Eerie Graveyard

"From now on, list Mu Qing as a top-priority target, on the same level as Duan Ce!"

After the students who had been severely injured by Mu Qing were carried away, the many teachers returned to the edge of Lake Heart Island.

Lei Kai and the other two vice principals discussed for a while before making a statement that shocked everyone present.

"Mu Qing is still the prime suspect in the Mummified Corpse Incident. Are we really going to list him as a top-priority target?" a teacher asked.

Duan Ce is the Student Council president of West Lake High School and the headmaster's disciple; he possesses immense authority and has reached the eighth stage of Blood Qi.

He is the trump card of West Lake High School, capable of contending with the disciples of major ancient families during the College Entrance Exam.

He did not participate in this Mock Exam because he was summoned by the headmaster for private instruction; perhaps by the time he appears again, he will already be at the ninth stage of Blood Qi.

The headmaster had previously taken the time to visit Lake Heart Island, where he inspected all the students and concluded that none were particularly worth cultivating. As for the Mummified Corpse Incident, even he had not detected anything unusual, and he left after staying for a short while.

After seeing the strength and talent Mu Qing displayed, Lei Kai and the others contacted the headmaster, who sent back a single message.

"List him at the same level as Duan Ce. When I return, I will observe him personally. If he has no connection to the Mummified Corpse Incident, I will take him as my disciple!"

This was the headmaster's exact instruction.

The headmaster is the strongest person at West Lake High School, a top-tier ninth-stage Martial Venerable with terrifying strength, ranking highly even within the entire nation of Huaxia.

He is currently busy honing Duan Ce, which is why he only sent a hurried message.

The three vice principals made their decision only after receiving the headmaster's order.

"Where is Ji Xiangfeng? Why is he nowhere to be seen?" Lin Yuan suddenly asked. He had seen Ji Xiangfeng leave earlier, but he had never returned.

"Vice Principal Ji was worried about his daughter's condition, so he went to check on her personally. He left after discovering she was with Mu Qing and was unharmed," a teacher said. The others did not know where Ji Xiangfeng had gone.

Lei Kai and the others did not pay much attention to it; Ji Xiangfeng was always a loner, and they were used to it.

"Heh heh, we've struck gold this time. With both Mu Qing and Duan Ce for the College Entrance Exam, the high schools in the nearby mega-cities definitely won't be our match this year!" Tai Lie laughed.

However, he still believed that Jiang Yuanjie should also be a priority; he had always felt that Jiang Yuanjie's powerful sensory ability was very important.

Clearly, Tai Lie personally held Jiang Yuanjie in high regard.

"This is bad!"

Suddenly, a teacher of the elite students flew over, a look of horror on his face.

"What is the matter?" Lin Yuan frowned, unable to understand what could make a teacher who was a low-level Martial Venerable show such an expression.

Lei Kai's heart skipped a beat as he said, "Could it be that the Mummified Corpse Incident has occurred again?"

Tai Lie's expression also became extremely grave.

"No." The teacher shook his head and then said, "We discovered that the small satellite can no longer detect Mu Qing's presence, and even when we exert our spiritual energy, we cannot sense his existence. It is as if Mu Qing has... simply evaporated into thin air!"

"What!"

The three vice principals were shocked. They immediately unleashed their immense spiritual energy, covering the entire Lake Heart Island in an instant.

However, just as the teacher had said, they could not find any sign of Mu Qing.

Lei Kai could not believe it. He released his spiritual energy over and over again, eventually turning pale from the excessive consumption of his mental power.

Yet, he still could not find Mu Qing.

"What about the images on the instruments?" Tai Lie hurriedly asked.

"Nothing!" The teacher shook his head, his expression incredulous. "The instrument specifically monitoring Mu Qing was suddenly interfered with, and after it returned to normal, it had completely lost Mu Qing's signal."

The expressions of Lei Kai and the others shifted.

One must know that there is a small satellite orbiting above Lake Heart Island, which West Lake High School spent a fortune to purchase; even a top-tier Martial Venerable like the headmaster could not completely evade it.

"Someone acted in the shadows to affect the instrument. It is very likely a presence even more powerful than the headmaster!" Lin Yuan gasped.

Cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of Tai Lie, Lei Kai, and the teacher.

A presence surpassing the headmaster—wouldn't that be beyond the ninth-stage bloodline?

The many teachers at the edge of Lake Heart Island were in an uproar, constantly recalibrating their instruments.

Lei Kai and the others tried to contact the headmaster again, but they found that his communication device was turned off, as if his training of Duan Ce had reached a critical moment.

"What are we to do?" Tai Lie was at a loss.

With the headmaster unreachable, the three vice principals began to discuss whether they needed to temporarily halt the Mock Exam.

Somewhere on Lake Heart Island, there is a cemetery. It is gloomy and desolate, with cold winds blowing through from time to time; despite the approaching summer season, the environment here feels like late autumn.

There are hundreds of tombstones in this cemetery, overgrown with weeds. There are no names on the tombstones; they are all nameless markers.

If one were to observe closely, one would notice that these tombstones are slowly emitting faint rays of light, which disperse to form a curtain of light that shrouds the entire cemetery.

It is precisely because of this light curtain that this cemetery cannot be detected by any force; whether it is the mid-level Martial Venerable Lei Kai and his peers, or the small satellite, none can detect it.

The light curtain seems to contain mysterious energy that distorts the surrounding space.

This cemetery appears sometimes by the river and sometimes at the very edge of Lake Heart Island, constantly changing its position, yet no one has ever discovered its existence.

It is unknown how much time had passed.

Mu Qing regained consciousness, and the first thing he felt was an intense, searing pain radiating throughout his entire body.

On the contrary, the pain in his mind caused by the exhaustion of his mental energy had eased significantly.

"Where am I?" Mu Qing struggled to stand up.

He looked around; aside from rows of graves, there was only desolation, withered trees, and overgrown weeds. Those nameless tombstones emitted a faint glow, forming a curtain of light.

Mu Qing discovered that this light curtain enveloped the entire graveyard, and he could not see what was happening outside.

Dragging his severely injured body, he reached the edge of the graveyard and extended his palm, wanting to pass through the light curtain to see the situation outside.

This light curtain was grayish-black, with distorted, unknown forces constantly swirling across its surface, and mysterious symbols flickering with luster.

However, the moment Mu Qing's palm touched the grayish-black light curtain, a terrifying force that made his heart tremble suddenly erupted.

Visible silver energy surged out, creating ripples in the space.

Mu Qing had only made contact with a sliver of this power, yet he was shaken to the point of vomiting blood, his body feeling as if it were about to be torn apart.

The wounds that had been slowly healing ruptured as a result, and having suffered such a terrible impact while already severely injured, Mu Qing turned into a blood-soaked mess in the blink of an eye.

Even for Mu Qing, he could not help but let out a painful roar, the sound from his throat resembling that of a wild beast.

He had sustained horrific injuries while facing Liu Tianyu, Wang Haixuan, and the many students from the North Campus, and had actually been holding on by sheer willpower. Now that the injuries had flared up, the pain was unbearable.

Mu Qing gritted his teeth, wanting to circulate his Origin Force to stop the bleeding; if he ignored these wounds, he feared he would die from blood loss.

Suddenly, a phantom image floated out from his dantian. He took one look and saw it was his first Blood Spirit.

The small, pitch-black fish was only half the size of a palm, flicking its tail and creating ripples as it swam back and forth in mid-air.

Mu Qing watched it, noting that the little black fish was highly intelligent. It didn't act like a Blood Spirit, but rather like a pet, rubbing against Mu Qing's palm before suddenly taking a bite.

Though small in size, when the little black fish opened its mouth, one could see a row of tiny, sharp teeth biting fiercely into the web of Mu Qing's hand.

Mu Qing felt a sharp pain in his hand, sensing the little black fish continuously sucking his blood.

The little black fish transmitted a message to Mu Qing: it needed water.

Driven by extreme craving, the little black fish drank Mu Qing's blood until it was satisfied, at which point it stopped, sent a thought of contentment, and then vanished.

Mu Qing's face was pale; a large amount of his blood had been drained, and in his already severely injured state, this was truly adding insult to injury.

His lips trembled, and then, a thick surge of Origin Force flowed out from his dantian, mixed with water-attribute fluctuations, spreading through his limbs and bones.

Mu Qing discovered that the wounds on his body were slowly healing, barely managing to stop the bleeding.

Mu Qing let out a long breath, surprised to find that the extra Origin Force that had suddenly appeared in his dantian was actually feedback from the little black fish after it had refined his blood.

Of course, trading so much blood for a little bit of Origin Force was clearly not a good deal.

"It needs water?" Mu Qing muttered, rubbing his chin.

"Your Blood Spirit requires energy with the water attribute." An aged voice suddenly rang out.

Mu Qing's body jolted. He turned his head to look, but the nameless tombstones were still flickering with light, and the cold wind whistled, blowing away withered leaves, yet there was no sign of anyone.

In this desolate environment, the sudden appearance of an old voice was enough to make one's hair stand on end.

"Hehehe."

A burst of neurotic laughter echoed out.

This time, Mu Qing heard it very clearly; the sound was coming from beneath the ground.

Crack.

One of the nameless tombstones suddenly shattered, and the light it had been emitting gradually dimmed.

Every nameless tombstone poured out radiance, appearing to be the energy source for the light curtain covering the graveyard.

Once that nameless tombstone cracked, it no longer emitted light.

The grayish-black light curtain covering the entire graveyard also dimmed slightly.

"Hahahaha."

The aged laughter came from underground, and a hunched old man crawled out from beneath that nameless tombstone, grinning and showing his yellowed teeth to Mu Qing without reservation.

Mu Qing was stunned, and he sized the old man up.

He saw that the man was wearing tattered, pitch-black clothes, his face was full of wrinkles, his gray hair was a mess, and he was covered in dust, looking extremely slovenly.