Outside, the slaughter raged unabated.
Inside the cafeteria.
Su Yu and Chen Hao could hear only the clashing of blades, agonized screams, and the terrified shrieks of students... but neither dared to poke his head out to look.
Were their teachers winning or losing?
Even Su Yu, who had firmly believed the instructors would triumph, had no idea how things truly stood.
"A-Yu..."
In the corner, Chen Hao clutched his training saber tightly. His face was pale yet flushed, and he seemed about to ask Su Yu whether they should head outside.
Su Yu ignored him. His left ear twitched faintly as he strained to listen.
Reaching the fourth stage of the Kaiyuan Realm hadn't done much for his combat prowess, but his hearing was far sharper than before.
"Shh!"
Su Yu pressed an index finger to his lips, signaling Chen Hao to stay quiet.
A moment later, heavy footsteps sounded from outside, completely unconcealed.
"Hurry out! The academy is organizing an evacuation! Assemble at the south gate!"
An urgent voice called out. Shortly after, a man in his thirties holding a saber stepped into the cafeteria and shouted, "Are there any students in here? Hurry! We can barely hold the line—the All-Races Sect attackers are too strong! Evacuate the academy immediately!"
His urgent shouts were accompanied by brisk footsteps.
Chen Hao shifted slightly and looked anxiously at Su Yu. An instructor had come for them—should they go?
Su Yu also narrowed his eyes and peered toward the entrance. He saw the figure. The man wasn't familiar, but with over two hundred instructors in the academy, he couldn't possibly know every single one.
Had an instructor truly come looking for them?
"Is anyone there? The front line can't hold much longer! You must evacuate at once, hurry!"
The newcomer sounded frantic. The cafeteria was vast—several thousand square meters at a glance. Searching the entire place would take at least a minute, wasting far too much time.
In the corner.
Hearing how anxious the instructor sounded and that the front line was collapsing, Chen Hao could no longer hold back. Without waiting for Su Yu this time, he hurriedly popped his head out and called, "Instructor, how are things outside?"
The man's gaze swept over, unable to conceal the flash of delight in his eyes.
Students really were just students—far too green.
Even though the academy constantly drilled survival principles into them, it was nowhere near enough.
Just moments ago, he had used the exact same words in the combat practice hall to coax out two hiding students. Across an entire floor with multiple rooms, he had lured two people out in barely ten seconds.
Searching for them himself would have taken at least two minutes.
Kids who had never faced setbacks or set foot on a battlefield would believe a few deceptive words without question.
"Things outside are very bad! Come quickly, follow me! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late..."
As the man spoke, he rushed toward Chen Hao's position.
That made three!
Delight was written all over the man's face. Of their three-hundred-strong elite force, two hundred had gone to tie down the instructors, City Guards, escort guards, and Wind Arrest Hall operatives.
Even if they were outnumbered, they still held the advantage because many of their people were in the early to mid stages of the Qianjun Realm.
The rest were either attacking classrooms or scouring the academy grounds for scattered students.
Classrooms were being fiercely defended by instructors.
Scattered students were few and hard to track down, but they had no protection whatsoever, making them far easier to kill.
Even if all several thousand students were slaughtered, a single person wouldn't average ten kills.
Yet he had already bagged three!
Over the next few minutes, his haul might be even greater.
"Hurry over, let's get out of the academy..."
The man moved fast, not slowing his pace for a second as he dashed toward Chen Hao.
To their eyes, a student was just a single slash of a blade. The hardest part was finding scattered students; once found, they were free merits!
Chen Hao stood up to step forward, subconsciously glancing at Su Yu.
Meanwhile, Su Yu was also watching this "instructor."
When the man first spoke, Su Yu had also assumed he was an instructor looking for stragglers. But... very quickly, Su Yu sensed something wrong.
It wasn't that he possessed vast real-world experience, but rather that he had been hunted in his nightmares countless times. The man's urgent tone sounded terrifyingly similar to the roars of the savage beasts pursuing him.
It was as if the man were shouting, *Hurry out so I can kill you, I can't wait any longer!*
Even if the literal words were different, that sense of urgency—that ravenous craving to slaughter you—was identical in tone!
This prompted Su Yu to look closer.
A heartbeat later, cold sweat beaded on Su Yu's forehead.
An impostor!
While instructors didn't wear identical clothing, every instructor wore a faculty badge regardless of attire. This man didn't have one!
Had it fallen off?
Knocked off in the chaos of battle?
*No...*
Su Yu saw it—the man's saber was tilted slightly upward. That was the starting stance for a strike. He was preparing to slash!
*Damn it, Haozi, you idiot!*
Cursing inwardly, Su Yu had no time to think or regret his own negligence. He lacked experience far too sorely. Both he and Chen Hao were merely secondary academy students who had never experienced anything like this.
They had assumed enemies would charge in openly and aggressively, looking ferocious and evil. Who would have guessed that enemies would stoop to deceiving weaklings like them?
"Instructor!"
Calling out softly, Su Yu leaped down from his hiding spot, his heart pounding violently against his ribs.
The man's hand paused, a wave of joy surging through his chest.
There was another one!
That made four!
The hand holding Su Yu's saber was slick with sweat. He felt nervous, terrified, and uneasy...
Even so, he held his ground. He had been killed in his dreams far too many times; even though he was afraid, it was only because this was his first real encounter. He adapted far faster than ordinary people.
"Instructor, are we really going to lose outside? We have more than a dozen students over here. Can I call them out so we can go together?"
Su Yu spoke hurriedly, even glancing toward the depths of the cafeteria. "Otherwise, they won't be able to escape either."
More than a dozen?
The man's delight nearly exploded!
More than a dozen!
He had struck gold!
He could kill dozens of students today!
His merit might outstrip even the Wanshi Realm experts'—he was making a fortune!
The man wanted to laugh, to roar with laughter. A dozen or so Kaiyuan Realm kids were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter. He could cleave through them one by one, and none would escape.
He had intended to finish this quickly, but he instantly changed his mind and urged, "Quick! Call them all out, we need to leave right away!"
Su Yu's heart continued to pound wildly. Without another word, he turned his back to the man.
At this moment, a single swing from the man would end Su Yu's life.
As he turned, Su Yu swallowed the drop of blood essence. Keeping his back to the man, he walked deeper into the cafeteria and spoke uneasily, "Instructor, can we bring even more people? I know quite a few students are hiding in other spots too. I'm not sure if you instructors can find them..."
"There are more?"
The man was ecstatic. There were even more!
He eagerly followed behind Su Yu. As for Chen Hao... he couldn't be bothered with a single straggler; he could deal with him whenever he pleased.
He failed to notice that Chen Hao's face had gone paper-white in an instant, sweat drenching his entire face.
Having known Su Yu for so many years, how could Chen Hao not understand his best friend?
What dozen students? What other hiding spots?
This man... was an impostor!
A cultist from the All-Races Sect!
He had nearly gotten Su Yu killed!
*I'm so stupid, I'm such an idiot, I... I'm sorry, A-Yu, I'm sorry...*
Chen Hao's legs turned to jelly, his entire body going limp. Yet at this critical juncture, he recalled what Su Yu had told him earlier. Scrambling to recover, he cried out frantically, "Instructor, I... I'm scared! My legs won't work... could you give me a hand...?"
He was genuinely terrified, his legs truly trembling so hard he could barely walk.
The man glanced back, visibly annoyed.
If not to smoothly locate the rest of the students, he would have cleaved this brat in two right then and there. But he worried that killing him now would spook those still in hiding, scattering them in all directions. Even if he gave chase, he wouldn't catch them all.
"I'll carry you!"
Despite his impatience, the man turned back and reached out toward Chen Hao, intending to haul him along under his arm.
"Haozi, you useless bum, always troubling the instructor..."
Behind him, Su Yu grumbled aloud while gripping his saber tightly. The heavy sweat on his palms made the hilt slippery.
As he spoke, Su Yu took a step closer to the man. The moment the man reached out to grab Chen Hao, a ruthless glint flashed in Su Yu's eyes. *Now!*
"Haozi, walk on your own, don't bother the instructor—"
*Whoosh!*
The sound of a blade tearing through the air rang out. The man subconsciously turned his head, a single thought flickering in his mind: *Did he figure it out?*
*So what if he did? He's just a Kaiyuan...*
*Just... a Kaiyuan?*
*Kaiyuan!*
*No, that's impossible!*
The man tried to dodge, but suddenly found his limbs refusing to obey. At first, he felt nothing in his neck, but a split second later, an agonizing pain tore through him!
*This slash was sloppy. That's not how you sever a head...*
The man absurdly found himself thinking this thought. It hurt too much. Decapitating someone required speed, precision, and ruthlessness. This kid hadn't been precise enough—his head hadn't come off cleanly in an instant, and it hurt like hell!
*Thud!*
A head hit the floor!
The man's body remained standing, frozen in the posture of turning his head, only without the head itself.
The saber was still in his hand, his other arm still outstretched toward Chen Hao. His dozen-plus students... were gone!
Silence.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
*Thump!*
The headless corpse crashed to the ground!
*Haaah... haaah...*
Panting like a bellows, Su Yu's mouth was parched and his mind went completely blank.
Blood had splattered across Chen Hao's face. His mind was entirely blank as well.
Dead!
A-Yu had hacked the guy to death in a single strike!
"A... A-Yu..."
Chen Hao's limbs gave out entirely. Collapsing to the floor, he scrambled on all fours toward Su Yu, past caring about looking pathetic. He had genuinely almost wet himself just now.
"A-Yu... A-Yu... you... I... he's dead! He's dead..."
"He's dead!"
Su Yu stared at the corpse before him and the pool of blood on the floor. His voice was hoarse and parched. "Calm down! Keep your head! He was an enemy, an All-Races Sect animal! It's not like you haven't watched executions before!"
"Move... we need to change spots... hide... or more of them might come..."
Su Yu had no time to worry about disposing of the body. They had to run.
That single slash had left his entire body aching—not from physical strain, but from psychological shock.
"Right, let's go, hurry..."
Chen Hao started crawling, but suddenly gritted his teeth. Squeezing his eyes shut, he turned back and reached out toward the dead man's body.
Eyes shut, he dared not think or look.
Yet he remembered: this could get them into the War Academy! This was their ticket in!
He fumbled blindly, feeling something sticky coat his fingers, but forced himself not to think about it. The next instant, his fingers brushed against a small cloth pouch. Without thinking or looking, he shoved it straight into his pocket, whipped around to grab Su Yu's pant leg, and scrambled along on all fours.
Watching him do that actually dissipated some of Su Yu's tension and terror. He couldn't help but curse under his breath, "You're still thinking about that right now? Do you want to die?!"
"We can... get into the War Academy... A-Yu... you killed him, you're amazing..."
Su Yu didn't have time to argue. Hauling Chen Hao along, he rapidly slipped out of the cafeteria.
He didn't dare go far, fearing another encounter with the enemy, so he ducked into the shadows beneath a wall outside the cafeteria.
*Thump, thump, thump...*
His heart was still pounding violently, but Su Yu gradually regained his composure. Exhaling a long breath, he muttered, "That was all it took!"
"I'm used to being killed myself, so why wouldn't I get used to this?"
He let out a self-deprecating chuckle. He had been slaughtered in his nightmares so many times that it had become routine, hadn't it?
If he could handle dying over and over, why should he fear hacking down an enemy?
*Boom!*
Outside, the fighting continued.
It took long to describe, but from the moment the man entered the cafeteria to his death and their escape, less than a minute had elapsed.
"Haozi!"
"Yeah?"
"Did you wet your pants?"
"N-no! Don't talk nonsense, of course not!"
Chen Hao's face flushed crimson. *No way!*
Even so, he quickly peeked down at his crotch and breathed a sigh of relief. He had gone numb with terror earlier and genuinely hadn't been sure.
"A-Yu... you're incredible!"
"Cut the crap!"
Su Yu peered around. He heard the fierce shouts of instructors and spotted figures conducting searches in the distance.
"We're losing!"
If they weren't, the instructors would never have allowed All-Races Sect cultists to freely scour the academy for students.
There were definitely scattered students out there, and some had likely already been killed.
Su Yu looked down at the saber in his hand, quickly wiping the blood clean against nearby shrubs. Having regained his composure, he gritted his teeth. "Haozi, are you afraid of dying?"
"Scared... no, not scared!"
"Go scout around. If you see one by himself, tell him there are several students hiding over here waiting for rescue, and beg him for help!"
"Huh?"
Su Yu ground his teeth. "The instructors have their hands full! If those cultists find the other students, they're dead meat! Go lure one or two over. If I kill them, fewer students will die!"
"A-Yu!"
Chen Hao gasped softly. But then he remembered how Su Yu had cleaved that man's head off in a single stroke. It really... didn't seem so terrifying after all!
"Alright, I'll go! A-Yu, can you... can you really kill another one?"
"I can!"
"Good! Then kill one more! The first one belongs to you, but the next one... lend the next one to me, okay? I... I want to go to the War Academy too."
"Deal!"
Chen Hao seemed to forget all fear, grinning foolishly. He was going to the War Academy!
His legs were no longer trembling. Crouching low, he moved forward, poked his head around the corner of the wall, and looked around. Very quickly, he spotted several All-Races Sect members scouring the academy grounds for students.
The nearest one was less than a hundred meters away.
Chen Hao still felt a knot of dread in his chest, but he forced down his fear and cried in a shaky voice, "Instructor... is that an instructor?"
Not far away, the man's ear twitched slightly, and he snapped his head toward Chen Hao.
"Are you an instructor? We're... we're scared! Instructor, can you take us away?"
"Instructor?"
The cultist's eyes flickered. Had these students mistaken them for instructors?
It made sense. Both sides were human, and there was no obvious physical difference; how could a bunch of students tell them apart?
An experienced fighter could spot the difference at a glance, but what would these sheltered students know?
"Instructor, I have a few others with me! Can you take us away? Someone... someone was just chasing us..."
"A few others?"
The man's interest was piqued. Seeing Chen Hao's terrified, pale face, he could tell the boy wasn't acting—the sheer terror was real.
The next instant, the man sprinted forward.
As for an ambush... he didn't even consider the possibility.
If the academy instructors had the time and manpower to stage ambushes, they would have been fighting on the front lines long ago.
With battles raging everywhere across the academy, the instructors barely had enough people to protect the gathered students, let alone set traps.
Scrambling on hands and knees, Chen Hao hastily retreated behind the wall.
The man's ears twitched. Even if he wasn't afraid of an ambush, he instinctively took a bit of caution. Those who had completed the Kaiyuan Realm had keen eyes and sharp hearing; unless an opponent was far stronger, he would detect something.
*There's another student inside!*
He heard faint, nervous breathing—heavy breaths that definitely didn't belong to someone in the Qianjun Realm.
*He said there were a few of them. Are the others hiding elsewhere?*
The man pondered, glancing back at his fellow searchers in the distance. He took extra care not to alert them; this merit was his, and he wasn't going to let anyone else claim it.
The next moment, the man stepped around the wall. Sure enough, there was another student here.
Just as pale-faced.
"Instructor, you're here?! Zhou Tao and the others are still waiting for us! Instructor, what on earth is happening? Have the All-Races Sect beasts attacked?"
Su Yu blurted out several frantic questions. Looking relieved yet utterly terrified, he tossed his training saber aside and rushed toward the man.
"Instructor, I'll take you to find them..."
He had even thrown his weapon away!
The man let his guard down completely. A Kaiyuan student holding a saber might pose a minor threat, but bare-handed... they couldn't kill someone in the Qianjun Realm even if he stood still and let them strike.
They truly thought he was an instructor!
Foolish little brats!
"Where are they?"
The man's voice carried a hint of eagerness. Just like the previous cultist, he could barely hide his joy at having merit delivered right to his doorstep.
"Just follow me, Instructor..."
Su Yu reached out toward the man, appearing as though he wanted to grasp his arm and lead the way.
The man frowned slightly, wanting to pull away, but suppressed the urge to cut the boy down. He could endure being touched for a moment...
*Squelch!*
Even as that thought crossed his mind, Su Yu's hand moved with blinding speed, turning into a lethal claw that tore straight through his flesh and pierced his heart! His other hand seized the arm holding the saber, snapping the bone with a sharp *crack*!
The man tried to scream, but in the next instant, his throat was ripped open!
*Gurgle...*
Blood erupted from his mouth in violent spurts. The man collapsed, staring up at Su Yu in complete bewilderment.
Qianjun! A high stage of the Qianjun Realm!
How was this possible?!
This was Nanyuan—how could there be a student in the Qianjun Realm? It was impossible!
Su Yu swiftly searched the body, grabbed the dumbfounded Chen Hao, and bolted.
This idiot actually thought anyone could be killed so easily. Why was he standing there grinning instead of running?!
The moment they fled, Su Yu caught sight of a brilliant golden light and looked up.
He froze in stunned disbelief.
High in midair, a familiar figure soared, bathed in radiant gold.
"Instructor Liu..."
Chen Hao saw it too, equally dumbstruck.
In the sky, Liu Wenyan glowed with golden light as the ambient origin qi surged from all directions, converging upon him like a tidal wave.
Liu Wenyan's voice wasn't loud, yet it resonated far and wide across the academy:
"Soaring to Tengkong is not my wish; my only wish is peace across all races..."
So badass!
And so completely fake!
Those two thoughts flashed through Su Yu's mind simultaneously. It was undeniably badass, but also pure hypocrisy. Instructor Liu had clearly been desperate to achieve will manifestation and break through to the Tengkong Realm! Claiming that entering Tengkong wasn't his wish—what a shameless liar!
Chapter 17