Su Wenjing sensed that Liang Xuan’s group was about to leave the academy. Speechless for a moment, he shifted his attention to Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian had been living quite a happy and carefree life recently.
He had made several new friends at Ji Fa, and even joined a life club for fun, learning a few spells.
For example, the Remote Manipulation Technique—which let him play with his phone.
For example, the Image Capture Technique—which let him watch things on his phone.
For example, the Remote Control Technique—he could control any appliance with a remote sensing function.
And… the Fast Charging Technique—which could charge electronic devices.
Ji Fa’s research into these new spells for modern society had inspired Li Yunxian a great deal, and he’d been living an easy and joyful life.
Su Wenjing sighed and followed after Liang Xuan’s group as they left the academy.
Liang Xuan’s group was actually quite cautious in their actions.
Their targets were two Foundation Establishment-stage exotic beasts, and they’d staked out the area repeatedly to confirm the details.
There were ten people in total, all at the peak of Qi Refinement, and they’d invited Ling Zhou to oversee the operation just in case anything happened.
—With Ling Zhou’s strength, he alone could handle those two beasts.
The main goal of their operation this time was to put their plan to the test, as well as to practice their combat responses, to see what kind of mistakes or surprises might occur when facing actual exotic races.
***
All of them were about to graduate, at the peak of Qi Refinement, and they hoped not to appear too green when they eventually entered places like the Bureau of Special Affairs.
Indeed, unexpected situations occurred during their operation, successfully transforming theory into practice.
Both of the targeted exotic beasts were finally slain by the group.
Su Wenjing watched the excited students from afar, his gaze falling to the ground beneath their feet.
The first to react was Ling Zhou.
He immediately manipulated the trees to pull all the students away from their original position.
In the very next moment, a giant maw burst forth from beneath the earth, devouring all the grass, trees, and even the exotic beast corpses they hadn’t had time to collect.
The students broke out in a cold sweat.
They felt an instinctual dread from this underground behemoth.
The sense of menace was even greater than what they’d just felt from the two Foundation Establishment-stage beasts.
“Jindan-stage Earth-Devouring Beast,” Ling Zhou relayed to his classmates, his face grim. “I’ll hold it off—you all run!”
Back in the Xuanwen Secret Realm, Lian Ping hadn’t been able to face a Jindan-stage Hunter alone. Ling Zhou was a bit stronger than Lian Ping, but it wasn’t like he could easily defeat a Jindan-stage enemy.
And now, the situation was far more dangerous than in the secret realm.
After all, in the secret realm, there had only been one confirmed Jindan-stage exotic. Here, outside the academy in the vast wilds, new enemies could be drawn at any moment.
So of course, the best solution was to run.
Ling Zhou manipulated the roots of plants, gripping the Earth-Devouring Beast tightly.
None of the other students tried to pull any “I’ll help you!” or “I’m not leaving!” melodrama.
They all knew that staying behind would only hinder things, so without any hesitation, they all sped off together toward the academy.
Halfway there, they were blocked by a figure.
A Tiger-Headed Demon grinned menacingly at them: “Leaving already? Isn’t that a bit of a waste? After all the trouble of coming out here, how about leaving two people behind to keep this king company, hmm?”
Everyone’s heart sank.
This Tiger-Headed Demon felt every bit as dangerous as that Jindan-stage Earth-Devouring Beast.
And while exotic beasts lacked intelligence and could be escaped by outsmarting them, a demon…
They suspected this Tiger-Headed Demon had deliberately chosen this spot—far enough from the academy that Ling Zhou couldn’t come to their rescue.
Su Wenjing watched calmly as the students fought with all their might, unleashing spells and magical treasures.
This time, someone did call out for someone else to run, but no one complied.
Earlier, when Ling Zhou had told them to flee, they did so because they knew they’d only be in the way.
But if they ran now, they’d lose precious strength against the Tiger-Headed Demon, leaving those who stayed with an even slimmer chance of survival.
Liang Xuan also told the others to go ahead, saying her luck was good and she’d definitely survive, so she could cover their retreat.
But no one believed Liang Xuan’s words.
Because out of everyone, Liang Xuan was the most seriously injured.
Maybe it was a dual-sided trait of her personality; as brave and scheming as she could be with others, Liang Xuan wasn’t fazed at all by those much stronger than herself.
So she always stood at the very front of the group during attacks.
It didn’t help that a lot of the splash damage from the enemy spells landed right on her…
Seeing this scene, Su Wenjing’s gaze softened ever so slightly as it landed on Liang Xuan.
When the Tiger-Headed Demon’s massive jaws were about to clamp down on half of Liang Xuan’s body, ready to make her the first sacrifice of the group, Su Wenjing made his move.
In a flash, the enormous Tiger-Headed Demon vanished soundlessly into thin air.
Those who had been seconds away from a desperate life-or-death struggle stared blankly at the empty space where the demon had just been.
It took a while before, one by one, they scrambled to their feet, battered and wary.
They all knew that this kind of anomaly out in the wild was never a good thing.
It only meant that an existence far more terrifying than what they’d just faced had arrived.
After scanning their surroundings in alarm, the students caught sight of Su Wenjing—white hair flowing, a pair of fox ears atop his head, and a face of bewitching beauty.
All their hearts sank instantly.
They sensed nothing strange about this new arrival.
No aura, nothing like the dangerous presence of the two Jindan-stage exotics from before.
Like the wind in the wilderness, the trembling leaves on the trees.
As if he was a part of nature itself.
If they hadn’t seen him with their own eyes, they wouldn’t have known anyone was there.
By now, all of their magic tools had been exhausted fighting the Tiger-Headed Demon.
Their spiritual power was nearly depleted.
“Why hasn’t the teacher come yet?” someone said in despair.
A whole group of peak Qi Refinement students venturing out—of course the academy would be concerned.
Some of them had even taken professors as their teachers; they’d already sent a distress signal for help when the Tiger-Headed Demon appeared.
Su Wenjing looked at the despairing student and spoke calmly: “The signals you sent out—I intercepted all of them.”
Upon hearing this, the students’ despair deepened.
They’d never heard of rescue messages sent by magic tools being intercepted.
This could only mean that the person before them was possibly even stronger than their teachers.
The students stared wide-eyed at Su Wenjing, as if trying to engrave this final threat to their lives into their memories to take to the underworld.
But as they looked, someone began to sense something was off.
White hair, fox ears, bewitchingly beautiful face… where had they heard of this before…
Thinking back to how the Tiger-Headed Demon had been dealt with at the most dangerous moment, and noticing now that the person facing them hadn’t made any further move for quite some time—
The classmate who realized something showed a half-laughing, half-crying expression.
“Professor Su…”
Su Wenjing looked over at the student, his expression still calm, as if waiting for them to say what they wanted.
It was only then that the others, upon hearing the name, understood what was going on.
Their faces collapsed in dismay, some even slumping to the ground in exhaustion.
One student, still confused and clueless, asked, “What’s wrong?”
The others answered weakly, “He’s Professor Su, the lead instructor from Tiantong.”
The student who got the answer was stunned: “Huh? Why would a teacher from Tiantong be here?”
Su Wenjing didn’t answer their questions, his gaze falling on Liang Xuan as he asked her coolly,
“Yes, why do you think I’m here?”
Liang Xuan’s face turned deathly pale.