Mission, Supplies

"Wild man..."

Shi Yan glanced at his outfit. He really did look the part.

But there was nothing he could do. After two and a half months of fighting, all ten sets of clothes he had prepared had been reduced to rags.

Demonic beast hide was still more durable.

He swept his gaze around and saw many people giving his bizarre attire strange looks.

Shi Yan paid them no mind. Instead, he was drawn in by Magic Martial University's magnificent gates.

They were nothing like what he had seen online. Seeing them in person, the shock was beyond words.

They were school gates, but also a building, a landmark.

Two hundred meters long and curved in shape, they had nine entrances—one large and eight small. Upright pillars stood between the gates, covered in portraits and relief carvings.

Shi Yan could faintly sense that demonic beast materials had been mixed into them. They smelled similar to the beast hide he wore.

"Shi Potian, Resurrection Era 11–49. Huaxia Kingdom's first Martial General. He led martial artists in holding Kyoto for five years, before dying in the first Gold-Devouring Rat Tide."

Shi Yan looked at the introduction beneath the relief, and an inexplicable heaviness rose in his heart.

"Zhu Junrong, Resurrection Era 17–52. Huaxia Kingdom's first Sword Dao Martial King. She slew countless demons and died during Shanghai's first great evacuation."

"Yang Feng, Resurrection Era 7–117. Huaxia Kingdom's first Martial Emperor, and the first man to drive demonic beasts into the mountains and forests. He guarded the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains for thirty years before dying in the second demonic beast uprising there."

"Qiu Xianlin, Resurrection Era 127–187. A mid-stage Ninth-Rank Martial Emperor, the embodiment of mechanical engineering and supernatural abilities at Great Accomplishment. In year 187, he led ten disciples to hold back the Beast Tide at Jinling Base City, later dying of wounds too severe to heal."

The farther Shi Yan went, the more he saw, and the heavier his heart became.

This was a microcosm of Huaxia Kingdom's struggle for survival from the Era of Chaos to the Small Base City Era—a microcosm of countless people and deeds worthy of song and tears.

After passing through the school gates, which were dozens of meters thick, those figures vanished. Only a single blood-red sentence remained, carved into a massive boulder lying on the ground: "The mountains and rivers we have lost shall be reclaimed in our generation!"

It sounded like a hope, yet also like an oath.

Shi Yan looked around. After passing the boulder, the gazes of many new students had changed.

Yes. The Small Base City Era had not so much driven the demonic beasts into deep mountains and vast marshes as it had cost Huaxia Kingdom its mountains and rivers.

Perhaps reclaiming those mountains and rivers was the mission of martial artists in this era.

Not long after.

Shi Yan arrived at the admissions office and finally met Gu De, whom he should have met long ago.

"Quite a distinctive look you've got there."

Gu De spoke half-jokingly, then pointed to a seat nearby and motioned for Shi Yan to sit.

"Where's Zhang Yunya? Why didn't she bring you back to school?"

Zhang Yunya had filed a report beforehand, so he knew the two had returned on foot, adventuring all the way.

At first, he had disagreed. After all, he had only just acquired such a promising seedling as Shi Yan.

But Old Fang had ultimately said that without pressure, there could be no real growth. So Gu De could only let the two of them fight their way back from there.

"Senior went to get the car repaired."

Shi Yan answered, a trace of fear appearing in his eyes.

The two had set out from Baiyun City, and the first half of the journey had gone relatively smoothly. He had been able to cultivate while putting his strength to use in actual combat.

But in the latter half, everything changed. They either encountered powerful demonic beasts or ran into massive beast packs. They even somehow offended three groups of martial artists and were hunted for over a hundred miles.

Fortunately, they had made it through every time without real danger.

As for Zhang Yunya's sports car, it had been wrecked during one of those pursuits.

"Get the car repaired?"

Gu De rose to his feet, his expression growing uglier and uglier.

That limited-edition sports car could withstand attacks from Fourth-Order Demonic Beasts, and its low-altitude flight speed rivaled that of Fifth-Order avian demonic beasts.

Zhang Yunya was no weakling herself. For the car to be damaged badly enough to require repairs, the two must have encountered at least a Sixth-Order Demonic Beast's attack—or... an attack from martial artists?

Either possibility was extremely serious, yet he had not received a single report.

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense!"

He had already mentally prepared himself for Zhang Yunya being unreliable, but he had never expected her to be unreliable to this extent.

When danger struck, she should have called for rescue immediately. Yet Zhang Yunya had said nothing.

Outrageous!

"Shi Yan, you are not to get close to Zhang Yunya from now on!"

Gu De made a token wipe at his forehead, inwardly relieved.

Thankfully, Shi Yan had reached Magic Martial University safely. If anything had happened to Shi Yan, he could forget about remaining the director of the admissions office.

"Uh... Teacher Gu, you can't blame Senior. I was the one who asked her to take me."

Shi Yan naturally heard the reproach in Gu De's words. He gave an awkward smile and did not let Zhang Yunya take the blame.

He had gained quite a lot from this trip, and Zhang Yunya had seemed to still have strength in reserve when facing danger.

As Magic Martial University's current big sister, Shi Yan had never seen her reveal any of her trump cards.

"You don't need to plead her case. I have my own judgment on that. Now, let's continue with ours."

With a wave of his large hand, Gu De steered away from the topic of Zhang Yunya.

"We have four major branches: the Mechanical Branch, the Aegis Branch, the Tactical Branch, and the Combat Branch. You'll choose one of them. Have you looked into them beforehand?"

"I've heard a little about them. I'd appreciate it if you could explain the characteristics of the four branches, Teacher Gu."

Shi Yan had looked them up online, but when it came to truly understanding them, the teachers within Magic Martial University were naturally the experts.

Gu De revealed a satisfied smile. They had only met a short while ago, yet he could already sense Shi Yan's sense of responsibility, humility, and lack of arrogance. No wonder he was a talent Gu De had fought so hard to bring in.

"You can roughly tell the characteristics of the four major branches from their names. First is the Mechanical Branch, which studies the integration of abilities and machinery. You can rule that one out for now. Next is the Aegis Branch, which specializes in defense and isn't particularly suited to you.

"I'll focus on the latter two. The Tactical Branch, as its name suggests, studies tactics. However, the scope of tactical research at Magic Martial University is extremely broad—anything can become part of a tactic. Unless an ability has especially distinctive traits, it will generally be assigned to the Tactical Branch.

"Finally, the Combat Branch is equally vast and complex. It covers more than combat techniques: how to form combat power before and after a battle, the interactions between abilities, the use of weapons, and more all fall within its scope.

"Your flames can be widely applied in either the Tactical Branch or the Combat Branch. As for how you choose, that will be up to you."

"I see. Teacher, I choose the Combat Branch."

After pondering for a moment, Shi Yan made his choice.

Direct combat was what suited him best at the moment, simply because he had a system.

"The Combat Branch... fine. You're a specially recruited student of Magic Martial University, so you may personally choose a mentor to guide you."

Gu De had actually wanted Shi Yan to enter the Tactical Branch more. Those high-level flames could play an enormous role in many major battles. But every man had his own aspirations, and he could not interfere with whatever his student chose.

"I'll give you some information later. You can choose a mentor from it. Of course, the mentor must be willing to accept you as a disciple. Otherwise, you'll have to choose again."

"Thank you, Teacher Gu."

"Mhm. Come with me to the materials building. We'll issue your supplies."

Gu De rose as he spoke.

All the conditions he had promised Shi Yan earlier would be fulfilled today.

"Thank you for the trouble, Teacher Gu."

Shi Yan's heart stirred, and anticipation involuntarily appeared on his face.

Naturally, he knew what supplies meant—credits, prize money, Body Tempering Medicine, and so on, just as Zhang Yunya had mentioned before.

He was especially looking forward to seeing how much his strength would increase after taking that high-grade Body Tempering Medicine.