Flying Warship

Streams of powerful Origin Force poured from the burly man. His terrifying aura even twisted the space around him, sending ripples shimmering through the air.

"That's Lei Kai, the vice principal in charge of our East Campus," Ling Fei said. His gaze burned as he looked at Lei Kai, filled with a fervent yearning for strength.

"I've heard that all the vice principals at our school are Eighth-Order Intermediate Martial Venerables. And we haven't even reached First-Order." Mu Qing gave a wry smile.

It was his first time seeing one of the school's vice principals. The strongest person he'd seen before this was their class instructor, whose strength was just as terrifying: a Low-level Martial Venerable!

Each increase in Bloodline Power brought a person greater strength.

From First-Order to Third-Order, one was a Martial Practitioner; from Fourth-Order to Sixth-Order, a Martial Master; and from Seventh-Order to Ninth-Order, a Martial Venerable.

Martial Venerables could be considered incredibly powerful among humanity at present.

Only the top students in senior year had teachers who were Seventh-Order Low-level Martial Venerables. Teachers in ordinary senior-year classes, by contrast, were Sixth-Order Top-tier Martial Masters.

The other students on the training ground fell silent when Lei Kai appeared. Almost all of them gazed up at him with admiration.

He stood steadily in midair, actually treading on empty space. The aura of one man bore down hard on thousands of students.

Being able to fly through the air without relying on a hovercar was an ability only Martial Venerables could attain!

With his strength as an Eighth-Order Intermediate Martial Venerable, Lei Kai could naturally tread through empty space with ease.

Lei Kai's eyes swept across the students like lightning. When his gaze passed over Mu Qing, it suddenly paused. He studied him carefully for a moment, then looked away.

As vice principal, Lei Kai had a task beyond leading all the senior-year students to their mock exams: he also had to observe Mu Qing's performance.

The school's Mummified Corpse Incident had drawn serious attention from the school leadership. Mu Qing was less suspicious than before, but it was still best to investigate him thoroughly.

"All students, board the flying ship! We're heading to the mock exam site, West Lake Center!"

Lei Kai shouted.

Behind him, a gigantic flying ship slowly approached from a distance. The craft was nearly as large as half the training ground, like a terrifying beast of the sky. Its entire body gleamed with black metal, and streaks of light shimmered across it.

This flying ship was a large transport craft. Although it had no combat capabilities, it was still expensive to build. West Lake High School had only five of them in total.

The flying ship descended onto the training ground, and a blast of air burst out, blowing around them like a gale.

"Ah!"

Several girls shrieked as the wind blew up their skirts. Their cheeks flushed pink, while the boys beside them feasted their eyes and snickered.

"What a huge flying ship." Mu Qing looked at the craft nearby. Compared to it, he felt as tiny as an ant.

"This is only a transport ship, with no combat capability at all. I've heard that actual Combat Warships need an enormous supply of Origin Force, and the power they unleash is astonishing." Ling Fei sighed.

"You little brats! What are you still yammering about? Get over here!"

Lei Kai flashed beneath the flying ship like he'd teleported. Seeing the students still standing there in a daze, he immediately barked at them.

Only then did everyone snap out of it and hurry toward the ship.

The flying ship's boarding entrance was enormous too, with plenty of room to spare. More than three thousand students all boarded the craft in less than half an hour.

After assigning seats to all the students, Lei Kai went alone to the cockpit.

The cockpit was spacious too. Although it was called a cockpit, this large flying ship flew automatically; all they had to do was set its route.

More than a dozen people were already inside. Each of them radiated a powerful aura, clearly marking them as formidable Martial Practitioners.

If Mu Qing and the others had been there, they would have found their teacher among them. The rest were teachers too; it seemed that the entire East Campus faculty had gathered.

Four of them were Low-level Martial Venerables, each teaching one of the four top-student classes. The remaining nine were all Advanced Martial Masters, teaching ordinary students.

"Well? Have you figured anything out?" Lei Kai asked, his face grave as he entered the cockpit.

One teacher shook his head with a wry smile. "If even you, an Eighth-Order Intermediate Martial Venerable, can't figure out what's going on, how could those of us at Seventh- and Sixth-Order possibly see through it?"

"Exactly. There's just too little information in this video, and we weren't there ourselves. We can't find any clues at all." Another teacher shook his head, brows furrowed as he grappled with the problem.

A light screen floated among the teachers, showing the same video Ling Fei had seen at the Student Council.

On-screen, a top student from West Lake High School was walking along when the light gradually faded from his eyes. Without any warning, he collapsed unconscious onto the ground.

The students nearby cried out in alarm. Before they could react, the unconscious top student's body began to shrivel at a visible rate, as if some terrifying, invisible presence were sucking out his blood.

A few seconds later, the top student had become a mummified corpse.

The video paused, then started playing again from the beginning.

The teachers had watched the short video countless times over the past few minutes, yet they still hadn't found a single clue.

"The only thing we can be sure of now is that the so-called culprit seems to target top students," said a teacher who was a Seventh-Order Low-level Martial Venerable.

"Or perhaps the culprit mainly targets students at Blood Qi Fifth Rank. Maybe, as far as the culprit is concerned, only students at Blood Qi Fifth Rank can be killed without a sound and drained of their blood. If it went after teachers like us, it might give itself away."

Another Seventh-Order teacher spoke. He'd deduced a little more, guessing that the culprit didn't target the faculty because it might be weaker than them.

Yet it preyed on only the weaker students and did so without a sound. Even the powerful vice principals couldn't uncover what was happening.

"That makes sense." Lei Kai thought it over for a moment, then nodded. "This time, it won't just be those of us here. The other three campuses will be watching in secret as well, hoping to track down the culprit during the mock exams. Even the principal will make an appearance."

So the mock exams hadn't been moved up solely because of Mu Qing.

Once the mock exams began, all the senior-year students would gather in one place. All the teachers and four vice principals would be watching in secret, along with the principal, who was rumored to be a Top-tier Martial Venerable.

It was worth remembering that even the weakest teachers had Sixth-Order strength, while the strongest were the vice principals, all of whom were Eighth-Order. With all of them monitoring the students through their Mental Power, every move made during the mock exams would be clear as day.

If the culprit tried to go after a student, they would know immediately, and a terrifyingly powerful vice principal would rush to the scene at once.

They didn't believe the culprit could still hide from them under their very noses.

"The only worry is that the culprit might know what we're planning and hold back during these mock exams," an elderly teacher sighed.

He, too, was a Seventh-Order teacher!

"The mock exams will last three days. If the culprit doesn't strike, we can at least guarantee every senior-year student's safety throughout those three days," another Seventh-Order teacher said. He was the teacher of Mu Qing's class.

"Pathetic. West Lake High School has so many powerful people, and to this day, we don't even know what the culprit looks like—or whether there even is a culprit. For all we know, some unknown Fierce Beast is responsible." The elderly teacher sighed, feeling a little dejected.

His words made everyone around him tense.

It was true. The ability to silently drain someone's blood dry didn't seem like something a human would do.

Of course, they couldn't completely rule out a human culprit. People cultivated Bloodline Power and awakened all kinds of Blood Spirits. Perhaps some Blood Spirit had this terrifying ability.

"What about that student named Mu Qing? Lei Kai, have you examined him?" The elderly teacher suddenly changed tack and questioned Lei Kai.

"I used my Mental Power to examine Mu Qing. There's something odd about him..." Lei Kai pondered, then turned to the teacher of Mu Qing's class. "When was the last time you recorded his cultivation?"

"Three days ago," Mu Qing's teacher replied. "I recorded Mu Qing's cultivation three days ago. Strangely enough, his cultivation speed used to rank among the best of all the top students, but he just couldn't break through Blood Qi Fifth Rank."

"Because he kept failing to break through, I even asked Vice Principal Lin from West Campus to observe him in secret. We couldn't find anything wrong. Mu Qing's cultivation really was at Blood Qi Fourth Rank."

At that, Lei Kai stroked his chin, a strange light flickering in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Lei Kai?" Mu Qing's teacher asked.

During this period, the teachers had all been focused on the Mummified Corpse Incident and hadn't paid attention to the news on the school's website.

So Mu Qing's teacher still didn't know that Mu Qing had broken through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank.

"That Mu Qing is now at Blood Qi Fifth Rank. He awakened a Blood Spirit in the form of a segment of Purple Bamboo, with a Lightning Element. He's even cultivated the Advanced Martial Skill Thunderstorm Fist to the third level," Lei Kai said quietly.

Mu Qing's teacher was stunned. "Really? I remember that no matter how much he trained his body, he couldn't break through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank. Why did he break through now?"

"Vice Principal Lin is an Eighth-Order Intermediate Martial Venerable. His examination couldn't have been wrong. That kid just happened to break through when the Mummified Corpse Incident occurred. He's certainly suspicious, especially since he's cultivated the Advanced Martial Skill Thunderstorm Fist to the third level." A flash of light suddenly blazed in the elderly teacher's murky eyes.

"Even when I was at Blood Qi Fifth Rank, I couldn't cultivate Thunderstorm Fist to the third level in three days." Lei Kai spoke. A flash of lightning flickered in his eyes as he declared, "Whatever the case, Mu Qing is a priority for observation during these mock exams!"

The others all nodded.