Chapter 344

Chapter 344: Another Leader of the Second Rank

On the roof of a teaching building at the Cultivator School, a young man walked to the edge and gazed down at the entire school. As the cold wind whipped up snowflakes, his white robe fluttered, revealing a sharp blue battle outfit underneath.

He swept his gaze over the school before stopping at a particular spot on the building where there were no windows, as if he could see through the walls. At that moment, footsteps sounded behind him.

A woman dressed similarly entered, her brilliant red hair flowing in the wind, while her outer robe rustled, exposing silver crescent patterns embroidered on both sides.

“Xiao Shun, how long do you want to keep wandering? This isn’t the time for leisure,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Huo Yang, why rush? It’s nice to see your students in advance, isn’t it?” the young man replied with a sidelong glance.

He was exceptionally handsome, exuding a strong masculine aura. When he looked back, the hint of yellow light in his eyes faded, revealing their deep, dark color.

“Just because you know them doesn’t mean they know you. It’s better to leave some surprises for yourself. And it’s not ‘Huo Yang’ anymore; call me Aunt, or at least Captain,” Huo Yang sighed.

“How could that be? That’s too old-fashioned. I still respect you, Huo Yang,” the young man replied.

“Too old-fashioned? That’s the reality. My time leading you won’t last much longer. In five years, I’ll be leaving the Second Rank. Fortunately, we have indeed achieved great results these years, so I can confidently hand things over to you.”

Huo Yang shook her head, casually flicking a flame that melted the falling snowflakes. “Life is fleeting; in the blink of an eye, it seems to come to an end.”

“Not at all; it’s our incompetence. If it weren’t for us, you could have continued in your duties, and something like Wu Cheng wouldn’t have happened,” the young man replied.

“Wu Cheng? When someone has power, he can disregard order to some extent and various issues arise. The artifacts of our Tomorrow Society aren’t like those in Huangzhou, where betrayal leads to death; if they escape without leaking knowledge, they might indeed escape justice. Even for Wu Cheng, it’s human nature to take risks,” Huo Yang sighed, feeling little emotion towards it.

This was expected and bound to happen; her only concern was how young Wu Cheng was.

“The wisdom of practitioners doesn’t depend on age; that’s what Tomorrow Society believes—after all, geniuses can break the norm, whether in combat or advancing to the Second Rank; everything can happen early.”

“It’s too smooth, Huo Yang. I can empathize with that high-flying feeling. Ten years ago, when I became a Fourth Rank, I also felt the world was at my fingertips. That feeling is poison; it’s too deadly. If it weren’t for my father’s strict education, I might have gotten along well with Wu Cheng.”

The young man shook his head.

“Indeed, Wu Cheng lacks parental guidance and education, and even if Tomorrow Society noticed the issue, they can’t act as parents. Simple advice is completely ineffective… This flaw needs attention,” Huo Yang frowned.

“Hahaha! If I made a mistake or got too high on myself, my dad would instantly give me a good thrashing and tell a bunch of stories about his great achievements and hard obstacles he faced. That method works, but unfortunately, it won’t work if they’re not your parents.”

As he spoke, the young man burst out laughing.

“Let’s go, Wang Shun, the vacation time is up. This time, we must seize control of ‘Quming Town’ and connect our positions.”

Huo Yang suddenly raised her hand, receiving a surge of Spirit Sense information from her wrist.

The young man nodded.

Nether Fire blazed fiercely, engulfing both of them as they instantly vanished from the Cultivator School.

After they disappeared, a child who had been gazing at the area the young man was focused on suddenly raised his head, revealing ice-blue Spiritual Eyes.

“Gave up the First Rank position and went to the front line? You’ve grown up without even realizing it.”

“There exists a world of immortality, yet it makes most people give up on it. That’s the greatest contradiction; Tomorrow Society does this…”

“It cannot last.”

To maintain this balance, all Tomorrow Society can do is continually defeat enemies to gain resources, thus easing the contradiction. Otherwise, someone like Wu Cheng would appear one after another.

…

“Finished!”

“I’m exhausted! It was just optimizing a simple bug curse, and it took us two whole months! Now I truly understand how precious the vast knowledge in the library is!”

“Fool, we spent most of our time studying. Once we become real researchers, we won’t need to spend so much time.”

“That’s true. Yang Yu, you’ve passed the assessment and become a Sixth Rank Scholar, right? How does it feel?”

A little girl played with Yang Yu’s hair, tying it into a pretty braid.

“Hmm…”

Yang Yu nodded, pondering for a moment. “Everyone seems so impressive, right? Their use of Spirit Sense, Wood Elemental Spiritual Law, Water Elemental Spiritual Law, and even Physical Law; once their levels rise and they start researching, their efficiency is on a completely different level than ours.”

“Physical Law? Speaking of which, it seems that Physical Law is very popular lately. Many laboratories require third-level life force control to get hired; it looks like there’s a new discovery.” Tang Si said while styling Yang Yu’s hair.

“About that, since Physical Law focuses on using vitality, someone at the Society suggested researching spirit pills to improve the physical constitution of ordinary beings.” Yang Yu had joined the Society, and although being a Sixth Rank member was just an ordinary level, it was indeed much easier to access new information than as a student.

With improved Spirit Sense to enhance operational efficiency, a book could be completed in no time. The majority of the time was dedicated to review.

Thus, the knowledge in the library had a delay of several months.

On Earth, this would sound like complete absurdity; it was just too fast, but in the extraordinary world, individual efficiency is extremely high, making a few months feel slow, mainly to ensure no errors were recorded in the books.

Assurance requires experimental proof, which is indeed time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Due to this situation, when new knowledge appeared, it often circulated within the community long before the Spiritual Law books were published.

“Alright, it’s organized. Do you want to review it again, Wei Yang?” Tian Jialun suddenly said.

“Let’s go and verify. The actual results might have various discrepancies.” Yun Ye nodded.

“Let’s go, let’s go! I’ve been looking forward to this for so long!”

“I feel like I can brag to Mom and Dad this time; it’s really not easy!”

The group chatted and laughed as they ventured out into the heavy snowfall.

Don’t be misled by the snowy weather.

In this world, many life forms are not afraid of extreme cold or heat.

Hmm…

This refers to creatures that are truly terrifying—the winter mosquito!

Of course, there are not only mosquitoes and flies but also other creatures like cockroaches and hidden-winged insects.

Many similar creatures can be found in this world, and they are all enhanced versions of vitality.

“Um, so the experimental site is indeed a junkyard?”

Tian Jialun covered his nose in disgust.

Having practiced Physical Law, his senses were extremely sharp, and being in such an area was truly torturous.

“It definitely smells pretty bad. I’ll use Spiritual Law to isolate it, so it doesn’t affect your performance.”

Yun Ye waved his hand and cast Water Law over everyone.

A blue mask covered their mouths and noses; this Spiritual Law could automatically filter harmful air and was generally used to prevent poisoning.

“It’s quite shocking.”

Tang Si remarked.

It was indeed filthy; garbage piled up like mountains, and dirty water was everywhere. Was there no plan to clean this up?

“Don’t be alarmed. This is intentional; many students recently need to test their Techniques. It wouldn’t be good to waste their time searching for places, so it was left untouched. Normally, this garbage would be burned with spirit fire, leaving no residue.”

Yun Ye explained.

From any perspective, the Five Elements Spiritual Law was perfect; it was a universal power.

“I see.”

The group nodded in agreement; it was reasonable. Spiritual Laws like the Immortal Flame could easily dispose of garbage.

They began to set up the Spirit Law ceremony, constructing a simple altar on site.

Tian Jialun also picked up the talisman pen and started drawing the incantations to enhance the Spirit Law on the spirit paper.

While waiting, Yong Fa suddenly pointed into the distance: “Wow, what a huge insect!”

“How big can it be?” Just as Tian Jialun finished speaking, he shouted, “Fool! That’s not one big bug; it’s a group of them! Ahh, disgusting! Quick, take them out!”

A centipede about five meters high swam through the sky.

It was a mass composed of countless black insects.

Although the number of these insects was terrifying, they emitted almost no demonic energy and were not spirit insects, so they didn’t pose much of a threat.

“They’re spirit energy adaptation insects; we can eliminate them directly with Spirit Law. It’s a perfect opportunity to test the curse.”

Yun Ye waved his hand, and the water barrier isolated the inside from the outside, preventing all the black bugs from getting close.

These black insects slammed against the water barrier, trying to surge in, but the water was flowing; any that crashed in would be thrown back out. Some common insects simply could not breach Yun Ye’s power.

“Really disgusting! Hurry up, Tian Jialun!”

Yong Fa urged as he saw the situation clearly.

“Do you think I don’t want to go faster? The talismans can’t have even the slightest mistake!”

Tian Jialun shot him a glare and focused on drawing the symbols quickly required for the ceremony.

“By the way, can this junkyard foster so many insects? Why are there so many? Or are they coming from outside?”

Wu Xianzhang suddenly asked.

“They probably reproduce naturally. Not to mention the demon and spirit insects, many ordinary insects can evolve to adapt to spirit energy; this type of body can absorb spirit energy, reducing their food intake. Even if they eat very little, they can grow as big as a finger or even a fist.”

“If some accidents occur and their size stays smaller, they could reproduce millions within a few months. Alright, the ceremony is about to end; don’t release your energy casually and disrupt the effectiveness of the ceremony.”

Yang Yu said.

“Hope the effect is good.”

Yun Ye held up the freshly drawn talisman with high expectations.

Human-generated garbage provides an excellent environment for these insects.

For ordinary people, the damage from an insect plague can be more severe than an invasion by demons, so there must be protective tools to isolate and prevent large-scale insect disasters.

For the current Tomorrow Society, cleaning up the insects was no small issue; it related to the land use of multiple strongholds guarding the Dao lineage!