There are still fish that slipped through the net!

Tang Yue and Xue Musheng exchanged glances and frowned upon hearing Song Jie's answer.

Seeing this, Zhan Kong walked over and gave Song Jie a heavy pat on the shoulder. "You've got guts. Ever thought about joining the military?"

"Song Jie, you need to think this through. This is even more dangerous than training with them," Tang Yue explained to Song Jie.

This training exercise had all been arranged by the school and the military, so they would not encounter any danger.

But if he followed the outer patrol personnel on their sweeps, the danger would be far greater!

He might very well encounter truly vicious demonic beasts!

However, Song Jie was not afraid of encountering demonic beasts, because he had already overcome the fear in his heart.

At the same time, he was currently comparable to a High-level Mage, so even if he encountered demonic beasts, he could handle them calmly.

"Head Instructor, does that Defensive Magic Tool you mentioned still count?" Song Jie asked.

"Of course!"

Zhan Kong nodded with a smile, because he did not think Song Jie could possibly accomplish it.

Yet the moment he nodded in agreement, he suddenly felt that there was something off about Song Jie's gaze.

But he did not pay it any mind, assuming he was simply overthinking it.

"You two teachers can rest assured. I'll place him with one of the more experienced teams. He won't be put in danger."

Zhan Kong said, "And there's an Intermediate Mage on the team as well, so don't worry."

Upon hearing that there was an Intermediate Mage, Tang Yue and Xue Musheng both breathed a sigh of relief.

With an Intermediate Mage protecting them, unless they encountered a General-level Demonic Beast, ordinary Servant-level ones could basically be dealt with.

And after so many military sweeps, no General-level Demonic Beasts should appear.

"Alright, since it's settled, come with me," Zhan Kong said, looking at Song Jie.

Song Jie nodded and looked at Tang Yue and Xue Musheng. "I'm going with the Head Instructor."

Very soon!

The two left the tent and arrived in the military camp.

"Boss, why did you bring a student here?" someone asked.

"He's here to train."

"Training? Boss, are you sure you haven't made a mistake? You're having a student follow us?" someone asked in confusion.

Their mission this time was to go ahead of the students and clear away obstacles.

If they brought another student along, then if danger arose, they would have to protect him too.

To them, that was undoubtedly a burden.

Thus, quite a few teams did not want to take Song Jie with them. After all, none of them wanted an extra deadweight in their team for no reason.

"Song Tao, you and he both have the surname Song, so I'll leave this kid to you," Zhan Kong said as he looked at one of his most capable subordinates.

Upon hearing this, Song Tao did not say anything and agreed with a smile.

The other teams all breathed sighs of relief.

"What's your name?" Song Tao asked.

"Song Jie."

"That's quite a coincidence. You'll be following us for the next while," Song Tao said.

"Thanks, Brother Tao." Song Jie nodded.

He joined Song Tao's team, which had six people including himself.

Zhan Kong continued, "When you're clearing the route this time, if you encounter demonic beasts, report it first before killing them to avoid any accidents. Understood?"

"Understood!"

Everyone chimed in.

That night, Zhan Kong did not let Song Jie return, because he had already learned about the situation with this training exercise.

The next day.

Early morning.

Song Jie and the others left the small stronghold even earlier than the students, because they needed to go out in advance and clear the obstacles.

"Stay at the back of the team later. If danger comes up, adapt as the situation demands. If even we can't handle it, turn around and run as fast as you can," Song Tao instructed Song Jie.

Song Jie knew Song Tao meant well, so he took every word to heart.

They split into several teams and headed out to clear the routes the students would be taking.

Several days passed, yet they did not encounter any demonic beasts. The journey was peaceful throughout.

At noon, they sat together to eat lunch when someone asked curiously:

"Song Jie, the boss told you that if you kill a demon beast, he'll give you a Defensive Magic Tool?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at Song Jie as well, wanting to know whether it was true.

Song Jie nodded. "The Head Instructor did indeed say that."

"Our boss is as shameless as ever, actually asking a Light Mage like you to kill a demon beast." Someone immediately complained.

What damage could an early-stage Light Mage possibly deal? Against a demon beast, he might not even be able to protect himself!

Let alone kill a demon beast! This was clearly a trap!

Song Jie merely smiled and said nothing.

He felt that if they encountered demon beasts, he could reveal a little of his strength!

After all, he currently had no means of saving his own life. If he could obtain a Defensive Magic Tool, that would be even better.

Song Tao said, "Is everyone done eating? If so, let's continue on our way."

Everyone nodded and rose to their feet, heading toward the dense forest ahead.

"We've come through this forest several times. There shouldn't be any problems," one of them said.

"But we should still be careful, so we don't stumble in a ditch," Song Tao said.

He was extremely cautious in everything he did and could not tolerate mistakes, because one mistake could very well get someone killed.

"Fine."

That person nodded and continued watching the surroundings vigilantly.

They had set out earlier than the students, and since they were familiar with the environment here, they moved much faster as well.

By now, they had already pulled a full day ahead of the group of students.

As they continued forward, Song Tao suddenly spotted footprints beneath his feet.

"Wait!"

Everyone immediately stopped. Someone asked in confusion, "What is it, Captain?"

"Something's wrong."

Song Tao crouched down, examined the footprints on the ground, and frowned.

They gathered around and saw the footprints on the ground as well. They were fresh.

"There are demon beasts active here!?" Someone noticed the problem and immediately became alert.

"And there's more than one," Song Tao added.

The footprints left behind definitely belonged to more than one demon beast, so they needed to report this to the higher-ups immediately.

Song Tao had the others keep watch over the surroundings while he promptly reported the situation to Zhan Kong.

Zhan Kong was currently following behind the students. They had to ensure the students' safety.

Upon receiving Song Tao's message, he frowned and quickly led quite a few people over.

Even after such a thorough sweep, there were still fish that had slipped through the net.

"Captain, what should we do next?" someone asked.

"We'll wait here for now. The boss and the others will be here soon to clear them out," Song Tao replied.

The students had not reached this place yet, so if they cleared it out in advance, those students could continue their training.

"I just used the communication device. Everyone, stay alert. They may very well be heading toward us," Song Tao said.

Their communication devices only had a limited-range shielding function. If demon beasts were nearby, they might follow the signal and find them!