Chapter 3: The Giant Elephant Student

  "That's enough!" Mentor Ano roared, glaring fiercely at Tang Yan: "You little rascal, behave yourself!"

  Intimidated by the instructor's authority, everyone shut their mouths and fell silent one after another.

  "Don't be angry, liven up the atmosphere." Tang Yan wasn't afraid at all, and with a thick face, he continued to gnaw on his roasted chicken.

  Some sensitive students and instructors looked at Tang Yan with a strange gaze, is this the young master of the Tang family? It seems to be somewhat off.

  Although Tang Er Gongzi was usually arrogant and self-conceited, he still had some self-awareness. In front of these elite students and instructors, he was relatively well-behaved, especially when Li Shouze was in the presence of this third-grade martial artist, he didn't dare to make a loud noise.

  What's going on today? As soon as he came up, he targeted Li Shouze and even brazenly flirted with Yang Ruyan.

  Li Shouze and Yang Ruyan calmed down one after another, quietly exchanging inquiring glances with their eyes. Obviously, Mingming had killed Tang Yan, so how could he suddenly come back to life? That sword had pierced his heart, there was no mistake about it; to avoid any unexpected event, several more swords were added afterwards, and only after confirming his death was he tied up on the stone.

  But now it seems like Tang Yan didn't get hurt at all!

  "Hmm, what's with the eye contact?" Tang Yan's teasing voice broke the gaze exchange between the two, and seeing the other students' attention focus on them again, they tacitly avoided eye contact and remained calm.

  Yang Ruyan walked away, coldly observing Tang Yan, with an unmistakable murderous intent deep in her eyes.

  Huh? What's wrong with her? Tang Yan was secretly puzzled, what was this woman going crazy about? It seemed like she had some deep-seated hatred, and couldn't wait to kill herself immediately, this murderous intent also had a hint of urgency.

  Did Tang Yier's second master use 'extreme' measures on her?

  Wow! Awesome!

  Tang Yan made an effort to search for clues from Tang Er Gongzi's memory, but unfortunately, there was nothing! What on earth is this woman going crazy about?

  "Attention, all students!" Anno shouted. "I'm reminding you for the last time that the situation in the Mystic Forest has been abnormal lately. Many of the beasts seem to be heading straight for us, and the fog nearby is getting thicker. I suspect our route has been leaked to other forces, which are intentionally sabotaging us to slow us down. From now on, no one can leave the campsite without my permission. Otherwise... you will be immediately sent back to Giant Elephant City!"

  "How could this be?"

  "Scheming in secret? What kind of person is so despicable!"

  "Anno sensei, think of something!"

  "Come on, think of a way quickly, what if we're really late?"

  "The altar is only open every two years, and each time it's only for five days. If we miss this opportunity, won't we have to wait another two years?"

  "For two whole years, aren't we going to waste it?"

  The emotions of the disciples suddenly became excited, and the baptism of the altar could not only help the 'martial artist' cross over to the 'martial spirit', but more importantly, it could also help stimulate the spiritual veins of the human body, acquire special skills that belong to oneself, and have a decisive role in future achievements.

  Youth is the best time to practice martial arts, and 13-14 and 15-16 years old are the most critical periods. Now that two years have been wasted, it will be difficult to make up for them even with ten years of effort in the future. How can they accept missing this opportunity when they have already waited so long for the baptism of the altar?

  "Don't worry, everyone. We've already contacted the academy and they'll be sending more instructors to support us. With their protection, we can appropriately speed up our pace." Ano comforted the students. This time, there were ten instructors escorting them, but apart from himself being a 2nd rank Martial Monarch, Instructor Ailinda was a 1st rank Martial Monarch, and the other eight were all 3rd rank Martial Spirits.

  Appearing to be powerful enough to deal with the ferocious beasts in the forest, but this escort mission is somewhat special and somewhat eerie. Before determining the real cause of these events, he dare not act rashly.

  Because among these students, there are members of large families such as Li Shouze and Yang Ruyan, as well as other excellent students. They are all the best students of Giant Elephant Academy and will be powerful warriors of the future empire. If something goes wrong, none of them can afford to take responsibility.

  Cool and elegant instructor Eilinda walked to the front of the students: "Three instructors have already gone to investigate the cause, and I believe there will be a conclusion soon. Everyone, don't worry, we originally set out ten days in advance, so being delayed for a few more days on the road won't have too much impact."

  "Ai Lin Da?" Tang Yan swallowed the roasted chicken fiercely, his eyes brazenly scanning the sensual and mature instructor's body, his fiery gaze seeming to devour her alive. In Tang Er Gongzi's memory, there was a mature beauty about Ailin Da, but what he saw with his own eyes was far more real than his imagination, and even more visually shocking.

  Her tall figure, delicate skin, and the beauty mark at the corner of her mouth made her look like a ripe peach, exuding charm from every angle. If Yang Ruyan was a snow lotus waiting to bloom, Professor Ailinda was like a fully bloomed tulip, fragrant and alluring.

  Due to the thrill of ancient tomb exploration, Tang Yan would find a woman to vent his desires every time he narrowly escaped death. As for women, he never hid his desires, let alone this alluring Elinda.

  Noticing Tong Yan's fiery gaze, Ailin's slender eyebrows furrowed slightly, but she didn't even glance at him, choosing to ignore him. She had never had a good impression of rich young masters like him, let alone a 15-year-old kid!

  "Hey, hey, I'm telling you, Tang Er Gongzi, can't you just tone it down a bit? This is getting too out of hand. Be careful or those male instructors will find an excuse to deal with you!" A light and frivolous voice rang out, and Tang Yan withdrew his gaze from staring intently at Elynda's butt, looking towards a lazy-looking young man instead.

  According to Tang Er Gongzi's memory, the young man was named Du Yang, who came from a poor family but had a good talent. He relied on his persistence and hard work to be admitted to Juexiang College and successfully entered the third-level martial artist realm two months ago. At the last moment, he joined today's team.

  Du Yang, although born into a poor family, has a strong personality and has never gotten close to the major aristocratic families. He even explicitly rejected the Tang family's offer, being very proud and disdainful of people like Tang Yan who are spoiled rich kids.

  If it weren't for Tang Yan's unusual behavior today, he wouldn't have bothered speaking up.

  Tang Yan glanced at Du Yang with interest, but didn't bother to respond to him. His gaze shifted back to the thirty students in front of him. Twenty of them were from poor families, and most had already been recruited by various families. A small number had sworn allegiance to the Academy. The remaining ten were all young masters and misses from large and medium-sized families, such as Li Shouze and Yang Ruyan, and also Tang Ying, the beautiful and aloof girl in the corner - his own cousin!

  Of course, the title of "tang mei" was something that Tang Er Gongzi had always been proud of and tried to protect, but Tang Ying had never paid attention to him, neither showing disgust nor getting close, just treating him with indifference, as if he didn't exist.

  While Tang Yan was secretly sizing up these students, Li Shouze called over the three students who had defected to the Li family and whispered something to them. Yang Ruyan also gathered two people around her, seemingly chatting casually, but their eyes kept glancing over here from time to time, apparently targeting Tang Yan.

  "Unrepentant." Tang Yan gnashed his teeth and started thinking of a plan while biting into a chicken leg.

  There are about ten days' journey from here to the altar, and if there is another demon beast invasion event during this period, it will be difficult for them to protect themselves with their own strength. If they join forces to make trouble, it may be even more dangerous.

  Tang Er Gongzi, Tang Er Gongzi, what have you done to provoke this pair of vicious men and women, that they would go to such great lengths to frame you?

  What's going on!!

  Tang Yan's head throbbed secretly, and his attention involuntarily fell on the strange pattern on his wrist. At this moment, a strange muffled drumming sound suddenly came from the depths of his mind, rumbling, like a fantasy, like a dream, his whole body trembled slightly, and his spiritual energy surged out of control, frantically surging towards the direction of the pattern.

  With the muffled drumbeat resounding, a strange picture emerged from the depths of consciousness.

  Coffin? Jet-black coffin! Skeleton? Endless white skeleton! Slaughter? Frantic massacre of countless shadows! Cage? Dark cage without a glimmer of light! And... blurry human figures...

  Evil? Despair? Sorrow? Dismal? Bloodthirsty?

  The drumbeat accompanied the spread of the screen, and the screen was accompanied by a surge in negative emotions.

  Tang Yan felt a severe headache and his face turned deathly pale, but soon the drumming stopped, the scene disappeared, and all emotions vanished without a trace.

  "What's wrong with you?" Du Yang looked at Tang Yan strangely, who was shrinking back and trembling. What was this young master up to now?

  Tang Yan's soul was still unsettled, and he was still immersed in the bizarre scene from just now.

  "Hey, I'm talking to you." Du Yang asked again.

  Tang Yan slowly regained his composure, still feeling a lingering sense of shock and unease. He remained silent for a while before suppressing the strange sensation. Looking at Du Yang and then at Li Shouze and others in the distance, he hesitated slightly before leaning in closer to him. In an instant, a strange emotion began to brew in his heart - burn him to death.

  But soon the emotions vanished, Tang Yan secretly suspected, but on the surface he didn't show it: "You neither rely on a noble family nor are loyal to the Academy, what do you want to do?"

  "Join the army."

  "Join the army?" Tang Yan looked at Du Yang's thin body in surprise.

  "Really?"

  "Do you want to be a general just for the experience?"

  "Guess?"

  "It has nothing to do with me, and I'm too lazy to guess." Tang Yan put his hand on Du Yang's shoulder and glanced at Li Shouze and Yang Ruyan in the distance: "Do you see that pair of dog men and women? If something goes wrong later, get your friends to entangle them, only you can do it, I'll give you a spiritual level martial skill!"

  Du Yang was uncomfortable with Tang Yan's intimate movements, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, just about to shake off his hand, but was attracted by the last sentence.

  "Soul-level martial arts? What a big handwriting!"

  Martial skill level is another basis for determining the strength of a martial artist, divided into ordinary grade, spiritual grade, earthly grade, sacred grade, and heavenly grade! Each level is further divided into three sub-levels.

  Most of the martial arts circulating in the outside world are ordinary, and even those taught in various academies are no exception. Spiritual-level and Earth-level martial arts are basically controlled by the high-ranking families, academies, and royal families. Ordinary people can only obtain spiritual-level martial arts if they have a great opportunity or join a prestigious family or academy and achieve certain accomplishments.

  As for the Sacred and Heavenly ranks, they had long since disappeared without a trace.

  "Don't look at me with that suspicious gaze, as long as you can help tie up four or five of those seven people. When we return to Giant Elephant City, I'll definitely give you a suitable Spirit-level martial skill. How about it? Don't you trust my character? Or are you doubting my abilities?"

  "To be honest, I'm suspicious."

  Tang Yan rolled her eyes: "It's settled then. I don't expect you to defeat them, just find a way to stop them."

  Du Yang did not directly refuse, but instead said: "When? What chaos?"

  "Don't you feel that this fog is eerie? Don't you think it's some kind of omen? Haven't you heard what Instructor Arno just said? Do I need to explain it to you in more detail?"

  Du Yang's eyes twitched slightly, with a sense of awkwardness as if being scolded by an idiot. However... he looked at Tang Yan in surprise, this kid... isn't stupid?!

  Tang Yan glanced at Tang Ying in the corner again, secretly considering whether it was necessary to deepen his relationship with her and take care of her later. This nominal cousin had an unusual talent, reaching the third stage of martial arts at the age of thirteen, and was considered one of the geniuses of Giant Elephant City. If she could help, perhaps it would save a lot of trouble.

  Just arrived in this world, don't understand anything, and being peeped at by people, have to think of ways to protect myself.

  "......Ah......" Suddenly, a shrill cry of despair echoed in the distance, mixed with some intense clashes, but soon... two more cries of despair... Everything returned to silence...