A few minutes later, they all returned to the airport entrance. Amid the blackened ruins of the Barren Black Tower, Yu Jing pointed to two clumps of spirit energy and said: “Here, the left one is Professor Swina, and the right is Bill… or maybe the other way around.”
Xu Chuyao quietly wiped the sweat off her face—not from fear, but from the heat.
“So, Head Teacher, you…”
“That’s right. You all didn’t know—at that moment, the situation was extremely dangerous, as if we’d been frozen in place, and I was being forced to fight by those two bastards. Two against one, and they weren’t going easy. Just when things were at their worst, suddenly the air was filled with the scent of something burning. You all didn’t see it, but their faces changed on the spot. They tried to fight back, but the situation shifted in an instant…”
“Say less, will you?” Yu Jing shot him a look, “You’re still not being honest even when you’re injured. Xiao Si Nuo, make sure he stays put.”
Xiao Si Nuo, who was helping to bandage up the Head Teacher, tightened the bandage a bit and mumbled, “Head Teacher, I’m wrapping your arm, not your mouth.”
For some reason, his voice was much quieter than usual.
Xu Chuyao knew from her own feeling and the way everyone was acting that it was obvious—her favorite homeroom teacher had reached the fourth stage.
“Head Teacher, you really are…” she said sincerely, “amazing.”
“You even managed to break through in a crisis…”
Yu Jing gave a light laugh, pulling out a handkerchief from her pouch, but there was no more sand inside.
She sighed gently. After the Yichen Sand had been used up, it disappeared with the wind, just like the shadows of her companions, helping her through one last stand before heading off to distant places, never to return…
“Head Teacher, do you think this is useful?” Xu Chuyao raised her eyebrows, “If it is, I’ll have Shen Ning help you gather some more, right, Shen Ning?”
Suddenly called on, Shen Ning thought for a moment and nodded, “Right, there’s still a lot.”
Fortunately, not long after, the person in charge of the airport finally arrived, late as ever.
Xu Chuyao used her golden Starlight to take full control of the airport, instructing the staff to hurry up and get to work. Although they hadn’t managed to recover the signal jammer for the time being, someone did bring over a Satellite Phone.
With the phone, they finally connected to Center City and first called Principal Lu to explain the situation.
“What? You were attacked? Hold on, I’ll be right there—”
“Don’t, no need to come.” Xu Chuyao hurriedly said, “The Head Teacher has reached the fourth stage, so you don’t have to come. Just send a special plane to pick us up.”
“…Eh? Fourth stage, Teacher Yu?!”
Principal Lu was deeply shocked.
Xu Chuyao didn’t have time to explain much, hung up after a few words, and immediately dialed Long E.
“Wang Li is a spy, an undercover from the Supreme Society, and she definitely has plans for the Equator Defense Line. Be careful of Valhalla Island’s Research Institute in southern Indonesia.” The girl rattled off a list of names as if reciting dishes, then added, “Monrose is also involved. They teamed up to set us up, and Monrose also has designs on the Equator Defense Line.”
Long E was thrown off by the flood of names, especially since it included two high-level figures.
“Calm down, I’ll have someone note this down and get people to look into it.”
After making these two calls, Xu Chuyao returned the Satellite Phone to the airport staff, folded her arms, and looked at them: “What are you standing there for? Didn’t you say there’d be food? The Service Area’s over there.”
Thank goodness, the main battle zone had been at the exit, while the Service Area was in the other direction, so the food court was safe and sound.
“That woman with the layers of plant clothing went over there?” Shen Ning was a bit worried the enemy might come back, “What if she doubles back to attack us?”
Xu Chuyao poked her head out.
“No, she’s finally about to realize her own wish, she won’t take any risks now.”
Right now, Wang Li was probably headed to see the animal show she’d been longing for.
A hundred miles away, Wang Li was in a Chapel, where several of her subordinates were busily helping her bandage her wounds.
“No luck. Killing Xu Chuyao was never my mission, just something I tried on a whim.” She spoke into the phone, “I’ve done what I needed to do.”
After hanging up, Wang Li instructed her subordinates, “Hurry, hurry, get the signal connected, let me see.”
As the Deputy Director of the Conquest Department, she naturally had the authority to connect to any surveillance feed along the defense line for real-time checks. Now, she used it to watch the live broadcast from the scene.
Several people brought over a screen and placed it in front of Wang Li, giving her the best possible viewing angle. At this moment, all thoughts of failed assassinations, the enemy’s close calls, or being slashed by a trio of girls—all unhappy matters—were set aside.
“Come watch, everyone! See a peak fourth-stage powerhouse shake the Equator Defense Line and terrify humanity!”
At this time, on a small island in southern Indonesia, Monrose, who had just arrived, had no idea about any defense line, betrayal, or anything else. The world around him was completely black, with only a few cat-like figures in the distance.
He wasn’t surprised by this scene, since the briefing had said that this was exactly what he’d encounter after coming here. He only needed to defeat them all.
He just didn’t know why these people sounded a bit off—he couldn’t quite understand them.
“Who are you? State your name quickly, hands on your head, or we’ll attack right now!”
He had no idea what they were saying, so Monrose just flicked his ear.
The proud spiritual technique Per Elfus had spent his life developing, when used on a fourth-stage powerhouse, might not have a strong effect. But since the other side wasn’t resisting and was fully cooperating, a little interference was acceptable.
For example, making sure the other guy couldn’t speak or understand the common tongue for ten minutes.
“Attack!”
Members of the second, fourth, and seventh squads from the defense line charged forward, ready to take down this intruder in the Forbidden Military Zone.
“A bunch of ignorant brats!” Monrose sneered coldly.
He didn’t need to use his hands—just a light tap of his foot, and the fourth-stage peak spirit power erupted. The entire island trembled, and whether hard rock or soft sand, all was disintegrated to its most basic particles.
At that instant, everyone on the island paused—whether it was those near the No.1 Trial Field, patrolling squads, troops stationed along the coast, or the various gangs led by monks and self-proclaimed masters. The entire island’s thousands of spirit users—countless at the second or third stage, even a few fourth-stage commanders—all looked up in shock towards the No.1 Trial Field.
Monrose raised his withered hand, closed his eyes, and spoke the phrase he was most proud of in his life:
“Mountains are born by the moon, earth returns to earth.”