The Deserted Town

After the transaction was completed, Huo Yuhao carefully stored away the Storage Ring filled with gold coins and called out to Senior Ling Ying again. A shadow swept by, Ling Ying appeared silently, leading him to Xiao Yi Xian and Instructor Ruolin.

Having quietly replaced his Spiritual Clone, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yi Xian bought some things and then returned to the caravan with Instructor Ruolin.

"Brother Huo Yuhao, why do we need to prepare so much money to go to school?" After finding out Huo Yuhao's purpose for going to the auction, Xiao Yi Xian's clear eyes were full of doubt.

"Most training rooms, practice grounds, and canteens charge fees," Huo Yuhao recounted his experience.

"Oh." Xiao Yi Xian nodded thoughtfully.

After a short while, the last batch of new students arrived. The Jia Nan Academy convoy took to the air once more, crossed the Ghost-Suppressing Pass, and flew towards the territory of the Black-Corner Region.

After several days of long flights, there were various conversations in the carriage at first, but these sounds soon disappeared. Apart from a very few freshmen who were fast asleep, everyone else was making the most of their time to cultivate.

Occasionally, senior students would wander through the carriages, taking notes on the lazy freshmen.

"Instructor Ruolin, will these students who haven't cultivated be punished?" Huo Yuhao suddenly spoke in the first carriage, startling Instructor Ruolin.

"Why are you asking this?" Without much thought, Ruolin, the tutor, replied directly, "Of course not. However, for those students who aren't very diligent, their tutors will give them a little more 'care'."

"Oh?" Huo Yuhao nodded, rubbing his chin with his right hand, lost in thought.

Suddenly, the carriage jolted violently, instantly waking everyone from their meditative state.

What happened?

"Are we going to fall?"

A commotion and panicked shouts filled the carriage. The instructors all shouted in unison, "Quiet!"

Leaving the other instructors to maintain order, Instructor Ruolin rushed to the front of the car.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, his spiritual power extending out of the carriage and into the distance.

"How is it?" Xiao Yi Xian asked in a low voice.

In Huo Yuhao's mental vision, the sky directly in front of the convoy was obscured by thick black mist, and wind-attribute celestial energy was gathering and compressing. The increasingly turbulent airflow made the convoy's flight somewhat difficult.

"There's a storm ahead. Judging from the situation, it's not man-made; it should be naturally formed," Huo Yuhao replied in a deep voice.

Before long, Instructor Ruolin returned after learning about the situation from the elders, her expression already calm.

"A black storm is blocking our path. We'll land here for now and wait for it to clear." The raised voice echoed throughout every carriage.

The dim sky turned completely black, and a black gale swept down from above, almost swallowing everything in its path.

At this moment, the flying magical beast's mountain-like body gave the new students a strong sense of security.

During this time, Instructor Ruolin explained some stories about the Black-Corner Region to the new students, giving them a preliminary understanding of this "most chaotic region on the continent".

"... Speaking of which, the place we stopped was quite coincidental; there's a small town not far to the right," Instructor Ruolin pointed, "This town is one of the few relatively friendly towns in the Black-Corner Region."

Ruolin, the mentor, smiled slightly as she smoothed her hair. "They rarely commit robbery or murder. They usually just throw the money away after robbing someone. If they encounter a passerby with some strength, they only charge one hundred gold coins per person as a toll."

"Huh? This is what you call being kind?"

"Professor, you're not kidding, are you?"

"Is the Black-Corner Region really that corrupt? Then, Professor, does our Jia Nan Academy also charge fees everywhere?"

"You'll find out when you get there," Instructor Ruolin said, keeping everyone in suspense.

Huo Yuhao subconsciously spread his mental energy in the direction indicated by his mentor Ruolin, and soon he saw a quiet town.

After examining him briefly, Huo Yuhao's eyebrows furrowed.

The town was deathly silent, completely deserted!

A strange feeling of palpitation spread throughout his body. Huo Yuhao clutched his chest, his fingers tightening slightly.

"Xian'er, cover for me!" Huo Yuhao whispered in Xiao Yi Xian's ear.

"Something happened?" Xiao Yi Xian asked calmly.

"It's okay, I plan to go to the town my advisor mentioned and buy a map."

"Okay." Xiao Yi Xian agreed, but kept her eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao's eyes.

Seeing the clear worry in her eyes, Huo Yuhao gently touched her brow. "Next time, I'll definitely take you with me."

Before he finished speaking, Huo Yuhao's aura changed, and what remained here was now Spiritual Clone.

"Brother Huo Yuhao..." Xiao Yi Xian clasped her hands together in front of her chest as if in prayer, but her white fingertips, from exerting too much force, betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

"Senior Ling Ying!" After leaving the convoy, Huo Yuhao maintained the Simulation and ran a distance on the ground. Once he was sure that the Jia Nan Academy convoy could not see him, Huo Yuhao sent out a wisp of spiritual energy to call out Ling Ying.

A flash of black light appeared, and Ling Ying stood beside Huo Yuhao, saying irritably, "You think I'm a flying magical beast? You should have chosen to protect Xiao Yan back then, and let your teacher follow you instead."

Ling Ying harbored intense resentment, not because Huo Yuhao had asked for his help, but because every time he thought he had perfectly concealed his abilities, Huo Yuhao would ruthlessly shatter his illusions. Even though he knew Huo Yuhao was exceptionally talented in the realm of soul manipulation, he was still a Dou Emperor! And a dark attribute Dou Emperor who was most adept at concealment! This sense of defeat made him so frustrated that he almost vomited blood.

"Senior, let's go check out this town." Huo Yuhao didn't explain further, but directly used his Spiritual Detection Sharing to connect with Ling Ying's soul.

Having no time to pay attention to Huo Yuhao's peculiar skill, Ling Ying's expression instantly changed. "Hmm? I didn't even notice just now that this town is deserted, it's an empty town."

Before she finished speaking, Ling Ying picked up Huo Yuhao, and the two flew together towards the town.

Before long, Huo Yuhao and Ling Ying landed in the center of the town. Looking around, the eerie contrast of this place, which should have been bustling, being deserted made them tense and constantly on guard against any potential dangers.

Traces of life still remain in the town; many doors are still open, and a gust of wind makes the hinges creak slightly.

Some of the houses still had food on the tables, and judging from the state of the food, the people in this town had probably disappeared for about a day.

A chill crept up their spines. Huo Yuhao mobilized his mental energy to the fullest extent, layering the entire town five or six times over, even digging three feet into the ground, so that even the leg hairs of ants underground could be clearly seen in his mental vision.

Soon, signs of a struggle were found at the mayor's house, and there were also signs of dragging in some parts of the town. There also appeared to be a row of footprints at the town entrance, indicating that many people had walked out.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao and Ling Ying both breathed a sigh of relief.