The Talking Gate

When the recruits heard the instructor's question, they looked at one another, unsure what he was trying to say.

"All of you seemed pretty capable before, didn't you? Why have you gone mute now?"

The instructor was named Han Li, a veteran instructor of the Nightwatchers. His greatest strength was not his Forbidden Ruins, but his ability to handle any weapon with skill: Proficiency in All Weapons.

The purpose of Instructor Han's class today was to teach the recruits not to rely so much on external things like Forbidden Ruins.

External things could always be restricted. The recruits were a perfect example: a forbidden item in the training camp had suppressed their Forbidden Ruins. If they had no weapon they were skilled with to protect themselves, they would be like lambs waiting for slaughter before all manner of mysteries.

But today, Instructor Han had encountered a major teaching crisis.

The first fellow to answer his question was Shen Qingzhu, who possessed the ultra-high-risk Forbidden Ruins, Qi Min.

The second fellow he had called up for a practice bout was the Baili Family's young granduncle, who was covered in forbidden items. Han Li's wooden blade had been shattered by some forbidden item called Yaoguang.

After being embarrassed by two students, Instructor Han fixed his gaze on a third recruit.

From the very beginning, this recruit had seemed bored and distracted, paying no attention to what he said.

"The recruit in the third row, fourth from the end. Yes, stop pointing at yourself. I mean you. Answer my question!" Instructor Han shouted, pointing at a recruit below the platform.

But when the recruits heard whom he had picked, they immediately began whispering among themselves.

"Is this instructor new?"

"Didn't he watch the match against the Masked Squad two days ago?"

"How dare he call that guy out to answer a question?!"

Instructor Han was a little puzzled. He had a problem: he was face-blind.

That was especially true with recruits. Although there were men and women among them, once they put on camouflage uniforms and had nearly identical hairstyles, he couldn't tell them apart at all. As for the one he had picked, all he knew was that he was a male recruit; he couldn't match him to a name.

"Huh? What do I rely on to kill monsters? Uh, I rely on... gods?" Lin Qiye, who had been called on, was visibly confused.

His mind had been wandering just now, and he hadn't heard a word Instructor Han had said earlier, so his answer had been entirely instinctive.

What do I have the most of right now? Gods in my head. So I rely on gods to kill monsters. Nothing wrong with that, right?

"Rely on gods? Who do you think you are?! Gods, my—" But before Instructor Han could finish, he felt that something was wrong.

The more he looked at the person in front of him, the more familiar he seemed. Remembering what the recruits had just been whispering, Instructor Han broke out in a cold sweat.

Holy shit, isn't that Lin Qiye, the Double God's Agent?! Has my brain short-circuited? Chief Yuan specifically warned me not to single him out as an example. I must have lost my mind!

Thinking quickly, Instructor Han immediately pointed at Cao Yuan, who was standing beside Lin Qiye.

"I wasn't talking about you, Lin Qiye. I meant the one next to you. Yes, the one with the expressionless face. You, come up here!"

Once Cao Yuan had stepped onto the platform, Instructor Han tossed him a wooden blade, but Cao Yuan didn't catch it.

"Amitabha. I... can't hold a blade," Cao Yuan said, pressing his palms together.

"You can't hold a blade? What is wrong with all of you?! Enough nonsense. You attack, I defend. That's an order! Pick up the blade. I said pick it up!" Instructor Han felt as though he was about to die of anger.

"All right." Cao Yuan sighed and silently bent down.

At that instant, all the recruits retreated dozens of meters.

Instructor Han had no idea why, but by the time he came to his senses, the formerly meek and obedient recruit in front of him had become a completely different person.

A murderous aura shot into the sky, completely enveloping Cao Yuan. His upper body was bare, and he was grinning viciously at Instructor Han.

Seriously, can't there be a single normal person in this training camp?!

"Everyone, evacuate the training ground immediately!" he could only shout. Then he raised his blade to meet Cao Yuan, who had already fallen into a berserk state.

Below the platform, everyone had fled in a flash. Only Baili Pangpang and Lin Qiye had stayed relatively close.

"Qiye, Instructor Han is powerful, but he doesn't have enough strength. I have to help him! At least he has to hold out until the other instructors get here!" Baili Pangpang immediately took his necklace in hand and flung it forcefully toward the platform with his right hand. A streak of golden light shot out like a sharp sword, turned into a golden rope, and wrapped around the berserk Cao Yuan.

But the flames on Cao Yuan burned more and more fiercely, taking only two seconds to burn through the golden rope.

Instructor Han got away, but Cao Yuan turned his gaze toward Baili Pangpang below the platform.

"Qiye, save me!"

Baili Pangpang was so frightened that he fell flat on his backside.

Lin Qiye frowned helplessly.

He had never encountered Cao Yuan in this state before. All he knew was that even the Masked Squad found him troublesome. Cao Yuan's Forbidden Ruins was the ultra-high-risk Black King Annihilation, ranked thirty-first.

The power of those Forbidden Ruins was far too great, but Cao Yuan's realm was insufficient, so he couldn't control them at all. The moment he held any blade or sword, he would go berserk.

The instructors' and recruits' Forbidden Ruins were all restricted by a forbidden item, leaving them unable to stand against Cao Yuan. The perceptive abilities of his own Mortal Divine Realm had also been greatly reduced, both his mental power and dynamic vision, but Starry Night Dancer had barely been diminished.

The Seventy-Two Transformations Zhou Meng had given him hadn't been diminished either.

What he needed to do now was use the abilities he still had to bring the crazed Cao Yuan under control.

Two ideas instantly came to Lin Qiye. The first was to borrow a blade from Baili Pangpang. He was a walking Forbidden Item Museum, so he was sure to have something as common as a blade. Although Cao Yuan had lost his mind and grown much stronger, he was a complete amateur when it came to wielding a blade, and his blade work was easy to read. Lin Qiye could use a forbidden item to meet him head-on, then try to subdue him with a combination of the Scroll of Sealing and divine might.

The other option was to use the Seventy-Two Transformations, which he could still employ!

In the blink of an eye, Cao Yuan, whose attention had been redirected, had already charged to Baili Pangpang's side. Lin Qiye moved and immediately stepped in front of him.

His figure suddenly grew insubstantial, breaking apart into particles before reforming again.

"Thud!"

Baili Pangpang squeezed his eyes shut in fright, thinking his Yaoguang had activated. But something felt wrong. When he opened his eyes again, he found an enormous gate standing in front of him!

The gate was covered in intricate patterns, as though some kind of magic had been cast on it.

Cao Yuan's blade struck it, but failed to leave the slightest damage.

Lin Qiye had turned into the Mental Hospital's gate!

"Qiye? Qiye? Huh, where did Qiye go?" Baili Pangpang was somewhat dumbfounded.

Wasn't Qiye in front of me? How did he turn into a gate?

"You idiot, run!" Lin Qiye's voice suddenly came from the gate.

"Mommy! The gate's talking! And it's using Qiye's voice! I must be dreaming! I must be dreaming!" Startled by the voice, Baili Pangpang leaped up at a speed ordinary people would find hard to comprehend and bolted in the opposite direction.