The Enemy's Family Has Yet to Be Wiped Out
"Students, after ten years of studying through bitter winters, the moment of truth has finally arrived!" Homeroom teacher Li Fangxu stood at the podium, his gaze sweeping over every face in the classroom, some tense, others resolute. "People need to face reality and choose the path that suits them. Now, tell me your answers. Who is prepared to take part in the Spirit Realm Trial?"
The classroom fell deathly silent.
Class president Zhang Lei stood up, his voice trembling slightly. "I'll participate."
Li Fangxu studied him for a moment. "In the Spirit Realm Trial, your life is your own responsibility. Have you thought this through?"
"I have." Zhang Lei steadied himself, his gaze firm.
The homeroom teacher nodded and looked over the class. "Under national policy, everyone who takes part in the Spirit Realm Trial will receive a subsidy of 100,000, paid in a lump sum to their family upon registration.
"Trial participants who return successfully will be given official posts in the Night Watchers, receive the benefits of a full division-level official, and be entitled to special allowances for housing, medical care, and other expenses."
He paused, then asked, "Who else wants to sign up?"
"I... I'll sign up."
The class president's resolve seemed to have inspired his classmates. Three more students rose one after another to join him.
But after those four, no one else stood.
Li Fangxu waited a few minutes, then gently closed the roster. "Good. It seems everyone has made their choice. It's important to know yourself. Don't take it for granted that hot blood can change your fate. Sometimes, staying alive is a victory in itself."
"Me!"
Just then, the classroom door swung open, and Lin Xu walked in calmly. "Teacher, I'll participate too."
A hubbub broke out.
The classroom stirred, and everyone's eyes focused on him.
Chen Hao stared at Lin Xu in shock and uncertainty, the pen in his hand snapping with a crack.
Large patches of blood on Lin Xu's clothes had yet to dry, and even his face still bore a few stains, marks of his earlier battle.
Li Fangxu looked at his most prized student in astonishment and uncertainty. "Lin Xu, you..."
"Teacher, I'll participate too." Jiang Wanqing's voice came from behind Lin Xu. She strode resolutely to his side and pressed a jade pendant into his hand. "Take it."
Chen Hao's face darkened at once. He clenched his fists tightly, and a vicious glint flashed in his eyes.
The jade pendant felt warm to the touch. Lin Xu looked down at his palm. The ancient jade, carved with a phoenix pattern, glowed faintly, as though resonating with his heartbeat.
He frowned slightly and was about to return the pendant, which was clearly no ordinary object, but Jiang Wanqing had already turned and walked toward the podium. "Teacher, I'm signing up."
Feeling the warmth of the jade pendant, Lin Xu looked up and met his homeroom teacher's worried gaze. "Teacher Li, my enemy's family has yet to be wiped out. I'm in a hurry."
Not a sound could be heard in the classroom.
Li Fangxu looked at the blood still drying on his face. Though he had a thousand things to say, all he could do was sigh softly. "Come with me."
The Spirit Realm's invasion had begun over a century ago, and the abnormal incidents that occurred from time to time had gradually forced Blue Star's technology to shift toward the supernatural.
Over the course of a hundred years, governments around the world had gradually discerned certain patterns and tried to intervene directly.
The trial ritual was their greatest achievement: a special runic array sent people from the real world into the Spirit Realm to undergo trials.
The trial was not held at the school, but at the headquarters of the Night Watchers in Meng City.
Because most Spirit Realm incursions occurred at night, countries had established Night Watcher organizations specifically to deal with the threat posed by the Spirit Realm.
Lin Xu and the other four took a dedicated car and soon arrived at the trial hall on the third basement level of the Night Watchers' headquarters.
A faint smell of sulfur hung in the air. Mysterious runes covered all four walls, and at the center stood a bronze platform ten meters across, dark blue patterns of light flowing over its surface.
"Why are there so few people signing up this year?" Squadron leader Xu Guannan asked with a frown, looking at the person in charge beside him.
All the eligible people taking part in the trial from across the city had arrived. He glanced over them and saw fewer than five hundred.
According to official statistics from Meng City, Spirit Realm Trial participants made up less than three percent of that year's examinees.
The person in charge explained helplessly, "The Spirit Realm Trial is too dangerous. If participants don't return within a month, the mist will erode their minds. Most people would rather choose a safer life."
"Hmph! They're just clinging to a precarious peace." Xu Guannan snorted in dissatisfaction, while the person in charge merely gave a wry smile.
"Let's begin." Captain Wei Xiuyuan glanced over the crowd, his gaze lingering on Lin Xu for an extra moment.
The patterns of light on the bronze platform suddenly flared. Dark blue radiance surged like a mighty tide, sweeping across the entire hall in an instant.
The trial participants stepped into the runic circle one by one. The moment the light swallowed Lin Xu, everything before his eyes grew hazy, and his consciousness floated in the void.
After an unknown length of time, his feet finally touched solid ground. He hurriedly looked up and saw a Daoist monastery built of gray bricks and dark tiles.
A locust tree spread its branches before the monastery gates, blotting out the sky and sun. Its cracked bark resembled dragon scales, and a stone stele beneath it bore the three weathered characters "Xuanwei Monastery."
His head swam slightly, and a vague memory flooded his mind: he had been selected to enter the monastery as a child, reciting scriptures and practicing martial arts as the years passed between morning bells and evening drums.
Have I taken on a role and triggered a special trial? As the fragments of memory receded like the tide, Lin Xu suddenly realized the situation he was in, a mixture of delight and worry on his face.
Normally, the Spirit Realm Trial simply threw a person into some random corner of the Spirit Realm and left them to live or die on their own. They could return after surviving for twenty-four hours.
Role assumption, however, was a fairly rare trial mode. It meant the participant would begin a life as a native of the Spirit Realm.
This trial mode spared participants the dangers of first entering the Spirit Realm, but presented them with an even more difficult test.
With a thought, his personal panel appeared before his eyes:
Name: Lin Xu Race: Human Identity: Outer disciple of Xuanwei Monastery Occupation: Daoist novice Level: 0 Strength: 13 Agility: 12 Constitution: 12 Spirit: 15 Intelligence: 13 Charisma: 14 Health: 123/123 Skills: Basic Meditation Method · white (expert), Basic Fitness Technique · white (advanced), talisman drawing · cyan (intermediate) Talent: [Focus · gold] Easier to concentrate, cultivation speed increased by 200%, comprehension increased by 100% Equipment: Ice Heart Jade Pendant
The character panel was a feature of Spirit Realm adventurers. It appeared automatically upon entering the Spirit Realm and displayed personal information at a glance.
A faint smile appeared on Lin Xu's face when he saw his attributes.
Normally, an adult's six attributes added up to around 60, with an average of 10 points each.
Attribute increases were not linear. For example, 11 points of strength represented an increase of about 20% over 10, and 12 points represented another increase of about 20% over 11-an exponential progression.
He glanced over them. Thanks to ten years of persistent training, his strength, agility, and constitution were far above those of an ordinary person.
What truly delighted him were his spirit and intelligence, especially intelligence. It was an innate attribute, almost impossible to improve through training later in life.
Moving past his attributes, Lin Xu looked at his talent.
According to scientists' research, talents were special abilities that arose when an adventurer's brain potential was activated upon entering the Spirit Realm, and they varied from person to person. In fact, however, the chance of activating a talent after entering the Spirit Realm was less than one percent, and gold talents were rarer still, as scarce as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.