Plague Rat Burrow

Three hours later, the bus left Jinghai Base City and entered the desolate, ruined Buffer Zone.

All the students from the combat class got off the bus under the leadership of eight teachers and quickly formed up.

"Let's split into groups," homeroom teacher Xiao Jinsheng said with a cough. "We'll divide into eight groups, with one teacher serving as leader for every four students. First, form your own groups with whoever you want. I'll arrange whoever's left over."

The eight teachers, including Xiao Jinsheng, normally taught combat, weaponry, and similar courses. They were all quite strong, basically having reached the limits of Non-Awakened individuals. Bai Xiaowen had determined this through probing.

Take Xiao Jinsheng, for example. His total attributes were 20.5, with Basic Combat at level 5, the maximum level; Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Sword) at level 5; and Basic Throwing at level 5 as well.

Unfortunately, Xiao Jinsheng had never passed the Awakened Trial. In fact, the other seven teachers were the same, all stuck at the threshold of Quasi-Awakened.

The Awakened Trial took place in the Spirit Realm, where trial missions were generated automatically.

If someone failed the first time, the difficulty of the second trial would increase dramatically. If they failed again, the third trial would become terrifyingly difficult, and so on.

Xiao Jinsheng had failed twice before. When he entered the Spirit Realm for the third time and saw the despairing trial mission, he had chosen to withdraw immediately. From then on, he gave up on becoming an Awakened and honestly took a teaching job at Chihuo No. 1 High School, where he had worked for over twenty years.

The area was in chaos as Class 17's students called out to friends, familiar deskmates, and nearby classmates, quickly forming teams of four.

Bai Xiaowen had wanted to join a somewhat familiar group, but when he saw that several classmates he usually knew were lukewarm toward him, their gazes flicking toward Zhou Yi, he understood.

Those classmates were not fools. Since they were not particularly close to him, they naturally did not want to offend Zhou Yi for Bai Xiaowen's sake.

Bai Xiaowen fell silent and did not force himself on them.

"Are there still four students without a group?" After counting everyone present, Xiao Jinsheng nodded. "Fine. Zhou Yi, Wu Xiaoyan, Jiang Wen, and Bai Xiaowen, you four will form a group. I'll lead you."

Zhou Yi grinned. "No objections from me."

Bai Xiaowen said nothing. Obviously, only the four of them were left. Whether they agreed or not, this was how they would be grouped.

"Alright. The week-long wilderness combat training begins now. Each of the eight groups has its own target location. Within one week, clear out every monster at your target site and return. I hope every student improves." Xiao Jinsheng waved his plump hand. "Gear up and move out!"

Bai Xiaowen opened his tactical backpack, took out a steel crossbow and hung it at his waist, strapped a machete diagonally across his back, and tightened his pant cuffs. Neither the steel crossbow nor the machete was anything more than mass-produced mechanical weaponry. They contained no Psionic Particles, so their killing power was far inferior to genuine psionic equipment.

Genuine psionic equipment was either handcrafted by blacksmiths or dropped from monsters. It could not be produced on an assembly line. Naturally, psionic equipment was also extremely expensive.

After Bai Xiaowen finished gearing up, Jiang Wen approached him with a shy smile. "Hello, Bai Xiaowen."

Jiang Wen had fair skin and an oval face. Though she could not compare to Li Shuyi, she was still a pretty girl. During the group formation just now, quite a few boys had invited her, but for some reason, she had turned every one of them down.

"Hello, Jiang Wen. We'll be teammates for the next week."

Seeing the shy, girlish smile on Jiang Wen's face, Bai Xiaowen immediately understood and laughed heartily. She was a little fangirl who had fallen at the feet of his jeans.

Several boys Jiang Wen had just rejected shot him resentful looks.

"Having a weakling like you as a teammate is really unlucky." Seeing Bai Xiaowen flirting with another girl, Zhou Yi felt extremely displeased. He walked over with Wu Xiaoyan, a hint of provocation in his eyes as he looked at Bai Xiaowen. "Try not to hold us back."

"Worry about yourself." Bai Xiaowen was truly reaching his limit.

"You—" Zhou Yi was enraged.

"That's enough, stop arguing! Time to go!" Xiao Jinsheng's plump body squeezed between them. A rust-speckled iron sword hung at his waist, and a row of steel throwing knives was tucked behind his back, their red tassels dangling down. He looked like a mighty crab.

"Open your maps. Our target this time is Area 8, called the Plague Rat Burrow!"

Xiao Jinsheng's stubby finger slashed across the map. "We'll be traveling thirteen kilometers on foot. We'll inevitably encounter some monsters along the way, but the monsters wandering the Buffer Zone are relatively harmless. You'll take turns dealing with them for practice. We must reach the Plague Rat Burrow before dark!"

The eight teams spread out across the vast plains wasteland in different directions, like eight arrows.

"Jiang Wen, Mutant Cockroaches are among the weakest monsters. Don't let their appearance scare you!"

Xiao Jinsheng roared, "During the National College Entrance Examination's practical combat assessment, there are monsters far more disgusting than Mutant Cockroaches. Do you want a zero in practical combat? Move! Get in there!"

Mutant Cockroaches were cockroaches enlarged dozens of times over, their shells glossy and black, their antennae long, their jointed limbs sharp, and their appearances hideous and grotesque. They were absolutely every girl's nightmare.

Bai Xiaowen looked at Jiang Wen sympathetically. According to the rule that the four of them would take turns fighting for training, Jiang Wen was third in line. Just her luck, they had encountered a lone Mutant Cockroach.

At Xiao Jinsheng's urging, Jiang Wen's oval face turned even paler. She screamed and repeatedly pulled the steel crossbow's trigger.

Thud, thud, thud. The Mutant Cockroach was knocked back again and again, sparks even flying from its black shell.

"Weak point! Its weak point is the eyes! What are you aiming at?" Xiao Jinsheng roared. "Do you think you're holding psionic equipment? Please, that's just a mass-produced steel crossbow! Unless you hit its weak point, you can't kill even the weakest mutant beast!"

Very soon, Jiang Wen ran out of bolts. The Mutant Cockroach was completely unharmed and charged at her, waving its jointed limbs.

As the hideous Mutant Cockroach rushed toward her, Jiang Wen's mind went blank.

Just as the Mutant Cockroach was about to leap onto Jiang Wen's leg, Zhou Yi and Wu Xiaoyan stood nearby looking as though they were enjoying the show. Bai Xiaowen sighed inwardly, drew the machete from his backhand, and chopped toward the gap in the cockroach's head-and-neck shell.

With a clang, sparks flew everywhere.

The strike was slightly off and missed the gap, but Bai Xiaowen put plenty of force into it. The Mutant Cockroach was smashed straight to the ground, kicking up dust.

Bai Xiaowen struck again. This time, he hit the gap in the Mutant Cockroach's head-and-neck shell and cleanly chopped off its head. He then followed up with a kick, sending the disgusting headless body flying.

Even without its head, the Mutant Cockroach would not die immediately. However, having lost its ability to feed, it could not survive for long.

Bai Xiaowen received a prompt.

Battle concluded. Power: 4. Precision: 2. Fluidity: 3. Rating: Good.

Your Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Sword) proficiency has increased.

Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Sword) has risen to level 3!

Bai Xiaowen's one-handed sword specialty had been stuck at level 2 for a long time. No matter how much he practiced, he had never broken through. He had not expected killing one Mutant Cockroach to do it.

Wilderness combat training truly granted astonishing proficiency gains through real combat. It was much more effective than dry, routine practice.

Jiang Wen looked deeply grateful. "Bai Xiaowen, thank you so much."

Bai Xiaowen waved a hand. "It was nothing."

"Tch, meddling where you're not needed," Zhou Yi said with a curl of his lip from not far away.

Wu Xiaoyan said softly, "But Bai Xiaowen's two strikes just now seemed really powerful."

Zhou Yi scoffed. "What use is that? It was just a cockroach. I could crush it with one stomp."

Xiao Jinsheng coughed and summed up, "Alright, Jiang Wen, let this one go. You need to understand that practical combat opportunities are hard to come by! Keep moving!"

Along the way, the five of them encountered more wandering monsters: carnivorous rabbits with protruding fangs, fragile skeletons infected with necrotic energy and crawling out of graveyards, and the famous Plague Rats. Xiao Jinsheng watched over them while Bai Xiaowen and the other three took turns fighting, honing their skills.

Jiang Wen performed much better than she had the first time and received verbal praise from Xiao Jinsheng.

Before nightfall, the group finally reached Area 8, the Plague Rat Burrow.