Chapter 250 - 248: All Tuned Up for Mentor

Early the next morning, Yang Shen packed his bags and headed to Harmony Island’s temporary airport.

It was no small feat to build an airport in the Vast Sea Center, even one with just a single runway for military aircraft to take off and land. The cost must have been astronomical.

Yang Shen didn’t have much luggage. Aside from his original suitcase, he just had the few Curiosities he had collected from the Dongying Remnant Island—a staff, half a signboard, and the like. They were all awkwardly shaped and difficult to pack, so he ended up carrying most of them on his back.

He looked like he was fleeing a famine.

He would definitely have to return to the Dongying Remnant Island. The system had marked over a dozen Curiosities there, and he had drawn a crude map.

Without the system’s real-time guidance, his accuracy would surely suffer, and some of the items might have been moved. Still, finding a few more shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

As for when he would go, that would depend on how valuable these few items were.

The plane wasn’t just for him. He was traveling with many others from various countries. The aircraft itself belonged to Yanhua; otherwise, they wouldn’t have dared let Yang Shen on board.

They would first fly 2,000 kilometers to an island to pick up cargo, then fly another 3,000 kilometers to a connecting flight before finally heading home.

Still, no matter how much of a hassle it was, it beat spending half a month on a boat.

By his calculations, he’d probably land on November 6th, meaning he had just missed a Ranking Challenge. He wondered how it went.

The interior of the military transport was spartan. This one didn’t even have seats; everyone was simply strapped to the sides with ropes. It was a strange experience.

To Yang Shen’s left was a Mechanical Martial Artist from Magna, and to his right was a Tianzhu Martial Artist.

They were both quite pungent.

The Mechanical Martial Artist especially baffled Yang Shen. ’You replaced your hands with cybernetics, so why not your armpits?’

The overpowering scent of perfume mixed with cumin made him want to sneeze.

The one on his right was even more potent: a heavy mix of cumin and curry.

After a jarringly steep takeoff, the flight entered a stable but hardly peaceful phase. The cabin was filled with a deafening roar that left his mind reeling.

Combined with the unappealing odors, Yang Shen decided to just stare blankly out the window.

He gazed down at the boundless ocean below, dotted with white clouds.

’Is the Three-headed Dragon hiding in the waters below...? How long will it take for me to find a solution and see Uncle again?’

The whole affair was utterly bizarre. As Yang Shen pieced it all together in his mind, one key figure stood out...

’Back at the first Training Camp, Chen Beiwang mentioned that the Source Transformation Gu was a technology the Rebel Species had only developed in recent years. They’d never had such a miraculous method before, suggesting that a genius researcher might have emerged in their ranks.’

’Martial Arts Psychosis, the control system in Long Jiu’s mind, even the Twin Dragon Jade and the Three-headed Dragon...’

’All these seemingly unrelated new technologies were products of the Dragonification Experiment. It was highly probable they were all the work of a single person, or at least that one genius played the primary role...’

’Even from an enemy’s perspective, he had to admit these were astounding achievements.’

’However, this person’s methods were also extreme. They weren’t a conventional researcher who worked steadily and cautiously, but more of a "mad scientist."’

’The unexpected creation of the Three-headed Dragon was a prime example.’

’The Rebel Species’ original goal surely wasn’t to give the Three-headed Dragon two Human Souls. It might have even started with just one head.’

’If they could have predicted the outcome, wouldn’t it have been better to use one of their own for the Human Soul? Why bother capturing sailors?’

’The Rebel Species certainly had no shortage of loyal, die-hard members.’

’In fact, they would have been easier to control...’

’Based on the results, it seemed more likely that this person, or group, was recklessly experimenting with unproven technology. They didn’t consider the consequences, simply coming up with one "creative idea" after another and immediately putting it into practice.’

’Many of the "by-products" were likely born from one bold, reckless act after another.’

’My uncle and Lei Yiming might have had a similar "operating system" implanted in them, like the one in Long Jiu’s brain. But due to the unproven technology, some twist of fate led to their current state.’

’The Dragon’s growth far surpassed the Rebel Species’ expectations, and the operating system had failed. Now, no one could influence what was possibly the most powerful Exotic Beast on Cyan Blue.’

’If that "madman" is still out there, who knows what new creations they’ll cook up.’

’And after Jiang Xingjian’s death, it was impossible that the Rebel Species would just abandon the Jianghuai Sub-temple and not try to rebuild... Jianghuai was a premier global metropolis.’

’In terms of raw power, I no longer fear the Rebel Species. But since they lack top-tier fighters, they’ll just keep resorting to schemes and tricks, like cockroaches in a sewer.’

’If I want answers... I’ll probably have to look for them in the Si Realm...’

Amidst his complex thoughts, Yang Shen slowly closed his eyes.

’I’ll be flying for the next few days. I might as well focus on my cultivation.’

’The epiphany about the Quenching Body, the nourishment from the Dragon Essence Blood... I need to digest it all.’

The path to immortality is long; persistence is its greatest virtue.

The pursuit of the Dao is arduous; one’s will must never waver.

——————

「Yanhua, Jianghuai.」

November brought a slight chill to the air, with temperatures hovering around 10 degrees Celsius.

While Martial Artists from the Marrow Refining stage onward were largely unaffected by normal heat and cold, that didn’t stop them from dressing comfortably.

On the Jiangti campus, many students were fervently discussing the Ranking Challenge that had concluded just the day before.

"Did you hear? The queen of Horizontal Training finally met her match. The number three fourth-year challenged her and beat her senseless. Man! He knocked her trapezius muscle crooked! It’ll take her months to recover; she’ll probably be laid up until graduation."

"Damn, what about her boyfriends?"

"What about them? They’re celebrating, that’s what! I saw those handsome dudes last night, crying their eyes out and getting wasted. They all swore they’d go get their Charm Demon Patterns removed together."

"It hasn’t been easy for them. They’re all comrades-in-arms from the same trench. They may not have found love, but at least they found brotherhood."

At the start of every month at Jiangti, there were always winners and losers, and you could hear gossip wherever you went.

As they spoke, the two gossiping students passed the entrance to the Qiangwu Academy office. They saw someone adjusting the ranking board and stopped to watch curiously.

When they saw someone move a student’s nameplate from outside the top 500 directly to 380th place, they were both stunned for a moment.

"A jump of 150 places? That’s three consecutive challenges maxing out the 50-rank jump."

"To pull off consecutive max-rank jumps, you have to apply for the next match immediately after winning. It means they probably initiated a gauntlet run. Pretty impressive..."

Then they watched as the person moved three such nameplates in a row.

The names were Yuan Rui, Cao Wei, and Tian Zihan.

Each of them had jumped 150 ranks.

Still, it was just a move from the lower-middle ranks to the middle. With 800 students in each grade at Qiangwu Academy, and since the onlookers weren’t first-years, they had no idea who these people were.

Just then, a tall figure came up from behind them and also stopped before the ranking board, examining it with curiosity.

Yang Shen had arrived in Jianghuai just two hours earlier, only to discover his phone service had been cut off for non-payment...

It was a bit awkward, but he wasn’t in a rush. He decided to head back to the academy first to report his return from leave.

He stood before the board for a moment and saw that his three disciples had all made progress. ’I wonder if their cultivation realms have changed, too.’

As for his own spot... still high and hard, holding firm at number one.

Jiang Xin was still in second place, but Xu Bamboo had now taken third.

’Zhuzi is awesome!’

Yang Shen admired the board for a moment, feeling more and more that Jiang Xin, sandwiched between him and Zhuzi, was a bit of an eyesore.

’I’ll knock him down next month!’

After watching for a bit longer, Yang Shen turned and entered the academy office, where he found his guidance counselor, Sheng Qin, to report his return.

News of what had transpired on Harmony Island and in the Noon Realm, especially of Yang Shen’s deeds, hadn’t traveled back this quickly. And Yang Shen had no intention of publicizing them anyway.

Those fantastical experiences had little to do with campus life.

’If I told her I killed two True Gang experts, two Late-stage Innates, set a swath of the sky on fire, wiped out ten million undead husks, and even drank a mouthful of Dragon Blood...’

’Who would believe that, right?’

Sheng Qin probably assumed Yang Shen had just been a tag-along in the Exotic Realm, since he had originally signed up for a supplementary research project. After showing some concern, she didn’t press for details. Most explorations of the Exotic Realm were classified; as a guidance counselor, her job was just to worry about her students’ safety, not to pry into specifics.

She just told him that since the weekend was starting, he could come back to class on Monday.

Yang Shen, having filed his return, was about to go look for Zhuzi, or maybe get someone to help him top up his phone credit. But just as he stepped out of the academy office, he saw a group of people sprinting toward him at sixty kilometers per hour.

Yang Shen jumped in surprise. ’Are they rushing off to a gang fight?’

Then he saw the three people at the head of the group, moving with the speed of a thunderclap, suddenly drop low when they were still fifty meters away and slide to a kneel on the ground.

Their knees, seemingly smoother than chocolate, let them slide all the way to a precise stop right in front of him.

Yuan Rui: "We respectfully welcome our esteemed Master back to the academy!"

Cao Wei and Tian Zihan, also measuring the depth of their devotion with the durability of their knees, showed no hesitation in their eyes—only regret that they hadn’t been the first. They chorused, "We respectfully welcome our esteemed Master back to the academy!"

Behind the three of them, a dozen or so figures completely unfamiliar to Yang Shen also knelt without hesitation, knee-sliding with a powerful, gusty flair.

"Welcome, esteemed Master!"

People were coming and going from the office entrance, and every one of them was staring in their direction. Yang Shen’s toes curled in his shoes.

’I can understand the three of you, but where did these others come from?’

Yuan Rui simply shot Yang Shen a "don’t you worry" look.

’They’re all properly trained!’