Chapter 98: Chapter 97: Wait, What Is That?

"Everyone, keep up!"

Jiang Qiu shouted. With Blood Circulation active, the Qi Blood in his body instantly surged into his waist and legs. His figure paused for a split second.

BANG!

BOOM—

In the blink of an eye, the already fractured road before the students of Eighth Middle School instantly erupted into a massive crater. Before the upturned slabs of concrete could even land, the youth’s afterimage had yet to fade, and a hundred paces away, another sound like cracking thunder exploded.

Students like Wang Guanjia, Zhang Shan, and Li Si all shuddered. Li Juefeng’s pupils widened as he exclaimed in amazement, "That fast?"

"Of course. That is Brother Jiang’s Shadow Stepping Body Technique. Part of the Du Bu Prodigy Project."

A slight smile played on Sun Yongsheng’s lips. He gestured casually. "Stop gawking. Just keep up with Brother Jiang. With him around, most of you will get into Northwest Martial University!"

The moment he finished speaking, Qian Cheng, at the very back of the group, felt a muscle in his face twitch. His wide eyes reflected a flickering, darting figure.

He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and followed at the back of the team with his gun, a single thought twisting in his mind: ’I have to keep up with Jiang Qiu. He’s my only hope of getting into Northwest Martial University!’

BANG!

BOOM—

BANG!

BOOM—

The afterimages from a dozen uses of Shadow Stepping faded in the wind. Jiang Qiu had already beaten everyone to the steps of the grand hotel, where he took a deep breath to steady himself.

A few breaths later, he saw a student in Red Armor rushing over. The Armor, engraved with purplish-black patterns, exuded the aura of a young general from antiquity. His features, pressed by the helmet, looked stern and sharp. He took two deep breaths, his voice booming like a tiger. "I am Zhang Heng, the student leader from Sanliang City’s Inner City Fourth Middle School. Move aside."

"Wait for the students from our Eighth Middle School to choose their spots first."

Jiang Qiu let his arms hang naturally at his sides. His expression was placid as his jade-black eyes met Zhang Heng’s sharp, cutting gaze. A moment later, he glanced past him at the mighty procession of over a thousand students running up behind them.

Most of them carried long spears. The vast majority were in the Iron Flesh Realm, and the one or two hundred at the very back weren’t far from breaking through, either. The dozen or so in the lead wore Storage Rings and Advanced Armor; four of them were in the Steel Bone Realm.

They were an intimidating force.

"Eighth Middle School?" Zhang Heng sneered. "An Outer City High School, right? With just one or two hundred people, this huge hotel definitely has enough room. It wouldn’t make a difference if our group of over a thousand chooses first."

"Seriously. What are you doing saving a spot all by yourself?"

A female student in the Steel Bone Realm stepped out from the Inner City Fourth Middle School’s group, arching a slender brow. "Don’t you know we’re from Sanliang City’s Inner City Fourth Middle School?"

"First time I’m hearing of it."

Jiang Qiu was just telling the truth, but his words immediately caused a stir among the group in front of him. A wave of tongue-clicking and derisive sounds rose up, filled with contempt and ridicule.

The female student grunted and fell silent. Zhang Heng shot Jiang Qiu a glare, then suddenly heard a shout from several hundred meters away: "Brother Jiang, their Inner City Fourth Middle School is about on par with our Inner City Third Middle School."

THUD THUD THUD...

A thousand pairs of eyes turned to see the team from Eighth Middle School running up, gathering tightly behind Jiang Qiu. The one who had just spoken was Sun Yongsheng, his eyes unremarkable. He glanced at Zhang Heng and chuckled. "Brother Zhang Heng, so aggressive. Are you trying to steal the base Brother Jiang scouted out first?"

Zhang Heng sized him up, then lifted his chin. "So you know who I am. You’re from Gao Yuan City’s Prodigy Project? Watch your words. When did I ever say I was going to steal it?"

"Brother Jiang, what’s the call?"

Sun Yongsheng glanced at the noisy, thousand-strong crowd, then his gaze swept over the silent group of fewer than a hundred classmates beside him. His face was a mask of calm, but his heart was pounding.

’Aside from the ten major high schools in the provincial capital, the strength of the various Inner City High Schools wasn’t drastically different. They were generally led by at least three or four Steel Bone Realm students and had over a thousand students.’

’However, Gao Yuan City had suffered a devastating siege over a decade ago. Its infrastructure was severely damaged, and its level of martial arts education lagged behind the other cities.’

’Setting aside the war-torn Tianshan City, our overall college entrance exam scores are at the bottom of the list every year.’

’How could eighty-three students from Outer City Eighth Middle School possibly stand against over a thousand from Inner City Fourth Middle School, led by several at the Steel Bone Realm?’

"You guys go in and pick your rooms first."

Jiang Qiu glanced at the grand hotel’s lobby and gestured for Sun Yongsheng to lead the others inside. Immediately, resentful shouts erupted from the Fourth Middle School’s ranks:

"Fuck! They’re really letting them choose first!"

"Brother Heng, this is too humiliating!"

Zhang Heng’s jaw twitched. He swallowed his frustration, shot Jiang Qiu a vicious glare, and then turned and waved to his group. "We’re leaving! There are plenty of other places. We don’t need this one!"

It wasn’t about occupying the grand hotel. The place had enough rooms for thousands, more than enough for both schools.

But as the stronger party, Fourth Middle School should have had the right to choose rooms first. Instead, they were blocked at the door by a mere student from Outer City Eighth Middle School. Their pride had been thoroughly deflated. Staying any longer would be inappropriate and would inevitably lead to conflict.

The college entrance exam rules forbade candidates from fighting each other. To avoid rule violations from staying in the same place for the next ten-plus days, they had no choice but to find another base.

Watching their indignant figures retreat into the distance, Jiang Qiu shook his head with a slight smile. "It’s better they didn’t come in. This grand hotel is now our temporary base."

...

Stepping into the hotel lobby, where bloodstains had caked into grime, Jiang Qiu glanced at the out-of-order elevators and started up the emergency stairwell. His pupils constricted into vertical slits. In the gray-and-white world of his vision, he could see scattered, star-like flames, both near and far. Various spiders, cockroaches, and rats skittered about the massive high-rise.

Fortunately, there were no Demon Beasts—just small insects and animals showing slight signs of mutation.

Generally speaking, only areas affected by a Secret Realm attract Demon Beasts. It was normal not to encounter any outside that range.

He passed the second and third floors, where students were clamoring to "claim" rooms, and continued upward. With a bang, he kicked open the rusty bronze door to the rooftop. A gale lifted Jiang Qiu’s bangs, his clothes fluttering in the wind.

He walked to a low platform at the edge, its surface broken, cracked, and covered in scratches. Looking up, the vast sky was hazy and overcast. Thin smoke and clouds obscured the heavens, not allowing a single drop of fiery sunlight to pass through.

’Two-thirds of the buildings in Kunlun City are severely damaged. It has even spawned a Medium-sized Secret Realm. Who knows how many Demon Beasts, or even members of the Demon Race, are hiding beneath all these ruins?’

Jiang Qiu sighed. Through his special vision, rows of buildings rose and fell, scattered in all directions, but two areas stood out from their surroundings.

An area where vines grew out of the reinforced concrete marked a small Secret Realm. From a distance, it looked like a garbage heap tangled in seaweed.

Another area, where a cluster of buildings was hidden in a strange purple mist, marked another small Secret Realm. It was as if it were concealed at the border of a mysterious, purple twilight, with the silhouettes of tall buildings occasionally becoming visible.

’Even small Secret Realms vary in quality. The one in Qingmu Town was of the most barren type; after all, the Secret Realm itself was just an endless wasteland with very little to attract Demon Beasts.’

’But the two places I can see now are larger and stranger than what was in Qingmu Town. The Secret Realms within them are likely more than just simple wastelands. They might contain mutated Demon Plants, rare mutated ores, or even ancient ruins...’

’Wait, what’s that?’ 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Suddenly, Jiang Qiu’s eyes narrowed, his pupils contracting into vertical slits. In the gray-and-white world reflected in his eyes, a cluster of orange-yellow light flickered and vanished in the purple-misted area several thousand meters away.

’At least at the level of a Top Tier Demon Beast. And it feels a little... familiar...’

SWISH! In the blink of an eye, the [Black Flood Dragon] bow appeared in his hand. With a soft click, a Conical Arrow was nocked on the string. Blood-red patterns on the arrow instantly lit up, overflowing with Qi Blood.

TWANG—

The moment the target vanished, the arrow was already loosed. It flew like a blood-red Azure Dragon tearing through the sky, carving an extreme arc as it locked onto the purple mist.

This arrow technique was derived from the Tier Two Bow Skill, [Curved Light Arrow], and was named [Azure Dragon Chasing Shadow]!