Chapter 2392: Chapter 2396: Interception
"In five years, when I attain sainthood!"
The Auspicious Clouds Nourishing the Body ended, and Hu Yiqiu, feeling spirited in the sky, proclaimed loudly.
"Five years to sainthood?!"
Zhuo Bufan shuddered inwardly, looking up incredulously at Hu Yiqiu above.
Swish!
A flash of a figure, and Hu Yiqiu landed before the two, his eyes now clear and piercing, with no trace of intoxication.
Taking a deep breath, the shine in his eyes faded, and Hu Yiqiu looked at Jiang Chen with gratitude, meaningfully saying, "Young Jiang, thank you!"
Jiang Chen smiled softly, shaking his head slightly, "Master, you don’t need to be so formal!"
He understood well that Hu Yiqiu’s gratitude was because he had given him a cultivation method from The Tome of Dao that suited him.
"Haha! Yes, yes, I’m being old-fashioned!"
Hu Yiqiu laughed heartily, reaching out to slap Jiang Chen’s shoulder heavily.
"Master, are you trying to crush me?"
Feeling the unrestrained slap, Jiang Chen winced and dodged to the side.
"Congratulations, Elder Jiu, for discovering the opportunity to become a saint!"
Zhuo Bufan clasped his hands, bowing courteously to Hu Yiqiu.
"You, youngster, deserve to be on top of the Dragon Ranking. It seems you must have touched the threshold of the Unity Realm Stage, right? The old fellow has a good eye!"
Hu Yiqiu glanced at Zhuo Bufan and smiled lightly.
Zhuo Bufan paused for a moment, then understood; this person was once a prominent figure at the academy, so it was not surprising he knew of his mentor.
"Young Jiang, shall we return directly to the academy or..."
Hu Yiqiu turned to Jiang Chen, his eyes showing a consulting expression.
"Master, I have something to do first, please go to Sky-Cleaving City with Senior Zhuo."
Jiang Chen spoke softly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Zhuo Bufan paused slightly, glancing at Jiang Chen in surprise, as Jiang Chen’s palpable killing intent startled him.
"Alright! Be careful, if it can’t be done, we’ll plan afresh!"
Hu Yiqiu nodded gently, naturally knowing what Jiang Chen intended to do, glanced deeply into the dense forest and advised softly.
"Rest assured, Master, I know my limits!"
Jiang Chen nodded in response.
"Young Zhuo, let’s head to Sky-Cleaving City, you can tell me about the events at the academy over the past century."
Hu Yiqiu, well aware of Jiang Chen’s steady nature, was not worried about his next actions, turning to look at Zhuo Bufan.
Zhuo Bufan understood; this was a way to divert him. For some reason, he thought of the ’Thousand Faces’ mask Jiang Chen took, and a chill ran through his heart.
This young man, likely going to kill someone!
"Alright."
After a moment’s thought, Zhuo Bufan responded to Hu Yiqiu; whatever Jiang Chen was going to do, he wouldn’t intervene; this master-disciple pair was worth befriending!
The two left the dense forest and leapt toward Sky-Cleaving City.
Watching them depart, Jiang Chen sat cross-legged, taking out a Spirit Stone to recover.
Unknowingly, the sun set, darkness enveloped the earth, making the dense forest increasingly dark.
"Brother Jiang Chen, hurry if you’re going to kill those two, they’re here!"
Suddenly, a tender voice echoed in Jiang Chen’s mind, and he abruptly opened his eyes.
"Ling’er?"
His eyebrow raised, Jiang Chen’s eyes showed a trace of surprise.
Buzz buzz!
A faint wave came from deep within the dense forest, Jiang Chen’s face slightly changed, reaching out to put on the ’Thousand Faces’ and swiftly moving toward the depths of the forest.
In the central position of the dense forest.
After Mu Ling’er returned, Yun Tao and others continued their journey, planning to travel overnight to Sky-Cleaving City.
"Haha... Yun Tao, you sure are brave! Daring to travel at night, aren’t you afraid of getting ambushed?"
A brash voice echoed in the forest.
Yun Tao and his group’s complexion changed, their bodies swiftly encircling Pang Wenyan, staying vigilant.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A dozen figures appeared before the group of six, the leaders were the brothers Zhang Tian and Zhang Lin.
Yun Tao frowned slightly, coldly glancing at Zhang Tian and Zhang Lin before scanning around, his face suddenly changing, and he asked in a deep voice, "You’ve blocked us once already, why are you here again?"
Among the dozen figures, besides Zhang Tian and the five others who took on the task of intercepting Yun Tao’s group, the others were eliminated trainees who had already made their moves.
The trainees’ expressions changed slightly, their eyes flickered.
"Hmph! Yun Tao, don’t you know? Eliminated trainees need to fight for re-qualification spots, and those spots must be seized from the qualified trainees!"
Zhang Tian smirked coldly, sarcastically stating, "You must have encountered no less than ten waves of attacks, haven’t you? Yet you still haven’t figured it out? Just didn’t expect you to persevere all the way here, perhaps it’s time for us to send you away!"
"Eliminated trainees need to seize spots from us?!"
Yun Tao and his team were stunned for a moment, eyes showing a trace of surprise.
"Indeed, eliminated trainees must seize qualification spots from advancing trainees, however, they can only choose one task and intercept once. When targeting teamed tasks, no more than five can act, and intervals must not be less than one day; your current actions already violate the examination rules!"
A gentle voice sounded.
The crowd glanced around in surprise, looking toward Pang Wenyan surrounded by Yun Tao’s group.
Pang Wenyan smiled slightly, mockingly looking at the dozen eliminated trainees behind Zhang Tian’s group, "Are you daring to act again because you think Yun Tao’s team lacks an academy inspector trainee, hence willing to break the rules? Sadly, I am that inspector trainee, and if you dare act, you’ll have no chance to enter Changling Academy or any of the higher academies within the Academy Alliance in this lifetime!"
At these words, the dozen eliminated trainees who had previously acted showed panic in their eyes.
"You’re an academy inspector trainee!?"
Yun Tao stared at Pang Wenyan, then his eyes flickered with understanding, "No wonder our team’s inspector senior ran off after picking you up."
"Senior sister, we’re merely here to watch, not planning to fight!"
A eliminated trainee hurriedly explained.
All eliminated trainees took a step back.
Seeing this, Zhang Tian and his group’s faces sank altogether; they truly hadn’t known of such restrictive rules.
But it makes sense, without restrictions, the swarm of thousands of eliminated trainees would prevent any advancing trainee from completing their examination tasks!
Yun Tao’s team collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
"Senior sister, during task periods, you’re prohibited from acting, correct?"
Zhang Tian’s eyes twirled, staring fixedly at Pang Wenyan.
Pang Wenyan smiled slightly, "Of course, I’m the one being escorted, naturally I can’t act!"
At her words, Zhang Tian’s eyes lit up, "According to our task, merely approaching within five meters of senior sister’s person counts as task completion; it seems even if only five of us act, this task is very straightforward!"
