Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Lintong Headquarters...

The military instructor Fei Jiao had assigned to coach the special forces soldiers sat down on the training ground, right under the flag.

"Where did the news come from?"

"One of the villages outside of the safe zone, I think it's called Hua Village. The villagers said that they saw torn clothes on ripped-apart bodies when they walked past them somewhere nearby during the day. Judging from the clothes, we can basically say that the squad… was completely wiped out," said the soldier who was delivering the information.

"Huh, rescue team, rescue team… that was more like a suicide team. Which asshole was it that sent my men out there!?" cursed Fei Jiao as he quickly rose to his feet.

"Instructor, calm down..."

"How can I? Those who died are my students, my students! What do I tell Zhan Kong now!?" yelled Fei Jiao furiously.

He pointed at the buildings nearby and started cursing, from his superior to his subordinates, as if he had gone mad.

The Commanders in the meeting room did not dare to show themselves. Fei Jiao was firing the shots at pretty much everyone.

"Go, assemble a team… Bring them back, either alive or dead!" said Fei Jiao to the solder.

"Instructor, please calm down. They have most likely stumbled into a Dark Abyss. Otherwise, they would not be wiped out even if they merely bumped into a Corpse General!"

"What...what did you say?" Fei Jiao was startled.

"The Dark Abyss, they were chased by something, and somehow ended up close to a Dark Abyss. Even those with Wind Elements did not survive!"

"Dark...Dark Abyss… Why is that thing appearing?" blurted out the instructor, his eyes wide and face blank.

Dark Abyss...it was exactly like Hell. Even the strongest Magician in the entire Ancient Capital had no chance of surviving after falling into one.

Fei Jiao would not blink if he was told to enter the dragon's pond or the tiger's lair, but the Dark Abyss, it was not just a simple death, but falling straight into Hell... {TL Note: Dragon's pond, tiger's lair = an idiom used to describe dangerous places}

"Instructor, instead of making a scene here, you should notify the families of the dead. I've checked his background; Zhang Xiaohou came from Bo City. He grew up without his parents. It was his grandmother who raised him. Even though she survived the calamity of Bo City, she's approaching the end of her life… As for Zhang Xiaohou, you might want to tell him yourself. He also has a close friend, who should be the closest to him apart from his grandmother. Should I tell them the news?" asked the soldier.

"Zhan Kong has gone missing, how am I supposed to find him? As for his grandmother… don't tell her yet, she's already so old," Fei Jiao continued after a sigh, "As for his friend… I'll try to find Zhan Kong first. If I can't find him, we'll let his friend know."

"Instructor, don't do anything stupid, that's the Dark Abyss, God knows how many lives would be needed to fill it up..."

"I know that! Piss off from my sight, every time I see you, there's always bad news!"

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The Magic City...

Cold wind blew overhead. The city was filled with coughs everywhere, most likely due to the new flu that was spreading around.

"Why don't you close the window when you go to bed?" asked Ai Tutu as she glanced into Mo Fan's room.

"I'm a Fire Magician, and I also have a little mobile furnace lying beside me. I prefer the fresh air when the window's open!" Mo Fan sat in front of the computer and scrolled across the web pages, looking for interesting news related to the Ancient Capital.

The world was full of disastrous events. In his original world, there were natural disasters, but in this world, the disasters were usually invasions of demon beasts.

Ai Tutu proceeded to mock Mo Fan when she saw the guy suddenly became interested in affairs in the country.

Mo Fan turned off the computer and looked back at Ai Tutu. His gaze blithely swept past her busty chest before he replied sternly, "Did you just say that everyone ranked in the top twenty in every school has a chance to enter the Nomination Preliminaries for the World College Tournament?"

"Yeah, didn't you notice that Sister Mu has been cultivating in seclusion for a long time already?" said Ai Tutu.

"She did improve very quickly," Mo Fan nodded.

Mo Fan was fairly impressed by Mu Nujiao's determination. He did not see her much for the past few months, and every time they met, the girl always asked for a duel.

It was most likely because the formidable faction supporting Mu Nujiao had decided to focus on helping her enter the World College Tournament. Not only did she have two high-quality Soul Seeds, all the Equipment she was wearing was luxurious too. Ai Tutu had also told him that Mu Nujiao still had a trump card up in her sleeves. She was preparing to use it as a surprise move during the Nomination Preliminaries.

Mo Fan was looking forward to seeing it.

Thinking about it, Mu Nujiao's Mu Clan was one of the four great clans in Magic City. It went without saying that they would want to compete for the spot.

Similarly, the extremely wealthy Zhao Clan was in a similar situation, too...

Even the playboy Zhao Manyan had turned into a different person, always busy with some secret training.

Zhao Manyan was most likely not going to compete for the spot offered by the Institute. However, even if he were trying to earn a spot somewhere else, he still had to work extremely hard.

Regardless of having a formidable faction supporting them, the number of competitors was like a vast ocean. Without a certain level of capability, they had no chance of standing out among the candidates...

Basically, everyone who was planning to compete for the chance of being nominated for the World College Tournament had turned into a cultivation lunatic.

As for Ai Tutu...

This young mistress from a wealthy family had a huge bust, but little to no goals. She continued to enjoy life, but since her close friend had devoted herself on the path of cultivation, she was bored to death.

Mo Fan was a seeded candidate, thus he could skip the Nomination Preliminaries if he wanted to...

The others had all gone to cultivate, only Mo Fan was still slacking around, which was why Ai Tutu had been staying with Mo Fan lately, hoping that he would find something fun for her to do.

"Speaking of which, I suggest you take part in the Nomination Preliminaries, too," Ai Tutu was not planning to take part in them, but she was fairly familiar with the event.

"Why is that?" asked Mo Fan.

"You currently have three votes, which is basically no different than a provisional candidate, yet you still need to get a fourth vote somehow. If you manage to get the nomination, you basically earn yourself another vote. First, no one will be able to stop you from securing a spot, and second, you can also shut the mouths of those who are doubting you," Ai Tutu declared.

Mo Fan nodded. He agreed with her reasoning.

Not everyone was aware of how he got the three votes in the first place, thus they would assume that he was merely being favored by someone. As a result, they would not be convinced of his qualifications.

Meanwhile, Mo Fan had always liked fighting. The Nomination Preliminaries would definitely involve the strongest students in the entire Institute. If he did not take hold of the opportunity and trample some of those disrespectful idiots, wouldn't he simply let the Black Snake Armor, which he still hadn't used, and the Flame Belle, who had finally reached her Youth Stage, down?

As the saying went, a dragon gave birth to dragons, a phoenix gave birth to phoenixes, and the sons of mice were experts at digging holes. Even though Mo Fan did not give birth to the Flame Belle, out of all his resources, she was somehow better at stirring up trouble than her father!

The little Flame Belle was a huge fan of getting into fights!