Soul-Snatching Sheep

1:30 PM, west of Rain Alley City, at Wuya's feet.

A commercial vehicle, after layers of checks, slowly entered the military camp.

"Quite a few people," Lu Ran said, looking out the car window. He saw many people gaining experience, including high school students like themselves.

Thanks to the Great Xia's policy support, students coming to complete their assignments didn't need to pay any fees.

The Military would also assign a soldier to supervise the team for free.

From another perspective, wasn't this supervisor also a bodyguard?

"Isn't that Gao Zhonglin?" Deng Yutang suddenly spoke from the passenger seat.

Lu Ran turned his head and saw a slightly overweight teenager wearing glasses.

Tian Tian, who was usually silent, rarely spoke. She whispered, "It's him, that really strong person."

Gao Zhonglin's rise was quite similar to Lu Ran's. It could be described in one sentence: he appeared out of nowhere!

In the first assessment, Gao Zhonglin took third place in the individual rankings.

In the second assessment, he directly jumped to second place in the entire school!

Keep in mind that for the two years before Worshiping the Gods, Gao Zhonglin hadn't even ranked in the top fifty in the school.

But after Worshiping the Gods...

Ma Tianchuan, Jiang Ruyi, Wu Shanshan, and the like, all had to step aside!

In three words: the Wolf has come!

Although, well, this little wolf cub is a bit chubby.

But it does fit the word "Greedy," doesn't it?

"Is he stronger than Brother Lu?" Deng Yutang asked casually.

Lu Ran nodded in agreement, "Definitely not."

In the back row, Jiang Ruyi gently poked Lu Ran's head with her slender finger, "Be more humble."

Lu Ran was unconcerned, "Just stating facts!"

He, a Greedy Wolf Believer, made those high-and-mighty top students step aside.

And I, a Celestial Goat Believer, make the Greedy Wolf Believers step aside!

What do you call turning things upside down?

"You can head back. We'll be inside for a long time," Deng Yutang said to the driver, "I'll call you when we get out."

"Okay."

As the vehicle stopped, everyone quickly got out, retrieved their weapons from the trunk, and headed to the central building to register and queue.

Besides his weapon, Lu Ran had also specifically brought a Red Scarf and tied it to his arm.

He was ready to try out the "Listening to Sound to Identify Position" technique taught by the Great Nightmare.

Lu Ran also wanted to bring his backpack, some food, and water.

But these supplies couldn't be brought into the Demon Lair.

Supply points within the stone cities and the wilderness offered water and food, but they required Magic Crystals for exchange.

In a word:

Experience is free.

Food, drink, and lodging cost money!

Of course, if you dared to camp in the wilderness, eat dog meat, and drink dog blood to survive, the Military wouldn't stop you.

You'd be saving money, at the cost of your life!

"Instructor Dou!"

"What a coincidence, Instructor Dou is supervising us again?"

After queuing for a long time, as they neared the building entrance, they saw a familiar figure striding towards them and immediately greeted him.

Dou Zhiqiang, however, said, "I'm specifically in charge of Team 98."

Everyone: "..."

Dou Zhiqiang's gaze swept over them, "How long do you plan to stay inside Evil Dog Village this time?"

They looked at each other. Jiang Ruyi stepped forward, "Instructor Dou, we'll likely be staying for quite a while. We need to update our weapons and Divine Power Beads, and we have to kill many evil beings."

Dou Zhiqiang nodded, "How did your squad do in the Fifteen City Defense Mission?"

Jiang Ruyi: "First place."

A rare hint of admiration appeared on Dou Zhiqiang's face. He then turned to Lu Ran, "And individually?"

Lu Ran gave an embarrassed smile. "I've regressed. I can't score that high anymore."

"Heh," Dou Zhiqiang snorted. "You still want to score 98?"

"You have to have dreams!" Lu Ran sighed. "I only got 91.2 this time. I've regressed."

The cold-faced instructor was clearly taken aback!

He confirmed, "City Defense, 91 points?"

Lu Ran shook his head. "Not 91 points, 91.2 points."

In the space of two sentences, you deducted 0.2 points from me. Can I take this or not?

Dou Zhiqiang: "."

Jiang Ruyi interjected at the opportune moment. "Instructor Dou, Lu Ran performed very well. He's still first in this Night of the Fifteenth. Including Yunshan City, he's ranked first overall among the five county-level cities under its jurisdiction."

Upon hearing this, Dou Zhiqiang's expression was quite interesting.

It was quite amusing, actually. When the four-person group was in the car, Jiang Ruyi had still advised Lu Ran to be more humble. However, when faced with external doubt, Jiang Ruyi not only defended him but seemed to be a little prouder than Lu Ran himself?

After a full few seconds, Dou Zhiqiang turned and walked away. "Keep up!"

The others didn't dare to delay and immediately followed the instructor.

Lu Ran secretly looked at Jiang Ruyi and whispered, "Be more humble."

Jiang Ruyi: "."

Unlike the last assessment. This time, after Dou Zhiqiang led them into the Demon Lair, he went straight to the South City Gate. Then, he transformed into a crow again, leaving the stage to the young people.

"South Gate," Lu Ran clenched his Xiaguang Saber, gazing at the torchlit path.

Jiang Ruyi: "There seem to be fewer trial-takers here?"

"Isn't that exactly what we want?" Deng Yutang hefted his Red Tasseled Spear, full of fighting spirit. Now that they had experienced one Night of the Fifteenth, most of them were full of confidence. Even Tian Tian wasn't too worried.

"Woof!" A canine hunting sound came from the front right. Deng Yutang reacted with lightning speed, striding forward with his Tianchen Spear. It was clear that there weren't many Human Race trial-takers in this direction. They were still within the city gate area, and evil creatures were already attacking.

"Mist Realm, about level 2-3?" Deng Yutang shouted in a deep voice.

From behind, Lu Ran's voice came. "Let Class Monitor Jiang use her new divine technique. Let's see its power."

"Alright," Deng Yutang stopped his steps but remained at the front of the group. Jiang Ruyi had no objections. Her fingers lightly traced something on her palm, which hung naturally by her side.

"Woof!" The evil dog was incredibly fast. Jiang Ruyi's divine technique was ready, poised to strike, but she didn't attack immediately. The group already had considerable experience in slaughtering evil dogs. The Vicious Dog Clan was fast and had excellent reflexes. To kill them in one blow, one had to find an opportunity, not just blindly attack.

Deng Yutang's body tensed, his legs slightly bent, and he gripped the Tianchen Spear tightly.

"Woof!!"

The evil dog approached. Estimating the distance was sufficient, it immediately lunged forward. Its gaping maw, filled with sharp fangs, tore directly towards Deng Yutang.

"Yutang, retreat!" Jiang Ruyi flicked two fingers forward. Deng Yutang decisively leaped backward. At the same time, a thin stream of fire whizzed past him. As the flame runes flew, a phantom white jade stone slab appeared, carrying the fire stream and charging towards the evil dog. Divine Technique: Exploding Flame Talisman!

"Woof!!" The evil dog's eyes widened. Its lunging body twisted frantically, but it had nowhere to gain leverage.

Skinny Dog, dare to jump?

Dare to jump and dare to kill instantly!

"Rumble!"

Under the struggling and twisting of the evil dogs, the Exploding Flame Talisman missed the dog's head but hit the dog's body solidly.

In an instant, Flames exploded, and airwaves surged!

Pieces of shredded meat scattered everywhere, and blood rained down.

"Wuwuwu~~~"

The evil dogs were directly blasted back, their cries echoing through the wilderness, extremely miserable.

"Die!" Deng Yutang stomped his foot and lunged forward.

Finishing blows, he was a professional!

Even though Deng Yutang's ambition lay elsewhere.

But the current strength composition of the Four-Person Group forced him to make Jiang and Lu the absolute core.

Only after Deng Yutang ended the evil dog's life did Jiang Ruyi turn to look at Lu Ran, raising an eyebrow slightly:

"Satisfied?"

"Mhm, mhm!" Lu Ran nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of admiration.

As expected of a noble Law Master!

Just Mist Realm Stage Three had such output capability.

And the Jade Talisman Sect Believers were also known as "late-game" players, it was imaginable how terrifying Beauty Jiang would be in the future!

Lu Ran continued, "If we want to upgrade our equipment, we'll have to kill a thousand Mist Realm evil dogs.

And that's just to upgrade the Stream Grade Divine Power Bead.

We still have the weapons rewarded by the School, which will require another thousand Mist Realm evil dogs. This kind of quantity.

I don't know when we'll finish killing them."

Jiang Ruyi pondered, "You want to challenge Stream Realm evil dogs?"

The ratio of Stream Realm magic crystals to Mist Realm magic crystals was 1:10.

Two thousand Mist Realm evil dogs could be converted into 200 Stream Realm evil dogs.

Lu Ran nodded, "Stream Realm evil dogs have no defensive skills. They are still flesh and blood, and can be killed by blades and spears, and shattered by Jade Talismans."

Jiang Ruyi thought for a moment, but still chose to play it safe, "No rush, let's kill some evil creatures nearby first.

After Yutang and Tian Tian both advance to Mist Realm Stage Three, we'll head to the next stone city."

Hearing Goddess Jiang's decision, Tian Tian immediately agreed, "I'm about to advance, and I've also memorized the next stage's matching Divine Technique.

After advancing, I can summon lotus buds on the ground to imprison evil creatures."

Regarding the technique "Earth Sprout Lotus," Lu Ran and the others had witnessed it before. On the Night of the Fifteenth, the leader Zhang Feng had used this method to trap evil creatures.

With this technique's assistance, the squad would be even more formidable!

When facing an attack from two evil dogs again, Tian Tian would be able to force one of them offline!

"I'm close too!" Deng Yutang answered before anyone asked, and added, "Believe me, I'm more anxious than you guys."

Indeed, this was the case!

Because at Mist Realm Stage Three, Red Turban Believers could learn a very powerful Divine Technique—Red Turban Soul!

Once he possessed this technique, Deng Yutang could escape his current awkward situation.

On a small scale, the Divine Technique Red Turban Soul was Deng Yutang's confidence in defeating stronger opponents.

On a larger scale.

Red Turban Soul, was the capital for Red Turban Believers to challenge their superiors!

This technique allowed Red Turban Believers to enter Berserk Mode, temporarily boosting all their physical attributes!

The amplification was particularly considerable!

This was why Jiang Ruyi insisted on waiting for Deng Yutang to advance before challenging Stream Realm evil dogs.

Who among the Believers in the world didn't know the power of "Red Turban Soul"?

"Oh, I believe you, I believe you," Lu Ran said with a smile, "Then let's advance first."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Ran's body stiffened.

He had a vague feeling, as if something invisible had quietly merged into his body.

"Lu Ran?" Jiang Ruyi, being perceptive, noticed Lu Ran's abnormality, "What's wrong?"

Lu Ran's eyes were slightly vacant, and a bizarre scene was unfolding in his mind.

This was a world shrouded in mist, with demonic statues standing tall amidst layers of fog.

The soul of the evil dog he had just slaughtered drifted into the "Demonic Sculpture Garden" and was absorbed into a colossal evil dog statue.

Ha, Lord Immortal Sheep!

After our last meeting, you're not pretending anymore, are you?

Calm yourself, I'll go capture the soul right away!