The dark hurricane dispersed.
The team's first challenge was being surrounded by a massive number of Cave Demon Slaves.
Mu Ningwei had deliberately avoided harming them.
Over a hundred Cave Demon Slaves, their tiny dark-blue eyes filled with greed and cruelty, swarmed out from every cave.
Behind them, reinforcements kept pouring in without end.
After being lectured, Mu Ningxue was eager to prove herself. Other than her domain, she unleashed everything she had. Her Ice Locks whipped into afterimages as she raced across the battlefield on Wind Track, putting out fires everywhere and guarding at least two cave entrances alone.
The others were unwilling to fall behind. Led by Mo Fan, with his lightning and fire magic, several destruction mages cleared the way.
With Zhao Manyan supporting her, Mu Nujiao used Bell Demon Seeds to seal off one monster-spawning cave after another.
The third-tier intermediate Earth Forest, enhanced by a top-grade Spirit-level Demon Seed, could not be broken quickly by Cave Demon Slaves with only Servant Level strength.
That time was enough for the team to advance dozens of meters.
Mu Nujiao's magic greatly reduced the pressure they needed to withstand.
Now this is more like it.
Mu Ningwei refined resources while watching the battle.
United as one, the team fought its way out of the tunnel.
The Cave Demon Slaves seemed unwilling to pursue them into the sunlight. They glared furiously from the entrance for a while before leaving with the corpses of their kind.
"Phew... phew... phew..."
Everyone collapsed onto the ground.
"I'm exhausted."
"How many Cave Demon Slaves were in that tunnel? My magic energy is almost depleted."
"That was so dangerous. Captain Ning Xue is incredible. At least fifty Cave Demon Slaves died by her hand."
"Hehe, Captain Ningwei is still more impressive."
Mu Ningxue panted softly. "Count heads!"
Everyone from Pearl Academy looked toward Mu Ningwei.
Mu Nujiao stepped forward. "Count heads!"
A moment later.
Mu Ningxue walked up to Mu Ningwei and stood perfectly straight. "No one from Imperial Capital Academy is missing. No... Xu Dalong is missing."
"Brother Ningwei, no one is missing from our side either."
After saying that, Mu Nujiao sat down on the railway tracks to rest.
"Alright."
Mu Ningwei nodded, then noticed that Mu Ningxue had not left. Her chest rose and fell sharply as she panted, her beautiful eyes fixed tightly on him.
Mu Ningwei considered for a moment, then smiled. "You did very well."
The lines of Mu Ningxue's face softened considerably. She nodded slightly, stood there a little longer, then asked hesitantly:
"Mu Ningwei, should we rest here, or find another place?"
"You want to learn wilderness knowledge from me?"
"Yes. Please."
Mu Ningxue pressed her lips together. For the first time, she had met someone her own age whom she could only look up to, and it gave her a faint sense of humiliation.
If Mu Ningwei had been in her position, he would certainly have done better in Bocheng. He would never have made such major mistakes while leading a team.
Nor would he have become deeply trapped in the quagmire of the Ice Bow plan.
Mu Ningxue faced the fact that she was inferior to Mu Ningwei, adjusted her mindset, and came to seek his guidance humbly.
"How about this? Give me your answer first, and then I'll tell you what to do."
Mu Ningxue thought it over. "I think we should stay here and rest."
Among the students paying attention, Liao Mingxuan asked in confusion:
"This place is very close to the tunnel. If we rest here, couldn't the Cave Demon Slaves ambush us at any time?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Mu Ningxue shook her head.
"The Cave Demon Slaves are weak. The reason we ended up in such a miserable state was my fault. I failed to warn you all to stay alert in time, and we walked into the demons' encirclement."
"This place has an open field of vision. If the Cave Demon Slaves attack us, we can spot them in advance and have the ability to deal with them."
"Also, since this is the Cave Demon Slaves' territory, there won't be any other powerful demons here. So recovering our magic energy here is the best choice."
Liao Mingxuan blushed. "So that's how it is."
Mu Ningxue ignored everyone else and looked at Mu Ningwei with blazing eyes.
Mu Ningwei smiled. "Very good. You've already grasped the essentials of wilderness survival. You're improving quickly."
The corner of Mu Ningxue's lips lifted in an almost imperceptible curve. She nodded, assigned two people to stand watch, and began recovering her magic energy.
"Brother Ningwei, you're amazing."
Mu Nujiao murmured, "Everyone trusts you so much. It feels like you've become a teacher. Mu Ningxue looked like such a difficult person to handle, but now she's like a student who wants your approval."
Mu Ningwei glanced sideways at her. "Aren't you the same?"
Mu Nujiao pouted. "When have I ever been~"
Mu Ningxue completely settled into her role and led the team into the abandoned city.
Just like her soft silver hair, she resembled a lofty flower blooming upon the icy peaks of the Heavenly Mountains.
As the commander, Mu Ningxue was sharp and decisive. She firmly rejected rude or lazy requests from her classmates, applied equal pressure to everyone except Mu Ningwei, and placed safety and the mission above all else.
"Captain Ning Xue, I want to take a bath."
"It isn't safe here yet. We'll talk once we enter the abandoned city. Or do you want to leave the team alone and bathe somewhere that may be full of demons?"
"Waaah, Captain, I was wrong."
"Captain Ning Xue, how about we split up to place the surveying instruments? It'll be faster that way."
"Mm... that works. I'll assign the teams. You must return within the designated time."
Mu Ningxue frequently looked toward Mu Ningwei, but he merely cultivated. She therefore firmed her resolve, pursed her lips, and continued making arrangements.
Mu Nujiao was unwilling to let another woman perform so well in front of Mu Ningwei, especially a stunning beauty like Mu Ningxue—someone who could make even her heart flutter.
She arranged everything properly for Pearl Academy as well. She faintly seemed to be competing with Mu Ningxue, though they still cooperated most of the time.
The mission proceeded smoothly. Judging solely from the students' attitudes and vigilance, the purpose of the training had already been achieved.
"There's a building ahead. The area around it is very open, and there don't seem to be any demons. Let's rest there tonight."
Mo Fan made the suggestion.
Over the past few days, Mo Fan had proven quite reliable. Whether in exploration data or the number of demons he had killed, he had surpassed several boys who disliked him.
Thus, Mo Fan's proposal received unanimous approval from Mu Ningxue and Mu Nujiao.
"Alright, we'll head to that building."
Qingqing said, "Wait a moment. Lu Zhenghe went to the bathroom, and Liao Mingxuan is keeping watch for him. Let's wait for them."
Mu Ningwei opened his eyes.
The second batch of resources had been fully refined, and his cultivation had reached seventy percent accumulation.
"Sorry, we got back late."
Mu Ningwei glanced at Lu Zhenghe.
Within his shadow, an executioner bowed respectfully to Mu Ningwei.
Lu Nian should be arriving soon.
Lu Zhenghe was Lu Nian's younger brother.
Lu Nian wanted to capture Mo Fan for a demon experiment.
Lu Zhenghe liked Mu Ningxue, and Mo Fan happened to be fawning over her. So he agreed to help his brother frame Mo Fan, planting signal markers along the way to provide Lu Nian with a route for pursuit.
But Lu Zhenghe did not yet know that, to keep the information sealed, Lu Nian would kill everyone except him.
However, to Mu Ningwei, even ten Lu Nians would be nothing to worry about.
He was merely changing locations to refine resources, waiting for his light element to reach full high-tier cultivation before finding an opportunity to break through to the super tier!
Besides, training Mu Ningxue and Mu Nujiao and watching them grow was rather interesting.
It was just like how he had once trained the knights under his command in Parthenon.
Meanwhile, at the Parthenon Temple, on Ash Riya's Saintess Peak.
Hailong looked at the tightly shut palace doors and shouted:
"Saintess, just come out and show your face!"
"Ningwei's subordinates are refusing to leave the outside of Saintess Peak. They say they want to resign from their positions as Silver Moon Knights and go to Divine Land to follow Ningwei. They hope you'll agree."
Ash Riya: "..."
--
Tian Bing: Bonus chapter, another bonus chapter!
In the first five days, I've already added five extra chapters.
Seeing how sincere Tian Bing has been, if everyone thinks Tian Bing's writing is decent, please give me more support~ orz
Please keep reading. Today and tomorrow, before 3 PM tomorrow, are the final two days before the editor notifies me whether I can advance.
Thanks to Yue for the reward!
Thanks to "Monster Was Very Good Today," "I Promise You," "AMNBO," "Sorrowful Rainbow of Heaven," and "Book Friend 20230530115416224260610" for their monthly votes!
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