Investigation?

Eighty thousand li east of the camp.

Atop a hill, the void trembled, ripples spreading layer upon layer.

At the center of the disturbance, a fifty-meter ribbon of seven-colored light forced space apart, opening a spindle-shaped rift.

Below the rift, Xiang Wuji and eight other hunting squads stood with weapons in hand, their expressions tense as they waited in strict formation.

At the foot of the mountain, quite a few lower-year students had stopped to linger, hoping to help.

"Senior Xiang Wuji won't let us get close. Isn't this making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"The Star Realm Rift follows the same classification as World Gates. A fifty-meter Star Realm Rift can at most allow second-order mutated beasts through. Is there really any need to be this nervous?"

"I think you people have forgotten the pain once the scars healed! Don't forget the third-order mutated beasts Li Qingshan just cleared out. The camp has already confirmed that they came through a Star Realm Rift!"

"That's right. Accidents are everywhere. Who knows whether this rift might suddenly expand?"

"Could our luck really be that bad? We've only had peace for two days!"

"Hehe, relax. Don't forget that Li Qingshan is still in the Star Realm."

"Look up! Director Jing and Li Qingshan are here!"

Two figures sped over through the air and landed beneath the rift.

"Junior, Director Jing." Xiang Wuji greeted them first, pointing at the rift as he explained,

"This rift was discovered by a junior who was heading back to turn in a mission. It has been ten hours since its discovery, and it is estimated to have appeared around twelve hours ago."

"Twelve hours?" Jing Shen frowned slightly and pondered.

"That means it will take at least another twelve hours before it disappears!"

Though Star Realm Rifts were unstable, once they appeared, they would persist for at least a day, and sometimes as long as three to five days.

Li Qingshan raised his head and looked toward the center of the spindle-shaped rift.

Unlike a World Gate, the middle of the rift was not a nebula. Instead, it seemed covered by a thin membrane, through which he could barely make out the things on the other side.

Beyond the rift before him, layers of tree shadows overlapped. It appeared to be a forested mountain range, with no signs of living creatures moving about for the moment.

Li Qingshan's brows gradually furrowed.

"Senior, you've guarded this place for so long. Have any mutated beasts crossed through the rift?"

"Not yet." Xiang Wuji shook his head.

"A second-order rift is not much of a problem." Jing Shen stooped as he paced back and forth.

"Although there are precedents of Star Realm Rifts expanding, those are exceptionally rare special cases. What I'm worried about now is another issue."

"It appeared too coincidentally!"

"Coincidentally?" Li Qingshan and Xiang Wuji exchanged a glance and spoke almost at the same time.

"Director, do you mean the rift that appeared in the underground cavern before?"

"That's right!" Jing Shen nodded, tugging tightly at his beard.

"They were both on the eastern side. Two rifts appeared one after another, less than a month apart!

Although they are thirty thousand kilometers apart, to the Star Realm, that distance is not far at all."

Jing Shen paused, raised his head to look at the two of them, seeming to weigh them as he waited for them to give their conclusion.

"This..." Li Qingshan and Xiang Wuji were both somewhat dumbfounded.

They had guessed correctly, but accidents were everywhere in the Star Realm. What conclusion could they possibly draw?

"Li Qingshan is only a freshman, yet he can still understand. But you..."

Jing Shen shot Xiang Wuji a glare and shook his head.

"In the Star Realm, there are times when knowledge is even more important than cultivation. None of the academy's courses can be neglected!"

"Let me ask you: where exactly do underground caverns come from?"

"Uh..." Xiang Wuji was stumped again. Li Qingshan's eyes flickered, and he took over.

"Director, could an underground cavern be another Star Realm?"

Whether in terms of environment or size, underground caverns defied common sense. Added to that was the layer of earth overhead, resembling the sky of the Star Realm. It truly did look like another Star Realm.

"Correct!" Jing Shen nodded in satisfaction first, then glared at Xiang Wuji again before explaining,

"Behind Star Realm Rifts lie unformed Star Realms."

"Usually, they have only three possible endings!"

"The first is failure to form, fading into nothingness."

"The second is successfully becoming an independent, true Star Realm."

"The third is merging into another Star Realm!"

"In the third case, because an unformed Star Realm has limited area, it will only alter the terrain and landscape within a certain range."

"If the point of fusion is underground, it may very well become an underground cavern."

"Two rifts so close together, appearing less than a month apart..." Jing Shen pondered briefly before speaking.

"I suspect that behind them lies the same 'passage,' the same unformed Star Realm!"

The image of the Cat-Ear Girl flashed through his mind.

Li Qingshan finally understood what Jing Shen was worried about. His voice turned grave.

"Director, do you suspect that the Cat-Ear Tribe is also within that unformed Star Realm?"

"To be precise, a Star Realm Rift has opened within the territory of the Cat-Ear Clan!"

Jing Shen struggled to straighten his back, raising his head toward the rift as he frowned.

"Star Realm Rifts are invasion passages to begin with. If this passage merges into our Star Realm...

Then perhaps a World Gate will form within the Cat-Ear Clan's territory!"

The moment those words fell, every student present stiffened, all realizing the severity of the matter.

If it truly came to pass, everything before their eyes would become a battlefield!

"There's no need to worry too much. Perhaps I'm merely worrying about the sky falling!"

Jing Shen slowly shook his head, forcing out a smile as he stared at the rift in midair.

"Perhaps it has nothing at all to do with the rift deep in the underground cavern from before."

Li Qingshan stared at the rift as well, his eyes flickering as he slowly said,

"Director, whether that's true or not, we'll only know after investigating."

"That's right. Rather than sit and wait for death, we should strike first!" Xiang Wuji and several other captains spoke up at once.

"We'll go in together and investigate. If it's merely a coincidence, then there's naturally nothing to worry about. But if we really discover the Cat-Ear Tribe, the academy can prepare in advance!"

"No need!" Li Qingshan suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's astonished gazes.

"Uh... I mean, there's no need for so many people to go in. I alone am enough."

Seeing that Xiang Wuji wanted to object, Li Qingshan quickly said,

"Senior, the rift is only second-order, but don't forget the third-order mutated beasts from last time!"

"If it really is the same Star Realm, then what you'll be facing won't just be mutated beasts, but perhaps even the Cat-Ear Tribe!"

"With too many people, the target will be too large and easy to expose. It's better if I investigate carefully by myself."

Xiang Wuji frowned, just about to speak when Jing Shen waved his hand.

"Li Qingshan is right. Besides, you still need to guard the outside of the rift."

"Then it's settled."

Boom!

Before the words had even faded, a figure shot into the sky and plunged into the center of the rift.

"This..."

Everyone below was left dumbfounded.

What happened to investigating carefully?

Behind the rift,

Li Qingshan fell from the sky and landed within the forest.

After glancing back at the rift above his head, he swiftly moved, vanishing into the woods.

The rift had already been open for twelve hours, yet no mutated beast had passed through. This region was clearly relatively "barren."

Even if the Cat-Ear Tribe truly existed here, they would not be nearby.

Celestial Net Mystic Steps was pushed to its utmost limit.

Li Qingshan's figure drifted like a ghost, elusive and unpredictable, while his gaze swept over the Martial Dao Space entry.

Function: Martial Dao Space Lv2 (6800/)

"Still short by 3,200 experience points..."

Careful investigation was, of course, genuine.

But this mission was not only about investigating. It was also about hunting!

Whether the Cat-Ear Tribe was here or not,

This time, he would kill enough to earn 3,200 experience points and upgrade Martial Dao Space!