386: Chapter 374 Mountains Flow into the Sea

The train traveled through the pitch-black void.

The journey was long. After more than half a month, the novelty of being on the train for the first time had completely faded for the Young Woman and the others. Bored, they each found a row of seats to lie down on with their eyes closed.

"Dear passengers, lunch is served." A beautiful flight attendant brought the meals, placed them on the table, and left briskly.

The three meals provided by the train tasted decent, which was probably the only good news lately.

The five of them sat up, gathered at the booth where lunch was placed, took their portions, and began to eat.

However, a journey with absolutely no entertainment was truly dull; even delicious snacks couldn't save it.

"Tell me, how much longer until we arrive?" After swallowing the food in her mouth, the Young Woman asked listlessly, even though she knew full well the other four couldn't possibly answer.

And indeed, that was the case.

The four of them shook their heads in unison. Farid put down his knife and fork. "After getting on the train, I guessed that the territory of Seventeen would be very large, but I didn't expect that we wouldn't reach our destination even after half a month."

"Why did you guess that?" The Middle-aged Man looked up from his plate.

"I've seen the Hogwarts documentary from Ying Country. It took the Queen a full five days by train to reach the academy, and there's still a large area behind the academy.

Oh right, and the Mountain Gate too.

Although only a dozen or so peaks can be seen in the videos leaked from the Mountain Gate, one can guess that beneath the sea of clouds lies a vast land."

The Young Woman also seemed to have followed this matter. "Jinshui Town has revealed a lot of information.

For example, the 'mortal realm' of the Mountain Gate has fully structured dynasties, foreign races, and even demons."

"Speaking of which, it's strange. Why does the Mountain Gate allow demons to run rampant in the mortal realm?"

The Young Woman rested her face sideways on the table. "I don't care about that. I just want to know when I can get off the train."

The Middle-aged Man smiled and comforted her, "Eventually..."

"Hello, dear passengers. This train is about to arrive at Seventeen. Please take your belongings and do not leave anything behind. Thank you for riding with us again."

The announcer's voice echoed through the carriage. The five of them stood up instantly and said with pleasant surprise, "We're here!"

"Woo—"

A whistle sounded outside the window. The train slowly decelerated and came to a steady stop.

The five of them hurried from their seats, intending to disembark, but after standing there for a moment, they realized they didn't know where the exit was.

Just as the Young Woman was about to call for the attendant, the scene before them suddenly brightened. Once their vision returned, they were already standing on a stone slab platform.

The platform was very wide, surrounded by the dark void. Only directly ahead stood a massive, ancient stone gate, with reliefs of strange creatures carved upon it.

The five of them walked toward the stone gate. As they got closer, they noticed a figure standing before the gate. Squinting to see clearly, it turned out to be an acquaintance.

"Mr. Tevan!" The Young Woman trotted over in surprise.

Tevan, wearing a wide robe, smiled and waved. "We meet again."

The more composed Farid didn't run, but his pace was much more hurried. "Mr. Tevan, is this Seventeen?"

"Yes."

The three people following behind them were meeting Tevan for the first time, and it was also their first time in close contact with the supernatural. Consequently, they were somewhat constrained, keeping their hands in front of them and secretly sizing up Tevan, who appeared to be only sixteen years old.

Tevan sensed the tension in their hearts and spoke to soothe them. "Relax, there are no bad people here."

The Young Woman, who had met Tevan several times and helped him find the entrance to Seventeen, wasn't like the other three. She said happily, "Mr. Tevan, hurry and open the gate to take us in! I can't wait to see Seventeen!"

"No need to rush. You'll be spending a long time in Seventeen in the future." As he spoke, he turned and walked toward the stone gate. "Follow me."

Tevan approached the gate. To the surprise of the five, the gate didn't open. Before they could think carefully, Tevan had already passed through the stone gate and disappeared.

"This..." The Young Woman stopped, thinking this was some supernatural method. "Mr. Tevan probably forgot that we're still ordinary people."

"It's okay, in a moment..."

"What are you doing outside? Come in quickly!" Tevan's voice drifted out from inside the gate.

The five of them understood. No longer hesitating, they stepped forward and moved toward the stone gate.

Although they were certain they wouldn't crash into the gate, everyone except Farid still instinctively squeezed their eyes shut.

No accident occurred. The five passed through the towering stone gate side by side. In that instant, everyone felt a slight sense of dizziness, and their steps instinctively faltered.

Once their minds cleared, they found themselves standing in a long corridor.

Doors were distributed at regular intervals along the walls on both sides of the corridor. There were no signs hanging, so their specific purposes were unclear.

Tevan stood across from everyone, waving. "Follow me. I'll take you to the dormitories first."

After saying that, he turned and walked down the corridor.

The five immediately caught up. The Young Woman asked curiously, "Mr. Te..."

"You are already students of Seventeen. From now on, you must call me Senior Tevan.

I don't personally care what you call me, but the teachers here are quite serious. They won't be happy if students are lax with their manners."

The Young Woman was usually a bit flighty, but fortunately, she could keep things straight at critical moments. "Senior Tevan, isn't the entrance to Seventeen that wine barrel?

Why did we come in from the sky?"

"That wine barrel is the back door. The one you entered is the main entrance."

The Young Woman wanted to ask more, but Tevan cut her off. "You'll naturally learn those common knowledge questions after staying for a while. Now, I'll first explain the rules of Seventeen."

The five didn't dare take it lightly and pricked up their ears.

"First, it is strictly forbidden to push open any door in the corridor without a teacher's permission."

"What's the punishment for violating that?" Farid glanced at a door beside him.

Tevan smiled. "You've misunderstood. This rule isn't because Seventeen has secrets to hide, but for the safety of the new students.

For example..."

He stopped, reached out, and pushed open the door on the left. The five immediately turned their gazes toward it.

The light inside the room was dim, and the environment wasn't very clear.

The five stepped closer and found that the layout inside was similar to a university biology lab. Wooden tables were arranged neatly, with various experimental tools placed on them.

A student stood behind each table, wearing the same robe as Tevan. They all had their heads down, following the explanation of the teacher at the podium, their hands busy with something on the tables.

"Three leaves of Forest Flower, two standard units of Oakwood—Hey, you kid, who told you to put in three?!"

What's the danger in this?

The five felt puzzled and intended to ask Tevan. However, just as they opened their mouths but before they could make a sound, a flash of fire suddenly appeared on a table, followed by a violent surge of energy accompanied by a loud bang.

Tevan was quick-witted and agile, swiftly closing the door and blocking the danger inside.

The two women's wildly dancing hair slowly fell back onto their backs, and the three men tentatively opened their eyes.

"There, just like that."

"Uh..." Farid swallowed. "Senior Tevan, you just shut the door. Will... will they be okay?"

"Don't worry, it won't kill anyone."

A very ominous way of putting it; the five felt their hearts tighten.

The Young Woman smoothed her messy hair and asked, "Do accidents like this happen often?"

It must be often, otherwise Seventeen wouldn't need to specifically make such a rule, she told herself.

"It's alright." Tevan continued walking forward. "About five times a day."

The Young Woman following behind was stunned. Five times? That's not many. Did she guess wrong?

Tevan didn't look back, yet he seemed to see her puzzled expression and added, "Per classroom."

Everyone's breathing hitched for a moment. They were all shocked. It was truly a miracle that Seventeen hadn't been torn down!

They walked slowly like this while he introduced Seventeen. Half an hour later, the group stopped in front of a room door.

Tevan turned around. "Seventeen hasn't recruited new students in a long time. There are plenty of rooms. You can each have a dormitory room to yourselves."

A dormitory room? To themselves?

Can those two phrases be used together?

And... it's very inconvenient.

The two women were a bit hesitant, debating whether to ask Tevan to share a room with Farid and the other two.

Fortunately, Tevan followed up with an explanation: "The construction of Seventeen utilized a large number of spatial arrays. Well, you probably wouldn't understand if I explained it. Oh, it's like the train you rode. It looks small from the outside, but the internal space is actually very large."

Then it's fine. The two of them breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Take these." Tevan pulled five silver necklaces from a cloth pouch at his waist. "These are identification tags, similar to your school ID cards.

They will guide you to your classrooms, back to the dormitory, and so on."

The five took them in turn and put them around their necks.

Tevan pushed open the door. "Go rest. Pick your own rooms. Once you've picked, remember to find the dorm manager to register the room number using your necklace. After that, you'll need the necklace to open the door.

Since it's your first time, I'll come to pick you up and take you to the classroom tomorrow morning. After that, you can go by yourselves."

"Understood."

"Right. If you have any problems, find the dorm manager. Also, try to avoid going out during non-class hours."

The meaning of farewell in his words was clear. Although the five of them were still filled with confusion, they obediently went into the room to rest.

The door closed, and the figure of "Tevan" gradually became ethereal, revealing Zhang Mu inside.

"Alright, time to place the mountain."

Having settled the five, Zhang Mu summoned a light gate and arrived in the sky above the NH Coast.

The weather was clear and cloudless. The yellowish sea surface under the sunlight was calm and without waves.

Zhang Mu looked down at the sea from left to right, looking for a suitable spot to place Pillar Mountain.

The conditions weren't harsh. First, it couldn't be too deep, otherwise the mountain in his inventory would appear too short. Second, it couldn't be far from the coast. Although one could take a boat if it were far away, it would ultimately add trouble. It was better to be near the shore for convenience.

There were many places by the sea that met the conditions. Zhang Mu scanned slightly and found one, flying directly above it.

This place was about a hundred meters from the coast. Logically, the seawater shouldn't be too deep. However, coincidentally, the topography of the seabed here didn't slope toward the open sea like the surrounding areas; it was a deep pit.

Zhang Mu didn't know how it was formed, nor was he interested in knowing or investigating. He directly summoned his inventory, preparing to take out Pillar Mountain.

Looking at the miniature peak in the slot, Zhang Mu couldn't help but feel fortunate.

Fortunately, his magic power could be amplified on the Blue Star. Otherwise, he really wouldn't know how to move such a large mountain.

If he were to crudely take out the mountain in mid-air and let it crash into the sea on its own, not to mention whether the mountain would crumble, the resulting tsunami alone could submerge the cave base.

Thinking of the terrifying consequences, to be safe, Zhang Mu took out several bottles of magic amplification potion and drank them.

The potion began to take effect, and the magic power in his body continued to strengthen. He took a deep breath and silently thought—Withdraw.

...

The Director had learned of the statue's descent half a month ago. Although Zhang Mu had told him the base wouldn't be affected much, he had still started arranging countermeasures that same day.

He had not only requested a large number of Soldiers from Kyoto but had even transferred Luo Xiling and the others over.

With the Russian statue appearing beforehand, everyone knew there was a high probability that no danger would break out, but they still stood ready for battle.

However, after half a month, the surroundings were calm. The Director and the others, veterans of many "battles," could still maintain focus and mental tension, while Luo Xiling and the others had become somewhat lax.

It was another day where nothing happened. Luo Xiling covered her mouth and yawned as she walked into the Director's bedroom.

Inside, Zhao Qi, Yue Ruo, and several others were gathered.

Seeing Luo Xiling come in, the Director's mouth couldn't help but twitch. "You guys are really bored. Go to the workshop and help with the work. Why do you run to my place every day?"

"I did go." Luo Xiling curled her lip and sat familiarly on a wooden chair against the wall. "They thought I was clumsy and couldn't help, only making more trouble, so they kicked me out."

"What can you even do?"

Yue Ruo said happily, "She can eat."

Speaking of eating, Zhao Qi's face was full of disbelief. "The logistics side has complained several times. Xiao Luo finished all the food made in one go by herself. The other staff members could only wait for the second pot of rice. They told us to quickly send a larger pot to the kitchen."

Luo Xiling felt a bit wronged. "I can't get full.

Martial Uncle Kunpeng won't give me a feather either. Otherwise, I wouldn't be hungry if I drank a few drops of dew every day."

"Dew?" Yue Ruo looked at her. "The Kunpeng Immortal told you that?

Speaking of which, I've always been quite curious about what the water droplets on the feathers are."

"I guessed."

The more the few of them chatted, the more excited they became. After a while, Lin Miao also pushed open the door and joined the chatter. Seeing his peaceful days gradually slipping away with no sign of returning, the Director got angry.

He slapped the table and stood up. "Every one of you is so idle. Come out and run drills with me!"

Zhao Qi crossed his legs, his tone quite disdainful. "Director, do you think you're still a young lad? Not to mention Yue Ruo and me, do you plan to compete with Xiao Luo?

Don't say I didn't warn you. She can run dozens of kilometers in one breath now without even panting."

The Director was momentarily speechless. He sat back in his armchair as if nothing had happened. "If that really won't work, I'll give you a day off. Go for a walk around?"

"I've been bored of walking around for a long time." Luo Xiling had a long face.

Lin Miao couldn't help but laugh. "Xiao Luo has been walking around for many days. Later, she was so bored she went to catch tigers. She'd catch one, let it go, and then catch it again. She's been playing like that for several days."

"Holy crap, won't that make the tiger depressed?!" Zhao Qi exclaimed.

Yue Ruo also knew about this and laughed. "That tiger moved house a few days ago. Xiao Luo chased it for dozens of kilometers."

"Did she catch it?" Zhao Qi's eyes were full of expectation.

"No." Luo Xiling looked regretful. "The Director wouldn't let me leave the base too far, otherwise I would have caught it."

"If I didn't give the order, you'd even go up..."

"Ring ring ring—"

The landline on the desk rang. The Director temporarily let Luo Xiling go and picked up the phone. "Hello, what is it?"

"Mountain! There's a mountain!"

"Nonsense, there are mountains all around here."

"Not beside us, uh, no, it's beside us."

"Where exactly?"

"The sea, there's a mountain over by the sea!"

What on earth?

The Director was stunned for a moment, as if struck by lightning, his whole body shuddering awake.

The statue, the statue is here!

He didn't bother putting the phone back on the base, tossing it onto the table as he rushed out of the room, ordering everyone at the same time: "Quick, to the seaside!"