Chapter 780: Official Students (I)

“Not bad!” said the Black Armor. “You have done better than I expected and put a new twist on the ultimate art of Tranquil Star. That passes muster!

“Three excellent marks, one good mark, one acceptable, and one fail!”

Sky Sword counted as a good mark since he’d defeated two puppets. Hou Xiaochen was acceptable since he’d only defeated one. Those who had passed grew expectant. What would the third test be? And what was the special reward for passing with good marks?

“The third test... is easy.” The Black Armor seemed to be smiling. “You will be official students of Evenround Martial if you pass! If not, then all of you will be eliminated!”

When it next spoke of the third test’s contents, Li Hao and the rest blinked, dazed.

......

The first test had been of civil subjects, the second of martial. What the Black Armor described of the third test, the group looking around blankly.

“Enter!” The Black Armor waved a door into existence. “If you four and the plant spirit can emerge, you will be official students and may leave at any time. If not, all of you can stay forever!”

Li Hao frowned at the transparent door. “Where does the door lead to?”

“The battlefield!” the Black Armor responded calmly. “You will be official students when you come back from it. Go on in!”

The battlefield? So the third test was a battlefield? Where did this battlefield come from?

Li Hao was confused. It was very strange that this place could still connect to a battlefield. “Is it... dangerous inside”

“Of course!”

The young man looked at his companions. They were frowning as well.

“Who is the enemy?” Hou Xiaochen asked solemnly.

“The enemy is the enemy, you just need to know that they are the enemy! Additionally, with wartime regulations in effect... you just need to obey orders, do you understand?” The Black Armor seemed to be laughing. “Go in, or stay here forever!”

There was no helping it. The quartet exchanged resigned glances. They had to go in!

As the four people and tree prepared to enter the door, Panther suddenly barked.

“What are you afraid of? Will those people dare kill you without reason?” remarked the Black Armor. “Your counterattack will be without fault if they attack you. If they kill you... then they are at fault!”

It was clear to see that Panther was terrified. What should it do once Li Hao and the rest were gone? Qian Wanhao and the others were still here!

“Give me all of the mysterious power stones you collected...” Li Hao suddenly thought of something. “Without them, you don’t have any treasures on you and there’s nothing in it for them if they kill you. They might actually set their eyes on you if you keep them!”

“......” Panther wanted to curse out the human! But it also felt that Li Hao made a lot of sense. It’d swallowed all of the mysterious power stones—what if that vast quantity tempted their opponents to make a desperate gamble? Their troubles might be over after they paid the fine.

Although reluctant, the dog spat out some storage rings. It couldn’t possibly outright put all of the stones in its stomach. Panther had placed them in storage rings for convenience. Li Hao laughed when he received the storage rings. Panth was growing ever more greedy these days. Did it think it could keep the spoils for itself? What was with the obvious disgruntlement?

I never forget you in a cultivation session!

Next to them, Qian Wanhao and the rest didn’t make a sound. Although they’d been disqualified, so had the dog. It wasn’t a given that Li Hao and the rest would pass the third test. At the very least, staying here meant that they wouldn’t die.

Perhaps there would be other chances to leave this place. The ruins wouldn’t be closed forever—they may very well open during the second awakening. Would everyone present still elect to stay when that happened?

......

Li Hao’s group didn’t consider much else before setting foot over the threshold at the same time. The door immediately vanished.

The Black Armor fell silent and the rest began waiting with expectation. Qian Wanhao and the others were also very curious. Where had Li Hao’s quartet gone?

......

At the same time.

A gray and murky world.

Li Hao’s four and the little tree abruptly manifested. It was a very gloomy scene—they seemed to be in a city. A hubbub of sound rang around them; they seemed to be residing inside a bubble barrier.

The vicinity brightened around them a few moments later and vision was restored to them. They seemed to be in a messy military barracks.

“Headmaster!” A muscular man in armor walked over as the group stared around in bafflement. He addressed Hong Yitang. “Headmaster, strong enemies surround us on all sides. We cannot hold onto Hope City. Let’s retreat!”

“General, you guys should go first! We’ll bring up the rear!” Another armored warrior walked over, looking at Sky Sword. “You should go too, general. We’ll safeguard this place and destroy the transportation passage. They will not set foot on human territory!”

Sky Sword and Hong Yitang were both rather bewildered.

Huh?

Li Hao was quickly processing the situation when someone turned to him as well. “You go too... As the peerless genius of the age, there is hope so long as you remain alive!”

Another burly man walked in from outside. He was grinning, despite being bathed in blood. “Seniors, you are old and your blood qi is declining. It would just be your death if you stayed. Leave with the students! Although humanity is losing this battle, we’ll go down fighting to the last! Retreat!” He bowed. “Seniors, please leave with the students!”

Hong Yitang was frowning, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say. Was this... a battlefield? An illusory realm? Or what?

He couldn’t immediately tell as it felt very real. Determining the situation at hand was their first priority. Therefore, Li Hao asked brusquely, “What’s going on here?”

“it’s only to be expected that you don’t know since you were unconscious for a few days!” responded Burly. “Skygate City has marched on us in a pincer movement with Eastflower City. They’ve sent dozens of high-ranked powerhouses. Hope City doesn’t stand a chance. You new students are in the battlefield for the first time, so you don’t know how strong the enemy can be. You’d just be remaining to your deaths! Go back!

“You too, seniors!” the man laughed. “Surviving is the greatest pain! We will eradicate the enemy outside of human territory! Please go home with the genius students, seniors, and keep the spark of hope alive for humanity!”

Li Hao blinked, mostly understanding the situation. The enemy was upon them and too strong to be contended with. Hou Xiaochen and the rest represented the older generation of powerhouses—so old that their blood qi had started to decline. He was a genius of high potential and the hope for the future. These cultivators in the prime of their lives were trying to convince them to leave.

But... we’re here to pass a test! We have to kill the enemy!

Whether it was an illusory realm or a real battlefield, they had to take to the field. Otherwise... how would they complete their mission? Another unknown was the number of enemies they had to kill to count as being finished.

“How can we do that, we must participate in this battle!” Li Hao immediately said when his thoughts traveled here.

“The enemy attacks! Prepare for battle!” someone roared outside.

BOOM!

Heaven and earth shook outside, mountains threatened to topple over. The middle-aged generals rushed outside without a word. In the lead, Burly turned back to yell, “Withdraw! There is no surviving this battle. I only hope that humanity can reclaim this land in the future and rebuild Hope City!”

He was gone, as were the others that’d been standing around. Li Hao’s quartet looked at each other before Hong Yitang quickly said, “Let’s go and take a look. Our mission is probably to defeat the enemy. We’ll probably pass if we succeed in beating them back!”

The others nodded, this was in line with their thoughts as well. They swiftly walked outside. It was only now that Li Hao noticed the little tree also resembled a human. It even wore armor, which was further proof that they were in a realm of illusion and not a real battlefield.

I was thinking where they would get a real battlefield after the ancient civilization collapsed! It’s so much easier knowing that this is an illusion.

Four humans and one tree swiftly walked outside. There were almost no people inside the city at the moment, they were all at the frontlines. Light sparkled in the distance. Powerhouses were traveling through the air—domineering and inexorable.

Li Hao’s group quickly broke through the air and set foot on the city walls. They could see a dense army churning across the land, coming their way. Hope City defenders were standing outside the city gates, arrayed in battle formation.

“Kill!!” howled a general before leading the charge!

The two armies commenced pitched battle in a blood-red patch of land outside the city. War cries shook the heavens. Although the quartet knew that this was an illusion, they were still deeply moved by the sight of tens of millions of martial masters erupting blood qi.

They faced enemies that were ten times their numbers—they all seemed to be energy cultivators.

“Is this a battle between martial masters and supernaturals?” Li Hao asked in a low voice.

“Possibly... and the other side isn’t human?”

“Very likely!”

“There’s so many...”

Li Hao looked at the sky. Rays of splendor shot through the darkness as powerhouses on the city walls leapt up with a roar. They evaded the army and engaged their enemy high in the sky, the collisions ringing through the land!

“Fight fight fight!!” Howls and shouts echoed through the vicinity.

“Hurry and engage the enemy!” Hong Yitang quickly said. “Our mission might be affected if too many on our side die!”

The rest nodded and shot out into the air—

BAM!

Powerful enemies immediately engaged them and Li Hao was instantly waylaid by an expert. The incomparably strong energy cultivator punched with metal sparks shimmering around their fist!

Li Hao reflexively unsheathed his sword in response, but cursed lowly.

Where’s Stellaris?! Damn it, where’s my sword gone??

How had he not noticed earlier that his sword was gone? Was it unable to enter this illusion?

There was nothing to do but to use his hand as a sword. He struck with his palm!

BAM!

Formidable force exploded in his hand and enormous pain traveled up his arm. His eyes widened with shock and the Black Armor’s voice sounded in his ear at this time. “While this is an illusion, you really will die if the enemy kills you!”

Li Hao really broke out in curses this time.

Then where’s my sword?!

Damn it, the Black Armor hadn’t just seized it, had it?? The overwhelming pain in his hand let him know that if he died here, he would be truly dead.