39: Set off

Li Hong approached with a gentle smile.

Chu Yuan asked abruptly, "What is Li Chen to you?"

"Li Chen is my cousin." Li Hong didn't seem to notice Chu Yuan's unwelcoming attitude. "The Family has already investigated the truth regarding his death; it indeed has nothing to do with you. I apologize for the trouble caused to you in the past few days."

Chu Yuan was somewhat surprised by his attitude, but he only nodded and didn't say anything else.

Li Hong continued, "The spot for the Jianmu Project was, after all, purchased by our Li Family from Principal Qi; it cannot be wasted. So... I am here. It has nothing to do with you, so you can rest assured."

"You know quite a lot..."

Li Hong smiled and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Chu Yuan ignored him and chatted with Yang Yi.

Only then did he learn that on the day of the Day of Vengeance attack, Yang Yi was initially taken away by people from the Zhenwu Bureau.

Although his father, who is in the Divine Power Realm, sensed that something was wrong, he was temporarily conscripted by the Zhenwu Bureau... so he couldn't come to protect him immediately.

As a result, just as Jiang Fei had said, the Martial Artists from the Zhenwu Bureau responsible for protecting Yang Yi's group simply found a random hiding spot to stash them away, and then went off to look for their own families.

For those who were not within the range of the Blood Sucking Array from the beginning, this behavior didn't really matter.

But for seeds like Yang Yi, they had been marked by the Blood Sucking Array from the start... Without a high-level Martial Artist to help suppress it, the Qi and blood in their bodies were constantly being devoured!

Fortunately, it didn't last long, so it didn't cause any irreversible consequences; however, there was still some slight damage to his Foundation...

For the past two days, Yang Yi had been at home, having his Foundation repaired by his father using a Secret Technique.

"Sigh, I was almost screwed to death..."

"Almost being screwed to death is still better than actually dying."

"That's true..."

While they were talking, a minibus slowly drove into the school.

Qi Da walked over and instructed, "The Martial Artists from the Zhenwu Bureau will take you; be careful along the way."

...

The Secret Realm was, of course, not inside the school, nor was it even in Chenyang City.

"We will go to the Prefectural Capital first, and then enter the Secret Realm through the teleportation array of the Prefectural Capital's Zhenwu Bureau. The entire journey will take less than ten hours; if you want to sleep, take a nap, or if you are really bored, just Cultivate." Jiang Fei said lazily, his attitude neither bad nor good.

The First High School had three spots, and naturally, the Second and Third High Schools also had spots, three each as well.

Jiang Fei's task was to take them to the Prefectural Capital and bring them back after the trial ended... effectively acting as a nanny.

"Um... Teacher, please have some water..." A female student handed over a bottle of drink, feeling somewhat nervous.

Jiang Fei chuckled, took it, and drank a mouthful, then turned his head to glance at Chu Yuan with a meaningful look.

Chu Yuan: "..."

Seeing that Jiang Fei accepted her goodwill, the girl breathed a sigh of relief.

"Teacher, are there many people participating in this Secret Realm trial?"

Others in the car also pricked up their ears to listen.

"Of course. Just in Chenyang City alone, there are nine. Looking at the whole country... how many do you think there are?"

"Are there... tens of thousands?"

"Not quite tens of thousands, but there are definitely ten or twenty thousand."

"Ah?" A look of frustration appeared on the girl's face. Ten or twenty thousand people, plus the Geniuses from places like the Imperial Capital... How could she compete with others? No matter how generous the rewards were, they were just pies she couldn't eat.

"Scared?"

"A little..."

"It's fine, everyone has two shoulders carrying one head, what is there to be afraid of? At worst, just consider it an opportunity to broaden your horizons... There are rewards for the top hundred. If you can't get first place, can't you at least strive for the hundredth?"

Perhaps it was the words of this powerful expert from the Zhenwu Bureau that gave the girl confidence, and the look of worry on her face dissipated a little.

"Thank you."

Jiang Fei waved his hand. "Also, quite a few Martial Arts Academies are paying attention to this trial. If you perform well, even if you don't end up with a ranking, it will be of great benefit to your College Entrance Examination! You might even be specially recruited in advance..."

He casually dangled another carrot, and the girl returned to her seat, fired up with fighting spirit.

The atmosphere in the car was relatively quiet, with whispered discussions that made people feel a bit drowsy.

Chu Yuan looked at the scenery receding outside the window, completely desolate and uninhabited.

Ever since the resurgence of Martial Arts, things like rural villages and towns had ceased to exist, and everyone lived in cities.

Because the first wave of enemies faced by the Human Race was not alien races, nor was it supernatural entities; rather, it was the strange beasts that mutated from wild animals in nature...

Under their threat, living in the wilderness was a very dangerous thing. Although the Human Race later eliminated this threat, the habit had already been formed...

"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Fei sat down beside him.

"Nothing... have you finished your sick leave?"

"How could that be? The bureau is short-handed, so... I'm working while sick." Jiang Fei sighed, then lowered his voice and said, "Be careful of that Li Hong from your school."

Chu Yuan nodded. "I know."

At the very least, as of now, Li Hong did not seem to harbor any hostility toward him.

His initial feeling was that Li Hong was coming for him, but upon reflection, a large Family like the Li Family in the Prefectural Capital, while powerful, also had many people to provide for.

The resources allocated to each person were certainly limited; if you ate more, I would eat less... Li Chen's death might not necessarily be a bad thing for Li Hong. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to take Li Chen's spot...

"As long as you are aware of it."

"But I still don't understand, why is he able to be in the Inner Breath Realm?" Chu Yuan asked curiously.

In the past, it was quite good to have a few Martial Artists in the Inner Breath Realm before the College Entrance Examination. How is it that this year, with about half a month left before the exam, anyone you pick out is in the Inner Breath Realm? Have Geniuses become so commonplace?

He had a cheat, could it be that Li Hong also had a cheat?

Jiang Fei curled his lip. "He used methods, obviously. Didn't you see that he has been Cultivating ever since he got on the bus?"

"Forcing growth?"

"Yeah."

"No, to ruin oneself just for one Secret Realm trial... isn't it not worth it?"

"You don't understand. That Cultivation Technique is really quite precious... If the Foundation is damaged, one can find ways to repair it later; but if you miss that Cultivation Technique, then it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Cases like his won't be rare among those participating in this trial."

"You've made me a bit curious... what kind of Cultivation Technique is it exactly?" Chu Yuan asked, also feeling full of anticipation for his own future Cultivation Technique.

"The 'Martial God Scroll'! The creator was a supreme expert of the Ninth Realm of Martial Arts! Unfortunately, he accidentally fell into a trap on the Outer Heaven Battlefield and was besieged and killed by alien races..."

"Ninth Realm..."