Karma, Zhendan Academy, Upheaval in the West!

Yet facing all of this, Lu Yuan did not make a single move, simply remaining seated where he was and chewing on his meat. *Thwack, thwack!* Spurts of fresh blood sprayed through the air. Those dozens of flying knives had not been aimed at him after all. Instead, they plunged straight into the belly of the mutant hedgehog, momentarily halting its charge. "Vile beast, don't you dare hurt anyone!" At that moment, a man in his twenties appeared, brandishing a massive war saber. Sprinting in from a distance, he quickly closed the gap. Facing the hedgehog, he swung the war saber in his hands and clashed fiercely with the creature. The man possessed immense strength and rather fierce techniques. Thick scales covered his entire body, shielding him from the hedgehog's attacks as he repeatedly forced the creature back, displaying considerable combat prowess. Meanwhile, those flying knives continually provided support from the flank, evidently controlled by someone else. Seeing this, Lu Yuan tilted his head slightly. Not far away, four more figures strode briskly forward—two men and two women. Counting the scaled man, there were five in total. Paying Lu Yuan no heed, they concentrated entirely on dealing with the mutant beast, each employing distinct techniques. The one controlling the flying knives was a young woman clad in green. She was very beautiful, not in the least inferior to Zhou Yunqiong. With stunning features, standing around one point seven meters tall, she wore jeans accentuating her long, slender legs, her expression tranquil. Her beautiful eyes remained fixed intently on the mutant hedgehog, her slender, jade-like fingers constantly shifting gestures. Under her command, the flying knives darted up and down, their speed surpassing before, the cold gleam clinging to the blades turning even more biting. As for the other three, each possessed their own unique abilities. The five of them coordinated seamlessly. All were Awakened—though as for their strength... Still, with their combined efforts, after ten minutes or so, they managed to slay the mutant beast comparable to the Third Order of the Initial Realm. "Are you all right?" Having finished the battle, the green-clad young woman recalled her flying knives and walked over to Lu Yuan, her tone gentle. "In mountains and forests like these, you should be more careful." She could tell that Lu Yuan was also an Awakened; otherwise, who would venture out alone at a time like this? However, his strength was likely modest, probably only around the First or Second Order of the Initial Realm. Otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to dodge even that hedgehog's strike. Hearing this, Lu Yuan remained silent. Against a beast like that just now, even if he did nothing at all, it posed not the slightest danger to him. Of course, he hadn't expected to run into people in a forest like this. It seemed there must be a town somewhere nearby. "What's wrong with you? We just saved you, and you can't even say thank you?" Seeing Lu Yuan remain silent, another woman stepped forward, furrowing her brows. The other three men wore similar expressions of slight displeasure. "I didn't ask you to save me," Lu Yuan replied calmly, indulging none of their attitude. They had chosen to intervene on their own; no one had forced them. "You—" Choked by his blunt response, the woman flared with resentment. Dressed in blue and slightly older, she was actually quite pretty, but compared to the green-clad girl who wielded the flying knives, she fell far short; both her looks and temperament were completely overshadowed. "Senior Qin, it's true that we intervened of our own accord," the green-clad girl said with a smile, gesturing for her companion to drop it. Her words proved quite effective; the older woman promptly fell silent, lingering with a sullen look. "Hello, my name is Zhu Qingyu. This is Senior Qin Lan, and that's Senior Wu... We are all students of Zhendan Academy," the green-clad girl introduced herself, extending a hand in goodwill. Zhendan Academy? Hearing that, a flicker of change finally touched Lu Yuan's calm expression. "You are Zhu Qingyu of Zhendan Academy?" he asked. "Why? Do you know me?" Zhu Qingyu caught on, asking curiously. "No, this is my first time hearing of you." Lu Yuan shook his head, indicating he did not know her. Yet in truth, his thoughts had drifted back to his past life. Back then, he had struggled bitterly at the bottom, unable to adapt to the global mutation. One day, mutant beasts had assaulted the city. Catastrophe struck, and everyone fled for their lives. At the time, Lu Yuan was merely an ordinary person, powerless to resist. Just as death seemed certain, a woman in green appeared, repelling the mutant beasts, and later united a band of Awakened to quell the disaster. In the chaos of the moment, he hadn't even gotten a clear look at her face. Only afterward did he learn she was a student of Zhendan Academy. And her name had been Zhu Qingyu. As for Zhendan Academy, it was an entity standing alongside conglomerates like Wuzhou Group. Backed by official government power and resources, it had been established within the very first month following the mutation, establishing branch academies across all five super cities. Its original mission was to cultivate more Awakened to counter the turbulence of the New Era. Thus, judging from these two pieces of information, this woman before him was indeed the Zhu Qingyu who had saved his life in his previous life. However, Lu Yuan recalled that she possessed extraordinary talent and harbored a mysterious bloodline, a true favored daughter of heaven. Yet observing her now, her strength was modest—merely around the Third Order of the Initial Realm, which did not quite match what he knew. Yet he soon remembered: Zhu Qingyu's bloodline was of the late-blooming kind, where long accumulation yielded great breakthroughs later on. In the later stages, she would shine brilliantly, rivaling even the so-called Five Great Sovereigns. "I see," Zhu Qingyu said without overthinking it. "Still, I must remind you that mountainous areas like this are very dangerous right now. Even if you're an Awakened, you should exercise greater caution." She spoke with a gentle smile playing at the corners of her lips, standing amidst the mountain woods. Her long hair stirred in the wind, her figure tall and slender, her skin snow-white, her posture graceful. Set against the sunlight, her stunning face appeared all the more ethereal and flawless. "Understood," Lu Yuan replied. He had no intention of entangling himself further with her. After all, what transpired in his past life was long over. Moreover, even back then, the two of them could hardly be considered acquaintances. Having answered, he prepared to leave. "Wait," Zhu Qingyu called out again. "It's chaotic out there. It's better to head somewhere populated. Recently, many regions have come under attack from mutant beasts, so once you make it out, your best bet is a major city, such as Chang'an." "Thank you." Lu Yuan paused momentarily, then nodded. *Just like in my previous life—free of pretension, treating others with kindness, isn't she?* In his memories, Zhu Qingyu had been unlike most Awakened. She never looked down on ordinary people and possessed a deep sense of righteous duty, charging to the forefront whenever mutant beasts assaulted a city. Yet was it precisely because of this that the tragedy later befell her? If an opportunity arose, he could step in to help—both to repay the debt of her saving his life in his previous life and to sever the karma between them. At this moment, many thoughts crossed Lu Yuan's mind. At the onset of the mutation, the greatest catastrophe lay not in the environmental upheaval itself, but in the mutant beasts naturally hostile to humanity. They were more bloodthirsty, more cruel, and after stepping onto the path of awakening, they gained sapience. Among them were true kings of beasts. Not only were those kings exceedingly powerful, but they could also speak human tongue, their thought processes virtually indistinguishable from human beings. It was these Beast Kings who, at one stage, led massive beast tides, razing countless cities and slaughtering hundreds of millions of people. Only later, as humanity gradually adapted and more Awakened emerged, and after several titanic clashes erupted between the two sides, was that terrifying catastrophe quelled—though conflicts never ceased. And that was merely the beginning of the mutation. Later on, mysterious and formidable beings would descend even from the deep cosmic void... *My path of evolution has only just begun,* Lu Yuan thought to himself. Though he seemed powerful now, it was nowhere near enough. He had to keep advancing; otherwise, how could he withstand the crises of the future? Lost in thought, he turned and went on his way. "Qingyu, what is with that guy?" Qin Lan fumed as she watched Lu Yuan walk away. Not only did he fail to express gratitude after being saved, but he walked off without even looking back. "He was probably frightened out of his wits by that mutant beast," Senior Wu, the scale-armored man who had wielded the war saber, walked over with a chuckle. "Some Awakened are like that. The moment they gain superhuman powers, they think they can roam as they please, completely blind to how dangerous the outside world truly is. I think we should cut him some slack." The other two Zhendan Academy students nodded in firm agreement. "All right, let's drop it," Zhu Qingyu cut them off at the right moment. "We came out this time to track those two One-Horned Giant Wolves. They are exceedingly dangerous and brutal, and several towns have already been devastated by them. Our top priority is to track their movements and inform our instructors so they can dispatch stronger Awakened to handle them." Backed by official state power, Zhendan Academy's mission was to maintain order and protect ordinary civilians. As students, the five of them were tasked with doing their part by tracking and eliminating certain mutant beasts. Of course, when it came to creatures like the One-Horned Giant Wolves, Zhu Qingyu and her peers were certainly no match. Their objective was simply to discover their trail and report back to the academy's instructors. "Sigh, attacks on cities by mutant beasts have been growing more frequent lately. Our academy alone can't possibly handle them all," Qin Lan sighed before continuing, "Have you heard? Major events have broken out in the West. Several formidable Beast Kings have emerged! A lizard mutated directly into a giant dragon, spewing magma and incinerating numerous cities. And then there's the legendary three-headed Cerberus—everywhere it passes, corpses litter the ground. Just thinking about it is terrifying." "Isn't that the truth? News about it is everywhere online right now, trending like crazy." "Yeah, the West mobilized tens of thousands of troops armed with heavy weaponry, but in the end, it was completely useless." "Rumor has it that prominent figures are planning to invite the Divine Knights of Mount Olympus and the Holy Angels of the Vatican Church to intervene." "Hey, who do you think is stronger—the Western Divine Knights and their peers, or Winged Celestial and the others?" Each chimed in with recent major events they had heard about. In the end, Qin Lan compared them with the Five Great Sovereigns, but no consensus was reached. The situation in the West was much like that at home: powerful Awakened had emerged, alongside rampaging mutant beasts, though the turmoil there was even more severe. Some smaller, weaker nations without heavy conventional firepower had been wiped out overnight. As students of Zhendan Academy, they were privy to more information, and deep concern colored their words. "All right, all right, enough chatter. Let's focus on our own duty," Zhu Qingyu said, seeing the conversation veer off track. Pointing up at the sky, she added, "If we don't get moving, another day will be wasted." The group blinked, realizing dusk was rapidly approaching. Immediately, they fell quiet. At night, mutant beasts grew vastly more ferocious. By then, they would have to retreat to a relatively safe area. For now, they needed to make the most of the remaining daylight to push their search a little further. Soon, Zhu Qingyu led the other four into action, scouring the forested mountains. Yet nearly an hour slipped by without a single clue. "Looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow," Qin Lan said, believing they had to pull out. "Yeah, let's head back first," Zhu Qingyu agreed, unwilling to take unnecessary risks. "Wait a second," Senior Wu suddenly spoke up. "Don't you find it odd? Ever since we started our search, we haven't encountered a single mutant beast. That's not normal." His words brought an abrupt silence over the five of them. During the day, they had run into beasts multiple times, yet now there were none. By all logic, mutant beasts ought to become more active at nightfall. Could something have happened? They exchanged glances. Zhu Qingyu motioned for everyone to stay calm, then pondered for a moment before deciding to retrace their steps. That was the safest route, as no danger had surfaced along the way. Qin Lan and the others nodded. The situation was eerie; while they could handle ordinary mutant beasts, they were clearly outmatched if a genuine crisis arose. *Roar—!* Just then, a world-shaking roar echoed through the mountains. The sound was piercing and laden with boundless fury, scaring lesser mutant birds and beasts into scattering skyward in terror. The deafening roar struck Zhu Qingyu and the others with physical discomfort. Given the close proximity, they hastily clapped their hands over their ears, taking a long while to recover. What should they do? Judging from the roar, that mutant beast was extraordinarily powerful. In the end, Zhu Qingyu made the decision to approach cautiously and investigate, suspecting it might be the One-Horned Giant Wolf. They carried mysterious artifacts distributed by the academy that could conceal their auras for a short time, affording a degree of safety. Without another word, the group crept toward the source of the roar. Before long, they reached a clearing. And when Zhu Qingyu and the others took in the scene ahead, they were struck dumb with shock. "The One-Horned Giant Wolf... is dead?!" There on the ground lay a red-furred, one-horned giant wolf, completely devoid of life. It was drenched in blood, its bones shattered, and a large chunk had even been carved off one of its legs. Surrounding the carcass were shattered boulders everywhere, along with a profoundly deep trench carved into the earth. Evidently, a fierce battle had played out here not long ago. Some mysterious entity had slain the One-Horned Giant Wolf. Judging from the traces left behind, that entity possessed terrifying strength and catastrophic destructive power. *Who could have killed the One-Horned Giant Wolf?* That question flashed through everyone's minds. That was a mutant beast comparable to the Eighth Order of the Initial Realm! Before Zhu Qingyu and the others could dwell on it, however, a blue giant wolf of even greater proportions emerged not far from the red wolf's corpse. With each step it took, the earth trembled. Its blue fur shimmered with faint halos of light, and its whole body radiated a dreadful pressure. The single horn atop its head, several meters long and resembling a celestial sword, looked extraordinarily resilient, seemingly capable of tearing through anything in existence. That thunderous wolf roar from earlier had come from this very blue one-horned giant wolf. It had discovered that its mate had been slaughtered, driving it into a blind fury. "Th-this giant wolf... its strength is at least Ninth Order of the Initial Realm, perhaps even stronger! Didn't the intelligence say both Beast Kings were Eighth Order? The report was wrong!" Qin Lan's face drained of color, her hands trembling uncontrollably in an irrepressible terror of such an overpowering beast. Zhu Qingyu and the others fared little better. Had it not been for the mysterious artifacts temporarily cloaking their presence, they would have been spotted instantly by the Blue Giant Wolf King. And with their current strength, they would be slaughtered in a heartbeat. They would have had no room to resist whatsoever—such was the chasm between them. "Let's go," Zhu Qingyu decided on the spot. The situation had spiraled far beyond their abilities. *Awoooo—!* Yet before they could withdraw, the Blue Giant Wolf King unleashed another howl. Unlike before, this cry held no fury, carrying an ominous inflection instead. It sounded as though it were issuing a command! "Not good!" Zhu Qingyu's expression altered drastically. "It's summoning a beast tide!"