298: Terrible speculation

“There must be a huge secret here, otherwise so many fierce beasts wouldn’t have been captured.”

Ximen Chuifeng’s expression wasn’t good. Although fierce beasts were a common enemy of humanity, why were those people capturing them?

Based on the clues he had investigated previously and what he knew now, Ximen Chuifeng judged that there must be a mysterious organization in 97th Stronghold.

This organization was dedicated to experimenting with fierce beasts, and perhaps, besides fierce beasts, humans would also be used in their experiments.

In other words, although most of the victims were fierce beasts now, there was no guarantee that their next target wouldn't be humans.

“What can we do?”

“With our current strength, we can’t do anything yet,” Ximen Chuifeng said, shaking his head.

His main job was intelligence gathering. From the intelligence currently obtained, the mysterious organization in 97th Stronghold was not only powerful, but it was also very likely supported by the 97th Stronghold’s City Lord.

This was because there were also cases of missing persons in 97th Stronghold.

Not many ordinary people went missing; instead, it was often the young geniuses from various families who would mysteriously disappear and then never be found again.

With so many missing people, if the 97th Stronghold’s City Lord wasn’t acting as a protective umbrella for the mysterious organization, they couldn't be so rampant.

“Let’s bide our time and continue investigating. Once the Axe Gang develops, we might just be able to cause some trouble for that mysterious organization.”

“Okay.”

...97th Stronghold, Martial Arts Academy.

Gu Mingzhu and her two companions were not assigned to the same class but were separated.

Most of the martial artists in Gu Mingzhu’s class were between Level 4 and Level 6. There were only four Level 6 Martial Artists, and they were all a bit older, with the youngest being three years older than Gu Mingzhu.

Besides Xiao Shen and Xiao Yue, Gu Mingzhu had never seen anyone reach Level 6 Martial Artist at this age in 155 Fortress, so she was very curious about them.

They were also very curious about Gu Mingzhu. They heard she came from 155 Fortress, and at first, some people looked down on her, thinking that 155 Fortress was a backward place, not worthy of being compared to their 97th Stronghold.

However, after a practical combat class today, Gu Mingzhu revealed her strength level and challenged a Level 6 Martial Artist across ranks, even winning. Those students were then conquered by her absolute strength.

Thus, Gu Mingzhu became the big sister of Senior Class 3.

Even the dean hadn't expected this development, but who could blame him when this world revered martial arts?

Wang Yi’s situation was also relatively smooth.

Because he was a Beast Tamer, he was exceptionally rare in the Martial Arts Academy, so everyone liked to talk to him.

They even asked him to summon his contracted fierce beast for them to see.

When they learned that Wang Yi’s contracted fierce beast was a Mystic Horned Beast, everyone was even more shocked.

As for Xiao Yue, his level was indeed very high, and mentioning it awed everyone in the class.

It wasn’t strange for people like Shang Hua, who relied on their families, to have many cultivation resources and reach the level of a Level 5 or 6 Martial Artist at a young age, but Xiao Yue came from 155 Fortress.

What kind of place was 155 Fortress?

A Wall ranked in the bottom 100!

And it was a full 55 places behind!

Could a genius martial artist who reached Level 7 at eighteen actually appear there?

This was impossible!

They all disbelieved it, so someone proposed to challenge Xiao Yue.

Xiao Yue, being quite arrogant, accepted.

The final result... was naturally a loss.

So everyone mocked Xiao Yue, saying that he truly came from an unranked Wall. Although his level was high, in actual combat, he couldn't even defeat their Level 5 Martial Artists.

They guessed all his cultivation was achieved by consuming pills, right?!

It was well-known that whether it was pills or potions, anything used to enhance strength always had some side effects.

And consuming too many of these pills or potions would lead to results like Xiao Yue’s: his level was sufficient, but his strength couldn't keep up.

Here, there were also some scions of aristocratic families who would cultivate by taking pills, but the quantities were strictly controlled to minimize side effects.

Only during some relatively important martial arts competitions might they take a risk and consume pills that temporarily boosted their strength.

And the side effects brought by such pills were enormous.

So they generally wouldn't take them.

Xiao Yue, being mocked here, his expression turned gloomy again.

Indeed, the path of a genius was always lonely!

He had thought the people of 97th Stronghold would be more discerning, but they were still just like those fools in 155 Fortress!

They simply couldn't see his, Xiao Yue’s, value!

His martial arts talent was very high; he possessed a high-grade Qi Cavity in his body!

These people simply weren’t worthy of being in the same classroom as him.

After school in the afternoon, Gu Mingzhu went to find Wang Yi, and the two exchanged information they had gathered in their classes.

“The martial artists in 97th Stronghold are indeed very strong. I heard that several martial artists in our class have low-grade Qi Cavitys, and there’s even one with a mid-grade Qi Cavity!”

Because she was strong and beautiful, Gu Mingzhu was very popular in class and had learned a lot of things, even about Qi Cavitys.

The grade of an Qi Cavity represented the level of a martial artist’s talent. While high talent didn't guarantee high achievement, it certainly made success easier than for those with poor talent.

Not just martial artists, even ordinary people, some have photographic memories, able to remember all the contents of a book after reading it once, and can then use the remaining time to integrate and comprehend it.

Whereas a person with average talent and memory might take several days to memorize a single article.

“I did find out something very important,” Wang Yi said mysteriously, looking around.

“What is it? Tell me!”

Gu Mingzhu was impatient; she didn't want to be kept in suspense.

After Wang Yi confirmed that no one was around, he whispered to Gu Mingzhu, “There seem to be very few Beast Tamers in the Martial Arts Academy, not even half of what we have in our Beast Taming Bureau.”

Gu Mingzhu was surprised after hearing this: “That is indeed strange.”

The number of Beast Tamers was indeed much scarcer than martial artists, but generally speaking, with so many people in a Wall, there should be a certain number of Beast Tamers.

“The key is that although those Beast Tamers are also in the Martial Arts Academy, no one gives them lessons at all. I asked other classmates where they usually have classes and train, and no one knew,” Wang Yi continued.

Gu Mingzhu: !!!

“It couldn’t be...”

Gu Mingzhu’s eyes widened; she suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility.

Wang Yi nodded at her: “I also think that those Beast Tamers in 97th Stronghold have been captured.”

“And it’s highly likely they were captured by that Person with bamboo hat.”

“Person with bamboo hat?” Gu Mingzhu said, “Oh, that’s the one who once came to our Wall and took away a group of geniuses!”

“Exactly.” Wang Yi nodded, then dropped an even bigger bombshell, “I even suspect that not only our 155 Fortress and their 97th Stronghold, but also the undeveloped geniuses from other Walls will be captured by the Person with bamboo hat.”

...PS: Taking a leave tomorrow. Updates will be irregular thereafter.

The income is really too poor, I can't even get the perfect attendance bonus anymore, but I don't want to give up. Recently, I've also been very busy with many things, so I can only pause updates for now. ε=(´ο｀*))) Alas. Sorry everyone.