"Seriously?!" Tang Xing's tone clearly showed that he didn't believe it.
"What she said is true." Ma Mingyu immediately sent this message.
With Ma Mingyu vouching for her, the message instantly became much more credible.
"Never mind, Xu Ziming once took down a migrant alien all by himself. He can look after us when the time comes."
"Only because it was badly injured..." Xu Ziming hurriedly typed when he saw the message. If he couldn't beat one when the time came, it would definitely arouse suspicion.
He didn't want to expose the Qilin Source Blood.
"Let's put that aside for now. You three should all come out tonight. I'll take you to see Pengcheng's Underground Black Boxing."
After sending this message, Ma Mingyu left an address, then promptly disappeared.
"Didn't Teacher Ma and Xu Ziming just finish fighting the aliens? Don't they need to rest?"
There was no need to guess who had said this. It was Tang Xing again. The guy was quite the chatterbox.
"There were the police and Master Fang of the Nebula Martial Hall yesterday. I'm actually in pretty good shape." Xu Ziming replied, then left the chat.
Teacher Ma had said at dawn that they should rest for two days, yet by the afternoon he was saying they'd start tonight. Two days sure went by fast.
Didn't senior-year students need to rest?
After reading the messages in the group, Xu Ziming checked the time. It was already past two in the afternoon.
There were still several hours before the time Ma Mingyu had given them, so there was no need to rush yet.
Xu Ziming decided to test whether practicing the Five Prison Sword Art would still feel as difficult as it had at first, now that his Life Energy Level had increased.
Meanwhile, in a small village in Pengcheng...
"My lord, the higher-ups blamed us for what happened with the Flame Spirit Clan last time. This..."
The speaker was a fairly young-looking man wearing strange clothes, with a distinctive mark on the hem.
If Xu Ziming had been there, he would have recognized the mark as the True Martial Sect's unique religious symbol.
The one facing the man was naturally the true form of the shadow that the Flame Spirit Clan's commander had summoned last time.
"Damn it. Who knew Pengcheng was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers? Even the Sword Saint, who rose to fame on the battlefield back then, is here. Still, I did find an interesting little brat. He stole something from our True Martial Sect—doesn't he fear death?"
The shadow's lips trembled, and a vile smile spread across his face.
"In a few days, Pengcheng will hold its Second Mock Exam. I've already calculated the location of that so-called secret realm. We'll make Pengcheng pay then. The deaths of a group of high school students should cause quite a stir in society, shouldn't they? It'll also put some pressure on the little brat who took my sect's Qilin Blood."
He flicked his fingers, and a small world appeared out of thin air, wrapped in a mass of black qi.
Its coordinates appeared beside it as a string of numbers.
"Make preparations in advance. I made a mistake last time, but this time I'll make up for it. Otherwise, our branch will suffer."
"Yes."
The young man lowered his head in reply, memorized the coordinates, then turned and went off to take care of something.
The shadow slowly turned toward the little world. "The aliens and humanity are all worthless. Only my True Martial Sect is a true path to eternal life and invincibility."
"As for the Qilin Blood... Damn Qilin. Even after being dead for so long, it still left its descendants a chance at survival. I wonder what that brat did to be chosen."
After saying this, the shadow fell silent and simply waited.
"Sure enough, after my Life Energy Level increased, practicing the Five Prison Sword Art became a lot easier."
After practicing all afternoon, Xu Ziming still hadn't mastered it, but the movements were much smoother.
The rapid Sword Qi he'd once thought impossible to produce had even come out a few times by chance during the afternoon's practice.
By then, it was time to meet Teacher Ma, as they had arranged.
"I wonder if the other two have arrived yet..."
Xu Ziming put away his things and went to the martial hall's shower room. That's right—a high-end martial hall had shower rooms.
At first, Xu Ziming hadn't known about it. Fang Xingyun had told him while he was training.
"What kind of place is this? A bar?"
A yellow-haired young man staggered along, a bar glowing with all kinds of lights before him.
All sorts of smells wafted into his nose, making his otherwise calm face wrinkle up.
"So this is how liberal arts students live?"
The speaker was Tang Xing. As someone who practiced the Martial Way every day, he had never been to a place like this, even though he thought his life was already pretty carefree.
After all, indulging in wine and women was a major taboo for Martial Artists. It could hinder their future cultivation.
"But why would Teacher Ma choose to meet here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a familiar figure appeared in his view: Shen Xingyue.
Shen Xingyue wore a tight black outfit, her hair neatly tied back. She looked ready for a fight, completely out of place in the bar.
"This girl's way too straightforward. Doesn't she hide herself at all?"
Seeing her like that, Tang Xing shook his head helplessly.
"No, there's another expert!"
Just as he turned his gaze away from Shen Xingyue, he spotted Xu Ziming, a sword strapped to his back. He wore special clothing made for Martial Artists to bring out their full potential, designed after the rise of the Martial Way.
And the moment he entered, he wore such a serious expression that he looked especially like... he'd come to start a fight.
"If these two keep fooling around, we'll get kicked out before our homeroom teacher even gets here."
Seeing them like this, Tang Xing forgot all about the refined image he'd been maintaining. He shook his blond hair and scampered through the bar like a little chick.
He didn't look much better himself. The way he bounced around made him look incredibly childish.
"Tang Xing?"
He ran fast, far faster than an ordinary person, so Xu Ziming and Shen Xingyue naturally noticed him.
"You two here to pick a fight?"
When Xu Ziming and Shen Xingyue had gathered around him, Tang Xing asked with a helpless look.
"Isn't that what we're here for? This is my first time in a bar!"
Shen Xingyue, who usually kept a straight face, was surprisingly excited. It was as if coming to a bar had opened up an entirely new world for her.
Just as they gathered, a figure slowly emerged from a corner.
"Everyone's here. Follow me."
It was Ma Mingyu. He had clearly been waiting there for quite some time.
When Ma Mingyu appeared, Shen Xingyue in her tight outfit with her hair tied in a ponytail, Xu Ziming with a sword on his back and a serious expression, and Tang Xing with his head of yellow hair and carefree manner all stopped their unnecessary movements.
The three followed Ma Mingyu through the bar, passing one counter after another, until they finally reached a secret door.
"We're here—the most chaotic place in Pengcheng!"