wide an area as the nuclear bomb did, the area within a few kilometers was affected. Trees in the jungle were annihilated by the impact and wood chips were shooting out everywhere. Even Lin Xin, who was almost 10 kilometers away, could feel the ground quaking. Some of the wood chips flew towards her, but they were blocked out by the Witch with a defense shield.
Standing on top of the hill, Lin Xin watched the battle with a detection weapon from far away. Although she had no idea what level the Spiritsword Supreme was on, she could tell that such destruction could not have been created by a gold-level.
"Is brother fighting a Transcendent?" Lin Xin could not help but ask the Witch.
The Witch hesitated as she was not sure if she should answer her question, but she nodded eventually as she saw how serious Lin Xin looked.
Lin Xin saw that the monster that was made out of sand was beaten up very badly.
"That's great!" Lin Xin admired Lin Huang even more after confirming her speculation from the Witch.
On the battlefield, the Spiritsword Supreme that was transformed into a giant with a sword was oppressed by the two fiends. It was not as powerful as the Malachian Fiend, and it had lost a part of its hand from the first encounter. Meanwhile, the Inferior Imp showed no mercy while it continued battering holes in its body.
The battle lasted for quite a while. The reason why they could not kill the sand monster was because it could heal itself. It was like a monster with ultra regeneration abilities whereby its wounds would heal immediately. After more than 20 minutes of battle between the three, Lin Huang was finally impatient. He thought that the sand monster would reach its self-healing limit but the fiends had attacked it more than a thousand times, yet its healing ability did not seem to weaken or slow down. Lin Huang realized that wasting time would not win the battle.
"Come out, Sanguine Skeleton Spirit!" Lin Huang summoned.
"Seal its Life Power and see how it can self-heal!"
Soon, the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit joined the team and tied a Punishment Chain on the giant's left ankle. At that very moment, the Malachian Fiend punched the sand giant's chest hard. A golden glow shot out from the giant's body. Soon, the sand giant completely collapsed.
As Lin Huang watched, he noticed a shadow moving from the corner of his eye. Suddenly, a bright white glow glistened from not far away. An intense shockwave shot out and devoured the Spiritsword Supreme's body.
Lin Huang was shocked, but he soon noticed that it was Lancelot's forbidden skill, the Absolute Life. He shook his head and smiled to himself as he thought Lancelot was impatient.
Before the impact faded, a notification came from Xiao Hei. "Congratulations, you have obtained a new Monster Card, Spiritsword Supreme (Sword Servant)."
After killing the Spiritsword Supreme, Lancelot returned to his card form. As he used a forbidden skill, he could not be summoned within the next 24 hours. Lin Huang recalled the two fiends and the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit. The Spiritsword Supreme's carcass was in pieces. When the Malachian Fiend performed his last punch, it seemed to have injured the Spiritsword Supreme to a certain extent. Even though it was 90% immune to sword attacks, nothing was left following Lancelot's Absolute Life skill.
The battle lasted for less than an hour. Lin Huang looked at the time. It was only 10.20 in the morning. He then summoned Thunder, hopped on it and headed towards the hill where Lin Xin was. At Thunder's speed, it only took them a moment to arrive at their destination which was ten kilometers away. Seeing that Lin Xin was safe as he leaped from Thunder, Lin Huang recalled the Witch immediately.
"Xin Er, are you alright?" He noticed that the way Lin Xin looked at him was odd as though she was a fan meeting her idol.
"I'm okay!" Lin Xin waved her hands.
"Come up then. We'll have to stay in Jinchuan City tonight." Lin Huang pulled Lin Xin up onto Thunder's back. As Lancelot could only be able to be summoned 24 hours later, there was no need for them to rush.
Thunder flapped its wings and headed to Jinchuan City. They did not use the dimensional relic as Lin Huang had thought that they would not go back to Jinchuan City, so he did not pin the coordinates. Moreover, since the embarrassing scene they landed in this morning, he decided not to use the dimensional relic. The couple must still be in the room, and it would be really embarrassing if they were to witness the same obscenity again. After all, the couple was young and passionate, so it was possible that they were copulating all day in the room.
"Brother, was that a Transcendent monster that you killed?" Lin Xin asked as soon as Thunder started flying. Although she already knew the answer, she wanted to hear it from Lin Huang.
"Mm-hmm." Lin Huang nodded.
"There are actually three levels in Transcendent - the holy fire-level, immortal-level, and the imperial-level. The one I just killed is the lowest one in the holy fire-level, which is a white flame-level monster," Lin Huang added after thinking about it.
"Brother, are you a Transcendent already?" Lin Xin asked in excitement.
"Not yet. I'm only a gold-level rank-3, not a complete gold-level yet." Lin Huang shook his head and smiled. He did not hide his real ability from her.
"So, you've only used a year to level up from a regular person to gold-level. You're really a genius!" Lin Xin complimented.
What she did not know was that Lin Huang's speed of leveling up was considered a top genius.
"Don't brag about this, or else, trouble will come," Lin Huang warned.
"Yes, I understand! 'Destruction pursues the great'. I read that in a book. I'll keep it a secret!" Lin Xin nodded vigorously.
"Brother, then are your summoning monsters Transcendent-level too?" Lin Xin asked again.
"Some of them are." Lin Huang did not deny as he did not want to hide his matters from her anymore.
"That's amazing!" Lin Xin exclaimed and touched Thunder's feather intimately. She thought that Thunder was a Transcendent-level monster.
Lin Huang noticed what she was doing and smiled while he shook his head. He had no idea what this little girl had in her mind. It was 11.40 a.m. when they arrived in Jinchuan City riding on Thunder. Although Jinchuan City was only a B-grade foothold, it was one of the food havens in Division7. It was popular for spicy food. Lin Huang loved spicy food when he was on Earth while Lin Xin was weird as she was not that sensitive to taste and found everything to be delicious.
They booked a hotel in the central zone next to a food street. There were not many stores opened in the food street during noon, so they checked into the hotel after having a simple lunch somewhere. Since they were free, Lin Huang headed to the hotel training room in the afternoon to train his sword skills with Star Dome as the summary. The integration of sword skills needed time to achieve, and he was not in a rush.
There were training rooms in many high-class hotels in this world where they could only contain levels below holy fire-level. To decrease the damage that might be created by the impact, Lin Huang used a wooden sword to train instead. During the training, he found out that his sword realm that used to be stagnant was increasing slowly. As he practiced the entire afternoon, he realized that the training room was covered in sword marks even though he had only been using a wooden sword.
He apologized to the hotel manager and offered to pay for the damages.
"Mr. Lin Huang, our hotel is under the Hunter Association's management. You're a Gold Hunter, so the damages will be paid by the Hunter Association. You won't have to fork out a cent," the hotel manager smiled and explained to Lin Huang. Lin Huang thought to himself that having the identity of a hunter was useful. After that, he returned to his room and showered. It was past six when he put on his clothes. He then brought Lin Xin to the food street downstairs.
Most of the stores in the food street only opened after six in the evening while some of them started after seven. It was the perfect time to be visiting the food street and Lin Xin was excited. Excluding the time when Fatty and Zhang Mengmeng had visited the White Capital, it had been more than a month since she went shopping with Lin Huang. For her safety, Lin Huang summoned Tyrant to be her bodyguard. Knowing that they were heading to the food street, Tyrant was drooling in the elevator. He could not resist the food in the human word especially when it came to meat.
As Lin Huang had spent more than a year with monsters, he knew that each monster had different preferences in food. Tyrant loved meat. If he was allowed to, he could eat more than 30 tons of roasted meat a day. As for Bloody, it preferred sweet food, especially flavored drinks. There were some of them who did not care for food such as the Nephilic Judge. Until now, Lin Huang had no idea if her ignorance towards food was just her cold attitude, or if she was just not interested in any food.
The day was still bright when they arrived at the food street, but lights were turned on everywhere. There were mineral stones of various colors lighting up like stars. The crowd never stopped streaming, and the bustling food stores promoting their food as well as the chatter made Lin Huang think that he was back on Earth. It was the end of July, which was the warmest season in summer. Lin Huang smirked as he watched men wearing sleeveless tops eating barbecue while drinking green juice on the street.
"It seems like beer and barbecue is always men's summer favorite past time no matter which world it is…"
Lin Huang and Lin Xin started falling in love with Jinchuan City after spending a night there. It lived up to its title of being a city with good food as there was so much delicious food. Although most of them were spicy, even a person who was not fond of such food would be addicted. Tyrant would love to live on the food street. He did not want to leave although Lin Huang and Lin Xin asked him to after they were done eating.
The next morning, Lin Huang summoned his dimensional relic after breakfast. They were going to Hulun City on foothold No.7A18 this time. Hulun City was located on the northeast side of Division7. Lin Huang had never been there before. It was Mr. Fu who had pinned the coordinates earlier. This A-grade foothold was not his final destination, but it was closest coordinates to it. Even so, it was more than 12,000 kilometers away from where he wanted to go.
Lin Huang's final destination was a canyon which was located on the east side of the Hulun prairie. There was the double mutated sword type monster that he wanted to call the Luminescent Angelwing. It sounded like the name of a bird, but it was not a bird. It was a monster of human-form with wings and was an expert in swordsmanship. Its moving and attacking speeds were two levels above its own combat level. Nobody would want to encounter such a swift monster.
Stepping into Hulun City, Lin Huang and Lin Xin looked around and realized that they were in a hotel room again. Fortunately, there was nobody in this hotel room, so they did not see anything embarrassing. However, the environment reminded them of what they saw yesterday morning.
"Let's go!" Lin Huang pulled her hand and left the hotel room immediately. As they got out of the hotel room, he projected the map and pinned his current location while looking for the coordinates of the dimensional portal.
"Brother, why do you think your master always pins the coordinates in a hotel room?" Lin Xin pondered and asked.
Lin Huang was stunned at the question as he had never thought about it before. He thought and guessed it must be intentionally done so by Mr. Fu. However, Lin Huang suddenly thought of a corrupt hobby… He shook his head to get rid of the obscene images that popped up in his head.
"Maybe he's lazy," Lin Huang simply answered.
"Oh, is that so?" Lin Xin did not overthink and accepted the answer.
Mr. Fu was lying on the hammock on the deck of his demonic crystal spaceship while he sipped on his wine and watched the sunrise. He sneezed out of nowhere and squinted.
"Never expected someone to be talking about me when I'm already this old."
In Hulun City, Lin Xin felt the weather was odd as she stood at the hotel entrance for a while. She noticed that everyone on the street was wearing long sleeves and sweaters. Many were looking at the both of them as they were wearing short-sleeved clothing. Lin Huang did not feel the cold as he was engrossed in studying the map while Lin Xin started feeling chilly.
"Brother, where is this place?"
"Hulun City in foothold No.7A18," Lin Huang answered without looking at her.
"Young kids, don't ignore the weather just because you want to look good. If you damage your body now, you'll suffer when you're old!" A lady who passed by said to the both of them.
Lin Huang looked at the lady, and only then did he notice how warmly everyone was dressed He then turned around and looked at Lin Xin who was folding her arms under her armpits for warmth.
"Go change in the bathroom. I forgot that there's no summer here. Although it's July, the highest the temperature will go is 20 degrees Celsius." Lin Huang just recalled the weather difference in different areas. Lin Xin nodded immediately and headed to the bathroom of the hotel. Lin Huang returned to the hotel after pinning the coordinates of the dimensional portal. After putting on their spring clothes, he then summoned Thunder and headed to the coordinates where the dimensional portal was. The A-grade foothold was huge and the dimensional portal was more than 200 kilometers away. They would take a couple of hours if they rode on the Viridian Wolf as they could not head in a straight-line direction, so he decided to ride on Thunder instead.
In less than ten minutes, they arrived at their destination.
"Brother, where are we going?" Lin Xin asked when she saw the dimensional portal far away.
"Our final destination is foothold No.7C163, but it's very far away, so we'll have to take three different dimensional portals in between." Lin Huang was helpless as he would need the dimensional portal to get to the places that his dimensional relic had never pinned before.
Fortunately, they had an exclusive pass whereby he would not need to purchase the dimensional portal tickets beforehand and could get them on the spot. Just like the privilege extended to the royal families, he would not need to queue, and he could use the exclusive hunter tunnel via the dimensional portal exclusively for hunters. Besides that, Gold Hunters could bring three persons with them. However, the ticket was ten times more expensive than the normal one, but it was acceptable to all hunters.
After purchasing the tickets at the counter, they arrived at the exclusive dimensional portal via the hunter tunnel smoothly. There were three Gold Hunters queueing at the dimensional portal. The three of them stared at Lin Huang as he was young and he did not bother to hide his aura. They could sense that he was a gold-level rank-3 although they thought that it was unbelievable. As the three of them entered the portal, Lin Huang and Lin Xin stepped into it and they were sent to the first transit, foothold No.7B98.
Lin Huang bought a coupon in Hulun City with the final destination being Yi City in foothold No.7C163. There was no need to purchase tickets in between as they could just scan their coupon while the portal personnel would set the destination. After spending less than five minutes in the No.7B98 foothold, they arrived in the second transit in foothold No.7B116, and then foothold No.7B128. The B-grade foothold was more than a thousand kilometers from Yi City, but it was much faster than riding on Thunder.
Around five to six minutes later, the both of them finally arrived in Yi City. After stepping out of the dimensional portal, it was almost 8:30 a.m. Yi City was not their final destination, but the Bell Canyon located 1,600 kilometers to the northeast. The Luminescent Angelwing, the double mutated sword type monster that Lin Huang was hunting down was there.
It was 8:30 a.m, two hours before Lancelot could be summoned again while it would only take them over an hour to get to Bell Canyon by riding on Thunder. Since they had more than an hour of free time, Lin Huang decided to bring Lin Xin around the foothold. Lin Xin was puzzled when she saw Lin Huang summoning the Viridian Wolf instead of Thunder.
"Brother, is the monster that you're looking for near to this foothold?"
"No, it's in the Bell Canyon which is more than 1,600 kilometers away." He shook his head, and soon he realized why Lin Xin had asked that question.
"We're not in a rush, so I'll only head there after an hour as Lancelot is still sealed now. We can walk around the foothold."
Yi City was not considered large. It was similar to the size of Baqi City. Riding on the Viridian Wolf with the guidance of Lin Huang's map, they arrived in the most crowded commercial street in Yi City in less than ten minutes. Although it was only a C-grade foothold, the commercial street was crowded. It was the summer holiday, so many young people from the D-grade footholds around visited the area.
"What a crowded street!" Lin Xin enthused. If this had happened half a year ago, she would have found this C-grade commercial street to be fascinating. However, since she had been to the commercial streets in the Winter City and the White Capital, that was the best comment that she could give for the one here.
"Let's shop for clothes?" Lin Huang asked her with his eyebrow raised.
"Yes, please!" Lin Xin nodded as she loved shopping with Lin Huang.
They headed to the shopping mall that was the nearest to them. On the first floor was the jewelry department, the second was lingerie while they headed straight to the third floor which was selling women clothes. Lin Xin saw her favorite brand as they stepped into the third floor. She liked the trench coat that the mannequin was wearing, so she got the staff to get her an S size, and she ran into the fitting room. She was out two to three minutes later.
"What do you think?" Lin Xin asked Lin Huang as she walked over to him. It was a dark gray short trench coat, which would fit a taller, more matured lady more especially since the first impression Lin Huang got was that it suited Yi Yeyu more than it did Lin Xin. She just looked odd now. Although she tried her best to pose maturely, Lin Huang laughed and shook his head.
"This doesn't suit you. Let's try another one."
"Okay…" Lin Xin sighed and walked into the fitting room again.
They shopped for an hour, but Lin Xin did not pick out anything else that she liked.
"Alright, it's almost time." Lin Huang had set his alarm at 9:30 a.m. before shopping. He stopped walking when he heard his alarm ringing.
"Must we leave now?" Lin Xin was not done with shopping yet.
"I think it's better that you stay in Yi City. The monster I'm hunting this time is incredibly fast. If it discovers you in a short distance, I might not be able to save you. Even if you have Kylie protecting you, was Kylie to fight it, you won't be able to stand the shockwave."
While they were shopping, Lin Huang had been considering if he should bring Lin Xin along. For her safety, he decided to ask her to stay in Yi City. If it was other monsters, Lin Huang might be able to stop them from attacking Lin Xin but the Luminescent Angelwing was swift, and it was difficult to chase after it as soon as it changed its target. Lin Xin felt down. She thought she would be able to see how glorious her brother was in battles but she was not allowed to follow this time.
"I'll need more than an hour to get there and killing her will take less than half an hour. I'll take the dimensional portal to get back. I think I should be back before 11:30 a.m. You can continue to shop with Tyrant. Head back to the hotel after shopping a bit more as it'll be lunch by then," Lin Huang comforted her. He knew that Lin Xin would be sad, but no matter what, her safety was his top priority.
"Okay." Although she was disappointed, she agreed anyway.
Lin Huang then summoned Tyrant who was in a black suit, then he watched them leave after briefing Tyrant what to do. He left the shopping mall and summoned Thunder. He leaped and sat on its back, heading to the Bell Canyon. The Bell Canyon was located in the northeast of Yi City and they would pass through Hulun prairie along the way. In reality, the Hulun prairie was huge. The Hulun City that was ten thousand kilometers away was located to the southwest of the prairie. The size of the prairie was even bigger than the continent of Asia on Earth. Although they had departed from Yi City, the journey to Bell Canyon was more than 1,600 kilometers.
Riding on Thunder's back, Lin Huang breathed in the prairie air. Greenery was everywhere, and he could even smell the fragrance of flowers. He finally arrived at the destination more than an hour later. Before Thunder landed, Lin Huang could see the Bell Canyon from above. The Bell Canyon was a rift to be precise. It was situated in the middle of the Wula Highlands, and the millions of square kilometers highlands were divided into east and west.
Looking from above, it looked like a giant cake on a table that had been sliced into half in the middle. In reality, there was a myth about how the Bell Canyon was formed. It was said that a person had sliced it with a sword. However, geologists suggested that it was split due to an earthquake. The locals chose to believe the former. In the old epoch, the story narrated about how a god had accidentally sliced the ground as it was fighting an abyssal creature.
However, Lin Huang did not think the myth was true as a sword would not be able to slice a path that was thousands of kilometers long. The closer he was to holy fire-level, the more he understood that such a matter was impossible to be done by humans. Even an imperial-level would not be able to do this. He was not sure if the demigod in the myth could do this, but he chose to believe in what the geologist said. He thought about the god of the myth. However, how could a battle with an abyssal creature leave such a trail but destroy nothing else without any trail of struggle?
Looking at his coordinates getting closer to those on the map, he patted Thunder's back.
"You can go down now."
Thunder retracted its wings and glided downwards.
The coordinates where the Luminescent Angelwing was discovered was near the first third of the Bell Canyon's entrance. Lin Huang did not see the Luminescent Angelwing from above, but he asked Thunder to land on the near the coordinates anyway. When they landed, he recalled Thunder immediately. It was almost 10.40 a.m., so Lancelot was free again as 24 hours had passed. He summoned Lancelot in his black armor again.
"The monster I picked this time is the Luminescent Angelwing. It's very nimble, so it might be tough," Lin Huang briefed Lancelot.
He looked around and brought Lancelot into the canyon. Although they did not see any signs of the Luminescent Angelwing at the coordinates, Lin Huang was not worried that the Luminescent Angelwing would not appear. No matter the Hunter Association or the black market, the coordinates that they provided was impossible to be fake because if such a matter happened, the buyer would spread the news and their names would be affected. The Luminescent Angelwing might move away that very day. However, looking at the lifestyle of the monster, it would not usually move too far away from its lair unless something drastic happened. For instance, if it was chased away by more powerful monsters or if something were to happen to its habitat such as lack of food and water.
From what Lin Huang could see, it did not seem like the canyon was lacking water or food. He was sure that the Luminescent Angelwing would initiate a fight as he walked deeper into the canyon with Lancelot. Most monsters had the concept of territory, so not only they did not welcome other monsters, they also did not like the invasion of humans as well. To most monsters, humans were extremely dangerous creatures. They would usually react in two possible ways - one was to back off, while another was to attack. However, the more powerful a monster was, the greater its sense of territory and the more likely it would attack.
There was a stream less than ten meters wide at the bottom of the canyon. The water was clear and it was less than two meters deep, so one could see the bottom with their eyes. The shores zig-zagged following the streams, and they were 70 to 150 meters wide. There were 90-degree cliff drops on both sides, bald with no leafy plants on them. There were conifers and minimal moss occasionally. With Lin Huang's vision, he could see the entire canyon crystal clear; nothing could escape from his eyes.
There were some small monsters drinking water by the stream, and even some baby monsters playing around. The stream was shallow with no water predators in it. It was a heaven for the smaller monsters. However, they soon noticed Lin Huang and Lancelot, escaping into the caves immediately. Lin Huang raised his eyebrow as those monsters that could not actually climb seemed to have mastered the skill from living in such an environment.
As they walked seven to eight kilometers further, the insects and birds' chirping disappeared. There were no small monsters around anymore. Lin Huang and Lancelot slowed down as they knew they had entered a powerful monster's territory. They looked around, but he still did not see the Luminescent Angelwing. Nevertheless, he knew it must be near.
Suddenly, glowing white balls streaked towards them like meteorites. Lin Huang looked at the direction of the attack and saw a white figure standing arrogantly in the air thousands of meters away. He did not have the time to study it. He picked up his Dark Shield and blocked himself and Lancelot. Although he did not see the attacker clearly, he was sure that he was in the Luminescent Angelwing's habitat. The balls of white glow created waves on the Dark Shield but soon disappeared.
The Dark Shield had the highest defense. It was ten times more powerful than Lin Huang's attack strength. Before he mastered Star Dome, his most powerful attack was sufficient to injure a blue-flame level. Now with the complete legendary-level Skill Card Star Dome, his attack strength had increased even more substantially. His Dark Shield could now only be broken through by a purple flame-level person.
The Absolute Defence that was used by the Final Fortress in the Hunter Arena a year ago was a joke compared to the Dark Shield. With the integration of Star Dome, Lin Huang's attack ability would have room for improvement before he arrived at holy fire-level. By then, the defense ability of the Dark Shield would be even more powerful. However, with sufficient Life Power, Lin Huang could be standing here, receiving the monster's attack and the shield would hold up well.
The Luminescent Angelwing soon realized that the human who had invaded her territory had a terrifying defense, so it was no use to attack from a distance. She then moved and appeared less than 30 meters from the Dark Shield. The shield was completely black to her, but to Lin Huang, it was transparent. Through the Dark Shield, he finally saw how the monster looked like.
"It really is the Luminescent Angelwing!"
It was his first time seeing the real Luminescent Angelwing. Although he had seen images of such a monster before, seeing it in front of eyes blew him away. The Luminescent Angelwing was a creature of half energization and looked like a human lady in a white dress. She was 1.6 meters tall with an angelic face. Her body and dress glowed in white. On her back was a pair of wings that looked like they were made of countless white reflections on her back. She was different from any creatures with wings that Lin Huang had seen before.
Looking at the wings, Lin Huang finally understand how the Luminescent Angelwing got her name. The monster looked exactly like an angel. In reality, it had angel blood in her body. Just like Kylie, she was a half angel. If the blood evolved, she would then evolve into a light angel, which was a real angel and was as powerful as a god's blood creature.
However, he only managed to observe the Luminescent Angelwing for a while as she had bypassed the Dark Shield after examining it and rushed towards the both of them
To explain the Dark Shield with Mr. Fu's energy form, it was a skill that could change its form on its surface from any of the three available forms. Lin Huang could transform it into any form that he wanted to, but the coverage depended on the strength of his Life Power. Usually, he would convert it into a hemisphere because besides blocking the incoming attack, it used half the Life Power instead of when it was a full sphere. In real battles, it would always win.
However, the Luminescent Angelwing soon noticed the function of Dark Shield , and she bypassed the shield in an attempt to attack from their back. What she did not know was that although her speed was rapid, she was in their territory. Her movements were crystal clear to Lin Huang due to the activation of Micro Territory . As she bypassed the shield, Lin Huang and Lancelot attacked almost at the same time. His grade-5 sword relic, the Dragon Slayer, slashed at the same time as the Ruthless Sword Master's black sword.
Lin Huang's Micro Territory had evolved from the Ruthless Sword Master's Life Seed. It was similar to his Death Zone whereby it could attack from where he stood towards any location within its coverage. Lin Huang had little opportunity to use the skill as he was used to gunning for long-distance attacks. Moreover, there was a flaw in using Micro Territory which was having only a small coverage. It only covered a radius of 100 meters where the gun would attack further. By using the gun, he could attack from thousands of meters away from his opponent. As his opponent got closer, he could then switch his weapon to a sword although it was strange for him to wait for his opponent to enter the radius of 100 meters before doing so.
However, using Micro Territory was the best to fight looking at the situation now. As the Luminescent Angelwing moved so quickly, it was hard to aim his gun at her. Using Micro Territory to attack from where he was, it was the most effective way. The Luminescent Angelwing did not know that she had just dug her own grave. However, she sensed the danger as she arrived behind the both of them. She backed off immediately, but it was too late.
A golden sword glow sliced through her waist, leaving a 10-centimeter gash on her stomach. Another black sword glow headed towards her head. However, it only got less than five millimeters into her forehead, and it could not go further in. It was obvious that Lin Huang's attack ability was much more powerful than Lancelot's that was on the same level. Now that he had mastered the Star Dome, any swing of his sword was comparable to a white flame-level. Moreover, he added the Thunder Sting into that earlier swing to prevent him from missing. The Luminescent Angelwing that was weak in defense would definitely die if she could not avoid the strike.
Meanwhile, Lancelot was only a white flame-level which could do limited threat to the Luminescent Angelwing. If he were fighting a monster with a high defense such as Tyrant, without using Absolute Life, Lancelot would not be able to win. However, the hit did not excite Lin Huang as he soon confirmed the monster encyclopedia's description of the Luminescent Angelwing. He witnessed the 10-centimeter wound on the Luminescent Angelwing's stomach healing itself within seconds.
It was the Luminescent Angelwing's Luminant Regeneration. As she was half energy herself, she could heal any injuries on her flesh. As long as there was sufficient light, it was almost impossible to kill her. Even if the fight took place in the dark, the only way to kill her was to drain all the energy in her body.
"A radius of 100 meters is really too small…" Lin Huang thought to himself. It would only take the Luminescent Angelwing a second to leave the cover of Micro Territory . He stared at the Luminescent Angelwing that floated in mid-air. Lin Huang was staring her wings as he thought about the theory that he had read about on the network.
Meanwhile, the Luminescent Angelwing that was hundreds of meters away watched Lin Huang with her guard up. She knew that the man's threat was stronger than the fellow in black armor standing next to him. If she had not managed to avoid it just now, she would have been killed by the man. Although she could heal herself, getting sliced on the waist was still pretty darned painful.
"She won't dare to come closer thanks to the lesson she got just now…" Lin Huang did not know what to do. It seemed like none of the double mutated monsters were dumb. Since she fell into his trap just now, it was impossible for the Luminescent Angelwing to be lured into his trap for the second time. If she stayed a distance away from him, it was difficult for Lin Huang to kill her. The only long-distance attack he had was his gun, but although the Luminescent Angelwing was slower than the bullets, she would not be any slower for the gun to do minimal harm to her.
As for Lancelot, although the Absolute Life was powerful, it was a straight-line attack, and he only had one shot. With the speed of the Luminescent Angelwing that surpassed what Lancelot's eyes could capture, the probability of him targeting her would be zero.
"She might escape if I summon a blue flame-level fiend." Lin Huang was coming up with plans in his head. According to the monster encyclopedia, the Luminescent Angelwing was a timid monster and would escape if she was not confident in a battle. If she managed to escape, it would be difficult to find her again. That was the reason why Lin Huang had not summoned the fiends when he was fighting the Spiritsword Supreme earlier. The Luminescent Angelwing might escape if she saw blue flame-level monsters instead of fighting them.
"I can't use the three fiends. I need to lock down her movement to let Lancelot kill her." After some thoughts, Lin Huang finally had an idea. He summoned Kylie first. Seeing Kylie who was also a half-angel, the Luminescent Angelwing thought of escaping. Fortunately, Lin Huang did not summon the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit first as the Luminescent Angelwing would definitely flee.
"Hold her still, don't let her run away," Lin Huang instructed Kylie.
Kylie remained silent while flapping her wings and flew towards the Luminescent Angelwing like a purple lightning bolt. In the air, the purple and white shadow meshed together. They were colliding with each other again and again.
The two white flame-level monsters collided with each other faster than the speed of sound in the air. The banging thud and the explosion were rumbling like a freak thunderstorm. The noise created ripples of waves everywhere while gravel flew in all directions at the speed of bullets. Lin Huang thought it was fortunate that Lin Xin did not come along, or else, she would be crushed by the gravel.
He activated his ocular skill to its maximum while watching the battle that was taking place mid-air. He could barely keep up. He could tell that their speed was similar, but Kylie was more powerful than the Luminescent Angelwing as a whole. She was oppressed by Kylie. However, it was impossible for Kylie to kill the Luminescent Angelwing on her own.
Black mist surrounded Lancelot, and he seemed eager to join the battle. However, he was helpless as the fight took place mid-air and he would not be able to react in time as the Luminescent Angelwing was too fast. All he could do was to suppress himself as he watched. Seeing Lancelot glance at her several times as though he was asking for help, she consoled him, "Don't worry, her head belongs to you."
Meanwhile, Lin Huang contacted Kylie secretly and gave her a new instruction, "Bring her closer to me when you can."
Kylie was on the winning side. Soon, she found a perfect angle and transformed her spear into a rod. She waved the rod at the Luminescent Angelwing, and as the latter tried to block the attack, she was retreating towards Lin Huang's direction.
At that moment, Lin Huang had crushed the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit's card in his hand to summon it. As the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit appeared, the Luminescent Angelwing flapped her wings hard and attempted to run. Suddenly, Lin Huang twirled the sword in his hand and chopped off the Luminescent Angelwing's wings as two golden sword glows slashed in the air. She fell into Lin Huang's 100-meter Micro Territory coverage which included the air.
Despite losing her wings, the Luminescent Angelwing could still fly as she was a white flame-level after all. However, she could not adapt as she was not used to not having her wings out of nowhere. The Sanguine Skeleton Spirit seized the opportunity and flicked the Punishment Chain towards the Luminescent Angelwing. Before she managed to run, a chain snagged her ankle while the rest tied her up, leaving just her head free.
The Luminescent Angelwing was not a monster of strength, so it was impossible her to escape from the chain. Moreover, as her body was made of half energy and since her Life Power was being sealed by the Punishment Chains, she was left with nothing. She was not glowing anymore, and her wings were folded into her body. Now, she just looked like a young and beautiful lady. However, Lin Huang was sure that she only looked like a human but bore no other similarity. If he were to extract her genes, hers would be different from a human's.
"She's yours now." Lin Huang nodded at Lancelot as the Luminescent Angelwing was captured. Lancelot walked forward and swung his black sword, lopping off half of the Luminescent Angelwing's head onto the ground.
"Congratulations, you have obtained a new epic-level Monster Card - the Luminescent Anglewing (Sword Servant)."
Lin Huang confirmed the Luminescent Angelwing's death when he heard Xiao Hei's notification. He was worried that she would heal herself when her Life Power was sealed. It seemed like his concern was unnecessary. After recalling his Monster Cards, Lin Huang looked at the Luminescent Angelwing's carcass that looked just like a human lady's. Since half of her head had been chopped off, it was unable for Bloody to perform his parasitic process. He did not keep the carcass, and summoned his dimensional relic, stepping into it.
He arrived at the shopping mall that he had gone to with Lin Xin this morning. It was already 11.40 a.m. when he checked the time; he was ten minutes later than the expected time. He called Lin Xin immediately. The call was connected soon, and Lin Xin was standing in a clothing store.
"Brother, are you back?"
"Let's have lunch somewhere. We'll take a short rest and head to our next destination."
"Okay, wait for me at the shopping mall entrance that we went to this morning. I'll be there soon," Lin Xin said and hung up.
Lin Huang turned off the phone and took his time down the stairs. After waiting at the entrance for three to four minutes, Lin Xin ran towards him while Tyrant followed behind her. Compared to Tyrant, Lin Xin, who was already short, looked even shorter now. Lin Huang found it funny as her several steps were slower than Tyrant's one long stride.
"I heard from a clothing store owner that there's a nice steamboat restaurant around. I think we should try that." Lin Xin seemed to be addicted since she tried steamboat in Jinchuan City.
"Let's go then! Lead the way," Lin Huang agreed.
As Lin Xin knew the name of the steamboat restaurant, with the guidance of the store owner using the map, she found the steamboat restaurant in an instant. They chatted while eating.
"Brother, are we going to another foothold in the afternoon?" Lin Xin asked.
"Yes, I want to finish them as soon as possible so that we can head back earlier. I still have many documents to read." Lin Huang nodded. He had prepared the teaching materials. The stuff that he had been reading in the library was some basic knowledge which was still mind-blowing to him.
"So, where are we going?" Lin Xin wanted to shop more as Lin Huang would not have the time to accompany her anymore as soon as they got back to the White Capital. However, knowing that Lin Huang was busy, she accepted his arrangement instead.
"The Shadow City in foothold No.7C228. It'll take some time to get there." Lin Huang was helpless. The Shadow City was another secluded place to which he did not have the coordinates pinned in his dimensional relic. It would take four transits in the dimensional portal to get there.
"I don't want to stay in the foothold alone this time. It's boring." Lin Xin was worried that Lin Huang might leave her alone again.
"Alright then, I'll bring you along this time," Lin Huang hesitated but agreed anyway.
It was almost 1 p.m. after Lin Huang and Lin Xin had lunch and took a short rest. He summoned his dimensional relic and arrived at the Dark Night City in foothold No.7A11. After transiting the four-dimensional portals, they finally arrived at their destination, the Shadow City in foothold No.7C228. His final destination was the Dark Land that was more than 2,300 kilometers from Shadow City.
The Shadow Land was an underground ruin that was formed from a sunken city in the old era. It was a huge city sprawling across five million square kilometers which was comparable to half an A-grade foothold. The ruins belonged to the middle-range danger zone. Judging by the three ranges, this zone had at least five holy fire-level monsters and even immortal-level monsters. Compared to Bell Canyon which had few monsters, this ruins was the territory of various monsters. Many buildings were their hidden places. Entering the Shadow Land was like invading the monsters' lair which was risky.
"Are you sure you want to follow me?" Lin Huang asked Lin Xin in all seriousness as they got out of the dimensional portal. "I'm going to the Shadow Land, it's a dimensional ruin that's completely occupied with monsters. It's different from all the places that I've brought you before."
"Yes!" Lin Xin nodded hard.
Lin Huang did not say anything after her confirmation. The reason why he had allowed Lin Xin to follow him was that he had the confidence to protect her. Although it might be too early for her to go to places like this, it was good to expose her to the real side of the world. Most students who had just graduated from college were like fragile, protected flowers. They imagined the world to be all rainbows and butterflies as they grew up in the safe zones. Lin Huang did not want Lin Xin to have that illusion as there would be consequences of being naive.
"Are you going to the Shadow Land?" A hunk in golden armor asked, completely ignoring Lin Xin. Lin Huang looked up at him and saw that he was a complete gold-level with great abilities.
"Our team can bring you along if you need. We have two complete gold-levels and three gold-level rank-3's with us. As long as you're not planning to go to the area with Transcendent monsters, we can bring you along," the man suggested, he extended the invitation since he could see that Lin Huang was a gold-level rank-3.
Nobody below Transcendent-level would enter the Shadow Land alone as it would be similar to digging their own grave. Most people would go as a team to look out for one another. Having five people in a team was the basic rule for entering the Shadow Land. That was the reason why the hunk was looking for more teammates as it was dangerous for a team that had less than ten people to enter.
"It's okay, thanks." Lin Huang had researched about the place on the Heart Network before coming. However, it was his first time being invited into a team. He thought it was interesting but he still rejected with a smile.
"We're not from Adventure Paradise. We're just a team that's made up at the last minute. You don't have to pay us to join," the hunk explained immediately as he thought that Lin Huang had misunderstood him as being from the Adventurer Paradise team.
"We have my own team." Lin Huang shook his head while smiling. He said that knowing that the person was just asking out of kindness.
"Oh, is that so? Sorry to bother you then." The hunk then left.
Lin Huang projected the map to locate himself, soon he found the location of the Hunter Association division. Before he departed, he wanted to drop by the Hunter Association to inquire about some information that was only known by the locals as well as purchasing a detailed map of the Shadow Land. As soon as he confirmed the Hunter Association's location, he summoned the Viridian Wolf and left with Lin Xin. The hunk who had been rejected by Lin Huang was shocked as he recalled what Lin Huang said earlier after walking a few steps away.
"He said 'we have our own team' instead of 'I have my own team'. Is he really bringing the little girl who is not even an iron-level into the ruins?! I think I must have misheard. He must've said 'I' instead of 'we'." The hunk shook his head to get rid of the thoughts while he proceeded to look for more teammates.
Lin Huang brought Lin Xin to the Hunter Association and got what he wanted. He also purchased a copy of a detailed map of the Shadow Land. The both of them were informed that there was no signal to use the network or their phones, so there was no way that they could pin the coordinates. All they had was the map to find out where they were. Moreover, if they were in trouble, they would not be able to contact anybody. However, Lin Huang was not surprised as he had read about that on the Hunter Forum.
"Brother, if we can't contact anybody when we run into trouble, doesn't that mean we will die?" Lin Xin asked as soon as they left the Hunter Association.
"Most people would have to register themselves with the organization they belong before entering the Shadow City. They would have to write down the time they left the Shadow Land and log out on the network after they leave. If they don't log out more than 48 hours later, the organization will try to contact the person. If that fails, they will send people to the rescue. So, it's still possible for the person to survive if they manage to hold on for more than two days if they are captured by monsters or get lost in the Shadow Land.
"Moreover, there are many human teams that enter the Shadow Land. If they encounter trouble, they can send signals to the teams nearby. Although the Heart Network and phones can't be used inside, the S.O.S signal in the Emperor's Heart Ring still functions. It can reach up to a 100-kilometer radius without any obstacles. Other Emperor's Heart Rings within the coverage will receive the signal. Even if there are obstacles, the signal will still be received,"
Lin Huang explained in detail as the information was useful to Lin Xin. He did not know about the function of sending signals earlier and only found out about that recently as from his time in the library. In reality, some experienced hunters knew about the existence of the signal and colleges covered that in their syllabus as well. Only Lin Huang, who had been out in the world for a year, did not know about the hidden function.
As they left the Hunter Association, Lin Huang did not plan to follow the other teams as he was sure that his summoning monsters were more reliable than the people. He summoned Thunder and the both of them headed to the Shadow Land.
The entrance to the Shadow Land was 2,300 kilometers from the southeast of Shadow City. Thunder brought the both of them to the destination in less than half an hour. There were a few teams that were preparing themselves at the entrance while some leaders were briefing their teammates. Many looked envious as they watched the complete gold-level Viridescent Thunderhawk in the air. Although it was not a holy fire-level, such a double mutated flying mount was the same price as a supreme relic, and not everyone could afford it.
They were shocked to see the two people who got down from the Viridescent Thunderhawk as they were so young.
"I bet they're some royalty…" Many had that first impression of the duo.
Lin Huang recalled the Viridescent Thunderhawk and noticed that many were looking at him with respect. It was impressive that Lin Huang was an Imperial Censor who did not need a monster taming token to recall his monster. It was even more impressive that he could manage a double mutated complete gold-level monster at such a young age.
Lin Huang ignored the teams that were watching him and brought Lin Xin straight to the entrance of the Shadow Land.
"The both of them just went in without forming a team. Are they crazy?!" A person gasped after seeing them enter.
"I know! Even though he's an Imperial Censor, the most he could do is to summon two or three monsters, which adds up to a team of five. This guy has the balls to enter the Shadow City just like that!" Another person commented.
"That… If I'm not wrong, that little girl is just an ordinary person who is not even an iron-level," another person said softly. That reminded many of them that there was no Life Power wave from Lin Xin's body.
"Bringing a normal person in the Shadow Land? This guy must be some royal that thinks that the hotel bed isn't big enough and wants some excitement somewhere wider?" A hunk with chest hair joked.
Lin Huang did not hear the conversation, or else, he would have taught the hunk with chest hair a lesson. The entrance of the Shadow Land was an oval crystal of four to six meters long and it could accommodate five to six person at once. The crypt was discovered by a bunch of geologists more than a hundred years ago. As they exploded into the crypt, only one of them made it out alive. Many adventurers and hunters came here to explore after the news of this went out.
There was no virtual eye in the Shadow Land. There were two main reasons why the number of monsters increased despite them being killed by many over the years. One was that there was a crack at the bottom of the land that connected to the abyss, while another reason was that the monsters here had a reproductive ability which helped to replace the monsters that were killed.
Lin Huang brought Lin Xin deeper into the crypt. It looked like it had been dug by a monster as it was disorganized. The trench went downwards into the ground with dividers in the middle. Lin Huang followed the instructions on the map and walked more than half an hour following the path and finally arrived at a wide underground space. It was dark in there, but to Lin Huang, his vision was not affected at all. However, Lin Xin had been using a probe light along the way, or else, she would not be able to see at all.
"Such a huge space!" Lin Xin exclaimed as she used the probe light to look around.
"The Shadow City is the largest underground city that's discovered in Division7 so far. This is an abandoned area at the edge of the city. The deeper we go, the wider it is," Lin Huang smiled as he explained.
"Put your probe light away and follow me," Lin Huang said and held Lin Xin's hand.
Lin Xin blushed, then switched off her probe light and followed Lin Huang forward. She was shocked when she saw the Shadow Land far away after passing an obstacle. Not only her, even Lin Huang was shocked and froze. Although he had seen images of this place before, it was still impressive when his eyes lay sight on it. The abandoned land that they were located at was hundreds of meters higher than a city. The Shadow Land that was far away was lit up. All of the streetlights were shining brightly, and even many of the houses were lit up. The entire city was bright. From afar, it looked like a crowded city that never slept.
That reminded of Lin Huang about the first time he had gone to Shanghai and was amazed by the night view. The city that he was looking at was hundreds of times bigger than Shanghai; the only thing that was missing was the chasing cars.
"It's so beautiful!" Lin Xin exclaimed.
"It really is." Lin Huang nodded.
"Let's go!" Lin Huang summoned the Viridian Wolf after they admired the view for a while.
They rode on the Viridian Wolf and arrived at a broken bridge. The bridge was supposed to connect them to the abandoned land that they were located at earlier. It was broken in the middle for about 30 meters long. The Viridian Wolf accelerated as it got to the broken part, then it leaped and crossed the 30 meters, arriving at the other side of the bridge easily. Listening to the flowing water beneath the bridge, Lin Huang was sure that there were monsters in the underground river.
There were a couple of skyscrapers near the end of the bridge, and vines crept up all of the buildings. However, many of the buildings were lit up, and Lin Huang even saw moving shadows in some of the rooms.
"Brother, I think there's something in the building on the left," Lin Xin said softly. Lin Huang briefly warned her not to talk when they arrived at monster areas. If she had to, she had to speak softly, or else, they would attract the monsters.
"I saw that too. It's alright," Lin Huang said and summoned Lancelot.
"We're hunting down the Cursed Swordfiend this time. Lead the way," Lin Huang instructed.
The Shadow Land was a city that was overrun by monsters. Every skyscraper, house and even cellar were filled with monsters. Many of them walked around the streets that were made by humans. In the safe zones, such a scene could only be seen if a foothold was completely invaded by the monster crowd. The monsters treated themselves as the owners of the city. Some of them would even avoid some of the buildings so as not to damage the lights. They seemed to really enjoy the lights in the city as it was soft and did not hurt the eyes like the sun did.
They were buildings of different heights on both sides of the streets. Most of them were engulfed with plants while there were some parts that were completely damaged. It was the sign that time had passed. There were many abandoned cars by the streets but they were only left with their bare shells as time went by.
"Brother, what are those steel shells?" Lin Xin asked while they were riding on the Viridian Wolf.
"They should be a form of transportation during the olden times." Lin Huang had no idea if they used cars in this world, so he just called them "transportation".
"Transportation? So ugly?" Lin Xin was looking at the broken shells that had been through decades. The metal steel that was rusty seemed really unsightly.
"I guess they didn't look like this when they were not broken. Or maybe, the people in that era had a different definition of beauty compared to us," Lin Huang explained.
"But how do these things move?" Lin Xin was curious.
"Perhaps it's powered by some demonic crystal energy source." Lin Huang had no idea how the cars in the old epoch worked.
Lin Xin seemed to notice that her questions were too much as Lin Huang was not a teacher who researched the old epoch after all. It was normal for him not to be able to answer her questions. She decided to stop asking to avoid the awkwardness. Under the bright street lights, the Viridian Wolf brought Lin Huang, Lin Xin, and Lancelot into the city without making any sound. Lin Huang and Lin Xin were sitting while Lancelot stood behind Lin Huang, his feet glued on the Viridian Wolf's back. No matter how bumpy the road got, he did not seem to be affected at all. He was swinging his black sword as they traveled, killing all the monsters within the coverage of his Death Zone.
There were not many monsters along the way. Most of the monsters that Lancelot killed were those that wandered the streets. Besides abandoned cars, they were not many obstacles around. The Viridian Wolf could be seen from far away, and the wandering monsters dashed towards them as they saw the humans riding on the Viridian Wolf. To them, the human flesh was definitely delicious food with fresh, tender meat. Some of them would attack when they saw them from the broken windows in the buildings.
However, those threats were taken care by the complete gold-level Lancelot easily. Although it was a middle-range danger zone with at least five Transcendent monsters, most of the monsters were below Transcendent. With Lancelot's white flame-level attack ability, he did not need to swing his sword twice with the Death Zone. He could kill just by standing where he was. Initially, Lin Xin panicked as she saw monsters charging at them, but she soon noticed that none of them could get 20 meters close to the Viridian Wolf as they were killed by Lancelot.
"Brother, Lancelot is so powerful! Is he the most powerful summoning monster that you have?" Lin Xin asked instinctively as she thought Lancelot was more powerful than Tyrant and Kylie. What she did not know was that Tyrant and Kylie had already completed their unlocking and were both holy fire-level while Lancelot was only a complete gold-level. No matter Tyrant's defensive ability or Kylie's speed, they were definitely more powerful than Lancelot's attack ability.
"No." Lin Huang turned around and looked at Lancelot.
"He would be in the top 3 if he managed to mutate again when he's a holy fire-level."
What Lin Huang said was the truth. He owned two triple mutated monsters which were Bai and the Supreme Overlord. Bai was a god's blood creature and triple mutated, so it was no doubt the most powerful Monster Card that Lin Huang had. The second was the Supreme Overlord. Although he did not have any unique blood, his intelligence was high, and he was good at controlling. He had terrifying abilities himself and ranked second among the other Monster Cards for now.
The third would be Charcoal. Once Charcoal was unlocked and leveled up to holy fire-level, it would evolve into an adult and become the remarkable one in the Monster Card collection. Whether its blood would upgrade or whether a triple mutation would happen, the adult Charcoal would be much powerful than before and could be comparable with Bai.
Lin Huang said Lancelot would be top 3 if he were triple mutated as he had included the sword servants as well. With the nine sword servants, Lancelot would definitely defeat any of the monsters. Although Lancelot was a monster with the title of "ruthless", Lin Huang did not plan to upgrade him because of the title. Lancelot had no comment about what Lin Huang said as he was clear that the comment meant well. He knew about Bai and the Supreme Overlord's abilities himself; they were really more powerful than he was.
"It can't be…" Lin Xin was stunned. To her, Lancelot was invincible, but to Lin Huang, he would only be top 3 if he managed to achieve a triple mutation.
"Lancelot is only a complete gold-level now. He'll need a very long time to grow strong." Lin Huang remembered that Xiao Hei had mentioned that monsters with titles should be trained properly. That was how he started looking up on Lancelot and Kylie.
He had more and more Monster Cards with limited Advanced Cards, so it was impossible for him to train all his monsters at once. He would have to choose those that were talented with real abilities as well as the conformity of the summoning monsters.
If blood mattered, Bai and Charcoal should be prioritized while the three fiends would come second. The team should have a controlling monster, so the Supreme Overlord should be prioritized as well. His controlling skill was almost invincible while the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit and the Witch could be his backup. Besides, the intelligent Bloody should be prioritized as well as Tyrant who had the highest defense ability among all of them. Considering what Xiao Hei said, Lancelot and Kylie should be trained too.
That was why Lin Huang insisted on taking his time to unlock his monsters as they were worth training. As Lin Huang was thinking about which monsters to prioritize, the Viridian Wolf slowed down.
"We're here?" Lin Huang looked up and looked into a dark alley without any street lights ahead.
The dark alley was not where the Cursed Swordfiend was, but it was the hiding place for a parasite called the Shadow Worm. The Shadow Worm was a unique parasite which would perform parasitizing on creatures' shadows instead of their bodies, which was unavoidable for the victims. Their reason for being there was because Bloody had mentioned to Lin Huang before that it was one of the parasitizing methods that it desired. The Shadow Worm not only had an unusual parasitizing method but was also a cross-ranking parasite.
Lin Huang pinned this location first when they arrived in the area. The Viridian Wolf stopped at the entrance of the alley, and Lin Huang could hear crunching. It was the sound of Shadow Worms that was crawling in the dark.
"Come out, Bloody!" Lin Huang waved and summoned Bloody.
"This is the Shadow Leech of the Shadow Worm that you wanted. Its is lair ahead," Lin Huang said to Bloody.
Bloody nodded in excitement and dashed towards the alley in a crimson glow. Soon, the alley became crowded with chirping noises. There were some Shadow Worms that raced towards Lin Huang and Lin Xin, but they were killed by Lancelot easily. It was the first time for the both of them to see real Shadow Worms. It was a black worm the size of an adult thumb that resembled a spider. They crawled fast, but they could not fly, or else, Lin Huang would not have just stood by the alley entrance so nonchalantly.
"Congratulations, your epic-level Monster Card Bloody has obtained a new skill - Shadow Leech (Supreme)." As Xiao Hei's notification was heard, a red glow dashed towards Lin Huang like a lightning bolt.
"I've got the skill. Let's go." Bloody spoke to Lin Huang in his mind.
"Let's go!" Lin Huang patted the Viridian Wolf's back and they left. As they moved, the Shadow Worms chased them from the alley like a flood of critters.
"We have offended them. Luckily, they can't fly." Lin Huang turned around to look while asking the Viridian Wolf to run as fast as it could. He did not bother about the monsters around that were affected by the Shadow Worms. The Shadow Worms were not quick enough, so the Viridian Wolf managed to get away from them in an instant as it was much larger. Each stride of the Viridian Wolf was equivalent to hundreds of steps of the Shadow Worms. It was impossible for them to catch up. Therefore, the monsters around were attacked out of nowhere. Many of the monsters were puzzled by the chaos.
Lin Huang looked at Bloody's details as he had the time, and he wanted to know what was the effect of the skill that Bloody had obtained.
"Monster Card"
"Rarity: Epic"
"Monster Name: Bloody (Demonic Dandelion Vine)"
"Type of Monster: Parasite"
"Combat Level: Gold-level Rank-3 (Complete)"
"Skill 1: Leech Pods"
"Skill 2: Absolute Control"
"Skill 3: Supreme Intelligence"
"Skill 4: Limitless Ingestion"
"Skill 5: Shadow Leech (Supreme)"
"Summon Authority: Activated"
"Remarks: Monster skill has yet to be fully discovered. One more skill on the way."
"Card Remarks: Trainable"
…
"Shadow Leech (Supreme): Using shadows as an agent, it can parasitize on any living thing of two levels higher."
"Remark 1: There's no need to enter the host's body. All it needs to do is to capture the host's shadow with its own to complete the parasite."
"Remark 2: The shadow of the host can be changed into any form and can move as it wishes as long as the shadow doesn't cover more than 100 times of its own body. The host's shadow cannot be smaller than its own body."
"Remark 3: 10 targets maximum at once."
"Remark 4: The maximum level of the host is two levels higher."
"Remark 4: Creatures that have no shadows could not be applied."
…
"My Bloody is so powerful!" Lin Huang thought to himself as he read the description of the new skill. Although Bloody's Leech Pods could parasitize massive amounts of creatures at once, it only applied to those that had the same combat level as Bloody. Cross-ranking parasitizing was impossible for the Leech Pods. However, now Bloody had a second parasite skill which it should be able to cast on one host, but Lin Huang had no idea how it could parasitize on ten hosts at the same time. Besides, it could cast on not only one level, but two whole levels higher.
Lin Huang had never heard of any parasite monsters that possessed cross-ranking and group parasitizing abilities. Perhaps Bloody was the first. If Bloody were a wild monster that was not controlled by humans, although it was not a holy fire-level yet, the destruction that it could create would be chaotic. The two abilities alone could destroy the entire human C-grade foothold.
"Have you chosen the last skill? Maybe one for survival or would you like to choose from regeneration, defense, or speed?" Lin Huang asked Bloody as he saw there was still one vacant skill slot.
"I have chosen Immortal Tinder." Bloody had its own plan.
"Immortal Tinder? Isn't that the Undead Evil Child's skill? It's an undead. Can you extract the skill?" Lin Huang did not mention that the Undead Evil Child was one of the monsters that could not be killed in this world.
Since this monster could cast its tinder on other creatures, as soon as it died, one of the tinders would be activated and its consciousness would be transferred into the tinder in the host, which would then completely transform the host into a new Undead Evil Child. Although there were only nine tinders, the tinders were cast far away, so it was impossible for it to be killed. Before the tinder was activated, nobody could tell which monsters were the hosting them.
"I don't need to kill it, all I need is to parasite on one, extract its memory and mimic its ability. I think there are similarities between my Leech Seed and its tinder. I'll try to integrate my Leech Seed with the ability. If it's successful, I'll have hundreds of thousands of lives and that'll increase even more as I get more powerful. It's okay even if the integration fails. I can research an ability that's similar to survival." Bloody had chosen the skill as it was ambitious. If the integration was successful, it was basically immortal. Even Lin Huang was shocked by its grandiose plan.
Suddenly, a few birds tore towards them, but they were soon killed by Lancelot who was standing on the Viridian Wolf.
"What's happening? Why're there more monsters out of nowhere?" Lin Huang noticed that something was wrong as many monsters were chasing after them.
"These monsters must be parasitized by the Shadow Worm…" Bloody said after a long silence.
"But all we did was kill one of their friends, so why are they doing this?" The monsters that were controlled by the Shadow Worms still came after them after the Viridian Wolf was already tens of kilometers away, puzzling Lin Huang.
"Maybe because I killed their king…" What Bloody said made Lin Huang speechless. No wonder the worms were coming after them like they had killed their father! Lin Huang did not expect their father to truly have been killed!
"Maybe they're chasing us because I have the king's aura on me. We should be able to get rid of them if you recall me back into card form, Master." Bloody that was hiding in Lin Huang's sleeve suggested.
"Alright then…" Lin Huang then recalled Bloody into card form.
As expected, when the monsters were killed by Lancelot, the rest of them at the back did not chase after them anymore.
"Finally, it stopped." Lin Huang was relieved. He then patted the Viridian Wolf's fluffy head.
"Next target - the Cursed Swordfiend!"
The Cursed Swordfiend was a humanoid demon monster that had gone through three mutations.
Most of the sword type monsters and swordsmen among humans were skilled at close combat. Their attack power was rather impressive .
However, the Cursed Swordfiend was an exception. It was excellent at assassinating enemies. Aside from that, a variety of spells were cast on its swords.
If one were attacked by its sword, a randomly selected curse would befall the person immediately. Each attack would create different types of curse effects, and these effects could be overlaid on the body of the injured.
Some curses had an extremely strong effect. For example, the Lethal Curse would cause immediate death in the cursed. Even if the wound was less than a millimeter long and if the opponent's combat strength was a few levels higher than the Cursed Swordfiend, the curse would still be effective immediately. However, most of the curses could only manage to distract its opponent such as causing dizziness, numbness, diarrhea, urinary incontinence, and so on.
Because the Cursed Swordfiend possessed such an evil power, humans tried not to offend such a monster. They would feel extremely awkward if they were injured during the battle, suffering from urinary incontinence or diarrhea. Furthermore, if one were unlucky and encountered the Lethal Curse, they would be weeping without tears.
However, Lin Huang had no fear of the Cursed Swordfiend. The monster could be controlled by Kylie the Nephilic Judge who was completely immune to its curse. In addition to that, despite the weak Cursed Swordfiend's attack power and despite the fact that it was only a white flame-level, Tyrant was unable to break through its defense. It would probably kill Tyrant instead.
The Cursed Swordfiend would have no way of penetrating Lin Huang's energy protective layer that was created by his 5-star armor, let alone bypass Lin Huang's ultimate defensive skill – the Dark Shield.
The people were all afraid of the Cursed Swordfiend. However, to Lin Huang, there was no difference between the Cursed Swordfiend and the rest of the white flame-level monsters.
After getting rid of the Shadow Worms, Lin Huang recalled the Viridian Wolf and summoned the Viridescent Thunderhawk. He had ridden on the Viridian Wolf previously because the distance between them was short. They were less than 30 kilometers apart. It was also because Lin Huang wanted to take a closer look at the situation of the city. If not for his worrying about Lin Xin's physical strength, he would have actually preferred to walk.
The Cursed Swordfiend was found about 1,200 kilometers away. It was a straight-line distance. Despite the Viridian Wolf running at full speed, it still took them more than ten hours to arrive at their destination.
The Viridescent Thunderhawk then carried the three of them and flew off into the sky. In less than an hour, they then arrived at their destination and landed on the ground.
The Shadow Land, the place where the Cursed Swordfiend was hiding, was a high-rise building situated towards the west of the ruins. It had a height of more than 570 meters. Despite being located at the center of the city, it still stood out above the rest.
Lin Huang could see that before its abandonment, it had been a prosperous business zone. Lights from buildings of different sizes used to be lit up all the time, and the city had been as bright as day.
"Before the foothold was abandoned, it must have been a prosperous city," Lin Xin sized up the surrounding and said.
Just looking at the buildings, the area of the business zone was comparable to that of an A-grade foothold.
Lin Huang then raised his head and looked towards the tallest building. If he was not mistaken, the Cursed Swordfiend should now be hiding on the top floor of the building and it must have noticed them.
He immediately recalled the Viridescent Thunderhawk and summoned Kylie. Kylie sized up the surrounding calmly as soon as she realized that she was somewhere she was unfamiliar with. She then turned back and looked at Lin Huang. To be exact, it was a half-red, half-blue mask without any facial features that was looking towards Lin Huang.
She did not ask anything about it and Lin Huang said nothing either. He immediately instructed, "There is a Cursed Swordfiend on top of the building, bring it down, but don't kill it."
Kylie did not nod. She lifted her head and looked towards the top of the high-rise building. Her gaze seemed to have penetrated through her mask. She was not restricted to the dark surroundings and managed to see the humanoid monster that was looking at them. Six of her golden wings immediately fluttered, and she flew up to the sky towards the top of the building.
After a few moments, a dazzling white glow suddenly appeared in mid-air. Lin Huang, who was looking towards that direction, squinted.
Soon after, a loud explosive sound was heard and a black shadow immediately appeared. It struck the ground hard with a cloud of smoke.
Bang!
Lin Huang could feel the vibration was coming from the ground beneath his feet. Lin Xin, who was standing next to him, almost fell down. He immediately extended his hand and grabbed her. As soon as Lin Xin could balance herself, Lin Huang then looked towards the direction where the black shadow had fallen. A big hole that was a few meters in diameter was formed hundreds of meters away from him.
Right at this moment, before Lin Huang could even issue any instructions, Lancelot transformed into a black shadow and took a leap.
Kylie then gradually descended from mid-air. It seemed like she was not going to join the fight as she stood next to Lin Huang and became a spectator.
There was smoke billowing out from the big hole. Soon, Lancelot body was shrouded in the cloud of smoke and nobody could see him.
Even Lin Huang's vision could only detect a few beams of black shadows flickering and crashes were heard.
This situation lasted for less than a minute. Before the smoke cleared away, Xiao Hei's notification was heard.
"Congratulations, you have obtained an Epic level monster card -the Cursed Swordfiend (Sword Servant).
Lancelot slowly walked out from the cloud of smoke. Lin Huang was shocked because the Cursed Swordfiend was killed by Lancelot very quickly. Although it was weak in close combat, it was still a white flame-level monster. How did Lancelot manage to kill it in less than a minute without even activating his Absolute Life?!
Lin Huang then recalled the white glow that appeared mid-air and looked towards Kylie. "What did you do to the Cursed Swordfiend just now?!"
"I did nothing. It is somewhat purified," Kylie said calmly.
Lin Huang then recalled the beam of white light that had appeared abruptly in mid-air must have been Kylie's Purification Light. The Purification Light could be fatal to the Cursed Swordfiend. When it shone on the Cursed Swordfiend, it was as if an ordinary person had been doused with sulphuric acid. Despite the light shining on it for only a short period, it had been weakened drastically.
Lin Huang soon understood why Lancelot had been capable of killing it so easily.
"An immortal-level monster that is 1,800 kilometers away from you sensed the power of Purification Light. It is coming towards you…" Xiao Hei's voice was suddenly heard.
Lin Huang had expected this to happen since there might be the presence of immortal-level monsters at the moderate danger zone. However, he never thought that Kylie's Purification Light would catch the immortal-level monster's attention.
"Where's the immortal-level monster coming from?" Right when Lin Huang asked this, he recalled Kylie and Lancelot back to their card forms and summoned the Viridescent Thunderhawk again.
"It's coming from the northeast."
Lin Huang then carried Lin Xin, and the both of them rode on Thunder's back. He urged, "Let's head towards the south as fast as you can!"
The Viridescent Thunderhawk immediately flew up to the sky and accelerated towards the cave located southwards.
"Brother, what happened?" Lin Xin asked in shock.
"There is an immortal-level monster coming after us!" Lin Huang did not bother hiding it from her.
As soon as Thunder heard that, it accelerated at its maximum speed.
"Is an immortal-level even stronger than a holy fire-level?" Lin Xin could still remember that Lin Huang had mentioned to her before the three levels of Transcendents. It was the immortal-level that was ranked above holy fire-level.
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded and did not explain any further. Seeing Lin Huang's reaction, Lin Xin did not continue asking.
"How long do we need to arrive at the exit at Thunder's current speed?" Lin Huang contacted Xiao Hei through his mind.
"42 minutes."
"Will the monster be able to catch up with us?" Lin Huang then asked.
"At the Viridescent Thunderhawk's current speed, it takes only half an hour for the immortal-level monster to catch up with you."
"We won't be able to run away at Thunder's speed…" Lin Huang frowned. After a short a while, a thought flashed through his mind. "If Thunder is not fast enough, Kylie's speed should be."
As soon as he thought of this, Lin Huang immediately summoned Kylie. Standing on the Viridescent Thunderhawk's back, Kylie looked at Lin Huang doubtfully.
Lin Huang immediately communicated with Kylie through his mind. He wanted Kylie's body could grow wider so that he and Lin Xin could sit on her back.
It was apparent that Kylie was unwilling to let anyone ride on her back. She was not a flying mount. However, she was forced to agree with him.
As soon as the body of Kylie who was standing on Thunder's back grew bigger, Thunder's speed was somewhat affected. Lin Huang and Lin Xin then rode on her back. Kylie attempted to flap her wings. After knowing that her movement was not being hindered, she then flew off into the sky.
Lin Huang then recalled Thunder that was still flying.
Kylie accelerated rapidly, and her speed seemed to be three times faster than Thunder's in an instant.
Six of her golden wings fluttered and a golden meteorite streaked across the sky.
Roar!
The immortal-level monster growled angrily as soon as it discovered Lin Huang was getting farther away from it. However, Lin Huang and the rest could not hear it as Kylie's flying speed was four times faster than the speed of sound.
Still, the growl could be heard in the city. The monsters immediately froze as soon as they heard it. All of them knew very well that it was the overlord of the underworld that let out a loud roar. Many of the hunters and adventure teams immediately restrained their aura and hid in the buildings. It was not the first time for those team to be there and they recognized the presence of the overlord as well.
"What's that sound? It's so scary! It feels like my bladder just shrunk!" A 20 years old young man exclaimed. The monster let out a loud roar that reached the bottom of one's soul. He was indeed frightened.
"Just admit that you peed! What do you mean your bladder has shrunk?" A man next to him saw that he wet his pants and glanced at him disgustedly.
"Shut up!" A tall man in golden armor was their leader. He shouted at the both of them. He was the one who had greeted Lin Huang's team somewhere near the Dimensional Portal. He did not manage to form a team of ten and ended up with only eight of them.
He suddenly remembered that they were partners right after he shouted at both of them and that they would not be happy with him. The tall man immediately lowered his voice and explained, "It is the master of the Shadow Land who let out the loud roar. It is an immortal-level monster, namely, the Abyssal Dragon. It was an actual dragonkin…"
"An immortal-level dragonkin…" The people who first came to the Shadow Land were shocked.
"It sounded like the Abyssal Dragon isn't in a good mood. Let's hide here today. Please don't cause a stir in this area. We shall rest today and think about killing the monsters tomorrow," the tall team leader instructed.
"However, it's not safe to hide here. We'll be trapped if it spits dragonflame. This is just an ordinary building and even we can destroy it, let alone the dragonkin," the young man who wet his pants had not calmed down and raised his opinion, "I think it's better for us to quit now. We'll come in again tomorrow."
"Based on our observation, the Abyssal Dragon won't simply destroy any buildings in the city. All these years, the city has always been precious to it. It never wanted to tear down the buildings. Besides, when it's angry, all the monsters in the city will go dormant, and they won't get us into trouble. Therefore, it's certainly safe to stay here. If you walk along the streets, you'll easily become the Abyssal Dragon's target," the tall man warned.
Listening to the leader's explanation, the young man immediately kept quiet and had no more objections.
Of course, Lin Huang did not know that the monster he offended had sent all the humans and monsters in the Shadow Land to go into hiding. He had no idea what type of monster was chasing after him. There was no need for him to know though. As long as it was an immortal-level monster, he could not afford to offend it.
Despite having a Provisional Summoning Card as his trump card and being able to summon a monster with similar abilities to the Infernal Dragon that had appeared at the auction hall, he did not want to use the life-saving card if possible.
Kylie took about ten minutes and arrived somewhere near the cave. Although the cave was not wide, it was sufficient for Kylie to pass through. She retracted her wings, slowing down, and rushed towards the exit along with Lin Xin and Lin Huang.
A few moments later, they passed through the corridor and emerged from the ground.
Kylie's sudden appearance frightened many of the people in the cave. They thought that a monster had broken in. Soon after, they saw two people sitting on the monster's back.
"That's such a strange mount. It is a humanoid monster and it looks like a girl. Yes, it seems like she has a nice body…" A man with a wretched appearance mumbled in a low voice.
Kylie gradually landed on the ground when they were a certain distance away from the cave. Lin Huang then recalled Kylie and summoned the Dimensional Portal. He then set the location to Luoxi City where he had been and strode over with Lin Xin.
The Meteorite Desert would be his final destination where a double mutated sword type monster existed. Also, it was also the isolated place where the presence of the Starlight Beast was detected as well as the place that Lin Huang had chosen to unseal Charcoal.
Luoxi City was situated north to the C-grade foothold in Divison7. Lin Huang had been there to hunt the brain eater and had bought the quick-frozen cake at Luoxi City before.
Looking at the time, it was already slightly after four in the afternoon.
"The foothold looks desolate…" Lin Xin looked around and said. She could recognize it as a C-grade foothold. However, it was no longer as prosperous as it used to be.
"This is Luoxi City. It is located north to Divison7 which is also one of the footholds nearest to northwest area," Lin Huang explained. The economy of a border city will normally be bad since it was too far away from the city. The tourism was unsustainable.
"Do you still remember the quick-frozen cake that I gave you?"
Lin Xin immediately nodded her head as she could still clearly remember how delicious the cake was.
"The main outlet of that quick-frozen cake is here." Lin Huang said with a smile.
"Is that true?!" Lin Xin was excited the moment she heard this.
"Yes, I'll bring you to the cake shop later. Let's walk around and look for a hotel now." Lin Huang was not in a hurry to hunt monsters as Lin Xin was tired. Also, Lancelot had completed the unsealing process for two monsters. There was only one monster left and he was finally able to relax. He would start his journey tomorrow morning.
Lin Huang then brought along Lin Xin and checked in into a hotel. They walked out from the hotel, riding on the Viridian Wolf and headed towards the cake shop.
Arriving at the cake shop, Lin Xin, who was initially tired, felt more energized. Other than buying 100 quick-frozen cakes, Lin Xin had also chosen many of the desserts. She had never tried some of them before. There were also desserts that she had never eaten before. The desserts looked delicious. Since Lin Huang was not short of money, she bought them all. It seemed like half of the food sold in the shop were bought by Lin Huang and Lin Xin.
After buying the desserts, both of them then walked along the business street. When it was almost 6 p.m, both of them looked for a restaurant selling spicy hotpot for dinner. Ever since Lin Xin had been to Jinchuan, she was in love with spicy food.
It was already 7 p.m when they returned to the hotel. In the living room, Lin Huang sat on the sofa. He browsed through the Hunter Forum and posted a message on the reward board using an anonymous account.
"I'll offer a reward of 5,000 Life Crystals to look for the Undead Evil Child. Anyone who has the location of the monster, please contact me."
It seemed like 5,000 Life Crystals were just a small amount of money. However, it was sufficient to buy a 3-star relic. Furthermore, Lin Huang only requested for the location of the monster.
Despite the Undead Evil Child being rare, the monsters were scattered around. The people had discovered them at many places before. This piece of information meant nothing to the discoverers as it was unlikely that people would hunt for the Undead Evil Child as the monsters were immortal.
In less than two minutes after Lin Huang posted the message, he received a personal message. He was surprised and opened it. It was sent by an anonymous hunter.
"I have the location that you are looking for. It was discovered two months ago. Let's trade if you need it. Trading account: 93X24X11."
"How can that be so fast?" Lin Huang frowned and immediately proceeded with the transaction.
He then searched for the account number of the anonymous who had already selected the preferred transaction method. The due date of the transaction was one month from today. Lin Huang had to visit the location specified within one month in order to verify the presence of the target monster. Upon confirmation, only then would the information provider be able to receive the money. If it were not confirmed within one month, the money would be automatically transferred to the other party's account. Of course, before all this happened, Lin Huang had to authorize the Emperor's Heart Ring to carry out the transaction before the Life Crystals could be deducted from his account by the Hunter Network.
If the target monster did not appear at the specific location within one month, he could apply to cancel the transaction from the Hunter Association. At the same time, he could file a complaint against the person who had provided false information and the people from the Hunter Association would investigate it. Once it was confirmed, the user would be blacklisted by Hunter Association as well as the cooperative organization. Therefore, one would normally not provide fake information as they would have to pay for it.
Lin Huang was never worried that he would receive false information from the Hunter Association. Instead, he was worried that there would be organizations from the black market that spread fake news whereby they would swindle him out of money. This was also the reason why whenever Lin Huang posted a message on the black market, the transaction would be done face-to-face. Normally, the organizations that spread false information dared not show up as they were afraid that they would be killed. Only a few of them from the underworld were friendly. It was normal for them to kill the person who offended them.
Upon confirming the transaction, the location was quickly sent to him.
Lin Huang glanced at it. "Sandy Land? Isn't it somewhere near Baqi City?"
Sandy Land was a level-4 wilderness area. Previously, it was a danger zone. As it was too near to the human foothold, the Transcendent monsters existing there were all killed.
Although Sandy Land was near to Baqi City, it was actually nearer to Fatty's old house. The distance was less than 800 kilometers. Lin Huang would never expect the Undead Evil Child to appear at such a place.
"After I've settled everything here, I'll go there. I wonder how's the situation in Fatty's hotel." It had been more than half a month since Fatty's funeral ceremony. Lin Huang was paying close attention to news of Ke Lai Hotel. He had been waiting for the opportunity to purchase the retail chain as it was Fatty's last will. However, there was no rumor from the Yi family that the hotel was available for sale. Lin Huang was going to visit them and ask the old lady about that.
Without the support of Fatty's father and Fatty, the hotel needed a transformation. Otherwise, it could no longer operate. However, none of them from Fatty's family knew about this. If they decided not to sell it, perhaps the hotel would continue operating in the classic model. If that happened, they would suffer a great loss.
Lin Huang then shut the Hunter Forum screen. He shook his head and snapped himself out of his thoughts. He took a wooden knife and headed towards the training room.
Lin Huang deliberately chose a hotel under the Hunter Association as they would be responsible for any damages or losses. It was not because Lin Huang wanted to take advantage of the Hunter Association, but it could save him some trouble instead. If the training room were damaged, he would only have to inform them about it. Otherwise, he would probably have to spend a few hours communicating with the person-in-charge and discussing the compensation for the damage caused. Lin Huang had no time for that.
Lin Huang had completed the learning of the Star Dome. He was no longer practicing the Star Dome in the training room. It was the Great Sword Scripture that he was now focusing on instead. He began reintegrating all the sword skills that he had learned before.
As soon as he had mastered the Star Dome, he felt that he had some new understandings about his sword skill training and his sword power had been improving.
Soon, a few hours had passed.
At midnight, Lin Huang then retracted his sword. He was quite satisfied with the training of his sword skill. "I'll probably need three to four days to complete the integration of the Great Sword Scripture. The same goes for the rest of the sword skills. With my current progress, my Dao of the Sword will be further improved when the integration is about to be completed."
The last unsealing servant chosen by Lin Huang for Lancelot was the Sword Dominator. Sword Dominator was a pseudo-fairy, humanoid monster.
The monster's strongest power was its ability to manipulate swords. It was said to be capable of dominating 3,000 swords at the same time and its attack skills were incredibly ruthless.
When Lin Huang saw the skills on the monster guide for the first time, it reminded him of the sword mastery skill in the supernatural genre of novels.
According to one of such novels, there was a sage in the sky. Thousands of swords then appeared when he extended his hand, transforming them into sword rain and his enemies were engulfed. The scene was incredible as he thought of it. Perhaps it was the reason why the authors of various supernatural novels and fantasy novels enjoyed writing about sword skills.
The Sword Dominator was discovered deep in the Meteorite Desert. It was approximately 2,200 kilometers away from the northwest of the city. It was in the same direction as where the Starlight Beast was; both of them were less than 600 kilometers apart.
At 8 a.m, Lin Huang then summoned Thunder after having his breakfast. Lin Huang and Lin Xin headed towards the place where the Sword Dominator was.
Lin Huang was not worried that it would secretly attack him as it leaned more towards attacking its opponent face-to-face. Therefore, they continued moving forward, and Lin Huang guided Lin Xin.
Sitting on Thunder's back, he sighed emotionally while looking at the desert that he was familiar with. He had lived in the desert for several days when he was looking for the Starlight Beast. It was the place where he met Liang Qian, who had lost her teammates. He witnessed how cruel the Saint members were, and he had even killed two of them.
It was Lin Xin's first time visiting a desert. Looking at the vast, endless golden sand, she was excited. She could not stop oohing over how beautiful it was. "It's so lovely! It must be amazing watching the sunrise, sunset, and even the stars over here…"
Lin Huang twitched his mouth. That was merely what she saw. The Meteorite Desert was similar to the Shadow Land as both of them were moderate danger zones. There were seven known Transcendent monsters, and there might even be immortal-level monsters around. There were a large number of Transcendent monsters on the spacious ground, many of which were hiding underground and could be hardly seen by the naked eye. Without considering the monsters, the difference in temperature between daytime and nighttime alone was fatal to ordinary people. However, Lin Xin knew nothing about that.
"This desert is called Meteorite Desert. You may check out this place with your Emperor's Heart Ring, and you'll know where you're at." Lin Huang eventually interrupted her beautiful fantasy as she was talking incessantly.
Lin Xin was curious and connected to the network with her Emperor's Heart Ring. A few moments later, she was no longer excited. She was just trying her luck and asked, "Is this desert really that dangerous?"
"In fact, it will actually be more dangerous than what was mentioned on the network. It's the same as the Shadow Land where we were yesterday. Both of them are moderate danger zones. Even a Gold Hunter can possibly die here, and a Silver Hunter definitely won't step foot in here." Lin Huang nodded his head. "If you're becoming a hunter in the future, you can't judge a place by its appearance and let your guard down. You have to prepare yourself before going to a place that you're unfamiliar with and take the worst-case scenarios into consideration. That's the only way you won't panic when danger comes to you."
Lin Huang was behaving like a teacher, dishing out advice. Lin Xin was always obedient and she nodded.
More than an hour had passed. Thunder had finally arrived at the place where the Sword Dominator was discovered. It gradually descended from the sky while flapping its wings.
The area was an oasis. As soon as Lin Huang and Lin Xin reached the ground, they could smell the scent of flowers.
"It's so fragrant!" Lin Xin looked around as she wanted to know where the smell was coming from.
Soon, she saw a tree with a white flower which was the size of a human brain. The flower bloomed beautifully.
While she was about to move a step forward, Lin Huang immediately grabbed her arm.
"It is the Scented Ent, a type of demon. It will release a unique scent so the creatures will mistakenly identify it as their favorite scent. It will then lure the creatures and kill them. The beautiful white flower is actually its brain. It can reach up to a meter long in diameter. Its brain will eat even a monster the size of Tyrant."
Lin Xin was horrified and immediately retreated. She secretly glanced at the big tree with the white flower and no longer dared to look at it after that. She would never expect that such a terrifying monster would exist in this green and peaceful world.
"Let's go."
Lin Huang was not scaring Lin Xin intentionally. The Scented Ent had a height of more than 30 meters and its combat level was the same as Lin Huang. Both of them were on gold-level rank-3 as well. Any monsters ranking below Transcendent would be killed if they approached it.
Recalling Thunder, Lin Huang summoned Lancelot again. As soon as his instruction was received, Lancelot followed after the both of them, taking up the responsibility as a guardian.
Lin Huang was leading Lin Xin, and the both of them then headed towards the location where the Sword Dominator had been discovered previously.
The open space where Thunder landed was only about hundreds of meters away from the location. With its body size, it was quite difficult for it to land on the ground.
The trio then continued moving forward and soon, the gurgling sound of the flowing stream got nearer. Right after they arrived at their destination, they then found out that it was actually a waterfall.
The waterfall was more than 20 meters tall with a width of more than 10 meters. There was a torrential downpour, cascading down into a pool that was 10 meters away from the waterfall.
Lin Huang slightly shifted his body while sizing up the surroundings. He then lowered his head and looked at the location set on his Emperor's Heart Ring. He slightly frowned as he looked at the waterfall, mumbling to himself, "There's nothing wrong with the location on the Emperor's Heart Ring…"
"Brother, what's happened?" Lin Xin asked curiously.
"Nothing." Lin Huang shook his head and summoned Kylie again. He then instructed, "Kylie, please protect Lin Xin. Lancelot and I will have a look at the waterfall."
Lin Huang reacted in such a way because according to the location provided, the Sword Dominator was inside the waterfall. However, there was no through road.
Lin Huang felt strange at the beginning. Soon, he realized that there might be a cave behind the waterfall. The Sword Dominator might be hiding inside the cave.
Upon confirming that, Lin Huang then took a leap and walked towards the waterfall. He plunged into the waterfall. Lancelot then followed after him.
Passing through the waterfall, Lin Huang found out that there was indeed a cave over there. The cave must have been naturally formed as the surface of the wall was smooth as if it was the result of being exposed to the scouring of the stream of water over a prolonged period of time. The cave was about 10 meters high with stalactites that looked like bamboo shoots hanging from the roof of the cave.
Lin Huang was checking out the surroundings, and soon, Lancelot followed after them and entered the cave. Similar to Lin Huang, its body was clean as well.
Before entering the cave, it saw that Lin Huang had formed an umbrella with his Dark Shield. It followed suit, creating an umbrella with his Dark Shield to block himself the flowing water of the waterfall. Despite the Dark Shield being a skill extracted from Lancelot, Lin Huang managed to use it more efficiently than Lancelot did.
Right when Lancelot entered the cave, two beams of light flashed through the sky, aiming towards Lin Huang and Lancelot. Lin Huang had already noticed it before the beam of light arrived in his Micro Territory. He quietly grabbed a 5-star relic in his hand. The moment when the two beams of light entered his territory, he brandished his sword, and the glows disappeared at almost the same time.
By the time Lancelot reacted to the beams of light, it had no more change to fight.
"Come out. There's no need to hide anymore." Through the trial attack, Lin Huang knew that the ability of Sword Dominator was not much stronger than an ordinary double mutated white flame-level monster.
The Sword Dominator knew that its sneak attack was rendered useless, so it no longer bothered sneaking up on Lin Huang and slowly walked towards him.
Lin Huang could then see how the Sword Dominator really looked like. There was not much difference between it and a human. It had a white beard and white hair and was dressed in a white robe as well. It was a sage. However, its skin was somewhat different from an old man's as it had the skin of someone in his twenties. There were no wrinkles and was even smoother and fairer than most teenage girls. In addition to its unique character, it would attract many girls if it had its white beard shaved.
The only difference was that on its head, a thumb-sized light blue crystal in the shape of a diamond was set.
"You're indeed a pseudo-fairy that possesses fairy blood. You're kind of unique," Lin Huang mumbled. He felt that it was a fairy that remained aloof from the world. He did not want to kill it.
At this moment, Lancelot reacted. It transformed into a black shadow, leaving a faint black mist in its original position.
"He's really bad-tempered…" He was speechless, seeing Lancelot acting impulsively.
The Sword Dominator was originally checking Lin Huang out as it could sense that Lin Huang was exuding an intimidating aura. However, just when Lancelot moved, it shifted its gaze towards Lancelot.
It lifted its right hand, pointing at Lancelot with two of its fingers. Several long swords immediately formed and dashed towards Lancelot.
Lin Huang did not join in the battle. Instead, he was looking on as an outsider. He was interested in Lancelot's sword manipulation skill as well and now had the chance to observe its skill.
"The speed of forming the long sword is incredibly fast. It was formed in an instant! Furthermore, it looks like it is an actual weapon instead of a sword that has been created with Life Power. It requires a lot of time to create a fine sword like this using Life Power. One won't be able to achieve such a speed even through practice. It must be somewhat similar to the bloody wings of a vampire. It consumes a relatively low amount of Life Power where it is mainly supported by skills. Otherwise, it will be unable to summon 3,000 long swords at the same time…"
"Its attack speed and strength are slightly stronger than a gunmaster of the same level since it is a monster that has gone through its second mutation. However, compared to the gunmaster, there's something good about its attack skills. It doesn't need to move as the angle of attack can be simply changed. It's capable of performing a 360-degree attack whereby it manages to attack anywhere on its opponent's body. Its long sword is different from the Life Power bullets of a gunmaster. It can repeatedly be used, provided that it isn't damaged. Furthermore, it changes its trajectory path as it pleases. Therefore, it is hardly predictable. On the contrary, the bullets of the gunmaster can no longer be controlled after they're fired out of the bore of a gun…"
Watching the battle between them, Lin Huang then analyzed the skills of the Sword Dominator.
In the karst cave, the battle between Lancelot and Sword Dominator became more intense. It was obvious that Lancelot was completely pinned down by the Sword Dominator.
Since Lancelot was only a complete-gold level, its attack meant nothing to the Sword Dominator. Each time it struck an attack with its sword, it only managed to block the hit by the Sword Dominator's long sword. It had no way to break its sword completely.
The Sword Dominator's swords were still perfectly fine, and it constantly added the number of swords. The number of swords had increased, and the angles of attack became more difficult to handle.
If Lancelot did not rely on his Death Zone and his acute senses, perhaps he would have been long defeated.
As the number of swords was increasing, Lancelot, who was originally defending himself with its sword, was forced to activate his Dark Shield to defend against its opponent's attack.
Lin Huang knew that it was impossible for Lancelot to defeat it when he saw this. Lancelot's normal offense was too weak. It was incapable of destroying its opponent's long sword, resulting in an increase in the number of swords. Eventually, the Sword Dominator became invincible.
Despite Lancelot summoning the Dark Shield to protect itself, he had no way to launch an attack. He could only defend passively, and of course, he would not be able to win the fight.
The result of the fight was obvious, and it was meaningless for the battle to continue. Lin Huang finally decided to join the fight. Activating his Seraphic Speed and Thunder Steps, he lunged towards the Sword Dominator like a flash of lightning.
When the Sword Dominator sensed Lin Huang's movement, it immediately gave up fighting Lancelot and shifted more than 100 of the long swords that it had just summoned towards Lin Huang.
More than hundreds of long swords struck Lin Huang in all directions akin to torrential rain. Lin Huang did not dodge at all. Instead, he grinned.
In just a short while, the long swords approached him. Right this moment, Lin Huang accelerated abruptly, streaking across the sky. He then escaped from the swords that surrounded him.
Before the Sword Dominator could react to it, Lin Huang appeared in front of him. The 5-star sword relic pierced through its waist at a speed that was even faster than the speed of sound. The Sword Dominator could no longer escape when it was caught by the sword.
Right at this moment, nine swords as large as doorways instantly formed and appeared in front of the Sword Dominator, blocking Lin Huang's attack.
Bang!
The blades of the battle sword and the large sword collided. A loud explosive noise was heard.
A few moments later, a cracking sound was heard. The door-sized swords splintered into pieces and soon, they collapsed.
It seemed like they had been infected by a virus as the first sword right up to the eighth sword collapsed simultaneously.
A cracking sound was heard again. Still, cracks appeared on the blade of the ninth sword. A flicker of fear flashed through the Sword Dominator's eyes…
The suddenly created door-sized big swords formed by Lin Huang's opponent were indeed out of his expectation. However, he did not hesitate and made an attack.
Right when his battle sword collided with its big sword, eight out of nine swords were broken into pieces and cracks appeared on the ninth sword as well. However, it did not collapse.
Seeing this to happen, Sword Dominator was upset. Soon after, an immense strength came from the blade of its sword. Its body and its last sword dashed towards Lin Huang like a softball being hit.
A few moments later, it crashed into the wall of the cave.
"Bang…"
The wall of the cave rapidly collapsed and the cracks began spreading everywhere. The natural cave could no longer bear the immense force generated and eventually collapsed.
Water started gushing from the waterfall.
Lin Huang then immediately stomped the ground and leaped out of the waterfall. Lancelot followed after him.
Since both of them could not fly, it would be a drawback to them if they were being drawn into the waterfall. Escaping from the area would be their only choice.
However, Lin Huang knew that Sword Dominator managed to defend against the attack with a large amount of its Life Power. Sword Dominator would definitely survive.
The sound of an explosion was heard by Lin Xin and Kylie. They were standing somewhere near the waterfall. Soon after, a loud explosive noise was heard again and the waterfall collapsed.
Two figures then appeared next to Lin Xin when they were worried about them.
Seeing Lin Huang was safe, Lin Xin was relieved.
Lin Huang and Lancelot turned their back on Lin Xin and looked towards the waterfall.
All of a sudden, a white shadow appeared out of the waterfall. In fact, Sword Dominator was not dead. It was not injured as well.
Sword Dominator who was hanging mid-air looked towards four of them. Hundreds of long swords were surrounding it, preparing for the fight.
It shifted its gaze towards Lin Huang in the first place as it was nearly killed by him. It had fear in Lin Huang.
Soon after, it noticed the presence of Kylie. It could not ignore the aura released by the white flame-level.
After sizing up Lin Huang and Kylie, it was then determined, pointing its fingers at four of them.
Hundreds of long swords that resembled meteorites were about to strike four of them.
Right that moment when the long swords arrived at Lin Huang's Micro Territory, Lin Huang took a step forward and brandished his sword.
Lancelot wanted to help out as well. However, when it thought it was unable to destroy the opponent's long sword, it gave up.
In mid-air, the long swords that fell into Lin Huang's Micro Territory were destroyed when they were attacked by Lin Huang in the air. Regardless of which angle the swords were coming from, none of them could escape from Lin Huang's attack. Not even a single sword managed to approach Lin Huang at a distance of 80 meters.
Seeing the attacks launched by the white-robed monster lingering mid-air were destroyed by Lin Huang in a few seconds, it was the first time Lin Xin realized that her brother was way stronger than she thought.
The Sword Dominator in mid-air was shocked. It did not notice that Lin Huang possessed a territory earlier and it only discovered it now. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to destroy all its long swords from everywhere in the air.
A person who possessed a territory was capable of restraining monsters like Sword Dominator to some extent. It was because regardless of how tricky the attack was, one would not have to care where the attack was coming from as the territory would be able to detect it on its own. Furthermore, the attack range of a person who possessed a territory could cover up to the entire region. Therefore, Lin Huang could easily destroy all the long swords in the air.
As soon as all the long swords were destroyed, Lin Huang stood up and looked at the Sword Dominator in mid-air. He then tried to provoke it with his offensive hand gesture, "Come on. Bring it on."
"Do you want to die!?"
A transcendent monster that had gone through its second mutation would normally know the human language as long as they had contacted humans before. A monster with higher intelligence could even speak human language. The offensive gesture and body language were not difficult for them to understand.
Without a doubt, Lin Huang's offensive gesture had stimulated Sword Dominator.
A delicately made white scabbard suddenly appeared in Sword Dominator's hand. Its white Life Power was being inserted into the scabbard. White glows then gushed out of the scabbard and a long sword was rapidly formed in the air.
In just a blink of an eye, thousands of long swords were formed. However, it was not the end. The white scabbard did not stop making new swords.
Lin Huang felt that it was interesting and looked at the scabbard. He guessed that it must be a relic that Sword Dominator was gifted with and it was exclusively made for Sword Dominator. The rest would be unable to use it. Otherwise, the people would kill all the Sword Dominator in this world in order to obtain the scabbard.
"I wonder if Lancelot is unsealed, can the skill of a sword servant be extracted…" Lin Huang mumbled.
"Sword servant is a unique card where its skills cannot be extracted. However, as soon as Ruthless Sword Master is unsealed, you are allowed to use any of the skills of its sword servant."
A notification from Xiao Hei was heard. Lin Huang was just mumbling. He did not know that Xiao Hei would give such a reply. Although the first sentence was disappointing, his eyes brightened and looked at Lancelot as soon as he heard the last sentence.
"A double mutated monster possesses at least five skills. Lancelot has nine sword servants. This indicates that there will be more than 40 of skills available for use. In addition to the skill it has, there will be about 50 of them… It is an ULTIMATE BOSS!"
Lin Huang currently had about 10 of the monster skills. Even if the human combat skills that he had learned from the association were included, there were less than 20 of them. He was incredibly strong now and it seemed like nobody of the same level could fight him.
Once Lancelot was unsealed, the number of skills would be more than twice the skill that Lin Huang currently possessed. Lin Huang then knew that he had underestimated Lancelot's ability. He was excited. He felt lucky that he did not simply choose nine sword type monsters for Lancelot as sword servant to avoid getting into trouble.
When Lin Huang was not aware of it, Sword Dominator had already released more than 3,300 long swords in the air.
This had proven that Sword Dominator's ultimate skill was more than 3,000 swords as mentioned in the monster guide. To be exact, there were 3,333 of them.
This attack had depleted Sword Dominator's Life Power. He could barely float in the air now.
3,333 swords were formed. Sword Dominator was holding the scabbard and pointed at four of them. A voice with a terrifying intent to kill was heard.
"3000 Sword Rain!"
In mid-air, the Sword Dominator's white robe was flapping around in the wind. It looked like a humanoid fairy.
With the scabbard that it was holding, it pointed into the air and soon, 3,333 long swords surrounding it raced towards Lin Huang and the rest, resembling a torrential downpour.
Lin Huang gazed at the attack and was excited. Under normal circumstances, it would be best to activate his Dark Shield in order to dodge such an attack. However, Lin Huang attempted to break the attack with his sword skill.
"Activate your Dark Shield so that you can protect Lin Xin and the rest."
Lin Huang leaped as soon as he contacted Lancelot with his mind.
Lancelot retreated next to Lin Xin and activated its Dark Shield. It then transformed into a ball, and Lin Xin and Kylie were enveloped by the Dark Shield.
Thousands of streaks that resembled meteorites in the sky struck them and fell into Lin Huang's territory in an instant.
Lin Huang's eyes turned red abruptly. Four bloody wings then extended out of his back, switching into sword blade mode. The 5-star Dragon Slayer in his hand was completely shrouded in golden Life Power and soon, he disappeared from his original position.
Four of the bloody wings and his Dragon Slayer seemed to move at the same time. Their speed was so fast as cuts formed in the air. All of the long swords were broken into pieces right when they collided with each other, producing a thunderous sound in the air.
Despite Lin Huang not achieving holy fire-level yet, he was engaged in a holy fire-level battle. The remaining energy resulting from the collision could cause those on gold-level to be severely injured.
Luckily, thanks to Lancelot's Dark Shield which was extremely strong in defense strength, despite Lin Xin being just an ordinary person, she was not affected.
However, she could no longer capture Lin Huang's movement. She could vaguely see that there were glows that looked like thunder flashes striking down from mid-air. Of course, it was because Lancelot had activated the observation mode of its Dark Shield which enabled her to look through it.
Outside the Dark Shield, the battle between Lin Huang and the Sword Dominator intensified. In an instant, the Sword Dominator's hundreds of swords were destroyed by Lin Huang.
Loud thuds were heard, and the frequency was akin to that when firecrackers were lit during the Chinese New Year on Earth. The airflow resulting from the collision hit the surface of the lake like rain. Ripples were formed, spreading wider and wider.
The trees that were a few kilometers away from them were instantly crushed into powder due to the powerful airflow. A barren area where no plants could survive suddenly appeared in the green oasis.
Initially, Lin Huang had kept a distance from the long swords. However, he soon realized that there were a large number of long swords and he had to move his body to avoid the attacks.
More than 3,000 of the long swords produced were apparently tougher than their predecessors. Besides, the attack speed and strength were stronger as well, so they were comparable to the crimson flame-level.
During the fight with Lancelot, with the Sword Dominator's current condition, Lancelot could not even block a single sword without the use of the Dark Shield.
On the ground, Lin Huang activated his Seraphic Speed and Cloud Steps simultaneously. He then moved his body quickly while dodging his opponent's swords. Despite his territory being capable of detecting his opponent's attack, due to the great number of sword attacks, some of the attacks somehow managed to break through Lin Huang's sword defense. Therefore, Lin Huang was forced to evade those attacks.
Despite Lin Huang seeming to avoid the attacks passively, the number of his opponent's long swords was decreasing every second. None of the attacks hit him, and still, he insisted on not activating the Dark Shield.
As the swords collided with each other, explosive sounds were constantly heard throughout the area. The sand and rocks surrounding Lin Huang were all stirred up as if the region was being swept away by a tornado.
The long sword in his hand and the Vampire Particles on his back then transformed into swords and advanced. Soon after, Lin Huang's Thunder Sting integrated with his Star Dome. The speed of integration was countless times faster than the usual speed he could execute during practice.
Lin Huang did not realize all these. He could vaguely feel that the movement of his sword skill had become rather smooth and the speed of his attack was getting faster as well.
All of a sudden, two notifications from Xiao Hei arrived.
"Congratulations, your epic-level sword skill 'Thunder Sting' has completely integrated with the legendary-level sword skill 'Star Dome'. It is now part of the sword skill 'Star Dome'!
"Congratulations, Sword Power Realm has leveled up from consonance to illumination! The qualification and potential of Sword Power Realm have been upgraded! The power of your sword skills has improved!"
Lin Huang did not care about the notifications received as he had all his attention focused on the battle with the thousands of long swords. He did not even regard the notification from Xiao Hei as well as the changes in his body.
However, the Sword Dominator that was hanging mid-air could feel that something was wrong. It sensed that the attack speed of its opponent was getting faster and he had managed to destroy thousands of swords in a few seconds. It panicked, manipulating the remaining long swords from various angles and hurling them towards Lin Huang.
Lin Huang's courage mounted as the battle progressed. In addition to the number of swords reducing and his extraordinary body condition, he no longer had to duck the attacks. Regardless of the angles of the attack, he was capable of destroying them. His battle sword and the Vampire Particles attacked at a frequency of about 100 times per second, and he managed to destroy a sword during each collision.
The situation had gotten worse. The Sword Dominator stared at the Dark Shield activated by Lancelot furiously.
Hundreds of swords immediately shifted their trajectory path and headed towards the ball of Dark Shield.
It was a very unwise move as it knew nothing about the characteristic of the Dark Shield. It thought that Lancelot was way weaker than itself and therefore, Lancelot had become its target.
The power of Lancelot's forbidden skill, Absolute Kill, was on par with the attack launched by the crimson flame-level at full force. Its Dark Shield was almost capable of defending against the attack by a blue flame-level. As long as the attack power did not exceed the Dark Shield's defensive ability, it would not collapse.
Therefore, the Sword Dominator's attack was rendered useless.
In less than ten seconds after it made such a decision, the 3,333 long swords were all destroyed by Lin Huang.
Seeing all the long swords destroyed, the Sword Dominator was stunned. As soon as it recovered from its shock, it wanted to flee. However, its Life Power had been drained, and it could no longer fight.
Right at this moment, a golden silhouette that was even faster than the Sword Dominator appeared and blocked its way.
Impressively, the golden shadow was Kylie.
Kylie could see that the Sword Dominator had used up its Life Power. She did not use her long spear and struck a blow on its chest with her fist instead. The Sword Dominator's body instantly fell to the ground near Lin Huang.
Lancelot immediately removed the Dark Shield and appeared in front of the Sword Dominator in a flash. However, it was then stopped.
"Wait a minute! Don't kill it!" Surprisingly, the one who said this was Lin Huang.
Lin Huang slowly exited the battle and retracted his battle sword. The red color in his eyes and the four bloody wings on his back had disappeared.
The reason why he had stopped the battle was that Lancelot's unsealing would create an illusion. There had to be the presence of immortal-level monsters in the moderate danger zone, and they would be in great trouble if they caught the immortal-level monster's attention.
When Bai had been unsealed in the Volcano Hell, it had attracted many of the powerful monsters' attention, and there was even an outbreak of a monster attack. Lin Huang did not want this to happen again.
He had it planned earlier whereby the Sword Dominator was chosen as the last monster to hunt. It was because there was the independent space of the Starlight Beast in the Meteorite Desert. As long as the Sword Dominator could be caught alive and was brought into the independent space before killing it, the illusion created during unsealing would appear there. The rest of the strong monsters would not discover it as well.
Lin Huang's initial plan was to defeat the Sword Dominator and he would then summon the Sanguine Skeletal Spirit to seal it before bringing it away. However, it seemed like sealing was not required as the Sword Dominator had used up its own Life Power.
"Lancelot, don't kill it first. The illusion of unsealing might appear. Let's go into the independent space first." Lin Huang tapped Lancelot on its shoulder.
Despite it feeling like it could no longer wait, still, it had to bear with it.
Lin Huang then turned back and looked at Kylie. "Kylie, bring it to the independent space of the Starlight Beast and look after it. I'll go there with Thunder later."
Kylie then grabbed the Sword Dominator's arm and flew up into the sky, heading towards the independent space of the Starlight Beast. She was familiar with the desert.
Lin Huang then summoned Thunder. After thinking twice, he decided not to recall Lancelot. The three of them then headed towards the independent space.
The place where the Sword Dominator was hidden at was less than 600 kilometers away from the oasis where the Starlight Beast's independent space was located.
Thunder took less than 20 minutes to arrive in the sky above the independent space along with three of them.
"Go down!" Lin Huang instructed and at the same time, his Dark Shield was activated, and Lin Xin's body was shrouded in it.
A few moments later, Thunder dove into the lake.
After a short while, they then passed through the Dimensional Portal and arrived at the place where Starlight Beast lived.
Kylie was waiting for Lin Huang and the rest at the entrance. The Sword Dominator looked more pitiful than before. Perhaps it had attempted to run away, so Kylie had hit it. Originally, its ability was on par with Kylie. However, it had no Life Power now, and it could not perform any skills at all. It could only endure its impending doom.
"Let's go deeper in. We're too near to the entrance." Lin Huang was still worried as he was afraid that the aura might be released outside.
Kylie then grabbed the Sword Dominator in her hand and went deeper in. Thunder flapped its wings and followed after them as well.
After about half an hour, they were now at a place close to 1,000 kilometers away from the entrance. Thunder eventually descended.
Kylie stood still while waiting. She then turned her head back and looked at Lin Huang as if she was stating, "It should be fine now that we're now away from the entrance at this distance."
Lin Huang then nodded in approval. "We're far enough."
He then leaped from Thunder's back and walked towards Lancelot and the Sword Dominator. The black sword in Lancelot's hand immediately penetrated through the right side of its chest and pierced right into its heart without mercy.
It was incapable of defending against Lancelot's attack without the protection of Life Power despite it being so powerful. The strength of Lancelot's attack was comparable to the white flame-level.
The black sword seemed to have penetrated through its body without any obstacles.
Lin Huang turned back and glanced at Lin Xin. He was afraid that she was not used to seeing such a scene. However, Lin Xin was calm, her gaze fixed on the scene.
He was startled. However, soon, Lin Huang felt relieved. Perhaps Lin Xin had witnessed countless bloody scenes that were even worse than this in the Gun Master game.
"Brother, why did Lancelot pierce through the right side of its chest? Isn't it its heart is on the left?" Lin Xin noticed that Lin Huang was looking at her and asked softly.
"The heart of the Sword Dominator is on the right," Lin Huang explained with a smile. "The position of the heart of different monsters varies."
Right at that moment, the Sword Dominator was dying, and soon after, a notification from Xiao Hei arrived.
"Congratulations, you have obtained a new epic-level monster card - Sword Dominator (sword servant)."
A white beam of light that resembled a spotlight then shone on Lancelot.
Lancelot's body gradually floated up in the sky as if it was attracted by the white glow and was no longer restricted by gravitational force.
Lin Huang and the rest retreated as they were afraid that they would affect Lancelot's unsealing.
The only thing that was different from Bai's unsealing was that it seemed like there were no changes in Lancelot's body. Instead, its aura was getting stronger and stronger. In just a few minutes, it had leveled up from complete gold-level to white flame-level.
In just a short while, the white glow disappeared, and Lancelot's body gradually descended from mid-air. A few notifications then arrived.
"Congratulations, you have unsealed your epic-level Ruthless Sword Master (Lancelot) card, and it has been upgraded to white flame-level."
"The hidden conditions to unsealing have not been completed. The Ruthless Sword Master is unable to upgrade to a legendary-level card."
"Congratulations, the Ruthless Sword Master has received a new skill, Sword Master."
Lin Huang immediately tapped open to check Lancelot's new state.
"Monster Card
"Rarity: Epic
"Monster Name: Ruthless Sword Master
"Combat Level: White Flame-Level
"Skill 1: Absolute Life
"Skill 2: Sword Steps
"Skill 3: Ruthless Sword
"Skill 4: Dark Sword Spirit
"Skill 5: Dark Shield
"Skill 6: Death Zone (Beginner)
"Skill 7: Sword Master
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Card Remarks: Trainable
…
"Sword Master: Capable of controlling nine sword servants and the skills of any of the sword servants can be used.
"Remark 1: The skills of the sword servants used by the sword master vary according to the power of the sword master. It has nothing to do with the combat strength of the sword servant.
"Remark 2: If the sword servant dies, it will not be revived. There will be a vacancy for a sword servant, and it can be replaced by a new sword servant.
"Remark 3: The maximum number of sword servants is nine.
"Remark 4: If the sword master dies, all the sword servants will die too."
Seeing its new skills, Lin Huang realized that the status of a few of the sword servants had changed where their summoning authority had been activated.
Although he was happy, he was depressed to see one of Xiao Hei's notifications.
"Xiao Hei, what do the hidden conditions mean?"
"It literally means the hidden conditions."
"Do I really need to ask you to explain further about that? I'm asking about what the hidden conditions are," Lin Huang continued asking.
"Since it's a hidden condition, you have to find it out on your own. I can't tell you the answer."
"If you can't tell me the answer, you can give me some hints." Lin Huang was curious as he wanted to know what the hidden conditions were.
"I can't."
"It is now in an incomplete state. Why can't you tell me? Is the hidden condition is still valid? If I achieve it later, the card will be upgraded?" Lin Huang guessed.
Xiao Hei remained silent.
Seeing Xiao Hei's reaction, Lin Huang knew it.
"Alright, I've finally gotten this done after so many days. Both of you shall take a good rest." Lin Huang gazed at Lancelot and Kylie, recalling them into their card forms. He then summoned Charcoal…
The Ruthless Sword Master's unsealing did not cause a big stir. However, Lin Huang could vaguely feel that Charcoal's unsealing would not be the same.
He had obtained the dracaena from the auction previously, and Yang Ling had unsealed his Emperor's Heart Ring a few days later. He had taken out the dracaena from his ring, but he had yet to unseal Charcoal because he wanted to get to the independent space first.
Due to Charcoal's appealing aura, it had not been summoned for a long period of time.
It gave Lin Huang a pitiful look when it was summoned as if it had suffered greatly.
"Alright, after the unsealing is completed, you'll be able to cover your aura upon entering the adult stage. I'll summon you in the future when there's the need to do so." Lin Huang touched Charcoal's head and comforted it.
Charcoal immediately ducked its head and licked his face.
"Okay, stop playing. We have to get this done first. Let's start unsealing!" Lin Huang took out a facial tissue and wiped his face. He could not stand Charcoal's way of showing friendliness.
"Brother, is this a dragon?" Lin Xin's weak voice was heard.
Charcoal then noticed that other than Thunder, which it was familiar with, there was a girl. It was curious and sized up Lin Xin.
Lin Xin was curious, sizing up Charcoal as well.
They then exchanged glances with each other.
"It's my summoning monster. Its name is Charcoal," Lin Huang introduced and turned back, looking at Charcoal. "Charcoal, she is my sister, Lin Xin."
Listening to Lin Huang's introduction, Charcoal then let down its guard.
"Can I touch it?" Lin Xin was excited and asked Lin Huang.
"Sure, it won't bite." Lin Huang nodded. He did not mention that it would just eat humans though.
"Come over. Charcoal, you can't bite her." Lin Huang then guided Charcoal, lowering its head to Lin Xin. He then put Lin Xin's hand on Charcoal's head.
Lin Xin touched its head. It was cold and had rough skin. Charcoal squinted as if it enjoyed being touched.
Lin Xin was excited and happy. She had never imagined that she would be able to meet such a creature. Although Lin Huang did not say that it was not an actual dragonkin, she was happy enough even if it was just a sky dragon.
After being touched for a while, Charcoal then moved his head and looked at Lin Huang again.
Lin Huang took out 12 dracaenas from his storage space. Each of the plants was the size of the palm of an adult. It was blood red and would turn crystal clear whenever sunlight shone on it. It did not look like a plant, but rather like a piece of hand-engraved art.
Charcoal was ecstatic. When Lin Huang was thinking about how the dracaena should be used, it extended its tongue, drawing all 12 of the dracaenas into its mouth and started munching on them.
"Xiao Hei, will eating all of them do?" Lin Huang immediately asked. He knew that in order for a sky dragon to upgrade to a dragonkin, they would have to eat the dracaena. However, it would only be effective if it ate a large number of dracaenas.
"Under normal circumstances, dracaena is used as a material to be integrated with a dragonkin monster card. However, eating the dracaena can activate the integration effect on the system as well."
"Why will only eating a large number of dracaena for the dragonkin and sky dragons work? Is it because the rate of dracaena absorption is different?" Lin Huang doubted.
"The rate of absorption is only part of the reason. Direct consumption will indeed waste the blood divisor contained in the dracaena. Only 20% to 30% of that can be extracted whereas the extraction can go up to 100% through the system. However, this is not the main reason.
"The blood divisor of dracaena doesn't only increase the concentration of dragon blood, but it acts as an activator as well. It is also the reason why some of the sky dragons can upgrade by eating a small amount of dracaena whereas some of them are unable to upgrade despite ingesting a large amount of dracaena. It is related to the monster's body physique. Some of them are more sensitive to the dracaena. Thus, only a small amount of dracaena is required to activate the dragon blood and increase the concentration of blood divisor as well. Those that are less sensitive to the stimulation of dracaena can hardly be activated even after eating a large amount of dracaena. What the system does is to increase the activation effect to 100%."
"Understand!" Lin Huang could finally understand the effect of dracaena.
After several bites, Charcoal realized that despite the smell of the dracaena being fine, it somehow tasted terrible. Knowing that it was for its own unsealing, it had no choice but to eat them all.
After a few moments, a white glow appeared from the sky and Charcoal was shrouded in it.
Lin Huang, Lin Xin, and Thunder then retreated a few steps back and moved aside. They waited patiently for Charcoal's unsealing to be complete.
As soon as its body was enveloped by the white glow, black flames were released from Charcoal's body as if they were all coming out from its pores. The black flames surrounded its body and it started to burn.
Lin Huang was stunned when he saw this happen.
Lin Xin immediately asked Lin Huang, "Will it be okay?"
"Don't worry, that's normal."
While Lin Huang was hesitating, he heard Xiao Hei's voice. He was then relieved.
"It'll be fine," he answered Lin Xin while shaking his head.
Charcoal's aura was released slowly as it was surrounded by the flames. However, its body size was increasing quickly at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.
Its body size had only been about five to six meters tall. However, in just a short while, its height was now more than ten meters.
Lin Huang pulled Lin Xin and Thunder further behind. Three of them retreated a few steps back again.
As time passed, Charcoal's body was getting bigger and bigger. After about three hours, Charcoal's body had expanded to 1,000 meters. It looked like a big mountain hanging in mid-air.
Although they could not see its face clearly since it was shrouded in flames, the monster that was originally cute had now become a ferocious beast.
Its body had finally stopped growing after reaching such a height. There were no more changes. However, its mighty aura was released.
Previously, when its body was growing, Lin Huang could feel that its aura had exceeded the limit of a complete gold-level and it had achieved white flame-level. He was not really powerful though. However, as soon as its body size was fixed, there was a drastic change in its aura.
At that moment, Lin Huang could sense what he had felt previously from the Supreme Overlord and Bai. It was undoubtedly powerful…
An intimidating force was released by Charcoal. Lin Huang immediately activated his Dark Shield, isolating the impact of the force from Lin Xin.
The tremendously terrifying force was fatal to Lin Xin. Even those on complete gold-level who encountered this energy would not be able to fight back. Of course, there was an exception for a genius like Lin Huang.
It lasted for only a few seconds and soon, it subsided. The white glow in the air had disappeared as well. The black flames surrounding Charcoal gradually ebbed, revealing Charcoal's actual appearance after unsealing.
"How could it be so ugly after it has grown up?" Seeing Charcoal's current look, Lin Huang sighed emotionally.
Charcoal had completely turned into a black, gigantic dragon beast that looked powerful and ferocious.
"Congratulations, you have unsealed your epic-level Undying Baby Dragon (Charcoal) card and it is upgraded to white flame-level.
"Congratulations, Undying Baby Dragon (Charcoal) has leveled up from beginner-level dragonkin to mid-level dragonkin!
"Congratulations, Undying Baby Dragon (Charcoal) has leveled up from epic-level card to legendary-level card!
"Congratulations, you have obtained a legendary-level monster card - Undead Evil Dragon (mid-level dragonkin)!
Before Lin Huang could check the information of Charcoal, a notification from Xiao Hei came again.
"As your authority is restricted, you cannot use a legendary-level monster card, and the monster card of Undead Evil Dragon is automatically sealed. It will be unsealed when you achieve holy fire-level and your authority will be upgraded."
"Can't you even let me feel happy for a while?!" Lin Huang was speechless.
Charcoal's unsealing had led to a significant upgrade. Not only had it leveled up to a mid-level dragonkin, but it had also gone through its third mutation as well, upgrading into a purple legendary-level card.
However, the consequence was it being sealed due to its overly high authority.
Lin Huang did not expect that it would be sealed as he had just promised Charcoal that he would summon it more often in the future.
"It's not my fault," Lin Huang mumbled.
"Brother, why did the black dragon suddenly disappear?" Lin Xin wanted to touch the black dragon that had grown up as she wondered if the texture of its skin would be different from before.
"I've recalled it." Lin Huang took the blame for Xiao Hei as he could not mention anything about the system to Lin Xin. He had no other choice.
"It's so cute. Please summon it to play with us," Lin Xin begged.
Cute?!
Lin Huang instantly felt that something was wrong with Lin Xin's aesthetic judgment just like her sense of taste. If one was to say that Charcoal was previously ugly yet cute, one could only describe it as "ferocious" and "scary" after it had grown up. One would not describe it as "cute" at all.
"I can't summon it anymore. My summon ability has been restricted. Now that it's been upgraded, I can only summon it again when I level up to holy fire-level," Lin Huang explained by telling her half of the truth.
Lin Xin accepted that excuse despite her reluctance.
"I'll summon Little7 to play with you when we go home," Lin Huang compromised. He could only summon Seventails for that. Little7 was a nickname given by Lin Xin, and it seemed like Seventails liked it a lot, so Lin Huang addressed it in such a way. "However, there is a condition for summoning Little7."
It had not been released from the pet space for a long period as it was a troublemaker. It would bite any peculiar things regardless of its taste. The most important thing was it had a terribly healthy digestion as if it could digest anything that it ate…
"What's that condition?" Lin Xin had been eagerly waiting for Lin Huang to summon Little7.
"First of all, you have to feed it on time every day. You can't forget it. I'll give you some Life Crystals then. Secondly, you have to take care of it and make sure that it doesn't mess up the place. Don't let it bite the sofa, chair, table, or bed. It's not allowed to eat the bed sheets, curtain, floor mat, as well as the utensils in the kitchen such as the plates, cups, knife…" Lin Huang started making a deal with Lin Xin.
"Alright…" Although it sounded troublesome, still, Lin Xin promised him.
"Brother, where are we going now? Are we going home?" Lin Xin was afraid that Lin Huang would continue adding more conditions, so she changed the topic.
"We have to go to Nanmu Town again as I have something to deal with over there. We will visit the Yi family as well." Lin Huang shook his head.
"Oh, could you please summon Little7 first?" Lin Xin was excited.
"No, what should we do if it bites people's stuff?" Lin Huang refused.
"Alright…" Lin Xin accepted.
Both of them then rode on Thunder and exited the space of the Starlight Beast. They stopped at the lakeside.
Right after Thunder was recalled, Lin Huang then summoned Black Ink and relocated the destination point to Fatty's old house, Nanmu City. Both of them then strode over the big door.
A few moments later, Lin Xin and Lin Huang then appeared at one of the old streets in Nanmu City which was rather quiet. It was the place where Lin Huang had last set on the Black Ink. It was not too far away from Fatty's house.
Nanmu City was less than 800 kilometers away from Sandy Land. The place where the Undead Evil Child was discovered was farther about 1,100 kilometers away.
The Black Ink was recalled. Soon, Lin Huang summoned Thunder again. Both of them then got up onto Thunder to ride it. Lin Huang then pointed towards the direction of Sandy Land. Thunder immediately flew off into the sky and rapidly headed towards their destination.
In less than 40 minutes, they arrived at their destination. Thunder was recalled into its card form again.
Sandy Land was a desert. However, there were only golden sand and plants that could be seen occasionally where desertification had not yet been completed.
As they had just returned from the Meteorite Desert, Lin Xin's immunity to the desert climate was a lot stronger. She would somehow prefer the Meteorite Desert though.
Lin Huang's target was the Undead Evil Child. It was a double mutated complete gold-level monster. It belonged to the undying species and looked like a kid.
Despite the fact that it had a body the size of a kid, this type of monster was extremely cruel as they were good at creating illusions. They would usually tease their prey mercilessly until they died.
According to the record in the monster guide, there were people who had witnessed how Undead Evil Child controlled humans. People who it controlled had even cut out their body flesh and grilled it for the Undead Evil Child to eat.
Encountering such a monster, regardless of whether he managed to kill it or not, he would definitely attack it. Perhaps the hunter who provided this piece of information to Lin Huang earlier was not strong enough or had no guts to fight it. Otherwise, the person must have been capable of defeating it but was lazy to do so.
As he observed around, he discovered nothing. He summoned Bloody, and Lin Huang explained to it, "We are now at the Sandy Land. A few months ago, people discovered the presence of the Undead Evil Child over here."
"Okay, I'll look for it."
As soon as Bloody contacted him through its mind, it twisted around Lin Huang's left arm and released a large number of leech pods, spreading everywhere.
"It's so beautiful!" Lin Xin saw Bloody using its leech pods for the first time. She then grabbed one of them.
Lin Huang did not stop her. The leech pod that Lin Xin grabbed was controlled by Bloody and all its parasitic functions were instantly disabled.
"Brother, what's this flower for? Is it used for monitoring?" Lin Xin felt that Bloody would not have released it without reason.
"Yes, it can be used for monitoring," Lin Huang affirmed. He hesitated for a moment and decided to hide part of the truth. Bloody was a unique type of monster. Perhaps it was the only one that existed in this world. It would be better to hide its ability from everyone.
After a short while, Bloody contacted him. "I've found it. However, it's very alert and has even crushed my leech pods."
"I shall look for it on my own."
Lin Xin communicated with Bloody through her brother's mind and said, "Please guide us!"
As soon as the instruction was received, Bloody then left Lin Huang's arm and headed towards where the Undead Evil Child was.
Lin Huang immediately summoned the Viridian Wolf and followed after Bloody with Lin Xin.
The Viridian Wolf chased after Bloody for no more than five minutes, and soon, Lin Huang saw that Bloody was fighting a blue monster on top of the mountain.
The monster that Bloody was fighting was a human-form monster. It had four limbs and walked upright on both feet. It looked like a seven to an eight-year-old child of 1.2 meters height with a face that was similar to a human child's. However, its skin was blue, and there was a ten-centimeter-long black horn on its head and a blue tail behind it. Lin Huang immediately recognized that it was the Undead Devil Child that Bloody was looking for.
Lin Huang was puzzled as he watched the chaotic fight. Bloody had the ability to parasitize through shadows whereby it could just leech directly onto the monster instead of fighting it at a close distance. However, he noticed that the Undead Evil Child had no shadow under the sunlight. Meanwhile, the Undead Evil Child had cast an illusion on Bloody but it did not expect Bloody to have a more powerful spiritual level than it did, so its illusion did not work. Bloody could control tens of thousands of parasitic hosts at once; its spiritual level was many times more powerful than any creature of the same level. It was immune to many spiritual attacks.
As the attacks did not work on both of them, the battle became a chaotic fight show. There were flaws everywhere as Lin Huang watched, and the fight was getting nowhere. However, Lin Xin could not capture the flurry of movement of the two complete gold-level monsters with her eyes. All she could see was a red and a blue shadow moving in the desert which seemed quite interesting.
Bloody's current form was a giant python, which was its original form. The Undead Evil Child always managed to avoid its attacks. Fortunately, the Undead Evil Child was no good in physical attack, so the attacks that were cast on Bloody were ineffective.
"Why do you keep chasing after it? With your estimation abilities, you should be able to tell where it's going to run. All you'll have to do is to block its way as it escapes and attack again, isn't it?" Lin Huang could see that Bloody was lacking battle experience. He was considering summoning other monsters that did not have the opportunity to battle to train with his other monsters to strengthen their battle ability.
Bloody was inspired by Lin Huang's reminder. Three minutes later, the Undead Evil Child's thigh was caught as it was running away and the parasite was released. Bloody then strangled the entire Undead Evil Child's body like a giant python. It was Lin Huang who had instructed Bloody to do that as he did not want Lin Xin to know about Bloody's parasitic ability and therefore had created an illusion of strangling the Undead Evil Child. Meanwhile, Bloody could extract its memories as it did that.
"Brother, what's that little blue man that Bloody is strangling?" Lin Xin had only learned about the beginner version of the monster encyclopedia, so she could not recognize many of the monsters.
"This is an Undead Evil Child. It's a gold-level undead monster," Lin Huang then told Lin Xin about the story of the Undead Evil Child hypnotizing people and eating their flesh.
"Why do so many monsters love eating human flesh?" Lin Xin asked in all seriousness after listening to the story. Her focus point was very different from the others.
"Perhaps human flesh is tastier than monsters'." Lin Huang could only think of that explanation.
Fortunately, Bloody was done with its business, so the awkward conversation did not last too long. Bloody shrunk its body back to its earlier size and went into Lin Huang's sleeve after it had killed the Undead Evil Child.
"It's done?" Lin Huang contacted Bloody in his mind.
"I have extracted its memory. I'll need some time to study. I hope you don't recall me back into card form just yet, Master," Bloody requested.
"Alright then, stay in my sleeve for now. I'll let you out when we're back in the White Capital," Lin Huang agreed.
"It's done, let's go!" Lin Huang summoned his dimensional relic.
"Where are we going?" Lin Xin asked.
"Fatty's home!"
As they stepped into the dimensional relic, they arrived at Fatty's hometown in Nanmu Town. Fatty's home was less than two kilometers from the old town. It was past 1 p.m. Lin Huang brought Lin Xin to a random noodle store for lunch before heading to Fatty's home. It was around 1.40 p.m. when they arrived at Fatty's home.
The man guarding the door noticed that they had just been here earlier, so he informed the housekeeper, and they were soon allowed into the house. The housekeeper greeted them at the door and brought them straight to the second floor, not asking anything this time. The old lady had just woken up from her nap and did not expect Lin Huang to visit. She allowed them in as soon as the housekeeper informed her of their presence.
This time, the two aunts were not there, so it was just the old lady alone. The old lady did not look as well as she did the first time they saw her.
"Xiao Linzi, you must be free today since you're visiting this old lady," the old lady chuckled, hiding her emotions.
Lin Huang's eyes twitched when he heard how the old lady addressed him. The nickname was named after a eunuch in a martial art novel on Earth.
"I'm running errands around the area, so I thought I would drop by to see you," Lin Huang said with a smile.
"What is that? Is it done? Do you need our help?" The old lady was eager.
"It's okay, I came here after I settled my stuff." Lin Huang smiled and shook his head.
"How have you been?" Lin Huang asked.
"Nothing much, just some pain here and there. It's normal because I'm old as long as they don't bother me too much," the old lady said.
"The aunties aren't home?" Lin Huang addressed them like how Fatty would have, and the old lady did not mind him calling the aunts like that.
The old lady was gloomy when she heard the question.
"Don't talk about the two of them."
"What happened?" Lin Huang asked, guessing that it had something to do with the Ke Lai Hotel, which was his purpose of visiting.
"Since you're Hangyi's friend, you must have heard him mention the family hotel?" The old lady hesitated before she started to speak again.
"Yes, I know, Hangyi brought me to Ke Lai Hotel in Baqi City last year. Uncle was at the hotel as well, and he made us some of his signature dishes."
The old lady had tears in her eyes when she heard Lin Huang talking about her son and grandson, but she managed to hold her tears in.
"So, you have been there before. How was it?" The old lady closed her eyes for a while before asking.
"It was great. Uncle's cooking skill is the best of the best among normal people. Some of the Food Hunters aren't even as good as him," Lin Huang positively commented on Fatty's father's cooking skill.
"If he trained himself, he would definitely make a renowned Food Hunter," he added.
The old lady was solemn for a while after hearing the comment.
"Xiao Linzi, are you interested in taking over Ke Lai Hotel?" The old lady asked after she seemed to have already decided on it.
"Grandma, is there any major predicament at the hotel?" Lin Huang asked the obvious.
Just like Fatty's dying wish, Lin Huang hoped that he could take over Ke Lai Hotel himself, but he did not want to be forceful as the old lady might think that he was plotting a scheme behind this.
"Since we're here, I shan't hide from you anymore. Ke Lai Hotel was built by Hangyi's father from scratch. None of us have his skill. Many came to the hotel for his signature dishes." The old lady treated Lin Huang like family now.
"The heavy workload took a toll on his health a couple of years ago. He started a reservation service online whereby he only cooked once a day. That didn't stop customers from coming. Some of the reservations were scheduled for months just to taste his signature dishes. Since he passed on, Hangyi had taken over the kitchen. Although he wasn't as good, he managed to cook the signature dishes as well as creating some new dishes on his own. The customers didn't complain. Now that Hangyi has passed away, his father's signature dishes have lost their inheritance."
"Although you brought back the recipe, there's no one in the family who has the skill. It will take years to learn. Moreover, we don't trust the chefs that we hired to inherit the recipe. We've been thinking to sell the hotel instead because if we continue the business, we'll lose the old customers and the hotel will be running at a loss," the old lady said.
"What does the rest of the family say?" Lin Huang asked.
"There aren't many people left in the family. I'm only left with the youngest son out of the three of them. Hangyi's mother passed away not long after she gave birth to him. I'm only left with two daughters-in-law. My granddaughter is only 11 this year. My youngest son is doing fishery business, providing mainly to Ke Lai Hotel. Now that the hotel business can't go on, his business will be affected as well. His wife disagrees to sell the hotel but the other daughter-in-law and I want to sell the hotel before it starts running at a loss. They were arguing over this a few dback ago. My son is in an awkward position with me and his sister-in-law. His wife has been acting up recently, saying that she will divorce my son if we're selling the hotel…"
The old lady told Lin Huang about what had happened at home recently, and he was speechless about the family drama while Lin Xin stared at the coffee table. Nobody knew what she was thinking about.
"Have you ever thought of remodeling the hotel?" Lin Huang asked as he would do that if he purchased the hotel.
"I've thought about it before but even if the hotel's been remodeled, nobody will be managing it. I'm old, and it's hard for me to even step out of the house. My son doesn't know hotel management at all. He has a business partner who's managing the business. What he does all day is play poker, so he's not the right person to take over the business. My daughter-in-law is well-educated but it would be hard for her manage the hotel. Meanwhile, my other daughter-in-law has only been to school for a few years. She's not worth mentioning. If not for Hangyi's father who had this hotel business, our house would be the same with the rest of them in the town, just like an ordinary family's…" The old lady was not afraid to reveal the flaws in her family.
The old lady was thorough in her planning. She knew that a person's capability was limited to his own will and abilities. The problem the Yin family now had was that none of the family members could manage the business that was left behind for them. Lin Huang was thinking how should he respond to the old lady. However, the old lady thought she was troubling him.
"I don't mean to trouble you with this mess. Ke Lai Hotel is still making money. If the remodeling is successful, it would make even more. I thought since you're a hunter, you should have more friends of the same interest and you might be able to recommend me your friends. I'll pay you a commission."
"Grandma, how about I purchase the hotel with the full amount while I look for new management personnel and chefs? You'll give me the recipes and take 50% of the share. I'll carry the losses while your family will take 50% of the profit, but the management of the hotel would 100% belong to me," Lin Huang said after thinking about it.
Such a hotel might be able to make hundreds of billions credit points annually which would be equivalent to millions of Life Crystal pieces. Combining them into 10,000 Life Crystals, Lin Huang could easily get that amount by killing and selling a couple of Transcendent monsters. The 50% division of profit was nothing to him but the profit was a crucial financial source for the Yin family.
The old lady was stunned to hear such generous terms from Lin Huang as such business was usually once-off as soon as the business was sold. Under normal circumstances, the profit had nothing to do with the Yin family after the hotel was sold. Moreover, the other two buyers that she secretly contacted wanted the recipe from her as well. However, she did not think that Lin Huang's request was reasonable as it was Lin Huang had the recipe himself. It was generous for him to be willing to give 50% of the share to the family. Meanwhile, the management rights made sense as the hotel would not belong to the family anymore.
"I'll only need the right to use Uncle's and Hangyi's recipes. I don't need to own the rights to them. I promise that the recipes will only be used at Ke Lai Hotel instead of disseminating them everywhere. You guys can use the recipes as well if you're opening another hotel in the future. Also, as long as the goods from Hangyi's uncle are trustworthy, I'll still use him as our supplier. I'll always put him on top of my list for fisheries," Lin Huang added.
The old lady could not resist such generous terms.
"I can only think of these for now. You can get somewhere to include the concrete terms and the hotel price in the contract during these couple of days. You can include all the things that I mentioned just now as well as the other terms you want in the contract, and I'll get someone to look at it. If we're okay with the terms, we can sign the contract." Lin Huang thought about it and felt it was better for him to talk to someone who was in the business as he was not an expert in this.
"Hangyi has made a good friend." The old lady did not expect her grandson's friend to help her solve the issue.
"Hangyi is my is what friends do. I would want Uncle's recipe to go on. I would also want people to taste Hangyi's recipes. What he didn't manage to do, I'll try my best to fulfill them for him." Lin Huang still remembered Fatty's dying wishes.
Lin Huang had basically completed his mission after discussing the Ke Lai Hotel with the old lady of the Yin family. Lancelot and Charcoal had been unblocked while Bloody was close to unlocking its two remaining skills. Among his two epic-level cards, only Bloody and Thunder were left. Lin Huang knew that it was not the right time for the both of them to be unlocked, so all he could do was to wait patiently. Bloody had no idea when it could come out with its last vacant skill slot while Thunder would need Yi Yeyu's monster egg to hatch.
It was past 2 p.m. as Lin Huang brought Lin Xin out of the dimensional relic to the White Capital. Since they had been away from the dorm for a couple of days, they started cleaning when they arrived. It was past 5 p.m. after they were done cleaning the first to the third floors, then they headed out for dinner. After dinner, Lin Huang summoned Tyrant to accompany Lin Xin back to the dorm while he headed straight to the training room.
The training room in the Martial Hunter College was much stabler than those in most of the hotels as they were mainly made of various holy fire-level monsters' bones which strengthened its defense. Lin Huang started his training when he entered the training room. He was not using a wooden sword this time but his 5-star sword relic, Dragon Slayer. He could unleash everything he had in the training room without holding back.
There was turbulence in the air as Lin Huang swung his sword in the middle of the training room. He had managed to enter the level-3 sword realm Illumination during the battle with the Sword Dominator, but he did not expect that to happen. It felt different as he arrived at the next level of sword realm during practice. Before this, he would take the time to master the epic-level sword skills even when he had learned them. However, he mastered the skills immediately when he trained again.
He could also feel the integration of his sword skills accelerated. With his previous speed, he could only integrate one sword skill within three to four days but now he only needed one day. As he swung his sword again and again, his Life Pow accelerated away. The Army Attack Tactics in his body was rotating to refill his Life Power as he trained. He practiced for more than six hours this time, and Xiao Hei's notification came as he was keeping his sword.
"Congratulations, your epic-level sword skills Great Sword Scripture and Star Dome have been integrated on the rudimentary level!"
"Only rudimentary level? The Thunder Sting was completely integrated. It seems like real battles are more effective." Lin Huang frowned.
"Where should I find an opponent to train real battles with me?"
With that question on his mind, Lin Huang walked out of the training room. He stopped after taking a few steps as the fixed road lamp caught his attention.
"How could I not think of this? I could always look for the dean!"
The next morning, Lin Huang did not go to the library but to the dean, Liu Ming's house after breakfast. Liu Ming was excited when he saw Lin Huang visiting him.
"Brother, are you in some kind of trouble that you're looking for me?" Liu Ming asked with a smile as he was preparing tea.
"Not trouble, but a small request." Lin Huang thought since Liu Ming was Mr Fu's fan, he would get him as a suitable opponent even if he was unwilling to train with him.
"Tell me about it." Liu Ming nodded to Lin Huang as he sipped the tea.
"I have been practising integrating my sword skills but my progress is too slow if I train on my own. I'm thinking if you could get someone to train with me." Lin Huang did not request to train with Liu Ming straightaway as he was almost an imperial-level now and might not be willing to do something so petty.
"Oh, it's just a small matter. There's no need to trouble anyone else. I shall train with you since I'm free these days," Liu Ming agreed to train with him straightaway.
"What time do you usually train?"
"I'll train when it's convenient for you," Lin Huang said.
"I'm free anytime since I've been just drinking tea, reading the news, and walking my pet monster everyday. There's nothing else that I have to do. I don't even need to sleep. Just a couple of hours of nap will do. So, we shall train at your convenience." Liu Ming revealed what he had been during for the past couple of years.
"Sure, let's train everyday from 6 p.m. to midnight then." Lin Huang did not bother changing his lifestyle.
"Sure, should we start today or tomorrow?" Liu Ming asked.
"Let's train today then." Lin Huang could not wait anymore.
"We shall meet at training room No.101 today at 6 p.m. everyday then," Liu Ming nodded and agreed.
"What's so special about training room No.101?" Lin Huang thought to himself but soon he figured it must be just a random number that Liu Ming had thought of.
After the discussion, he did not stay at Liu Ming's place and headed straight to the library after bidding farewell. He was reading basic sword skills this time. With the powerful learning ability that came from his ocular skill, he was absorbing new knowledge like a sponge. His Omniscient Nature duplicated the contents that he could not digest at the time being.
He did not leave the library in the afternoon and had snacks as his lunch like usual. Time went by, and soon, it was past 5 p.m. He left the library an hour earlier than he usually did. After dinner with Lin Xin, he headed straight to training room No.101. There were ten training rooms, each in a row in the college. He headed straight to the 11th row and realized that there was only a building in that row. It did not look like a training room, more like a huge stadium.
Just when he was thinking if that was training room No.101, he heard Liu Ming's voice.
"Brother, what are you doing out there? Come in."
Lin Huang then walked to the building and saw the little sign on the entrance. There was '101' in white writing on the sign. As he entered the building, he realized that it was a gigantic venue that was the size of a football field. However, where the audience seats should have been empty. The entire building was like a giant round venue with the 100-meter high ceiling spanning the entire place. Lin Huang could not relate to the venue with a training room.
"Isn't this training room fantastic?" Liu Ming noticed Lin Huang's expression and seemed to be satisfied with his surprise.
"I don't think this is still a training room. It's more like a football field," Lin Huang said after keeping silent for a moment.
"All the Transcendent battle training grounds are huge with high ceilings as the moving distance of both parties as well as the space to fly are put into consideration. The usual Transcendent training ground is at least 40,000 square meters with the height of 50 meters. I've made this a little too big. It's almost 30,0000 square meters with more than 100 meters height. Although it's slightly too big, this building is the real battle training ground for Transcendents." Liu Ming smiled as he explained.
Lin Huang had heard of the Transcendent battle training grounds before, but he had never bothered as he thought it would be similar to a normal training room. It seemed like he had been too naive.
"You could totally show what you've got here without having to worry about damaging anything. You can move around as you like without bashing into the walls. I'll oppress my combat level to gold-level rank-3 like you when we battle. Please don't cry, okay?" Liu Ming smirked.
It was on a green field under the high ceiling of the white dome in the gigantic battle training ground. Two men stood across each other on the field. One was a young man of 16 or 17 years old with black, fluffy hair. He had clean and sharp features. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans with a pair of white sports shoes. His attire was casual, but he had a mature vibe. He did not seem like a young teenager. He held a sword, which was soon filled with golden Life Power shimmering wit glow in his right hand. He was staring at the middle-aged man who stood not far across him.
The middle-aged man looked like he was in his forties. He was plump but his full height of 1.8 meters covered that particular imperfection. His facial structure was rough with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He looked like a ragged man. Although he was wearing casual attire that was slightly loose, they did not look cheap. He looked stunned.
"Brother, you've broken through Illumination now?!"
As soon as Lin Huang grasped the sword in his hand, Liu Ming could sense that his sword realm had leveled up since the last time he had seen him. He was already shocked by Lin Huang's sword realm that had reached level-2 when he was only 16. It was something that only a sword genius could achieve. He was completely shocked now that Lin Huang was already on level-3.
"When I was 16, I was still playing in the mud!" Liu Ming teased himself secretly.
Liu Ming had actually already achieved silver-level when he was 16 but he had no idea what sword realm was at that time. He only started mastering the sword realm when he arrived on holy fire-level. Now that he was on level-4 Oblivion, which was only a level higher than Lin Huang who was a gold-level, his talent in sword realm was nothing compared to Lin Huang.
"Mr. Fu has a monstrous apprentice!" Liu Ming exclaimed to himself as he thought about their differences.
"I just broke through two days ago," Lin Huang nodded and admitted. He knew he could not hide from Liu Ming who was also a sword expert. However, he had no clue how difficult it was to level up in the sword realm, so he sounded causal when he said that. He sounded like he achieved it by pure accident. His casual attitude made Liu Ming think how could they both be so different.
"Are you okay, brother? I'm going to start now," Lin Huang warned Liu Ming as he noticed that he was distracted.
"Nothing, let's start." Liu Ming snapped out of his thoughts and got ready for the battle.
He initially had the mindset of teaching a junior but that had vanished now. As he oppressed his combat level to gold-level rank-3, he treated Lin Huang as a real opponent. Lin Huang did not underestimate Liu Ming as he activated his Seraphic Speed and Thunder Steps at the same time. He arrived before Liu Ming like a white lightning bolt.
"So quick!" Liu Ming thought to himself as Lin Huang's speed surpassed what a normal gold-level should have. He was even faster than a white flame-level, and was on par with a powerful crimson flame-level. Although Liu Ming had oppressed his combat level to gold-level rank-3, he maintained his ocular ability, or else, he would die under Lin Huang's attack. However, the oppression had affected his physical speed. He could see Lin Huang's attack but his body could not catch up with it.
There were many ways that he could fight back, but Liu Ming was only left with one option now, which was to block. Lin Huang was too fast, so the only thing Liu Ming was capable of doing after the oppression was to block.
Bang!
Lin Huang's 5-star sword relic collided with Liu Ming's 1-star sword relic, resounding with a loud thud in the training ground. A golden glow shined brightly in the air, and a strong air pressure rippled in the air. The grass within a radius of hundreds of meters was destroyed. Liu Ming skidded backward from the impact, only stopping when he was more than 20 meters away. He took a deep breath when he finally managed to stand still.
"What the hell? How is this a gold-level rank-3? His attack could totally kill a crimson flame-level!" Liu Ming did not say that out loud. However, he realized that he had completely underestimated Lin Huang. Under normal circumstances, even a complete gold-level would have great differen with compared to a holy fire-level. The difference in life level of a white flame-level was significantly higher than a complete gold-level's. It was much more difficult for a complete gold-level to kill a white flame-level than for a silver-level to kill a complete gold-level. Therefore, as a genius guide, one would usually be judged whether a complete gold-level could kill a white flame-level.
However, what Lin Huang had shown had surpassed that. Besides not being able to fly, no matter if it came to his speed, strength or attack ability, Lin Huang could definitely kill a crimson flame-level. He would absolutely stand out among many geniuses. What Liu Ming did not know was that the speed and attack ability of his sword swing just not was not all he had. He was only using Wildfire, which was one of the normal forms in the Wildfire sword skill, and not the ultimate Worldly Purification skill. He had yet to integrate Wildfire with the Star Dome skill. As soon as the integration was done, he would be even more powerful. If he had used his Thunder Sting just now, Liu Ming might not have been able to block his attack.
"Brother, are you alright?" Lin Huang saw that Liu Ming backed off from the impact and he had obviously underestimated him, so he stopped attacking.
"Ahem, ahem, I'm alright…" Liu Ming coughed to cover his embarrassment. He blushed as he recalled teasing Lin Huang earlier, asking him not to cry when they fought. Luckily, he had tanned skin, so Lin Huang might not have noticed his blush.
"Brother, your real battle ability has exceeded my expectations. Let me increase my combat level to fight you," Liu Ming said shamelessly. He did not want to eat his words, but if he did not now, he would certainly be defeated by Lin Huang later. He decided to be a shameless man as he thought of the embarrassing consequences.
"Sure, I hope you can give me sufficient pressure and not hold back," Lin Huang agreed to Liu Ming's suggestion.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Loud crashes echoed in the Martial Hunter College's battle training ground. If the training ground had not been soundproofed, there would be many people watching the battle right now. Liu Ming was getting more and more shocked as he fought Lin Huang. At first, he thought Lin Huang was just lucky that he met Mr. Fu. He seemed talented, but he might still need a long time to really grow, but now, he looked at Lin Huang in a different light.
He started thinking that Mr. Fu had picked up a piece of rare, uncut diamond. Lin Huang was like a priceless precious stone that shone brightly. One day, when he was polished, he would stun the world with his greatness. What Liu Ming was witnessing was just the beginning. As Lin Huang attacked for the first time, Liu Ming increased his gold-level rank-3 combat level which was oppression to complete gold-level. He also changed his sword to a 5-star relic like Lin Huang did since the 1-star sword that he used earlier had cracked when it collided with Lin Huang's sword.
He thought that if he could not suppress Lin Huang, he could at least fight equally with him since his combat level had leveled up, changed his sword to one with richer Life Power, and had a more powerful physique. He soon found out that he was wrong. As he fought Lin Huang, he realized that he was at a loss again. Helpless, he leveled up his combat level to white flame-level. Liu Ming was confident that he could kill a blue flame-level with his white flame-level ability, so he could surely suppress Lin Huang this time.
Finally, his upgrade pressured Lin Huang. After all, his ability was much more powerful than a regular white flame-level's. However, it was not as easy as Liu Ming thought. Although Lin Huang was at a disadvantage since Liu Ming leveled up to white flame-level, he was getting more and more powerful as they battled. Liu Ming could sense clearly that his ability was increasing with every swing of his sword. Because of that, he realized how terrifying Lin Huang was.
"Sword28!"
"Sword32!"
"Ignition!"
"Inferno!"
"Mountain Cleave!"
…
As Lin Huang was compelled to fight harder, he was no longer practicing just one sword skill anymore. The training became a real battle. No matter integrated or not, Lin Huang was performing different sword skills each time. Sometimes, he would even swing his sword without any sword skill when he did not manage to come up with any forms. He had gotten Liu Ming indulging in the battle. Liu Ming had forgotten that he was just practicing with Lin Huang; he was thinking about how to defeat Lin Huang instead. He showed no mercy as he wielded his sword at Lin Huang.
It was midnight before they even realized it and Lin Huang's alarm clock on his Emperor's Heart Ring rang. It dawned on him that they had been fighting for six hours straight.
"Hehe, that was fun!" Liu Ming laughed.
"I haven't had so much fun in a long time! Do you want to continue?"
"Let's call it a day. I've drained most of my Life Power, and I'll need to go to the library tomorrow morning. Let's continue tomorrow afternoon!" Lin Huang looked at the Life Wheels in his body. Among the ten Life Wheels, he only had 500 columns of Life Power in total left. He had even used one Life Power Refill Card secretly to refill five Life Wheels.
"Ah, I've forgotten about that! Alright then, rest well today, and we shall continue tomorrow!" Liu Ming just recalled that Lin Huang was not a holy fire-level, so his Life Power recovery was much slower. However, the fact that Lin Huang could last for six hours made him realize that he must have drained most of his Life Power, but he did not ask as it was rather personal. Lin Huang returned to the dorm right after leaving the battle training ground. The six hours had exhausted him, but it was efficient as Xiao Hei had sent him three notifications along the way. His Wildfire, Hundred Flowing Blades, and Mountain Blade had completed their rudimentary integration. He checked the notifications and went to bed after he showered.
The next morning, Lin Huang felt immensely sore all over his body. It felt like he had not exercised in a long time. In reality, Lin Huang was never idle; his body just could not adapt to the extra training that he had gone through yesterday. After a night of rest, the Army Attack Tactics rotation had refilled all the Life Wheels in his body. When he was on the way to breakfast with Lin Xin, he felt like he was stepping on clouds and like his body was floating.
"What's wrong, brother?" Lin Xin soon noticed Lin Huang's odd behavior.
Lin Huang then told her about his training with Liu Ming yesterday, which stunned Lin Xin. As a student in the Martial Hunter College (she had yet to start school), she had done her research on the school and knew that the dean, Liu Ming, was the top of the leaderboard in Division7.
"Brother, what's the dean's combat level?" Lin Xin asked.
"He's immortal-level, he's halfway to imperial-level now. He's considered the best in Division7. Don't think too much. He trained with me by suppressing his combat level, or else, I wouldn't be able to even take a slap from him," Lin Huang explained after noticing Lin Xin's stunned expression.
Lin Huang headed straight to the library after breakfast. He was reading about the basic sword power realm as he allowed the Army Attack Tactics to rotate and continue to recover his Life Power. He trained with Liu Ming again from 6 p.m. to midnight before heading back to the dorm and sleeping. He repeated the same routine for the next few days. He finally completed the integration of the Star Dome with his epic-level sword skills within a week.
At the same time, the old lady from the Yin family had sent him the contract. The terms were reasonable. Besides the terms that Lin Huang had mentioned earlier, a couple of basic clauses were added. Lin Huang got Liu Ming to look at it before he signed the contract. Because he promised to continue the fishery supply from the Yin family, Fatty's aunt stopped all her drama. The old lady, in return, extended her gratitude in the letter.
All the hotel chains would add up to 128 billion credit points, which translated into 1,280 Life Crystals. Lin Huang paid up immediately, and the deal was done. Since Lin Huang had gotten Liu Ming to look at the contract, Lin Huang thought he would also get him to help look for management personnel. Liu Ming was more than happy to get a management team from a big hotel and a couple of excellent chefs from other hotels for Lin Huang.
Lin Huang had a good impression after meeting with the bunch of people that Liu Ming pooled together. Most of them knew Fatty's father and respected him.
"At my hotel, feel free to show your skills off. The only criteria I have is to pass down the Yin family's recipe," Lin Huang only conveyed that to the five chefs. The chefs agreed to the criteria. The meeting adjourned after Lin Huang duplicated five copies of Fatty's father's recipe as well as Fatty's recipe and gave them to the five chefs.
He only gave out a portion of Fatty's recipe as the remainder was the inspiration that Fatty had while browsing the monster encyclopedia. Lin Huang thought he would give out the remaining recipe when he had found a suitable Food Hunter in the future. After settling Ke Lai Hotel, Lin Huang placed his trust in the management team while he focused on his work at the Martial Hunter College.
Bang!
Two silhouettes backed off as a loud thud was heard. Lin Huang had been training with Liu Ming in the battle training ground these days. Although he had completed the sword skills integration, he did not want to stop leveling up his sword realm. He had been reading about sword skills at the library where most of them were regular and rare Skill Cards.
With his newfound understanding now, he could basically understand a normal sword skill by just reading about it once while he could pick up and master the rare sword skills after practicing it twice or thrice. He had been combining the sword skills integration into his Star Dome outline to remedy his lack of knowledge in sword realm foundation.
The Martial Hunter College had epic-level sword skills as well, but they were not complimentary. They could only be retrieved by redeeming contribution points. Lin Huang did not have to learn epic-level sword skills as the normal and rare sword skills that he had mastered were sufficient for him for the time being.
The teacher's contribution points came mostly from teaching a class. Each student would equal to 1 contribution point whereby he would get 50 contribution points as most classes would have around 50 students. Lin Huang was only assigned one class per week which meant that he could only get 2,600 contribution points a year. Each epic-level combat skill would need at least 1,000 contribution points while higher combat skills would need 2,000 to 3,000 contribution points.
To Lin Huang, he would talk to Mr. Fu or buy them with Life Crystals if epic-level sword skills were really necessary. He thought that redeeming contribution points by teaching classes would not be favorable to him. Also, spending a year killing monsters and trading Life Crystals would be much faster than teaching for a year. With the money that he made from selling monsters, he would be able to purchase many combat skills.
Liu Ming sensed that Lin Huang's new sword skills were not as powerful as before, but he could tell that his sword realm was strengthening. He insisted on training with Lin Huang as he could feel that his sword realm that had been stagnant was now improving. It was not that Lin Huang had inspired him, but Lin Huang's condition reminded him of the time when he had started training swordsmanship. What Lin Huang was going through reminded him of why he started what he was doing.
Sword training was not mainly to breakthrough levels; it was passion and desire in the sword realm. The training these days reignited the passion that Liu Ming used to have before. He felt that he was around the same age as Lin Huang when they trained. He even forgot about his age, thinking that he was only a few years older than Lin Huang. It was like training and improving with a brother every day. His addressing Lin Huang "brother" was different from before. It was no longer a formality, but a genuine brotherhood that had formed between the both of them.
Lin Huang could also sense that Liu Ming was much more sincere than before. He used to be distant, but he had become genuine these few days as they trained. He would even tell Lin Huang about his understanding of the sword realm. As long as Lin Huang had questions for him, he would not hold back on his explanation while sincerely teaching him what he knew. Lin Huang was grateful for this. Although he had no idea what had inspired the change, he knew that the brotherhood was real.
As they were training, Lin Huang's Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated. Liu Ming backed away while Lin Huang paused to pick up his phone. It was Yi Yeyu, so he answered the video call immediately.
"Good evening!" Lin Huang took out a towel from his storage space and wiped off the sweat on his face.
"What are you doing that you're sweating so much?" Yi Yeyu asked.
"Training swordsmanship." Lin Huang waved the sword in his hand.
"Alright then, you sword maniac." Yi Yeyu knew that Lin Huang's improvement was leaps and bounds better than hers.
"Oh, well, if you're not talented, you'll have to work harder." Lin Huang smiled.
"You're not talented?! If the renowned Sword Genius isn't talented, then who in Division7 is?" Yi Yeyu rolled her eyes at Lin Huang.
"Well, I thought it rhymed, so I might as well say it. I'm not talking about myself." Lin Huang rubbed his nose.
"You're so shameless! All you're doing is fishing for compliments," Yi Yeyu teased.
"I guess so. Anyway, why did you call?" Lin Huang asked with a smile.
"Didn't you ask me to call you?"
"I asked you to call me?" Lin Huang was surprised.
"I'm going to hang up if you really can't recall," Yi Yeyu threatened.
"You baby has hatched?!" Lin Huang suddenly recalled that he wanted the phoenix blood.
"Lucky for you that you remember! It hatched an hour ago," Yi Yeyu said and stabilized her phone. She then picked up a red, fluffy baby monster that looked like a slightly bigger and odd chick.
"This is Xiao Hong. Say 'hi' to Uncle Lin Huang."
"Erm, I must say you're worst than me when it comes to naming." Lin Huang teased as he saw how hesitant the baby monster was.
"What do you know? It's just a nickname!" Yi Yeyu said.
"So, what's its real name?" Lin Huang asked in all seriousness.
"Its real name is… Ugh! What does that have to do with you?! I haven't thought of its real name. What's wrong with you?!" Yi Yeyu was embarrassed and mad.
"Sure, sure, you're right about everything." Lin Huang smiled and nodded. "It's not my baby anyway," Lin Huang said under his breath.
"Lin Huang, tell me in my face if you don't want the phoenix blood anymore! I'm hanging up!" Yi Yeyu could not take it anymore when she heard what Lin Huang said in the end.
"No, no, no. It's all my fault, alright?" Lin Huang apologized. It was not easy for Yi Yeyu to finally promise to give him phoenix blood. If it failed, he would have to spend a lot of time and effort looking for an ancient bird monster's blood for Thunder.
"So, do I send over the blood or what?" Yi Yeyu asked.
"It's alright. I need fresh blood. I'll go to you in a few days when I'm free. Please send me your address." Lin Huang shook his head. He wanted to drop by her place when he was unlocking Bloody so that he did not have to make two trips.
"Sure, I'll send you the address later. I'll hang up if there's nothing else." Yi Yeyu was obviously still chuffed at Lin Huang. Now that she had a new toy, she was not interested in chatting further.
"Alright then, I'll let you know before I head there."
"Girlfriend?" Liu Ming looked playfully at Lin Huang after the call ended.
"No, we're just friends," Lin Huang denied right away.
"A philosopher once said that there's no pure friendship between a boy and a girl." Liu Ming squinted at Lin Huang, his face even cheekier now.
"Our friendship isn't pure. We have a financial relationship whereby I owe her money." Lin Huang looked at Liu Ming in all seriousness.
"Uhh…" Liu Ming was speechless.
Lin Huang was talking about the time when Tyrant had accidentally damaged the hotel during the Reserve Hunter assessment last year. That was how Lin Huang ended up owing Yi Yeyu money. In reality, the hotel belonged to the Hunter Association, so the damage would be borne by the Hunter Association, and Yi Yeyu did not have to pay anything. When Lin Huang insisted on paying her back, Yi Yeyu had replied, "I don't want your money, I want to be your creditor." That was how they ended up in such an odd relationship.
More than a week had passed. The study on Undead Evil Child's skills was not as successful as Bloody expected. Although the Undead Evil Child's Immortal Tinder was similar to Bloody's Leech Pod, the differences were major. The Immortal Tinder could duplicate the Undead Evil Child's memory perfectly while Bloody's Leech Pods could not contain such a massive amount of information. Moreover, the Immortal Tinder was much better at hiding than the Leech Pod whereby it was almost undetectable while Bloody could not do that.
However, after a week of studying, Bloody managed to come up with a similar skill. As the Leech Pod could contain limited information, Bloody could only create Leech Pods that were exclusively for memory storage. Such new Leech Pods were more than ten times bigger than the original Leech Pods, but it could completely store Bloody's memory. The disadvantage was that because it was big, it could be targeted easily, so it could only be used for close-range parasitizing. Besides, it could not hide after parasitizing was performed and it could be easily discovered by humans or monsters with spiritual detection abilities.
Although it was a half-baked skill that was full of flaws, Bloody decided to add it to its skill range anyway. If it were a complete skill, it would appear automatically in the skill slot, and it would not take up the currently vacant slot. As it was incomplete, Bloody decided to put it in anyway since it had a vacant slot. Bloody named it Immortal Pods (Beginner). Lin Huang took a look at the skill and knew that it was half-baked.
Since all of its skill slots were full, the unlocking terms appeared at the back of Bloody's card.
"The card is sealed at the moment. Unlocking must be done in order to level up to holy fire-level.
"Unlocking Terms: Get Demonic Dandelion Vine to kill more parasites with different parasitic abilities!
"Terms Description: Kill at least ten types of parasitic monsters; the more, the better.
"Remark 1: The monsters' combat level should not be lower than the Demonic Dandelion Vine's.
"Remark 2: You can get other summoning monsters to help with the killing, but you cannot get help from other participants.
"Remark 3: The helpers' combat level has to be lower than the target's."
As soon as he saw the unlocking terms, Lin Huang posted his request to look for various parasites on the Hunter Forum, and he soon got replies. He headed out three days later after he got Tyrant to stay with Lin Xin this time. As the parasites were scattered everywhere, Lin Huang did not plan to kill the parasites first. Instead, he headed to Shanhai City to meet Yi Yeyu.
Shanhai City was located at foothold No.7A2, and it was one of the biggest A-grade footholds in Division7. Its crowd was nothing less than the White Capital's. However, they were both located far away from each other whereby one was in the north of Division7 while the other was in the southeast. Although the foothold was popular, Lin Huang never had the opportunity to visit it. However, it was clear that Mr. Fu had been there before as the foothold's coordinates were pinned in the dimensional relic.
As Lin Huang stepped into the dimensional relic, he appeared in a hotel room again, but this time, he entered right into the bathroom. He heard the sound of flowing water sound behind him. He wanted to dig his eyes out as soon as he turned around. Under the running shower was an older man with a buff body, showering. With bubbles on his body, the thick hair on his firm chest grabbed Lin Huang's attention. Luckily, the bubbles managed to cover his lower body region, so Lin Huang did not see anything that he should not have seen.
The uncle soon noticed that Lin Huang was in the shower together with him, so he grabbed a towel and covered his chest in disgust.
"Uncle, I think you're covering the wrong place..." Lin Huang wanted to say, but the uncle's scream did not allow him to.
"Help, pervert!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this," Lin Huang apologized and left with his dimensional relic.
He ran out of the hotel as fast as he could. He was annoyed that he had to see that once he arrived in Shanhai City. It must be bad luck to be labeled as a pervert by someone else.
He took a deep breath and protected the map with his Emperor's Heart Ring. He was not far away from Yi Yeyu's house. It was only past 8 a.m, and since he was not in a rush, he sat down at an alfresco cafe and called Yi Yeyu.
The call was soon connected. Yi Yeyu was having breakfast when he called.
"You're coming to Shanhai City now?" Yi Yeyu was eating a piece of meat as she mumbled to Lin Huang.
"I'm already here," Lin Huang said and noticed that Yi Yeyu was dressed in formal attire.
"Why are you dressed so formally today? Do you have something going on?"
"I'm picking up a good friend today. She's my big sister. She used to be my great-grandfather's staff who took good care of me when I was little. She's been working with the Union Government in Division3 after she broke through immortal-level a few years ago. I didn't see her since then. She happened to be in Division7 these few days to visit me. I got her a hotel in the middle of the night, and I'm meeting her today," Yi Yeyu explained in detail.
"Oh, go meet your friend then, since my matter is not urgent anyway. I'll shop and walk around in the city. I'll visit you when you're done meeting her." Lin Huang thought it would be inconvenient for him to be around since she had an appointment with a friend she had not seen for years.
"It's okay, we're close and since you're here, let's meet up together." Yi Yeyu did not think there was anything wrong.
"Alright then." Lin Huang did not say further since she suggested that.
"Send me your coordinates. Let me see who should I pick up first."
Lin Huang sent his coordinates immediately.
"Eh, you're very close to my big sister! That's convenient," Yi Yeyu said after looking at the coordinates while grinning.
"There are many hotels around, so it's not unusual that we're close." Lin Huang looked up and saw six hotels around him.
"Wait for me wherever you are, I'll be there in ten."
After the call ended, Lin Huang sipped his coffee and shook his head as he thought of what he had seen earlier.
"I thought everything would go smoothly today, but it seems like I was wrong. It's true that we shouldn't be too superstitious."
Just as Lin Huang was almost done with his coffee in the alfresco cafe, Yi Yeyu came flying on a Crimson Unicorn. Many patrons were shocked to see the flaming Crimson Unicorn in the air. Lin Huang raised his eyebrow. Yi Yeyu's family must be incredibly rich as the Crimson Unicorn was a double mutated holy fire-monster. It was usually a powerful Transcendent flying mount as it was hard to be named. Moreover, it was as expensive as a supreme relic at the auctions.
Lin Huang had read about the Crimson Unicorn in the monster encyclopedia before, but it was his first time seeing it. It looked similar to the mythical unicorn on Earth. However, this monster was completely black except for its mouth, nose, eyes, mane, hooves, and tail which were a burning red. Yi Yeyu saw Lin Huang, who was just putting down his coffee and instructed her Crimson Unicorn to land. It landed at outside the cafe. Yi Yeyu leaped and recalled her Crimson Unicorn with a monster taming token. She walked towards Lin Huang in her golden heels. She was already 1.7 meters tall, towering over Lin Huang. With the pair of heels, she was almost 1.85 meters tall.
"Hi, rich lady!" Lin Huang waved at Yi Yeyu.
"What rich lady? What the hell, man?" Yi Yeyu thought he was ridiculous.
"You can afford a Crimson Unicorn, so what else should I call you?" Lin Huang teased.
"This Crimson Unicorn retired from the military. I didn't have to pay anything." Yi Yeyu rolled her eyes at Lin Huang and sat across him.
"Waiter, get me an iced coffee!" Yi Yeyu turned around and shouted to the waiter.
The waiter replied and started preparing her coffee.
"Why must you involve me since you're meeting your friend today?" Lin Huang could see that Yi Yeyu had dressed up for the occasion. The person must be important to her. "I can walk around myself and visit you tomorrow," Lin Huang added.
"Since you're here, why the trouble of meeting you on separate occasions? What's there to be afraid of? My sister won't eat you."
"Miss, your iced coffee." The waiter soon arrived with the coffee.
"Don't talk nonsense when you see my sister later," Yi Yeyu took over the coffee and warned.
"Okay." Lin Huang did not overthink about it. He thought that she meant not to talk back to her sister.
"So, do we visit her later?"
"No, her hotel isn't far from here. She'll come here after she checks out from the hotel. I've sent her our coordinates, so we'll wait for her here." Yi Yeyu turned off the message page as she sipped on her coffee.
"I shall get another drink then," Lin Huang said and ordered a black coffee.
As his coffee was served, Lin Huang saw a familiar face not far away. He was shocked as it was the man that he had seen in the bathroom when he stepped out of the dimensional relic earlier. The man was walking towards the cafe in a blue suit. Lin Huang turned around and switched on the news page on his Emperor's Heart Ring so that it would cover his face. He changed the page background gray.
"What are you doing?" Yi Yeyu noticed his odd behavior immediately.
"Don't you think it's too bright? I'm hiding from the sun," Lin Huang came out with a lame excuse.
"Crazy!" Yi Yeyu looked up at the sky. It was cloudy at the moment, and the sun was nowhere to be seen.
As she looked back, she saw a familiar person not far away.
"Sis Rou Rou, I'm over here!" Yi Yeyu stood up and waved immediately.
Looking at Yi Yeyu's response, Lin Huang lowered his protection slightly and looked at the direction where Yi Yeyu was waving to. He did not see any woman. There was only the uncle walking towards their direction.
"Xiao Yu." Just when Lin Huang was thinking who Yi Yeyu was waving at, the uncle waved back at Yi Yeyu with a smile.
"Sis… Rou… Rou…"
Lin Huang's eyeballs almost dropped out of their sockets, and he almost spat out his coffee. The man had a facial beard with hair shorter than Lin Huang's. His face structure was as sharp as a sculpture's. He was almost two meters tall and as strong as a hulk. What Lin Huang remembered the most was the thick chest hair that he had seen in the shower. Which part of that looked like "Sis Rou Rou"!?
He then lifted up the protection to cover his face again as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
"How could it be him? What should I do?"
Lin Huang did not expect the big sister that Yi Yeyu talked about to be the man that he had seen by accident. The person's gender was not important anymore. The more important thing here was that he would be dead if the man recognized him. Lin Huang remembered Yi Yeyu saying that this person had broken through immortal-level a few years ago.
"I must not panic! Maybe he can't recognize me since the bathroom was dark and misty…" Lin Huang consoled himself.
"Is this your friend?" Sis Rou Rou had walked to their table and asked Yi Yeyu as Lin Huang was panicking.
Lin Huang stiffened as he turned around. He looked into his eyes, but everything was normal as if the man did not recognize him.
"Sis Rou Rou, this is my friend Lin Huang." Yi Yeyu had no idea what happened earlier as she introduced the both of them enthusiastically.
"Lin Huang, this is the Sis Rou Rou that I told you about just now."
"Hi, my name is Si Kongrou," Si Kongrou, who was dressed in a suit, introduced herself, sounding completely like a matured man.
"Hi…" Lin Huang was glad as he thought he had managed to escape before she could recognize him in the bathroom earlier. However, his happiness was short-lived when he heard what she said next.
"Kid, do I look good in the shower?"
Lin Huang's heart skipped a beat as he peeked at her. She was smiling and looked kindly with twinkling eyes at him. She looked like she did not want to talk about it in front of Yi Yeyu.
"What would you like to drink? It's my treat!" Lin Huang said immediately while beaming.
After the three of them finished their coffee, Lin Huang went to the counter to pay immediately. Yi Yeyu was holding onto Si Kongrou's arm when he came back, and he could not help but feel like a lightbulb between them.
"Big sister, since your family name is Si Kong, do you happen to be related to Si Kongjian?" Lin Huang thought the atmosphere was awkward, so he broke the ice as they strolled.
"You know Xiao Jian?" Si Kongrou stared puzzledly at Lin Huang.
"He was one of the examiners when we were training in the ruins."
"Oh, he's my brother. My cousin brother to be exact. But I have more than ten cousin brothers, so we hardly talk to each other," Si Kongjian explained.
"I knew it when I heard his name the last time, but I didn't ask." Yi Yeyu smugly seemed like she had it all figured out.
"You attended that training as well?" Si Kongrou asked with her eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, that was how I leveled up to holy fire-level. It was Lin Huang who helped me to kill the monster." Yi Yeyu did not forget about Lin Huang's help.
"It's nothing." Lin Huang faked a laugh as he needed to please Si Kongrou. After all, it was not in his best interest to be hated by an immortal-level.
"Oh, which monster did you kill to level up?" Si Kongrou looked at Lin Huang and asked again.
"The Fire Phoenix. It was difficult…" Yi Yeyu started telling the entire story about how they killed the Fire Phoenix.
And that was how Si Kongrou found out that Lin Huang was an Imperial Censor with great abilities. However, she did not have much comment on him.
"The Fire Phoenix is a double mutated monster with phoenix blood. It's a great choice for people with fire attributes." That was all Si Kongrou said.
Yi Yeyu then talked to Si Kongjian about her training while Lin Huang listened as he thought it was eye-opening. However, the conversation then shifted to some girls' talk that included which facial mask was the best, which lip color would be attractive to guys, the latest arrival of the trendiest brands, who just got married and who got divorced, and so on...
Lin Huang was staring into space as he listened. He even followed the both of them into a shopping mall without realizing it.
The three of them shopped at the ladies' department. Only Yi Yeyu tried on clothes while Si Kongrou did not. All she did was pick out the largest size for the clothes that she browsed through. Lin Huang did not dare to ask if she was buying them for herself or for someone else. They shopped all the way to the fourth floor where Si Kongrou stopped to gawk at a white wedding dress.
"Such a pretty dress!"
"I think it's pretty too. Sis Rou Rou, buy it if you like it," Yi Yeyu encouraged.
"Why should I buy something that I would never wear in my life? Which man would ever want to marry me?" Si Kongrou shook her head and looked away. To Lin Huang, her gentle expression and eyes that dimmed in disdain confirmed that she really was a woman.
"Fate is odd. There's always someone for you in this world. It's just that you haven't met him yet," Lin Huang comforted her, but he soon regretted what he said as he was afraid that she might think that he was interested in her.
"Maybe…" Si Kongrou only looked sadly at Lin Huang, obviously still down.
To make her feel better, Yi Yeyu brought the both of them to a dessert parlor upstairs.
"Oh my!" Si Kongrou grinned when she saw the dessert cafe.
"Ten years ago, when I was still a little girl, you would always bring me to eat dessert whenever I was unhappy. I would always forget what upset me as I gorged myself on the yummiest things…" Yi Yeyu still remembered the sweet memory that Si Kongrou had given her a decade ago.
"To be honest, at first, I thought you would become fat and blame me when you get older. I didn't know that you'd have a body that won't ever get fat no matter how much you eat. That's why I kept buying you dessert," Si Kongrou chuckled. That piece of memory seemed to be rather fresh in her head.
After the two ladies picked the desserts that they wanted, Lin Huang initiated to pay. They chatted as they ate in the dessert parlor while Lin Huang listened to their girls' chatter. He knew more about Si Kongrou as he listened. She was one of the Demon Slayer Troop members back in those days, and she had been sent to be Yi Yeyu's bodyguard later on for some reason. When Yi Yeyu grew up, Si Kongrou broke through immortal-level and was relocated to work for the Union Government in Division3. Yi Yeyu had no idea why exactly she had gone there. Because she was in the military, she contacted Yi Yeyu less and less. This was the first time she had ever met Yi Yeyu again since she got back to Division7.
"Sis Rou Rou, are you doing well in Division3? If you're not happy there, I'll try to get great-grandfather to bring you back to Division7." Yi Yeyu was concerned. It was rare for Lin Huang to hear Yi Yeyu speak in such a caring tone.
"I'm doing pretty good over there. If I really don't want to stay there, I'll speak to the general myself." Si Kongrou smiled.
"That's great." Yi Yeyu was happy to hear that.
Si Kongrou seemed like she was casual about it but Lin Huang could sense that she was hiding something.
"Sis Rou Rou, do you have some mission that you're in Division7 for?" Yi Yeyu was curious about Si Kongrou's visit.
"It's a classified mission. I can't tell you." Si Kongrou shook her head and smiled.
"Can we still meet after your mission is over?" Yi Yeyu asked.
"I don't think so as I don't have much time. I'll visit you again if I get the chance in the future and I'll visit the general as well." Si Kongrou shook her head.
"It's great that I could squeeze some time for you this morning, but I have something to do in the afternoon." Si Kongrou looked at the time of her Emperor's Heart Ring. It was almost 11 a.m.
"Let's have lunch before you leave," Yi Yeyu suggested.
"Alright then," Si Kongrou hesitated as she looked at the time but agreed.
"Let's have a light lunch since we just had so much dessert."
Yi Yeyu was familiar with the shopping mall, and she soon found a Chinese restaurant.
"The dishes here are delicious. My brother brought me here for the first time, and I've been here by myself for a few times. It's still early now, so let's order first since there aren't many customers here. Our food should be served soon."
They sat by the window, and their dishes were served a few minutes after they ordered.
As they just had dessert, Yi Yeyu only ordered four dishes and a bowl of soup for the three of them. They finished in less than half an hour, and Lin Huang called for the bill. They then sent Si Kongrou off but not before Yi Yeyu gave Si Kongrou a long embrace.
"Although Xiao Yu is stubborn sometimes, she's an innocent girl. If you just want to be friends with her, you're a good friend. But if you would like to be in a relationship with her, you have to work harder as it's not easy to get into the Yi family. I hope that you maintain the same relationship you have with her right now as you won't hurt her if you guys are just friends. I don't wish to see you hurting her…" Si Kongrou whispered into Lin Huang's ear.
Si Kongrou let go of Yi Yeyu after whispering to Lin Huang. The both of them talked for a while before she left. Yi Yeyu stood where she was until Si Kongjian disappeared, then she turned around.
"Have some dessert." Lin Huang gave her a cream puff since she appeared upset over the departure of her good friend. Yi Yeyu took the cream puff and ate it quietly. Lin Huang passed her a few more later on. She seemed to be happier after eating those cream puffs.
"Are you planning to kill me with these cream puffs so that you can inherit my legacy?" Yi Yeyu asked Lin Huang.
"I can't even if I wanted to!" Lin Huang said.
Yi Yeyu did not have the mood to shop anymore after sending Si Kongrou off. They were sitting in a cafe for a while as Yi Yeyu calmed herself down. She recalled Lin Huang's purpose of visiting.
"Let's go to my place. My brother is at home too."
"Yi Zheng is home? What's his combat level now?" Lin Huang asked.
"He just broke through blue flame-level a few days ago, so he has been resting at home."
"Wow, so quickly he's on blue flame-level now?" Lin Huang remembered that Yi Zheng had only been on complete gold-level when they first met.
"He was already white flame-level a year ago. He spent another year to get to blue flame-level. Compared to your speed, that's nothing." Yi Yeyu stared at Lin Huang.
Lin Huang faked a laugh without saying anything. His speed of leveling up was terrifying. He had no explanation for that, so he decided not to talk about it.
"But it's been more than a month. How are you not complete gold-level yet?" Although it would take three months for a regular person to level up from gold-level rank-3 to complete gold-level, Yi Yeyu thought Lin Huang should be complete gold-level by now considering his terrifying speed.
She would not be surprised even if he was already white flame-level. However, from his aura, she could feel that Lin Huang was not a complete gold-level yet.
"My master wants me to build a stable foundation, so instead of Life Skill, I've been studying basic knowledge and sword training," Lin Huang smiled as he explained.
"No wonder." Yi Yeyu recalled that Lin Huang had been training his swordsmanship a few days back when she called.
"Mr. Fu has a good plan. A stable foundation is crucial. Since you leveled up too fast, it's good to take some time to digest."
They became silent after that conversation.
"Yeyu, is Sis Rou Rou a man or a woman?" Lin Huang suddenly thought of the question that he had been speculating about.
"A woman, of course!" Yi Yeyu knew Lin Huang would have such doubts. Thus, she was not mad as she explained patiently.
"Sis Rou Rou was a pretty lady. She was one of the most beautiful ones in the Demon Slayer Troop. A virtual eye opened during one of her mission. There was a new type of insect that was similar to bees with a unique venom in them. Sis Rou Rou's body changed after she was stung by the insect. She became like this when she recovered. The doctor said her body produces androgens 20 times more than a male adult every day due to the venom. She had gone to many doctors, but none of them had the solution to the venom.
"She couldn't accept the change to her body when she woke up. She even tried to kill herself once. Because of that, my great-grandfather sent her to the hospital and got a psychologist to talk to her. She finally accepted her new identity half a year later, but she didn't want to go back to the Demon Slayer Troop anymore. Therefore, my great-grandfather got her to be my bodyguard and nanny since I was born. She left after I turned 15."
Although Lin Huang was hazarding something similar, he did not expect to hear that. He did not know that there was venom in monsters that could turn a woman into a man. He shivered as he imagined the possibility of other monsters that could turn a man into a woman.
"It seems like I have to be more careful when I encounter monsters in the future, especially those new ones or else, I might encounter the same thing as she did," Lin Huang thought to himself.
"That's why Sis Rou Rou is like a real sister to me," Yi Yeyu said in all seriousness. They became silent again after the conversation.
Soon, they arrived at Yi Yeyu's house. It was as huge as a third of the size of the Martial Hunter College. The houses in Shanhai City were no smaller than those in the White Capital. Regular people could not afford such houses.
There were two soldiers in military attire standing at the entrance like pine trees. Lin Huang could sense that the both of them were on complete gold-level. The two soldiers remained immobile as Yi Yeyu brought Lin Huang into the house. They did not even peek at them as if they were two sculptures.
The both of them entered a beautiful courtyard. Lin Huang looked around while strolling into the courtyard behind Yi Yeyu. They then arrived at the living room. The buildings that Lin Huang saw along the way were not as luxurious as he imagined. They were plainer and blended with Nature. It was a comfortable place to be in. As he entered the living room, Lin Huang realized that the Yi family's house was luxurious in a low-key way.
There was a monster tooth hanging on the wall. Although it was just a tooth, Lin Huang could sense that it was at least an immortal-level or even stronger.
"This is an imperial-level dragon blood monster's tooth that my great-grandfather killed last time. It shrunk into an art piece later on," Yi Yeyu smiled and explained as she noticed Lin Huang was attracted by the monster teeth.
"No wonder the aura of the tooth alone is already so terrifying. I was thinking what kind of tooth this is." Lin Huang learned something new about Yi Donglai.
"What would you like to drink?" Yi Yeyu finally assumed the attitude of a host as she got Lin Huang to sit down.
"Any fruit juice will do. Don't trouble yourself."
"Alright then, I'll have some as well." Yi Yeyu got a bottle of unopened fruit juice from the refrigerator and poured it into the glasses for Lin Huang and herself.
"This cloud mountain fruit juice is expensive. It costs more than 300 Life Crystals for a bottle. One glass is almost 100 Life Crystals. I don't usually drink this myself."
Lin Huang had heard of the cloud mountain fruit before. It was a rare fruit that required a lot of sunshine. It could only grow on top of mountains with clouds. Besides being delicious, such fruit could even increase one's Life Power. In Fatty's made-up recipe, there was a fruit salad with cloud mountain fruit as one of the ingredients. However, Lin Huang had only heard of the fruit but never tasted it before. He took a sip. It was sweet with a unique fragrance. It was not thick at all but was refreshing especially since it was summer now. As soon as the juice trickled down his throat, Lin Huang could feel that Life Power was being released into his body. He had to admit that the fruit was worth the price.
In the silence, Lin Huang put down the glass.
"Fatty wants to use this fruit in his fruit salad. Now, it seems like a great choice," Lin Huang said to Yi Yeyu while smiling.
"Oh yea, did the little Fatty get his hunter license yet? I remember he wanted to be a Food Hunter," Yi Yeyu asked.
"He got his license." Lin Huang nodded but was soon upset.
"Did something happen to him?" Yi Yeyu noticed Lin Huang's mood change.
"Something happened to him earlier. He's dead," Lin Huang said with his head hanging down.
"What happened?" Yi Yeyu did not expect to hear that.
Lin Huang then told her everything, not hiding the truth.
"It's not your fault. It's that Grandmistress' fault. Stop blaming yourself," Yi Yeyu comforted him.
"I'll find that Grandmistress and take revenge for Fatty!" Lin Huang clenched his fists.
As they were engrossed in talking about Fatty, Yi Zheng appeared at the door.
"Where is Sis Rou?" Yi Zheng looked around the living room and noticed Lin Huang.
"This is… Lin Huang?"
"Bro Zheng," Lin Huang stood up and greeted him immediately.
"It really is you. You've grown taller." Yi Zheng smiled.
Yi Zheng remembered that Lin Huang looked like a kid when he first met him. He was not even 1.7 meters, but he should be 1.75 meters now.
"Eh, your combat level…" Yi Zheng soon noticed that Lin Huang was already gold-level rank-3 just by looking at him. He clearly remembered that Lin Huang was not even iron-level when they had first met a year ago. His speed of improving levels was terrifying.
"You're considered a genius at this speed!"
It was clear that Yi Yeyu did not tell her brother about Lin Huang's combat level. Lin Huang smiled without saying anything.
"Oh yeah, didn't you say you went to pick up Sis Rou? Where is she?" Yi Zheng did not dwell on Lin Huang as he was considered a junior to him. He was just surprised, and soon he switched his focus to Yi Yeyu.
"She has something to do in the afternoon. We had lunch together, then she left," Yi Yeyu explained.
"Do you need to talk to her?"
"She has left?! I thought since I have just broken through blue flame-level a few days ago, I wanted to train with her." Yi Zheng was upset.
"It's you who didn't want to follow me this morning," Yi Yeyu teased.
"Didn't you know I was training this morning? I thought she would be staying for a few days." Yi Zheng did not expect to miss the opportunity to train with Si Kongrou.
"If you really want to train, let Lin Huang train with you," Yi Yeyu smirked. She had no idea what Lin Huang's ability now was, but he should be more powerful than herself who was a white flame-level. Although he would not defeat Yi Zheng, he would totally surprise him.
Lin Huang glared at Yi Yeyu without saying anything. He was not afraid to challenge Yi Zheng who was on blue flame-level. With his current ability, he should be able to kill one. However, Yi Zheng was considered a genius as well, so he would be much more powerful than a regular blue flame-level. He would be at a loss without the help of his summoning monsters if he were to fight Yi Zheng.
"It's okay. I don't think he can even fight you." Yi Zheng waved his hand and got ready to leave.
"Brother, you're wrong. Lin Huang is more powerful than I am. It was he who helped me kill the Fire Phoenix in the ruins." Yi Yeyu had mentioned to Yi Zheng that her friend had helped her kill the Fire Phoenix, but she did not say who the friend was. The truth was finally out.
The Fire Phoenix was a double mutated monster with phoenix blood. Its ability was comparable with a crimson flame-level. Yi Zheng was curious who Yi Yeyu had gotten help from as the friend must have been a genius to be able to kill the Fire Phoenix when he was only gold-level. Yi Zheng knew very well that his sister would not be able to kill the Fire Phoenix on her own.
"Not only is he more powerful than me, but he's also an Imperial Censor with powerful summoning monsters. Are you sure you don't want to give it a try?" Yi Yeyu was trying to persuade him, seemingly eager to watch them fight.
"I forgot that you're an Imperial Censor. If you're not weak yourself, with a couple of summoning monsters, you should be able to warm me up." Yi Zheng turned around and looked at Lin Huang squarely.
"I haven't fought an Imperial Censor for a long time now. Would you like to play?" Yi Zheng asked.
"Sure." Lin Huang wanted to test the results of his training as well.
Yi Yeyu did not expect Lin Huang to agree so quickly. She thought that she might have to come up with something for him to accept the challenge but it was now unnecessary.
"Let's go to the battle training ground then." Yi Zheng nodded.
The three of them passed through two courtyards, and Lin Huang saw a giant spherical ancient-replica building not far away. The building was at least 50 to 60 meters high whereby the roof was completely made of tiles. Just by looking at it, Lin Huang knew it was the battle training ground.
Yi Zheng brought the two of them into the building. The interior of the building was the same as the battle training ground in the Martial Hunter College where there was nothing in there. However, the private battle training ground was much smaller than the one in the Martial Hunter College. It looked like it was only 80,000 to 90,000 square meters but it was twice the size of a regular battle training ground.
"What do you think? Not bad, isn't it?" Yi Zheng was showing off.
"Hmm, not bad." Lin Huang smiled and nodded. He did not tell Yi Zheng that the battle training ground that he used to practice in the Martial Hunter College was three times bigger than this.
"Xiao Yu, do you want to train with us? You can help Lin Huang. An extra person doesn't make any difference to me." Yi Zheng grinned.
"No, I don't want to trouble myself. I would rather be a beauty who watches the fight quietly." Yi Yeyu shook her head.
Without waiting for Yi Zheng to respond, she flew into the air to spectate. Yi Yeyu thought that since Lin Huang could not fly, Yi Zheng would not include her in the battle if she was to watch in the air. Since Yi Zheng was mean, he might involve her if she were to watch on the ground. As they stood in the middle of the area, Lin Huang took out the 5-star sword relic. He wanted to test his real ability in the battle, so he would not show mercy.
Yi Zheng who was around 30 meters from him was holding a thin sword that was also a 5-star relic. However, the sword was obviously custom-made as the body of the sword was less than half the length of a regular sword. Although he had supreme relics with him, he thought it was unnecessary as the battle was only meant to test his abilities.
"Aren't you summoning your monsters?" Yi Zheng asked as he saw Lin Huang standing there without the intention to summon his monsters.
"Firstly, I have no idea what you're good at and which monsters will work best, so I don't think summoning my monsters will help. Secondly, summoning monsters now will give you mental preparation. It would be better if I summoned them when I need them during the battle. Thirdly, I would like to see what my real ability is." Lin Huang listed the three reasons why he did not summon his monsters.
"As my first opponent, I must say you're an interesting Imperial Censor." Yi Zheng laughed when he heard what Lin Huang said.
"But let me warn you. If you don't summon your monsters before the battle starts, you might not have the opportunity to do so during the battle."
As soon as Yi Zheng said that, he tore towards Lin Huang's direction.
Yi Zheng was as fast as lightning. His body seemed to blend into the air as he stepped out. Without any sound or change in air pressure, his speed seemed to peak within seconds. Lin Huang stared at Yi Zheng's movement without blinking. He thought it was an odd choice of movement since the single step Yi Zheng took had allowed his sword to arrive right in front of him.
Fortunately, Lin Huang shifted quickly as well. He backed off as he blocked Yi Zheng's attack with his sword. As the white Life Power collided with the golden Life Power, a shockwave exploded. The golden Life Power was swallowed instantly while Lin Huang backed off immediately. The one attack alone showed the difference between their Life Powers. Yi Zheng, who was already blue flame-level, extracted his Life Power from his Life Fire. The density of his Life Power was hundreds of times higher than Lin Huang's. The single collision had proven that.
As Liu Ming suppressed his combat level to white flame-level when he fought Lin Huang, the difference was not as obvious. However, when Lin Huang fought a real blue flame-level, the difference was significant. Although Lin Huang managed to block his attack, Yi Zheng smirked as he saw Lin Huang back off tens of meters away.
"Your response speed isn't too bad, but you'll be killed under the suppression of my Life Power alone. Let's get help from your summoning monsters, or else, you won't have the opportunity later."
Yi Zheng noticed Lin Huang's biggest weakness just by attacking once. Suddenly, Lin Huang dashed towards Yi Zheng as he activated his Seraphic Speed and Thunder Steps.
"So swift!" Yi Zheng exclaimed. Lin Huang's speed was already the standard of a blue flame-level's. Within seconds, Lin Huang arrived before Yi Zheng while activating his Thunder Sting. A golden lightning flashed by as Lin Huang swung his sword.
Yi Zheng was shocked at Lin Huang's attack with his nimble movement and swordsmanship. He thought that Lin Huang's movement was already terrifying enough; he did not expect his sword skill to be even more alarming. Yi Zheng was sure that the swing of his sword alone could definitely kill him, so he backed off while blocking the attack with his sword.
Bang!
It was the same collision of white and golden Life Power. As the swords smashed into each other, the golden Life Power splashed like an explosion and this time, it smothered the white Life Power.
Yi Zheng, who was wearing white, retreated immediately. Yi Yeyu's jaw dropped. She always knew that Lin Huang was powerful, but she did not know that he could make Yi Zheng back off. Initially, she thought Lin Huang would be suppressed by Yi Zheng, but she was wrong.
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Huang raced towards Yi Zheng as he retreated. Yi Zheng looked serious this time. He realized that Lin Huang was not the junior he knew a year ago, but had grown to the level where they could fight fairly. He might lose if he was not serious in this battle. He was reminded that Lin Huang was an Imperial Censor who had yet to summon any of his monsters up to this point.
Yi Zheng thought Lin Huang was ridiculous for not willing to summon his monsters. However, it seemed like he had a really powerful ability.
"Come on, Lin Huang! Don't hold back, show me what you've got!" Yi Zheng shouted and stopped backing off, then he went towards Lin Huang.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The both of them collided with each other again and again in the battle training ground.
Yi Yeyu was shocked to see the intense shockwave that was created from their Life Power as she watched from the top.
"How is it possible that Lin Huang is so powerful?!"
If Yi Yeyu was shocked at Lin Huang's attack that made Yi Zheng back off earlier, she was in a complete stupor as she watched Lin Huang attacked Yi Zheng repeatedly. Yi Yeyu knew Yi Zheng's ability very well. Although he had just leveled up to blue flame-level recently, he could definitely kill a purple flame-level. He could even fight a gold flame-level.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang's ability to fight Yi Zheng had completely surprised Yi Yeyu. Although Yi Yeyu could see that Lin Huang was being overpowered in this battle, he could always find the opportunity to fight back without showing any signs that he was admitting defeat. Yi Zheng did not hold back in this battle, and he treated Lin Huang as his real opponent.
Besides their ultimate moves, the both of them had unleashed almost all of their skills. The battle lasted for more than four hours. Lin Huang had drained his Life Power. It was amazing that he had managed to last for four hours without refilling his Life Power. Yi Zheng noticed that Lin Huang's Life Power was draining, so he sheathed his sword and backed off. Lin Huang put his sword away as well. He knew Yi Zheng had noticed that and did not want to take advantage of his condition.
"I didn't expect you to be able to fight fairly with me." Yi Zheng smiled at Lin Huang.
"I've actually lost since my Life Power has been drained. If I were in a real battle, my energy wouldn't give way when my Life Power is draining." Lin Huang smiled. He knew that he would possibly lose to Yi Zheng since he did not summon any of his monsters.
"That's not certain since you didn't summon your monsters. If you were in a real battle, you'd definitely summon your monsters to help, then perhaps I'm the one who will lose." Yi Zheng knew very well that this was not Lin Huang's best.
"If I'm not mistaken, you have already reached level-3 of the sword realm?" Yi Zheng asked again.
"Yes, I have just achieved Illumination a few days ago." Lin Huang thought there was nothing to hide as they sensed each other's sword realm during the battle. He could sense that Yi Zheng was level-2 on his sword realm.
After confirming his speculation, Yi Zheng's expression was even more complicated as he gazed at Lin Huang.
"I might not be able to fight you anymore when you level up to white flame-level… I've always thought that I'm comparable with a real genius, but it seems like I'm wrong." Yi Zheng shook his head and smiled awkwardly.
What Yi Zheng did not know was that Lin Huang was the top among the geniuses, so he got the wrong person to compare. Lin Huang did not respond to what Yi Zheng said. Yi Yeyu thought Lin Huang would be defeated by Yi Zheng, but it was the other way around instead.
"Don't be upset, brother. Lin Huang's master is Mr. Fu. His talent and gift should be the top in Division7, or else Mr. Fu wouldn't take him as his apprentice," Yi Yeyu comforted him.
"Mr. Fu is your master?" Yi Zheng was shocked but soon returned to normal.
"No wonder… Only Mr. Fu could train such a beast like you."
"Err…" Lin Huang thought about it and realized that Mr. Fu had been allowing him to do whatever he wanted. However, he did not say anything so that he would not hurt Yi Zheng's feelings again.
After the battle ended, the three of them left the battle training ground while Yi Zheng walked away on his own as he was upset. Although he had basically won the battle, he did not feel joy at all. Yi Yeyu did not expect that to be the result. She thought of seeing Lin Huang embarrass himself so that she could take some photos or videos to make fun of him in the future if Lin Huang were to tease her. Not only did she not manage to do that, but now Yi Zheng was miserable.
"Did you hide your abilities when we were in the ruins?" Yi Yeyu suspected as the improvement in his ability was too terrifying compared to a month ago.
"I didn't really hide my abilities. It was more like not showing all I have. But I've been integrating various sword skills and breaking through the sword realm recently. I've also been training real battles every day, so I've improved a little," Lin Huang said the truth.
"You…" Yi Yeyu just found out that Lin Huang had been holding back all the while.
"Then, how about the battle just now? Did you give your all?"
"Almost all that I had. I couldn't use some of the skills as it wasn't a real life and death battle after all." Lin Huang nodded.
"But your brother obviously held back. He suppressed his speed and strength to be on the same level with mine," Lin Huang added.
"Who do you think would win if you and my brother didn't hold back at all?" Yi Yeyu wanted to get to the bottom of this.
"If I don't summon any monsters, he has a 95% winning rate. If I summon monsters, he would have an 80% chance of winning," Lin Huang said after thinking to himself.
"So, my brother is more powerful!" Yi Yeyu was satisfied with Lin Huang's answer.
Lin Huang only responded with a smile. He knew that once he leveled up to white flame-level, if Yi Zheng did not improve by then, the tables would definitely turn. As they left the battle training ground, Yi Yeyu brought Lin Huang to her own room. To be precise, she brought him to the building that she was staying in. Yi Yeyu's room was a huge three-story villa. Each floor was more than four times of the size of the dorm Lin Huang was staying in.
Although it was said to be three-stories, the basement made up two stories. It looked old with tiles from the outside, but the interior was luxurious. Even the ottoman at the entrance was made of gold strings and other rare creatures. Lin Huang had to admit that Yi Yeyu was filthy rich.
"Xiao Hong loves spitting fire everywhere, so I have been changing many things in the room to be fireproof," Yi Yeyu saw Lin Huang staring at the golden string ottoman at the entrance, so she explained.
"I must say keeping a pet is much more troublesome than I thought," Yi Yeyu added.
"So, you're still calling your baby Xiao Hong?" Lin Huang looked up at her.
"What does that have to do with you!?" Yi Yeyu glared deadly at him.
"Do you want me to think of a name?" Lin Huang smiled as he suggested.
"Go away!" Yi Yeyu was furious at Lin Huang's teasing.
"It's okay if you don't want that. Must you be so furious?" Lin Huang shrugged his shoulders.
"So, do you still want the monster blood?" Yi Yeyu threatened him.
"I'm sorry, big sister." Lin Huang suddenly became gentle.
"Hmph!" Yi Yeyu scoffed and summoned Xiao Hong.
It was the same as Lin Huang saw in the video call two days ago. Its head was slightly bigger now, and its hair was as fiery red as usual. As Lin Huang was checking it out, it was scrutinizing Lin Huang as well. The triple mutated monster had high intelligence, let alone a phoenix blood pet. It could tell that Lin Huang did not have any bad intentions.
"Be careful. It spits fire when it's mad." Yi Yeyu was worried that Xiao Hong might attack strangers. Luckily, it did not look like it was going to attack Lin Huang.
Lin Huang took out a molten crystal from his storage space and placed it on his palm. Xiao Hong seemed to sense the fire attributes energy in the crystal and walked towards Lin Huang. It then swallowed the crystal that was bigger than its mouth.
"What did you give it?" Yi Yeyu asked immediately.
"A Molten Crystal."
"Will it be okay?" Yi Yeyu was concerned.
"Don't worry, the Seventails that I have at home eats that too. Yours has pure phoenix blood. It'll be fine." Lin Huang realized that Yi Yeyu was not familiar with how to feed her pet.
"So, what do you usually feed it?"
"My great-grandfather told me to feed it food with fire attributes, so I have been feeding it monster flesh and fruits of fire attributes. But it seems to eat everything, so sometimes I feed it what I eat," Yi Yeyu said. Soon, she recalled that Lin Huang was an Imperial Censor.
"Is there any problem with the way I feed it?"
"The way you feed it is very wasteful. You don't have to trouble yourself. Just feed it some fire minerals. The effect of minerals is better than monster flesh, and it's also much cheaper. Some high-quality minerals are no less compared to fruits," Lin Huang explained.
"Wouldn't minerals be difficult to digest?" Yi Yeyu hesitated.
"Big sister, it's a phoenix blood, not a human. It has a different digestive system compared to humans'. We humans can't digest minerals, but to phoenix blood pets, it's like eating rice. Can you not digest rice?" Lin Huang was speechless.
"Oh is it?" Yi Yeyu just realized that she had been feeding her pet wrongly all the while. She thought that basic things that humans could not eat would apply to her pet too.
"Then, is it normal that it likes to eat monster bones?"
"That should be normal as it can digest the bones." Lin Huang nodded.
Yi Yeyu was speechless because the last time Xiao Hong was eating a piece of bone, she had overreacted by jumping up and down to get the bone out of its mouth.
Xiao Hong seemed to understand their conversation while it glared at Yi Yeyu like it was judging her. Yi Yeyu noticed its stare and looked at Lin Huang instead.
"Erm… Let's get to business."
Lin Huang nodded and looked at Xiao Hong. He took a handful of molten crystals from his storage space and placed them before Xiao Hong.
"Xiao Hong, I would like to get three drops of your blood. Can I trade that with this bunch of molten crystals?"
Xiao Hong looked at the molten crystals for a while and chirped three times at him.
"Alright then, three handfuls of molten crystals for three drops of blood." Lin Huang grabbed another two handfuls of molten crystals and put them on the carpet.
Xiao Hong nodded while Yi Yeyu was shocked.
"You can understand what it's saying?"
"It's not difficult to understand." Lin Huang did not actually understand. He was just guessing and relating what he said to its response.
"I'm so envious of Imperial Censors now." Yi Yeyu misunderstood but Lin Huang did not bother to explain.
After communicating with Xiao Hong, Lin Huang took out a syringe and used it to poke Xiao Hong's leg. Soon, the syringe of a thumb size was filled with blood. Lin Huang removed the syringe immediately. The injury on Xiao Hong's leg healed almost instantly.
"Thanks!" Lin Huang patted Xiao Hong's back.
"I'll need to use this blood within three hours, so I won't stay. I'll treat you to a meal in the future," he then stood up and said to Yi Yeyu.
"How many meals do you owe me now?" Yi Yeyu smiled.
"Don't worry. I'll pay you back slowly. We have many opportunities in the future," Lin Huang said with confidence.
"It doesn't make any difference anyway since you already owe me so much. Go on now." Yi Yeyu waved her hand.
"Thanks!" Lin Huang summoned his dimensional relic and stepped into it.
As he stepped into the dimensional relic, Lin Huang appeared in the Meteorite Desert. He pinned the location next to the lake which connected to the isolated space where the Starlight Beasts were. He jumped into the lake after storing his dimensional relic. Twenty minutes later, Lin Huang entered the isolated space. He then summoned Thunder and went further into the isolated space. He took out the syringe of phoenix blood and injected it into Thunder's left thigh.
Soon, Thunder was covered by the white glow that came from the sky. Its body floated slowly, and its aura was growing. In less than five minutes, the white glow faded away, and Thunder landed on the ground. Its aura had leveled up to white flame-level now. However, it did not feel anything different was it was just a normal unsealing. It did not perform a triple mutation or a transformation of its blood. Just like what happened to Lancelot, the unsealing was done like a piece of cake.
After achieving Thunder's unsealing, Lin Huang then rode on Thunder and left. Thunder, which was white flame-level now, was two times faster than before. Although it was still slower than Kylie, it was not too far behind. As usual, Thunder landed by the lake. After recalling Thunder into card form, Lin Huang projected the map.
There were coordinates marked with red numbers "1, 2, 3, 4". Those were the coordinates and the hunting sequence of parasites that he and Bloody had prepared two days back.
"The first destination is the Lieba City in foothold No.7B21!"
Lin Huang summoned his dimensional relic, set the coordinates and stepped into it.
…
"All the parasites nearby in the 76th destination, foothold No.7C88 has been cleared!"
In the middle of the night eighteen days later, Lin Huang smirked as he witnessed Bloody's vine pierce through the last parasite's head.
"I've only managed to rest for three hours for 18 days consecutively while the remaining time was spent on the road. We have finally killed 100 types of parasites. I think it should be enough to perform a triple mutation during your unsealing." Lin Huang did not manage to sleep well for the past half a month, and his eyes were red.
"I think we have enough." Bloody replied.
Throughout the real battle training and Lin Huang's teaching, Bloody had improved immensely. It had transformed from a parasite that was bad at close combat battle to now an expert that could kill all monsters of the same level at a close distance.
"I should be able to level up to complete gold-level in less than a month, so I won't take too long to get to holy fire-level. Even if your triple mutation is sealed, I can get it unsealed soon. Don't worry," Lin Huang comforted.
"I know that, Master. Please take care of yourself." Among many of his summoning monsters, Bloody was the most thoughtful and the most intelligent one.
Lin Huang summoned his dimensional relic and arrived at Meteorite Desert again with Bloody. As soon as they entered the isolated space, Bloody transformed back to its original size of a giant boa.
"Xiao Hei, unseal Bloody!" Lin Huang instructed.
Bloody had achieved its unsealing terms since the beginning as it only had to kill ten types of parasites. However, to make sure that Bloody could perform a triple mutation, Lin Huang brought it to up to 100 footholds within the 18 days to kill 100 types of parasites. Until today, they came to the isolated space with Starlight Beasts to perform the unsealing.
Bloody was the last epic-level card that Lin Huang owned which had not been unsealed. As Lin Huang instructed, a white glow shone from the sky and covered Bloody completely. Bloody's aura was rising. At the same time, there were purple light spots being released from its body. Soon, the purple dots created a dense coverage like it was painting a layer of purple on its body. Bloody looked like it was sleeping with its body curled into a ball. It was floating quietly in the air and rotating. As soon as its body color changed, Lin Huang knew that it must be performing a triple mutation.
Time passed by as Lin Huang sat aside resting while waiting patiently for the unsealing to be over. The purple ball was rotating in the air. As three hours passed, Bloody's body shrunk to the size of a basketball and became a completely purple ball. If Lin Huang did not sense the terrifying aura that was coming out of Bloody, he would have thought Bloody was dead.
Xiao Hei's notification came as soon as the white glow faded.
"Congratulations, your epic-level Monster Card Demonic Dandelion Vine (Bloody) has been unsealed. Your epic-level Monster Card Demonic Dandelion Vine (Bloody) is now a white flame-level.
"Congratulations, Demonic Dandelion Vine (Bloody) has leveled up from an epic-level card to a legendary-level card!
"Congratulations, you have obtained a legendary-level card! The card is a new monster type that has yet to be named. Please give it a name."
Lin Huang was the one who had come up with the name "Demonic Dandelion Vine". Now that Bloody was tripled mutated and had become a new monster type, it was natural that it did not have a name. Bloody uncurled from its ball form. It was not a vine any more, but a cloud. Lin Huang was shocked to see that.
"Bloody, what's wrong with your form?"
"Master, I can now change my form as I wish." Bloody seemed to be satisfied with its new form.
"Please give it a name!"
"Let's call you Violethaze then." Lin Huang thought about it and assigned a name.
"Naming has been successful. Recording new monster type - Violethaze."
Xiao Hei's notification came as soon as the naming was done.
"As your authorization is restricted, you won't be able to use the legendary Monster Card yet. Your Monster Card Violethaze has been sealed. The card will be unsealed when you level up to holy fire-level."
Although he had expected that, Lin Huang was upset whenever he saw such that notification.
His exhaustion kicked in as soon as he saw Bloody's body turn into stars, forming into a card and going into his body. The sky was getting bright. Lin Huang closed his eyes as he looked at the sky and smelled the flower fragrance in the air. A while later, he summoned Lancelot to guard the place while he fell into a deep sleep on the field with his arms wide open.
The sky was turning dark as Lin Huang woke up from his sleep in the isolated space. He had started sleeping between 4 a.m. to 5 a.m, and it was past 7 p.m. now. He had slept 14 to 15 hours.
"Such satisfying sleep!" Lin Huang stretched his body while inhaling the fresh air, feeling refreshed.
It was 20th August at 7:21 p.m. when he checked the time on his Emperor's Heart Ring.
"I should get back to the White Capital since all of my epic-level Monster Cards had been unlocked now." Lin Huang then recalled Lancelot that was guarding beside him, summoned Thunder and exited the isolated space.
It was 7:30 p.m. when Lin Huang arrived at the Martial Hunter College using the dimensional relic. Hearing sounds downstairs, Lin Xin ran down immediately.
"Brother, you're back!"
"Yes, let's have supper?" Lin Huang suggested while smiling.
"Yes, please!" Although she just had dinner less than two hours ago, she agreed to supper anyway.
Tyrant was the most excited one when he heard that they were going for supper.
"Sure, let's go together!" Lin Huang agreed to bring Tyrant along, looking at his excitement.
Lin Huang had not eaten for a day, so he was famished. There was a bigger night market near the Martial Hunter College. Although it was a school holiday, it was not as crowded as before. However, there were many people. Most of them were tourists and not many locals. The sun had just set and the lights were shining brightly in the night market, making it looked like it was daytime. Hordes of people crowded the night market.
As Lin Xin just had dinner not long ago, she did not have the appetite to eat, so she got a beverage while strolling in the night market with Lin Huang. Meanwhile, Lin Huang and Tyrant were buying food along the way. He did not have to worry about not being able to finish the food as Tyrant was with them. They returned to the dorm after they strolled until 9 p.m. when Lin Huang was full.
"Brother, the dean dropped by looking for you a few days ago. He said he might have to be away from the college for some time and asked you to look for the Vice President who sits next to his office if you need help." Lin Xin suddenly thought.
"Oh, I was informed. He sent me a message." Lin Huang nodded.
Liu Ming told Lin Huang that he felt he was on the verge of breaking through his sword realm, so he planned to train himself by battling with sword type monsters. If he managed to break through, he would be closer to imperial-level. He also thanked Lin Huang. If he had not met Lin Huang, he had no idea how long he would be stuck on the same level. Liu Ming's sword realm was on level-4 Pinnacle. If he arrived at level-5, no imperial-level could fight him and leveling up to imperial-level would be a piece of cake for him. Lin Huang was happy for him.
However, it was troublesome since Liu Ming was away. What if he could not manage his teaching when the semester started? After all, Lin Huang had never been a teacher before. It was acceptable if he was criticized, but it would be horrible if he taught the wrong things. He was nervous as he thought about it.
"I've been sent to Class 1. I'm not sure which class you're teaching." Lin Xin would be happy if Lin Huang could be her teacher. Although she had no idea how his teaching was, she was confident in his abilities. Not many teachers in the Martial Hunter College could defeat him.
"I'm not sure yet. The dean didn't tell me, but I don't think I'll be teaching Class 1. Class 1 is a big class of 100 students. They're the top 100 in Division 7 that are accepted into the college, so it's impossible that I'll be assigned to that class since I'm new. Even if brother Liu agrees with that, the rest of the college won't agree. It would be good enough if I'm sent to Class 2, but I think I'll be teaching Class 3 onwards." Lin Huang knew his own ability. Class 1 was basically top students from all divisions while Class 2 might have many top students as well. That was why he figured he would be sent to Class 3 or lower.
"How's your preparation so far?" Lin Xin asked.
"I've done my preparation, but I must pick up the basic knowledge." Lin Huang knew what he lacked.
"Actually, I think you could show what you're good at to remedy your weakness since the Martial Hunter College is training students with battle ability. Yes, you need to work on your basic knowledge, but I think you could consider stressing on the battles instead. Battling is what you're good at after all. If I'm your student, I would hope to learn some combat techniques from you," Lin Xin voiced her opinion.
"That's a great suggestion. Let me think about it these few days." Lin Huang thought Lin Xin's suggestion was fabulous. He planned to follow the teaching steps and methods like how the seniors did. However, it seemed like those were not suitable for him.
After discussing with Lin Xin, Lin Huang started thinking if he was to have an apprentice, how he would train him. On the next morning, he headed straight to the library to pick up some basic knowledge while looking for unique teaching methods. He was stable in his sword realm now, and since Liu Ming was not around to train swords with him, Lin Huang decided to stay in the library instead. He stayed there from 7 a.m. to midnight, settling his lunch and dinner with the dessert that he had bought in Luoxi City the last time.
He spent his next ten days with the same routine whereby he would spend his entire day in the library. With the supreme memory and learning abilities he got from his Omniscient Nature, he learned more than what people could usually learn within one to two years in just ten days. The semester started on 1st September and the college became crowded. Lin Huang received a notification that was sent from the college office.
"Sir Lin Huang, you've been assigned to teach sword realm for Year 1 Class 2. You'll be teaching every Friday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. If you need to change the class or time, please arrange with the office within 24 hours."
"They sent me to Class 2!" Lin Huang was shocked as the students in Class 2 were no less than those in Class 1. There were many top students from all divisions in that class. It seemed like Lin Huang had to take this seriously.
"Sir Lin Huang, as one of the new teachers, please report before 8:30 a.m. today and gather with all the Year 1 teachers at the office for the orientation."
Just when Lin Huang was done reading the first notification, the second notification was sent.
"I'll have to join the orientation…" Lin Huang scratched his head.
"Brother, what's with the orientation?" Lin Xin asked.
"I just received the notification that I must join the orientation," Lin Huang said helplessly. He looked at the time. It was already 7:30 a.m.
"Let's go for breakfast now! I'll just gather with the other teachers at the office before 8:30 a.m."
In the registrar's office, a middle-aged man was complaining to the director, "I've been teaching sword realm to Year 1 Class 2 for seven years. How could you get someone new to teach the class this year and get me to teach Class 3 instead? You guys didn't even inform me ahead and only told me today when the semester starts. What does that mean?! I'll speak to the dean if you don't give me a reasonable explain now!"
The middle-aged man who was complaining was Zhang Xu, the sword realm teacher who had been teaching at the college for many years. The dean that he was talking about was Zhang Xuefeng, one of the three deans of the college and he was also his grandfather. The director, Li Feng was upset. He was also only informed that there was a new teacher in the college this morning. It was Dean Wang who had made the arrangements while Li Feng was the one passing the message. He knew this would happen when he received the notification this morning. As expected, Zhang Xu came to him in less than half an hour after the notification was sent.
He did not want to offend Zhang Xu as he was the Vice President's grandson.
"Lao Zhang, I've only just been informed this morning. My job is to inform you. The new teacher was arranged by Dean Wang. I don't even know how does the new teacher looks like," Li Feng blamed it on the dean.
"Director, they've sent the new teacher's biography," a female office admin said to Li Feng.
Many people crowded the office.
"He's so handsome!"
"He's so young!"
"He doesn't even look like he's 20!"
Many in the office exclaimed when they saw Lin Huang's photo.
"Show me his details." Li Feng walked behind the female admin while Zhang Xu followed.
The female admin then pulled up Lin Huang's details.
"Name: Lin Huang, he's only 16 this year!" The female admin shouted.
"Scroll down." Li Feng was gloomy as he read Lin Huang's basic details while Zhang Xu looked furious.
As the female admin scrolled down, they found out that there was nothing else. Lin Huang had zero teaching experience, no graduating school, and no academical records.
"Dean Wang is too much! How dare he get someone who uses a short-cut? I've nothing to say if he found a person who is more powerful than me to replace me. But this kid called Lin Huang didn't even graduate from college. Is this a joke that he's teaching our students?!" Zhang Xu exclaimed, glaring at the director.
"Moreover, even if he's the college Vice President, it's wrong for him to step into the management, isn't it? He doesn't care about what we do here!"
"Send his details to my Emperor's Heart Ring. I'll go talk to Dean Wang!" Li Feng instructed the female admin. The female admin could tell that the director was furious from his tone, so she sent him Lin Huang's details immediately. As soon as he received the document, Li Feng walked out of the office instantly while Zhang Xu followed.
"Lao Li, I'm following you!"
The dean's office was above the registrar's office. In less than three minutes, the duo appeared at the office entrance of Dean Wang. Li Feng knocked on the door and Dean Wang looked up at the both of them. He knew what they were there for.
"Come in."
As the both of them entered the office, Li Feng did not know how he should start the conversation.
"I guess both of you are here to talk about the new teacher?" The Vice President Wang Zijun smiled at the both of them.
"Dean Wang, I've looked at Sir Lin's documents just now. I don't think he has what it takes to teach in our college." Seeing that Wang Zijun initiated the conversation, Li Feng voiced his opinion without holding back.
"Do you think the same, Sir Zhang?" Wang Zijun then smiled and looked at Zhang Xu.
"Yes." Zhang Xu nodded to show his agreement.
"Alright, since the both of you are here, I shall be straightforward then." Wang Zijun stood up, walked towards the both of them and smiled.
"It was Dean Liu's idea to put Sir Lin to teach sword realm in Year 1 Class 1. I've no idea who he is, and Dean Liu didn't say anything about him. I sent him to Year 1 Class 2 after discussing with Dean Liu. He said those who have any comments about Sir Lin could see him directly."
"It's Dean Liu's idea? And he wants Sir Lin to teach Class 1?!" The both of them knew that Wang Zijun would never make anything like that up as they could always confirm it with Dean Liu.
"I think the dean isn't here today." Zhang Xu and Li Feng had passed by the office earlier and had seen that the dean's office door was closed.
"The dean won't be here for a couple of months. He's breaking through his combat level," Wang Zijun explained.
"Breaking through his combat level…" Li Feng and Zhang Xu were shocked as they confirmed what they heard. As the teachers of Martial Hunter College, they knew Liu Ming's next combat level was imperial-level, which was also the highest in Division7.
"Before he left, he said those who need to talk to him can send him messages or call him. He'll pick up whenever he's free," Wang Zijun added.
Since Wang Zijun had said that, the duo knew that it was useless to talk to him any further. Thus, they left the office. Li Feng returned to his own office while Zhang Xu went to Dean Zhang's office in a fit. Zhang Xuefeng was immortal-level, so since Wang Zijun's office door was opened just now, he heard everything loud and clear. He knew why his grandson was here.
"I know what you want to tell me. There's nothing that I can do since Dean Liu wants Sir Lin to teach here," Zhang Xuefeng said.
"But there's a final assessment every semester, if Sir Lin's students don't perform well, I'll apply to the registrar's office to dismiss his teaching authorization," Zhang Xuefeng added.
Zhang Xu was still unsatisfied after hearing what Zhang Xuefeng said. As he had a powerful background, his journey in the college had been smooth during the past seven years. It was the first time that he was replaced by someone new. He could not get over that fact.
It was almost 8:30 a.m. as Zhang Xu left Zhang Xuefeng's office.
"A kid who's only 16 dares to replace me?! I'm not Zhang Xu if I don't teach you a lesson today!" Zhang Xu glared deadly.
It was 8.10 a.m. when Lin Huang arrived at the registrar's office after breakfast. He had no idea what had happened in the registrar's office and in the dean's office earlier. The Year 1 teacher's office was on the first floor, and the registrar was on the fourth floor while the dean's office was on the fifth floor. They were all on different floors.
Meanwhile, the teacher's offices were not arranged according to the levels of classes but types of classes instead. Those teaching sword skills would be in one office, blade skills in another while martial skills were in the next. The arrangement was made as there was a fight that broke out among teachers of different weapons before. The teachers in cultural studies were arranged into a few offices. There were 200 students in one cultural studies class whereby the programme was different from battle classes. If the battle classes used the same method, it would take forever for a class to correct the students' skills one by one. The class would be chaotic if there were too many students in one battle class.
Including Lin Huang, there were a total of 17 teachers teaching Year 1 blade skills. It was the second biggest programme after sword skills. Among the 3,000 new students, almost a third of them had enrolled in the sword realm programme. Many looked puzzledly at Lin Huang as he walked into the office as he was simply too young. It was obvious that he was not even 20; perhaps he was not even 18.
"Which class are you from? Do you need help?" A hot, short-haired female teacher asked Lin Huang.
"I'm actually the new teacher." Many were shocked at what Lin Huang said.
However, some of them soon sensed his aura that was gold-level rank-3. Lin Huang did not hide his aura. Instead, he just slightly shrouded it without displaying it. It was not difficult to sense his combat level. However, everyone focused on how young he was instead.
"Are you the new teacher who is replacing Zhang Xu?" A skinny middle-aged man looked at Lin Huang.
"Replacing Zhang Xu?" Lin Huang had no idea what he was talking about.
"You're teaching Class 2 sword skills, aren't you?" The female teacher asked Lin Huang.
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded.
"That's you then. Zhang Xu has been teaching Class 2 for the past seven years. Since you're replacing him, he might look for trouble with you. Be careful." The short-haired female teacher looked at Lin Huang with sympathy.
Some of them looked at Lin Huang with pity, others were cynical while some of them could not care less. Although they could sense that Lin Huang was gold-level rank-3, there was a huge difference between that and complete gold-level. Moreover, Zhang Xu had been complete gold-level for three years now. He had powerful battle abilities. Lin Huang was considered a genius since he managed to get to gold-level rank-3 when he was not even 20. However, to the teachers, they figured that they had to be weaker than Zhang Xu.
None of them knew that Lin Huang was only 16. They thought he looked 17 or 18, but perhaps he just looked young and might be over 20 now. They thought he had just graduated college with no battle experience.
"Thanks for the reminder." Lin Huang just found out that he had replaced someone after hearing what the short-haired teacher said. Looking at the others' reaction and from her description, he could tell that Zhang Xu was difficult to handle.
"What's the occasion?" Just when Lin Huang said that a voice came from the entrance. A tall person walked into the office. It was a man who was around 1.9 meters tall. He looked like he was in his 40's, and had a buzz-cut with a beard. He wore metal chains around his neck and did not look friendly. Lin Huang checked him out and figured he must be Zhang Hu who was finding fault with him.
"Yo, you must be the new teacher for the sword realm!" Zhang Xu recognized Lin Huang immediately as he had seen his photo and documents, so he walked straight towards him.
Lin Huang wanted to see what Zhang Xu would do to him. As he walked over to him, he patted Lin Huang's shoulder and smiled to the rest of them in the office.
"Let me introduce you. This is our new teacher. His family name is Lin, and he's only 16 this year. A 16-year-old teaching at the Martial Hunter College, isn't that great?"
Many looked in shock at Lin Huang. They did not expect him to be so young.
However, some of them looked puzzled. Since Lin Huang was already a gold-level rank-3 at the young age of 16, he must be talented or must come from a powerful family. They thought he must have an influential background since he was sent to teach at the Martial Hunter College at 16 and managed to pass through the dean and Vice Presidents. Zhang Xuefeng did not dare to question Lin Huang as he knew Liu Ming would not have sent him here for nothing. Although he had no idea who Lin Huang was, he decided to just watch what would happen.
What he told Zhang Xu was just to comfort him. If Lin Huang really had a powerful background, no matter how horrible his teaching skill was, he would not be kicked out just like that. If Lin Huang were really horrible, he would definitely work something out for his grandson. However, Zhang Xu did not think about all that. He was poor in academic studies since he was young. He depended on Zhang Xuefeng to get into the college. That was how he managed to teach in the college.
He had been an adventurer for many years since he graduated from college where he achieved great battle ability after years of killing. He was considered a talented teacher from all the experiences that he had accumulated. However, his talent was mediocre. Hence, he had remained stagnant on complete gold-level for a few years now.
He was protected by Zhang Xuefeng throughout all the years that he was teaching in the college. Nobody would offend him no matter how much of a bully he was in the college. Now that he was being replaced by a kid after teaching for seven years, he could not move on if he did not do something about it. He did not think deeper into the matter. He thought that all he would get for beating Lin Huang up was some scolding even if Lin Huang was Liu Ming's relative. He had his grandfather to protect him since Liu Ming was not in the college at the moment.
"Err… You must be Sir Zhang Xu." Lin Huang could tell who that was from Zhang Xu's tone.
Many knew that they were in for an exciting show as soon as they saw Zhang Xu walking into the Year 1 sword realm class office.
"You're… Sir Zhang Xu, aren't you?" Lin Huang knew he was in trouble.
"Yes, I'm Zhang Xu who's been teaching Class 2 for seven years and am now replaced by you." Zhang Xu smiled as he looked down at Lin Huang. Even the blind could tell that there was sarcasm in his smile.
"Sir Zhang, it's not I who decides which class to teach. I was just informed about that this morning. Before I stepped into this office, I didn't know that I was replacing you." Lin Huang shook off Zhang Xu's hand that was placed on his shoulder casually and turned around to look at him.
"I'm just starting my career here. I don't want to make the situation awkward for us since we're colleagues who'll be spending a long time together. I can see that you're also a professional hunter, Sir Zhang, so why not we solve this conflict like hunters?"
Most of the teachers were professional hunters. They knew what the hunter way meant. There were the occasional conflicts among hunters even if they knew each other for years. To solve such a situation, they would usually fight. No matter who won, as long as the anger was released, the conflict would be over after the fight.
What Lin Huang suggested was what Zhang Xu wanted. He was just thinking how to get Lin Huang to agree to fight him but now Lin Huang had suggested it himself.
"The hunter's way… I like it." Zhang Xu grinned.
"We must solve the conflict after all! I didn't expect a boy as young as you to have a temper like mine. But let's agree that no matter who wins, our conflict will end here. The one who loses won't play the fool behind the winner's back."
"Deal." Lin Huang smirked.
"Since we've agreed to solve this by fighting, let's do this as soon as possible. Let's do it today. We'll go someplace after the orientation." Zhang Xu grinned, not wanting to drag this out for too long.
"Why the trouble? Let's do it now." Lin Huang looked at the time projected from his Emperor's Heart Ring and smiled at Zhang Xu.
"We still have three minutes before 8:30 a.m."
Zhang Xu was surprised at Lin Huang's suggestion, but soon he figured that it was a trap. Since they only had three minutes, even if he won, he would not have enough time to beat Lin Huang up. Many of them who were watching thought Lin Huang was smart to set the battle to be three minutes long. They knew that Zhang Xu would agree to Lin Huang's suggestion based on Zhang Xu's temper. However, some of them were shocked at Lin Huang's suggestion as they knew he was not afraid of being beaten up. Instead, he had the confidence to defeat Zhang Xu within three minutes.
"Three minutes will be sufficient!" Zhang Xu agreed. He thought that with his ability, he would be able to defeat Lin Huang in a couple of minutes. Although three minutes was short, it was sufficient to teach Lin Huang a lesson.
"Let's do it here then." Lin Huang looked around and thought that the office was wide enough for them to fight. However, to the others, space was restricted as it was not as large as the training room. A gold-level human could easily damage the floor, walls and other equipment in the office. With the restriction, Zhang Wu would not be able to perform at his peak.
Zhang Xu had the same thought, but he grinned as he knew he had Zhang Xuefeng behind his back even if he destroyed the office. He did not mind the restriction; all he wanted was to beat Lin Huang up.
"Sure, since Sir Lin thinks here will do, let's do it here then." A 1-star sword relic appeared in Zhang Xu's hand. He did not plan to let Lin Huang speak any further so that he would not come up with more restrictions. The rest got out of the office and watched from the entrance so that they would not be affected.
Looking at the relic in Zhang Xu's hand, Lin Huang took out a golden weapon ring from his storage space and turned it into a golden sword.
"You don't have any sword relics?" Zhang Xu raised his eyebrow. He was considering if he should change his relic into a normal sword so that he would not be called a bully.
"This is good enough." Many thought what Lin Huang said was obnoxious as a relic was much more powerful than a weapon. It was clear that Zhang Xu was nothing to Lin Huang.
Zhang Xu became furious when he heard what Lin Huang said. He was still considering if he should change his sword, not caring even if he was called a bully!
They stood less than 20 meters across each other. Lin Huang stood where he was without any intention to attack. Zhang Xu was getting madder. He thought that since he was the senior here, he should be a gentleman and let Lin Huang attack first. However, now Lin Huang looked like he was dragging out his time.
The rest of the spectators thought that Lin Huang was playing it well as he was delaying. Some of them even looked at the time. It was only two minutes to 8:30 a.m.
"This kid is cunning!" Zhang Xu thought to himself.
"If you're not attacking, I shall attack then!" Zhang Xu said.
Lin Huang nodded with a smile.
Zhang Xu then dashed towards Lin Huang. There was a golden glow all over his body, and he looked majestic. The audience at the entrance exclaimed as the fierce aura came from his battle experiences. They started breathing heavily. Most of the teachers could not do what Zhang Xu was doing. Meanwhile, Lin Huang stood where he was without moving.
Within seconds, Zhang Xu appeared before Lin Huang. His sword relic that was like a golden torch was going for the sword in Lin Huang's hand instead of for his body.
"Damn kid, let me destroy your sword and I shall beat the shit out of you!" Zhang Xu grinned as he saw Lin Huang stood where he was without reacting.
Just when the swords collided, the sword in Lin Huang's hand flashed with a golden glow. He seemed to move a bit, but again, he seemed like he had not moved at all. Zhang Xu had no idea how he had passed through Lin Huang's body.
As he was trying to figure out what had happened, the body of his sword relic broke and fell on his feet. Later on, he heard another crunching sound. He looked down and saw the 1-star armor relic that he was wearing with a 20-centimeter crack at his waist. He could even see his tummy that was unhurt through the broken armor.
"Lin Huang did this?" Zhang Xu's body became stiff. His back was soaked in cold sweat. The people who were watching at the office entrance were stunned. As Zhang Xu's back was facing them, they could not see that his armor had broken. They only saw his broken sword.
A golden weapon sword broke a sword relic?! A white flame-level might not be able to do such a thing! Lin Huang had been underestimated. Now, everyone noticed that Lin Huang who was a gold-level rank-3 at the age of 16 was not only a genius in cultivation, he was a real genius himself.
Not only did Lin Huang manage to break Zhang Xu's 1-star sword relic, but he had also cut open his 1-star armor relic. He knew very well that a white flame-level could not do that; even a crimson flame-level person might not be able to do that. His mind went blank after that encounter. He was piecing a bunch of information in his head. Suddenly, he realized that he did not see the big picture. Now, he finally knew why Liu Ming got Lin Huang to teach Class 1 despite being new. No wonder Lin Huang did not have any fears during the battle and had chosen to fight with him in three minutes before the orientation. No wonder his grandfather had seemed to be fearful of Lin Huang when they talked about him in the office.
Although he had a terrible temper, Zhang Xu was not dumb after all. Looking at the casualty on his defense relic, he knew that Lin Huang could kill him in one hit since he was a genius. Recalling what happened just seconds ago, his neck turned stiff.
"What is this? Why is everyone crowding the entrance?"
A voice came from the office entrance, and the teachers opened a path for the person to enter. It was a man in a ponytail with a beard. He was much better-looking than Zhang Xu was. He wore a warrior attire in white on top and black at the bottom. He was shocked to see the broken sword in Zhang Xu's hand and the sword relic in Lin Huang's hand as he walked into the office.
Lin Huang put his sword calmly into his storage space as he checked out the man. He could sense that the man was holy fire-level, or even possibly, crimson flame-level or blue flame-level. His aura was much more powerful than Yi Yeyu's but slightly weaker than Yi Zheng's.
"Zhang Xu, who's this young man?" The man asked after checking out Lin Huang.
Zhang Xu put away his broken sword and the armor that he was wearing, then turned around with a forceful smile.
"Bro Qin, this is Sir Lin. He's the new teacher in our sword realm department."
"You're the new teacher, Lin Huang?" The man in ponytail raised his eyebrow. He had received the notification from the registrar's office this morning about this new teacher who would be teaching Class 2. He finally understood what happened to the broken sword in Zhang Xu's hand.
"Hi, my name is Qin Tianxing. I'm teaching sword realm in Class 1. Welcome on board."
"Hi." Lin Huang shook Qin Tianxing's hand.
"Sir Lin, Bro Qin is our Year 1 sword realm department director," Zhang Xu introduced to Lin Huang.
"Let's exchange numbers. You can talk to me if you have any questions in the college." Qin Tianxing was rather friendly.
"Let's exchange numbers," Zhang Xu said immediately, having given up on the thought of fighting Lin Huang.
"Sure." Lin Huang did not reject them and added the both of them to his phone book.
After adding each other, Qin Tianxing then added Lin Huang into two different group chats.
"One of the group chats is our sword realm department chat. All teachers in the department from Year 1 to Year 3 are in there. Another one will be the group chat for Martial Hunter College whereby all the teachers are in them, including some who have left the college. You can always mute the group chats and look at the messages whenever you have the time. You can ignore the friend requests in the group chats if you want to."
Lin Huang muted the two group chats without thinking twice. He would be distracted if he did not do so as he needed to spend his time studying and training every day.
"I guess everybody knows you now. It's late. Let's go to the orientation now. I'll introduce you to some of our colleagues and discuss the sword realm." Qin Tianxing saw that it was 8:30 p.m, so he got everyone to head to the orientation.
The orientation as held at the Martial Hunter College field. As Lin Huang and the rest arrived, all 3,000 new students were already present. The registrar had categorized the students into 15 cultural studies classes of 200 students each on the field. The teachers of each department arrived accordingly with the sword realm department considered to be the earliest. With Qin Tianxing's lead, they sat on the seats that were arranged by the registrar's office.
As they were seated, Lin Huang looked at the students and noticed Lin Xin immediately. Because Lin Xin was short, she was sitting in the first row in Class 1. There were only more than 100 teachers in the crowd, so Lin Xin noticed him soon and made a funny face at him. Lin Huang smiled and nodded at her.
The students noticed Lin Huang too.
"Is that person a teacher? Why is he sitting with the teachers? He looks like he's the same age as us." Some of the students were puzzled when they saw him.
"Who are you talking about?" A person beside asked.
"There's a guy in the sword realm department who looks one or two years older than us."
"Eh, that's true. He looks 16 or 17 the most. He can't be 18 already!" A bunch of students soon noticed Lin Huang.
"He's so handsome!" A girl commented.
"I think he's a teacher. It's just that he looks young. He must be an uncle in his 20's. Don't be deceived by his looks!" A hunk, who looked like he was almost 30 but was 15, could not stand people who looked younger than they really were.
"You're an uncle!" A girl said.
"Maybe he's a teacher's family member who's here to visit the school," a person speculated.
As Lin Huang sat far away from the students as well as the noise, he had no idea that he had become the topic of discussion among the students. Qin Tianxing was introducing Lin Huang to other teachers of the same department.
"This is Mu Xiaolan. She's one of two ladies in our department. She used to teach Class 3, but now she's teaching Class 4." Qin Tianxing was talking about the hot, short-haired female teacher who had reminded Lin Huang in the office.
"Xiaolan has already mastered the sword realm. She's our sword realm genius here."
"Bro Qin, stop teasing me, I dare not call myself a genius in front of Sir Lin." Mu Xiaolan waved her hands. She would admit that she was a genius before others, but now that she knew how powerful Lin Huang was, calling herself a genius would be a joke.
"This is another ladies in the department, Yu Fei. She's teaching Class 11." Qin Tianxing pointed at the lady in the blue dress.
This lady was much quieter compared to Mu Xiaolan. All she did was nod at Lin Huang as she smiled when Qin Tianxing introduced her. She was beautiful with a great vibe, but she seemed shy. She did not look like a sword realm teacher, more like a teacher teaching cultural studies.
"I bet you know Zhang Xu already. He has rich battle abilities. Many students love his classes as his programme is practical."
"That's too flattering!" Zhang Xu waved his hands. Since the fight earlier, he knew that Lin Huang was much more powerful than he was in real battles. He was embarrassed to hear Qin Tianxing's compliment.
"This is Zhao Gan who's teaching Class 5…"
Lin Huang was introduced to his 16 colleagues before the orientation started. With his amazing memory, he had memorized all of their names because it would be awkward if he called the wrong names in the future. The orientation started at 9 a.m. sharp. The first one to speak was Dean Wang. He talked about the history of the college as well as the famous people who were born from the college. The second one who was speaking was Dean Zhang, who only did the formalities.
They did not speak too long. The both of them only spoke less than twenty minutes combined. Later on was the speech by the registrar's office director, Li Feng. He mainly talked about the college management and some of the things that the students should take note of. He finished in less than ten minutes. The longest speech was from the director of cultural studies. Perhaps, he got used to giving three hours of lectures, so he spoke for half an hour, which was longer than the previous three combined. He only stopped speaking after the secretary reminded him.
Finally, it was the student representative called Mu Xiao. He was one of the students who had gotten full scores in his graduating exam in Division 7. He was also the only one among the three who had enrolled into Martial Hunter College. Everyone had their attention on Mu Xiao as he walked onto the stage.
"Hi, everyone, my name is Mu Xiao. I'm top 1 among all the new students in the college. I plan to sit on my spot until I graduate. The rest of you can fight to get to second place."
"My goal is to get to Transcendent within three years and become the youngest Transcendent in Division 7! I want to be the mountain that all students in Martial Hunter College won't be able to cross in 100 years!"
Mu Xiao walked off the stage obnoxiously after giving his speech. Lin Huang smirked as he heard the kid's goal to become the youngest Transcendent in Division 7.
"Young people are full of energy!"
"Lin Huang, how long would you take to get to complete gold-level?" Mu Xiaolan who was not far away asked while smiling.
"The most would be a month." Lin Huang grinned back at her.
"Then, the kid's dream will be ruined. Even if he managed to get to holy fire-level in three years, he would be top 2." Mu Xiaolan giggled while covering her mouth.
"It's great that the young people are ambitious." Lin Huang could tell that Mu Xiao was only 15, but he was already bronze-level rank-1. He definitely had the right to be obnoxious.
"This kid is in kendo. It seems like the department will be ahead of us this year." Qin Tianxing shook his head.
Lin Huang just realized that the competition among departments was much more competitive than he thought. After Mu Xiao's speech, the orientation ended after the secretary spoke. The students and teachers left accordingly.
"Lin Huang, there's a dinner tonight, but teachers who don't want to join can skip the dinner," Qin Tianxing reminded him.
"I won't be joining then. You guys have fun. I'll be preparing my teaching materials these few days," Lin Huang rejected directly.
"Sure, focus on your teaching materials. I shall not disturb you then." Qin Tianxing knew that the teachers who were teaching for the first time would be nervous as he had experienced the same thing before.
"Your class will be next Friday afternoon, right? I'll sit in," Qin Tianxing said.
"Please do!" Lin Huang knew that Qin Tianxing was worried that he could not manage. He probably planned to help him when that happened.
As Qin Tianxing left, Lin Huang saw Lin Xin running towards him.
"So, have you met your classmates?" Lin Huang smiled.
"I guess so. There are just too many people in cultural studies. There are a total of 200 of them. It's good that I can remember some of the names."
"It's the first day of school. You shouldn't have any classes, should you?" Lin Huang asked. He only knew his class would be next Friday, but he had no idea about the other students and teachers.
"Classes will officially start tomorrow. It's just going to be this orientation and student ID registration this morning and moving into the dorms in the afternoon. Year 1 and Year 2 students aren't allowed to stay outside of school, so I'll drop by your dorm in the afternoon to move out my stuff." Lin Xin was excited as it was her first time staying in school. She had stayed outside previously and had never stayed together with other girls in the dorm. Moreover, now that Lin Huang was teaching at the Martial Hunter College, she could see him anytime she wanted so it made no difference to her.
However, Lin Huang was upset as it felt like he was letting go of his child. Although he was a traveler, Lin Xin had become his family member that he could not lose over the years.
"Don't worry about me. I'll take good care of myself. Since you're in the college as well, I'll definitely call you if anybody bullies me," Lin Xin comforted him as she noticed that he was upset.
"If anybody, no matter who, dares to bully you, I'll make them pay the price," Lin Huang said in all seriousness.
"Alright then, go pick up your student ID. I'll help you move in the afternoon." Lin Huang patted Lin Xin's head while smiling.
"It's okay. You can prepare your teaching materials. I don't have much stuff anyway. I'll just have to throw all of them into my storage space." Lin Xin waved her hand.
"Alright, I'm leaving now!" Lin Xin ran and joined the queue.
"Ling Xue, who's that person?" A tall girl asked Lin Xin.
Ling Xue was Lin Xin's alter ego that Lin Huang had created for her when they arrived in Winter City half a year ago to prevent the Purple Crow from finding them. Lin Xin had used the name to get into the Martial Hunter College.
"He's so handsome!" The two girls next to her commented.
Lin Huang stood where he was while watching Lin Xin leave. He set his alarm clock on his Emperor's Heart Ring and headed to the library. After reading for more than an hour, his alarm clock rang at 11:30 p.m. Lin Huang turned off the alarm clock and headed to the dorm. He stopped walking when he arrived not far away from his dorm as he could see someone moving in the dorm through the window on the second floor.
Lin Xin seemed to have completed her packing and was cleaning. Lin Huang thought about it and stayed where he was while watching Lin Xin from the window. She was smiling, and Lin Huang could sense that she was humming like she usually did. Half an hour later, Lin Xin seemed to finish what she was doing and opened the door. Lin Huang quickly hid behind the tree. Lin Xin looked around, seeming to be upset. She closed the door and walked slowly towards the path under the trees.
After a while, Lin Huang leaped from the tree and looked at the direction where Lin Xin left. He then headed to the dorm after she disappeared. The dorm was clean. Even the living room that was usually messy was tidy now. Lin Huang walked to the second floor. Besides the furniture, everything in Lin Xin's room was moved out. Looking at the empty wardrobe and the little lamp on the table that Lin Xin loved the most which were now gone, Lin Huang felt empty.
He walked out of her room and headed to his own room, which was being cleaned. There was a note on the bed head. He walked over quickly and looked at the note that was slipped under the lamp.
"Brother, I'll learn to be independent from today onwards. I'll take care of myself without having you to worry about me. Please take good care of yourself, eat when it's time, and rest when it's time. Don't forget about the time whenever you're training," Lin Xin had scrawled gracefully on the note.
"This girl has really grown up…"
Lin Xin moved out of Lin Huang's dorm when the semester started on 1st September. For the next couple of days, Lin Huang basically spent all his time in the library besides sleeping. If the library did not close at midnight, he might have even slept in the library instead. He had been reading all kinds of information these days. Besides Sword Dao, he was also reading up about the history of Division 7's development, events of famous people, confidential information of organizations and all sorts of monsters. He did not miss out on anything that might be useful for his classes. He was like a piece of sponge, absorbing all the essence of information.
Time passed by fast. It was 5th September, which was a Friday. Lin Huang's Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated when it was 1.30 p.m. He left the library and headed to the teacher's office. All the teachers in the Martial Hunter College had their freedom as they only had to be in their assigned classes when it was time. There was hardly anyone in the office during normal days besides the teachers who rested before their classes started. The teachers hardly saw each other when the college had no activities. Whereas at the cultural studies office, since there were teachers of all subjects, the teachers saw each more than the ones in Lin Huang's department did.
When Lin Huang arrived at the office around 1.40 p.m, there was someone sitting in the office. It was not Qin Tianxing who promised to sit in. Instead, it was Mu Xiaolan.
"Ms. Mu, you have a class in the afternoon too?" Lin Huang greeted her with a smile. She had no idea who had classes on the same day as he did.
"Yes," Mu Xiaolan smiled as she replied. She had referred to the timetable of the department, so she was not surprised to see Lin Huang at all.
After greeting her, Lin Huang sat back in his seat. He was rather nervous. Although he had done product introduction and presentations to customers during his working days back on Earth, teaching was completely different from meeting clients. If he was lousy, the students might boo him off the podium. He was anxious when he thought about it, and he started looking at the time after sitting for a while. It had only been two minutes.
"Sir Lin, it must be your first time teaching." Mu Xiaolan noticed Lin Huang's anxiety.
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded.
"Don't be. Just give a simple introduction about yourself and start your class with what you've prepared. There are usually a couple of troublemakers in the class. Don't be afraid of them, just push them down your own way. If you encounter any problems during your class, just take note of the mistake and never repeat it. You'll improve from there. Your students will definitely see how sincere you are in teaching," Mu Xiaolan advised.
"I remembered my first class. I was even more nervous than you are. I lost count of how many times I went to the washroom before the class started. I was afraid that I might need to use the washroom during my three-hour lecture. There's something worse that happened during class. I stuttered… But after speaking for a couple of minutes with my stutter, I noticed that there were students who were paying attention, so I calmed myself down, and the class became smoother and smoother," Mu Xiaolan shared her own experience.
Lin Huang was slightly calm after listening to her story.
"What are you guys talking about?" A voice came from the entrance. The both of them looked to the entrance while Qin Tianxing walked slowly into the office.
"I was telling my embarrassing experience of teaching to Sir Lin." Mu Xiaolan laughed.
"Boss Qin, why are you here today?"
"It's Sir Lin's first class today, so I'm sitting in," Qin Tianxing explained.
"With you around, I'm sure the class will be smooth-sailing. It's time. I shall go to my class now. You guys can continue talking." Mu Xiaolan smiled at Lin Huang. She looked at the time and left.
Lin Huang checked the time as well. It was 1:55 p.m. when Mu Xiaolan left.
"Don't be nervous. It's just teaching. It's much easier than killing monsters." Qin Tianxing laughed. He had heard about Lin Huang these few days and found out that he was appointed by Liu Ming to teach. After asking the other teachers, he also found out that Lin Huang was a sword genius. He was interested to know more about Lin Huang now. He knew very well that with his crimson flame-level and level-2 sword realm, Liu Ming's decision to replace him was nothing spontaneous but more because Lin Huang was capable.
He had been secretly experimenting attempts to break a 1-star sword relic with a gold-level weapon sword himself these couple of days, but he failed. He now realized that he was not on par with Lin Huang on the Sword Dao. At first, he was just friendly to agree to sit in Lin Huang's class as he thought Lin Huang had managed to replace Zhang Xu because of his powerful background. However, now his purpose of sitting in had changed. He wanted to know how powerful Lin Huang really was.
"I think killing monsters is much easier." Lin Huang smiled awkwardly.
"Don't think too much. Just follow what you've prepared. I'll help you if you make any mistakes or leave something out." Qin Tianxing patted Lin Huang's shoulder.
"Thanks, Bro Xin." Lin Huang was relieved to hear that.
"It's almost time, let's go," Qin Tianxing said.
The Martial Hunter College building was less than 300 meters across the office building. The Year 1 students were on the first floor. Soon, Qin Tianxing brought Lin Huang to the Class 2 of Sword Dao class. Half of the classroom, which accommodated 100 people, was occupied when the both of them arrived. All of the students were present. Seeing them walk in, most of them looked at Qin Tianxing as they thought he was the teacher while Lin Huang was just a latecomer.
However, the students were puzzled when they saw Qin Tianxing take a seat in the last row of the classroom. Meanwhile, Lin Huang walked up to the podium. Just when he did, the bell rang. Most of the students looked confused at Lin Huang while many of them turned to Qin Tianxing who was sitting in the last row. Lin Huang took a deep breath and started speaking after clearing his throat when the bell ring ended.
"Hi, everyone. My name is Lin Huang. From today onwards, I'll be your teacher for Sword Dao…"
A bunch of students looked in confusion at Lin Huang in the Year 1 Class 2 as he looked too young to be a teacher. His appearance seemed like he was only 16 or 17, and he was definitely no older than 18. Some of them had noticed him at the orientation and thought that Lin Huang was one of the teacher's relatives, or else he would not have appeared among the teachers.
As Lin Huang introduced himself, a hunk who was sitting at the back raised his hand.
"Do you have a question for me?" Lin Huang nodded to him.
"Sir, if you don't mind, may we know how old you are?" The boy's question was what all of the students wanted to ask.
"I'm 16 this year." Lin Huang chose to tell the truth.
When he said that, the class became chaotic. Most of the students in the class were 15, and some of them were 14 while there were two of them who were the same age as him. Most of the 16-year-olds should be still studying instead of being a teacher. As most of the students were quite intelligent, they could tell from Lin Huang's age that he had never been to college.
"Sir, may I know which college did you go to?" A handsome boy sitting in front asked.
"I've never been to college."
What he said was like launching a ticking bomb. All of the 50 students were enraged.
"Then, what makes you think that you're qualified to teach us?!" The boy who asked the question stood up and glared at Lin Huang.
"There are 50 of us in this class. More than half of us are top students from B-grade footholds. Among billions of graduating students in the entire Division 7, we're easily the top 3,000! So, what makes you think that you, who has never been to college before, qualified to teach us?!"
Lin Huang was helpless. He knew the truth would create such a chaos among the students. After all, they were top students who were selected from Division 7, so their pride was expected. Just when he was trying to explain, Qin Tianxing who was sitting at the back stood up.
"Silence!"
The class went completely silent as he bellowed. Many of the students turned around to look at him but they quickly looked away due to his intimidating power.
Qin Tianxing walked to the podium and sat next to Lin Huang while glaring furiously at the boy who had questioned Lin Huang.
"Sit down!"
The boy wanted to talk back but looking at Qin Tianxing's eyes, he obeyed and sat down. After the boy sat down, Qin Tianxing looked around the class and started speaking.
"My name is Qin Tianxing. I believe all of you who have looked through our college's information base would have heard of me. It's okay if you haven't. I'm the Martial Hunter College teacher who's teaching Year 1 Class 1 Dao of the sword. I'm also the department director, and I've been teaching here for five years. I believe I have the right to speak."
The students did not dare to say anything after finding out who Qin Tianxing was.
"Since you guys asked what makes Sir Lin qualified to teach, I shall answer that question.
"Firstly, all of the colleges in Division 7 have no restrictions on a teacher's academic experience. In fact, more than 30% of the teachers in the colleges in the entire Division 7 have never been to college. Many teachers come from the Hunter Association and the Adventurer's Paradise. Some of them were even chosen from the Union Government military. Many of them have completed their organization assessment without attending college, and they grew throughout the journey. Compared to those who graduated from college, they have more battle experiences.
"Although all of you are top students, if all of you enter the Reserve Hunter assessment now, I'm sure it would be great if one among 50 of you can pass the assessment. Don't talk about you guys. Even if the 100 students in Class 1 were to join, less than 50 of them can pass the assessment.
"If I'm not mistaken, Sir Lin next to me here passed the assessment when he was your age." Qin Tianxing looked at Lin Huang.
"I passed the assessment last year in June and got my hunter license in December," Lin Huang nodded and said calmly.
"Did you hear that? Sir Lin got his hunter license at the age of 15. May I know which of you had gotten your hunter license in December?" Qin Tianxing asked. Nobody said a thing. Although they would have three months to learn and prepare, none of the students had the confidence to pass the Reserve Hunter assessment, let alone get the hunter license.
"Whether Sir Lin graduated from college or not, at least his ability has surpassed far from you guys when he was your age. Doesn't that make him worth learning from?" Many fell into deep thought after Qin Tianxing said that.
"Although our college doesn't have many teachers who didn't graduate from college, there are 17% of them this year. The 17% were appointed by the dean and the Vice President as well as having gone through a strict assessment. Since the dean passed their assessment, that shows they're qualified to teach and are no less than other teachers. It's wrong for you guys to judge a book by its cover.
"Moreover, everyone knows that the strongest subject that we have is the Saber Dao department. Ye Tiankong is the one teaching Year 3 Class 1 Saber Dao, and he has never been to college as well. None of the students in the class made any noise about him. Since the Saber Dao students didn't discriminate a teacher who has never graduated from college, can't we from the Sword Dao class do the same?"
After Qian Tianxing spoke, he looked at the students again. Many of them had their hands lowered.
"No matter what, you can only judge whether Sir Lin is qualified to teach after he finishes his class. You guys don't even know what he's going to talk about. You're disrespectful for complaining after hearing his self-introduction. You're also disrespectful to the Martial Hunter College, especially troublemakers like you." Qian Tianxing looked at the boys who were sitting in the front row who had said that Lin Huang was not qualified to teach.
"Please apologize to Sir Lin."
Although the main boy was reluctant, he could not talk back to Qian Tianxing. As a student of the Sword Dao, he was reluctant to admit that he was worse than the Saber Dao students. After struggling in his mind, he stood up and bowed to Lin Huang.
"Sir Lin, I apologize for my reckless comment. I shouldn't discriminate against teachers who have never graduated from college. But if your standard doesn't reach my expectations, I'll apply to change to another class."
The boy was stubborn. Although he had apologized, he was obviously skeptical of Lin Huang's teaching abilities.
"I accept your apology, and I understand your opinion. If you don't like me after I finish my class, you, I won't stop you from changing class."
"Alright, I shall pass the podium to Sir Lin. I hope you guys will pay attention." Seeing that the issue was solved, Qin Tianxing nodded to Lin Huang and walked to the back of the classroom.
Lin Huang was not mad at the students being skeptical of his teaching ability as he could put himself in the students' shoes. He would be skeptical of a teacher who was only a year older than he was. It was understandable for the students not to believe in him as he was not educated. However, he knew that he could gain the students' trust by teaching the class with his best.
"This is my first time teaching. To be honest, I'm anxious. Before I came here, my master told me that as long as I don't teach the wrong things, I can teach however I want to. I know my own abilities, but I accepted this role as I know this might be the only opportunity for me to enter Martial Hunter College to learn."
Seeing that many students looking puzzled, he smiled and explained, "Yes, my purpose here is the same with all of you. I'm here to learn. Teaching is a process of learning. I hope to learn and improve myself together with all of you here.
"I'm done talking about things that are unrelated to the class. Let's start the class officially."
After speaking what he had in mind, Lin Huang then started teaching.
"Sword Dao is one of the earliest battle techniques in the human world. It has always been the most used battle technique all this time. The history of Life Power has existed since more than 800 years ago, but Sword Dao existed even earlier than Life Power did. Not only during the old epoch, even during the ancient epoch, no matter how much the cultivation system has changed, Sword Dao has also always been one of the most popular battle techniques.
"The sword skill is basically categorized into three types which are offensive, defensive, and a combination of both. To break them down, there are different forms of strength, speed, assassination, and so on for offensive styles while there are barrier and counterattack forms of defensive styles. There are more complicated types if we are to break down the combinations.
"Although there are three types of categories, the sword skill was created to kill, so most of them are offensive skills. However, what I'm trying to say is that training sword isn't just about learning to kill…"
A tall and strong student raised up his hand as Lin Huang spoke.
"Yes, do you have any questions?"
"Sir Lin, since you said that sword skill was created to kill, then why can't we just learn to kill? Doesn't killing fulfill the purpose of sword skill? What's the purpose of learning non-killing skills?"
"That's a good question." Lin Huang nodded and continued to lead the class with that question.
"In reality, no matter which weapon you use, whether it's sword, saber, spear, or your fist, everyone tends to learn to kill as its the fastest way to increase one's ability. But I must remind all of you on our first class that the more killings that come from the killing skill, the stronger a person's brutality aura becomes. At some point, the accumulation of brutality aura will enter the person's brain and even into the person's soul. If it were just the brain, the person will go crazy while if the aura goes into one's soul, the person's life form will be distorted and eventually turned into a monster such as a sword or a saber slave."
What Lin Huang said shocked everyone in the class. Even Qin Tianxing was shocked to hear this theory for the first time. He had seen people who trained until they went crazy like what Lin Huang mentioned but he had never heard of anyone turning into a sword or a saber slave. A few students raised up their hands after Lin Huang finished talking about the theory.
"Please speak," Lin Huang pointed at a girl and said.
"Sir Lin, I've heard of people who have gone crazy from training. But do you have any proof of the brutality aura that enters soul making a person's life form to change?" All of the students who had raised their hands wanted to ask the same thing the girl just asked.
"It's one of the soul transformations which happens to people under an intense trigger. Demonification is one of them. There are some special cases where people may experience life form change from a viral infection."
"If any of you are interested in this topic, you can go to the library to read these two books. One is 'Life Evolution and Mutation' and the other is 'The Soul's Foundation'. You can find what I've just said in these two books and even some supporting cases. I shall not go further into this topic," Lin Huang said.
"Now, let me get back to Sword Dao." Lin Huang looked at the students. He knew this interesting piece of information would gauge the attention of these curious kids.
"As the killing skills grow the brutality aura, there's also spiritual cultivation for Sword Dao. Some of the sword skills might not look like they're for killing, but they're suitable for one to calm their spirit. Among all, the Buddhist Sword Withdrawal is the most popular one. Although there are only six words (in Chinese) in this skill, it's very effective. The Ruler Withdrawal evolved from that."
Everyone in the class was puzzled at what Lin Huang just said, including Qin Tianxing.
"What I initially thought was to teach all of you the spiritual cultivation in our first class. However, it takes time to see the effect, and it's not exactly helpfully in killing and real battles, so I gave up on that idea. Considering that killing is more vital, I shall teach you a killing skill today."
Many of them were excited.
"Follow me to the training ground," Lin Huang said and brought the bunch of students to training ground No.101. Qin Tianxing thought it was ridiculous as the teaching of Sword Dao usually took place at the outdoor training ground, but Lin Huang was leading them somewhere else. As they arrived at training ground No.101, Qin Tianxing finally understood what Lin Huang was trying to do. He walked faster and caught up with Lin Huang.
"This training ground isn't open to the public. Only the dean has the keys."
"So do I." Lin Huang took out the keys and shook them in front of Qin Tianxing, then opened the training ground's door.
The bunch of students dashed into the training ground immediately as soon as the door was opened.
"Where did you get the keys?" Qin Tianxing pulled Lin Huang aside and asked.
"Dean Liu gave them to me. Why?" Lin Huang thought his question was odd.
"This is the battle training ground for Transcendents where it's only opened once or twice every year for the college teachers and teachers from other schools to train," Qin Tianxing explained.
"It's okay since nobody's using this place anyway. If the dean prohibits this, he'll take the keys away from me when he's back." Lin Huang knew Liu Ming would not mind.
Lin Huang turned around to the students. All of them were looking around. It was their first time seeing such a massive battle training ground.
"Look at how happy there are. Isn't it great that this environment interests them to pay attention in class?" What Lin Huang said made Qin Tianxing speechless. He thought about it. Since Dean Liu had given Lin Huang the keys, that meant he trusted Lin Huang, so there was no point for him to stop Lin Huang. However, he started thinking about what kind of relationship Lin Huang had with Dean Liu.
The students got into a circle in the battle training ground while Lin Huang stood in the middle and spoke clearly, "The first sword skill that I'm going to teach you today is an attacking sword skill called Sanguinary Kill Form. This sword skill comes from the Union Government's military's battle sword skill called Sanguinary Battle Sweep. The original Sanguinary Battle Sweep belongs to a battlefield sword skill of 13 forms suitable to kill enemies on the battlefield. I've tweaked it into eight forms instead with more powerful tactics that are more suitable for singular killing."
"The original Sanguinary Battle Sweep needs a certain strength and Life Power from the performer. If the person's strength isn't up to standard, he'll hurt himself instead. The longer he trains, the more injuries he would have underlying in his body. If Life Power isn't involved, the effect won't be anything powerful. The Sanguinary Kill Forms that's been tweaked is more of a practice of tactic without strength and Life Power. There won't be any side effects if one trains it for a long period. As long as the skill is there, without using Life Power, it could cause sufficient harms to monsters."
After some explanation of the sword skill, Lin Huang took out a wooden sword.
"Let me demonstrate once for you. Please stand back. The best would be 50 meters away."
Although the students thought that 50 meters were too much, they followed anyway.
Meanwhile, Qin Tianxing raised his eyebrow as he would also ask his students to stand 50 meters away if he was to teach the class. However, Lin Huang was only using a wooden sword which could not hold too much Life Power, so he thought it was unnecessary that Lin Huang asked the students to stand so far back.
Of course, Lin Huang, who was holding the wooden sword, did not care what Qin Tianxing was thinking of him. As he activated his Life Power, the wooden sword in his hand was covered in golden Life Power and shining brightly within seconds. The students were stunned as they watched. They had just found out that Lin Huang was a gold-level. Before one arrived at Transcendent-level, besides those who had unique Life Skills which was rare, most people's Life Power color changed as they leveled up. The Life Power color would be black when one was on iron-level, greenish gray on bronze level, silver on silver-level, and gold on gold-level.
When the students heard that Lin Huang was 16, they thought he was only bronze-level, or at the most, silver-level. Looking at the golden Life Power covering the wooden sword, they finally realized that their teacher was a genius. Perhaps only a few arrived at gold-level at the tender age of 16 throughout 800 years in the entire Division7. However, some of the students were in disbelief. They thought he was trained in some special Life Skill which caused his Life Power's color to change.
They turned around to ask Qin Tianxing, "Sir Qin, did Sir Lin's Life Power turned to gold because he practiced some special Life Skill?"
Qin Tianxing shook his head.
"Sir Lin is already a gold-level rank-3. If everything goes as planned, he should be able to get to Transcendent this year, becoming the youngest Transcendent in the history of Division."
Although Qin Tianxing did not speak very loudly, the students around heard him clearly and looked in shock at Lin Huang. They were just students, but they knew how terrifying it was for a 16-year-old to be Transcendent-level.
"Could Sir Lin be the… the legendary genius?" A student asked.
"From what I know, he has the ability to perform cross-ranking kill by killing Transcendent monsters," Qin Tianxing confirmed.
Those who heard looked at Lin Huang with respect. Meanwhile, Lin Huang, who was in the middle of the training ground, swung his sword at a slower pace to show how the sword skill was performed. With the help of the sword realm, cracks of 30 meters long appeared on the field of grass. The students were stunned at the skill. They were brought into the realm as if they were watching a powerful sword trainer fighting a giant beast. Qin Tianxing was stunned when he saw Lin Huang brandishing his sword, and he was soon excited. He had arrived on level-2 of the Sword Dao, but he was just stepping in. Looking at Lin Huang's performance, he could tell that Lin Huang was near level-3.
Watching such a performance was beneficial to him. He was soon indulging in the performance. Lin Huang spent more than a minute showing the eight forms of sword skills before putting his sword away.
"I've demonstrated three times just now. Did all of you get the forms?" Lin Huang looked at everyone. Many of them were shocked, which showed that what he was doing was effective.
"It's okay if you didn't manage to memorize them as I have reordered a video from my training a few days ago. I'll create a group chat and I'll add all of you in, so you guys can download the video and learn from it."
Lin Huang then created a group chat and projected the barcode that the app had generated.
"Scan the barcode to join the group chat. I'll upload all the documents into the group chat and you guys can download them yourself."
The students scanned their Emperor's Heart Rings immediately and Qin Tianxing followed too. Lin Huang did not say anything when he saw that.
With 50 students in the class plus Lin Huang and Qin Tianxing, the group chat now had 52 persons. Seeing that everyone was in the group chat, Lin Huang uploaded his training of the sword skill that he had recorded a few days ago. The students quickly downloaded the video into their Emperor's Heart Rings. Qin Tianxing did the same too.
"There are still around two hours left in the class. I'll let all of you train the sword skill by following the video. Before that, I would like to brief you about the arrangement that I have for next week." Lin Huang muted the group chat and turned off the communication page on his Emperor's Heart Ring.
"Next week, I shall test this Sanguinary Kill Forms with all of you. If I'm satisfied with your progress next week, I'll bring you guys to the wild zone to do real battle practices on the third week. But if you don't reach my expectations, I'll test you guys on the third week again. Having said that, before I'm satisfied with your progress, I won't bring you guys to the wild zone to train, and I won't be teaching you any new sword skills!"
Lin Huang sounded determined. The students were excited when they heard the first half of his briefing as all of them were anticipating real battles but what he said in the last part became pressure to most of them. A petite girl raised her hand.
"Please speak!" Lin Huang nodded.
"But the school will do a battle drill on the fifth week for all students, and the results will be calculated into the final assessment. What if we don't reach your expectation on the fourth week? Do we have to give up on the battle drill on the fifth week?" The girl asked shyly.
"That's right. If you guys don't reach my expectation on the fourth week, I'll get the school to disqualify all of your from joining the battle drill on the fifth week! All of you will get zero for that!" Lin Huang did not look like he was joking.
What he had just said made the harmonious environment chaotic.
"That's not fair! What gives you the right to do that?" A short hair boy shouted at him.
"There's no fairness in this world. The so-called fairness is fighting for yourself with your own abilities." Lin Huang looked at the boy in all seriousness.
"Do you know why is the Hunter Association's assessment is so difficult every time? Even if it was just a Reserve Hunter assessment, some iron-level rank-3 can't pass. Not that the Hunter Association don't want more people to join them. The reason why they set the standard so high is to minimize the death rate. If they set the standard lower, there'll be more people dying. The high standard acts as a protection for the weaker ones to avoid them from digging their own graves."
"The reason why I have such high standard for you guys is the same. It'll be meaningless if I let you join the battle drill before you're capable. You'll be safe with the protection of your teacher during the battle drill but what happens three years later? When all of you join your own organizations respectively, without your teacher, have you ever thought of the consequences of not having sufficient abilities?!
"I know some of you would disagree with my idea before I even decided as it would affect your results and possibly leave a dark spot on your education record. But what I'm sure is that three years later, as you guys step into your organization respectively, you'll agree that what I'm doing is right."
"Moreover, it's not that I don't give you enough time. It's just the first week, so you guys still have three weeks to practice. If you manage to reach my standard before that, I'll give you a battle drill before time. By the fifth week, you guys will have the privilege over the students from other classes. If you want me to know if you're a real genius, show me what you've really got!"
"What kind of shitty teacher is he!? What right does he have to disqualify us from joining the battle?!" Zhou Ling demanded angrily as she walked out of the battle training ground. She was the petite girl who had raised her hand to remind Lin Huang about the battle on the fifth week.
"He does have the right. He's our Sword Dao teacher. According to the Martial Hunter College Teacher Condition No. 12, if the teacher decides that the student isn't qualified, he can take away the student's battle qualifications and assign the student zero marks in battle," a short-haired girl next to her said expressionlessly.
"Xiao Hui, whose side are you really on?!" Zhou Ling was exasperated. The short-haired girl was her dorm mate, so she did not expect the girl to stand on Lin Huang's side.
"I'm just telling the truth." Shangguan Hui remained expressionless.
"I think what Sir Lin said is right. Now that we have our teacher with us during the battle, most of us will treat it as a game without taking it seriously. If there's nobody protecting us after we graduate, we would have to depend on ourselves. We will definitely die if we don't have sufficient ability. Instead of regretting it in the future, it's better to treat the battle as a real one. At least, we have the opportunity to make mistakes now. During the real battle, we won't stand a chance."
"But…" Although Zhou Ling agreed with what Shangguan Hui said and did not have anything to retort, she was furious.
"Everyone is unhappy not because Sir Lin is wrong, but because he has yet to trust to us. Basically, he's just too young. If it was Sir Qin who had said that, I bet not many people would be mad at him," Shangguan Hui explained further.
Zhou Ling thought about it. If it had really been Sir Qin who had said that, she might complain, but she might not question the teacher's intentions.
"So what? He's not much older than us. Who gave him the right to show off to us?!" Zhou Ling remained stubborn.
"Well, he really does have the right to show off. Don't forget that he got his Hunter license when he was only 15. Not only that, I heard just now that Sir Lin is already on gold-level rank-3 and he might be the youngest one who will reach Transcendent-level in the entire Division 7 this year. Not only that, although he's only gold-level rank-3 now, he has the ability to kill Transcendent-level monsters already." Shangguan Hui heard what Qin Tianxing said in the battle training ground earlier.
"What, a 16-year-old Transcendent-level?" Zhou Ling could not believe that.
"I don't think it's a lie since it came from Sir Qin. A person usually needs three to four months to level up from gold-level rank-3 to complete gold-level. As soon as one becomes complete gold-level, he can kill tinder and level up to Transcendent-level. It's early September now. Even if Sir Lin has just arrived at gold-level rank-3, he should be able to break through complete gold-level by December. By then, he might only need to spend a few days to kill a Transcendent monster to break through." Shangguan Hui believed what Qin Tianxing said without a doubt.
Zhou Ling stayed silent.
"Also, I noticed that Sir Qin's eyes lit up when Sir Lin was teaching us the sword skill. He looked like a starving pig monster that just saw food out of nowhere. I don't think the sword skill is as simple as we think." Shangguan Hui noticed Qin Tianxing's odd behavior.
"We don't know about that. Maybe Sir Qin likes men," Zhou Lin lamented.
…
Meanwhile, Lin Huang and Qin Tianxing were watching the students leave the battle training ground. When the last student left, Qin Tianxing started speaking.
"What are you trying to do? Finally, you manage to build your rapport with the students, and now you did this? You can't blame them for not liking you."
"I'm a teacher, I don't need them to like me." Lin Huang smiled and shook his head. "They might not understand what I'm doing now but one day they will."
"So, you're serious about this?" Qin Tianxing's eyes flew wide. He thought Lin Huang was only scaring the students to pressure them.
"Of course! They should treat the battle drill as a real one instead of a game. I won't let those who are unqualified to join the battle." Lin Huang nodded.
"They'll hate you if you really disqualify them and give them zero marks," Qin Tianxing said in all seriousness. He had been teaching for many years, so he understood what the students had in mind.
"But they'll treat their missions seriously in the future as they won't want to get zero for the second time." Lin Huang was determined.
"Their second time…" Even Qin Tianxing was speechless now.
"I'll sit in again next week. Please don't have such high standards. They're just kids after all."
"I'm just a kid too. Also a stubborn one." Lin Huang laughed at what Qin Tianxing said.
"Erm…" Qin Tianxing did not know how to respond.
"Don't worry, I believe in these kids' abilities. The sword skill that I'm teaching isn't complicated. Although they might not reach my expectations in one or two weeks, they might be able to do it by the fourth week."
Since Lin Huang had decided, Qin Tianxing did not want to stop him. As the Sword Dao department director, he should not interfere in Lin Huang's teaching method. Every teacher had their own teaching style. Moreover, Lin Huang was not wrong in his teaching methods. He was just a little too strict. Since his first class, Lin Huang's name spread within the new students who took Sword Dao, and he soon became the least favorite Year 1 teacher.
Many of the students from the other classes knew that the teacher who was teaching Class 2 was a newbie who was only 16 years old. They heard about his ridiculous standard and his threat to disqualify the class from participating in the battle drill. Many of the students from the other classes were thrilled as they would have less powerful opponents if Class 2 did not join the battle drill that was scheduled to happen a month later.
However, another news spread a few days later whereby Sir Lin, who was teaching Class 2, was already on gold-level rank-3 at the age of 16. He would also possibly become Transcendent-level by this year. Many of them thought that it was fake news as the real genius would spend most of their time in training instead of wasting their time on teaching in a college.
Lin Huang had heard about himself being the least favorite teacher in Year 1, but he did not care at all. He stuck to his routine of staying in the library from morning until night. As his reputation was already so terrible, sometimes the Year 1 students who bumped into him in the library would avoid him as they were afraid to offend him.
It was already Monday when Lin Xin heard the news that Lin Huang was the least favorite teacher in Year 1. She called him during her recess time. Lin Huang was just sitting down in the library after he finished lunch when his Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated. He activated the soundproof shield and answered Lin Xin's video call.
"What's wrong? Anything happened?" Although Lin Xin no longer stayed with him, they would meet during the weekend for a meal. Now that she was calling, it was clear that something had happened.
"Brother, how was the class that you gave Class 2 a few days back?" Lin Xin hesitated before asking.
"It was successful. Didn't you already asked that yesterday?" Lin Huang thought it was an odd question.
"I knew it. What people are talking about is just a rumor," Lin Xin mumbled to herself.
"What rumor?"
"Someone said that you're disqualifying Class 2 students' right to join the battle drill. I have no idea who has so much time on their hand to come up with such a rumor." Lin Xin thought it was unfair to Lin Huang.
"Oh, that. It's not a rumor. It really happened," Lin Huang admitted.
"It's true?!" Lin Xin was shocked and speechless. "Brother, what exactly are you thinking?"
"I'm just setting a phase mission for the students whereby they'll be rewarded if they accomplish it or get punished if they don't. That's a common teaching method. I don't think there's anything wrong with it." Lin Huang did not want to explain more.
"But do you know that you're now the least favorite teacher in the entire Year 1?" Lin Xin hesitated for a while before deciding to tell Lin Huang the truth.
"I know. They've mentioned it in the teacher's group chat during these few days." Although Lin Huang had muted the group chat, he still ran through the group chat before he slept every night. He saw that some teachers were talking about the topic, but he did not bother.
"Don't worry about it. Just focus on strengthening your abilities and prepare for the battle drill next month," Lin Huang advised.
Lin Huang carried on with his life as usual for the next few days without letting what the students said affect him. Soon, it was Friday afternoon. This time, Lin Huang did not teach in class. Instead, he brought the students straight to the battle training ground. Qin Tianxing was worried that Lin Huang would do something ridiculous again, so he sat in the class.
"I gave all of you a mission last week. Since it's been a week, I'm going to test the results of your practice today," Lin Huang announced, looking at everyone present. Some of them looked like they were ready to challenge him, but he decided to ignore them.
"Let's start the drill by following your student ID number from No. 1 to No. 50. No. 1, Yu Yang!"
A young man of Lin Huang's height stood out. Lin Huang stood aside and nodded to him. "Show me what you've got!"
Yu Yang took out a battle sword from his storage space and swung his sword. His handling of the sword was smooth. Lin Huang was expressionless while Qin Tianxing, who was standing behind the students, frowned.
Yu Yang was satisfied with his performance. He put away his sword and turned around to look at Lin Huang.
"Unqualified, next!" Lin Huang put a cross on the guarded name list without even looking at him.
Many students were shocked to see that, and they were puzzled.
"Sir Lin, may I know what did I do wrong?" Yu Yang, who was proud of himself, could not accept the result. The student ID of the Martial Hunter College of each class followed the exam score of each student. He had the highest score in Class 2 whereby he was only 1% away from entering Class 1. He thought he was the top in Class 2, but he did not expect Lin Huang to fail him.
"Since you want to know, I shall break this down for you." Lin Huang held his head up and looked at Yu Yang.
"If I'm not mistaken, you have only spent less than five hours, at the most, to train this sword skill for the past week, excluding the two hours that I taught in class last week. To be exact, you didn't put in any effort in your practice. You think you can hide not learning the movement from me and adding your own techniques make it look smoother.
"The sword skill that I taught is called the Sanguinary Kill Form. What is the one that you're practicing? The Dancing Queen?!" Lin Huang berated.
Some of them covered their mouths and laughed when they heard Dancing Queen. Yu Yang was upset.
"Sanguinary Kill Form is a killing sword skill. The one you're practicing is just the surface of it. You clearly didn't understand the skill at all as I didn't sense any killing aura at all. As long as a person focuses on training, even if he was not from a top college, I'm sure he would perform better than you if he were given a week to practice."
Yu Yang was speechless as what Lin Huang was on point. He had not put any effort into training the sword skill. He thought he could just wing it by just improvising some connecting techniques of his own to make the swinging of sword smooth, but Lin Huang managed to see through him.
"Next! No. 2, Gong Ning!"
As the No. 2 student performed her sword skill, she stood anxiously.
"Unqualified, next!"
Without saying anything, student No. 2 backed away to where she had been standing.
Soon, student No. 3 went on with the sword swinging.
"Unqualified, next!"
"Unqualified, next!"
"Unqualified, next!"
…
An hour later, Lin Huang frowned as all the students finished performing. Even Qin Tianxing was upset. Besides a few of them who had put in the effort, most of them did not take Lin Huang's instructions seriously.
"I'm very dissatisfied with all of your performance today. Among 50 of you, only three of you put in the effort. I want to ask the rest of you, what did you spend your time on for the past week? Did you not have three hours to practice the sword skill?!" Lin Huang held his wrists behind his back and scolded.
"It's just a mission of training sword, and you guys didn't manage to do it. I want to ask, would you that your mission the same when you enter the Hunter Association or the Union Government three years later?! If you're in a real battle, such attitude won't only kill you, but you'll also kill your teammates and even the entire team.
"Also, don't treat what I said about disqualifying you guys in the battle drill to be a joke. If you don't reach my expectations by the fourth week, I'll definitely disqualify all of you from joining the battle drill on the fifth week!
"Not only that, I'll give you a new mission next month. Those who didn't manage to accomplish the first mission can only take up the new mission after he or she accomplishes the first mission. The new mission will be restricted to three weeks. Those who don't accomplish it will be disqualified from joining the second battle drill! Same goes for the third month and fourth months.
"If any of you spends too long on finishing the first mission and causes the next mission to fail, then you'll be disqualified in all battle drills, which means you'll get zero in your battle drill result for the entire semester!"
All of the students looked upset. They would be expelled from the Martial Hunter College if they got zero marks for battle drills for the entire semester!
On Monday morning, Yu Yang led 42 Sword Dao students from Year 1 Class 2 to the registrar's office.
"What are you guys doing so early in the morning?" The director of the registrar's office, Li Feng, frowned. He could guess why the students were here.
After Lin Huang's class ended last Friday, some of the students recorded a video in which Lin Huang said he would disqualify the students from joining the battle drills for the entire semester. The video had been shared all over after omitting the front part of what Lin Huang said. Some teachers in the group chat forwarded the video too.
"We request the school to fire Sir Lin Huang! He's not fit to be a teacher!" Yu Yang who led the class shouted.
What was happening in the registrar had gotten the other officers' attention on the fourth floor. Everyone gathered around and talked among themselves.
"The one who's leading can speak." Li Feng looked at Yu Yang pointedly.
Yu Yang who represented the class walked proudly to Li Feng.
"You'll need a legit reason to fire a teacher. Tell me, what is the reason to get us to fire Sir Lin?" Li Feng raised his brow at the young man while he leaned back in his office chair.
Yu Yang projected the video that he had edited. It was the part where Lin Huang wanted to disqualify the students from joining the battle drills for the entire semester and giving them zero marks.
"He doesn't know how to teach. All he does is threaten us by disqualifying us from the battle drill. Moreover, a teacher who has never been to college isn't qualified to be our teacher," Yu Yang explained before he projected the video of Lin Huang admitting that he had never been to college on his first day of class.
"All of us agree that he's not suitable to teach us. So, either the school fires him or relocates him to other classes. We Class 2 students can't accept such a teacher to teach us."
"So, you think I have no idea what really happened?" Li Feng smirked after Yu Yang was done talking. Yu Yang's heart skipped a beat. Li Feng then showed a video clip of the Class 2 students practicing their sword skills. It was recorded by Qin Tianxing, and the clip included all the students' performance and the reason why Lin Huang was mad. In reality, after Yu Yang and the rest had shared the edited video on Friday, Li Feng had questioned Qin Tianxing when he saw someone forwarding the video to the teachers' group chat. He found out what had really happened after watching the complete video that Qin Tianxing had recorded.
"How dare you turn the tables around when you didn't manage to accomplish the mission that's been set by your teacher? Look at what you guys were doing! All you did was dance instead of giving it a full week of practice! Sir Lin was right. Students from worse colleges are even more powerful than all of you. At least, they're serious about what they do! You even edited the video and made it viral everywhere to create a scene! Now, you're here to tell me how bad your teacher is and asking me to fire the teacher?!" What Li Feng roared made Yu Yang turn pale.
"Do you know that Lin Huang saw the video that you guys edited from the beginning? I asked him to share the video of your performance to show the reason why he got mad and let everyone judge for themselves. But Lin Huang refused to as the video might affect you guys. He bore all of the accusations that you guys spread. He had the opportunity to prove himself, but he chose to remain silent."
Not only Yu Yang, the rest of the students had their heads hanging low in shame.
"I'm ending this matter here. We're standing on Sir Lin Huang's side. Those who sent out the video, please delete the video that you beautifully edited within 24 hours and the registrar's office will set this aside. But I would like to emphasize that if any of you got zero for the battle drill, we, the Martial Hunter College, will expel you from the school! It will be the same even if you complain to the dean." Li Feng was determined to support Lin Huang as he knew that Lin Huang had Liu Ming behind his back, and he did not want to offend him.
Yu Yang walked out miserably from the office, and the rest of the students departed like they had just lost a battle. They did not expect that the proof that they had created would backfire. Without any other choices, they practiced the sword skill honestly. The matter had been contained by Li Feng just like that. Lin Huang just smiled when he heard what happened. Although the video was deleted, the matter was still a hot topic in the college. Even students from Year 2 and Year 3 heard about this new teacher with a powerful background who managed to get away with his ridiculous decision. Even though the video was deleted. Lin Xin contacted him again because of the matter, but Lin Huang succeeded in comforting her.
Soon, it was Friday of the third week, and Lin Huang had class in the afternoon. Lin Huang did the same thing whereby he examined the students' progress, and he was pretty satisfied this time.
"There are 36 students who have passed today. I've said this before. It's not difficult to each my expectations as long as you practice. I hope all of you manage to reach my standards and won't be disqualified from the battle drill on the fifth week."
Lin Huang did not mention the scene that the students had created during the entire class like it had never happened. Many of the students who wanted revenge were relieved. Even Qin Tianxing was glad as he was worried that Lin Huang might find fault with the students again to increase the tension among the students. Luckily, the class was pretty harmonious.
After the class, Lin Huang was reading in the library at night. Suddenly, he felt the Life Power in his body completely stabilize. With a slight shift of aura, he had leveled up to complete gold-level.
He did not rotate his Life Power this time as he had leveled up from gold-level rank-3 to complete gold-level. Besides training swordsmanship, he allowed his Life Power to rotate by itself. After spending almost three months, he had finally completed his upgrade.
It was the longest time for him to stagnate on the same combat level. However, throughout the learning and digesting process, his foundation was now stable.
"Congratulations, your epic-level monster Gold Armored Genie (Tyrant) has leveled up automatically to crimson flame-level.
"Congratulations, your epic-level monster the Ruthless Sword Master (Lancelot) and the other sword slaves have leveled up automatically to crimson flame-level.
"Congratulations, your epic-level monster Nephilic (Kylie) has leveled up automatically to crimson flame-level."
…
A few notifications from Xiao Hei popped up as he leveled up.
"Now that I've broken through my combat level and my Monster Cards have leveled up, it's time to hunt for Life Fire monsters!" Lin Huang smirked.
"But among the Life Fire monsters that I have shortlisted earlier, which one should I choose?"
Considering the practicality of Life Fire, Lin Huang had shortlisted three targets since the beginning. The first one was the Gigantic Gold-Armored Dragon with dragon blood. Not only would he get the tinder, killing the Gold-Armored Gigantic Dragon would give him a terrifying monster's physique with an upgrade in strength and he could possibly even obtain dragon power.
The second one would be the double mutated undead monster, the Millennium Corpse. The tinder from killing this monster could earn Lin Huang a secret skill called "Fake Death" which allowed three chances of revival from death. However, the first revival would make the revived sleep for a year, the second for 10 years and third for 100 years. On the fourth death, the owner of the secret skill would not die but would sleep for 300 years. When he woke up, he would turn into a Millennium Corpse himself.
The third one would be a double mutated psychic, the Mirror Beast. This monster had a terrifying cloning ability which allowed it to create hundreds of clones that looked exactly like itself. Killing the monster would get him the tinder with the same cloning ability. The Life Fire monsters were shortlisted carefully by Lin Huang based on the practicality of their skills that he needed.
The first one was to strengthen his body as a whole while his abilities would increase as well. The second one was to survive death, but it would come with grave consequences. He considered the Life Fire as the Substitute talent that he had to be only a once-off use, which was not enough for him. The third one would be cloning which was a very useful ability. It could help him finish dangerous missions during critical times.
After the shortlisting, Lin Huang thought that the most suitable one would be the first and the third one as the consequences of the second one was too much. As he thought to himself, he decided to consult Mr. Fu. However, it was almost 11 p.m, so he did not call Mr. Fu. Instead, he sent a message. He informed him that he had leveled up to complete gold-level, then sent another one to ask about the Life Fire monster. He included the three Life Fire monsters that he had shortlisted in the message.
In less than a minute, Mr. Fu sent him a video call request. Lin Huang activated the soundproof shield in the library and picked up the call. Mr. Fu had stood up from a rocking chair in the video call with his usual smiley face.
"My dear apprentice, you have leveled up to complete gold-level already?"
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded.
"I've looked at the three Life Fire monsters that you sent me. I think besides the first one, the rest don't really suit you," Mr. Fu gave his opinion.
"When you arrive at holy fire-level, besides physique upgrade talent that can be turned into a secret skill, the remaining physique upgrade skills are basically useless. That's the reason why most people have the same physique when they've just leveled up to holy fire-level while killing the dragon blood will give you a boost in physique that'll make you much more powerful than people of the same level.
"The other two are pretty useless. Only dummies would go for the Millennium Corpse as one would turn into a monster when he becomes dead for more than three times and that's the end of his combat level up. For the cloning tinder, you could always learn a similar secret skill, so there's no need to obtain it from the monster."
"So, Master, you're suggesting me to pick the dragon blood?" Lin Huang asked immediately.
"I'm saying the first one is passable among the three." Mr. Fu shook his head.
"But I think you could try killing a triple mutated monster instead of focusing on double mutated monsters. The more the monster has mutated, the more powerful the tinder is, and the higher your power will be. I think you can try killing triple mutated monsters with your ability. If you really can't, you can always pick the dragon blood later."
"Pick a triple mutated monster?!" Lin Huang raised his eyebrow. Mr. Fu's suggestion was tempting to him. He had thought of picking a triple mutated monster, but he had never heard that killing a triple mutated monster could make a Transcendent-level more powerful. Most importantly, he had no idea what kind of tinder he would get from killing a triple mutated monster. That was why he had put the thought aside.
"The more powerful the tinder obtained, the more powerful the person will get. The rank-3 tinder in the triple mutated monster is at least three times more powerful than a rank-2 double mutated monster. Some may even be seven to eight times more powerful," Mr. Fu explained further.
Lin Huang knew what Mr. Fu was saying. It was like Yi Yeyu who had killed a twice mutated Fire Phoenix whereby her ability was more powerful compared to a white flame-level who had killed a single mutated monster.
"But has anyone ever gotten tinder from a triple mutated monster?" Lin Huang asked.
"Very few of them but yes."
"In Division 7, there's a girl named Luo Li from the Demon Slayer Troop. She's one of them. Besides her, there were another four persons who've killed triple mutated monsters to level up to holy fire-level throughout hundreds of years. But there are many of them in the core zones - more than 150 of them in fact - who have killed triple mutated monsters to level up in Division3 alone. There are even more of them in Divisions 1 and 2."
"So, there is information about what tinder a triple mutated monster has?" Lin Huang asked.
"Of course, I've just seen the latest edition recently." Mr. Fu looked like what Lin Huang asked was common knowledge.
"Then, Master, which monster do you think I should kill to obtain the tinder?" Lin Huang knew Mr. Fu already had a plan.
"You're training Sword Dao, and you're on the level-3 of the sword realm. Even if you only obtain a rank-2 Life Fire to level up, you'll still be a grade-1 genius but far away from a supreme genius."
Lin Huang had heard about the grading of geniuses, but it was his first time hearing about a supreme genius, which should be a level higher than a grade-1 genius.
"If you want to break through your ability, I think it's best to focus on your Sword Dao. It's much more effective than strengthening your physique or learning other minor cloning techniques," Mr. Fu suggested.
"The triple mutated monster that I chose for you is a Blacksword Killer. You will inherit a Sword Dao after obtaining its tinder. It was rumored to be a god-level Sword Dao…"
What Mr. Fu said in the end completely got Lin Huang hooked.
"Has anyone inherited the god-level Sword Dao before?" Lin Huang asked with his eyes wide opened.
"It's just a rumor. Nobody has gotten it before. But there's a person in Division 1 who has gotten a demigod-level Sword Dao before," Mr. Fu told the truth.
"Alright, I shall choose this! Master, please send me a copy of this monster's information," Lin Huang decided without thinking twice. Even if it was just a demigod-level Sword Dao, it was much better than what the other tinder could bring him.
The Blacksword Killer was a triple mutated god's blood monster that looked like a human with horrific abilities. Lin Huang had seen how powerful a triple mutated monster could be. When the Supreme Overlord managed to break free from him, its performance was three ranks higher than its own ability. Lin Huang could almost tell that a triple mutated white flame-level monster could have the same ability as a purple flame-level monster whereas a god's blood would be even more powerful. It could even be on gold flame-level.
Although a complete gold-level was only one rank away from a white flame-level, in reality, its ability was two ranks apart from each other. Therefore, for a person to obtain the tinder, one must cross at least two ranks to kill the monster. That was also the reason why most people would only choose a single mutated monster when they wanted to level up to holy fire-level. Less than 1% of people would choose a double mutated monster and would usually kill the monster as a team instead of killing it solo.
Meanwhile, not only was a triple mutated monster at least 10 times more powerful than a double mutated monster, its intelligence was also higher and probably had odd and convertible abilities. The rule of tinder hunting included the possibility of the hunter's partner being, at most, a complete gold-level with a maximum of 100 people and 10 summoning monsters. Under such circumstances, many died whenever they attempted to kill triple mutated monsters. As time went by, people gave up on that option and fewer people considered killing triple mutated monsters during the recent years.
After getting the Backsword Killer's information from Mr. Fu, Lin Huang had been preparing himself before the battle for the past few days. He was watching the limited battle video clips that were available and analyzing its weakness. He was careful this time as he could not summon any of his monsters to help him since he had to fight on his own. Although the tinder rule said that one could summon a maximum of 10 summoning monsters whereby their combat levels had to be lower than the monster that one was hunting, Lin Huang's monsters had just been upgraded to crimson flame-level a few days ago. If they were to join the battle, even if Lin Huang managed to kill the Backsword Killer, the tinder would disappear.
To be honest, Lin Huang did not have the confidence to defeat a triple mutated white flame-level monster of god's blood on his own.
"Xiao Hei, will it affect the Life Seed if I used the Transformation Card?"
"It'll be fine if the monster's combat level that you transform into is lower than that of the monster that you're hunting. But since all of your epic-level Monster Cards are now crimson flame-level, once you transform yourself, your combat level will be higher than the Blacksword Killer's. According to the tinder rule, the tinder in the Blacksword Killer will disappear even if you manage to kill it."
"What if I use the One-time Skill Card?"
"The One-time Skill Card has no combat level on its own, but there are combat levels to its sealed skills. If what you sealed was the attack of the previous gold flame-level that you previously fought, its gold flame-level aura will be released once activated and the tinder will disappear as well."
All of the plans that Lin Huang came up with were rejected by Xiao Hei.
"Seems like the only way is to fight it myself. I shall depart on Saturday after my class on Friday!" As he finalized his plans, he analyzed the video clips for the next couple of days, looking for ways to tackle its attacks.
Time flew by, and soon it was Friday again. As usual, Qin Tianxing sat in his class. As it was already the fourth week, just like Lin Huang said previously, it would be the last sword skill test before the battle drill. Qin Tianxing had come up with a plan before entering the class. As long as any student who failed this time did not perform too badly, he would get Lin Huang to show them mercy and let them pass.
As soon as the both met, Qin Tianxing sensed the change in Lin Huang's aura.
"You've leveled up to complete gold-level?!" Qin Tianxing exclaimed without considering where he was. Many of the students heard and they eavesdropped.
"I've stayed on gold-level rank-3 for almost three months now, it would be ridiculous for me to wait further." Lin Huang smiled and admitted as he knew people would find out anyway.
"Have you chosen the tinder monster?" Qin Tianxing asked immediately.
"Yes, I have." Lin Huang nodded.
"Which one did you pick?" Qin Tianxing was curious.
"It's a secret."
"With your ability, you must have chosen a double mutated monster. Let me in on a little please." Qin Tianxing was eager to know which tinder monster that Lin Huang had picked.
"Why must it be a double mutated monster?" Lin Huang asked him back and walked away while Qin Tianxing was left clueless.
"If it isn't a double mutated monster, is he picking a single mutated monster instead?" Qin Tianxing mumbled to himself, but soon he realized something.
"Don't tell me you picked a triple mutated…"
Lin Huang smiled and said nothing.
Qin Tianxing could not focus during the class. He remembered clearly that he got 16 of his good friends to help him when he killed the double mutated monster when he was obtaining tinder last time. He spent a great effort to kill the monster. It was crazy of Lin Huang to pick a triple mutated monster! His jaw would definitely drop if he found out that not only did Lin Huang pick a triple mutated monster, but also a god's blood and that he was going to fight it alone.
In the fourth class, the students were practicing the Sanguinary Kill Forms as usual.
"Pass, next!"
"Pass, next!"
…
"I can see that everyone has given effort this week. All 50 of you have done well," Lin Huang looked across the hall as he said while the students held their heads down. Two students had actually failed based on Lin Huang's standards but since they were close to the passing mark, he showed them mercy and allowed the both of them to pass.
"Since all of you are qualified to join the battle drill next week, I hope all of you will give your best and don't embarrass Class 2."
"For the remaining two hours of class, I shall let you guys have some fun. Please wait here for a moment," Lin Huang said and summoned his dimensional relic and brought back three unconscious iron-level monsters.
"These are three monsters on iron-level rank-1. One was good in strength, another in speed while the last one in defense. From now on, these three monsters are your target practice." Lin Huang knew that this was what the students wanted.
The students were excited when they saw the three iron-level monsters. Although they did not get to go to the wild zone, the three monsters were enough to keep them busy for a while.
"Sir Lin, can we practice after class?" A girl asked in anticipation.
"Sure, you can practice until midnight. I'll leave these monsters here." Lin Huang and woke the three monsters up.
Sensing Lin Huang's aura, the three monsters started running as soon as they opened their eyes while the students ran after them. The battle training ground became crowded.
"Are you sure the dean won't be mad if he sees this mess when he's back?" Qin Tianxing asked Lin Huang as he watched the chaos in the making.
"Don't worry, he won't."
"This field looked like it was rolled over by Swine Beasts when I trained with him earlier," Lin Huang really wanted to say.
Lin Huang left the Martial Hunter College early morning on Saturday. He had a week before Friday to kill the Blacksword Killer. There would be sufficient time if everything went as planned. He had pinned the location from the information he gotten from Mr. Fu earlier. The last the triple mutated monster had been found was more than half a year ago on Elam Island.
The island where the Dragon Gate archipelago was considered to be a moderate danger zone. It was said that the archipelago was where the small-sized dragon blood monsters gathered when Division 7 was first built. The archipelago was located 4,500 kilometers to the east of the A-grade foothold Blue Island City. The city had, of course, been pinned by Mr. Fu before.
As Lin Huang crossed the dimensional relic, he arrived on the balcony of a hotel. He was looking at an endless blue sea.
"Such a beautiful sea view room. He sure knows how to enjoy life," Lin Huang sighed and shook his head while he projected his coordinates with his Emperor's Heart Ring.
After confirming his route to Elam Island, he leaped from the balcony and Thunder caught him with its sparkling body. It then flew to Elam Island at the speed of light.
After Thunder had gone through a double mutation and was unlocked, its speed had reached a terrifying rate. As Lin Huang leveled up to complete gold-level and Thunder was now a crimson flame-level, its speed had experienced a significant upgrade. An hour later, they arrived on top of the Dragon Gate archipelago. From the top, the archipelago looked like a green dragon head with a blue background. As the islands came together, they formed a dragon head on the blue sea. It made sense why the dragon blood had chosen to stay here.
Meanwhile, Elam Island was located on the dragon eye, which was the lake 300 kilometers away. The archipelago was full of green like it was still in the prehistoric period. Nobody knew how many monsters were hiding in this moderate danger zone. Fortunately, the Blacksword Killer was hiding in the small Elam Island. Even if it did not hide in the location where it had been found half a year ago, it would not be too tough to find as the island was small.
"Head to the lake where the dragon eye is." Lin Huang patted Thunder's back.
Thunder started gliding down and soon, they arrived at the lake. Lin Huang recalled Thunder and set his new coordinates. He then realized that the Blacksword Killer was less than 20 kilometers from him. He hid his aura and headed towards the location. As the jungle was dense with trees, sunlight shone through the gaps between leaves, so it was not completely pitch-dark in there. However, it did not affect Lin Huang much as he activated his ocular skill and Micro Territory, so nothing around him could escape.
As he headed forward carefully, he was thinking of his future. Since Mr. Fu said that his major was in swordsmanship while the other abilities were just affiliates, it was crucial that he prioritized Sword Dao. Just like how a student in biology who majored in biological engineering should prioritize genetic engineering and hereditary engineering. Should the student learn about biochemistry, biophysics, and cell biology as well? Of course, he should but those subjects should only come after biological engineering. Meanwhile, the bits of astronomy, theoretical physics, and inorganic chemistry that he decided to learn would be considered extra knowledge which did not contribute to biological engineering.
Sword Dao was what Lin Huang majored in. When it came to upgrading, Sword Dao should always come first. He had been looking at all knowledge and training new sword skills while his battle skills were upgraded slowly these few months. However, his progress was slow as he arrived at the level-3 in Sword Dao. Even though he had increased the sword skills that he was trained in from less than 10 types to more than 50 now, the progress was insignificant. He estimated that at this rate, he would at least train up to 1,000 rare-level sword skills integration to be able to get to level-4.
As he thought he would not have any breakthrough in his ability before he could arrive at level-4 in such a short period of time, he was considering to upgrade his ability through other ways. However, after knowing from Mr. Fu that he might be able to inherit powerful Sword Dao from killing the Blacksword Killer, Lin Huang knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to upgrade his Sword Dao.
Although he had a copy of the demigod Qi Muxiong's inheritance in his body, there was nothing that he could learn from the demigod's cultivation experience. The Goldfinger that the demigod had was a cloud source whereby as long as he kept absorbing the source, he could be more and more powerful. The only things that Lin Huang could learn were his combat experiences and skills. However, there was only a small part of memories that were opened to Lin Huang as he was below Transcendent-level, so there was nothing much to learn.
However, the inheritance would be a great help for him in the future. Lin Huang was not in a rush to learn right now as he could always learn those when he leveled up to holy fire-level. He was eager to get the complete Sword Dao inheritance as he wanted to run a comparison with everything that he had learned to further improve his Sword Dao. Although it was quite impossible to get to level-4 Sword Dao right away, it could at least save him more than half a year of training.
As he was engrossed in his deep thought, a creature appeared in his sensing circle. Lin Huang finally snapped out of his thoughts. There was a Candoia Devil disguised as a vine in the dark jungle approaching its prey and was ready to attack. Suddenly, there was the glow of a golden sword and a 30-odd meter giant boa was cut in half and it fell onto the ground. Its blood splashed all over the place while its headless body slid slowly from the tree bark.
Lin Huang peeked and leaped from the branch and away from the tree. The Candoia Devil was a poisonous creature which had enough venom to kill a holy fire-level person. There were many of them in this jungle. Without Lin Huang's Micro Territory, he might need hours to traipse through this 20 kilometers of distance carefully. After he leaped from branch to branch, he arrived at his destination in ten minutes.
It was near a cliff off the edge of Elam Island, out of the coverage of the dense jungle. As he stood on the tree of the edge and looked at the coordinates, he saw a person sitting on the cliff. The person seemed to notice him watching and turned around slowly…
Although he had seen the monster from images and video clips, Lin Huang had goosebumps when their eyes met. From the back, the Blacksword Killer looked exactly the same as a human. It was like a middle-aged sword knight with a head. However, as it turned it head 180 degrees to the back, it did not have a human face under its hat. Its face seemed like it had human skin but rougher. It had one green eye and a mouth that looked like it was stitched up. Under the hat, its green eye stared deadly at Lin Huang. His skin crawled.
As soon as it noticed him, the monster stood up with its head still facing Lin Huang. It stared at him with its eye like it was afraid that Lin Huang might escape. As it stared at Lin Huang, its body turned 180 degrees around so that it was now fully facing Lin Huang. He finally got to see how it really looked like. Besides its face that did not look like a human's, the rest of its body looked no different than a man's. It was almost two meters tall and its body was covered in a charcoal grey cloak.
Suddenly, Lin Huang felt an intense murderous vibe locked onto him together with a strong sense of danger. He picked up his sword and got ready to attack without thinking twice when suddenly, the Blacksword Killer disappeared from where it was and appeared in front of Lin Huang. Its hand came out of nowhere with a long, arrow-like, black sword which collided with Lin Huang's sword in an instant.
Bang!
As the swords collided, waves were created at the meeting point of both swords like ripples on water. A shadow shot backward as a loud thud was heard. The echoing sound was like a thunderbolt as the silhouette flew backward as if launched by a cannon. The shape of a human body was formed on the tree trunk as the shadow landed on the tree after the impact took him through many trees.
"Damn it… It hurts…" The person got himself out of the tree trunk. The young man leaped from the tree hole and stretched his body. It was Lin Huang who had flown backward. Based on the attack alone, he could tell that the monster was near gold flame-level.
"I would be injured if I hadn't worn this 5-star defense relic on me." Lin Huang knew how powerful the monster was and how difficult this battle would be.
He peered at the position of his enemy through the gaps between the trees. The Blacksword Killer was standing where he had been earlier. Its green eye under the hat was staring creepily at him. Lin Huang smirked and pointed his sword at it. It was clear that he was challenging it.
"Come at me. I'd like to see the results of my training for the past couple of months."
Half a year ago, Lin Huang had been challenged by the Supreme Overlord and had to use everything that he had, including summoning many monsters to fight it as he could not challenge it on his own. Now that half a year had passed, he could fight a triple mutated white flame-level god's blood monster. Such improvement was unbelievable.
The Blacksword Killer was surprised that it had not killed Lin Huang as it sensed his combat level to be weak. Nobody of the same combat level could withstand the attack. Not only was Lin Huang still alive, but it also seemed like he was not hurt at all. The Blacksword Killer was puzzled. However, Lin Huang's challenging gesture managed to turn its curiosity into anger. From its memory, there was no creature which dared to challenge it like that.
The Blacksword Killer leaped from the branch as it thought to itself, "Since you challenged me, then you shall pay the price." The branch that was as thick as an adult thigh shook vigorously and the monster disappeared.
"That was quick!" Lin Huang's pupils shrunk slightly as he moved from where he was after activating his Seraphic Speed and Cloud Steps.
As soon as the Blacksword Killer appeared, Lin Huang wielded his sword that was covered in golden Life Power from tens of meters away. With the coverage of his Micro Territory, he did not even have to reach his target, which was the plan that he came up with after watching the video clips of the Blacksword Killer's battles. Its technique was always the same and was rather straightforward whereby its forte was its speed and strength. The technique almost always worked. Lin Huang knew that he was far behind from it when it came to strength and speed. Before he leveled up to complete gold-level, he could only kill blue flame-levels. Now that he was complete gold-level, he should only be able to kill purple flame-levels. Facing the Blacksword Killer which ability was comparable with a gold flame-level, it would be dumb for him to fight it from close-distance as it would drain his Life Power too.
Moreover, as he wanted to get the tinder, he could not summon monsters to help him. Therefore, the only plan that he came up with was all the ways to drain the monster's Life Power. As soon as its Life Power was almost finished, he would release all the Life Power that he had to destroy it when the monster attempted to escape. Although the plan was not glorious, it was an effective one. It would be suicide to go straight for an enemy that was more powerful than himself.
The Blacksword Killer landed where Lin Huang was, but it missed him as it did not expect Lin Huang to run away after challenging it. The monster slashed horizontally with its black sword like a hemispherical arc that went towards Lin Huang. All of the trees that the sword passed through were smashed, and the ground was left with a 10-meter wide and hundreds of meters long barren path. Before waiting for the dust to disappear, a golden glow sparked next to the Blacksword Killer and towards its neck.
"Hmph!"
The black sword swung horizontally out of nowhere as a scoff was heard. The tip of the sword collided with the sword with the golden glow. The glow disappeared immediately. The Blacksword Killer turned around and stared at where Lin Huang was hiding through the trees with its green eye. It smirked with its sewn lips like it was mocking him.
It then picked up its sword and swung it across again. Suddenly, Lin Huang felt a strong sense of danger. He backed off immediately. Almost at the same time, the charcoal grey sword glow flashed where he was hiding, slicing towards his waist.
"He has the Territory ability too?!" Lin Huang was shocked.
"This is tricky…"
Lin Huang frowned as he looked at the remaining tree stump that he was standing on as he backed away from the Blacksword Killer's attack. He had never seen any Blacksword Killer that possessed Territory ability from all the video clips that he had watched. The documents that Mr. Fu had given him did not mention this either. However, it was said that triple mutated monsters had a certain level of self-learning ability.
It did not seem like the Blacksword Killer had managed to learn Lin Huang's Micro Territory just from looking at him. If that were true, such a monster would be invincible. It must have met an opponent that was skilled in Territory and learned the skill from battling it. It was just bad luck that he met this monster that had mastered such an ability. However, this meant that the plan that Lin Huang had come up with after studying all the battle video clips would not work anymore.
Initially, he planned to take advantage of the distance to avoid fighting the monster at close distance so that he could drain its Life Power slowly. Unfortunately, that could not work anymore since the monster had the same Territory ability that he did. As soon as he stepped into the monster's territory, the monster knew his exact location and could attack whenever it wanted within its coverage.
"I've only started Plan A for three seconds, and it's failed! How frustrating that the plan that I came up with after plotting it for three days is crushed just like this!" Lin Huang stood on top of a branch as he thought sullenly to himself. He did not go hunting for the Blacksword Killer on impulse simply after knowing about the monster. Instead, he had taken a week to study the battle video clips and strategized a plan, but it had backfired.
"Luckily, I have Plan B. Although I don't really use this Plan B to bully, it seems like I have no other choice now." Lin Huang squinted, targeting the Blacksword Killer that was hundreds of meters away. The Blacksword Killer seemed to have Transcendent-level sensing ability, and it turned its head around, staring at him with its green eye. It disappeared from where it was out of nowhere, and so did Lin Huang. The branch that he was standing on shook vigorously.
Suddenly, two shadows collided together mid-air. The Blacksword Killer swung its sword horizontally, creating a trail of vapor cloud in the air. Life Power was rushing towards the Lin Huang from the black sword. Meanwhile, Lin Huang was brandishing the same sword, but it was now covered with a defense layer like a black cloth. Behind the black cloth was his left hand which was cloaked in black mist. Lin Huang smirked as his plan B was launched. He intended to defend himself from the monster's attack with the Dark Shield and attack with the sword in the other.
As his left hand with the Dark Shield defended himself the monster's deadly attack, Lin Huang swung the Dragon Slayer in his right hand. The golden glow that burst out of it was no slower than the speed of the black sword aiming at the monster's torso. The Blacksword Killer was surprised that Lin Huang managed to block its attack just like that. Looking at the golden glow on its left, it felt threatened.
The waves in its gigantic green eye were swirling tumultuously while its charcoal grey cloak flapped. As Lin Huang's Thunder Sting swung, it collided with its cloak. However, the deadly attack did not perform as expected. The monster's cloak blocked it instead. A 10-centimeter tear appeared on its cloak where Lin Huang's swing impacted it. Sadly, that was all the damage it inflicted; his sharp sword did not manage to pierce through the cloak.
With a loud noise, the Blacksword Killer shot backward like a cannon and crashed through more than ten trees behind it. Meanwhile, Lin Huang leaped to the branch that was not far behind him with the help of the inertia.
"Now, we're playing fair!" Lin Huang grinned.
From the video clips, he knew since the beginning of the fight that the swing of his sword could not harm the monster physically because the Blacksword Killer's cloak had powerful defense ability. Compared to other monsters with stalwart attacking power but were either weak in defensive ability or slow in speed, the Blacksword Killer excelled in all the areas.
Although it was only a white flame-level, its attacking ability was the standard of a gold flame-level because it was a triple mutated god's blood monster whereby its defense ability and speed surpassed purple flame-level and was, perhaps, not far away from gold flame-level. That was why Lin Huang's attack in which he gave his all had only left a minor tear in the monster's cloak. He also knew that as long as it had sufficient Life Power, it could restore the tear within seconds.
Therefore, the only way to kill the Blacksword Killer was to drain all its Life Power. The reason why he executed plan A was because it required the least Life Power from him. Meanwhile, the Life Power that he required for this Plan B was a few times more than plan A. If Lin Huang did not have the three Life Power Refill Cards that he had prepared earlier, it was impossible for him to drain the monster's Life Power. Although he had ten Life Wheels in his body, with the execution of plan B in which he had to fight face on, he would definitely drain his Life Power before the monster did. By then, he would be dead.
The Blacksword Killer was shot and flew through more than a dozen trees behind after Lin Huang's attack, landing hard on the ground. A hole that was ten meters wide was created on the ground, the dust covering its body. Lin Huang knew very well that the crash did nothing to the monster. As the dust blurred his vision, he did not chase after the monster. Instead, he stared intensely where the Blacksword Killer had disappeared.
He was not afraid that the Blacksword Killer would escape from the dust since his display so far was not sufficient to threaten it. After seconds of silence, a green glow shot from the dust cloud and disappeared. The dust was blown away by a strong wind, revealing a devoid hole...
Seeing that the Blacksword Killer had disappeared from the hole and a shadow appeared suddenly next to him, Lin Huang activated his Dark Shield without hesitation. A terrifying murky green Life Power collided with the Dark Shield. As its attack was blocked, the Blacksword Killer changed its sword position, attempting to pierce the top of the shield. A direct shockwave was created as the black sword collided with the golden battle sword.
Bang!
As the impact exploded in the air, a loop of air pressure created a perfect circle between the both of them. Trees and flowers hundreds of meters surrounding them were destroyed, and the smithereens went in all directions. As a result, the both of them flew away almost at the same time. Lin Huang landed hundreds of meters away, the ground cracking as he landed. Meanwhile, although the Blacksword Killer was not flung as far away as Lin Huang was, it was no better.
Lin Huang's ability could not compare to the monster if they were to fight face to face. The attack ended up as a tie as the Dark Shield drained the monster's first attack and the impact of its second attack dampened. The Blacksword Killer was forced to change its attack to two forms as its first attack was blocked by the Dark Shield. As it knew that Lin Huang's Dark Shield was difficult to penetrate, it was redundant to fight him forcefully since it would render its next attack useless. Although the second attack was much weaker and could not fling Lin Huang away like it did earlier, it was better than being attacked outright.
Since it learned its lesson, Blacksword Killer then changed its attack mode. Lin Huang noticed that the monster before him was much more intelligent than he expected. Even if he were fighting a human, not many of them would be determined enough to change their attack mode if they were to face the defense of the Dark Shield. Most people would choose to test the Dark Shield's defense limit and only switch their mode of attack after multiple failed attempts of breaking through.
Meanwhile, the Blacksword Killer only took one attempt to determine that it had to change its attack mode without hesitation. Among humans, perhaps only people with extensive experience would manage to come up with such a plan.
"It changed its attack to two forms to defend against me instead of fighting me. Perhaps it chose to do that as it still has no idea of what I'm capable of and it daren't drain its Life Power. This fella is smart!" Lin Huang could speculate what the monster was thinking.
"It must want to spend some time testing my limits before coming up with its plan, so it chose to defend against me instead. If I perform well, it might choose to drag the fight on so that it can use its Life Power minimally in hopes that I'll drain my Life Power first. On the contrary, if I perform poorly, it might choose to unleash everything it has to defeat me once and for all…"
His smirked as he came up with an idea. In the dense jungle, the both of them leaped again and collided with each other. Lin Huang maintained his strategy of holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other while the Blacksword Killer used the two-form attack that it had used earlier. Intense blows rumbled on Elam Island like it was in the midst of a thunderstorm. Within minutes, the both of them had struck each other hundreds of times, but none of them were harmed.
However, hundreds of kilometers of the jungle were affected. As the both of them collided, everything around them was almost destroyed. Many trees with thick trunks fell, most of them smashed from the impact of their fight. The flowers and bushes on the ground were damaged, and even the ground flipped upwards from the strong wind. All the plants that were not rooted deeply in the earth were uprooted. Whatever ground they stood on was swept away like a grade-12 hurricane. Besides the shore, the island had been lush with greenery, but now, the edge of the east was a bald patch.
It was almost like a fight between two gold flame-levels. On the Elam Island, many monsters ran away while those that could not run burrowed deeply in their lairs. They shivered under the intense thuds and rumbles. Many holy fire-level monsters near the island sensed the shockwaves of the battle and watched the island in fear. None of them dared to go closer.
When Lin Huang noticed that the first Life Wheel in his body was almost drained, he started to insert less Life Power into his battle sword. He slightly decreased the amount of Life Power on his first attack on purpose; it was insignificant. However, the sensitive Blacksword Killer sensed it. No matter how minute the change was, the monster could sense it. As it realized the human's odd behavior, the Blacksword Killer's green eye lit up and it took the opportunity to attack without hesitation.
It started swinging its sword at Lin Huang without pondering if it could break his defense anymore as it sensed that Lin Huang's Life Power should be nearing to an end considering that he started decreasing the amount of Life Power in his sword. Without thinking twice, Lin Huang picked up his Dark Shield and backed off it an instant.
"Gotcha!" Lin Huang smirked and thought to himself.
Looking at his reaction, the Blacksword Killer confirmed its speculation, so it did not want him to get away. It swung its black sword repetitively in an attempt to drain Lin Huang's Life Power as soon as possible. Lin Huang had given up attacking while he ran and defended himself with his Dark Shield. Between attacks, he even drank a bottle of Life Power recovery elixir and pretended to let the monster notice him do so.
Upon seeing that Lin Huang started to refill his Life Power with the elixir, the Blacksword Killer knew who was on the winning side of the battle. Smugly, it thought to itself that winning was just a matter of time. Keeping the elixir bottle, Lin Huang started running again while the Blacksword Killer chased after him…
Lin Huang pretended to run for his life as he leaped from branch to branch deep into the dense rubble. As he adapted to the Blacksword Killer's rhythm, he always managed to activate his Dark Shield on time, using his Micro Territory to sense whenever it was going to attack.
As the Blacksword Killer chased after him, it was faster than him in the beginning, but with the trees around, its vision and speed were affected. Moreover, Lin Huang always changed his direction whenever it managed to run before him and attempted to block his way. There was no way that the Blacksword Killer could stop him from moving.
They were racing through the dense jungle for more than an hour. Although Lin Huang was the one who was constantly being attacked, he was actually the one who mastered the rhythm of the battle. He would occasionally decrease the defense of his Dark Shield, run slower, or even drank the Life Power recovery elixir on purpose. The illusions that he created made the Blacksword Killer chase after him no matter what.
In reality, as more than an hour passed by, he did not even drain a single Life Wheel of Life Power. The usage of Life Power was a few times slower than before. However, the Blacksword Killer was draining its Life Power by attacking. Although it did not get to attack as frequently as it wanted to, the draining of its Life Power got worse as the time consumed took longer.
As they ran, although Lin Huang pretended not to have enough Life Power, his spiritedness made the Blacksword Killer suspect that he was putting on a show. Lin Huang noticed that the Blacksword Killer hesitated a couple of times when it attacked, then he knew that it was starting to be skeptical. He smirked as he rolled to the ground. As soon as he stabilized himself, the Blacksword Killer caught up with him.
It did not attack but looked suspiciously at Lin Huang, wanting to know what he would do after stopping. Lin Huang held the sword in one hand, the golden glow shining on the tip. An intense, scorching aura spread out, threatening the Blacksword Killer by the aura as its pupil shrunk.
"Come on! Weren't you chasing me? Come taste my sword!" Lin Huang shouted at the Blacksword Killer that was standing on the branch not far away. The Blacksword Killer did not back off as it thought Lin Huang was betting on his life before he died. As a god's blood, it was never afraid of challenges from its opponent. Murky green Life Power was released into its black sword, and its narrow and long sword swelled much thicker than a normal battle sword as Life Power flowed in. It grew from 90 centimeters to 1.2 meters long.
As the Blacksword Killer's sword was as thickening, the golden glow on the tip of the sword that Lin Huang was holding was so bright that it could not be stared at directly. The Worldly Purification was the strongest power he had before he arrived on level-3. Now that he had completed the rudimental integration of the legendary-level Star Dome, he had reached level-3 of the sword realm. Even if he was performing a rare-level sword skill, he could do so on an epic-level. The epic-level Wildfire had a significant increase in its impact. Even now, Lin Huang had no idea how powerful the Worldly Purification could be as he had not used it when he was training with Liu Ming.
He stomped hard on the ground as soon as the golden glow reached its peak. There were circles of cracks that branched out like spiderwebs on the ground. Soon, he disappeared from where he was. Meanwhile, the Blacksword Killer, who was standing on the branch, disappeared too. Footprints were left on the thick branch.
Suddenly, two swords collided together. There was a golden glow that was as bright as the sun on one side while there was a greenish-black glow that was like the night sky on the other. The two colors came together like a yin-yang circle.
As a shockwave was created from the force, the two- to three-meter impact coverage expanded in an instant to almost hundreds of meters. The sky on top of their heads was dyed in two tones like a battle of colors. Thunder rumbled from the force as their aura spread out everywhere together with the noise. Apart from ominous sound, Elam Island became silent as if all the creatures had fallen into a deep sleep. Not only was there no sound from the birds and the beasts, but there was also not even a bug chirping. Even the noisy cicadas did not make so much as a rustle.
Many monsters from the other islands ran away from the direction of Elam Island. Even some of the holy fire-level monsters hid their aura so that they would not bring trouble to themselves. On the east side of the Elam Island, the shadows were splurging all their Life Power on the barren land. The golden and greenish-black glow filled the sky like two gigantic, formless monsters fighting.
Lin Huang almost gave his all in this assault whereby he inserted three Life Wheels of Life Power into his sword and continued to add more as he attacked. Meanwhile, as the Blacksword Killer was worried that Lin Huang would run away again, it gave its all as well, not wanting to lose the opportunity to kill him. A third of its Life Power went into its black sword.
It thought that Lin Huang was betting on his life and that he barely had much Life Power left. In its opinion, it thought it could kill him easily. However, as their swords collided, the Blacksword Killer realized that it had been tricked. What Lin Huang was battling with was definitely not the very little Life Power that it presumed he was left with. Instead, it was a blow that he had been waiting hours for. The power of Lin Huang's sword exceeded the Blacksword Killer's expectations. Since the swords had collided together, whoever retracted first would definitely lose. Helpless, the only thing the Blacksword Killer could do was to continue to insert more Life Power into its sword to defend itself against Lin Huang.
The battle was then turned into a massive collision of Life Power which drained the both of them. Within seconds, Lin Huang almost emptied five Life Wheels of Life Power. He used one Life Power Refill Card immediately and soon, his ten Life Wheels were full again. Of course, the Blacksword Killer did not have such a card, so its Life Power was coming to an end. The greenish-black glow that mashed with the golden glow started to weaken, and soon, it was almost overpowered by the latter.
Realizing that it was on the losing end, the Blacksword Killer panicked and backed off immediately. However, it was too late as its remaining greenish-black force faded under the golden glow. Although it acted fast by retreating, it was still not as swift as the expansion of the golden glow. The Blacksword Killer's entire body was engulfed by the bright golden glow…
"Did I win?" Lin Huang clearly saw that the Blacksword Killer did not escape from the coverage of golden glow. However, there was no notification from Xiao Hei.
Lin Huang found it odd that there was no notification coming from Xiao Hei.
"Since the murky green force is fading, the Life Power of the Blacksword Killer should be drained soon, and its cloak's defense must be weak. My sword can kill a gold flame-level. Since it's defense is almost zero now, theoretically, it should be dead in an instant…"
He could not understand what exactly was happening. He had seen in the battle video clips that as long as one could break the Blacksword Killer's defense, one would be able to harm it. He had also seen in one of the video clips that after the Blacksword Killer's Life Power was drained, it was later killed. In the video clip, the kill was successful as the Blacksword Killer's Life Power was drained without any exceptions.
However, Lin Huang was encountering something odd. Since the Blacksword Killer's Life Power was drained, he should be able to kill it. He could not see what exactly happened in the bright golden glow. As soon as the golden glow faded, he could finally see where the Blacksword Killer was standing. It was no longer there. Instead, there was an oval, greenish-black cocoon. The cocoon that was almost three meters tall floated less than 20 centimeters from the ground. There were tiny holes similar to coddle holes all over its surface. It was absorbing the remaining golden Life Power. Trypophobic people would have goosebumps if they were to see this.
"What the hell is this?"
Lin Huang was puzzled as he had never seen the monster in this form in any of those video clips that he had watched. If the cocoon did not look exactly the same as what he saw in the information section, he would have thought that he had encountered a fake Blacksword Killer.
Just when he was going to ask Xiao Hei what was happening, a notification popped up.
"Mission Card has been activated due to unique circumstance.
"Details of Mission: Your target Blacksword Killer is encountering incomplete evolution, and it will soon be a quadruple mutated Regal Sword Killer (Incomplete). Please kill the Regal Sword Killer (Incomplete) as soon as possible.
"Mission Time Limit: 24 hours
"Mission Reward: Regal Sword Killer (Incomplete) Card (Pseudo Mythical-level)
"You will be punished if you failed to accomplish mission within given time. Three of your legendary-level Monster Cards will be removed randomly!
"Remarks: This mission terminates when your Life Fire monster dies, so there's no restriction in the killing. As soon as the kill is completed, the system will select the tinder for you. You can use all of your summoning cards of holy fire-level as long as they're not of immortal-level.
"Mission announcement stops here. You may read the details on the back of the card."
"A Mission Card again…" It was nothing good whenever a Mission Card appeared automatically. In some cases, Lin Huang sometimes had to risk his life to complete the mission. He did not expect to encounter this when he was just hunting down a Life Fire monster. The triple mutated monster was now evolving into an incomplete quadruple mutated monster out of nowhere. Nevertheless, he was excited that he would be able to get a pseudo mythical-level card as soon as he killed this monster!
However, Lin Huang knew very well that the fight would be a tough one since it had taken him so much effort to finally kill the triple mutated Blacksword Killer. Now that it was evolving into a quadruple mutated monster, though incomplete, its ability would be much more powerful than before. He definitely could not defeat the monster on his own, but fortunately, the terms of the Mission Card allowed him to ask for help.
Without hesitation, Lin Huang summoned three of his fiends as they were the most powerful ones. They had leveled up from blue to purple flame-level when Lin Huang arrived at complete gold-level. He then summoned Lancelot the Ruthless Sword Master. Although he was only a crimson flame-level, he had nine sword slaves with him. Summoning Lancelot was the equivalent to summoning ten monsters at once. Lastly, Lin Huang summoned Kylie who was the fastest. He did not pick Tyrant as Lin Huang did not have confidence in Tyrant's defensive abilities. They were fighting a quadruple mutated monster, after all. It would be too much of a waste if Tyrant could not keep it up and ended up being killed.
As Lin Huang summoned his five summoning monsters, he noticed the greenish-black cocoon that was not far away.
"That's a quadruple mutated monster inside?" Lancelot turned around and asked Lin Huang as he sensed the terrifying aura that came out of the cocoon.
"It's an incomplete quadruple mutated monster," Lin Huang corrected him.
The five summoning monsters soon looked serious.
"Let's see if we can break the cocoon together," Lin Huang suggested.
"It's redundant. There's no way to break such an evolution unless you're a god." It was Kylie who spoke this time.
Hearing the certainty in Kylie's voice and seeing the rest of his monsters look like they knew it was a fact, Lin Huang gave up on that thought.
Among the six of them, Lin Huang was the most relaxed one while the five summoning monsters looked grave. The remaining golden Life Power in the air was absorbed by the greenish-black cocoon. Just when Lin Huang thought when the Regal Sword Killer would break free from the cocoon, a deft shadow came out of it and spread around in a circle. Lin Huang saw that all the areas that the shadow touched turned black, causing all the trees, flowers and bushes around it to wilt immediately.
The shadow soon headed towards Lin Huang and the rest.
"Kylie!" Lin Huang shouted. Kylie grabbed Lin Huang and flew into the air immediately while the remaining four summoning monsters rose up as well. The six of them watched the shadow engulfing the entire green island. All the areas the shadow touched turned charcoal black. It looked like the island had gone through an unforgiving forest fire, and everything was burnt black. The monsters that were hiding in their lairs and did not manage to escape the island turned into skeletons.
"What's happening?" Although Lin Huang had seen many things in his lifetime, he was shocked to see what was happening.
"It's taking life away as this evolution isn't a normal mutation whereby it requires major energy support," Kylie explained.
Lin Huang looked at the island below and frowned. The shadow was expanding, and it did not look like it was going to stop anytime soon. Within minutes, the entire 300 kilometers of Elam Island was covered in the shadow. The rich green on the island was now all dead.
However, the Regal Sword Killer did not seem like it was done; the shadow kept expanding towards the ocean outside of the island. Elam Island was surrounded by 50 to 60 kilometers of sea, and there were other islands around it. The waters turned foul as soon as the shadow engulfed it, but it did not stop. Soon, it passed the waters and covering the other islands around.
The birds on the other islands started fleeing while the other monsters turned into skeletons just like the unfortunate monsters on Elam Island. The shadow finally stopped when it expanded around 300 kilometers away and faded into nothingness. Meanwhile, the surface of the greenish-black cocoon started to become more and more radiant…
The entire Elam Island and the surroundings up to hundreds of kilometers away were stripped into dead land within minutes. The greenish-black cocoon that was dull was now vibrant since it had absorbed the life from the island. Although it was still the same murky green, it now gave out a mysterious vibe. All the plants were burnt black, and the once dark, dense jungle was now exposed to the scorching sunlight.
Under the sun, the cocoon reflected a light glow that made it looked like it was covered in a thin greenish-black mist. As Lin Huang observed the changes in the cocoon, he was calculating the likelihood of winning this fight.
"This Blacksword Killer had the ability of gold flame-level when it was triple mutated. Now that it's quadruple mutated, although incomplete, its ability must be the standard of an immortal-level. It could even be a level more powerful than that, which is even stronger than my fiends… Moreover, its life form might change as well. Its original skills would be more robust, and it might even have more skills, which renders all the techniques that I picked up in the video clips to be useless now.
"All three of the fiends are now purple flame-level, and they're all double mutated. Their abilities might be able to reach immortal-level, but they'll be slightly weaker. I'm worried about Lancelot and Kylie as both of them are just crimson flame-level. Even if they give their all, they'll just be slightly more powerful than a normal purple flame-level, and they won't reach gold flame-level. Of course, if Lancelot was to use his Absolute Kill, he should be able to kill a gold flame-level, but he can do nothing to an immortal-level. My abilities are restricted. I'm basically a piece of trash when facing an immortal-level opponent." Lin Huang realized that he would not be able to join the battle and all he could do was watch.
Time passed by. The cocoon below them was becoming more and more vibrant as it absorbed all the life from the things around it. Soon, it exuded a more and more terrifying aura. As the greenish-black mist surrounding the cocoon reached the peak of its thickness, it started shrinking into the cocoon vigorously. The color on the cocoon's surface became dull immediately. In less than a minute, the greenish-black cocoon returned to its initial dullness, but its aura was growing.
Lin Huang and his five summoning monsters stared deadly at the cocoon. Their instincts told them that the thing in the cocoon was breaking free soon. The aura of the monster in the cocoon climaxed, and Lin Huang could feel that its aura was invincible.
"The aura… It must be an immortal-level!" Lin Huang was convinced about his speculation.
A while later, the aura in the cocoon became calm, and soon it was all silent. Just when Lin Huang was figuring out what was happening, a cracking sound broke the air. An inky black sword pierced through the cocoon. Later on, a lightning-shaped crack appeared from where the tip of the sword was all the way around the entire cocoon. Within seconds, there were cracks all over the greenish-black cocoon. As the sword continued to pierce through, the cocoon was like a shattered glass cover that completely collapsed. Greenish-black pieces were floating in the air and soon disappeared. All of them focused on the monster that had just broken out of the cocoon.
The Blacksword Killer's cloak was now transformed into a greenish-black armor. Its sword was now completely black. There was no hat on its head anymore. Instead, there was a thick, black braid. The biggest transformation was its body. It had initially been more than two meters tall, but it was now 1.8 meters tall and seemed leaner now. Its green eye that occupied half of its face was now a bloody red. There were black patterns swirling in its iris. It did not have ears or a nose. Its mouth that had been sewn shut was now a regular mouth and its lips were bloody red.
"So, you're an Imperial Censor…" The Regal Sword Killer looked at Lin Huang with its bloody eye from far away. Its bloody lips were spread slightly opened, and its tone was terrifying.
"I wouldn't have completed my quadruple mutation after killing the last dragon blood, but you've ruined it. Your existence has destroyed all my effort of hundreds of years. Now, I'm just an incomplete monster. Are you…ready to die?!"
Lin Huang's body shook as he felt the terrifying vibe from the monster. As soon as the Regal Sword Killer said that, it disappeared from where it was standing. It suddenly appeared before Lin Huang and swung its black sword towards his waist. Lin Huang was stunned to see what was happening. He could not catch up with what the monster was doing, but all he could feel was an intense sense of danger.
A black shield flashed in front as someone stood before him. It was Lancelot who had reacted first. Lin Huang backed off immediately as soon as he realized what was happening. However, Lancelot's Dark Shield broke immediately while the black sword pierced through the shield horizontally after the feeble block. Lancelot was sliced into half at his waist, and blood splashed everywhere.
"Lancelot!"
Lin Huang had never thought that any of his Monster Cards would be destroyed during this mission. Even though they were facing an incomplete quadruple mutated monster, the fact that Lancelot had been sliced into half happened right before his eyes. Soon, Xiao Hei's notification popped up.
"Your epic-level Monster Card, the Ruthless Sword Master, is dead! Would you like to use Resurrect from the sword servant?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang was stunned for a moment before replying.
"Activating Resurrect by using rare-level Monster Card, the Greatsword Fiend, to revive Monster Card, the Ruthless Sword Master. Consuming the Greatsword Fiend (sword servant) x1. Are you sure you want to activate Resurrect?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang replied without thinking twice.
"Monster Card, the Greatsword Fiend (sword servant), has been consumed. Monster Card, the Ruthless Sword Master, has been revived."
As the notification popped up, the Greatsword Fiend card disappeared from the sword servants card. The black and white Ruthless Sword Master card was now revived and returned to its normal color. Lin Huang was relieved to see that Ruthless Sword Master's card was restored. The communication between him and Xiao Hei happened within seconds. As Lancelot was sliced into half, its body disappeared while the Regal Sword Killer dashed towards Lin Huang without hesitation.
Suddenly, a shadow tugged on the Regal Sword Killer's left leg. It was the Witch! The other two fiends helped as soon as the Witch stepped in.
Meanwhile, Kylie grabbed Lin Huang and brought him out of the battlefield.
"This battle is out of our league. You'll distract them if you stay on the battlefield," Kylie stated.
The Regal Sword Killer performed much better than Lin Huang expected. It had the ability of an immortal-level, so it would be even more powerful if it gave it everything it had. As Lancelot's Dark Shield was broken in one hit, Lin Huang realized that the defense that he had been proud of was like a piece of paper to the Regal Sword Killer. If Lancelot had not appeared before him, Lin Huang would have been dead.
Given the Regal Sword Killer's powerful ability, Lancelot and Kylie, who were both on crimson flame-level, were disqualified from the fight. The same applied to Lin Huang whereby all he could do was to watch the three fiends fighting the Regal Sword Killer. The three fiends had responsibilities of their own on the burnt ground. The Witch contained the Regal Sword Killer with all sorts of skills, and the Malachian Fiend was responsible for defending while the Inferior Imp attacked it.
Although it was three against one, and the three fiends were three ranks higher than the Regal Sword Killer, they were not on the winning side. The Witch had limited abilities to contain the Regal Sword Killer with her skills as it always managed to break free within seconds. All the controlling skills could only contain it for one to two seconds. The more the Witch tried to restrain it, the shorter the duration of containing it became. It seemed like the Regal Sword Killer was becoming immune to the Witch's skills.
Meanwhile, the Malachian Fiend's defense was affected as the Regal Sword Killer had not managed to break its defense layer yet.
However, the attacks from the Inferior Imp seemed to be ineffective. Even with the Witch's restraint, the Regal Sword Killer's armor managed to block all the attacks despite being hit face on. Lin Huang frowned as he summoned the Sanguine Skeletal Spirit. Although the crimson flame-level Sanguine Skeleton Spirit could not join the battle, all Lin Huang needed from him was to tie it up with its Punishment Chains. Even if the chains only managed to seal the Regal Sword Killer's Life Power for a second, the Inferior Imp should be able to break its defense within that short period of time.
Sensing the appearance of the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit, the Regal Sword Killer looked at Lin Huang's direction with mockery. It did not seem to mind the appearance of one more monster.
"Work with the Witch's controlling skill to seal its Life Power with your Punishment Chains," Lin Huang communicated with the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit in his mind. The Sanguine Skeleton Spirit nodded lightly to Lin Huang. He did not attack immediately as he was waiting for the perfect time.
Around two to three minutes later, the Regal Sword Killer experienced delays in its movement as it had been attacked by the Witch's numbing venom. Seizing the opportunity, the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit flicked his nine flaming Punishment Chains towards the Regal Sword Killer. Soon, one of them got hold of one of its arms while the remaining eight chains were tying its body down.
Meanwhile, the Inferior Imp seized the opportunity as well by mauling the Regal Sword Killer's head. As soon as the Inferior Imp reached the Regal Sword Killer's head, a black glow flashed in the air. The Inferior Imp's right arm was sliced off, and black blood was oozing out. As its attack was successful, the Regal Sword Killer dashed towards the Inferior Imp without thinking twice.
Suddenly, the Malachian Fiend came between the both of them and blocked the Regal Sword Killer's second hit with its fist. Since its second hit failed, the Regal Sword Killer that was tied by the Punishment Chains turned around and looked at Lin Huang with a mocking smirk while showing its sharp teeth.
"Human kid, don't you know that god's blood monsters are immune to most of the restraining abilities?"
The Punishment Chains broke as soon the Regal Sword Killer said that. They disappeared soon after they fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry. It seems like I'm no help here," the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit said helplessly to Lin Huang.
Although the Inferior Imp's broken arm was restoring at the rate that could be seen with the naked eye, the restoration itself drained its Life Power. The three fiends were stuck in the same situation as the Regal Sword Killer's sword.
As Lin Huang recalled the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit, he looked at the Regal Sword Killer below as he frowned.
"I must win this battle, or else I'll lose three legendary-level cards!" Lin Huang could not accept such failure as four of his legendary-level Monster Cards were sealed at the moment including the Supreme Overlord, Bai, Charcoal, and Bloody. Besides the Supreme Overlord, the remaining three leveled up following his own upgrade. He did not want to lose any of them, especially Bai, which was Lin Huang's first ever summoning monster. He definitely could not afford to lose Bai.
"The only way is to use the Provisional Transformation Card to upgrade my combat level later," Lin Huang looked at the three fiends as he thought to himself. The three of them were on purple flame-level, which was perfect for him to use the card. He looked at them for a while and locked his target on the Inferior Imp.
"It seems like I'll have to transform myself into the Inferior Imp."
The reason why he had chosen the Inferior Imp was that the Witch was not suitable for him to perform a close-distance attack since her physique was weak. Meanwhile, the Malachian Fiend was too plump whereby it would not be suitable for it to perform fast sword skills. On the contrary, the Inferior Imp was the perfect choice as it had sufficient strength and defensive abilities. Although it was bulky, it was agile.
Lin Huang did not mind what kind of new ability the card could bring him as all he needed was to perform the sword skills that he already had after leveling up his combat level.
"Too bad the pseudo Life Wheels that the Life Power Storage Card can create can't be transferred to my new body. I can't splurge my Life Power like I usually do," Lin Huang mumbled to himself as he frowned. Just when he was ready to take out the Provisional Transformation Card, Xiao Hei's notification came into his ear.
"You could use the Flawless Card on yourself to make the pseudo Life Wheels real, so even if you transformed yourself, you'll have ten Life Wheels like you usually do. Besides that, the Flawless Card will carry out a full restoration on your entire body."
"The Flawless Card?" Lin Huang had almost forgotten that he had a few of those cards. He still remembered that the card was used to restore his body, but he could not recall its exact function.
"What does the card do again?" He asked immediately.
"The Flawless Card is used to restore the user's body, remove all pain in the body, including but not restricted to Life Power columns, Life Wheel, and blood issues. Just like the broken Life Wheel that you used to have, you can use this card to restore it."
After Xiao Hei's reminder, Lin Huang finally recalled that he received the Flawless Card as his last reward after activating his first Mission Card. However, before he could even do anything, Xue Luo had activated the card instead.
"I've used one Flawless Card once on Bai a year ago so that his blood wouldn't be affected by the septic divisor, and I haven't used the card since then. I should've accumulated three of them throughout the year, am I right?" Lin Huang remembered the time when Xiao Hei had explained it to him when he obtained the card.
"That's right."
"Alright then, activate one Flawless Card!" Lin Huang instructed without thinking twice.
"Are you sure that you want to activate Flawless Card?"
"Yes!"
"Consuming Flawless Card x1, please select your target."
"The target will be me." Lin Huang looked at his own body.
Soon, a golden glow came out of nowhere and rushed into his body. It turned into countless tiny, golden dust and ran through his entire body. He could feel warmth in his bones like the warm sun was shining on him in the winter. Within seconds, the golden glow had flowed all over his body and towards his Life Wheels. The pseudo Life Wheels seemed like nothing was happening to them, but Lin Huang could feel an odd sensation spreading out of his body. It felt like the nine pseudo Life Wheels that were like lifeless tools had just come alive. Just like the sword that had become a part of his life, these nine pseudo Life Wheels became a part of his body. They felt no different from his real Life Wheel.
Lin Huang even found out that he could activate his ten Life Wheels to absorb and release Life Power at the same time. The speed of Life Power restoration and release were ten times faster than before. He could only use his real Life Wheel to do this. No matter whether absorbing or releasing Life Power, he had to perform that using his real Life Wheel. Meanwhile, his remaining nine Life Wheels were used as Life Power storage tools and could neither absorb nor release Life Power.
Lin Huang felt his abilities increase invisibly after activating the Flawless Card. As the golden glow disappeared, he then snapped out of the zone. He could feel clearly that his abilities were upgraded. He then looked at the Regal Sword Killer with a golden card in his hand.
"It's time for the battle to end now!"
On Elam Island, the fight between the Regal Sword Killer and the three fiends did not progress. As the Regal Sword Killer adapted to the trio's rhythm and its immunity towards the Witch's containment grew, it was a piece of cake for the Regal Sword Killer to handle the three of them. The battle became stagnant. However, Lin Huang and Kylie, who were watching from the top, knew that the longer they took, the higher the chances for the three fiends to lose.
After transforming his Life Wheels with the Flawless Card, Lin Huang took out a Provisional Transformation Card. The golden card was crushed into golden stars in his hand.
"The Provisional Transformation Card has been activated. Please select the Monster Card that you would like to transform into."
"The Inferior Imp." Lin Huang looked at the Inferior Imp that was fighting below.
"You have chosen to transform into Imp (Inferior), confirm?"
"Confirmed!" Lin Huang nodded.
As Lin Huang said that, the stars were absorbed into his body and he went through an intense transformation. He grew from 1.75 meters to taller than 2.3 meters. His skinny body was now bulky with muscles. Within seconds, his height and body size were like a hunk's similar to Tyrant. The only differences that told him apart from a human were the gigantic horns on his head and his bloody eyes.
The transformation took only a couple of seconds. Instead of his appearance, what Lin Huang cared about was the changes inside of his body. He could feel that his combat level was increasing. He had leveled up from complete gold-level to purple flame-level, which was four ranks higher. Such an upgrade gave him an illusion that he was now invincible.
He obviously felt that his Life Power had changed as well since his combat level was upgraded from gold-level to holy fire-level. The difference was like mist and flood. He even suspected that the holy fire-level monster that he killed might be fake as the difference in the Life Power was immense. The Life Power that came from the Life Fire could not be compared with that of a normal Life Wheel's. Not only Life Power, the power that the body contained was shocking to him. As compared to his original body, it was like comparing an ant and an elephant.
"Such a powerful body! The abilities that most of the monsters come with are so much better than humans'!" Lin Huang exclaimed as he familiarized himself with the transformed body. Sensing an additional aura in the air, the Regal Sword Killer looked up and realized that Lin Huang was no longer there. Instead, he was replaced by another fiend. It only observed but it did not care as it thought Lin Huang had escaped. He did not mind the additional fiend as it knew the ability of the Inferior Imp which made no difference to it if there were more of them.
After familiarizing with his transformed body, he then took out the supreme sword relic Zenonia that Liu Ming had given him. As he did not have sufficient Life Power, he could never use the sword relic despite having it with him all along. Now that he was on the purple flame level, he could finally activate this battle sword with his Life Power. He could not wait to see how powerful this sword was.
As he inserted Life Power into the half-black and half-silver sword, black Life Power started spreading and the level-3 sword realm radiated out of the sword. Almost as soon as Lin Huang held the sword, the Regal Sword Killer looked up at him. As a monster that was training swords, it could sense the sword realm that was radiating out of the sword. It felt a sense of threat. Its bloody red eye held fear in it as it looked at Lin Huang nervously.
"Kylie, take a rest."
Lin Huang waved his hand and recalled Kylie into card form. Since Kylie was grabbing him mid-air, he fell to the ground as he had yet to master his flying ability.
Bang!
Within seconds, he fell to the ground from hundreds of meters above. A three-meter diameter hole was created on the burnt ground. Black dust flew up around the hole and engulfed his body. Since the life of the island had been absorbed earlier, all of the underground microorganisms had died, which caused the ground to be dry and easy to break.
Lin Huang's fall grabbed the Regal Sword Killer's attention. It was distracted and kept looking at him. Ever since the sword realm was accidentally released, the Regal Sword Killer knew that the monster that came out of nowhere was the most powerful enemy that it had ever encountered. Among the dust, Lin Huang climbed out of it with his large body size and the sword that was now 1.5 meters long.
As he familiarized with his body and the battle sword that he had just had the chance to use, his footprints marked the burnt land while his aura rose.
"Aren't you a Regal Sword Killer? Let's see how many hits you can take from me!"
Lin Huang was smiling with confidence, and his voice was as loud as the thunder that shook the entire Elam Island.
The Regal Sword Killer looked seriously at Lin Huang's direction. It had yet to recognize that the fiend that was coming to it was actually Lin Huang. It was puzzled at how this fiend that had the same combat level could be so much more powerful than the three fiends that were fighting it. The aura alone shook him. Lin Huang had no answer to the question that the Regal Sword Killer had because he himself had no idea how powerful the purple flame-level fiend that he transformed into would be.
When he was on complete gold-level, he could cross one level to kill a purple flame-level. Now that his combat level was four ranks higher, his ability must be extremely more powerful than before. All he could feel was the endless strength that he had from the transformed body. He was even sure that his ability now was much more powerful than the gold flame-level executive, Zhu Nian, from the Hunter Association that he had seen last time.
"I would like to know how powerful I am right now, so please be my whetstone today, Regal Sword Killer!" Lin Huang then ran towards the Regal Sword Killer as he said that. The ground cracked and gravel exploded everywhere. Soon, he disappeared from where he was and what was left was a 10-meter hole and a circle of a white wave that was shooting out gravel everywhere.
Lin Huang only took a step out, and there he was in the fight with the Regal Sword Killer and the three fiends that were thousands of meters away. The Regal Sword Killer's pupil shrunk as it sensed an intense aura that was targeting it. A strong sense of doom came to it, so it had to break free from the three fiends and back off from where it was.
The attack that the three fiends rained on the Regal Sword Killer's greenish-black armor did not work at all. However, as soon as it backed off, a shadow appeared. The Regal Sword Killer could not even see what the shadow was doing. It was clearly Lin Huang who had transformed into a fiend. He held his supreme sword relic in his right hand that was completely covered with a layer of black Life Power like it was painted black. There was a layer of black mist surrounding the surface of the sword, exuding a death threat. Even the Regal Sword Killer was threatened by his terrifying aura.
As Lin Huang got less than ten meters from the Regal Sword Killer, he smirked and caught up to it by stomping on the ground. They were now less than two meters away from each other. The Regal Sword Killer swung its sword immediately in the attempt of scaring him away instead of killing him. The nearer they were together, the more intense danger the Regal Sword Killer could feel.
However, Lin Huang was even faster than the Regal Sword Killer. He brandished his sword horizontally with his right hand. The space where the sword swung became a vacuum as the air around was pressured to its peak, creating a circle of a white wave that was sent together with the sword towards the Regal Sword Killer. It was as quick as a black lightning bolt that headed towards the Regal Sword Killer's black sword together with the white wave.
As the two swords collided, black Life Power exploded from Lin Huang's sword like a volcano eruption. Meanwhile, greenish-black Life Power shot out from the Regal Sword Killer's black sword. However, the difference between the both of them was like a stream and a flood. The greenish-black force was suppressed by Lin Huang's black Life Power immediately. Soon, the Regal Sword Killer was engulfed by the black Life Power like a flood.
The black shockwave from the black sword shot out and covered the Regal Sword Killer completely. A drain thousands of meters long and two meters wide was created on the burnt land. It was not created by Lin Huang's attack but from the impact of the shockwave. However, Lin Huang did not put his sword away as it was not his all. He knew that the Regal Sword Killer was not dead from his attack. There was no notification from Xiao Hei as well.
"Let me handle this. You guys just make sure that it doesn't run away." Lin Huang turned around and looked at the three fiends. Although he was transformed, the three fiends knew very well that he was their master, Lin Huang. They were shocked by the attack that he performed earlier. Although Lin Huang was on the same combat strength with the three fiends, his ability was much more powerful than theirs. They could not harm the Regal Sword Killer at all despite attacking it for a while, but Lin Huang's single sword swing managed to suppress it. Nobody knew if it was dead or not.
After instructing them, Lin Huang activated his Seraphic Speed and Thunder Steps. He dashed more than ten kilometers away after merely two to three steps. Although the Regal Sword Killer's aura was weaker now, Lin Huang could clearly sense where exactly it was as he had targeted its aura since the beginning. The shockwave had shot the Regal Sword Killer almost 10 kilometers away; even Lin Huang did not expect to see this.
The Regal Sword Killer looked clumsy when Lin Huang found him. There were cracks like spider webs all over its greenish-black armor, and it was recovering itself slowly. Although the sword in its hand was in good condition, it was obvious that its right hand was trembling from the attack earlier.
"Your sword is pretty solid." Lin Huang noticed that there were no cracks in its sword at all.
The Regal Sword Killer looked terrified by Lin Huang's sudden appearance before it. It then looked at the three fiends following behind, and it knew that it could not escape anymore.
"Since you're so powerful, why are you sacrificing your life to the human? That timid human kid has run away." The Regal Sword Killer looked at Lin Huang and attempted to talk him out of this.
"The timid human kid that you're talking about is me. I didn't run away. I transformed into this," Lin Huang raised his eyebrow and said to Regal Sword Killer.
"Are you satisfied with the answer?"
Clearly, the Regal Sword Killer did not expect to hear that, so it was in shock. Perhaps, it was puzzled how a human had managed to transform himself into a complete double mutated fiend that it could not distinguish.
"You're the first one to know the secret that I can transform into a monster. So, please bring this secret together with you to hell." Lin Huang did not want to talk to it anymore as he swung his sword again.
The black sword glow shot out like a crescent moon and headed towards the Regal Sword Killer as swiftly as lightning. Red glow shot out of the Regal Sword Killer's bloody eyes like a fuse lighting up its body which was also soon turned red. Its greenish-black armor became crimson red like charcoals on fire. The cracks on its armor disappeared, and there were bright red patterns on its black sword like lava.
It held its sword with both of its hands and sliced the crescent moon black sword glow into halves. The glow disappeared as it was destroyed.
"Do you really think that I couldn't sense your aura? I knew it was you, the human kid. Since you transformed yourself, I just needed to buy myself something to complete my transformation." The Regal Sword Killer glared deadly at Lin Huang and grinned.
"You're still a kid. Your ability is just like that even though you've leveled up to purple flame-level. Don't worry. I'll kill you first and explore more secrets about you. I can feel that you have what I need to complete my quadruple mutation."
"Really? I forgot to tell you something as well. The attack earlier was only 30% of what I've got as I have yet to adapt to my new body. Also, it was just a casual attack. I haven't even used my sword skills," Lin Huang smirked and deepened his voice.
"I shall let you in on my other secret. You're right. I really do have what you need to complete your quadruple mutation."
"I really do have what you need to complete your quadruple mutation," Lin Huang stomped and leaped with his sword like a flash of lightning as he taunted. This time, he gave his all. As he activated his Thunder Sting and Thunder Steps, his sword turned into a black lightning bolt in the air and headed towards the Regal Sword Killer. Ripples were created in the air as he wielded his sword so quickly like an osier swung through the water surface.
The Regal Sword Killer only saw a black glow before it realized anything. It did not have the time to respond while it defended with its sword by instinct. The force that was like a black lightning bolt collided on its black sword while Lin Huang proceeded to swing his sword at it. The only thing the Regal Sword Killer felt was an invincible force that pressed against it like a gargantuan mountain. Before it even fell, the thousands of black electrical arcs that came from the Thunder Stings radiated from the sword and covered the Regal Sword Killer's entire body.
After a loud groan, its bloody red body was shot out like a cannon. Thousands of meters trees that were burnt disintegrated into powder as it was shot out, black dust filling the place. The Regal Sword Killer's bloody red body fell clumsily on the ground thousands of meters away while the black electrical arcs were still happily dancing on it. The electrical arcs were numbing its body and at the same time, creating intense heat on its armor. The heat could do more harm than spiritual lava could, which was the reason why it groaned.
Lin Huang stomped and appeared before the Regal Sword Killer again. He looked at the Regal Sword Killer that could not get up due to the numbing effect of the black electrical arcs.
"It seems like you're slightly more powerful after transforming yourself. You can defend yourself better now. But that's good. I can test my ability with you and see how powerful I am after the transformation." With that, he swung his sword again. This time, he was not performing Thunder Stings but form36 from the Great Sword Scriptures. It was a killing style that was explosive, and it was also the last and most powerful form of the Great Sword Scriptures.
As he swung his sword horizontally, black Life Power dashed towards the Regal Sword Killer with a serious threat. Although its body was numb, the Regal Sword Killer did not give up just yet. It decided to bite the bullet and blocked its sword in front of its chest as it saw the black sword glow coming towards it.
As the swords collided, Regal Sword Killer released all its bloody Life Power in an attempt to defend from the attack. However, its red Life Power was like a flame that was fighting to survive in the dark when fighting the black Life Power. It only lasted for seconds before it was completely burnt out. The Regal Sword Killer was once again engulfed by the black Life Power. The shockwave created from the black Life Power shot it tens of thousands of meters away.
Lin Huang looked far into the distance as the shockwave faded away, Regal Sword Killer was tens of thousands of meters away. It was on the ground and was attempting to get up, but it seemed to be difficult for it. Lin Huang leaped and appeared less than ten meters before it. The attack just now had destroyed all the will that the Regal Sword Killer had been left with. To live, it had drained its Life Power to defend the attack.
Its bloody armor was destroyed, and it looked even clumsier than it was when it was in its greenish-black armor. Seeing that it was in pain, Lin Huang did not mock it but instead, he complimented it, "You're an opponent who deserves my respect, but I must kill you today so that I can get your tinder to level-up to holy fire-level."
"I've never thought I would be killed by a human kid who isn't even holy fire-level," the Regal Sword Killer smirked in mockery. However, it was not ridiculing Lin Huang but itself.
"Could you promise me something?" The Regal Sword Killer stopped its smirk and looked up at Lin Huang.
"Do tell." Lin Huang nodded after a moment of silence. He knew that there was no way the Regal Sword Killer could turn the tables around.
"I hope you'll take good care of my body after I die and bury me at the edge of the cliff that you found me on. I hope to see the thing that I've been waiting for since half a year ago after I died," the Regal Sword Killer requested.
"Sure," Lin Huang agreed without thinking twice.
Lin Huang respected its dying wish. After all, he was taking the Regal Sword Killer's life with no hatred.
"Kill me now!" The Regal Sword Killer did not say anything else as it saw Lin Huang's agreement. It straightened its back with the help of its sword in hand and closed its bloody eye slowly.
"This is called Worldly Purification. It's my most powerful form. It means purifying all the sins of the world," Lin Huang said while the tip of its sword burned in a black flame from his Life Power.
Lin Huang did not hold back this time as he inserted three Life Wheels of Life Power into his sword. The black flame on the sword tip became even more intense. The usual bright golden glow was now shiny black. It was as black as piano keys, and it could almost reflect a person's face. As the black flame was burning at its peak, Lin Huang activated his Thunder Steps and Seraphic Speed, then swung his sword. Within seconds, he cut open the Regal Sword Killer's hard bloody armor and pierced into its chest without any obstacles. The sword pierced through its heart and protruded from its back.
The heat from the sword tip remained in its body like a volcano that was going to erupt. When Lin Huang balanced to his feet, he was thousands of meters away from the Regal Sword Killer. Its body was cracking, and a flaming black force was coming out of the cracks. Even its mouth and eye were shooting out the black flames from the Worldly Purification. Before it could even fall to the ground, notifications came from Xiao Hei.
"Congratulations, you've killed the Regal Sword Killer (Incomplete), mission accomplished!
"Congratulations, you've obtained pseudo mythical-level card Regal Sword Killer (Incomplete) x1
"Congratulations, you've obtained quadruple tinder card (pseudo)!"
Right after the Regal Sword Killer had been killed, there was no need for Lin Huang to extract the tinder since the system had automatically done it for him.
Based on the normal procedure of extracting tinder, Lin Huang's way of killing was against the rules. Not only did he summon a monster of a higher level than the Regal Sword Killer, his combat strength after the transformation was stronger than the Regal Sword Killer's as well. According to the rules in this world, under normal circumstances, the Regal Sword Killer's tinder would disappear after its death.
However, Xiao Hei stopped that from happening as he had extracted the tinder by force before the Regal Sword Killer died, making it into a card.
"Would you like to integrate the tinder?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang decided without a moment of hesitation.
"Integrating tinder."
Lin Huang then transformed himself back into the normal state, feeling weak. He felt uncomfortable upon returning normal due to the sudden rise in his combat strength.
As he returned to his normal human form, the Tinder Card was transformed into dots of greenish-black with a starry glow.
Lin Huang was constantly observing the changes that occurred in his body.
The starry glow in his body then transformed into clumps of greenish-black light and dispersed, infusing into ten of his Life Wheels. They were quickly cooled, forming a solid, black object that looked like a greenish-black stone of the size of a pinky finger. It was the tinder of the Regal Sword Killer but was separated into ten parts due to the Life Wheels in Lin Huang's body.
As the tinder entered his Life Wheels, it began absorbing the Life Power contained in Lin Huang's Life Wheels. Lin Huang immediately took out the Life Power storage card, inserting a large amount of Life Power into his body as he noticed that. He stopped when the Life Power in the third storage card had been drained.
Clumps of white glow emptied the Life Power in Lin Huang's Life Wheels in just a few minutes. Aside from that, the remaining Life Power in his body had been absorbed as well.
Until no more Life Power was left in Lin Huang's body, the thumb-sized, greenish-black tinder began to explode and crack, giving off white flames. The white flame burned stronger as it became smaller. Eventually, it completely turned into a clump of white Life Fire and was placed at the center of the Life Wheel.
As soon as the white Life Fire was created, it started releasing Life Power at an insane rate to restore Lin Huang's Life Wheel and his body that had been drained.
After his Life Wheel was filled, new white Life Power started flowing through Lin Huang's entire body and his body was rapidly strengthened.
He could even sense that each of the cells in his body was evolving towards becoming supercells. He could feel that he was becoming stronger and stronger every second, every minute.
Lin Huang spent more time on the evolution as compared to Yi Yeyu and Li Lang. It took him exactly three hours until the changes occurring in his body slowed down.
However, Lin Huang knew that it was not going to end yet. The Life Power created by tinder would continue modifying his body. The entire process would last for more than a month before it could be completely stopped. Within one month, his ability would constantly improve.
The entire process was known as Leaving the Ordinary. Anyone who first leveled up to white flame-level would have to go through one month period of Leaving the Ordinary.
After one month had passed, the evolution of his body would then remain stagnant, and the tinder within his Life Wheel would be completely stabilized.
As soon as tinder was ignited, Lin Huang felt that his ability was at least ten times stronger.
Be it the transformation of his body, or the Life Power in his body that had been trained; they were incomparable to the earlier ones.
The improvement in his ability was no longer the same as what he had experienced during his previous upgrades. He experienced changes from head to toe and even each strand of his hair was different from the past.
"No wonder humans are called Transcendents after they have achieved holy fire-level. I can feel that I have strength beyond human strength," Lin Huang sighed emotionally after realizing that.
"Xiao Hei, have a look at my Exclusive Card!" A few moments later, Lin Huang said impatiently.
"Host: Lin Huang
"Gender: Male
"Age: 16
"Combat Strength: White Flame-Level
"Secret Skills: Superhuman Strength, Seraphic Speed, Substitute, Small Territory, Demon Hand
"Sword Skills: Star Dome, Wildfire, Thunder Sting, Great Sword Scripture, Hundred Flowing Blades, Mountain Blade
"Gunfighting Technique: Thunderstorm, Sandstorm, Torrent
"Body Movement Skill: Thunder Steps, Cloud Steps, Spectral Snowsteps
"Minor: Fatal Tactics, Heaven's Wrath, Omniscient Nature
"Monster Skills: Vampire Particles, Advanced Disguise, Immense Strength, Leech Pods, Absolute Defense, Lightning Control, Dark Shield
"Summon Authority: Activated (Legendary Level)
"Available Number of Summons: 10
"Remarks: Finally managed to start training officially.
Lin Huang discovered that there were huge changes in the information on the back of his Character Card. His Character Card had become a book whereby his face was printed on the cover. The second page was a brief description of himself. Flipping to the next page, there were pages of skill trees and sword skills that were described in detail.
The legendary-level sword skill, Star Dome, was at the top of the skill tree, branching into Wildfire, Thunder Sting, Great Sword Scripture and the rest of the epic-level sword skills. The third group comprised of the rare-level sword skills.
The same went for the skill tree of the gunfighting technique. Advanced gunfighting techniques were at the top of the skill tree, followed by the mid-level techniques and lastly, the beginner level techniques.
There were 20 empty columns on the page describing the monster skills and currently, only seven of them were occupied.
Lin Huang noticed the improvement in his summoning authority. Not only was the summoning authority of the legendary-level monster card activated, the available number of summons had increased from five to ten.
"All the legendary-level cards have finally been unsealed!" Lin Huang was excited as he checked on the state of the monster cards of Charcoal, Bai, Bloody, and the Supreme Overlord. Indeed, the cards had been unsealed whereby the grey, stone-like cards had turned purple. Moreover, the cards displayed that the combat strength of the monsters were all on blue flame-level.
Upon confirming the status of four of the legendary-level monster cards, Lin Huang gazed at the Regal Sword Killer monster card which he had just obtained.
The Regal Sword Killer card was not sealed. The card was not golden in color. It was a purple card surrounded by a golden edge. The card showed that the combat strength of the Regal Sword Killer was blue flame-level. It was apparent that its combat strength was influenced by Lin Huang's combat level and was then improved. However, its summoning status was "restricted summoning".
Lin Huang tapped open on "restricted summoning" to view more details about it.
"Restricted summoning: The monster can merely be summoned once for each level and can be summoned for the second time after you have leveled up."
"Remarks: As soon as you have achieved immortal-level, the restriction will be void."
"It's not sealed!" Lin Huang grinned. Even if it could only be used once for each level, he could summon it five times when he was a holy fire-level.
"The summoning period is only one hour but that's good enough since it's not sealed."
While Lin Huang was looking at the card of the Regal Sword Killer, Xiao Hei's voice was heard.
"A hidden page is detected in the Regal Sword Killer's body!"
Under normal circumstances, after the tinder was extracted and ignited, it would release a large amount of information to the tinder's owner. These messages would typically include the memories inherited from the monster that was killed.
However, Lin Huang did not obtain the memories inherited. Instead, a few seconds later, a notification from Xiao Hei suddenly arrived.
"There is a hidden page?" This was strange news to Lin Huang.
"It has been verified that it is a Divine Object. As the Regal Sword Killer died, this page started disappearing, but I managed to capture it. There is a missing part, but the impact of that section isn't that big. If I'm not mistaken, the memories inherited from the tinder of the Regal Sword Killer wasn't released because this page of scripture might have absorbed it."
"Where's it?" Lin Huang immediately asked.
A dark bronze, palm-sized object gradually came out from the Regal Sword Killer's body, floating in front of Lin Huang. Lin Huang stared at it for a few moments and black inscriptions flickered on the object.
"Can I extract the information from this?" Lin Huang immediately asked.
"The level of this object is too high and it isn't possible to turn it into a card. The information can't be extracted and I can only oppress it. Insert it into your body and try to communicate with it."
As soon as Xiao Hei finished his words, Lin Huang extended his hand and he was able to touch the page of scripture.
The next moment, Lin Huang felt dizzy.
As he regained his senses, he was no longer on Elam Island but in a deserted land where battle swords were all pierced into the ground.
"Xiao Hei!" Lin Huang contacted Xiao Hei through his mind as he wanted to ask what was happening. However, Xiao Hei did not answer him.
"It seems like we have lost connection." Lin Huang frowned, looking at the vast wilderness. There was nothing other than the battle swords that emitted a threatening aura.
Just when Lin Huang was in doubt, a weird thought ran through his mind.
"As long as you manage to look for the sword that belongs to you among the 18,800 of them, the recognition by that single page of sword scripture will be given. You only have one chance to do so. The page of the sword scripture will disappear on its own and I'll lose a chance as well…"
Lin Huang did not know why but he could suddenly understand the rules. He immediately sized up the surroundings.
He could see that none of the battle swords were similar to each other. The swords were emboldened and he had no idea how much stronger they were than his own supreme sword. Lin Huang was confused.
As he was wondering how the sword should be picked out, he felt something peculiar as if he was being drawn by a magnet.
Lin Huang then turned back and headed towards the direction if the pull, running for more than half an hour. Eventually, he arrived at a place where the peculiar attraction could be felt the strongest.
He stood still, looking at the swords surrounding him. He finally targeted one of them.
The undefined attraction was coming from this particular sword.
It looked ordinary and the handle of the sword was simply made of wood. There were no traces that it had been carved. The blade had an ordinary silver color and there were no remarkable designs on it at all.
It had a normal and a rather unappealing appearance. Its aura was calm and run-of-the-mill unlike the rest of the swords whereby some of them emitted a deadly aura, or were overbearing, or even spiritualized…
"I don't care whether it is the right one but I'm going to choose you today!" Despite it not being eye-catching, it somehow looked outstanding to Lin Huang. Even if it could not be used to fight, it could still be used to practice.
He then grabbed the handle of the sword, slowly drawing it out of the ground.
Right when it was being pulled out of the ground, a golden glow emerged. The battle sword that looked unappealing released a dazzling golden gleam that looked like sunlight and instantly expanded throughout the deserted land.
As the golden glow faded, Lin Huang's vision recovered and he returned to Elam Island.
"Are you okay?" Xiao Hei's voice was heard.
"I'm okay." Apparently, Xiao Hei did not know what had happened just now. He felt that he had been in the deserted land for at least half an hour. However, as he returned to reality, not even a second had passed.
As soon as Lin Huang finished his sentence, the golden page then turned into a beam of light and flowed into his body through his finger.
"It seems like you have been verified. You have saved me some trouble."
When the page moved, Xiao Hei wanted to oppress it. Soon, it discovered that the scripture had no bad intentions and it was no longer bothered about it, allowing it to enter Lin Huang's body.
When his consciousness immersed his body, Lin Huang managed to capture the presence of the page rapidly in his body. It floated somewhere near Xiao Hei and the rest of the cards.
As Lin Huang contacted it, a large amount of information began gushing into his mind.
Lin Huang was startled but soon, he was surprised as most of the contents recorded were about the Sword Dao.
It was not the content of the human's Sword Dao but the monster's!
For a monster that had never gone through any mutations to one that had gone through its third mutation, as long as the combat level was below immortal-level, all the sword type monsters were recorded. The monster's Sword Dao was all recorded on the golden page.
Lin Huang was delighted. He did not obtain just one type of the Sword Dao, but there were more than 10,000 of them!
The formation process of the sword skill of each monster was clearly recorded. Lin Huang was like an onlooker standing less than three meters away, witnessing everything that had happened.
It was already late at night as he skimmed through it. Lin Huang did not notice that while he was reading the legacy, the sword realm in his body was improving unknowingly. When Lin Huang recovered from his thoughts it was already 10 o'clock at night.
He took a glance at the time and realized that it was time to leave.
Looking at the Regal Sword Killer's dead body, Lin Huang decided to follow his last request and carried the carcass. He brought along the three fiends and headed towards the east of the island, somewhere near the edge of the cliff.
A few minutes had passed and the four of them arrived near the cliff.
Lin Huang strode towards the place where the Regal Sword Killer had been found earlier and instructed the fiends, "One of you, please help me dig a hole here."
The fiends exchanged glances with one another. One of them then walked to the front, extending its claws and quickly dug a standard rectangular pit that was three meters long and more than a meter wide. It had a depth of about two to three meters.
As the fiend extended its hand again, the Regal Sword Killer's dead body floated on its own. Even the long sword that it was holding with cracks that were visible on its blade gradually fell into the soil pit. Soon, black sand started filling the large pit and the carcass was buried.
Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction at the Imperial Imp that had completed the task. "You're quite familiar with this. I'll look for you when there's a need in the future."
He then recalled the fiends, gazing at the slope. "You're a worthy opponent. I'd make an exception this time. I won't do anything with your dead body. May you rest in peace."
After finishing his last sentence, Lin Huang immediately summoned the Black Ink and strode over to it.
The howl of the wind resonated through the deathly stillness of Elam Island.
There were two moons, one in red and another in purple lighting up the night sky.
At midnight, underneath the black soil, a faint golden glow appeared on the Regal Sword Killer's chest which had completely exploded.
If one looked into his body carefully, one would discover an incomplete gold, thumb-sized page. Its shape completely matched the missing part of the sword scripture that Lin Huang had obtained.
On the island, a deadly aura was inserted into the incomplete page that was on the Regal Sword Killer's wound.
At the same time, the Regal Sword Killer's body changed strangely.
Up until it was about four o'clock in the morning, the charred land completely disappeared. Flowers and grass began to grow.
Before the dawn, when the first beam of sunlight shone on the island, the finger of the Regal Sword Killer's dead corpse that had been buried moved a little…
"Monster Card
"Rarity: Mythical (Pseudo)
"Name of Monster: Regal Sword Killer (Incomplete)
"Type of Monster: Protoss (Beginner)
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-Level
"Major: Sword Dao
"Major Skills: Killer (Demigod's sword skill), other sword skills (Nine types), Sword Realm (Small), Holy Power
"Minor Skills: Enhanced Regeneration, Seraphic Speed, Superhuman Strength
"Summon Authority: Restricted Summoning
"Card Remarks: Recommended to train with maximum effort!"
…
"Monster Card: Charcoal
"Rarity: Legendary
"Name of Monster: Undead Evil Dragon
"Type of Monster: Dragonkin (Mid-Level)
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-Level
"Major: True Dragon Dao
"Major Skills: Black Dragon Flame, Dragon Power, Dragon Breath, Draconic Secret Skill, Dragon Realm
"Minor Skills: Elemental Immunity, Absolute Defense, Enhanced Regeneration, Combat Instinct
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Card Remarks: Intensive training is recommended!"
…
"Monster Card: Bai
"Rarity: Legendary
"Name of Monster: Vampire Monarch
"Type of Monster: Protoss (Beginner)
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-Level
"Major: Blood Bond
"Major Skills: Vampire Particles, Holy Power, Blood Secret Skill, Vampire Realm
"Minor Skills: Seraphic Speed, Instantaneous, Wing Slayer, Enhanced Regeneration
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Card Remarks: Intensive training is recommended!"
…
"Monster Card: Bloody
"Rarity: Legendary
"Name of Monster: Violethaze
"Type of Monster: Parasite
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-Level
"Major: Parasitism"
"Major Skills: Parasitic secret skill, Absolute Control
"Minor Skills: Supreme Intelligence, Limitless Ingestion, Immortal Pods
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Card Remarks: Intensive training is recommended!"
…
"Monster Card: Ghastly Clown
"Rarity: Legendary
"Name of Monster: Supreme Overlord
"Type of Monster: Undying Species (Mid-Level)
"Combat Level: Blue Flame-Level
"Major: Control
"Major Skills: Doll Secret Skill, Deceptive Secret Skil, Spiritual Secret Skil
"Minor Skills: Supreme Intelligence, Unknown Trap, Telekinesis
"Summon Authority: Activated
"Card Remarks: Intensive training is recommended!"
…
"I've finally unsealed all of them!"
Late at night, Lin Huang carefully looked at the legendary-level cards that had been unsealed.
He had never expected that these monster cards would turn into a book like his Character Card.
Flipping through the pages, he could see the skill trees of both the major and the minor skills. Each skill was described in detail compared to the past.
Many of the monster skills did not disappear but were included in the secret skills instead. Although it seemed like the number of monster skills displayed on the main page had reduced, it had, in fact, increased.
Within Bloody's Parasitic secret skill, there were more than 100 types of parasitic skills. Also, Ghastly Clown's Doll secret skill included the Doll Substitute, Puppet Control, and all other doll-related skills. Furthermore, Bai's Blood secret skill contained various types of skills that utilized the power of the Blood Bond.
Moreover, the learning abilities of the monsters that had gone through their third mutation were comparable to the human genius. They could obtain more skills through the learning process.
The unlocking of the legendary-level cards and the obtaining of the pseudo-mythical level card, the Regal Sword Killer, had caused Lin Huang's summoning monsters to become extraordinarily stronger.
In addition to Lin Huang leveling up, his Sword Dao had improved significantly. Four of the Life Seed talents were transformed into secret skills that were even stronger.
A teleportation skill with flickering effect was added to the Seraphic Speed secret skill. The substitute effect of the Substitute secret skill had increased from being able to use it once a year to twice a year. Also, the Micro Territory had evolved into Small Territory whereby its territory had expanded to a radius of 300 meters. Sly Hand was transformed into Demon Hand as well, turning into an attack type secret skill with speed and strength.
There was an explosive change in Lin Huang's overall abilities compared to prior to leveling up to holy fire-level.
When it came to encountering an immortal-level of a lower rank, Lin Huang dared to fight it, let alone a gold flame-level.
Upon returning to the Martial Hunter College, Lin Huang did not visit the library anymore. He spent most of his time in the training room.
He wanted to verify the monster sword skills that had been inherited and at the same time, he was practicing a set of body training skills called Undefeatable Warrior.
The body training skill was provided by Mr. Fu whereby Lin Huang could quickly improve the strength of his body during this period of time at a rapid pace.
However, it was a huge burden to his body. Lin Huang could no longer continue after practicing for about two hours. He could only use the remaining time to practice his sword skills.
As he practiced every day, it took him less than a week until his practice sessions for the Undefeatable Warrior could be increased to six hours a day.
In a blink of an eye, it was already Friday. It was the first battle drill in this week.
When Lin Huang appeared at the Sword Dao faculty office early in the morning, all the teachers there were shocked the moment when they saw him.
"Teacher Lin, have you leveled up to holy fire-level?" Mu Xiaolan who was closest to Lin Huang asked.
Aside from Qin Tianxing, all the teachers in the office were on complete gold-level. In addition to the fact that Lin Huang had just leveled up and could not shrink his aura, everyone could clearly feel the advancement in Lin Huang's combat strength.
"Yes, I just did." Lin Huang smiled, nodding his head.
"When did you level up?" Mu Xiaolan immediately asked.
"Last Saturday," Lin Huang said.
Right at this moment, Qin Tianxing walked into the office. He saw the upgraded Lin Huang at a first glance. His pupils dilated as he sensed the terrifying aura released by Lin Huang.
"Fellow, you managed to level up so quickly. I thought that you'd spend a lot of time preparing." Qin Tianxing smiled as he walked in.
"I did actually spend a week preparing for it," Lin Huang smiled as he explained.
The rest of them had a strange expression on their faces as they heard what he said. Normally, the people would prepare for a few months or even a few years to kill a Life Fire monster. Moreover, the probability of failing to kill the monster was high. Lin Huang had spent only one week for the preparation and had even succeeded. Many of them were overwhelmed as they heard that.
Qin Tianxing walked towards Lin Huang with a smile, covering half of his mouth with a palm and whispered to Lin Huang, "You have just leveled up and you exude a really strong aura. Did you really kill a triple mutated monster?"
"Make a guess." Lin Huang smiled and did not answer his question.
A flicker of fury flashed through Qin Tianxing's eyes. Despite Lin Huang not answering him, he knew the answer from the smile on Lin Huang's face.
"You're great!" Qin Tianxing gave him the thumbs up.
"Oh yeah, Brother Qin, tell me about the battle drill." Despite already achieving holy fire-level, he was still being responsible for his students. He would not give up his job even if he was not going to work for exactly a year. He would at least complete his teaching for one whole semester.
"All the Year 1 students will join the battle drill. It is based on the points accumulated by each class. However, there can only be a maximum of five students per group. Therefore, there'll be ten teams for each class," Qin Tianxing explained.
"You have 100 students in your class. Are you taking great advantage of it?" Lin Huang raised his brows.
"That's good if it works in this way. However, to ensure that it's fair, the total score obtained by our class will be divided by two," Qin Tianxing said with his palms up.
"I do think that the rules established by the school are awesome." Lin Huang smiled.
It was nine o'clock in the morning.
There were more than 3,000 new Year 1 students. All of them stood straight in their formations according to their faculties and years.
It had been a month since school started and everyone had started familiarizing themselves with one another. They had a better understanding of the rules and the system of the school as well.
The school would organize a battle drill in a month, and it was most anticipated by the new students since most of them had never been to the wilderness.
The teachers oversaw the battle drill. Therefore, they would not need to worry about their safety.
Moreover, it was the first battle drill since the school started. The new students were looking forward to it. They were more excited than nervous.
Deputy Dean Wang was the one who was in charge of the battle drill.
While he was giving a speech on the stage, Qin Tianxing had sent out the rules of the battle drill to Lin Huang and the rest of the teachers' via their Emperor's Heart Rings.
Since Lin Huang was the new teacher, he immediately checked them out. Despite having briefly heard about the rules from Qin Tianxing, he still read them carefully.
The rules of the battle drill were simple. The training ground was a level-1 wild zone. The staff of the institution had hidden many of the star badges in the wild zones. Points would be awarded to those who retrieved the star badges. Those who managed to kill the iron-level monsters would earn extra points.
Furthermore, the battle drill would last for only three days. That being said, the students would have to sleep in the level-1 wild zone for two nights. This would be the greatest challenge that they would face in the assessment.
After Lin Huang carefully read the rules, Deputy Dean Wang had almost finished his speech.
"That's all from me. Now, the class teachers will explain the details of the battle drill to the students!"
Lin Huang waited for the rest of the teachers to do so before heading towards his students.
The students had not seen Lin Huang for a week and noticed some changes in him. However, they could not figure out the difference.
"We haven't seen each other for a week. Did you guys goof around?" Lin Huang gazed at the crowd. A few of them avoided his gaze whereas the rest of them did not seem to have slacked off at work.
"Alright, stop talking nonsense. I'll explain the rules of the assessment." As soon as Lin Huang finished his words, two star-shaped badges were projected.
"In the coming three days, the accumulation of points mainly come from these two badges. You'll be given one point for each silver badge collected whereas you'll gain ten points for each gold badge. They'll normally hide the gold badges at dangerous places. There might be iron-level monsters there. Therefore, when you see a gold badge, you have to be cautious. Don't just focus on getting the badge but neglect the danger.
"Aside from collecting badges, points can be accumulated by killing monsters. You'll get ten points for killing an iron-level rank-1 monster and 30 points for an iron-level rank-2 monster. You'll obtain 100 points if you kill an iron-level rank-3 monster.
"Your performance in the wilderness will be recorded by the Surveillance Mosquito. Therefore, after the monster is killed, there's no need to handle the carcasses. The staff will do it for you."
"Teacher Lin, if we get bitten by a mosquito at night, and we accidentally kill the Surveillance Mosquito, what shall we do?" A fat young man raised his hand and asked.
The people around him tittered, covering their mouths.
Lin Huang was speechless and shook his head. The Surveillance Mosquito was projected to them. "The Surveillance Mosquito measures a length of about 20 to 30 centimeters. There are eight eyes on its head which gives it a 360-degree vision. It is an iron-level rank-3 monster. The Surveillance Mosquito has been tamed by humans. However, if it encounters an attack, it'll still fight back. Each Surveillance Mosquito can drink more than ten liters of blood. It has to absorb the blood of two people of your body size to feel full."
The young man, who asked the question, kept quiet. The rest of them, who had no idea how the Surveillance Mosquito looked like, felt lucky that they did not ask such a question.
"Also, I'd like to remind you that despite the Surveillance Mosquito has been tamed, it is not absolutely safe. Even a pet at home will go mad, let alone monsters. Don't get too close to the Surveillance Mosquito and it's best to keep a distance of at least one meter away. Of course, if you don't provoke them, they usually won't attack you." Lin Huang was not trying to scare them but such problems did really exist in the past.
He then switched the screen to the map and continued, "The wild zone that you guys are going to is called the Mist Forest. It is a level-1 wild-zone and the strongest monster will be an iron-level rank-3. However, mist will form in the forest at night. Therefore, it's best for you to look for the badges and hunt for monsters during the day. When the mist is formed at night, don't wander around so that you won't get lost with your mate.
"Also, individual marks will not be given for the assessment but will be calculated based on the points accumulated by each class. Therefore, your opponent isn't only those from the Sword Dao faculty but also those from Saber Dao faculty, Gun Dao faculty, and so on.
"There'll be 50 students in each class forming a team of five. Therefore, there'll be ten small teams. Each team will be sent to random places, and the same goes for the rest of the classes.
"All the badges collected have been processed specially. Therefore, it's not possible to put it away in the storage space. You can only bring it along with you. Besides, you can snatch badges from other teams. Therefore, the monsters aren't your only enemy but so are the students from other classes."
Many of their faces turned pale when they heard that the badges could be snatched from other students. The strongest student among all the Year 1 students was, of course, Mu Xiao from the Saber Dao faculty. Before enrolling into school, his combat level was already on bronze-level rank-1. His abilities were far beyond the rest of the students. He surely had no difficulty with the assessment. If they had permission to snatch badges from each other, he would be able to seize all the badges from the teams that bumped into him.
"Aside from the enemies, please don't forget something that you'll have to do at night. In each team of five, each of you has to take turns to keep watch at night. Therefore, every one of you will get to sleep for about eight hours. Don't fall asleep together as you won't know if the monsters or the other teams attack," Lin Huang reminded.
"That's all for the rules of the assessment. The last rule is that you're only allowed to bring in water during the assessment. No food is allowed because you'll need to hunt for your own food in the forest. Please hand in all the food you have now. If the Surveillance Mosquito finds out that anyone of you has brought along food, regardless of what food it is, based on the number of people who brought in food, the class marks will be penalized by 100 points per student. If ten students bring along the food with them, the class marks will be -1,000," Lin Huang extended his hand out for their food supplies while saying.
Some of the students who heard that immediately passed their food to him. A minority of them passed it to him unwillingly when they saw the rest of them gave it to him. Lin Huang did not care if some of them were trying to hide the food. He had deliberately emphasized, "if the Surveillance Mosquito finds out". In fact, he was trying to hint that if they were not discovered, their marks would not be deducted. However, most of the students did not seem to understand that. It was obvious that some of them could understand what he meant and handed in only a few packets of snacks.
"Alright. That's all I'm going to say. I'll send the rules and the map of the wild zone to you. Look for your teammates now. I'd suggest you assign the team members according to their abilities. There's no need for those who are good in attacking to be on the same team. It'd be best for a team to have a good mix of those attacking, defending, controlling, and healing. If it's impossible to do so, please try your best to follow," Lin Huang reminded. He then sent the details and rules to the group.
The group of students then downloaded the map and the rules of the assessment. Soon, they began forming their own groups.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, 3,000 new students formed teams of five and were sent to the level-1 wild zone, the Mist Forest.
Six hundred locations of different coordinates were set in the dimensional portal of the Deputy Dean, Wang Zijun. All the new students who entered the dimensional portal would be randomly sent to one of those locations. The location would automatically be removed after the team was sent out to avoid sending two teams to the same location.
Just slightly after 11 a.m, they had finally sent out all the students. The Surveillance Mosquito was arranged somewhere near the location in advance. After the students were sent out, the Surveillance Mosquito would be activated immediately for live broadcast.
The staff immediately activated their receivers, and 600 live videos were projected.
Lin Huang could quickly identify ten teams of students from his class and he could see Lin Xin's team as well.
Lin Xin had joined the Sword Dao class too as she had been influenced by Lin Huang. She had actually registered for gunmaster. However, there were not enough students that registered for the gunmaster class, and the classes could only be conducted when all the students had achieved iron-level. Therefore, the classes would only be assigned to the students who had registered for gunmaster in their second year.
All the students who had registered for gunmaster would be assigned to other classes according to their scores before graduation. Some of the students in Lin Huang's class had signed up for gunmaster as well.
Perhaps it was because Lin Xin had an outstanding performance in gunmaster, Lin Huang noticed that she was assigned to a very powerful group. Basically, it was one of the three strongest groups in Class 1 of the Sword Dao faculty. Two of them in the team had already achieved iron-level.
If they did not encounter Mu Xiao from the Saber Dao faculty, the team would pass the assessment easily.
As Lin Huang studied the assignment of team members in Lin Xin's team, he then looked at the rest of the teams in Class 1. He realized that the overall qualification of the Class 1 students was indeed higher. There were 12 out of 100 students who had achieved iron-level. Two of them were on iron-level rank-3.
However, there was only one student who had achieved iron-level rank-1 in Class2 which was Lin Huang's class. There were no students who had achieved iron-level in the rest of the classes.
"The Saber Dao faculty is so strong this year!" While Lin Huang was still observing the situation of the students from the Sword Dao faculty, Qin Tianxing beside him suddenly exclaimed.
The strongest opponent was not the rest of the classes from the Sword Dao faculty to him but the classes from the Saber Dao faculty. The overall abilities of the students in Class 1 of Sword Dao faculty were a lot stronger than the rest of the classes. Therefore, the students from class 1 of the Saber Dao faculty had always been an informal rival to the students from his class.
As Lin Huang heard that, he shifted his gaze to the screen that presented the teams from the Saber Dao faculty.
There were 26 students on iron-level in Class 1 of the Saber Dao faculty and Mu Xiao, who was on bronze-level, was one of them. Their overall abilities were indeed stronger than the students from the Sword Dao faculty. There were eight students from Class 2 of the Saber Dao faculty that had achieved iron-level and were almost on par with Class 1 of the Sword Dao faculty. The Saber Dao faculty was incomparable to the Sword Dao faculty.
Seeing a few of the classes from Saber Dao faculty, Lin Huang then looked at the rest of the classes that were registered under other programmes and realized that there was nothing worth paying attention to.
The Gun Dao faculty was slightly weaker than the Sword Dao faculty. There were seven students who had managed to get to iron-level in Class 1 of the Gun Dao faculty, and it was on par with Class 2 of the Saber Dao faculty. There were only about two students who were on iron-level for the rest of the programmes.
Lin Huang took a glimpse at the classes and soon, he shifted his focus back to Lin Xin.
Four of the members of Lin Xin's team looked nervous. Lin Xin was the only one who did not look nervous at all and looked somewhat excited. Lin Huang could now see the benefit of having brought her along to explore in the past. She had been to the moderate danger zone with Lin Huang. She would not feel nervous about getting into a level-1 wild zone at all.
"Eh, Ling Xue looks weak, but her mental quality is quite excellent," Qin Tianxing mumbled, evaluating the performance of his students. Soon, he shifted his gaze to Lin Xin's team and realized that she appeared to be rather calm.
Lin Xin's nickname was Ling Xue when she registered herself in this school. Aside from the President, Liu Ming, nobody knew that they were siblings. Of course, Qin Tianxing would not have known that he was commenting on Lin Huang's sister.
Lin Huang was not surprised to see Lin Xin's expression. He had seen Lin Xin's performance during the battle in the Gun Master game. She had actually achieved the beginner level of a gunmaster but had yet to achieve iron-level. Therefore, she was unable to activate her Life Power for the use of relics. However, as long as the power of the gun and the bullets were strong enough, Lin Xin would be capable of killing an iron-level rank-3 monster.
When it came to the use of guns, Lin Xin was even stronger than Lin Huang who had sat for the Reserve Hunter Assessment a year ago. When Lin Huang was preparing himself for the Reserve Hunter Assessment, he did not even master any of the entry-level gunfighting techniques. However, Lin Xin had already learned 37 types of entry-level gunfighting techniques and 11 types of beginner-level gunfighting techniques that could be used without activating her Life Power.
Lin Xin was fated to be a dark horse to be discovered soon in the battle drill. Lin Huang had never doubted it. He was worried about the performance of his students instead.
While Lin Huang was observing the performance of the students, the Deputy Dean Wang Zijun shifted his gaze to Lin Huang. He originally wanted to have a look at the young man who had just come and to see if he could adapt the life here. However, he was frightened. When the school had just started, Lin Huang was just a gold-level rank-3. About one month had passed, and he had leveled up to white flame-level.
"He's only 16 years old and he's now on holy fire-level. He's perhaps the youngest person who managed to get into holy fire-level in Division7!" Wang Zijun exclaimed. "Although he's just on white flame-level, his aura is extremely strong. It's comparable to those on crimson flame-level. Did he kill a triple mutated Life Fire monster?"
Wang Zijun had met many of the people who leveled up to white flame-level by killing a double mutated monster. However, it was his first time sensing such a strong aura from Lin Huang. He instantly guessed that Lin Huang could have killed a triple mutated Life Fire monster.
"At just 16 years old, he has achieved level-3 sword realm. He even killed a triple mutated monster… Where did President Liu discover such a genius?" Wang Zijun was sizing Lin Huang up secretly for about two seconds. However, Lin Huang could still sense it.
Lin Huang immediately turned his head to look at Wang Zijun as he sensed his gaze on him. Realizing that it was the Deputy Dean who was sizing him up, Lin Huang roughly knew why he had done so.
Wang Zijun was stunned as he never expected Lin Huang to be so sensitive. He immediately smiled to cover up the awkward situation before shifting his gaze away from him.
"He's so strong!" Wang Zijun, who had spiritual detection ability, could sense that Lin Huang had extraordinary abilities as they exchanged glances with each other. "I've no idea how his students will be…"
Again, he shifted his gaze to the screen that projected the situation of the battle drill, looking at the students from Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty.
Shangguan Hui had short, center-parted hair and was always dressed in long-sleeved tops and long pants, making her look like a man.
On the first few days, her gender could hardly be distinguished. After a few classes, the students in Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty could confirm her gender.
Apart from her attire, her personality seemed like a man's as well. She was not as emotional as females and was capable of analyzing problems rationally. This was the reason why she was close to most females as they treated her like their best male friend. They would look for her to analyze their problems if they encountered any.
Her roommate, Zhou Ling, was completely different as she was a straightforward person. She was not tall at barely 1.6 meters. However, she had a sweet-looking face, and in addition to her fame, she was the ideal girl that many of the boys in the class liked.
Shangguan Hui was asked to join Zhou Ling's team in the first place. They wanted to look for another two of their roommates to join them, but they realized that it was too late. A group of boys surrounded two of their roommates. They then had to allow three of the boys to join their team.
Three of the boys were Zhou Ling's admirers, and one of them was Si Tuhao who had already achieved iron-level.
Si Tuhao was 16 years old this year and was the eldest among all the students in Year 1 Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty. He was only two months younger than Lin Huang. However, he was tall. Despite only being 16, he was already 1.85 meters tall. He looked rather matured like a young man in his mid-twenties, which contributed to the reason his classmates addressed him as Uncle Hao.
Si Tuhao was Zhou Ling's admirer. He confessed to Zhou Ling after class on the first day when they had met each other resulting in Zhou Ling being frightened and running away. She avoided him for more than a week.
Soon, however, she realized that Si Tuhao was a good person. Although she did not accept him as a love interest, the both of them had then become friends.
Two of the boys called Yang Jie, and Zhao Ze were Zhou Ling's admirers as well. Their results were quite outstanding in Class 2.
Shangguan Hui's team was one of the few stronger teams among all the teams in Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty.
"We're quite lucky as we've been directly sent to a lakeside!" Zhou Ling shouted. They were celebrating their fortuitous circumstance.
"Let's have a look at the map to identify our exact location," Shangguan Hui reminded in the first place.
"The lake in front of us is one of three large lakes in Mist Forest, Brumaire Lake. It seems like we don't need to worry about food for the next few days," Si Tuhao announced happily after studying the map.
"We're now at the Southwest of Brumaire Lake. There's fish in the lake that can solve our problem about food supply. However, we face another problem at the same time." Shangguan Hui looked at the rest of the team members warily.
When they heard what she said, they immediately shifted their focus to her.
"Firstly, it's rather difficult to kill monsters in the water compared to monsters on land. The lake has a large area which is more than 800 square kilometers wide. If we stay in the same position for three days, perhaps we won't even be able to encounter a monster that drinks water.
"Secondly, towards the North is the lake. There could be many hidden badges there. To look for the badges, we either have to search along the lakeside or enter the forest.
"Our target is not to pass the assessment safely, but to accumulate as many points as we can!" The four of them nodded their head as they heard what Shangguan Hui said.
"Xiao Hui, what shall we do?" Zhou Ling knew that Shangguan Hui was an opinionated person. She would not need to think hard with Shangguan Hui around.
"First of all, let's familiarize ourselves with the environment. If there are no strong monsters here, we'll set up camp here. Regarding the food, let's look around later if there're any monsters that we can hunt for food. If there aren't any, let's think of ways to catch the fish. It'll be best if we can prepare enough food for the coming three days. We can either make dried meat or dried fish. We won't need to worry about food for the next two days, or waste time on that." Shangguan Hui kept quiet for a while and suggested, "As the mist dissipates tomorrow, we'll head towards the west and enter the forest. We'll then start hunting monsters."
"I agree!" Zhou Ling did not think twice and immediately agreed with her.
"Alright, let's do what you said." The three of them did not raise any objections.
Shangguan Hui then randomly picked up a tree branch and stuck it into the ground. She then glanced at the time and said, "It's now 11 a.m. In order to increase the efficiency of detecting the badges, let's now explore the areas in three different directions. Zhou Ling and I will head towards the east. Yang Jie and Zhao Ze will go to the south. Since you're the strongest, Si Tuhao, you shall head towards the west and go into the forest. The main purpose is to check if there're any badges nearby or any lonely monsters. Let's gather over here at this exact tree branch at noon. Enable the silent and vibration modes on your Emperor's Heart Ring. Contact each other if there're any further updates."
"Is it a good idea to separate the five of us?" Zhou Ling asked, feeling insecure.
"It'll be fine. Our main purpose is to look for the badges. If we bump into any monsters or the other teams, come back in the first place to avoid conflict. The assessment has just started, and none of us will have any of the badges. even if we encounter Mu Xiao from the Saber faculty, they probably won't fight us. Moreover, the places where the massive monster crowds will gather have been marked on the map. The nearest monster crowd is situated west, and it is 30 kilometers away from us. If there're monsters at other places, perhaps they'll be the lonely or small monsters," Shangguan Hui explained.
"Alright, let's do what you say. We'll gather here at noon. If anyone of you discovers any lonely monsters, we'll kill them together and make them into dried meat. If there aren't any monsters, we will catch fish and dry them." Si Tuhao nodded in agreement.
Yang Jie and Zhao Ze did not disagree with her.
Three of them then headed in three different directions.
Shangguan Hui's decision was out of Lin Huang's expectations as he never knew that a girl would think in such a way. He thought that Si Tuhao was supposed to be the team leader as he was the eldest and also the strongest. He never expected Shangguan Hui to take power from him or for the three boys not to disagree with her at all.
"Five of them headed towards three different directions. They are kind of brave… However, the girl doesn't seem to feel nervous at all. She must be the same as Lin Xin in the sense that she has been to the wild zone." Lin Huang seemed to be able to identify the difference between a newbie and a veteran. While the rest of the people were still trying to familiarize themselves with the environment, Shangguan Hui had already assigned tasks to her teammates on the first day. It was obvious that a newbie would not be able to do that.
"It looks like she's from the Shangguan family." Deputy Dean Wang did notice Shangguan Hui's performance. He forced a smile, shaking his head. He had heard before about her creating some trouble during the graduation examination.
Shangguan Hui was supposed to score full marks in her cultural course. However, while answering the questions, she had questioned the teacher, pointing out that the accurate term had not been used. She then gave various types of answers based on different interpretations of the question.
Eventually, her marks were deducted by the teacher who examined her paper.
Since the Shangguan family was one of the six royal families, Shangguan Hui's issue alerted the master of the Shangguan family. Eventually, the Shangguans pressured the person who had set the exam questions in the Division 7 Union Government. That person then admitted that it was his fault. In the end, she was assigned full marks in her cultural course.
However, her combat abilities were not exceptional. Therefore, she was assigned to Class 2 of the Sword Dao faculty according to her total score. She did not raise any objection and simply accepted the arrangement made by the Martial Hunter College.
Of course, Lin Huang knew nothing about it. He just knew that the Shangguan family was one of the six royal families. However, he did not realize that any of the students with the same surname would be from that particular family. Therefore, he did not ask any further about Shangguan Hui's identity. However, even if he knew Shangguan Hui's identity, he would not treat her any differently.
When the clock struck noon, the five of them gathered at a peaceful lakeside at a position marked with a tree branch earlier.
"Let's discuss the current update on finding the badges." Shangguan Hui gazed at the three of them other than Zhou Ling.
"We did not discover any monsters, but we managed to find three silver badges very quickly," Yang Jie and Zhao Ze updated her about the outcome of their discovery.
"I encountered an iron-level rank-2 Ironhide Pig and immediately came back. However, I found two silver badges on my way back," Si Tuhao told her what he had discovered as well.
"The both of us didn't encounter any monsters as well. We've found three silver badges and a gold badge," Zhou Ling said with a smile.
"According to the number of badges we have, we've now accumulated 18 points. We can collect 30 points by killing an iron-level rank-2 Ironhide Pig. We should think of ways to hunt it down," Shangguan Hui suggested.
"It's a bit difficult for an iron-level rank-2," Zhou Ling hesitated.
Since most of the students were the ordinary people that could not even get to iron-level, it was considered an accomplishment if they managed to kill an iron-level rank-1 together. The difficulty of killing an iron-level rank-2 or iron-level rank-3 monster would be double of that. This was also the reason why the points given by the college were relatively high for killing an iron-level rank-2 and an iron-level rank-3 monster.
"It's not difficult to kill an Ironhide Pig. However, it has a terrifying defense ability. Its weakness is apparent though." Shangguan Hui continued, "Firstly, it isn't quick and agile. Secondly, it can't climb trees. Thirdly, its stomach is its biggest weakness. It can be severely injured by attacks from assailants who haven't even reached iron-level. As long as we're well prepared for it, it's not difficult to kill it. It depends if you guys are willing to take the risk…" Shangguan Hui then looked at four of them after finishing her sentence.
"I think we should give it a try. Even if I can't fight it face to face, we will be able to retreat safely." Si Tuhao nodded in agreement.
"If we retreat because we encounter an iron-level rank-2 monster, we definitely won't be able to score high marks. Let's give it a try. We can retreat if we can't fight it since the monster can't climb trees," Zhao Ze approved.
"I agree with killing the monster too. However, we have to plan well before that," Yang Jie agreed with her.
They then turned their heads and looked at Zhou Ling, waiting for her to make her decision.
"Why are you guys looking at me? I've said earlier that I'd listen to Xiao Hui," Zhou Ling immediately said.
"Okay. Then, let's discuss the plan in detail." Since all of them agreed to kill the monster, Shangguan Hui started telling them her plan.
"First of all, we'll have to make it blind so that it'll lose its vision. Then, look for a chance to tie both of its forelegs with a load-bearing rope. Then, tie another end of the load-bearing rope to the tree. One of us must be the bait, luring it to chase after us. Once it falls down, the rest of us can start attacking it. That's my overall plan. Is there anything that you guys want to add?"
They continued discussing the details of the plan.
At about 12.40 p.m, Shangguan Hui's team went deeper and deeper into the forest.
"The target is discovered!" Si Tuhao, who was walking in front of them, gestured to them. The rest of them immediately stepped slowly and softly.
Shangguan Hui took out her GrayEagle 18. It was the modified version of the GrayEagle 17 that had been used by Lin Huang last year, which was the female version. The gun was smaller, and it suited female palms better. There were light patterns on top of it and no longer looked as cold as the metal GrayEagle 17. Its recoil force had been reduced, given that its power had been slightly reduced as well.
In order to keep up the sales of GrayEagle 17, the Eagle Company had put in a lot of effort. When GrayEagle 18 was launched in May, the advertisement marketed GrayEagle 17 and GrayEagle 18 to couples. A set of the guns was going at a 12% discount, causing many of them who were single to disagree with them on the Heart Network.
Shangguan Hui did not like to be engaged in close combat. Similar to Lin Xin, she had registered for the gunmaster programme as well and had also scored full marks in her graduation examination. She had mastered 16 types of entry-level gunfighting techniques and two types of beginner-level gunfighting techniques. Despite being weaker than Lin Xin, she was still considered remarkable.
She gestured to the rest of the teammates to keep quiet. Shangguan Hui then quietly moved towards the direction of the Ironhide Pig.
When she moved less than ten meters forward, she could then see the target discovered by Si Tuhao - the Ironhide Pig.
It was an omnivorous monster with a hulking body. Its body measured a length of more than five meters and a height of more than two meters. It looked like an abnormally large wild boar. However, it had two big teeth that looked like an elephant's tusks. Two big horns that resembled the horns of a rhinoceros were on its nose. There was a porcupine-like armor on its back that looked like it was made of black metal. This also explained where the name of the monster came from.
Despite there was no armor on both sides of the Ironhide Pig, it had very thick fur. Its defense ability was one of the best among monsters of the same level. Therefore, there would not be much impact done to it by attacking the side of its body. The only weakness was its soft belly which was white.
As they took a closer look at the monster, some of them were nervous. However, Shangguan Hui still remained calm.
She lifted her gun and aimed at the Ironhide Pig that lowered its head while eating grass.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots were heard at almost the same time, and soon, they could hear the Ironhide Pig growling in pain. Both of its eyeballs were pulverized and could no longer look at its enemies. The pain drove it on a rampage.
"It's getting crazy. Be careful when you're about to tie its legs," Shangguan Hui said in a low voice. "Si Tuhao, please get ready."
Yang Jie took out the rope that had been prepared earlier, tying it around Ironhide Pig's left foreleg.
Realizing that its left foreleg had been chained, the Ironhide Pig started struggling. However, the load-bearing rope could withstand a few tons of force, and the Ironhide Pig was unable to get rid of it.
On the other hand, Zhao Ze found a chance to tie the Ironhide Pig's right foreleg. It growled angrily and loudly.
"Be careful. It might be shooting its quills!" Seeing the Ironhide Pig's body turn red, Shangguan Hui immediately reminded.
The rest of them immediately hid behind a tree.
Pew!
Hearing the whistle coming from the Ironhide Pig, the quills on its back were crazily shooting in all directions. Some of them had pierced deeply through the trees. Its power could be compared to the firing power of the bullets of GrayEagle 17.
Perhaps, if it struck an iron-level rank-3 monster, it could cause a huge impact on it. Fortunately, a few of them were prepared for it and managed to avoid the danger.
Zhou Ling suddenly sneaked out of the forest and gave the "OK" gesture. "I've already tied the other end of the rope."
"It's my turn now!" Si Tuhao was excited.
A few moments later, Si Tuhao appeared behind the Ironhide Pig and sent his sword through the Ironhide Pig's fat buttocks. The sound was dull as the metal collided with its thick hide. However, only a layer of light chinks appeared on the Ironhide Pig's fur. Not even a strand of blood could be seen.
"Eh, pig, over here!" Si Tuhao called loudly.
When it sensed that it was being attacked from the back, the Ironhide Pig immediately turned around. Its pair of eyes that were bleeding looked extremely ferocious.
Si Tuhao turned back and fled. He then shouted while he was running away, "Come and chase me! If you can chase after me, I'll let you hahaha…"
The Ironhide Pig immediately chased after him, following the direction of his voice.
In the forest, the light was dim. There was a Surveillance Mosquito on the big tree. Eight of its blue eyes adjusted the angle and soon, reflected the figures of three boys and two girls in its eyes.
The five of them were lighting a fire to grill some meat. Lin Huang then shifted his gaze towards the screen showing Shangguan Hui and her team.
Lin Huang was quite satisfied with Shangguan Hui's performance. Despite not having an outstanding ability in the battle drill, she was quite intelligent. She managed to kill an iron-level rank-2 Ironhide Pig with little effort. Lin Huang could roughly predict that the performance of the team in the following few days would be great.
He then shifted his gaze towards the rest of the teams in Class2.
Aside from two of the teams appearing to panic, the performance of the eight other teams was fairly good. They proved their survival skills.
Survival skill was what Lin Huang wanted his students to learn. Regardless of how many points that they could gain, it was not important.
Two of the teams that appeared panicked were soon prepared for the battle.
Lin Huang was slightly relieved. He then looked at Lin Xin's team performance in Class 1 of the Sword Dao faculty.
Lin Xin's team was indeed strong. Their team consisted of three boys and two girls. Aside from Lin Xin, another girl, who was called Ai Li, was an iron-level rank-2. There was also a tall, skinny man called Nangong Qing and he was an iron-level rank-2 as well. Despite two other guys not getting to iron-level, they had outstanding abilities.
While the rest of the teams were still preparing for the battle, Lin Xin's team had activated their killing mode. Five of them killed all the lonely monsters they encountered when they were on their way.
While Shangguan Hui and the rest were still grilling meat, Lin Xin's team had already killed six lonely monsters, and in addition to the number of badges they collected, they had accumulated a total of 158 points. It was three times the points collected by Shangguan Hui's team.
"Both of them on iron-level are quite good in assigning tasks to the members." Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction.
The strategy of Lin Xin's team was simple. Lin Xin would first shoot the monster's eyes with a gun, and the rest of them would then complete the kill. If it were only an iron-level rank-1 monster, two of the boys who did not manage to get into iron-level would kill it. If it were an iron-level rank-2 monster, either Ai Li or Nangong Qing would kill it. Both of them would take turns so that their Life Power could be replenished when they were not fighting.
Among the six of the monsters that they had killed, four of them were only on iron-level rank-2 whereas the remaining two were the iron-level rank-1 monsters. In addition to collecting eight gold badges along the way, they were more than 100 points ahead of the rest of the teams.
The gun that Lin Xin using was a GrayEagle 17 that had been used by Lin Huang last year.
However, she was still using the ordinary GrayEagle 17 bullets. She did not use the armored bullets.
Looking at the scene recorded by the Surveillance Mosquito, Lin Xin's team began their journey again after having their lunch.
Nangong Qing had an iron-level weapon that could be used for detection purposes. It somehow functioned like a single-tube telescope but possessed the ability to look through the trees. They continued going deeper into the forest. In less than 20 minutes, he suddenly asked the rest of them to slow down.
"At about 600 meters away, there's an enormous monster. Based on its size, it could possibly be an iron-level rank-3 Ursine Warrior." The detection ability of Nangong Qing's weapon was limited. He could not clearly see the actual outlook of the monster. It looked like an infrared image and only a yellow shadow could be seen. "If it's the Ursine Warrior, are we going to kill it?"
"It's just a monster that is slightly stronger in its defense and strength. Why not give it a try?" Ai Li was excited.
"That shouldn't be a big problem. I'll change the bullets that I'm using." Lin Xin nodded. She then removed the ordinary bullets from the bore and inserted another clip of armored bullets.
The price of the armored bullets was higher than that of the ordinary bullets. Although Lin Xin was not in need of money, she would still prefer to be a good girl who used her bullets wisely.
"To score high marks, killing an iron-level rank-3 monster is the fastest way. Although the Ursine Warrior is rather difficult to handle among the iron-level rank-3 monsters, we have to make a start since this might not be the only Ursine Warrior that we'll meet. Therefore, I think there's no need to avoid," Yao Hao suggested. He was the team's think tank.
"Just kill it, Nangong." Chu Peng nodded as well. He was living in the same dorm with Yao Hao. They still had an iron-level rank-1 roommate but he had joined the other team.
"Alright, then just do it!" Nangong Qing had asked for their opinion earlier was not because he was afraid that they might not be able to fight it. Since the Ursine Warrior was one of the strongest monsters among the iron-level rank-3 monsters, he was afraid that his teammates would hold back.
However, it seemed like all of them were excited and of course, he would not retreat.
The five of them gradually walked towards the monster. The Surveillance Mosquito followed closely after them and recorded the scene.
A few minutes later, the monster being detected finally showed up on the screen.
It was genuinely an Ursine Warrior. It had merlot-colored fur and was equipped with a layer of greenish-black metal armor on its back and abdomen. Aside from that, there was a greenish-black metal helmet with horns on its head.
The monster had a height of about eight meters and its body size was extremely large.
Lin Xin was hiding somewhere under the Surveillance Mosquito. It was their first time having a close look at the Ursine Warrior. They were frightened by its body size.
Right at this moment, the Ursine Warrior was devouring a carcass. Lin Xin and the rest of them had no idea which monster's carcass it was since its brain was no longer attached to its body. They could only see that it was a hoofed animal with black fur.
The Ursine Warrior was rather picky about food. It did not like to eat monsters' brains. Under normal circumstances, it would throw the brain of the monster aside. It started licking the blood oozing out from its neck, tearing its abdomen apart and eating its internal organs. Soon after, the whole carcass went into its mouth, and it started munching on it together with the bones.
Right when it was enjoying its food, Lin Xin's gun had aimed at its eyeballs.
She looked to the left and to the right. Her teammates nodded their head, indicating that they were ready. She then pulled the trigger.
Two shots were fired out of the bore.
Bang! Bang!
After two consecutive shots, the Ursine Warrior stood up in anger, growling from the pain it suffered.
Nangong Qing and Ai Li immediately pounced on the monster from two sides.
Both of them attacked in full force. The battle sword was shrouded in black Life Power as if it had been immersed in black ink.
Chu Peng and Yao Hao did not pounce on it rashly. They stayed in their original position and waited for the right time to attack. The iron-level rank-3 monster was bursting into a rage. They would definitely die if they attacked now since they were not even on iron-level.
Two black battle swords cut through the Ursine Warrior's legs, leaving two streaks of blood.
The Ursine Warrior that had lost its vision was attacked again. It performed a counterattack in all directions senselessly.
Nangong Qing and Ai Li immediately dodged the attack. Despite such an attack not being able to kill them, they would still be severely injured if it hit them.
Lin Xin then climbed up to a big tree, taking aim at the Ursine Warrior's head with her GrayEagle 17 and began distracting it.
The Ursine Warrior's anger was indeed triggered when Lin Xin launched another attack. It gave up chasing after Nangong Qing and Ai Li and rushed towards the direction where the sound of the gun could be heard.
With several hits, it managed to break the tree where Lin Xin was hiding. As the tree fell, Lin Xin leaped and rolled on the ground. She then climbed up another tree, distracting the Ursine Warrior by attacking with her gun again.
While the Ursine Warrior was chasing after Lin Xin, Nangong Qing and Ai Li managed to make several attacks on its legs, and bloody streaks could be seen.
The armored bullets were fired, and they struck the Ursine Warrior's body which was not protected by its armor, causing her to moan in pain.
"Ling Xue, continue to attack its eyes!" Yao Hao suddenly shouted.
Lin Xin then raised her gun and aimed at the Ursine Warrior's eyes. Two consecutive attacks were fired and the armored bullets hit the Ursine warrior's eyes twice.
It grabbed its head and let out a howl of pain. At this moment, its merlot fur began to turn blood red.
"It's bursting into a rage! Leave!" Yao Hao immediately shouted at them.
Right at this moment, gunshots could be heard coming from mid-air. Two of the armored bullets penetrated through the Ursine Warrior's left eye again.
The next moment, an explosive sound coming from two of the shots that Lin Xin fired was heard. The mixture of its blood and brain juice, which was red and white, abruptly oozed out from the Ursine Warrior's eyes.
The Ursine Warrior stopped growling. After a few moments, it collapsed and fell down to the ground.
Lin Huang shook his head, seeing what had happened on the screen. Even though they managed to kill the monster, he was not satisfied with the battle.
"They are too weak in battle drill…"
Lin Xin's team was the one of the best. They could easily defeat monsters of a lower level. However, their performance was rather poor during the fight with the Ursa Warrior, completely revealing their poor understanding of the monster's weakness and they lacked experience in engaging in a fight.
The Ursa Warrior's limbs were not equipped with armor. The ligaments in its knee were relatively soft. It would lose its ability to move if any part of the knee was attacked. Once its ligaments were injured, they could attack the femoral artery in its inner thigh. Basically, the Ursa Warrior would not be able to survive if its main artery was cut.
Of course, its eyes and mouth were obviously a weakness as well. However, Lin Xin did not understand it as she thought that she would just need to blind the monster. In fact, she could have just struck consecutive attacks on its eyes or shoot its mouth when it let out a growl. She could even hit its nostrils or earlobes.
He shook his head, shifted his focus from Lin Xin's team to the Saber Dao faculty.
Many of the teachers kept their focus on Mu Xiao who was from Class 1 of the Saber Dao faculty.
It was apparent that Mu Xiao was ambitious. Aside from him being on bronze-level rank-1, two of his teammates were iron-level rank-2 whereas another two of his teammates were iron-level rank-3. Without a doubt, it was the most formidable team among all the Year 1 teams.
They were strong as they managed to eliminate all the monsters that they encountered.
In addition to the bronze-level saber he had, Mu Xiao's saber skills were impressive. He felt like he was slicing into a tofu even when facing an iron-level rank-3 monster.
Despite several weaknesses of the team such as being weak in task delegation, lacking real battle experience, overuse of Life Power, weak adaptability to changes, and acting rashly, they managed to defeat the monsters luckily. As long as they did not bump into a monster crowd, basically, they would be able to handle the monsters in the level-1 wild zone.
In fact, Lin Huang did not have much faith in Mu Xiao's team. If the team was sent to a level-2 wild zone, perhaps their performance would be weaker than Lin Xin's team should they encounter a bronze-level rank-1 monster. It was because the team was weak in delegating tasks and acted recklessly. They did not prepare themselves for a long-distance attack and nobody planned the battle ahead.
Lin Huang was most satisfied with Shangguan Hui's team from his class after studying the rest of the teams from other classes.
Although they had their weaknesses especially in terms of cooperation, the five of them did plan things ahead at the very least. As an actual hunter, the most important thing is that they had to think. Those who acted rashly would not be able to survive since not everyone could be the main character like Luffy was.
The Deputy Dean, Wang Zijun, had a look at the performance of the students. He then greeted the staff and left, maintaining a neutral expression on his face.
The rest of the teachers left as well after that. The battle drill would last for three days, and most of the teachers would not be monitoring the performance of the students for three whole days.
"It's about 1 p.m. Let's go for lunch," Qin Tianxing suggested to Lin Huang. He felt that it was meaningless to stay there as he saw that the rest of the teachers from the Sword Dao faculty had left.
"Alright." Basically, Lin Huang had seen whatever he wanted. He did not want to waste his time there as well.
"Brother Qin, are you going to treat us a meal?" Mu Xiaolan asked.
"Sure!" Qin Tianxing quickly promised since a meal would not cause a hunter a lot of money.
Ten minutes later, the three of them appeared at one of the partitioned rooms in the school canteen.
"Is this what you're going to treat us? You don't seem sincere," Mu Xiaolan commented without any facial expression.
"It's working hours now. We shouldn't leave the school to go out for food," Qin Tianxing said.
"Alright, you have a valid reason," Mu Xiaolan said with a pout.
"I've never tried the food in the school canteen, but now I can give it a try." Lin Huang smiled, trying to help Qin Tianxing to get over the embarrassment.
"The food sold in our school canteen taste good. Many of the people from small areas apply for a food card over here. The dishes are cheap and tasty. Plus, the portions are generous." Qin Tianxing beamed.
Mu Xiaolan did not bother to join the conversation.
"Teacher Lin, what do you think about the performance of the students?" Qin Tianxing then changed the topic.
"It's still acceptable since most of them have never engaged in a battle. They are allowed to make mistakes during the battle drill." Lin Huang felt that there was nothing to comment about.
"The performance of this batch of students is considered pretty good. Last year, the students even wet their pants when they saw a monster." Mu Xiaolan chuckled.
Lin Huang did not expect such a phenomenon to have happened.
"The overall qualifications of the students are acceptable. Not many of them retreated when they encountered the monsters." Qin Tianxing nodded and continued, "But there's a little monster from the Saber Dao faculty. He formed such a powerful team. Perhaps, Class 1 of the Saber Dao faculty will get the first place again."
"We have no choice since the Saber Dao faculty is the biggest faculty in our college. All the top students have registered for Class 1 of the Sword Dao faculty. Only the remaining students will choose the Saber Dao faculty. Moreover, the Union College that's popular for Sword Dao is snatching students from us." Mu Xiaolan was speechless to hear this.
Lin Huang briefly knew that the Union College was snatching students from them. Union College was undoubtedly the best college in the human world. It was the only institution of higher learning established by the Union government. The Sword Dao faculty in the Union College in Division 7 was also the strongest. Therefore, Union College would be the first choice for top students who wanted to learn sword skills. Martial Hunter College and the rest of the institutions would fall under their second choice.
"I think there's no need to care about their scores. The students should gain experience from the battle drill. They should learn to spot the weaknesses of the monsters and build team cooperation with their members. They should figure out their position in a team.
"From this perspective, many other teams are stronger than Mu Xiao's team. The assignment of members of his team is unreasonable, and they act heedlessly. They managed to defeat the monsters because their opponents are weak. If they encounter enemies that are a lot stronger, perhaps it'll be too late for them to plan."
What Lin Huang said was straight to the point. Qin Tianxing and Mu Xiaolan instantly kept quiet after listening to what he said.
After a few moments, Qin Tianxing then said, "I didn't know that I wouldn't have as thorough a view of it as you do. I've almost forgotten the actual purpose of having a battle drill. Point accumulation is just a sport. We actually want the students to grow up."
"It seems like I have to observe the fighting mode of the students. They'll be divided into different groups next month!" Mu Xiaolan said with a solemn expression.
After having their lunch, Lin Huang did not return to the field as he had seen whatever he wanted to. He went to the training room and started practicing the Undefeatable Warrior.
Soon, two days had passed. At about 4 a.m, while Lin Huang was still sleeping, his communication device suddenly rang.
"All the Year 1 to Year 3 teachers, please gather at the field!" It was a message from the registrar's office!
Before the sky brightened, an urgent message from the registrar's office was received. It was definitely not a good thing.
Lin Huang immediately jumped out of bed and washed up. He chewed on a breath-freshening gum and left after changing his clothes.
When he arrived at the field, two of the deputy deans and the staff from the registrar's office were already there. The rest of the teachers then trickled in.
Lin Huang soon noticed that many of the screens on the field had experienced a blackout. Less than half of the screens were still working, and a few of them turned black only after Lin Huang arrived.
"Is there a signal failure?" That was Lin Huang's first reaction.
However, he soon realized that it was not as simple as he thought. "If it's a signal failure, the blackout won't happen one by one. It seems like the Surveillance Mosquitoes are under attack."
Lin Huang immediately looked at the screen that showed the recording of Lin Xin's team. The screen had not blacked out but he could see that there were about three tents shrouded in mist.
Despite not being able to see exactly what had happened, Lin Huang attempted to call Lin Xin.
"Sorry, the number that you have dialed is not available." Seeing the notification on the communication page, Lin Huang frowned.
He tried to call the rest of the students, and the same thing happened. Since the communication signal did not work, he opened the Heart Network and tagged all the students in the group. However, nobody replied to his message after more than ten seconds.
"Somebody has blocked the communication and network signals! The Surveillance Mosquito uses biological signals, and there's no way to block it. The screens going down one by one is most likely because somebody has killed the Surveillance Mosquitoes." In an instant, Lin Huang could guess what was happening.
More than 3,000 teachers gathered in the field. All of them knew that the urgent message that they received from the registrar's office was not a joke, so they dared not delay.
The Deputy Dean, Wang Zijun, said with a grave expression, "I'm sorry to disturb you at this time. Let me briefly explain what's happening.
"At about 3.30 a.m, the monitors began turning black. The staff on duty thought that it was a signal failure and looked for people to repair them. No problems were found, but the screens from the Surveillance Mosquitoes disappeared one by one. It has only been half an hour and we've lost more than half of the monitors. Furthermore, the communication and network signals have been blocked. We attempted to contact the staff stationed over there as well as the students, but we can't get through."
"Although we can't confirm what exactly has happened at the Mist Forest, we can verify that it is a man-made communication and network signal jamming. Perhaps, we have lost connection with the monitors because the Surveillance Mosquitoes have been killed. Our early assumption is that somebody has invaded the Mist Forest. The person must be going after the students."
Lin Huang clenched his fists tightly, staring at the screen displaying Lin Xin's team as he heard this.
"Since the Mist Forest is so large, I need you guys to help out so that we can search for them in the forest and bring all the students out safely," the Deputy Dean finally requested.
While the rest of them were discussing, some of them looked worried.
"Could it be the people from the underworld?"
"If they are from the Purple Crow or the Saint, even the reserve members are capable of killing all of us…"
Seeing their reactions, both of the Deputy Deans frowned.
"Those who are unwilling to go, it's fine. You may stay here together with Dean Zhang." Wang Zijun was helpless, but still, he had to compromise. "Whoever who's willing to go, follow me!"
As Wang Zijun finished his sentence, he took out the black dimensional portal he had earlier. As he tried to set it up, he frowned.
"What's happening? Why I can't set the location?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the group of people might have locked the dimension to avoid that we can rescue the students after finding out something's wrong," Lin Huang stood out from the crowd and said. "Since we can't set the location to the Mist Forest in the dimensional portal, then let's fix a location which is nearest to it."
"However, the nearest location that has been set in my dimensional portal is a B-grade foothold. It is more than 4,000 kilometers away from the Mist Forest." Wang Zijun's face turned grave. He never expected that the dimension of the Mist Forest would be locked. "If I were to fly at full speed, I'll need about one and a half hours to reach there. If the rest of them were to travel by riding on their flying mounts, they'd need at least three hours."
"Are there any of you that have set a location nearer to the Mist Forest?" Lin Huang gazed at the rest of the teachers as he had never set a location in that area before in his Black Ink.
There were more than 3,000 of them, but none of them could answer Lin Huang's question.
Most of the teachers did not actually have a dimensional relic. Even the minority of them who had had never set a location that was nearer to the Mist Forest.
The Martial Hunter College would organize the training at different places each month. If it was not necessary, the teachers would not normally go to the C-grade foothold or the D-grade foothold of a level-1 wild zone.
"We shall just use your dimensional relic then. If it's about 4,000 kilometers away, I'll only need an hour to reach there." Lin Huang then turned back and looked at Wang Zijun since nobody answered his question.
"An hour?" Although Wang Zijun could see that Lin Huang had already leveled up to white flame-level, he did not think that the flying speed of a white flame-level could be any faster than his.
Lin Huang was lazy to explain and directly summoned Thunder.
As Thunder extended its wings, measuring a length of about ten meters, its body was enveloped by purple electricity. It then landed next to Lin Huang, frightening the crowd.
"It's a double mutated monster, the Viridescent Thunderhawk! It has already achieved blue flame-level!" Qin Tianxing said in a low voice.
"You're an Imperial Censor…" Both Deputy Deans were shocked.
"Go back first. I'll summon you later." Lin Huang waved his hand and Thunder's body faded. After a short while, it completely disappeared.
"I'll see what's happening over there. You guys follow after me later." Lin Huang could not wait to go into the Mist Forest as he was worried that something had happened to Lin Xin.
"Alright, you go first. I'll arrange for people to back you up."
Wang Zijun was worried as Lin Huang wanted to go into the forest alone since the man had been hired by Liu Ming. He was unsure of the relationship between Lin Huang and Liu Ming. Moreover, his combat level was only on white flame-level. After seeing his blue flame-level summoning monster, he instantly felt that Lin Huang could be a huge assistance to them. It was impossible that a holy fire-level Imperial Censor could only summon one monster. He felt that Lin Huang's overall abilities would be on par with those who were on purple flame-level.
Wang Zijun immediately set the location in his dimensional portal and Lin Huang was the first to stride over to it.
Lin Huang stepped into the dimensional relic, observing the surveillance that was following Lin Xin's team as the dimensional relic was closing. He noticed that the screen that had been foggy was now blacked out. He was shocked! As he stepped out of the dimensional relic, he was no longer at the Martial Hunter College anymore but in the B-grade foothold Frost City that was 4,330 kilometers from the Mist Forest.
It was entering winter in Frost City in October. Lin Huang, who was only wearing a layer of clothing, attracted the attention of many. He did not care at all as he projected the map. He then summoned Thunder after confirming his location and the direction towards Mist Forest.
"4,300 kilometers towards the southeast!" Lin Huang hopped onto Thunder's back and started flying. The disappearance of Lin Xin's team's surveillance did not bode well, and he was worried.
Along with the cold wind, there was a thin layer of snow on the ground. The temperature mid-air was even lower. However, Lin Huang did not seem to notice the chilliness at all while getting Thunder to fly as fast as it could. It was around 5.20 a.m. and the day was breaking while the fog in the forest was fading away. Thunder landed in the central zone of the Mist Forest. Lin Huang had no idea where exactly Lin Xin and his bunch of students were in this stretch of forest.
As they landed, Lin Huang recalled Thunder and summoned Bloody. Bloody's form was different from how it had previously been. It no longer looked like a vine. Instead, it floated in the air like a cloud of violet haze.
"I'll have to ask you to look for Lin Xin and the students. Also, check who is messing with them," Lin Huang instructed.
"Sure," Bloody said.
"You can talk now?" Lin Huang was stunned.
"Yes, I didn't have vocal cords before, so I couldn't speak. I still don't have one now, but I can speak through body vibrations," Bloody explained.
"Let's talk more when we have the time. Let's do what's important first." Lin Huang did not want to dwell on the topic. Knowing that it was urgent, Bloody released a massive amount of purple dots which then mixed into the fog and spread far away.
…
Buzz…
A gigantic bug that was three meters long flapped its wings occasionally on the ground. The big looked like an enormous fly with six legs and a pair of wings. There was thick, black hair on its back. The front half of its head consisted of an infinite number of eyes; there were at least a hundred thousand of them. What differentiated it from a normal fly was its back that was releasing white bubbles resembling foam. When one looked closer, there were black baby bugs in the ten-centimeter bubbles that were growing fast. Within seconds, the baby bugs were completely formed. They poked the bubbles with the needles on their mouths and flew out rapidly.
Given the contact with the air, the baby bugs grew bigger as they flew. Soon, all of them became 30 centimeters long. There were two men in white robes standing next to the mother bug with a huge cross on the back of their robes. Although both of them had silver cross patterns streaked on their foreheads, the way they were painted on was different. However, if Lin Huang could see them, he could definitely tell that they belonged to the Saints and they were in the higher management!
"There are only a total of 600 Surveillance Mosquitoes, and you've released almost 2,000 Predator Flies. Is this necessary?" A man who looked like he was in his thirties looked expressionlessly at the young man next to him. The young man had red hair and green eyes that did not look like a human's. He turned around and grinned when he heard what his partner said.
"Since we're here, let's have fun. It's not every day that we get to let the mother fly out. Let's let her feast." The red-haired man licked his lips after saying that casually.
"Don't look at me with your disgusting face. I'm afraid I might chop your head off." The man was exuding a terrifying aura.
"Oh man, don't be like that uncle. You're scaring me…" The red-haired man's eyes turned into crescent moon shapes.
Suddenly, the red-haired man felt tightness in his neck like a metal hand was strangling him. His body dangled in the air.
"Talk to me like that again and I'll kill you!" The man remained expressionless, but the red-haired man could tell that he was not joking.
"I'm sorry, I'll never do that again." The red-haired man raised his hands innocently while smiling.
The man released him slowly and stood aside. He seemed like he did not want to be in contact with the young man.
"I'm just joking. Why are you so mad?" The red-haired man rubbed his asphyxiated throat.
"How long does it take to finish this?" The man asked stonily.
"Now, the fog is still lingering. Although we have the signals of the Predator Flies, the activities of the people must be affected. Looking at the progress, it might take more than an hour to complete the capture," the red-haired man explained.
"The Martial Hunter College is coming. Warn them to watch out," the man instructed.
"We've locked the forest, so no dimensional relic will be able to enter. The nearest C-grade foothold is more than 2,000 kilometers away. Liu Ming isn't around, so at the speed of the two deputies, they would need around an hour to get here. The rest who ride on flying mounts will take more than two hours. As long as I block the two deputies, we'll be able to capture all of them by the time the rest get here. It'll be useless for them to come."
"This batch of offering to the god is massive. We can't afford to miss anything. Please take this seriously," the man warned.
"Don't worry. This is the first time I'm partnering with you. I'll give my 120% to make you happy." The red-haired man raised an eyebrow.
"Uncle, would you consider me as your full-time partner?"
"No, I'm good on my own," the man rejected straight away.
"Sigh, such a heartbreaking response…"
As the day was breaking at 5.30 a.m, Wang Yan sat up from the hammock and leaped out. He unzipped his pants and stood under a tree to pee.
"Damn it! I dreamt of looking for a bathroom for the entire night…"
After peeing, he zipped his pants after shaking his member lightly. He then looked at the time on his Emperor's Heart Ring.
"It's already 5.30 a.m now. Since it'll take around an hour for the fog to fade away, I can still continue to sleep for a while… Eh, what happened to the network?"
Wang Yan had launched the Heart Network to see if there was any news but realized that he could not connect to the network.
"Could something have happened?" Wang Yan called the college immediately.
"Sorry, there's no signal in your area." All he got was disappointment in return. He proceeded to call a couple more numbers and got the same response, spiking his concern.
"Something's happened! All the signals and networks are locked!" Wang Yan headed towards the students that he had been secretly following.
The students were assigned to 600 teams in the battle drill with 600 guardians, one of whom was Wang Yan. The 600 guardians had been selected by drawing lots for those teaching Year 1 to Year 3 who did not have classes on Fridays. Wang Yan was teaching Year 2 Class 12 Sword Dao, and he had been on complete gold-level for a long time. Most of the guardians were on the same combat level, and a couple of them were on holy fire-level.
In this grade-1 wild zone, most of the monsters were on iron-level. Because the resources in the wild zone were limited, it would be a miracle for two or three monsters to level up to bronze-level in tens of years. However, as the Virtual Eye opened randomly, the guardians' job was to prevent such things from happening. After all, most of these students who joined the battle drill were not even iron-level. They would definitely die if they were to encounter bronze-level monsters, let alone monsters of a higher level from the Virtual Eye.
The guardians would follow hundreds of meters behind the students. While protecting them in secret, they were responsible for collecting the remaining monster carcasses. As most of the students' storage space in their Emperor's Heart Rings had limited space and would be full after only keeping a few monster carcasses, it became one of the guardians' responsibilities.
"Wake up! Right now!" Wang Yan arrived at the tents where the students were. He started pounding on the tents.
"Who is that? It's so early!" A couple of students, who were woken up, complained.
"I'm the guardian responsible for your team in this assessment. You have three minutes to wake up and pack! Get up now! I'm not kidding! Those who don't manage to pack within three minutes will be disqualified from the assessment!" Wang Yan rushed them as he knew it was an emergency.
The five of them did not care at first, but they got up immediately when they heard they were at the risk of being disqualified.
"Hehe, I've finally found you…" A voice came from behind him. Wang Yan took out his sword relic without thinking twice and turned around to see where the voice was coming from.
A red-haired young man in a white t-shirt was floating mid-air less than ten meters away from him. There were one big cross and two small, bloody red crosses on the left side of his neck.
"Heretics?!" Wang Yan had fear in his eyes. Not only did the person belong to the top underground organization, but he was also on holy fire-level.
"The signal that the Predator Flies released was too wide. I almost missed these bunch of people. I must thank you for this. If I didn't hear you earlier, I might not have been able to find you guys so easily." The young, short-haired man grinned.
"What do you want from us?" Wang Yan knew he could not fight the person, so he wanted to buy time.
"Your students are great offerings. My senior heard that your dean hasn't been around these few days, so naturally, you guys have become our target," the short-haired man said casually.
"Offerings…" Wang Yan was a professional hunter as well. He was shocked to hear the word 'offerings' as he had never heard of the heretics wanting such a thing. They were just a bunch of obnoxious people that did not believe in God.
"You're not the heretics?!"
"Oh no, I've been busted so easily…" The short-haired man laughed.
"Alright, let me introduce myself. My name is Wu Tian. I'm not from the heretics, but from Saint."
"Saint…" Wang Yan looked even more upset now. He finally understood what the offerings meant.
The offerings meant sacrificing virgins to the god by all sorts of death sentences. There were no restrictions on the gender as long as the offerings were virgins. The new students of the Martial Hunter College were around 15 or 16 years of age which was what the Saints wanted.
"Aren't you guys afraid that you'll cause an outrage? The Martial Hunter College is like a cradle training elites. Not only would our students join the Hunter Association after they graduate, but some of them would also join the Adventurer Paradise and the Union Government. Challenging us is the same as challenging the Union organization. Are you sure you can handle that?!" Wang Yan said.
"That's why we're disguised as heretics." Wu Tian laughed.
"I shall tell you this as well. All the surveillance that you guys have placed in this forest, including the Surveillance Mosquitoes, were killed by us. We have left two or three of them on purpose to 'unintentionally' capture the appearance of the heretics."
"Our elders will attack your Deputy Deans later the way the two elders of the heretics would. As for the guardians, we'll kill all of you. Nobody would know us Saints did it. After all, the heretics did something similar last year. The Union Government and the Hunter Association would not suspect us if something similar happened to the Martial Hunter College. By then, not only we could get 3,000 offerings, but we can even watch the Union killing the bunch of crazy heretics. Killing two birds with one stone, isn't this great? My brother told me all this. He's one of the elders who disguised as a heretic." Wu Tian grinned.
"Bunch of lunatics!" Wang Yan shouted. He did not expect the Saint to be this evil. They did not only want to attack the Martial Hunter College; they even want to blame the heretics.
"Oh no… I accidentally spilled our secret." Wu Tian covered his mouth and smiled.
"Since you know what you shouldn't, you must die now."
As he said that, Wu Tian disappeared from Wang Yan's sight and pierced through his left chest from his back without waiting for him to respond. Looking at the tip of the sword oozing with blood that was pierced through his chest, Wang Yan felt dizzy. Suddenly, he saw two young men come out of the tent from the corner of his eye.
"Run!" He shouted with all the strength that he had while holding the sword that was through his chest tightly. The two young men ran into the forest immediately. Wu Tian attempted to pull out the sword several times but failed. Looking at the two young men escaping, he glared deadly and kicked Wang Yan away. He then sliced opened the tents with his bloody sword and kept two boys and one girl in his imprisonment relic. Then, he flew towards the direction where the two young men had fled to.
"Found it! It's the heretics who attacked. They have the mark of heretics on their necks." Bloody had found the enemy's train within five minutes.
"Heretics? Could they be doing what they did the last time?" Lin Huang frowned. The memory of heretics attacking the Hunter Association's assessment was still fresh in his mind. It was possible for the heretics to attack again as they were irrational beings.
"This people are lunatics. The incident has finally calmed down and they're at it again less than a year later," Lin Huang said.
"I've found many Predator Flies around the Surveillance Mosquitoes' wings. The Predator Flies must've eaten the mosquitoes. The heretics must've programmed the Predator Flies to target the Surveillance Mosquitoes and get the Predator Flies to locate where the mosquitoes were to find the students' coordinates before they started capturing them," Bloody speculated.
"Can you retrieve the coordinates?" Lin Huang asked immediately.
"I'm not sure but I can try. I need some time to study the Predator Fly's biological construction to learn how they send the signals," Bloody thought for a while and said.
"How long do you need?"
"At most, two to three minutes, I need to capture a Predator Fly to study it," Bloody explained.
"What else did you see? Did you see Lin Xin?" Lin Huang asked again.
"I see many students' tents, but I can't be sure that Lin Xin was in one of them. Also, some of the heretics are holy fire-level. Some of them are looking for the students, and some are capturing them…"
"Capturing? Are they killing the students?" Lin Huang asked again.
"No, they're capturing them alive. But I see some of the adults that were killed are mostly complete gold-level. They're not far away from the tents. I don't know what their identities are just yet," Bloody updated.
"They should be Martial Hunter College teachers and the guardians of the battle drill. Most of them are complete gold-level. They're not powerful enough to fight the heretics." Lin Huang frowned. Although the students were captured alive, his colleagues being killed was not good news.
As they chatted, Bloody spoke again.
"I've just cast a parasite on a Predator Fly. They're using biological electromagnetic waves to locate themselves. The heretics have the biological electromagnetic wave receiver with them. That's how they located the exact locations of the Predator Flies. The biological electromagnetic wave isn't difficult to be retrieved. I can even get my Leech Pod to interfere with their probing.
"Please do that then. It's good to buy us some time." Lin Huang knew time was of the essence since it was impossible for him to rescue everyone himself. As soon as help arrived, the students would be safe.
"I've just found out that two students escaped not far away from us. There's a heretic running after them," Bloody said suddenly.
"Where?" Lin Huang asked immediately.
"Eight o'clock. About three kilometers from here."
Lin Huang turned around and disappeared from where he was in a blink. Seconds later, he appeared three kilometers away. It was the secret skill that came from his Seraphic Speed; it was similar to teleportation. Just when he arrived there, he heard someone joking.
"Kids, it's useless for you to hide. I'll kill you if I find you. Why not you come out yourself and let me capture you alive?"
Lin Huang leaped and appeared where the voice was coming from as he looked at the person who was floating mid-air.
"It's really the heretics." Lin Huang frowned as he saw the marks on the person's neck.
"Another kid. Wait, something's not right… White flame-level, you're a teacher?!" Wu Tian was checking Lin Huang out.
Lin Huang could tell from the redhead's aura that he was a purple flame-level.
"Look at you! You're so young. You must be 20 years old at the most. Tsk tsk, you must be a genius to be on white flame-level at such a tender age." Wu Tian was stunned at first, but soon he started laughing.
"Let me ask you a question, young man. This will influence my decision whether to kill you or to capture you as an offering."
"Offering?" Lin Huang was skeptical when he heard that.
"Now, here's the question. Are you a virgin?" Wu Tian smirked at Lin Huang. To him, Lin Huang was just a white flame-level and it was impossible for Lin Huang to fight him since they were three ranks apart.
"You're not from the heretics?!" From what he asked, Lin Huang was sure about who he was now.
"I've encountered the heretics before. They do whatever they want without any restrictions, including God. They would never involve themselves in offerings. The only underground organization that needs virgins for offerings is…the Saint!"
"Oh no, my identity has been busted again! The guy just now knew I'm not from the heretics, but he didn't figure out who I am. It's impressive that you figured out who I am just from that." Wu Tian did not deny his identity.
"Since you know who I am, do you know what you should answer my question now? Would you choose to be killed or choose to be an offering?"
"I would like you to die!" Lin Huang raised his hand, a supreme sword relic appearing in it.
He then swung his sword from where he stood. A white sword glow appeared before Wu Tian. Before he could even do anything, he was sliced into half at his waist. He did not die immediately as he fell to the ground.
"I forgot to tell you that I have Micro Territory whereby I can attack within 300 meters from where I am." Lin Huang mocked.
"Although I've sliced you in half, I've used Life Power to cover your wound when I attacked. You should be able to live for another five minutes. Five minutes is sufficient for me to get you to spill your secrets," Lin Huang said and a cloud of violet haze extended out of his sleeve. A tiny violet stream trickled into Wu Tian's nostrils. Soon, there was a violet glow in Wu Tian's eyes.
"The Saint's plan is so evil. How could they trick the heretics to be blamed? If that guy didn't accidentally spill the beans, I would've believed him."
Lin Huang found out what was happening after Bloody retrieved Wu Tian's memory. He had heard that the Saint and the heretics were each other's biggest enemies in the underground world as one of them worshipped God and thought that those without religion should be burnt to death while another was a freethinker who thought that those promoting religions were lunatics. As their views opposed each other, the two top underground organizations were always backstabbing each other. Their relationship had always been described as the contradiction between lunatics and psychos.
Looking at the cold body that was sliced into halves on the ground, Lin Huang knelt down and took the imprisonment relic on Wu Tian's waist. He also took Wu Tian's storage ring and kept it. The imprisonment relic was a black metal sphere that was the size of half a palm. As there were lives kept in the relic, there was no way for Lin Huang to keep it inside his storage space. He thought about it and found out how to use the relic.
There was a pattern that was similar to the dark pseudo-prison on the relic. Lin Huang inserted his Life Power and rotated it following the direction of the pattern. More than ten students were released from the relic. There were a total of 13 students whereby ten of them had been captured when they were in the tents. They had no idea what had happened while the three remaining students had heard the conversation between Wu Tian and Wang Yan, so they knew that they had been captured by the Saint.
The 13 students looked at Lin Huang in great fear.
"Don't be afraid. I'm Sir Lin Huang who is teaching Year 1 Class 2 Sword Dao faculty," Lin Huang said and projected his teacher ID. "I've killed the person who captured all of you."
Most of the students knew Lin Huang as he looked too young among the Year 1 teachers. Many students had noticed him during the school orientation, and his young age was a hot topic among the girls.
Looking at the heretics mark on the neck of the sliced body, a couple of students who did not know Lin Huang chose to believe him.
"Both of you who are hiding can come out now." Lin Huang turned around and looked at the bushes. The two young men stepped out of the bushes immediately. They were still in shock as they had witnessed how Lin Huang killed Wu Tian.
Seeing the 15 students that he had saved, Lin Huang was not relaxed as he had no idea how to handle these bunch of students.
"Now that the forest is being surrounded by the Saint, all communications, networks, and spaces have been locked. There's no way for me to send you out of this place and rescue will only get here one to two hours later. Until now, I've no idea how many of them are here, but I'm sure many students have been captured. It's not practical for me to bring all of you along, but I can't leave you guys here." Lin Huang did not know what to do,
"Sir Lin, I think you can keep us inside the imprisonment relic and bring it along with you. The relic that you're holding is called a Dark Sphere. It's a grade-2 relic and it can contain 100 people. The interior is usually dark, but there's a light mode in it as long as you activate the white pattern on the side. With the light mode activated, we can kill time by talking to each other in the relic. You won't destroy this grade-2 relic even when you're fighting," a boy in black frame glasses spoke up.
A few students looked upset as they were unwilling to go back to imprisonment.
"No matter heretics or Saint, they must've planned this for a very long time. They'll definitely use the shortest time to capture all the students and leave as soon as they can. So, I think, Sir Lin, you must rescue the rest as soon as possible," explained the boy in glasses as he seemed to notice the reluctance of the students.
"I know it's uncomfortable to be kept in the Dark Sphere but please hold on a little bit more for our safety. I suppose none of us want to be the reason for holding back the rescue process, am I right?"
"It seems like there's no other way to keep you guys. The plan that this student proposed is the simplest and safest one." Even Lin Huang did not think of that.
"Sir Lin, please put us in the sphere," a girl said.
The students, who were reluctant, agreed as there was no other way. Lin Huang then activated the sphere and put them into it one by one.
"What's your name?" Lin Huang could not help but ask the boy in glasses.
"Kong Sizhe from Class 1 Sword Dao faculty."
"You're good!" Lin Huang gave him a thumbs-up before putting him into the sphere.
Lin Huang was slightly relieved as he had completed the first rescue.
"I've cast Leech Pod on more than ten Saint members, but I have to be there myself to cast the parasite on those who are above blue flame-level. The interference of coordinates has been activated. The Saint members will soon realize that their receivers aren't working after failing to find their targets and report to the two elders. By then, they'll find out that the rescuers are here," Bloody spoke its speculation after the interference was arranged.
"It's alright, let them know." Lin Huang did not really care.
"From Wu Tian's memory, his brother, Wu Fa is an immortal-level rank-3, but he had no idea who the other elder was. However, looking at Wu Fa's attitude towards the other elder, the elder should be even more powerful," Bloody reminded.
"Higher than immortal-level rank-3. That's tricky… With my ability now, I should be able to kill an immortal-level rank-1, and I'll need to summon monsters if it's a immortal-level rank-2. I might need to transform myself to kill an immortal-level rank-3… For those higher than immortal-level rank-3…" Lin Huang frowned.
Since he leveled up to holy fire-level, his ability had increased tremendously. He could kill blue flame-levels when he was on gold-level rank-3, and it was easy for him to kill purple flame-levels when he was complete gold-level, He might be able to kill gold flame-levels as well. Now that he was on white flame-level, he figured he might be able to kill an immortal-level rank-1, but he was not confident to kill people that were above immortal-level rank-3.
"Let's not think about this now. I must rescue the students! Bloody, give me the nearest coordinates of the enemy." Lin Huang shook the thought out of his head.
"Master, it's inefficient for you to fight alone. Let's summon the fiends," Bloody reminded.
"But only you can guide the way. There's no use summoning them. Would you want them to run around in the forest and try their luck?" Lin Huang had no idea why Bloody would suggest something like that.
"Master, I could clone myself," Bloody suggested and its violet haze separated into two smaller haze clouds.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Lin Huang did not know Bloody had such an ability. He summoned the three fiends, Bai, Charcoal, and the Supreme Overlord. He did not summon Kylie and the rest as they were many purple and even gold flame-level Saint members which they were not able to fight.
The fiends were all double mutated and on gold flame-level, so they could kill all of the Saint members as long as they did not run into the two elders. Although three of his triple mutated monsters were just on blue flame-level, their abilities were comparable to the three fiends or even more powerful. Since Bai and Charcoal were unsealed, they could master their aura perfectly without revealing their god's blood and dragon's blood aura, so Lin Huang could summon them as usual.
"Charcoal, shrink yourself or else you'll grab too much attention," Lin Huang instructed Charcoal. Charcoal obeyed and shrunk like a leaking balloon where from 1000 meters tall to three meters within seconds.
"Your mission this time is to listen to Bloody's lead to kill the Saint members and take the Dark Spheres from their hands," Lin Huang said and dangled the Dark Sphere in his hand.
"It's easy to recognize the Saint members as they have disguised themselves as heretics with three crosses on the left side of their necks like this guy," Lin Huang told and pointed at the dead body that was sliced into halves on the ground.
"Listen to Bloody for the exact arrangement." He nodded to Bloody.
Bloody then cloned its body into seven entities and tied themselves on the arms of the six monsters.
"Alright, let's go!" Lin Huang shouted while Bloody led the six monsters and Lin Huang towards different directions.
"Hehehe… What a fun day!"
A purple-haired man in a luxurious golden robe smirked. The left side of his face was covered with half of a golden mask. His eyes were long slits, and he exuded an evil kind of charm. There was a middle-aged man with one big cross and two small crosses on his neck standing in front of him. The man was on purple flame-level. His arms, legs, and back were twisted in a way that a master yogi could not. He looked terrified at the purple-haired man.
"Please… Just kill me…"
"There are 206 pieces of bones in an adult's body. Can you guess how many pieces of bones you have now? If you get it right, I'll kill you so you'll die in peace but if you're wrong, we'll proceed with this yoga game that we're playing…" The purple-haired man looked at the man who was deformed with his head tilted to one side.
"Ghastly, stop messing around. Master's mission is our priority, and our time is limited! If Master is satisfied with what you've done, you'll have more opportunities to get out in the future," a voice reminded.
"Alright, alright," the purple-haired man responded in annoyance and looked at the middle-aged man in front of him again.
"Hey, uncle, it's your lucky day today. Since I'm in a good mood, I shall tell you the answer. It's 918 pieces, remember that!"
The middle-aged man nodded immediately.
"Since you're good, I shall show you mercy by giving you a quick death." The purple-haired man snapped his fingers out of nowhere. The middle-aged man's head turned 1,080 degrees automatically. As his neck had spun three whole rounds, his muscles and fats contorted and were squashed together like floats on water, creating a circular pattern. His eyes, nose, and lips poured out of the wounds. It was a gruesome death.
"Now, it's 1,016 pieces…" The purple-haired man looked happy. He bent down and wiped the blood on the man's face with his finger and put into his mouth.
"Oh, how I've missed this taste. This makes me so happy, hehehe…" He licked his finger while enjoying the metallic taste with his eyes closed.
…
"Ghastly's still insensitive as usual." Lin Huang was speechless as he watched the images that Bloody sent.
"Should I warn him?" Bloody asked.
"It won't help to suppress who he is. Since it's been a while since I let him out, it's alright to let him release himself. Just remind him that he has to be efficient instead of wasting time like that. As for his attitude, I'll think of a way to teach him in the future." Lin Huang thought about it and decided to allow the Supreme Overlord to express himself.
The more he understood the monsters, the more Lin Huang realized that monsters of higher intelligence would have a stronger personality. The Supreme Overlord was like a rebellious kid whereby everything in the world, including living things, were toys to him. If Lin Huang was to contain who he was, it could cause him to be even more difficult. Lin Huang had no idea how he could teach the Supreme Overlord at the moment but it seemed to be good for him to release his anger for now.
"How are Charcoal and Bai doing?" After checking on the Supreme Overlord that he was most worried about, Lin Huang then focused on Charcoal and Bai. Bloody sent the images of their battles. Bai had transformed his Vampire Particles into eight wings. Lin Huang knew that as his command increased, the number of his wings would increase as well. Bai's way of battling was simple. He could pierce through the enemy's chest with his wings without saying anything. Without wasting any time, Bai took the person's storage ring and Dark Sphere, then left to look for his next target.
"Bai has the highest efficiency!" Lin Huang exclaimed.
"Let's take a look at Charcoal!"
Bloody then sent Charcoal's side of the battle.
"I can't believe there's dragonkin in a grade-1 wild zone. That's an amazing surprise!" A handsome young man looked excitedly at Charcoal.
"Luckily, it's only blue flame-level or else I don't have the confidence to capture it."
"Hey, ugly, who did you say that you're capturing?" Charcoal puffed judgmentally.
"Ugly?" Lu Feng's eyes were twitching. It was his first time hearing somebody call him ugly.
"It's okay, monsters have a different view of beauty compared to humans. It must be thinking that the mother dragon is the most beautiful thing in this world!"
"Seems like you're not only ugly but dumb too. Dragons have the perfect life without gender. Please don't use your lowly reproduction system on us dragons," Charcoal said.
"I'm not sure if a mother dragon is beautiful or not, but amongst all humans, my master is the best-looking one. Hmm, Bai isn't bad too. No matter what, an ugly person like you has no right to comment on my beauty!"
"Master? I was just thinking how could a dragonkin appear in this grade-1 wild zone, so you're the rescue that the Martial Hunter College sent." Lu Feng glared dangerously.
"Since this is the case, I shall use my magic to capture a summoning monster like you. Although it's risky, it's worth trying for a dragonkin like you," Lu Feng said and performed a series of hand signs next. Soon, three double mutated gold flame-level monsters appeared. They were the Violetcrystal Spider, the Violent Demonic Ape, and the Mysterious Turtlesnake.
"That's a great combination. The Violetcrystal Spider will be responsible for controlling, the Violent Demonic Ape to attack while the Mysterious Turtlesnake will be used to defend. Too bad Charcoal isn't just a beginner dragonkin. As long as it doesn't encounter any triple mutated monster that can suppress fire attributes, everything below immortal-level won't be able to fight it." Lin Huang shook his head while smiling as he could almost tell what would happen next.
As the three monsters were summoned, the battle started. The Violent Demonic Ape dashed towards Charcoal immediately. Charcoal yawned nonchalantly and released his Dragon Flame with its mouth wide open. The Dragon Flame engulfed the Violent Demonic Ape immediately and it turned into a pile of ashes.
"Oh no, too much flame it seems…"
Lu Feng was stunned as he watched his gold flame-level Violent Demonic Ape killed in an instant.
"How could it be so powerful? Could it be a tripled mutated dragonkin?!" Lu Feng became excited as he thought to himself while looking at Charcoal with burning desire.
"I must get you!"
"Hey, ugly, stop looking at me like that. It's disgusting!" Charcoal noticed that Lu Feng was staring at it in lust.
"I must get you no matter what," Lu Feng mumbled repeatedly, going insane.
A pale red fog was released from his body, and a shadow appeared on top of his head. The aura was increasing tremendously…
"What's happening?" Lin Huang frowned as he watched.
"It's battle spirit!" Bloody recognized it immediately.
"Usually, it's only eligible for people of immortal-level, but this guy is a gold flame-level who's using a unique way to trigger his Life Power to increase the intensity of his Life Power to summon the battle spirit… From the aura, this battle spirit has to be at least immortal-level rank-1!"
"Damn it! There's such a person in the Saints?!" Lin Huang realized that Charcoal would not be able to handle this man.
"How far away is Charcoal from us?"
"1,300 kilometers. With Thunder's speed, we'll need at least 17 minutes to reach there," Bloody estimated.
"Bai and the rest are nearer to him. They're only 300 kilometers away, and they can reach there in less than six minutes."
"Get Bai to help and tell them that I'll be there soon!" Lin Huang instructed.
"Battle spirit…" Charcoal became serious from its initial apathy towards the Herculean Ape. There was a detailed explanation of human battle spirit in the dragonkin's inherited memory. The battle spirit was extracted from the monster and put into the human's spirit in a unique way. The battle spirit could be summoned to join battles by inserting Life Power.
The battle spirit on top of Lu Feng looked like it was formed completely using Life Power but that was not the truth. The Life Power was used to activate the battle spirit while the forming of the battle spirit came from the battle spirit itself. If Lu Feng were to activate the battle spirit with his Life Power, a single attack would drain his Life Power completely.
Battle spirit was different from weapons as it was not a dead thing that was mastered by humans. It contained their intelligence and battle experiences from the time when they were alive whereby their battle modes were not much different from when they were alive. Their battle ability would grow together with the host, so people would usually pick monsters that had the most potential to cultivate the battle spirit.
However, Lu Feng's battle spirit seemed to be of a higher level as its aura had already surpassed the holy fire-level before it had fully formed. On top of his head, the battle spirit was unfolding. It was a giant ape that was more than ten meters tall with thick, turquoise hair. It held a gray staff that looked like it was made of stone in its hand, and it had a terrifying aura. Although Charcoal could not tell what monster it was, it could clearly feel that its alarming aura could not be on holy fire-level.
"It's immortal-level…"
Charcoal became serious as it knew very well that although it could fight a holy fire-level, it might lose fighting an immortal-level battle spirit.
"The battle spirit is a double mutated beginner fiend Herculean Ape with demonic ape's blood in it. From the aura, it could have been an immortal-level rank-1 when it was alive. Theoretically, the monster spirit's ability wasn't as powerful when it was captured, so it must have been some other person," Bloody said as Charcoal extended its foreclaws.
"This battle spirit is very powerful, especially its strength that has no rival with monsters of the same level. It has a powerful defensive ability as well, and its speed has surpassed the normal monsters with the same combat level. It doesn't seem to have any weaknesses; even some triple mutated immortal-level monsters wouldn't want to fight it. Please be careful, try not to fight it head on. Bai and Master are on their way. Bai will reach in six minutes and Master will be here in 17 minutes. If you can't fight it, just hold on for a couple of minutes."
"Thanks for reminding me, but doesn't it have any weaknesses at all?" Charcoal seemed to be unsettled. It did not hope for its first mission to fail since it was its first time out since it had been unsealed.
"It does have weaknesses. Its spirit is weak, but that's to monsters of the same level. You're only a blue flame-level. Even spirit abilities can hardly touch it," Bloody explained.
"But as a battle spirit, it has two weaknesses that its orginal form didn't, which are the weaknesses that all battle spirits have."
"What are they?" Charcoal asked immediately.
"First, the battle spirit's appearance comes from the host's Life Power. The more powerful its attack is or the more powerful attacks it encounters, it'll drain more Life Power from the host. The host has limited Life Power. The more Life Power is drained, the shorter the battle spirit can exist.
"Secondly, when the host dies, the battle spirit dies as well. Also, the host's Life Power was cut in half when he had to support the battle spirit's activation. His attack and defense abilities will drop tremendously, so it's a good target. But usually, the battle spirit will protect the host when the host is being attacked," Bloody explained in detail.
"Got it!" Charcoal looked at Lu Feng.
Lu Feng recalled two of his other summoning monsters after summoning his battle spirit. After seeing Charcoal kill the Violent Demonic Ape in one hit, he knew that his summoning monsters were like paper to Charcoal. Keeping them on the battlefield would mean that they would be Charcoal's sacrificial lambs.
"Herculean King, teach this baby dragon a lesson. Don't kill it," Lu Feng glared at Charcoal like a psycho and instructed the battle spirit above his head.
The Herculean Ape glared at Charcoal with its golden eyes like two spotlights as it received the instructions. As soon as the Herculean Ape looked at Charcoal, it could feel a sense of power rising. It released its dragon power immediately to suppress the Herculean Ape. As it locked its eyes on Charcoal, the Herculean Ape attacked without thinking twice. It hurled its staff towards Charcoal, crimson red Life Power covering the staff with a threatening aura. Instead of a whistling sound, thunder rumbled where the staff passed through.
If Bloody had not reminded it, Charcoal would definitely fight the Herculean Ape face on as it was confident in its ability. However, it changed its usual strategy. It flapped its wings and avoided the Herculean Ape's staff easily. It then opened its mouth and spat black Dragon Flame at Lu Feng's direction, choosing to attack its host instead of the Herculean Ape. Its Dragon Flame covered half of the sky towards Lu Feng like a tsunami.
Lu Feng did not expect Charcoal to bypass the Herculean Ape and attack him instead. He backed off immediately when he saw the Dragon Flame that was coming after him. He had seen how the flame had burnt the Violent Demonic Ape into ashes. The relic on him aside, his body was nothing like the Violent Demonic Ape. He would be dead if the flame touched him.
As Lu Feng backed off, the Herculean Ape noticed that its host was in danger. It recalled its staff and turned its attack into defense mode while waving its staff at the Dragon Flame. The flame was blocked, but Charcoal had moved to another direction and spat its flame at Lu Feng again. Helpless, the Herculean Ape obstructed the flame again. Charcoal flapped its wings and attacked with its flame in another direction again…
The Herculean Ape became clumsy. Its rhythm was affected by Charcoal since the Dragon Flame coverage was pervasive. To protect its host, it had to block the Dragon Flame again and again. It did not have any opportunities to attack. Soon, there was Dragon Flame on its body. Although it was not harmed, the flame was draining Lu Feng's Life Power. To Charcoal, the Dragon Flame was a unique ability that dragonkins possess. Performing such an ability required little Life Power which gave it the ability to perform the attack thousands of times.
Soon, Lu Feng realized that Charcoal's plan was to drain his Life Power with the attack.
"Since you're a dragonkin, fight me face to face if you dare!" Lu Feng shouted furiously.
"Firstly, I don't care if I'm called a dragonkin or not. I know I'm an intermediate dragonkin. Secondly, if you dare, don't summon your battle spirit," Charcoal said and spat Dragon Flame again.
"You're scared to fight face on despite being a dragonkin. Don't you feel shame?" Lu Feng taunted.
"No," Charcoal said and spat Dragon Flame again.
"Herculean King, kill him!" Lu Feng was completely mad now.
"Initially, I wanted to keep you alive and make you my summoning monster, but it seems like that's not necessary anymore. I shall kill you, take your soul and make it into a battle spirit," Lu Feng said.
"You wish!" Charcoal spat Dragon Flame again.
Suddenly, the staff in Herculean Ape's hand enlarged It held the staff and threw it towards where Charcoal was. The staff expanded like Poseidon's trident, rooted deep into the sea. An invisible force came from the staff and blocked the Dragon Flame. The staff covered the Dragon Flame completely, smashing Charcoal in its chest as it did not have the time to avoid the attack. Charcoal was like a reversed cannon, and all the trees tens of thousands of meters behind it were destroyed.
The day was breaking, and the fog was fading away in the lush forest. The fog would thicken when the sun set, and fade away when the sun rose. The unique characteristic of the Mist Forest was like a tidal wave that happened every day. The Mist Forest had behaved like that ever since it was discovered by humans.
The fog was almost gone when it was six in the morning. Suddenly, there was a loud thud in the quiet forest. It sounded like thunder that carried hundreds of kilometers away. Trees fell, and there was a deep path of tens of thousands of meters long on the ground.
"Ouch…"
Charcoal stood up slowly from the dancing dust, all of its bones in its chest broken. Even its neck was hurt from the impact.
"Luckily, I managed to puff out my Dragon Breath or else, I might be dead by now," Charcoal panted softly. The excruciating pain that came from its broken bones made it nauseous.
However, with the Dragon Breath and the Absolute Defence that it had, the attack did not drain all of its strength. With the help of its Enhanced Regeneration, it would take two minutes, at the most, to heal itself from the injury that seemed severe.
"As expected, I can't kill you with this attack…" A voice came from the dust, a gigantic shadow becoming clear. Lu Feng brought the Herculean Ape with him from the fog.
"A triple mutated intermediate dragonkin… I can't wait to make you my battle spirit!" Lu Feng said while the Herculean Ape that was semi-transparent enlarged the staff in its hand and dashed towards Charcoal. Suddenly, a red glow flashed in the air. The staff smashed into the fallen trees like a lightning bolt, but Charcoal was nowhere to be seen.
"What?" Lu Feng opened his eyes wide and looked around. He then saw Charcoal in the air not far away, and there was a red shadow next to it.
"This aura… It's a triple mutated god's blood!" Lu Feng hyperventilated when he saw Bai. He could sense that Bai was a god's blood as he had a senior who had a triple mutated god's blood summoning monster. Although Bai's aura was much weaker due to him concealing it intentionally, Lu Feng could tell since they were close and he was born into a family of Imperial Censors.
However, he became calmer after his excitement.
"Who exactly is this to own so many rare triple mutated summoning monsters? Could it be royalty from the core zone?"
"Bai, you're finally here." Charcoal flapped its wings with excitement.
"Yes." Bai gave a slight response while checking out who he was going to fight.
"Bai, the both of them are bullying me! The battle spirit is powerful. It broke many of my bones," Charcoal complained.
Bai looked at Charcoal's chest that was slightly sunken and patted its head to comfort it. He had learned that from Lin Huang.
"Don't worry, I'll help you kill them!"
"Yes, yes!" Charcoal nodded immediately.
Bai looked at Lu Feng and the Herculean Ape threateningly. He moved his eight bloody wings on his back and disappeared from where he was.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In a black robe and silver hair, Bai appeared mid-air like a god. His eight bloody wings turned into eight bloody swords and swung towards the Herculean Ape. He was so fast that all they could see were the shadows of his bloody glow like vines.
The Herculean Ape became clumsy as Bai was too fast and the angle he attacked at was odd. The bloody swords seemed to be able to bend and pervade the air at ease. Within seconds, there were a couple of wounds on the Herculean Ape. It could feel clearly that with every attack, Bai seemed to be taking a portion of its Life Power away. That was why the Herculean Ape was defending with all its life to stop Bai from attacking. Within seconds, the Herculean Ape's body dimmed, and even Lu Feng could feel that his Life Power was draining.
"Herculean King, what are you doing? Kill him now!" Lu Feng shouted in panic. He could not be bothered who the master of these summoning monsters was anymore. As soon as his Life Power finished and his battle spirit was dead, he definitely could not fight these two triple mutated monsters himself, and they would not let him go as well. The Herculean Ape felt helpless. It knew that once the host lost all Life Power and was killed, it would die as well.
Seeing that its body might break any second, it defended against Bai's attacks and performed its final secret skill. Its eyes turned a bloody red, and its body that was more than ten meters tall began to grow. Its turquoise hair was now a mysterious purple with even thicker hair. Its body stopped growing when it was 100 meters tall. The Herculean Ape seemed to lose its mind while it shouted furiously into the sky. Ignoring Bai's attacks, it slapped its massive palm towards Bai.
Bai flapped its wings and disappeared from where he was. He appeared higher in the sky while looking at the purple monster.
"Such a dumb move…" Bai could tell that the Herculean Ape had burnt its soul to perform this secret skill as the host did not have sufficient Life Power to support such a secret skill. However, usage of this secret skill would double up the consumption of the host's Life Power. As soon as Bai managed to avoid it, the Herculean Ape could not even stand for a few minutes. The Herculean Ape that transformed into such a desperate mode would completely lose its mind while attacking everything in its sight on instinct.
Bai released a pale, bloody glow from his body. There were shadows that looked exactly the same as him in the sky. He smirked as he got hundreds of its shadows to dash towards the Herculean Ape. It was the Blood Shadow Skill that only required a minimal amount of Life Power to clone shadows without any abilities to trick the enemies. The Herculean Ape that had lost its mind was the perfect target to be deceived.
As expected, the Herculean Ape began attacking the shadows that were advancing at it while ignoring Bai and Charcoal that were far away.
"Dumbass, don't attack the shadows!" Lu Fang shouted furiously towards the bottom. However, the battle spirit that had lost its mind was out of control and was draining his Life Power. In less than a minute, Lu Fang's Life Power was almost depleted while the Herculean Ape was virtually transparent and had shrunk to its standard size.
Bai glared raggedly at the exhausted Herculean Ape while a bloody sword appeared in his hand.
"Since you're a powerful opponent, I shan't kill you with humiliation." There was a red glow accumulating on Bai's bloody sword.
"This is…" Lin Huang was shocked as he just arrived.
"That's right. It's your Worldly Purification." Bloody gave a firm answer.
"Monsters that are triple mutated and above can learn what a human genius has learned, especially human-form monsters. They can learn most of a human's combat skills."
"Seems like I should spend some time to teach them human combat skills in the future." Lin Huang looked at Bai, but he was thinking about the Supreme Overlord, Kylie, Lancelot and his fiends.
"Before that, I have to wait for Tyrant and the rest to complete triple mutation."
Meanwhile, the red glow on Bai's sword had peaked like a bright sun. He flapped the eight wings on his back and appeared in front of the Herculean Ape. He swung his sword and pierced through the Herculean Ape's chest without any obstacles. The red glow spread more than tens kilometers away; even Lin Huang who was few kilometers away squinted. As the red light faded away, the Herculean Ape's body shattered into pieces.
Bai descended from the air and looked at Lu Feng whose Life Power was draining.
"Please don't kill me…" Lu Feng looked at Bai in great fear.
Bai took the Dark Sphere on his waist and chopped off his finger with the Emperor's Heart Ring. He then threw his finger to the ground after taking off the ring.
"He's yours now!" Bai walked towards Charcoal.
"Yay!" Charcoal flew to Lu Feng and spat its black Dragon Flame. The flame soon engulfed Lu Fang and as the flame faded, what was left was human ashes.
"Gah, it's burnt again. I have nothing to eat…" Charcoal shook its head sadly.
Lin Huang recalled Thunder and appeared before Charcoal and Bai.
"Master!" Charcoal ran towards him in excitement while Bai walked towards him without saying a word.
"Are you alright?" Lin Huang looked at Charcoal's chest that seemed to be completely fine now.
"Just something minor. I've healed myself." Charcoal was proud of itself.
"Good job! I was worried that you guys might not be able to handle them." Lin Huang patted Charcoal's head while smiling.
Charcoal seemed to be enjoying itself while Bai looked aloof.
"Bai, would you like to pick up sword skills?" Lin Huang turned around and asked Bai. Bai was stunned and nodded immediately.
"I'll spend some time to teach you when we get back," Lin Huang said in all seriousness. To him, Bai's upgrade would mean that he would be more powerful himself.
"Sure!" Bai's eyes lit up when he heard what Lin Huang said. He was excited to learn human combat skills.
Lin Huang did not only plan to teach Bai sword skills. He even wanted to collect all sorts of combat skills in the human world to teach all of his triple mutated human-form monsters to increase their abilities. He believed that not many people had done that.
"Let's leave as soon as possible. You guys have created a big scene. The two Saint elders might come." Lin Huang did not want to stay any longer. He summoned Thunder again and brought both of them away.
In less than 20 minutes after Lin Huang left, two shadows arrived at the battle area, just three seconds apart from each other. They were the two Saint elders disguised as heretics. They had white masks on their faces, and their bodies were covered entirely in black robes. Although the heretics marks on their necks could not be seen, it gave people an illusion that their identity of heretics was legit.
"That shockwave should have come from here." The duo looked at the path on the ground and soon found Lu Feng's burnt body which they landed next to. The red-haired Wu Fa took off the hood and bent down to check the body.
"He was directly burnt to death. The person must hold powerful fire attributes. I heard that the Martial Hunter College's Vice President Zhang Xuefeng is one of such people."
"This is done by Dragon Flame. There's still Dragon Flame's aura in the air," Yu Wenbin said.
"It was a dragonkin that killed him."
"A Dragonkin? Do you mean the Martial Hunter College sent an Imperial Censor?" Wu Fa frowned.
"We can't exclude that possibility from our observation." Yu Wenbin nodded.
"Can you tell who this is?"
"How could I when it's all burnt?" Wu Fa smiled awkwardly.
"There's another body." Yu Wenbin moved and appeared next to the Herculean Ape's burnt carcass while Wu Fa followed.
"It looks like an ape's carcass that's also been burnt by Dragon Flame." Yu Wenbin could not tell which monster it was.
"Oh no…" Wu Fa looked concerned after examining the carcass.
"What's wrong?" Yu Wenbin looked at him.
"If I'm not wrong, that burnt body should be Lu Feng's. Among the hundred holy fire-levels that we brought this time, he was the only Imperial Censor. I remember he has a Herculean Ape, which should be this burnt carcass." Wu Fa looked upset.
"Lu Yuan's grandson?!" Yu Wenbin looked concerned too.
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure." Wu Fa shook his head.
"That's going to be difficult…" Yu Wenbin was upset.
The duo was upset as Lu Yuan was the Saint's second elder who was an immortal-level rank-9. He was only a step away from imperial-level; it was just a matter of time. Once he got to imperial-level, he would be the messenger of the Saint which was a status much higher than an elder's. Although he would not have the right to give an elder a life sentence, he still had the right to lock an elder up for hundreds of years. There had been such cases in the past.
"What should we do now?" Wu Fa, who was usually daring, was clueless now. Among the Saint members, Lu Yuan was one of the few ones that he did not dare to offend. He did not expect Lu Yuan's grandson to die on this mission.
"What else can we do? It's not like you don't know Lu Yuan's temper. Since his grandson followed us here and now he's dead, how could he not look for us? The only thing to do now is to find the culprit and bring back the culprit's body to him. Perhaps then, he might not be mad. Maybe we could get the first elder to help and the both of us will have to apologize personally." The only solution that Yu Wenbin could come up with was that. Although it could not solve the issue, it could at least lessen the conflict.
"The Imperial Censor who owns the dragonkin must be powerful as well." Wu Fa still looked concerned.
"I know Lu Feng's ability. He had an immortal-level rank-1 battle spirit, and it was double mutated. Since the dragonkin managed to kill it, its ability should be at least an immortal-level rank-2 while the Imperial Censor should be even more powerful. He might even have other summoning monsters that are on the same level or even more powerful."
Wu Fa was truly deceived by the way Lu Feng died and had come up with the wrong assumption. He had overestimated Lin Huang and his summoning monsters' abilities.
"Moreover, our only opponent now isn't just the Imperial Censor, but also the Martial Hunter College's Vice President," Wu Fa added while looking at Yu Wenbin.
"I didn't expect someone to interrupt the blame game we're playing. It's supposed to be simple." Yu Wenbin frowned.
"We'll try our best to kill him and bring back the body. If we don't manage to kill him, we'll take a photo of how he looks like and send it to Lu Yuan. We can't be sacrificing our lives for his grandson."
As the duo was discussing Lu Feng, the Marital Hunter College backup arrived in the Mist Forest. As Vice President Wang Zhijun arrived on the edge of the forest, he summoned his dimensional relic and sent all the teachers who participated in the mission in. His dimensional relic was a supreme relic with the ability to transfer a huge amount of people. It could send a thousand people, at the most, in one go while the transfer time only took a minute. The lesser the people, the shorter the time.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang's dimensional relic was a grade-4 relic that could not send people in groups. The most he could transfer was five people at once and the time gap was five minutes. The price difference between the two-dimensional relics was major. As the teachers dashed out of the dimensional relic, Wang Zijun walked into the forest as well. He floated into the sky and activated a grade-5 detection relic by inserting his Life Power.
"Let me meet the most powerful guy in this attack!" As Wang Zijun instructed, the result came in from his detection relic.
Soon, the result obtained from his detection relic was revealed in front of Wang Zijun.
"There's an immortal-level rank-3 and an immortal-level rank-5 in the south-eastern direction." After a moment of hesitation, Wang Zijun exited the Mist Forest. "A two versus one battle is no fun. I'll find someone to help me!"
He then turned back to summon his Dimensional Portal and advanced a step forward.
After a few moments, he took Vice President Zhang's hand and walked toward the Dimensional Portal.
"Can you keep your hands off me now?" Zhang Xuefeng looked aghast at Wang Zijun who was still holding his left hand without any facial expression.
Could you imagine both the male Vice Presidents, holding hands and entering the portal?
Yes, over hundreds of teachers in the Martial Hunter College witnessed this and only one word could describe the expression on most of their faces – dumbfounded.
Zhang Xuefeng felt that Wang Zijun's single small deed had just ruined the image that he had built over the years.
"Erm, I'm sorry. I was too excited just now… No, I mean I'm too nervous." Wang Zijun then released his hand quickly.
"Tell me, what's happening?" Zhang Xuefeng noticed that Wang Zijun had pulled him over because he could not handle it alone.
"There's an immortal-level rank-3 and an immortal-level rank-5 together," Wang Zijun explained.
"I'll fight the one on rank-3, and you'll handle the one on rank-5. I'll help you out after I've killed him." Zhang Xuefeng went straight to the point.
"Alright!" Wang Zijun immediately agreed with him since he was an immortal-level rank-5 whereas Zhang Xuefeng was only an immortal-level rank-4. Of course, he would not want him to fight an immortal-level rank-5.
Both of them entered the forest, and Wang Zijun took out his detection relic again so that he could identify their position.
Observing the projection from the detection relic, Wang Zijun frowned. "It shows that they were waiting at their original position earlier, but they are now moving quickly towards the west as if they're chasing after something…"
"Could they be chasing after teacher Lin?" Zhang Xuefeng immediately thought of Lin Huang because, among all the teachers, only Lin Huang's Viridescent Thunderhawk could manage to escape an immortal-level. If the rest of the teachers encountered the two immortal-levels, they would be killed before they could run away. Even teacher Ye Tiankong from Year 3 Class 1 was only on gold flame-level. He would be killed in a split second if he encountered both of the immortal-levels as it was impossible for him to flee.
"Let's quickly follow them!" When reminded, Wang Zijun felt that it was possible for that to happen. Thinking of Liu Ming repeatedly asking them to take good care of Lin Huang, he panicked.
"Be honest. Is he the illegitimate son of the President?" Zhang Xuefeng asked in a low voice.
"How would I know!? The President asked me to take good care of him, telling me that I'll be in trouble if something happens to him. You know the President well. I wish that he won't get me into trouble every few days," Wang Zijun explained as he knew nothing about the relationship between Lin Huang and Liu Ming. However, he too shared the same thought as Zhang Xuefeng and had even secretly compared the photos between the President and Lin Huang when he had time. Realizing that there was nothing similar in their features, he then switched his thoughts. "We have something important to do. Don't waste any more time."
Both of them then flew into the sky, heading towards the location shown on the detection relic.
…
A few minutes ago, at the place where Lu Feng's dead body had been found.
"No matter what, we have to explain to Lu Yuan. Let's think of a way to find the Imperial Censor. Regardless of whether we're able to kill him or not, at least we tried!" Yu Wenbin turned back to look at Wu Fa, "Is there any way that you can find him?"
"I only managed to find the dragonkin that tried to kill him. When the Imperial Censor recalls the dragonkin, only then will the detection relic point out who the master of the dragonkin is." Wu Fa shrugged his shoulders.
"Let's give it a try." Yu Wenbin nodded.
Wu Fa stood in front of Lu Feng's dead body and took out a piece of burnt skin, placing it on his palm. He started making hand seals with his other hand.
After a short while, a black strand extended from the burnt skin and stretched far away.
It was a monster skill that Lu Feng had unintentionally obtained from a spiritual monster. It was called the Death Hair which was actually a weaker version of the Death Whisper. The Death Whisper could retrieve a certain amount of information from the dead body whereas the Death Hair could only detect who the murderer was, giving the user a hint such as a strand of hair.
Only the user of the skill could see the fine lines that looked like black hair.
"Have you found it?" Seeing Wu Fa had stopped his hand seals, Yu Wenbin immediately asked.
"Yes, you may now put the dead body away."
Yu Wenbin frowned as he saw the condition of the dead body. Still, he took out a body bag, controlling Lu Feng's dead body with his mind. Soon, the dead body fell into the body bag. He then put it away in the storage space in his Emperor's Heart Ring.
"Bring along the Demonic Ape's carcass as well since nobody will be able to recognize Lu Feng's dead body," Wu Fa reminded.
Although Yu Wenbin was unwilling to do so, he still put the Demonic Ape's carcass away in the same manner.
"The dragonkin hasn't been recalled by the Imperial Censor. Perhaps, it's acting alone. If we can't find the Imperial Censor, the only way is to kill the dragonkin and pass it to Lu Yuan." Wu Fa laughed helplessly.
"Maybe that's the only way since we have a limited time here. Lu Yuan isn't going to let go of it regardless of what we do. It's important that we capture it so that it can serve as an oblation." Ever since they found out that Lu Feng had been killed, Yu Wenbin's face was a serious slate.
"Let's go!" Wu Fa did not say anything and let the strand of hair guide him. He took a leap and headed towards the west.
Yu Wenbin flew off into the sky as well, following after him.
Only the mess after the battle remained.
Lin Huang had no idea that Charcoal had become the target of the two immortal-level Saint elders and that its position had been identified.
Lin Huang quickly left the battleground with the both of them as he was afraid that they would be looking for him.
According to the information obtained by Bloody, between the two Saint elders, the weaker one was an immortal-level rank-3 whereas the stronger one had the combat strength of at least an immortal-level rank-4 or higher.
If only his opponent were on immortal-level rank-3, Lin Huang was still capable of fighting them with his cards. However, if they were stronger than that, Lin Huang had zero confidence that he could handle them. Therefore, he decided to flee with Bai and Charcoal in the first place.
The three of them escaped about 1,000 kilometers away. When they were about to reach the border of the Mist Forest, they went into three different directions in order to rescue the students.
When he had parted ways with Charcoal and Bai for less than ten minutes, a notification from Xiao Hei suddenly arrived.
"The system has detected that something is wrong with Charcoal's card as if somebody has targeted its position in a unique way."
"That must be the Saint elders!" Lin Huang frowned. "Recall Charcoal!"
"If Charcoal is recalled, most likely, they'll shift their attention to you. Are you sure you want to recall it?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Lin Huang nodded. He knew that Charcoal would not be able to handle any of the Saint elders, regardless of who activated the trace.
"If he's looking for me, then let them come after me. The Vice Presidents must have arrived. It's not a problem for me to buy them some time. I'll just play with him."
Lin Huang recalled Charcoal. Bloody kept a few of the Dark Spheres and the Emperor's Heart Ring with it.
Despite knowing that recalling Charcoal would cause the Saint elders to shift their focus to him, Lin Huang did not choose to run further away. Instead, he went deeper into the forest. He raced against the clock to look for the Saint members and to rescue his students.
…
In mid-air, Wu Fa who was flying at breakneck speed suddenly stopped.
"What happened?" Yu Wenbin who was following him stopped and asked curiously.
"The strand of hair suddenly changed its direction… Perhaps they have found out that I'm tailing them or the summoning monster has been recalled." Wu Fa's face took on a grim expression and looked at Yu Wenbin. "This indicates that the current coordinates of the hair should be showing the position of the Imperial Censor."
"If he manages to find out that you're tailing him, his spiritual strength must be higher than yours. From this, we know that his combat strength is at least an immortal-level rank-4. I've no idea where the Martial Hunter College found an immortal-level rank-4 Imperial Censor…" Yu Wenbin had a grave expression. Despite the fact that he was an immortal-level rank-5, he was reluctant to encounter such an enemy.
A demigod had once commented on Imperial Censors, "Fighting an Imperial Censor is equal to engaging in a battle with a group of trained monsters."
This was also the reason why many of the people admired and respected Imperial Censors.
The stronger the combat strength of the Imperial Censor, the higher the number of monsters one could summon, resulting in a higher probability of summoning a triple mutated monster. The ability of a triple mutated monster could be compared to a genius. Therefore, performing a rank-crossing kill was an easy feat for an Imperial Censor.
"Are you still going to chase after him?" As soon as they were able to predict the combat strength of the interrupter, Wu Fa intended to retreat.
"Let's go and have a look. If we don't even meet him, it's hard for us to explain to Lu Yuan." Yu Wenbin hesitated for a moment and finally decided. "If we really can't fight him, take a photo of him and immediately retreat. I'll think of ways to get rid of him."
"Alright." Listening to what Yu Wenbin said, Wu Fa had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Since the both of them had mistakenly predicted that Lin Huang was an immortal-level, they had a false estimation of Lin Huang's combat strength and treated Lin Huang as an unprecedented enemy.
Fortunately, Lin Huang knew nothing about it. Otherwise, he would be secretly smirking at them as he was just a newbie who had just got to white flame-level. He could not even fly, but they assumed he was an immortal-level rank-4.
At the Mist Forest, where the mist was slowly thinning, Lin Huang's battle sword streaked across the sky, and a skull fell onto the ground from the air in a parabolic curve. Soon after, fresh blood sprayed out from the neck of the corpse to a distance of a few meters high, splattering all over the trees and plants.
Lin Huang picked up the Dark Sphere around the corpse's waist with the tip of his sword and passed it to Bloody. He then chopped off the finger that was wearing the Emperor's Heart Ring and took the ring.
When he was about to leave, he sensed a threatening aura approaching him.
"Both of the Saint elders are here?" Lin Huang raised his head, looking into the sky.
The next moment, Wu Fa and Yu Wenbin arrived above him.
Seeing that there was only Lin Huang who was a white flame-level, Yu Wenbin ignored him and looked around. However, there was no one else. "Are you sure that this is the location being traced?"
Wu Fa then gazed at Lin Huang in doubt. "The strand of hair is pointing at that guy who's only a white flame-level."
"A white flame-level?" Yu Wenbin then shifted his gaze towards Lin Huang. After sizing him up, still, he could not believe it. "Are you sure that you didn't get it wrong?"
"Now, there's only one possibility - the Imperial Censor has been tampering with the result of my detection." Wu Fa did not think that Lin Huang was capable of summoning an immortal-level dragonkin to kill Lu Feng who was on immortal-level rank-1.
"Eh, little brat, did any Imperial Censor from the Martial Hunter College come over here to assist?" Yu Wenbin asked.
"You're asking him this way? How possible is it that he'll answer you?" Wu Fa was speechlessly gawking at Yu Wenbin.
"Imperial Censor? Yes!" Lin Huang immediately answered.
"Does the Imperial Censor own a dragonkin?" Yu Wenbin immediately continued asking.
"Yes, I've seen it before. It's black." Lin Huang nodded enthusiastically with a smile.
Wu Fa was inarticulate seeing Lin Huang's reaction. He never expected the guy to answer their questions so easily. Under normal circumstances, Wu Fa would have to catch and torture him whereby he would rather die than give in. Eventually, the both of them would then not be able to get any information from him.
"Do you know the background of the Imperial Censor? What's his combat strength? Which rank of the immortal-level is he on?" Yu Wenbin then asked, feeling that he had bumped into an idiot who knew nothing about the situation and was willing to tell him anything he asked.
"What's the benefit of telling you this?" Lin Huang tilted his head, smiling at them.
"As long as the information that you provide is accurate, we'll let you go. We promise that we won't hurt you," Wu Fa guaranteed.
"I'm sorry. I'll never believe a verbal promise." Lin Huang shook his head.
"You…" Wu Fa exuded an aura with powerful killing intention. However, Yu Wenbin suppressed him.
"He's a person who's only looking for money. If you're trying to force him, perhaps we won't be able to ask anything from him in a short period of time. However, we don't have much time here. As long as he's not requesting for something excessive, just promise him anyway. Anything that we give to him, we're able to snatch away later. Secretly lock the dimension with your territory to avoid him from running away after getting the item!" Yu Wenbin quietly told Wu Fa.
He then asked Lin Huang directly, "What do you want?"
"I'm not a greedy person. Each of you should give me a supreme relic." Lin Huang picked his ear with his little finger nonchalantly.
"Do you want to die!?" Wu fa was furious as this junior who had not even achieved immortal-level dared to blackmail him.
Yu Wenbin pressed against Wu Fa's shoulder and shook his head. He then scowled and told Lin Huang, "Young man, we sincerely want to offer you a deal, but this is an absurd request. It's impossible to offer you two supreme relics. Please request for something reasonable since we're just asking for some information. It doesn't cost that much if we were to buy it from the black market."
"It's true that it costs nothing under normal circumstances, but the case is different now. The Union Government and the Hunter Association have been informed that the Martial Hunter College is under attack. Soon, a large force will enter the Mist Forest, and you'll probably have to leave soon. If both of you miss out on the information from me, perhaps it's difficult for you to find out who the Imperial Censor is from the others.
"Although I have no idea why you're so eagerly looking for the Imperial Censor, you didn't kill me in the first place. Instead, you asked me patiently. This shows that his identity means a lot to both of you! Therefore, the information is as rare as water in the desert, and of course, it'll cost a lot more!"
Both of them were unable to refute Lin Huang.
Wu Fa would have killed him if Yu Wenbin did not try to suppress him.
Even Yu Wenbin was incensed after listening to what Lin Huang said.
"What if we catch him alive? We can ask him about it after bringing him back." Wu Fa's voice was heard.
"Lu Yuan needs a target to vent his anger. There are only two choices to cool him down. We can either bring back the dead body of the Imperial Censor or the carcass of the dragonkin. If we bring him back, Lu Yuan won't be able to calm down even though we're able to obtain the information about the Imperial Censor. He will think that we're useless as we can't even obtain the information and have set the Imperial Censor free." Yu Wenbin tried very hard to contain his anger and remained alert. "Let's think of a way to get the answer from him since he has to give us back whatever we gave him afterward!"
"Bro, we only have two supreme relics. It's unrealistic to ask for two." After the discussion, Yu Wenbin said, "I have an extra armor which is a supreme relic. If you'd like to deal with us, I'll give this armor to you. If you refuse to do so, I can't promise that you'll be able to get out of this place alive…"
The last sentence that Yu Wenbin said sounded intimidating.
"Alright, since you only have one, I'll have to accept. I didn't know that the both of you are so poor." Lin Huang was unsatisfied and extended his hand.
Yu Wenbin was holding himself back as he took out the armor. He then threw it to Lin Huang.
As Lin Huang received the armor, he scrutinized it carefully to ensure that nothing was wrong with it. He then put it away in his storage space.
"Could you please tell us what we want to know?" Yu Wenbin squinted his eyes.
"Alright." Lin Huang nodded his head with a smile. He then extended his right index finger, pointing at himself."The Imperial Censor that both of you are looking for… is actually me!"
"The Imperial Censor that both of you are looking for… Is actually me!"
Just when Lin Huang was pointing at himself, he contacted Xiao Hei through his mind.
"Use the Provisional Transformational Card. Transform into the Inferior Imp but maintain the human form."
"You will lose all the abilities of the monster by activating the Provisional Transformation Card in the human form. There will only be an increase in your combat strength. Are you sure that you would like to transform by maintaining in the human form?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Lin Huang answered firmly.
He unintentionally found out from Charcoal a few days ago that the Provisional Transformation Card could be used as a combat strength increment card. It could stop changes that occurred during the transformation while there would be a temporary increase in his combat strength. However, he would be unable to use the power of the monster transformed, and he would not possess the physique of the monster.
Furthermore, despite part of the function of the Provisional Transformation Card being restricted, each of the cards could still be used for only an hour. The usage was similar to the normal extent. The effect of the increment in combat strength would automatically disappear after one hour.
"Using the Provisional Transformation Card x 1. Restricting transformation effect… There is a provisional increase in your combat strength to gold flame-level!"
As Xiao Hei's voice was heard, there was an increase in Lin Huang's combat strength. In less than a second, he upgraded from a white flame-level to a gold flame-level. He could unmistakably feel that his abilities were improving insanely.
Sensing that there was an explosion in Lin Huang's combat strength, Yu Wenbin and Wu Fa were shocked. They then recovered from their thoughts.
"You can alter your combat strength! Your combat strength is actually on gold flame-level… No wonder you could kill Lu Feng." Wu Fa was shocked. He then realized that nobody had tampered with the result of the detection. The Death Hair had been pointing at Lin Huang as Lin Huang was the master of the dragonkin!
Lin Huang's performance was confusing. As his combat strength was only on white flame-level, Wu Fa and Yu Wenbin had assumed that he could only control a crimson or blue flame-level monster. It was less likely that he was capable of controlling a monster that was higher than blue flame-level. Even if he was capable of summoning a group of monsters, it was impossible that he had managed to kill someone who was on immortal-level since the gap in combat strength was too big.
This had also caused the both of them to make a serious mistake in estimating his combat strength and they thought that somebody had tampered with the detection result when they saw Lin Huang at the very first moment.
However, since his combat strength was now on gold flame-level, there was nothing unusual even if he owned an immortal-level summoning monster. It was not difficult for him to defeat Lu Feng's immortal-level Combat Soul and kill him.
"Damn little brat! How dare you lie to me!?" Yu Wenbin's face turned maroon in fury. He would never have expected to be cheated of his supreme relic. It was an utter humiliation whereby people would still laugh at him even after 10,000 years.
He could imagine that even until the day he died, the people who passed by his grave would still be pointing at his grave and mocking, "Yo, he's the idiot that got cheated out of his supreme relic!"
Yu Wenbin's temper rose higher and higher. Soon, a long supreme relic spear was quickly formed in his hand.
It was a long, black spear which was about two meters long and seven centimeters thick. If one ignored the tip of the spear, it looked more like a long, black pole in Yu Wenbin's hand.
There were fine, complicated patterns on the shaft. The refinery had set the sigils. They were actually engraved within the long spear where they were kept secret from the public, and nobody could detect it. However, based on the complexity of the patterns and the faint glow that appeared on the surface of the long spear, Lin Huang could easily determine that the long spear was similar to his Zenonia which was given by Liu Ming. Both of them were supreme relics.
"Go to hell!" Yu Wenbin attacked without hesitation, directing his long spear towards Lin Huang. The moment the tip of the spear was flung out, black streaks shot into the sky like arrows.
It seemed like he was not holding a spear but a gun that could release quick consecutive shots. At this moment, he did not look like he had taken a major in spearing which would benefit him in close combat. Instead, he looked like a gunmaster who was skilled in ranged attacks.
The black flares flashed through the air like arrows at a speed that was a few times faster than sonic speed, resulting in a sonic boom in the air. It stirred up a fierce wind which swept the forest below it away. All the trees fell whenever the beacons passed by.
The streaks were akin to torrential rain, correlating with Yu Wenbin's anger like he wanted to vent his rage on Lin Huang.
Countless black flares struck. However, Lin Huang did not look nervous at all. He grinned and moved a step forward. He then disappeared from his original position in an instant.
Yes, he had not moved to dodge but had directly dissolved into thin air.
At almost the same time when Lin Huang disappeared, infinite black beacons engulfed the entire region where he was standing at earlier.
Black beams struck the ground and loud rumbling thunder echoed throughout the land more than 1,000 kilometers away.
The ground was shaking and an earthquake seemed to reverberate in the area within more than 10 kilometers. It resembled the eruption of volcanoes.
After a short while, the attack finally stopped. Before the smoke cleared, one could vaguely see that the entire surface of the ground looked like a meteor storm had stricken it. A large number of huge pits with a depth of about 100 meters were formed all over. The region surrounding it looked like the surface of the moon with an uneven surface.
Within four kilometers, there were no traces of plants. All the plants had been wiped out by the attack. Only a bare land with pits all over remained.
"It's difficult to look for his dead body…" Wu Fa covered his forehead, feeling awkward. He never knew that Yu Wenbin would attack in anger without considering the dilemma of bringing his dead body back.
"Eh…" Yu Wenbin then recovered from his thoughts and recalled he had to report to Lu Yuan. His face turned stiff.
"Hey, why are both of you looking for my dead body? Do you guys have any bad habits?" A voice was suddenly heard coming from the forest.
Yu Wenbin and Wu Fa immediately turned around and saw Lin Huang standing on the branch of one of the big trees.
Lin Huang waved at them and smiled cheekily. "Why are the both of you looking for me?"
"Your dragonkin has killed the second elder of the Saint's grandson," Wu Fa hesitated for a while before answering him.
"Oh, are you talking about the guy who uses the Combat Soul? I've said that earlier that he won't be able to control such a Combat Soul. It's because he has someone to back him up." Lin Huang then admitted, "My summoning monster indeed killed him."
Yu Wenbin and Wu Fa exchanged glances with each other after listening to what he said. Lin Huang's description matched what Lu Feng had said. They confirmed that Lin Huang was the murderer.
"Since you've admitted that you're the murderer, that'll be easy for us." Yu Wenbin smiled bitterly. "Little brat, make a choice. Do you want us to catch you alive or do you want us to bring your dead body back?"
"I'm not interested in becoming a Saint member as I've always heard that the Saints are a group of idiots that have been brainwashed," Lin Huang insulted.
"What do you know about us?" Yu Wenbin said in a deep voice.
"I know whatever I'm supposed to. The Saint members pretend to be the heretics to cast the blame on them." Lin Huang gazed at Wu Fa. He could sense that his aura was rather weak and that he must be Wu Tian's brother. "Oh yeah, I knew all this from Wu Tian."
"Xiao Tian?! What did you do to him?" Wu Fa could no longer remain calm.
"What's the point of keeping him alive as I've gotten the information I want? Of course, I've killed him!" Lin Huang answered with a wry smile.
"You've killed my brother…" Wu Fa growled. He did not sound human but more like a beast.
He shot a glare at Lin Huang, his green pupils suddenly becoming vertical slits and the color turning amber. He looked like a cat.
"I can only turn you into his funeral offering!"
As Wu Fa uttered the last word, he gave off a dangerous, monster-like aura. Sharp blades with a length of more than 20 centimeters extended from all ten of his fingers. It looked like his nails had suddenly become extraordinarily long. However, Lin Huang knew that they must be some exclusively made relics.
"Hey, hey, only women fight with nails. Also, why do you keep such long nails? Aren't you afraid that you'll accidentally poke your brain when you're picking your nose?" Lin Huang felt that his performance was amazing since his insulting skills had reached level 180 1 .
Still, Wu Fa maintained a neutral expression as if he did not care about what Lin Huang said. However, his action said it all. He maintained an offensive posture in mid-air. However, it did not look like a posture a human would assume in a fight. It looked more like a quadruped about to pounce instead.
In an instant, Wu Fa disappeared from his original position.
"Burn in hell!"
The voice was heard from behind. The next moment, silver claws attempted to rip his torso into pieces.
The sharp claws instantly pierced through Lin Huang's body. However, Wu Fa's facial expression changed abruptly. He immediately looked towards another direction.
"Are you looking for me?" Lin Huang's voice was suddenly heard, followed by a golden glow with electric arc around the blade.
Wu Fa twisted his body to dodge the attack as ten sharp blades interlaced to form a shield, barring the front of his neck.
Bang!
The golden glow that was moving at high speed instantly crashed into Wu Fa's sharp blades.
A beam of dazzling golden glow could be seen, followed by the endless rumbling sound of thunder.
The next moment, a shadow dashed forward, creating a huge pit that measured a length of more than 30 kilometers on the ground.
"You managed to survive the attack. That's awesome!" Lin Huang commented to Wu Fa.
His current abilities were on par with the Regal Sword Killer that had a similar combat strength but had gone on a rampage. He could now attack opponents of a higher level.
Since he was now on gold flame-level, his abilities could compare to those who were on immortal-level rank-5. He had performed a hit with his Thunder Sting just now, but he still could not kill Wu Fa who was only an immortal-level rank-3, taking him by surprise.
However, despite Wu Fa surviving, he had probably lost his combat abilities in a short period of time after enduring that single hit.
Lin Huang shifted his gaze towards Yu Wenbin.
"It seems like it's my lucky day as I've bumped into a supreme genius…" Seeing Wu Fa defeated in one hit, Yu Wenbin calmed himself down. He knew very well that despite the fact that Wu Fa's combat strength being only on immortal-level rank-3, his abilities were actually stronger than those on immortal-level rank-4. Even though he might not be as strong as an immortal-level rank-5, he was halfway there. Lin Huang was mighty.
"I'm so adorable! Don't you feel happy to see me?" Lin Huang tilted his head slightly.
"If we weren't enemies, perhaps I'll request for a photography session." Yu Wenbin remained calm and did not fight him immediately. He had some concerns about Lin Huang's identity as an Imperial Censor. "I'm curious. Since you're an Imperial Censor, why didn't you summon your monsters?"
Lin Huang's ability alone was terrifying. If he owned one or two summoning monsters of the same combat strength, Yu Wenbin would have no chances of winning at all.
"Can't I test my sword on you?" Lin Hung retorted.
"I guess you have some other reasons… Perhaps your summoning monsters are not capable of threatening us." Yu Wenbin tried to test him while observing Lin Huang's reaction.
"I used to doubting the Saint's beliefs." Lin Huang changed the topic. "Could you please clarify it for me?"
Yu Wenbin was stunned as he never expected that Lin Huang would be interested in the Saint's creeds.
"If you're interested in joining the Saint, I can be your referrer. Since you're a supreme genius, you'll be treated kindly and generously. As long as you're sincere, you can even be the potential candidate of the son of God," Yu Wenbin immediately said as the credit would go to him if a supreme genius like Lin Huang joined the Saint.
"I'm actually only interested in one thing." Lin Huang never expected that the man would mistakenly interpret what he said. He then asked, "Why are males offered to their God? In my memory, only females are offered to God in most religions. Does their God really accept both males and females?"
Yu Wenbin's eyes were twitching as he heard that. He then explained, "Our God has no gender. As long as they are virgins, they will be considered pure oblations."
"Therefore, you admit that the Saint accepts both males and females?" Lin Huang emphasized the phrase that Yu Wenbin did not want to hear. Before Yu Wenbin refuted, Lin Huang then continued, "Tsk tsk, your God is a PAEDOPHILE…
"Do you know that if your God was human, he'd be castrated during ancient times. Not only would his reproductive organ be castrated, his brain would be dissected whereby the nervous tissues that cause lust will be removed from the cerebral cortex by force so that they'll completely lose interest in both living and non-living beings. I've heard that a minority of the organizations still practice such a castration technique. I'd suggest that your God do a…"
"You're insulting God. I'll have to kill you!" It seemed like Lin Huang had triggered him and Yu Wenbin had completely lost his rationality. The aura released from his body was growing more and more intense.
The black Life Power created a huge shadow over his head. It was a large monster taller than 100 meters. It had no legs and was floating in mid-air. It was wearing a black robe with complicated, bloody patterns vaguely appearing on it. The robe flounced mid-air without any wind.
It seemed like it was wearing a skeleton mask. Nobody could see how it looked like behind the mask. Only a pair of crystal-clear, white bones protruding like horns could be seen on its head. The horns were more than double the length of the mask.
Lin Huang looked downward and noticed that it was grabbing a big black scythe tightly in its hand.
"It is a triple mutated undying species, the Darkscythe Apparition. Its combat strength is at least immortal-level rank-5 or even higher." Bloody's voice was suddenly heard from his sleeves. "Master, you have to be careful. The monster can hide the path of its attack. The effect of the attack is somewhat similar to the Territory but its attack range is larger and it's even creepier."
"Understand!" Lin Huang sobered after listening to Bloody's introduction.
After the Darkscythe Apparition completely formed in mid-air, its blue eyes slowly moved downwards, fixing its gaze on Lin Huang.
"Kill him!" Yu Wenbin's eyes flashed with a trace of fury and he instructed the Combat Soul mercilessly.
The Darkscythe Apparition's blue eyes glowed brightly, accompanied by a low growl. The black scythe in its white bony hand suddenly moved, silently streaking across the air and producing a ripple that could be vaguely seen in mid-air.
At almost the same time that he wielded his scythe, Lin Huang could feel danger aiming for the right of his torso. There were no traces before that but suddenly, a black crescent that was more than ten meters long appeared and slashed at Lin Huang's waist.
Fortunately, Lin Huang sensed that something was wrong in the first place with his Territory skill. He took a step back and immediately retreated, barely managing to dodge the attack.
The black crescent-shaped impact energy vibrated. All the trees that were more than 10 kilometers away collapsed, turning into black carbide.
Lin Huang's pupils dilated as he saw this.
"Master, the Darkscythe Apparition is a monster that contains the blood of death. Although the concentration is low and it isn't considered a god's blood, its attack is capable of engulfing one's life. By attacking a weaker opponent, it's able to overwhelm a large amount of Life Power from its opponent. Despite not being to subdue the Life Power of a stronger opponent, the wound it inflicts is hardly curable and it causes dissipation of one's Life Power. It's best to avoid being struck by such a monster."
"Okay." Lin Huang nodded and at the same time, he sensed a peculiar wave coming from behind him.
Lin Huang did not turn back. He moved a step forward and disappeared.
Just as he disappeared, a black beam appeared. It resembled an electric shear that caused a black, bald patch more than 10 kilometers long in the forest.
As he managed to avoid two of its attacks, Yu Wenbin squinted his eyes and instructed, "Increase the attack frequency. I don't think that he'll be able to dodge all of them!"
The black glow of the blade appeared in mid-air, and its attack frequency was at least twice as fast. However, Lin Huang was like a slippery loach as he managed to complete the dodge before the black glow struck him.
Yu Wenbin noticed that Lin Huang managed to avoid those attacks without looking directly at them.
He wondered, "Does he have any prediction abilities or skills like the Territory skill?"
When he could confirm that, he knew that none of the abilities that he possessed would affect Lin Huang.
"Be it his prediction ability or the Territory skill, the distance within which he can perform a dodge will be limited." Yu Wenbin grinned and secretly contacted the Combat Soul, "Darkscythe, unleash Luna Kill!"
"The attack has stopped…" After dodge for the last time, Lin Huang noticed that the opponent had stopped attacking.
"Master, be careful. He must have discovered that the effect of Luna Slash can do no harm to you. Perhaps, he'll switch to a regional attack like Luna Kill. Luna Kill can automatically detect living beings around it and it will launch attacks in the form of mist. It'll be like moonlight whereby everywhere is pervasive. It is useless to dodge such an attack since anywhere within 10 kilometers of its range will come under attack."
"Understand!" As he listened to Bloody's introduction, he raised his head and gazed at the Combat Soul.
In mid-air, the Darkscythe Apparition was quickly performing hand seals. In just a short while, complicated sigils were formed in mid-air, resulting in a black imprint. It extended its hand and placed the scythe in front of it. The black imprint seemed to embed with the scythe, both of them merging with each other perfectly.
The crescent-shaped scythe instantly became a black mirror that could be used for the exchange of sigils.
The Darkscythe Apparition held the handle of the mirror with both of its hands and black Life Power gushed into the mirror like a broken dam.
Lin Huang felt that the threat was near and at almost the same time, he activated his Dark Shield. The Dark Shield resembled a perfect dark sphere and Lin Huang was completely enveloped by it.
Just as the Dark Shield was created, a massive amount of black mist was produced out of nowhere, surrounding the Dark Shield and completely shrouding it in the black mist.
In the instant when the black mist and the Dark Shield touched each other, a hissing sound was produced like water droplets falling on hot ironware.
Lin Huang could clearly feel that the black mist outside was a very strong acidic layer that attempted to erode the Dark Shield which acted as a protective layer.
Despite the fact that the opponent's attack was all-pervasive, the strength of the attack was very limited. It was far from capable of breaking through the defense layer of the Dark Shield. Instead, it constantly consumed the Life Power transmitted out from Lin Huang's body that was used to support the Dark Shield.
Lin Huang calculated the rate of his Life Power consumption. Based on the opponent's rate of consumption, he could support the Dark Shield for at least three days, given that he did not use any Life Power Refill Cards to restore his Life Power.
"Such an attack doesn't require a large amount of Life Power from me, but it must consume a large portion of his Life Power." Lin Huang looked at Yu Wenbin through the Dark Shield. Since it was covered by the dark mist, his vision was somehow affected. However, Lin Huang had incredible eyesight as he could still see that Yu Wenbin was angry. Obviously, he did not expect that Lin Huang would have such a defense skill.
"Damned little brat!" Yu Wenbin cursed angrily. This hit had consumed almost half the amount of Life Power he had, yet his opponent managed to dodge all the attacks with the protective layer he used.
"It's not going to work if it continues. The wave of the battle has spread out and it must have attracted the attention of the Vice President of Martial Hunter College. He will arrive really soon." Yu Wenbin pacified himself. He then looked at Wu Fa and realized that he had not stirred. He could sense that Wu Fa was still alive, but he must have probably fainted. "He's such a burden, and it has now become a one versus two battle. The probability of winning the battle is almost zero…"
Yu Wenbin wanted to retreat.
Lin Huang noticed that Yu Wenbin turned his head to look at Wu Fa. He could instantly guess that he wanted to take Wu Fa and flee.
"Hey, there's nothing special about your attack even though you've prepared for so long," Lin Huang insulted again, "I was looking forward to something powerful, but it seems like nothing to me! If all the Saint elders are of your level, I'm really worried about the future development of the Saint!"
"I think that it's because your God isn't strong enough. That's why the abilities of the Saint members are weak as well. Your God is utter rubbish. What did your God give you even though you serve him every day? It's better for you to have faith in me. I promise that I'll give you good food everyday…" Lin Huang knew that whenever he mentioned their God, his opponent would be triggered and would lose his rationality.
"I'll send you to your grave!" Yu Wenbin could no longer bear it anymore.
A philosopher had once said never to step on the cat's tail every few days as the cat would hate you.
Lin Huang could not remember how many times he had offended Yu Wenbin. From this fact alone, he could confirm that the cat would not only hate him for stepping on its tail but could also possibly lose all rationality.
He had to admit that despite the Saint members being brainwashed to ensure that they were absolutely loyal to the organization, there were somehow some side effects. Anything related to their God could cause them to lose their rationality and go insane.
Their God was the ultimate supreme to the Saint members as they would not even mention his actual name and would only address him as God. It was taboo to them.
Humiliating their God would be the greatest sin to the Saint members.
The first creed of the Saint was to kill anyone who insults their God!
This creed was imprinted in every one of the Saint members' minds and would provoke their anger.
Lin Huang had emphasized that, hitting below the belt and Yu Wenbin was unable to let him go.
Under normal circumstances, regardless of what had happened, capturing the sacrificial offering would be Yu Wenbin's priority.
However, he could not ignore Lin Huang's insult towards their God. The Saint members felt that the humiliation when one insulted their God compared to catching their wife in the act with more than one man in bed was a hundredfold worse.
Yu Wenbin had forgotten the task of capturing him as an oblation. He only had one thought in mind now — to kill the young man in front of him! He wanted him to disappear completely from the world!
It was simply because his very presence was a disrespect to God!
Outside the Dark Shield, the black mist was still revolving and the hissing sound of the water vapor did not stop at all.
Yu Wenbin, who was hanging mid-air, had broken blood vessels in his eyes. Beneath the cat mask, he looked rather ferocious.
Right at this moment, he was holding the supreme relic tightly in his hand with Life Power being inserted into it.
The sigils on the relic quickly lit up and ignited from the handle of the relic towards the tip of the spear.
Lin Huang's face turned grave as he saw that. "The guy just performed the second activation on the supreme relic…"
The second activation was an ability exclusively owned by the supreme relic whereby it would have high compatibility with the Life Power of the user and could be used simultaneously with the Life Power. According to the user's needs, the changes would occur based on the form of the Life Power.
Such an activation would usually need the user to follow the characteristic of the relic to activate a certain skill so that the effect of the relic could be maximized. Otherwise, the effect would not be significant.
If the opponent performed the second activation right now, the next skill would be a fatal one.
"What kind of skill will it be?" Lin Huang was cautious of it, but at the same time, he was looking forward to it.
In Yu Wenbin's hand, the sigils that were lit up soon extended to the tip of the spear. All the sigils on the long spear were all lit up, resembling a glowing power-saving fluorescent tube that was immensely bright.
"Seraphic Spear!" Yu Wenbin said softly.
The next moment, on top of the long spear, the dazzling white light grew even brighter like an explosion. In just a blink of an eye, the intensity of the white light had reached its peak and was comparable to the Sun at noon. It was so glaring that one would not be able to look into the light.
Right this moment, the "Sun" suddenly dimmed and a beam of white light was about to strike Lin Huang at a terrifying speed. The white electric arcs could be vaguely seen dancing in the sky.
Lin Huang's limited vision was unable to capture the path of the attack. When it was at a distance that could be sensed by his Territory skill which was about 300 meters away, the beam of white light had already struck the Dark Shield.
The next moment, Lin Huang's facial expression changed and he immediately tried to dodge the impact.
Just when he shifted, the beam of white light directly penetrated through the Dark Shield as if it was only a meager hindrance to the beam of light. It brushed past the left of Lin Huang's frame and shot straight out of the Dark Shield behind him.
Lin Huang touched his left side of the body. Although the attack did not hit him straight on, there were scratches left on his skin.
He immediately became alert and glared at Yu Wenbin. He then found out that Yu Wenbin was still holding the long spear, but the tip of the spear had penetrated through his Dark Shield. The beam of white light had not shot out of the tip of the spear. Instead, the pillar of light was the spear itself.
After the spear integrated with the Life Power, the length of the spear would constantly extend and ironically, at the same time, the shaft would be compressed. As it was compressed to a certain extent, it would be ejected. It was the reason why the beam of white light had turned brilliant so quickly like an explosion and right when the attack was launched, the light faded.
"The power of the skill is horrifying. It almost killed me!" Lin Huang then gazed at the hole formed by the spear penetrating through the Dark Shield. He knew that the opponent's attack was far beyond his most powerful hit. Otherwise, he would not have been able to break through the Dark Shield.
As it penetrated through the Dark Shield, it began to collapse. The black mist started flowing in through the gap and gushed towards Lin Huang.
Lin Huang moved in a flash and appeared at an area that was more than 100 meters away.
However, as soon as he appeared, the black mist formed, surrounding his body.
Lin Huang dodged several times, but he was still unable to break free from the black mist. It seemed like it had attached itself to his bone. No matter where he went, the black mist formed at almost the same time.
After several attempts, Lin Huang suddenly shifted his gaze towards Yu Wenbin.
He quickly put away his long spear, staring at Lin Huang with a cold, stony expression.
"There's no use for you to hide. Luna Kill is like your shadow, and you'll not be able to get rid of it. As for your defense skill that seems like a turtle shell, despite Luna Kill being unable to break it, it's like a target that doesn't move. My Seraphic Spear can penetrate through it repeatedly."
Yu Wenbin felt that there was no way for Lin Huang to fight back.
"Do you think that you're going to win? I don't think so." Lin Huang ignored the black mist, activating his defensive relic with his Life Power. He then pounced on Yu Wenbin.
"You're trying to attack me at the risk of getting injured? You're such an idiot!" Yu Wenbin sneered.
Lin Huang did not care so much about that and approached him.
A flicker of fury flashed through Yu Wenbin's eyes and the long spear with dim glow lit up again. Lin Huang leaped and the sword in his hand was gleaming brightly as if it was trying to seize a last-second touchdown.
Yu Wenbin smiled coldly. "Go to hell, little brat!"
The next moment, the long spear in his hand was moving just as fast as the previous hit. The moment when Lin Huang was about to brandish his sword that was glowing brightly, the long spear pierced through Lin Huang's head.
Lin Huang collapsed onto the ground.
Seeing that his head had exploded, Yu Wenbin grinned in victory. "He's a little brat indeed, having the gall to put up a desperate fight. I'm the one who laughs last."
"Oh? Are you sure?" Right at that moment, a voice taunted behind Yu Wenbin.
He wanted to turn around, but he realized that he was incapable of doing so. It was because he saw a headless body, dressed in black robes and blood was sputtering out from his neck like a fountain.
Behind the body, a young man was holding a battle sword and grinning at him. There was blood dripping from the sword.
The next moment, he blacked out.
"I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you that I know a little about ocular skills." Unfortunately, Yu Wenbin could no longer listen to Lin Huang's last sentence.
His headless body and his head with a frightened expression frozen on its face fell from mid-air. Even after Yu Wenbin died, he still would never know how Lin Huang killed him.
The black sigils in Lin Huang's eyes gradually faded and soon, his pair of eyes returned to normal.
"Congratulations, you have obtained a Legendary Monster Soul - the Darkscythe Apparition!"
A notification from Xiao Hei suddenly arrived, telling him of his unexpected gain.
The system would not usually give a cross-ranking kill reward. Some other reward would be assigned instead. Lin Huang would obtain the skills and the talent of the person killed but the probability of getting it was tiny. Therefore, he had not expected to get a reward after killing him. Obtaining the opponent's Combat Soul had come as a complete surprise to him.
As Lin Huang landed on the ground, he stabilized himself. Before he read the function of the Combat Soul, a voice from Bloody was heard.
"Master… It seems like Wu Fa has fled!"
"What?" Lin Huang immediately raised his head and looked towards the direction where Wu Fa was sprawled. He was not there anymore. Lin Huang immediately asked Bloody, "When did he run away?"
"I'm not sure. When you chopped off the head of the Saint member, Wu Fa, who was originally lying over there, had disappeared. I suspected that he has already fled, but his body was left on the ground," Bloody figured.
"That's possible…" Lin Huang frowned, nodding his head. "Please continue monitoring the forest with your Leech Pods. Immediately inform me when you discover him!"
Lin Huang felt mad at his carelessness as his enemy had managed to run away from him.
Just then, Lin Huang felt that two extremely powerful auras were approaching him quickly, Lin Huang was familiar with them as they were the Vice Presidents of the Martial Hunter College.
Without a moment's hesitation, he removed the effect of the Provisional Transformation Card which increased his combat strength and put his sword relic away. He then bent down and took Yu Wenbin's Emperor's Heart Ring, storing it in his storage space. He took the sphere as well.
A few moments later, two shadows appeared in the sky at almost the same time.
"Lin Huang, are you okay?" Wang Zijun immediately asked.
"Yes, I'm alright." Lin Huang turned back to look at both of them and nodded with a smile.
When they saw Lin Huang, the both of them quickly landed on the ground. Before they could stabilize themselves, they saw the headless body next to Lin Huang. Zhang Xuefeng saw the symbol of the heretics on the dead body's neck at first glance. His face instantly turned grave. "Heretics?!"
"He's not a heretic but a Saint member. To be accurate, the Saint members pretended to be the heretics so that they could put the blame on them," Lin Huang explained, shaking his head.
"Is there any evidence?" Zhang Xue Feng frowned and asked.
"I've purposely recorded a few videos." Lin Huang nodded his head, projecting the videos that he had recorded. He knew that if he were to reveal that he had asked Wu Tian about it and Wu Tian was the one who told him about it, it could not be considered evidence.
Therefore, he had recorded the conversation between him, Wu Fa, and Yu Wenbin.
In the first video, Lin Huang revealed that they were going to shift the blame to others. When he mentioned Wu Tian, Yu Wenbin and Wu Fa had responded strangely.
In the second video, he criticized their God for accepting both males and females, and when he mentioned about the castration, Yu Wenbin went insane.
He had intentionally provoked him as his main purpose was to record these videos as evidence.
After watching both of the videos, Zhang Xuefeng and Wang Zijun, who doubted him, eventually believed Lin Huang.
Despite both of them not admitting that they were Saint members in the video, when Lin Huang revealed that they were going to shift the blame on others, they had asked, "What did you know?", giving them away. Wu Fa's reaction after knowing Wu Tian had died and their response as Lin Huang insulted their God further proved this.
The heretics preferred to go after freedom, and they used to despise the Saint's God. They would not be triggered if Lin Huang scolded their God. Instead, they would curse their God together with him. They would not have reacted in anger as Yu Wenbin did, and it was obvious that his anger was genuine.
"Aside from the videos, let the forensics remove the disguise and you'll know the truth." Lin Huang pointed at the headless corpse.
"Where's the other man? Weren't there two of them in the video?" Wang Zijun asked.
"He fled when I was fighting the guy." Lin Huang was upset as he thought of it.
Zhang Xuefeng then took a glance at the trails left after the battle. Apparently, the damage by the fight could not have been done by someone who was only on holy fire-level.
"Is he an immortal-level? Did you kill him?" Zhang Xuefeng felt that it was unbelievable as he observed the area. He then turned back and looked at Lin Huang.
"No, the both of you killed him. It has nothing to do with me." Lin Huang looked at Zhang Xuefeng, shaking his head with a smile. "I bought you some time so that the both of you can save me and kill the Saint member."
"I know what to do. We'll keep it a secret." Wang Zijun understood what Lin Huang meant as he wanted to hide his ability from the public. Therefore, both of them had to bear the responsibility. "But… The guy has left."
"If he's still in the forest, we'll be able to find him and kill him." Lin Huang had no intention of keeping him alive. "If he has really left the forest, perhaps after today, I'll be blacklisted by the Saint."
"However, we can worry about that later. Let's hurry up to save the people." Lin Huang summoned Thunder again.
Wang Zijun and Zhang Xuefeng remained at the battleground to clean up the mess.
Lin Huang was no longer afraid of revealing his true abilities. Ever since he managed to get to holy fire-level, he was capable of protecting himself.
In the whole Division 7, apart from some of the immortal-levels with high-ranking and two of the imperial-levels, he was not afraid of anyone else.
However, he was reluctant to reveal his abilities as he wanted to save himself some trouble. Therefore, he needed help from both of the Vice Presidents. He knew that the both of them were willing to do so since it would be a good chance for them to raise their reputation by being known for killing the Saint elder.
Wu Fa's escape spelled trouble. However, it had already happened, so Lin Huang could only wait for things to happen patiently.
If Wu Fa was still in the forest, it could be positive news as things could be settled if he found him and killed him. If he had left the forest, everything would be out of Lin Huang's control. There were only two possibilities. If it was the former, Lin Huang could handle it, but if it was the latter, it was out of his control. What he could do now was just to wait for more clues patiently since feeling anxious was of no help.
He put his mind to focus on rescuing Lin Xin and the rest of the students.
"Master, I've discovered Lin Xin. She just walked out of the tent. Her team hasn't been attacked yet. However, a Saint member is approaching them. His signal detection device is not working as it's been affected by the Leech Pods. It's less likely that he'll be able to find Lin Xin in a short period of time." On Thunder's back, Bloody's voice was suddenly heard.
"Where are they?!" Lin Huang immediately asked.
"It is about 800 kilometers towards the southeast." Bloody extended its antenna and marked the position on the map projected.
"Thunder, change direction!" Lin Huang patted Thunder. It immediately switched its direction and accelerated, heading towards the location where Lin Xin's team was.
Lin Xin used to maintain a good sleeping pattern over the past one year.
She would usually sleep before 11 p.m and wake up before 6.30 a.m as Lin Huang would prepare breakfast at about 7 a.m.
She was still practicing her good habits after entering the Martial Hunter College. As usual, she would still wake up at about 6.30 a.m and go to the library after having her breakfast. She would read some books until about 8.30 a.m and attend her classes after that. If she had no classes in the morning, she would stay in the library until lunch. After having lunch, she would take a nap and go to class. She would complete her homework at night. If she was free, she would go for some actual combat training with her classmates or play the Gun Master.
In fact, aside from Lin Xin, most of the students from the Martial Hunter College had healthy habits and their time was well managed.
As they entered the Mist Forest, since the mist was formed at night, most of them slept at about 9 p.m.
Five of them took turns to watch over the night. Since Lin Xin and Ai Li were girls, both of them were assigned to keep watch over the tent during the first and the last round to avoid having to get up in the middle of the night. Lin Xin would watch over the tent from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. whereas Ai Li would do so from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.
To increase their hunting efficiency, they had decided to depart at 7.30 a.m. The reason behind this was because the mist in the forest would completely clear away at about 7 a.m.
Lin Xin woke up before 6.30 a.m. Despite being on duty on the first night until 11 p.m, she would still make sure that she had seven hours of sleep and that was sufficient for her.
She took a look at the time. It was 6.08 a.m. Lin Xin wanted to continue sleeping, but she found out that she could no longer fall asleep.
Lying in the sleeping bag, she opened the Heart Network. She then realized that she had no access to it. She felt that it was strange. "Didn't they say that there's no problem with the signal here in the forest? It was still working fine yesterday."
She attempted to visit a few websites but failed. Lin Xin did not think any further and closed the webpage. She sat up, rubbing her face and suddenly recalled what Lin Huang had told her before.
"As a hunter, you have to pay attention to every detail. If you neglect any of them, it can lead to serious consequences. Network failure will rarely happen on the network of the Emperor's Heart Ring, but it's not absolutely impossible. However, when network and communication failure happens at the same time, you have to consider if somebody has done something to it…"
Lin Xin immediately checked the communication webpage and realized that there was a cross on the communication signal. She attempted to call Lin Huang and soon, she heard, "Sorry, the service is not supported in your region." Since the first attempt failed, she tried to call Ai Li and the same notification was heard.
"The network and communication have been blocked," Lin Xin sighed in a low voice. She immediately opened the tent and rushed out in her pink pajamas.
Ai Li was sitting on a stool, staring at the projection from the Emperor's Heart Ring.
"Ai Li, can you connect to the network?" Lin Xin asked curiously.
"I couldn't connect to it since I woke up." Ai Li shook her head.
"What are you looking at?"
Ai Li helplessly turned the webpage to Lin Xin.
"Monster Guide – Leech Pods," Lin Xin read out loud and covered her mouth as she laughed, "You didn't forget to study during the battle drill. You're indeed Ai Li!"
"I didn't want to do so, but the network isn't available here, and I have nothing else to do. I downloaded the textbook earlier… It's impossible for me to sit here staring blankly." Ai Li was unsatisfied.
"Ai Li, take a look at your Emperor's Heart Ring. Check and see if you have communication signals!" Lin Xin thought and asked Ai Li.
Ai Li felt that Lin Xin's request was strange, but she still opened the webpage of the Emperor's Heart Ring. "There's no signal!"
"Try to call any of the teachers or even one of us," Lin Xin urged.
Ai Li nodded and tried to call Lin Xin first. She then received a similar notification as Lin Xin had received earlier. "Sorry, the service is not supported in your region." She then attempted to call Teacher Qin Tianxing but could not connect either.
"What's happening? Why's the communication signal interrupted as well?" Ai Li frowned.
"I suspect that something is wrong with the assessment," Lin Xin said in a low voice. "The communication and network signals are blocked. It seems someone intentionally did so."
"How could it be? Who dares to offend the Martial Hunter College?" Ai Li found it unbelievable.
"Trust me. I've been to the wilderness several times with my brother. He has told me few of the things that I have to pay attention to in the wild zone. It is dangerous now as the communication and network signals are blocked. He told me before that when the underworld is going to perform a regional attack, they'll usually block the network and communication of their targeted region. The dimension will be closed to stop any dimensional travel. I think that's what we're encountering now," Lin Xin explained with a serious expression.
"Last year December, the heretics made a big issue when they attacked the Hunter examination hall. Have you ever heard of it? The people had the guts to attack the Hunter examination hall, so why not the Martial Hunter College?" Lin Xin looked at Ai Li with an earnest expression.
Ai Li struggled for a short while, but in the end, she nodded. "We can't confirm what exactly has happened yet. Let's wake the guys up and discuss this."
Soon after, they woke the three boys up, and Lin Xin changed her clothes in the tent.
Five of them sat together and Lin Xin told the boys what she had just told Ai Li.
A few of the boys frowned as they checked their network connection.
"I realized that the network connection had been disconnected at around 4 a.m. I thought that it'd just last for a while." It had been Chu Peng's turn to keep watch over the tent from 3 a.m to 5 a.m. "Two hours have passed. Something's definitely gone wrong."
"My brother told me the same thing as what Ling Xue said. If the communication and network signals are blocked in the wild zone, we have to be careful. If we are lucky, perhaps the signals will only stop working temporarily. If we are unlucky, most probably, the underworld is going to attack us. I think that we have to be prepared for the worst," Nangong Qing said thoughtfully as he gazed at the rest of the members.
Listening to what Nangong Qing said, their faces turned grave.
"We'll have to pack our stuff and leave this place as soon as possible. According to Chu Peng, the signals have been blocked for two hours. If the underworld is attacking us, it means that the attack has lasted for two hours. They'll be able to find us any time now," Yao Hao immediately suggested.
"But we have no idea how many people there are and where they are. Where should we go?" Ai Li asked.
"We don't have to worry about that. Let's look for a guardian. If the guardian knows what's happening, they'll think of ways to help us leave this place." All the students actually knew about the presence of the guardians. As long as they requested help from the guardians, marks would be deducted from the team. Therefore, if only one of them encountered danger, 100 marks would be deducted. If all five of them faced danger, 500 marks would be deducted. Based on that fact, all the students neglected the presence of the guardians. As reminded by Yao Hao, Lin Xin and the rest then thought of asking for help from the guardians.
"I heard that you guys are looking for a guardian." A woman's voice was suddenly heard, and a slender figure walked gracefully out of the trees…
I heard that you guys are looking for a guardian…"
A woman gracefully walked out from the trees.
She was wearing a white blouse, showing her midriff and the underside of her boobs could be seen. Her busty boobs fit her cropped top that was already very figure-hugging.
She also wore a black leather skirt and her pair of long legs that were about 1.3 meters long looked soft and fair under the dim light.
Just when she appeared, Lin Xin and the rest were stunned, fixing their crimson gazes at the collar of her cropped top.
Soon, the five of them noticed that there was the symbol of the heretics on the left side of her neck, instantly putting everybody on alert.
The woman laughed softly and a man's bloody head suddenly appeared in her right hand. "I guess you guys are looking for him?"
Seeing the blood still dripping from the head in her hand, despite not being able to identify who the man was, their backs were all drenched in sweat.
"Can't you see it clearly? I'll bring it closer to you." The woman grinned, moving forward to them in her boots.
Each step she seemed to be treading on their hearts as their heartbeats started racing fast. Perhaps they were overly frightened which caused them to turn stiff and could not even flee!
At this moment, Nangong Qing suddenly shouted and regained his ability to move. He then picked up his bronze combat sword and pounced on the woman in the leather skirt. "Run away quickly! Escape in four separate directions!"
The woman in the leather skirt giggled softly and did not bother to stop Nangong Qing. She did not even dodge, allowing him to hit her.
His bronze combat sword that was surrounded by black Life Power instantly pierced through her stomach.
It was out of everybody's expectation as blood did not splatter around, but a "ding" was heard. The waist of the woman in the leather skirt was not injured, and there were no traces left. However, Nangong Qing's bronze combat sword had broken into pieces.
Nangong Qing's face turned grave and he gradually lifted his head, looking at the woman in the leather skirt. "You're a Transcendent…"
"Only now you realize? It seems like there's still room for improvement in terms of your observation skills." The woman in the leather skirt than took a few steps in the air. "It's not convenient to wear high heels here. I've been walking in the air all this while."
Lin Xin and the rest of them then discovered that she did not step on the ground at all. Instead, she always kept a distance of about ten centimeters away from the ground. Because the ground was covered by grass, Lin Xin and the rest had not noticed that.
Five of their hearts sank. Encountering a Transcendent, it was impossible for them to escape. Their enemy could fly. Regardless of how fast they could run away, their attempt would be rendered useless.
"It's impossible for us to escape. Let's fight!" Lin Xin suddenly shouted in a deep voice. At almost the same time, she changed the bullets used in her GrayEagle 17 to armored bullets and she was the first to launch an attack.
The armored bullets were fired out of the bore of the gun, making consecutive hits in front of her head.
As Lin Xin attacked, Ai Li and two of the boys picked their weapons up and rushed towards her.
However, before the three of them could approach her, the sound of Lin Xin's bullets exploding could be heard.
The woman was not trying to avoid the attacks at all, letting the bullets strike her. She did not even blink. After the explosion, no traces were left on her face and her eyelashes did not even flutter.
"Hey, girl, didn't you know that it's impossible for any guns other than relics to hurt a Transcendent?" The woman was looking at Lin Xin while she giggled.
Immediately, the three of them then rushed towards her, making several cuts on the woman's body. Ai Li felt that her bronze relic was connecting with a hard diamond as it did not affect her. The next moment, three of their long swords had broken into pieces.
Five of them stood in their original positions hopelessly as the there was a huge gap between them. The opponent was like a big mountain which they could not overcome.
"That's enough, follow me." The woman smiled as she waved her hand. In an instant, Ai Li, Nangong Qing and the other two had disappeared.
"What did you do to them?" Lin Xin was still aiming at the woman. She dared not let her guard down at all. She was frightened as Ai Li and the others had suddenly disappeared.
"Eh, that's amazing… You can't be stored in my Dark Sphere…" The woman sized Lin Xin up curiously. "Theoretically, if I activate it with my combat strength, be it human or monster that is weaker than a Transcendent, they'll be stored in it. It's obvious that you're not even an iron-level yet you can't be stored in it. Girl, can you tell me who are you?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Seeing that she was approaching her, Lin Xin took a few steps back. Soon, she backed up into a big tree. "Don't come near me!"
Lin Xin was nervous and simply fired a few shots at her. However, she was unable to stop her from moving forward.
"Little girl, I told you before that your gun is like a baby toy to me."
The woman smiled as she approached her. Eventually, she slowly walked towards Lin Xin and crushed the GrayEagle 17 that she was holding in her hand. She then touched Lin Xin's face cautiously. "You look like an ordinary person that has not even achieved iron-level. There must be something hidden in your body. It's okay if you don't know about it. I'll bring you back and I'll know the answer after the autopsy…"
As soon as she finished her words, the woman pointed at Lin Xin's forehead and soon, Lin Xin fainted.
When she was about to extend her hand and pick Lin Xin up, the moment when she touched Lin Xin's body, she immediately retreated. She felt that she had experienced a strong electric shock which could be fatal.
The woman lowered her head and looked at her right hand that had touched Lin Xin's body. She then realized that a black spot had begun to spread upwards from her fingertip. In just a blink of an eye, her right palm had turned black as if it was charred and the black rot was still spreading further up.
The woman took prompt action. The sharp blade in her hand streaked across the sky, chopping off her right arm.
Her right arm fell to the ground and quickly turned black. Her wound remained unaffected. The woman then raised her head, staring at Lin Xin with fear.
"Who are you?!"
Lin Xin, who had fainted, gradually floated up into the sky. Her black hair rapidly turned purple and continued growing until it reached her waist.
All of a sudden, Lin Xin suddenly opened her eyes. Her pair of eyes that were originally black had now turned gold.
As she heard what the woman said, Lin Xin grinned. "Don't you want to know the answer? I'm the answer that you're looking for…"
When she heard the voice of the purple-haired Lin Xin, the woman was terrified and she could feel that death was imminent.
She did not even turn back and immediately fled. She wanted to escape from the purple-haired girl at her fastest possible speed.
"It's useless to do so. Regardless of where you are going, as long as you're still within the gravel world, I'll only need one word to kill you," Lin Xin mumbled. Her purple hair moved without any wind and her voice rang out clearly, "Die!"
Right when the word left her lips, the woman in the leather skirt that tried to escape started collapsing and soon, she fell into a heap onto the ground.
Lin Xin extended her hand. The Emperor's Heart Ring and the Dark Sphere of the woman in leather skirt automatically fell into her palm.
After handling her, the purple-haired Lin Xin suddenly turned her head and shifted her gaze towards another direction.
A faint white light lingered in the gap between tree branches, hardly noticeable.
"Forget!" The purple-haired Lin Xin's eyes became swirly.
Lin Huang and Bloody were terrified as they witnessed the unbelievable scene through the Leech Pods. As the word "forget" was heard, they fell into a trance…
Lin Xin's body gradually fell onto the ground and her long purple hair gradually faded. Her pair of eyes returned to their original color. Soon after, she became limp, leaning against the big tree and had lost her consciousness...
Lin Huang leaped from Thunder's back and landed somewhere near the place where Lin Xin had fainted.
He observed around. Apart from the shell cases and the broken pieces of the swords, no traces of the battle could be found.
He then strode towards Lin Xin. Only the broken pieces of Lin Xin's gun were left next to her and it seemed like she was not injured.
"Xin Er, Xin Er!" Lin Huang shouted Lin Xin's name twice but still, she did not wake up. He pressed against Lin Xin's shoulder, inserting his Life Power into her body and did a thorough check up on her.
A few moments later, he could sense the remaining Life Power in Lin Xin's brain. He then immediately activated his Life Power in order to remove it from her brain.
After a short while, Lin Xin finally regained her consciousness.
"Brother!" Lin Xin was stunned when she saw Lin Huang at first glance. She then looked around. "Where's the woman?"
"Are you talking about the woman who attacked you?" Lin Huang asked, "When I arrived, she was gone."
"Ai Li and the rest…" When Lin Xin was about to ask where were Ai Li and the rest of them, she realized that Lin Huang had fixed his gaze on her right hand. She then noticed the two items that she was holding in her hand. "Whose Emperor's Heart Ring is this? Why is it here? What's the sphere for?"
Lin Huang then extended his hand and picked up the sphere, inserting his Life Power into it. He detected that four of Lin Xin's teammates were in the sphere. He then threw it to Bloody.
"It's the dark sphere that the woman used to capture you guys. Your teammates are all inside the sphere and they are safe," Lin Huang explained. He then looked at Lin Xin with a serious expression and asked, "Xin Er, can you remember anything?"
"I can only remember the sudden appearance of the woman in the leather skirt and that she killed our guardian. Ai Li and the rest were caught but I wasn't. She said that my body is unique and she wanted to perform an autopsy on me. She then pointed at my forehead and I can't remember what happened after that. You're here after I woke up." After Lin Xin finished her sentence, she then saw the broken pieces of her gun next to her. She immediately continued, "Brother, the woman has crushed the GrayEagle 17 that you gave it to me…"
"It's okay. I'll give you another one next time," Lin Huang simply promised her but he was in serious doubt.
What he could see through Bloody's monitoring scene was similar to what Lin Xin had narrated. After the woman in leather skirt pointed at Lin Xin's forehead, a white beam of light suddenly flashed on the monitoring screen and lasted for a couple of seconds before it returned normal. Soon after, only Lin Xin who had fainted could be seen on the screen and the woman had disappeared. Lin Huang had asked Bloody about that and it could only see a similar scene as well.
Lin Huang felt strange as he wondered why the woman's Dark Sphere and Emperor's Heart Ring would appear in Lin Xin's hand.
The Dark Sphere belonged to the woman in the leather skirt, and it was highly possible that the Emperor's Heart Ring belonged to her as well. Under only two conditions could the Emperor's Heart Ring be taken from its owner. It would either be because the owner had given it to another person at will or the owner had died.
Lin Huang did not think that the Saint member would give it to Lin Xin at will. Therefore, the probability of the woman being killed was extremely high. As for who had killed the woman and where her dead body was, Lin Huang had no idea.
However, he could confirm that the person who helped them out had no bad intentions towards Lin Xin.
"Xiao Hei, what do you think about this?" He had no choice but to ask Xiao Hei.
"It has nothing to do with the system. Therefore, I have no comment on this."
Lin Huang was speechless as he listened to Xiao Hei's reply.
"Could the Martial Hunter College have hired other assistants?" Lin Huang felt that the possibility for this to have happened would be quite high.
Lin Huang did not pay much attention to what the woman in the leather skirt said regarding Lin Xin not being able to be captured by her Dark Sphere because some of them with unique blood were immune to certain functions of relics.
Since the first day Lin Huang had traveled to this world, the integration of his memory was only at 98%. The percentage of his memory integration had never changed since then. He could not remember anything about what Lin Xin had experienced and what happened to her before that at all.
In fact, he could vaguely sense that it was highly possible that Lin Xin was not his biological sister. He had no evidence and it was only instinct. However, he did not ask further about it as they had been relying on each other for so many years. It made no difference whether she was his biological sister or not.
"Brother, what happened to you?" Lin Xin waved her hand in front of his eyes as she saw that Lin Huang was in a daze.
"I'm okay. Are you injured?" Lin Huang then asked as he recovered from his thoughts.
"No, I'm not. The woman wanted to catch us but she didn't hurt any of us." Lin Xin shook her head.
"That's good. The forest is under attack by the Saint members. They wanted to catch you guys back as an oblation. Many of the students haven't been rescued. Sit on Thunder's back later as it'll protect you. I'll have to save the rest of the students," Lin Huang explained.
"The Saint members? Isn't it the symbol on their neck is the symbol of the heretics?" Lin Xin asked curiously.
"The Saint members are pretending to be the heretics. I'll explain to you later." Lin Huang carried Lin Xin and leaped over a height of more than 100 meters.
Thunder fluttered its wings and carried both of them. It then headed to their next destination.
…
At about 7.20 a.m., Lin Huang, two of the Vice Presidents and the teachers of the Martial Hunter College gathered at the Mist Forest.
"Thank you, everyone, from the Martial Hunter College. Also, I'd like to thanks all the teachers who joined the operation. 3,000 of our new students have been rescued! Special thanks goes to Teacher Lin Huang as he managed to save more than half of the students alone. Over 100 Saint members have been killed, including the Saint elder. Although one of the elders and an official member managed to escape, we've also made a clean sweep!"
Lin Huang knew that only the Saint elder, Wu Fa, had fled. The dead body of the woman who had caught Lin Xin and the rest could not be found. Therefore, the Martial Hunter College supposed that she had run away. However, Lin Huang felt that it was not likely that she was still alive.
Lin Huang had observed 30 of them from the Martial Hunter College's backup team. All of them were either on purple or gold flame-level. He did not think that these people were capable of killing the woman in the leather skirt.
Bloody could not track Wu Fa's location as if he had gone missing from the forest. This was despite the fact that the dimension that had been locked. He had disappeared strangely from the forest where dimensional travel could not be performed. No traces were left.
Lin Huang felt strange about it. He doubted if Wu Fa had been killed or caught by the unknown who had also killed the woman in the leather skirt.
Since both of the Saint elders who were the leaders had disappeared, the Saint members were not notified to retreat and the dimension of the forest had not been unlocked. 100 of the attackers had been killed by the backup team from the Martial Hunter College in less than two hours. Lin Huang, Bai, and Ghastly were the one who had killed most of them. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Lin Huang did not release Charcoal.
After expressing his gratitude, Wang Zijun activated the Dimensional Portal and the crowd entered.
"I'm grateful that you're here." Wang Zijun walked towards Lin Huang and patted his shoulder. However, he did not look relaxed.
"How many teachers have we lost?" Lin Huang asked.
"628," Wang Zijun said helplessly, "Most of the guardians have died. Less than 50 of them are lucky not to have been attacked. More than 80 of them who provided assistance to the teachers have died."
"We can't let their sacrifice go in vain." Lin Huang looked at Wang Zijun with a serious expression.
"I have informed the Union Government and the Hunter Association about this. The Union Government will settle it in the next few days. Perhaps there'll be a large-scale cleanup operation in Division 7! They'll have to pay for what they have done!" Wang Zijun nodded.