Early morning, at the Academy entrance. The morning mist had yet to fully dissipate. Everyone stood before the teleportation array, waiting for the instructor’s orders.
Xuanxi touched the jade pendant beneath her collar. The ink-green jade surface pressed against her chest, warm, as if nourishing her body.
“Are you all ready?” Saixiliya’s voice came from beside her.
Today she wasn’t wearing the Academy uniform. She had changed into a dark gray combat suit, with a short sword at her waist, looking every bit the examiner.
“We’re ready!” everyone answered.
Saixiliya’s gaze swept across everyone’s faces, finally stopping on Xuanxi.
“The anomaly zones in Echo Valley have been marked on your maps. The completion status of each node will be counted toward the assessment scores. But I must warn you—”
She paused. “There may also be some threats outside the nodes. The Academy only cleared out the high-level magical beasts in Echo Valley; there are still many intermediate and low-level ones surviving, so don’t think it’s safe outside the nodes.”
Everyone nodded. The teleportation array immediately lit up, pale blue light rising from the ground, enveloping the five of them.
Elsa took a deep breath. Reginald clenched his fists. Valeris still had a cold expression.
Hildegrifa stood beside Xuanxi, shoulder to shoulder.
The light of the teleportation array grew brighter, then everything dissipated, scattering everyone across Echo Valley.
The entrance to Echo Valley was a rift valley, with cliff walls on both sides towering into the clouds. The rock faces were covered in dark green vines, and among the vines bloomed some kind of unknown white flowers.
“The concentration of spiritual energy here is quite high.” Valeris looked at the spiritual energy detector in her hand, her ice-blue eyes narrowing slightly.
“At least three times higher than the training ground at the Academy.”
Elsa’s expression changed. “Three times? Then if I use fire magic here…”
Reginald finished for her. “The power might double. But it will also be more unstable. Your fireball could become a firewall, or you might lose control, causing—an explosion.”
Xuanxi didn’t speak. She closed her eyes and extended her perception outward. The water-attribute spiritual energy in the air spread in all directions, warm and thick, carrying the scent of an ancient forest.
She could feel the roots of every tree spreading underground in the valley, every vine climbing the rock walls, every flower swaying in the wind. She could even feel ants crawling in the cracks and animals wriggling deep in the soil.
“My perception range is expanding at an astonishing rate in Echo Valley. Five hundred meters.” Xuanxi opened her eyes, her voice tinged with surprise.
“I can perceive a range of five hundred meters in all directions, more than double what it was during training.”
Valeris nodded. “Even larger than expected. This means the concentration of spiritual energy in Echo Valley is higher than imagined, and your water attribute has a unique advantage here. Moreover—”
She glanced at Xuanxi. “After the fourth destiny mark awakened, your perception has also improved considerably.”
“Alright, I’ll take the lead.” Xuanxi stepped forward, the first to enter the rift valley.
Hildegrifa followed on her right, less than a meter away. Reginald was at the back, Elsa on the left, Valeris in the middle.
The cliff walls on both sides of the rift valley grew higher and higher, turning the sky into a narrow blue crack.
Vines hung down from the rock faces, almost brushing the tops of their heads.
After walking for about twenty minutes, Xuanxi stopped and raised her right hand. The entire team halted at once.
“There’s something ahead.” Xuanxi’s gaze fixed ahead.
The rift valley widened here, forming a semicircular small basin. In the center of the basin was an open space, but there was nothing on it. Even the grass on the ground was withered yellow, lifeless.
Her perception told her that in the very center of that open space was a void, like an invisible vortex, swallowing all the surrounding spiritual energy.
“This is an energy disorder zone.”
Valeris opened her notebook. “According to the Academy’s records, the energy field in this kind of zone interferes with elemental output. Attacks and defenses may fail, and even perception and space can be distorted.”
“Distorted to what extent?” Elsa’s voice was lower than usual.
“We’ll find out by trying.” Reginald picked up a stone and tossed it toward the center of the open space.
The stone traced a parabola in the air, and the moment it fell into the open space—there was no landing sound as expected. The stone hadn’t even landed, no impact sound, it just vanished, as if swallowed by that open space.
Elsa took a step back. Reginald took the opportunity to pull her behind him.
“The sample collection point is at the center of the open space.” Valeris looked at the map. “Xuanxi, your water attribute is least affected. Go in and collect it, and we’ll support you from the perimeter.”
Xuanxi nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped into the withered yellow open space. The grass under her feet was dry, making a fine cracking sound as she walked.
The further she went toward the center, the thinner the spiritual energy became. At the very center, spiritual energy had almost completely disappeared.
She crouched down and found the faintly glowing fragment at the roots of the withered grass. This was the core fragment of energy disturbance, the size of a fingernail, emitting a gray-white light.
She picked it up with her fingers and placed it into the sample bottle. Just as she stood up, the surrounding energy field suddenly fluctuated violently, and a tremendous suction force came from beneath her feet.
She steadied herself, and all four destiny marks lit up simultaneously, dark golden light spreading from her eyes to her cheekbones. Spiritual energy surged from her dantian, helping her stabilize her body.
The suction lasted for over ten seconds, then gradually dissipated.
Xuanxi walked out of the open space and handed the sample bottle to Valeris. “First node completed.”
Elsa leaned in to look at the gray-white fragment. “Just this?”
“Just this.” Valeris put the sample bottle into her backpack. “The core fragment of energy disturbance. This is what the Academy wants.”
“Let’s go.” Xuanxi said. “We’re moving to the next node.”