Chapter 78: Safety and Danger? The Spirit Pact Ring Upgraded!
Ye Ze had not expected Liu Anran to be waiting for him.
It seemed that after the special training camp ended, she, as a specially recruited student from headquarters, had also completed one stage of training and could finally go home.
“It just happens to be on the way...”
Liu Anran pursed her lips slightly. Seeing that, Ye Ze let out a faint smile. “Sure.”
Looking at the boy and girl before him...
Wan Feipeng, standing to the side, scratched his head in confusion. For some reason, he felt as though he was quietly glowing and had become somewhat superfluous.
But he had clearly been there first!
He had been the first one waiting for Ye Ze here, damn it!
Seeing Wan Feipeng standing there in a daze, Ye Ze could not help finding it funny and called out to him.
After all, Wan Feipeng had brought him to the special training camp in the first place. There was no way Ye Ze could just heartlessly leave him behind now that it was over.
The three of them boarded Ye Ze’s exclusive Hovercar.
They headed back to Linyuan City.
With the college entrance exam and the opening of the first Mythic-grade Secret Realm both fast approaching, Ye Ze planned to return and improve his strength some more.
If he really got the chance to enter a Mythic-grade Secret Realm, the competition would certainly be unprecedented, so he naturally had to make thorough preparations.
Of course, if the other students taking the college entrance exam knew that Ye Ze could still drastically increase his combat power...they would probably break down in tears on the spot: Please, just stop already!
At that moment, inside Ye Ze’s special car back to Linyuan City, there were long sofa seats lining both sides.
Ye Ze and Liu Anran sat on one side, while Wan Feipeng sat alone on the opposite side. All three of them remained silent.
Wan Feipeng felt, at one point, that his brightness had increased even more.
As they neared Linyuan City, Ye Ze suddenly looked puzzled.
“The garrison in Linyuan City has already gone back to normal?”
Just one day earlier, the Director of the Investigation Division had gone missing in No. 17 Contaminated Land, and Linyuan City had instantly gone into a state of alert.
Yet after just a single day, everything had already returned to normal?
Seeing that there was finally something to talk about, Wan Feipeng immediately replied, “It’s already been resolved. The Director of the Investigation Division and all accompanying personnel returned safely.”
“Returned safely? All of them?”
Ye Ze could not help feeling surprised.
There were very few cases in which a team missing for more than a day inside a Contaminated Land returned completely intact.
Even having part of the team make it back would already count as an ideal outcome. But for all of them to return... that was a little too ideal.
Liu Anran had not known anything about this matter while she was at headquarters, so she could only listen quietly.
Wan Feipeng immediately tried to ease Ye Ze’s concern.
“Don’t worry. The Demon Suppression Army has already verified them. They’ve all been confirmed to be the real people.”
“According to the Director himself, they discovered some kind of strange crystal, which caused them to lose their bearings and their signal...”
Ye Ze still frowned. “They were all verified? Their abilities too?”
It was not that Ye Ze was naturally suspicious.
Rather, during the Ancient Battlefield, while the World Tree was answering questions, he had remembered a principle it brought up: the lion hunting the rabbit.
Even when a lion hunted a rabbit, it still used its full strength.
That meant that when dealing with Fiends, even weak ones, one still had to go all out, because Fiends used strange methods and did not allow for even the slightest carelessness.
It also meant that Fiends, when dealing with their enemies, would also go all out.
Even when Fiends were stronger overall than their opponents, they would not underestimate any enemy. In fact, the stronger the Fiends were, the more sinister they often became.
The already-destroyed Myriad Spirit World had suffered exactly because of this.
But Wan Feipeng still answered with certainty, “The city garrison already verified them. Their abilities are also their own.”
“They are absolutely not replacements like Skin-Flayer Fiends.”
“That’s good, then.”
Only after hearing the Demon Suppression Army garrison’s verification result did Ye Ze finally relax a little.
The Hovercar landed near the War Academy.
The moment they got out, they saw the smiling Liu Boyan arriving with several teachers to welcome them, including Xia Qing, who had now become a full-fledged teacher.
Although the results of the special training camp were confidential and had not been announced, the return of two students from the War Academy was still something worth celebrating!
“Dad~”
After several days apart, even Liu Anran, who was usually aloof, could not help becoming rather emotional.
Seeing that, Ye Ze teased, “Teacher Liu, the corners of your mouth are about to reach your ears. Are you really that happy?”
At the side, Xia Qing could not help laughing as well and explained,
“There’s another reason.”
“It’s because the Director came back, so Teacher Liu finally doesn’t have to work overtime anymore and can rest.”
No wonder. She had finally survived the grind and made it to her break... Ye Ze understood that perfectly well.
Wan Feipeng got out and swept his gaze around, then asked displeasedly,
“Where’s your Vice Dean? The special training camp students came back, and he couldn’t even be bothered to show up?”
One of the teachers explained, “The Vice Dean went to receive the Director of the Investigation Division. Apparently there are some results to be submitted...”
Wan Feipeng snorted. “Wouldn’t be surprising if he’s just trying to steal some credit.”
Still, no one was too concerned about that at the moment.
After the welcome ceremony, there had originally been a dinner gathering planned, but Ye Ze still had three treasures he had not used yet, so he headed straight home first.
...
Meanwhile, inside the War Academy.
Zhao Xuan wore a gloomy expression.
Ever since he had learned that Ye Ze had solo-cleared a Group Dungeon, been awarded a Bronze Medal, and even been taken away by the City Lord to participate in the special training camp...the series of events had made him, who had always taken surpassing Ye Ze as his goal, feel deeply pained.
How was it that the harder he worked, the farther away that goal seemed to become?!
At that moment, he held a transfer application in his hand and headed toward the Vice Dean’s office to get it stamped.
“Once I transfer to Dongwu No. 1 High School, that’ll be where I really shine!”
“Sooner or later—sooner or later, I’ll beat Ye Ze!”
He walked through the academic building and arrived at the Vice Dean’s office on the second floor.
He raised his hand and knocked. Knock, knock.
No one answered.
“No one’s there? But hadn’t I just arranged it with Zhou Wei?”
Just as Zhao Xuan was wondering about it, the door to the Vice Dean’s office opened by itself.
Zhao Xuan looked up inside, and his whole body froze in place...
The floor was drenched in blood-red gore, and by the doorway lay half of Vice Dean Zhou Wei’s head.
On the leather chair in the office, a figure sat back at ease.
A pressure like a raging sea crashed down on Zhao Xuan so heavily that he could barely breathe.
“K-King-class...”
SLAP—
A huge blood-red hand shot out from the office and smashed Zhao Xuan into a splatter of blood and flesh.
Zhao Xuan died.
At that very moment, a female student happened to be passing by.
The scene of Zhao Xuan being slapped into a spray of blood unfolded right in front of her eyes...
And yet, it was as though she had seen nothing at all. She looked around to either side and even muttered to herself,
“Huh? Where did Zhao Xuan go? I just saw him come over here...”
...
...
Ye Ze copied Shadow Meld and transformed into a mass of darkness to hurry home.
At the same time, he had Squirrel dispatch fifty Shadow Clones to move through various parts of Linyuan City and investigate.
“If you find anything unusual, report it at once.”
What had happened with the Director of the Investigation Division still left him somewhat uneasy. And even if nothing happened, the Shadow Clones could still be swapped with later for travel, so they would not be wasted.
When he got home, Ye Ze impatiently took out the three treasures he had exchanged for and began improving his strength.
First, he directly used the Legendary Equipment Upgrade Ticket and prepared to upgrade the Spirit Pact Ring!
【The upgraded equipment attributes are as follows:】
【Spirit Pact Ring (Summoner Exclusive)】
Quality: Golden Legend☆
Attributes: Agility +30, Spirit +60, Mana +1000
Special Effect: When summoned beasts are nearby, Movement Speed +300%!
Attached Skill - ‘Spirit Pact’: May copy two temporary skills from contracted summoned beasts. They disappear after one use, but may be stored. Mana Cost: 100. Cooldown: 20 minutes.
【Confirm upgrade?】
————
Just as he had expected!
It had originally only been able to copy one skill at a time, but now it could copy two!
It had not disappointed Ye Ze’s expectations at all!
“Confirm upgrade!”
And just like that, as a Summoner, Ye Ze now possessed his very first Legendary equipment.
He immediately copied Martial Dao Mastery. This Talent, which granted 80% cooldown reduction, reduced stamina consumption, and ignored negative status effects, could now remain active almost permanently!
For the second copied skill, he chose Shadow Meld. If danger arose, he could always turn into a shadow and slip away.
After that, he took out the dual-race Summoning Skill Book!
“Demon plus Dragon... I wonder if there’ll be a real powerhouse in there?”
Ultimate Summoning had already been bestowed upon Ye Ze. If there was nothing especially strong below level 16 within that dual-race lineage, then this would be a huge loss!
But... probably not, right?
Following his usual habit, Ye Ze took Squirrel into one hand and used the Skill Book with the other!
【Ultimate Summoning has taken effect!】