Early morning, at the academy entrance.
The morning mist had not yet fully dissipated.
The group stood before the teleportation array, waiting for the teacher’s instructions.
Xuan Xi touched the jade pendant under her collar.
The dark cyan jade surface pressed against her chest, warm, as if nourishing her body.
“Are you all ready?”
Cecilia’s voice came from the side.
She wasn’t wearing the academy uniform today; instead, she had changed into a dark gray combat suit, with a short sword hanging at her waist, looking every bit like an examiner.
“We’re ready!”
Everyone answered.
Cecilia’s gaze swept over everyone’s faces, finally stopping on Xuan Xi.
“The anomalous areas of Echo Valley have been marked on your maps. Each node’s completion will be counted toward your assessment grade. But I still want to remind you—”
She paused.
“There may also be some threats outside the nodes. The academy only cleared out the high-level magical beasts in Echo Valley. Quite a few intermediate and low-level magical beasts still survive, so don’t think that the area outside the nodes is safe.”
Everyone nodded.
The teleportation array immediately lit up.
Pale blue light rose from the ground, enveloping the five people’s bodies.
Elsa took a deep breath.
Reggie clenched his fist.
Veralis still wore a cold expression.
SigrdrÃfa stood beside Xuan Xi, shoulder to shoulder with her.
The light of the teleportation array grew brighter and brighter, then everything dissipated, sending everyone dispersedly into Echo Valley.
The entrance to Echo Valley was a rift valley.
The rock walls on both sides towered into the clouds, covered with dark green vines.
Among the vines bloomed some unknown white flowers.
“The concentration of spiritual qi here is quite high.”
Veralis looked at the spiritual qi detector in her hand, her ice-blue eyes narrowing slightly.
“It’s at least three times higher than the training ground inside the academy…”
Elsa’s expression changed.
“Three times? Then if I use fire in here—”
“The power could double.”
Reggie finished her sentence.
“But it will also be more unstable. Your fireball could become a fire wall, or you might lose control and cause—an explosion.”
Xuan Xi didn’t speak.
She closed her eyes and extended her perception outward.
The water-attribute spiritual qi in the air spread in all directions, moist and heavy, carrying the scent of an ancient forest.
She could feel the roots of every tree spreading underground in the valley, every vine climbing the rock walls, every flower swaying in the wind.
She could even feel the ants crawling in the cracks of rocks and the wriggling of animals deep in the soil.
Her perception range expanded at an astonishing speed within Echo Valley.
“Five hundred meters.”
Xuan Xi opened her eyes, a hint of surprise in her voice.
“I can sense a range of five hundred meters in any direction—more than double what I could during training.”
Veralis nodded.
“It’s even larger than expected. This means the spiritual qi concentration in Echo Valley is higher than imagined, and your water attribute has a unique advantage here. Moreover—”
She glanced at Xuan Xi.
“After your fourth Destiny Mark awakened, your perception has also improved quite a bit.”
“Good, then I’ll take the lead.”
Xuan Xi lifted her foot and was the first to walk into the rift valley.
SigrdrÃfa followed on her right, less than a meter away.
Reggie was at the rear, Elsa on the left, Veralis in the middle.
The rock walls on both sides of the rift grew higher and higher, the sky turning into a narrow blue crack.
Vines hung down from the rock walls, almost touching their heads.
After walking for about twenty minutes, Xuan Xi stopped and raised her right hand.
The entire team halted at the same time.
“There’s something ahead.”
Xuan Xi’s gaze fixed ahead. The rift valley widened here, forming a semicircular small basin.
In the center of the basin was an empty area, but there was nothing on it—even the grass was withered and yellow, lifeless.
Her perception told her that in the very center of that empty area was a hollow spot.
Like an invisible vortex, swallowing all the surrounding spiritual qi.
“This is the Energy Turbulence Zone.”
Veralis opened her notebook.
“According to the academy’s materials, the energy field in this kind of zone disrupts elemental output. Attacks and defenses may fail, and even perception and space can be distorted.”
“How distorted?”
Elsa’s voice was lower than usual.
“Let’s find out by trying.”
Reggie picked up a stone and threw it toward the center of the empty area.
The stone traced a parabola in the air. The moment it fell into the empty area—there was no sound of landing as expected.
The stone hadn’t even hit the ground; there was no impact sound. It simply vanished, as if swallowed by the empty area.
Elsa stepped back.
Reggie took the opportunity to pull her behind him.
“The sample collection point is at the center of the empty area.”
Veralis looked at the map.
“Xuan Xi, your water attribute is least affected. You go in and collect the sample. We’ll support you from the perimeter.”
Xuan Xi nodded.
She took a deep breath and stepped into that withered yellow empty area.
The grass underfoot was dry, making a crisp breaking sound as she stepped on it. The farther she went toward the center, the thinner the spiritual qi became. At the very center, the spiritual qi almost completely disappeared.
She crouched down and found at the base of the withered grass a fragment emitting a faint glow—this was the core shard of the energy disturbance, the size of a fingernail, emitting a grayish-white light.
She picked it up with her fingers and placed it into a sample vial.
Just as she stood up, the surrounding energy field suddenly fluctuated violently, and a huge suction force came from under her feet.
She steadied herself. All four Destiny Marks lit up at the same time, dark golden light spreading from the corners of her eyes to her cheekbones.
Spiritual qi surged from her Dantian, helping her stabilize her body.
The suction lasted for over ten seconds, then gradually dissipated.
Xuan Xi walked out of the empty area and handed the sample vial to Veralis.
“First node complete.”
Elsa leaned in to look at the grayish-white fragment.
“This thing?”
“This thing.”
Veralis put the sample vial into her backpack.
“The core shard of the energy disturbance. This is exactly what the academy wants.”
“Let’s go.”
Xuan Xi said.
“We’re heading to the next node.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.