How Could There Be a Child in the Crater?

Meanwhile, time crawled by as the Soul Masters endured a night of terror and torment.

The sky paled before dawn, and golden sunlight slowly spilled over the still-shaken border town.

The suffocating pressure of a Titled Douluo had long since vanished from Back Mountain. Even the dust thrown up by the explosion had settled, leaving the entire mountainside deathly silent.

Only then did the powerful figures of Notting City, who had spent the whole night frozen at the gates, finally regain a little courage.

"Hall Master, City Lord... the pressure seems to have disappeared completely."

The headmaster swallowed and spoke in a low voice.

The Spirit Hall Master straightened his collar, his expression grave.

"It seems the duel is over. Perhaps... the two Titled Douluo have already left?"

"Come on. It's time we saw... what happened to Back Mountain!"

Heavily guarded by the City Lord's Manor's soldiers and Spirit Hall's Soul Masters, the group of several dozen cautiously made its way toward the academy's Back Mountain.

The farther they went, the more frightening the devastation became.

Whole swaths of once-lush trees lay flattened, their thick trunks snapped in two. Terrifying cracks crisscrossed the ground.

The lingering heat and violent energy in the air still made their skin sting.

Then they crossed the last shattered ridge and reached what had once been the summit of Back Mountain...

"Hiss..."

Sharp gasps rose one after another through the crowd!

Everyone stopped dead, as though rooted to the spot. Their eyes filled with indescribable horror!

The mountain... was gone.

Half of the once-towering Back Mountain had simply vanished!

Before them lay a vast crater hundreds of meters across and so deep they could not see the bottom!

Its rim and inner walls were coated in a strange, dark-red substance as smooth as glass.

The unimaginable heat had melted solid earth and rock, then left them to harden into glass!

"C-can a human really possess this kind of power?!"

The City Lord of Notting City nearly fell to his knees, his legs giving way and his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"So... this is the power of a Titled Douluo..."

The headmaster muttered to himself, his face white as a sheet.

The Spirit Hall Master felt cold all over. Only now did he understand how wise he had been not to come closer the night before.

Against an attack of this magnitude, never mind the master of a minor branch hall like him—even a Soul Sage or Soul Douluo who poked their head in would have been obliterated!

"Look! There's someone at the bottom!"

A sharp-eyed Spirit Hall Deacon suddenly cried out, breaking the deathly silence.

Everyone jolted and hurriedly looked where the Deacon was pointing.

At the very center of the glassy crater, amid a stretch of charred rubble, lay a tiny figure facedown!

"Someone?!"

"How could anyone survive at the center of an explosion like that?!"

"Could it be one of the Titled Douluo who fought here?"

"No, look at the size... that looks like a child!"

The Spirit Hall Master's face changed. Not daring to waste a moment, he waved his hand.

"Quick! Get down there and take a look! Stay alert!"

The powerful Soul Masters endured the lingering heat beneath their feet as they scrambled and slid down into the crater.

When they reached the small figure and turned the person over, everyone was stunned all over again.

"This... this is a child?!"

"Judging by those clothes... isn't he a new student at your academy?!"

The City Lord could not help crying out. The headmaster hurried over for a closer look.

When he saw the face, smeared with blood and soot but still recognizably young, his eyes nearly popped out.

"Isn't this... a work-study student who enrolled just yesterday?"

"A work-study student?!"

The Spirit Hall Master cried out in disbelief.

"What was a six-year-old work-study student doing at the center of an explosion from a fight to the death between Titled Douluo?!"

"And... the child is still breathing!"

Chu Chen's injuries were horrific.

Yet when the Spirit Hall Master pressed his fingers to the boy's pulse, he could clearly feel the Heart Meridian still beating within that battered body.

"His pulse is barely there, but he's alive!"

"This is... nothing short of a miracle!"

The Spirit Hall Master drew a sharp breath, his gaze turning both grave and eager.

A child had survived the aftermath of a fight to the death between Titled Douluo!

There had to be an astounding secret behind his survival!

Or perhaps... one of the Titled Douluo had protected him!

"Quick! We cannot let him die!"

The Hall Master whipped around and roared.

"Listen, everyone! Carry him back to the City Lord's Manor at once! Bring out the best medicines in Notting City and summon the best Healing Soul Masters! Whatever it takes, save this child!"

"Yes!"

The group hurriedly took off their cloaks and made a makeshift stretcher. They carefully lifted the gravely injured Chu Chen onto it, then raced toward the city.

That boy's miraculous survival threw the entire leadership of Notting City into chaos.

Chu Chen had no idea how long he had been unconscious.

It might have been three days, or an entire century.

Amid boundless darkness and chaos, Chu Chen felt as though his soul were floating in an ocean where searing heat mingled with bitter cold.

At times, the Fire Thunder Seed's world-shattering wave scorched him until his bones and sinews seemed to snap. At others, a gentle green light flowed through his parched, ruined meridians like a trickling stream, slowly repairing his damaged flesh.

"Ugh..."

A faint groan broke the silence.

Chu Chen's leaden eyelids twitched several times. At last, with immense effort, he managed to open them a crack.

Dazzling sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains. His eyes stung, and tears streamed down his cheeks.

Chu Chen instinctively tried to raise his arm, only to find his entire right arm and upper body wrapped in thick bandages. The slightest movement sent excruciating pain deep into his bones.

Damn... I'm badly hurt...

Chu Chen gave a bitter laugh inwardly and stopped trying to move.

Instead, he did what came naturally and reached for his Soul Force.

Fortunately, though his body had suffered terrible damage, his vast Soul Force remained intact.

His senses spread outward like a tide, and in an instant he had a clear picture of his surroundings.

He was in an exceptionally luxurious room.

A thick, soft patterned carpet covered the floor, and an ornate crystal chandelier hung overhead. The air carried the mingled scents of expensive incense and strong medicinal herbs. Several costly healing potions and fresh fruit sat on the bedside table.

This was certainly not the shabby Dorm Seven at Nuoding Academy, much less the drafty earthen house in Holy Soul Village.

Where... am I? Who brought me here?