Demonic Plant Fruit Changes

Such crystalline Demonic Plant Fruits, flawless and pure white, were rarely seen even online. They probably wouldn't sell for cheap.

If he turned one or two over to the school, he might be able to move into the Commoner District.

Besides, Demonic Plant Fruits more or less contained toxins that the human body rejected. Unless there was no other choice or he was truly certain there was no serious problem, it was better not to eat them directly.

With that thought, Jiang Qiu withdrew his gaze and silently gnawed on the Red-Armored Great Lizard's head. Its chewy texture was far more interesting than that of a Black-Armored Lizard.

It was just a shame that the Demon Plant's body had withered so quickly. Where had all that vigorous life force gone?

If that could be eaten too, it would rival a high-level demon beast.

Low-quality body tempering once
Low-quality body tempering once

.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days passed. Dark clouds still covered the skies above Qingmu Town, and yellow sand fell like snow.

The teachers responsible for the search emerged one after another from the streets and buildings, their faces ashen and grim. All of them lowered their heads, occasionally glancing at Zhao Gongzheng's back.

"Director Zhao, Qingmu Town has been searched dozens of times. There were still no clues today regarding the demon race's scheme. The secret realm has already been closed for seventeen days. There's no chance of survival. We should leave."

Wu Shan stood with both hands in his pockets, his sole right eye dim and silent. The contours of his face were icy, while the collar of his black coat fluttered in the wind.

"Wu Shan, are you going to abandon all the Outstanding Students from No.8 Middle School trapped inside the secret realm?!" Li Ang stepped past Zhao Gongzheng, glaring as he thrust out a finger like a sharp sword pointed at Wu Shan. "My son is still in there! Nearly a hundred Outstanding Students from No.8 Middle School are in there! The secret realm hasn't even opened yet, and you're saying we should just leave?!"

"What, you think your son can survive?" Wu Shan curled his lip. "The three Outer City high schools that began their Practical Training Hunts during the same period as us this month lost nearly ninety percent of their upper-level students in the secret realms. What did the information they reported to the Martial Arts Education Department mention?

There were hidden high-level demon beasts in all of them! Plateau City was set up by the Demon King, the Crimson Flame Spider Matriarch!

Can your son defeat a hidden Demon Plant stronger than an ordinary high-level demon beast? Can he wipe out a thousand-strong tide of lesser demon beasts by himself?

What do you think your son is, a meteor streaking across the night sky?!"

His voice crashed over them like great waves, spittle flying everywhere. Li Ang curled his fingers into fists, the scar across his nose twitching viciously. "Even if my son can't survive, I need to see his body before I leave! This Small Secret Realm's cycle lasts only a little over twenty days. Can't you wait for the last few days?"

"Director Li, the time wasted here would be enough to select another batch of Outstanding Students from the regular classes. If we pour in enough resources to train them, perhaps we could even cultivate new geniuses before the college entrance exam."

As soon as he finished speaking, a violent gust swept up Wu Shan's hair and sent his coat flying behind him, his loose black pants snapping against his legs.

A chill blasted against their faces, and the slit of his left eye cracked open.

His tall, upright figure stood there like a mountain range, creating a subtle curved barrier in the airflow before him, like a peak meeting a cold current.

"Wu Shan, when have you ever seriously taught the students in the regular classes? And now you're telling me this? You think that just because you happened to teach one Jiang Qiu, you can teach a second?"

The pressure radiating from Li Ang roared into a gale. His gaze was like cold blades, frightening the teachers into turning their heads away. "You stole my son's first choice, so you think Jiang Qiu is really enough to decorate your reputation?

How many geniuses have you trained since retiring from the Military Department?

Jiang Qiu?

By your logic, he's already dead inside the secret realm!"

"Enough."

A muffled snort rang out. The two men reined in their gazes and turned toward Zhao Gongzheng, who stood with his hands behind his back. "The other high schools encountered similar incidents, yet their students' bodies were expelled within three days. We've already waited seventeen days. What harm is there in waiting a few more?

If we leave—

If they emerge from the secret realm alive, how will they cross dozens of miles of wilderness crawling with demon beasts and return to Plateau City?

If they're all dead, then forget about competing for the title of Outstanding Student training base. Plateau City will definitely suffer a shortfall in martial artist cultivation.

A gap in martial arts education will only allow the demon race commanded by the Crimson Flame Spider Matriarch to breach our city gates again in the future."

With those words, no one answered. Wu Shan took a deep breath and let it out, then folded his arms and leaned against a broken wall. His blazing right eye seemed like black jade sinking into a muddy mire.

Other than No.1 Middle School, which had secret realm experts stationed there, ninety percent of the Outstanding Students from the other high schools had died.

And now, just because the secret realm had yet to open, they were wasting time here for that tiny, ethereal sliver of hope.

What was the point?

Was it just to collect Jiang Qiu and the others' bodies?

A body was a body, no matter who collected it!

Buzz.

A subtle fluctuation suddenly rippled through the air. A clear voice broke through the clouds like a young eagle. "The secret realm seems to be opening! Get up, get up!"

At that moment, Wu Shan's heart trembled. Together with Li Ang and the more than forty teachers standing like wooden stakes at the street corner, he turned toward Central Plaza. Shadowy phantoms of students and demon beast corpses appeared amid the ripples.

Buzz.

Another ripple spread. Wu Shan sprang away from the broken wall, Li Ang took two steps forward, and a flash of brilliance gleamed across Zhao Gongzheng's dark lenses.

Buzz.

The stench of demon beasts settled over the area. Mountains of corpses took shape among the broken bricks and shattered pillars that had already been cleared away. The withered true body of the Demon Plant pushed aside the leaves and branches covering it. As leaves fell, dozens of rosy-cheeked boys and girls stepped out from the phantoms. Jiang Qiu led them, holding three White Jade Fruits still joined on a branch.

"Good."

Wu Shan's lips twitched slightly, and his chest thudded twice. A month ago, he had clashed with Jiang Qiu and, in a moment of displeasure, pushed him into the spotlight as the leading student.

But he had to admit that if Jiang Qiu were gone, there would be no student from his martial arts teaching career worth showing off. Li Ang had been right. In all his years at No.8 Middle School, the most dazzling person he had encountered was Jiang Qiu.

The greatest value of his entire teaching career rested on Jiang Qiu.

"Good," Li Ang said. His gaze passed over Jiang Qiu and fell on Li Juefeng's lonely, blood-smeared face. He gently exhaled a breath of stale air. "It's enough that he's alive."

"To survive such circumstances—good. Very good."

Director Zhao's mouth lifted high, smoothing out some of the wrinkles on his face. His glasses trembled.

"Director Zhao, all the demon beasts that entered the secret realm with us are dead, and the Demon Plant's fruits are here too. Are you taking them back now?"

Facing the gazes of the crowd, which flared like rising flames, Jiang Qiu raised the White Jade Fruits in his hand, gleaming as though carved from white jade. His eyes burned brightly.

Though there was no day or night in the secret realm, it did not feel as though much time had passed. He ate whenever he was hungry, then grew hungry again after eating. Dozens of meals' worth of Red-Armored Great Lizards were gone just like that.

Still, many students who had suffered only external injuries had recovered. They borrowed unbroken spear shafts from one another and practiced their spearwork.

Unfortunately, practicing the Ancient Martial Spear could no longer raise his proficiency. So he stood to the side, offering a few pointers whenever someone asked. Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, fluctuations had begun rippling through the secret realm.

Remembering this, Jiang Qiu grinned and licked the inside of his lip.

He had already made a rough calculation. More than two thousand demon beasts had died in total. A single Black-Armored Lizard was worth over twenty thousand. Based on the percentage of kills, I should make a lot of money.

And there were these three Demon Plant Fruits. Even if the school bought them at a low price, they should still be worth a million, right?

Then I can get a better-quality spear shaft, prepare three or four bottles of Blood Boil Liquid, buy a large wooden tub for medicinal baths at home, and save the rest to buy a house in the Inner City someday.

Tap, tap.

A broad hand lightly patted his shoulder. Jiang Qiu looked up directly into Director Zhao's fiery, gratified gaze. "Haha, no rush. It's good enough that you made it back alive. We can calculate the demon beast recovery after we return to school.

As for these Demon Plant Fruits, they seem somewhat different from when I first observed them."