Chapter 257: Chapter 256: Level 2 Alert
He met with his senior brother, Zhai Song, and the two chatted for a while, mostly about the situation in the Northwest Province. Even Dean Wu Hong had rushed to the front lines, and many instructors from Northwest Martial University had been deployed to support the major cities most at risk.
After Tianshan City fell, Gao Yuan City, being the westernmost city near Kunlun City, was now on the front line. It was extremely likely to face a large-scale attack.
And that was indeed the case. Since the fall of Tianshan City, Gao Yuan City had been under frequent attack by the Demon Race, suffering no small number of casualties. Now, even Grand General Luo was stationed there.
Hearing this, Jiang Qiu couldn’t help but clench his fists. ’Even Grand General Luo is stationed in Gao Yuan City. I can only imagine how immense the pressure is. It’s practically a direct confrontation.’
As he left the Soldier Cultivation Academy, he was scrolling through his phone, looking up the war status in Gao Yuan City. However, the available information was limited; he couldn’t find much of anything. The higher-ups must have classified a portion of it.
But even the little information that had leaked out was enough to show that the situation in Gao Yuan City was precarious. There were hardly any reports of counterattacks; the few victories came from successful defensive actions...
WAAAAAAAAH—
WAAAAAAAAH—
WAAAAAAAAH—
Suddenly, a series of piercing alarms blared across the campus, shattering Jiang Qiu’s train of thought. He froze in place, his pupils constricting. ’A Level 2 alert?’
He remembered learning in high school that the city would sound an alarm when facing a threat from the Demon Race. Generally, a Level 3 alert meant a city was about to face a large-scale invasion by the Demon Race. The entire city would have to mobilize: all Martial Artists would assemble, and ordinary people would take shelter in safe zones like Military Department bases.
But this was Yongjiang City, the capital of the Northwest Province. The main campus of Northwest Martial University and the core provincial government agencies were located here. It was the most powerful and well-defended location in the entire Northwest Province.
Geographically, the city was close to the Inland Provinces, situated on the easternmost edge of the Northwest Province. Several other cities still stood as a buffer against the Kunlun Demon Clan. It was impossible for a war on a scale large enough to warrant a Level 2 alert to suddenly break out here.
A Level 2 alert signified a battle on the scale of a city-destroying siege. Jiang Qiu had heard one once before, more than a decade ago. That was when his parents died in Gao Yuan City.
A Level 2 alert meant the Martial Arts forces of the entire province were to be immediately mobilized. This meant Yongjiang City’s forces were being called upon because another city was now in the midst of a large-scale war...
DING! DING! DING!
Jiang Qiu immediately sent a message to his senior brother, Zhai Song, to ask what was happening.
Zhai Song had been teaching at the Soldier Cultivation Academy for years, was the dean’s personal disciple, and had contacts in both the Martial Education Department and the Military Department. The information he possessed was certainly more current; he would probably know what was going on.
Of course, an alert like this generally didn’t involve regular students of the Martial Arts University. The summons was mainly for graduates and Martial Artists at the instructor level or higher to assemble at the administration building.
Jiang Qiu wasn’t currently part of those ranks, but he felt a sense of foreboding. His heart began to beat faster, and his brow furrowed with unease. He had to find out what was going on.
Zhai Song replied almost instantly. "Urgent notification in the instructors’ group chat: Gao Yuan City and Sanliang City are suddenly under a massive attack by the Kunlun Demon Clan! The scale of the demon forces attacking Gao Yuan City is already comparable to the Tianshan City invasion!
The city is at risk of being completely destroyed!
The university is urgently organizing a group of instructors to reinforce Gao Yuan City!"
"!!!"
A jolt went through Jiang Qiu, and his knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists tightly.
He’d had a feeling the Kunlun Demon Clan would move against Gao Yuan City—after all, it was the city on the very front line. But he never expected them to strike so soon.
He had just gotten back from the Northern Wilderness Great Secret Realm. He hadn’t even stayed in North Border City for half an hour before taking the Hundred Machines Giant Kite straight back to Northwest Martial University. The school had even been holding an emergency meeting to plan his victory celebration, only for it to be interrupted by the Level 2 alert!
’It seems the situation in the Northwest Province is far worse than I thought!’
The thought had barely crossed his mind before Jiang Qiu sent a message to Zhai Song: "Senior Brother, I need to go back to Gao Yuan City, too. Can you help me make the arrangements?"
"What? You want to go back to Gao Yuan City now? The university hasn’t even held your victory celebration yet!"
Reading this, Jiang Qiu’s heart gave a lurch. ’At a time like this, who cares about a victory celebration?’
"Of course the celebration isn’t as important as a city’s survival, but what’s more important is that you don’t put yourself in danger!
Even though I’ve been here at Northwest Martial University, I’ve been following all the news from the Northern Wilderness Great Secret Realm since you left. I contacted the Military Department the moment I heard it had opened again today.
According to Grandmaster Zhu, you’re a peerless prodigy who used a True Dragon Skeleton for your Dragon Body Casting. Your potential is in a league of its own. In the future, you could even surpass Elder Luo to become the strongest in the Northwest Province, or maybe even the entire nation!
Gao Yuan City is now facing a war on the scale of a city-destroying siege! Grandmasters can die in a war like this, and even other Grandmasters can fall. Even Elder Luo, the strongest in the Northwest, will have a hard time defending Gao Yuan City!
If you fall in Gao Yuan City, we’ll be losing the peerless prodigy who could one day succeed Elder Luo as the pillar of the Northwest Province!"
The concept of a True Dragon was not taught as common knowledge in the school system. Their Realm was simply too lofty, and the descriptions of them in the ancient texts were so incredible that it was decided not to include them, to avoid putting too much pressure on the nation’s citizens.
But as an instructor and the dean’s personal disciple, Zhai Song knew a fair bit about True Dragons. They were beings practically at the Creator God Level of the Celestial Profound Great Realm. A True Dragon’s skeleton was no less significant than the mountains and rivers said to have formed from Pangu’s body after his death; it was something that could alter the very fabric of the world!
Very little was known about the Northern Wilderness Great Secret Realm, so he had no idea what Jiang Qiu had encountered inside. But since his final breakthrough was connected to a True Dragon, it was, to put it conservatively, an absolutely unprecedented achievement!
If someone who reaches the Grandmaster realm through normal Enlightenment is like a person lighting a torch in the dark, then someone who consumes an Enlightenment Fruit and uses a True Dragon Skeleton for Dragon Body Casting is like a person raising the sun to bring daylight itself. That was the difference in their potential!
Even without seeing Jiang Qiu in action, Zhai Song knew that he was now fully worthy of his title as the dean’s personal disciple. He might not even be far behind their eldest senior brother.
To be frank, it was an immense honor for the dean to have such a disciple.
But he soon received Jiang Qiu’s reply. "I was born in Gao Yuan City. I have a duty to protect my home. My parents died there; how could I possibly look for an excuse to run away with a clear conscience?
Even if my current strength isn’t enough to turn the tide of the battle, I can at least save some people. I can’t let the people who were kind to me die there."
Zhai Song’s fingers froze. It felt like a hammer blow to the chest, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
During the mission to reinforce Tianshan City, he had seen too many bodies. He had personally witnessed the slaughter of countless defenseless civilians and weaker Martial Artists.
If the strong didn’t step forward, no one could protect them. And each of those victims had belonged to a family that should have had a happy, peaceful life.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Zhai Song let out a long breath. As he continued on his way to assemble at the administration building, his thumbs tapped rapidly on his phone’s screen. "I’ll submit the request to the higher-ups."
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