Chapter 3

"Enough!" Tutor Arno roared, glaring fiercely at Tang Yan: "You little brat, behave yourself!"

Intimidated by the tutor's authority, the others grimaced and fell silent one by one.

"Don't be angry, just livening up the atmosphere." Tang Yan wasn't afraid, and he laughed shamelessly, continuing to gnaw on the roasted chicken.

Some sensitive students and tutors looked at Tang Yan with peculiar expressions. Was this the frivolous second son Tang Yan? It seemed something was off.

Although the second son Tang was usually a rascal, he still had some self-awareness and behaved properly in front of these elite students and tutors, especially not daring to make a loud noise in front of the third-stage martial master Li Shouze.

What was going on today? He targeted Li Shouze right from the start and openly flirted with Yang Ruyan.

Li Shouze and Yang Ruyan gradually calmed down, quietly exchanging glances. They had clearly killed Tang Yan, so how could he suddenly be alive again? That sword had pierced his heart, there was no mistake. To avoid any accidents, they had even delivered a few more blows, and after confirming his death, they tied him to a rock.

But now it seemed that Tang Yan wasn't even injured!

"Tsk tsk, what are you doing with those looks?" Tang Yan's teasing voice broke their eye contact. Seeing the other students' gazes focus on them again, the two avoided eye contact and maintained their composure.

Yang Ruyan walked to a distance, coldly observing Tang Yan, her eyes filled with an unmasked killing intent.

Huh?? Strange! Tang Yan was secretly puzzled. What was this woman's problem? It seemed like she had a deep-seated grudge, wanting to kill him immediately. This killing intent was also somewhat urgent.

Could it be that the second son Tang had taken 'unusual' measures against her?

Hey! This is getting interesting!

Tang Yan tried hard to search the second son Tang's memories for clues, but unfortunately, there was nothing! So why was this woman acting so strangely?

Tutor Anno stepped forward and announced: "Students, I want to remind you one last time. The situation in the Illusion Forest has been abnormal recently. Many beasts are clearly targeting us, and the fog nearby is getting thicker. I suspect that our route has been obtained by other forces, so they are deliberately causing trouble to slow us down. From now on, no one can leave the camp without my permission, or else... they will be immediately sent back to Giant Elephant City!"

"How can this be?"

"Causing trouble in secret? Who could be so despicable!"

"Tutor Anno, you have to do something!"

"Exactly, figure it out quickly. What if we are really late?"

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

"Two whole years, won't we be wasting our time?"

The students' emotions immediately became agitated. The altar's baptism not only helps martial masters advance to martial spirits but also helps to activate the body's spirit meridians, granting special abilities, which are crucial for future achievements.

The youth is the best time for martial cultivation, especially ages thirteen to fifteen and sixteen to eighteen. Wasting two years now would be hard to make up for even with ten years in the future. Moreover, they had waited so long for the altar's baptism, and they couldn't accept missing it.

"Don't worry, we have already contacted the academy. They will send more tutors to support us. With their protection, we can appropriately speed up our journey." Anno reassured the students. There were ten tutors on this escort mission, but apart from himself, a second-stage martial master, and the female tutor Alinda, a first-stage martial master, the other eight were all third-stage martial spirits.

Although their strength seemed powerful enough to handle the beasts in the forest, this escort mission was somewhat special and even a bit eerie. Before determining the true cause of these events, he dared not act rashly.

Because among these students were members of prominent families like Li Shouze and Yang Ruyan, as well as other outstanding students, all of whom were the best students of Giant Elephant Academy and future powerful martial artists of the empire. If anything went wrong, no one could bear the responsibility.

The cold and beautiful tutor Alinda walked up to the students: "Three tutors have already gone to investigate the cause. I believe we will have a conclusion soon. Don't worry, we have already advanced by ten days, so a few more days of delay won't have a significant impact."

"Alinda?" Tang Yan fiercely bit into the roasted chicken, his eyes shamelessly roaming over the sexy and mature tutor's body, his fiery gaze as if he wanted to devour her. The second son Tang's memories contained the mature beauty of Alinda, but seeing her in person was far more real and visually impactful.

Her tall figure, tender skin, and the beauty mark at the corner of her mouth made her a ripe peach, looking good in every way. If Yang Ruyan was a snow lotus in full bloom, Tutor Alinda was a fully blooming tulip, fragrant and alluring.

Due to the excitement of the ancient tomb exploration, Tang Yan always found a woman to vent his frustrations after each near-death experience. He never shied away from his desires, especially with someone as alluring as Alinda.

Noticing Tang Yan's fiery gaze, Alinda frowned slightly but ignored him, not even looking at him. She had never had a good impression of such rich kids, let alone a fifteen-year-old boy!

"Hey, I'm talking to you, Second Son Tang. Can't you be a bit more restrained? This is too shameless. Be careful, the male tutors might find an opportunity to deal with you!" A light-hearted voice sounded, and Tang Yan retracted his gaze from Alinda's buttocks, looking at a lazy-looking teenager.

According to the second son Tang's memories, this teenager was named Du Yang, from a poor background but with good talent. Relying on his persistence and hard work, he was admitted to Giant Elephant Academy and successfully advanced to the third-stage martial master two months ago, joining the team for today's mission at the last moment.

Although Du Yang came from a poor background, he had a strong personality and never associated with the major families. He had also clearly rejected the Tang family's recruitment, being very proud. He had no regard for Tang Yan, a frivolous second son.

If not for Tang Yan's unusual behavior today, he wouldn't have bothered to speak.

Tang Yan looked at Du Yang with interest but didn't respond, his gaze returning to the thirty students. Twenty of them came from poor backgrounds, most of whom had already been recruited by various families, while a few had pledged loyalty to the academy. The remaining ten were from large and medium-sized families, like Li Shouze and Yang Ruyan, and the tall, cold, and beautiful girl in the corner—Tang Ying, his cousin!

Of course, the term "cousin" was a source of pride for the second son Tang, who had always tried to protect her, but Tang Ying had never paid him any attention, neither showing dislike nor affection, treating him with complete indifference.

While Tang Yan secretly observed these students, Li Shouze gathered three students who had pledged loyalty to the Li family, discussing something in secret. Similarly, Yang Ruyan had two people around her, seemingly chatting casually, but their eyes occasionally glanced over, clearly targeting Tang Yan.

"Still not giving up." Tang Yan angrily bit into the chicken leg, starting to plan.

It was about a ten-day journey from here to the altar. If any more beast attacks occurred, he would struggle to protect himself. If they joined forces to cause trouble, it could be even more dangerous.

Second Son Tang, what did you do to these two to make them so determined to frame you?

What to do!!

Tang Yan was troubled, his attention falling on the strange pattern on his wrist. At that moment, a strange, muffled drum sound echoed in his mind, making his body tremble, and his spiritual energy surged uncontrollably, rushing towards the pattern.

As the drum sound continued, a strange scene appeared in his consciousness.

A coffin? A black coffin! Bones? Endless bones! Slaughter? A thousand images of frenzied fighting! A cage? A dark, lightless cage! And... a blurry figure...

Evil? Despair? Grievance? Agony? Bloodlust?

The drum sound accompanied the spreading scene, and the scene intensified the negative emotions.

Tang Yan felt a splitting headache, his face pale, but soon the drum sound stopped, the scene disappeared, and all the emotions vanished.

"What's wrong with you?" Du Yang looked at the convulsing and curled-up Tang Yan, puzzled. What was this frivolous second son up to?

Tang Yan was still shaken by the strange scene.

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

Tang Yan slowly regained his composure, still feeling a bit shaken. After a long silence, he suppressed the strange feeling, looked at Du Yang, and then at Li Shouze and the others in the distance. After a moment's thought, he moved closer to Du Yang, a strange emotion growing in his heart—burn him.

But soon, the emotion disappeared, and Tang Yan was secretly alarmed, though he didn't show it: "You don't join any family, nor pledge loyalty to the academy. What do you want?"

"To join the army."

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

"Is that not possible?"

"Do you want to be a general, or just for training?"

"Guess."

"It's none of my business, 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: "See that pair of dogs? If something goes wrong later, get your friends to tie them up. Only you can do it, and I'll give you a spirit-level martial technique!"

Du Yang was uncomfortable with Tang Yan's intimate gesture, frowning slightly, and was about to push his hand away but was caught by the last sentence.

A spirit-level martial technique? What a big deal!

Martial techniques are another measure of a martial artist's strength, divided into ordinary, spirit, earth, holy, and heaven levels, each with three sub-levels.

Most martial techniques in the outside world are ordinary, even those taught by the academies. Spirit and earth-level techniques are mostly controlled by major families, high-ranking academy officials, and the royal family. Ordinary people can only obtain spirit-level techniques through great opportunities or by joining families and academies and achieving certain accomplishments.

As for holy and heaven-level techniques, they have long been lost.

"Don't look at me with that suspicious eye. As long as you can tie up four or five of those seven people, I'll give you a suitable spirit-level martial technique when we return to Giant Elephant City. Don't you trust my character? Or doubt my ability?"

"To be honest, both."

Tang Yan rolled his eyes: "It's settled. I don't expect you to seriously injure them, just find a way to hold them off."

Du Yang didn't refuse outright but asked: "When? What kind of trouble?"

"Don't you find the fog strange? Don't you think it's a sign? Didn't you hear what Tutor Anno said just now? Do I need to explain it in more detail?"

Du Yang's eyes twitched, feeling a bit awkward, as if being scolded by a fool. But... he looked at Tang Yan in surprise. This kid... isn't a fool?!

Tang Yan looked at Tang Ying in the corner, considering whether it was necessary to deepen their relationship to get some support. This nominal cousin had good talent, reaching the third-stage martial master at the age of thirteen, making her one of the geniuses of Giant Elephant City. If she could help, it might save a lot of trouble.

He had just arrived in this world, not understanding anything, and was already being targeted. He needed to find a way to protect himself.

"..." Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed in the distance, mixed with some intense fighting, but soon... two more screams... everything returned to silence...

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