Accident?

Accident

Bang! At the sound, Qian Renxue and Long Yu looked up at the sky. Several enormous angelic phantoms appeared. Although the lighting within Death Grand Canyon was far from good, they could still make out the vague images of angels.

This was the signal released on the orders of Chief Instructor Lin Hao. It seemed an emergency had arisen.

It had not even been a month. How had something gone wrong so quickly?

The two swiftly returned to the starting point, to the enormous pass, where they found the other students from the Genius Camp.

Their condition was not good. Most of their clothes were torn, and their bodies bore wounds of varying sizes.

Yet nearly all wore the same expression—solemnity, sorrow, and fear.

"Long Yu, Qian Ning'er, you're here. Come over first," Lin Hao said, waving them over when he saw them.

It seemed things really had gone badly. Gathering everyone ahead of schedule definitely meant something had happened. Could it be that students had already...

Once the students had gathered, Lin Hao sighed. "I regret to inform everyone that two students have gone missing. One of them was even a captain at the level of a rank 33 Soul Elder."

"First of all, issuing a signal when something like this happens within a team was the correct decision. Next, Li Shi, tell everyone roughly what happened when the two members of your team went missing," Lin Hao said, looking at a tall, thin student.

This incident was indeed rather strange. Less than a month had passed, yet one Soul Elder-level student and one rank 28 Soul Grandmaster-level student had vanished.

Every year, Spirit Hall sent teams led by Soul Douluo to conduct major sweeps through Death Grand Canyon, clearing out all soul beasts at Soul King level and above, and even deliberately eliminating high-level Soul Ancestors.

A five-man team led by at least one genius student at Soul Elder level should have had no trouble dealing with a Soul Ancestor.

Li Shi said, "At the beginning, our team mostly encountered soul beasts that were a few hundred or a thousand years old. Our captain had us deal with them ourselves. We even ran into a group of criminals. Though it was somewhat difficult, we handled them all, until..." Li Yi paused as well.

"Until our team encountered a Mamba Snake. It was estimated to be around a thousand years old. Unlike ordinary Mamba Snakes, its eyes were red, and after seeing us, it quickly fled.

"After identifying the soul beast's species and age, our strongest member, the captain, and Yanzi, our fastest agility-attack system member, went after it ahead of us and told us to wait for their good news.

"We did not think much of it at the time and rested where we were. But after a full half hour passed without any word from the captain or Yanzi, we realized something was wrong. We gathered and went looking for them, but still found nothing, so we released the signal," Li Yi explained very clearly.

"A thousand-year Mamba Snake. Two missing people. It could have been soul beasts, or it could have been soul masters. Li Yi, did you find any signs of a fight?" Lin Hao asked.

That rank 33 Soul Elder's martial soul was the Iron-Armored Crocodile. Both his defense and strength were excellent. If something had happened to him, how could he have vanished without leaving a trace?

As a responsible instructor, Lin Hao knew the students of this Genius Camp quite well, apart from Qian Ning'er.

"We found no traces of fighting," Li Yi replied. That was also the most frightening part.

The most terrifying thing was knowing nothing about the enemy.

"Return to the dormitories for now. The instructors and I will discuss this matter first and report it to Spirit Hall," Lin Hao said after thinking for a moment.

The matter was not terribly serious in itself; only two students had died. But it was strange, and they were worried that the other students might suffer the same fate.

"Instructor, our team has another matter to report!" Li Yi said. Though reluctant, staying alive was more important.

"Speak!"

"Our team requests to withdraw from this Death Grand Canyon trial, leave the Genius Camp, and return to Spirit Hall Academy!"

"Of course you may. Does anyone else wish to withdraw? You may raise the matter now!" Lin Hao was not surprised. He swept his gaze over the students as he spoke.

The students looked at one another and whispered among themselves, but no one else asked to withdraw.

After all, withdrawing meant losing this exceedingly rare opportunity.

The rewards for passing the Genius Camp assessment were extremely generous. Not only would they receive priority cultivation from Spirit Hall in the future and priority access to training resources, but most importantly, they would have a chance to become the disciple of a Titled Douluo elder of Spirit Hall. It was only a chance, but it was a chance to study under a Titled Douluo.

Titled Douluo were undoubtedly among the continent's peak combatants! Though these students mostly came from extraordinary families, none had a Titled Douluo-level expert.

Each of the Upper Three Sects had at least one Titled Douluo overseeing it. The Lower Four Sects and the Four Single-Attribute Clans had no Titled Douluo stationed among them, which was why they could not compare to the Upper Three Sects.

"Good. Then dismiss for now. We will notify you later if anything comes up. Do not enter Death Grand Canyon on your own for the time being." After saying this, Lin Hao led the other instructors and officials toward the conference hall.

Long Yu and Qian Ning'er prepared to leave as well. Long Yu asked, "Sister Ning'er, do you think this was merely an accident?"

"An accident? I don't think there are accidents, only accidents caused by people. It seems there are soul masters within Death Grand Canyon who are extremely powerful, probably even at Soul King level. How interesting," Qian Renxue said, her fighting spirit surging.

"Fine, I get it," Long Yu said helplessly.

Good grief, she was completely violent. It looked like he would have plenty to endure in the future.

Three days passed quickly. The instructors personally investigated the place where Li Yi's group had split up and searched the surrounding thousand-meter area, yet they still found no clues. In the end, they could only leave helplessly.

Spirit Hall, however, did not attach too much importance to the incident. They merely told the instructors to handle it themselves and dispatched Chrysanthemum Douluo to assist with training.

The instructors and officials of the Genius Camp were overwhelmed by the favor and cried, "Long live His Holiness the Pope!" Still, they were rather curious why Spirit Hall had directly sent a Titled Douluo.

The reason was that the Papal Palace and the Worship Hall had reached an agreement.

Qian Ning'er! Several days later, Long Yu unexpectedly met Uncle Ju. After greeting him, Chrysanthemum Douluo explained why he had come and brought a copy of the Compendium of Soul Beasts, saying it was an order from His Holiness the Pope.

Chrysanthemum Douluo was exceptionally respectful toward Qian Ning'er because he knew her true identity.

Soon, with a Titled Douluo stationed there, the Genius Camp made a grand public announcement and declared that training in Death Grand Canyon would continue.

However, this round of training would leave Qian Ning'er and Long Yu in desperate straits more than once, while their relationship advanced rapidly as a result.