Chapter 29 - Truth Behind the Magenta Mission
No one talked on the way back.
After a few days, Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian finally reached the Profound Pract.i.tioner Academy.
"Our academy really is the best!" While stepping into the gate of their academy, Lin Haoxue immediately said full of relief and gave out a long sigh. Indeed, compared to those dangers and troubles outside, the academy could be viewed as a warm refuge.
"Let"s go hand in our mission first." Shen Molian saw the expression on Lin Haoxue"s face, and she felt a little relieved as well since their journey had been quite difficult and dangerous. Even she felt pressured when facing such threats of death, not to mention how Lin Haoxue felt about it.
"Sure!" Lin Haoxue responded and turned her head toward Shen Molian out of sudden. She giggled and said, "Molian, why do you always look so cold? I bet you have something on your mind!"
"Yes, I am thinking about something." Shen Molian responded then stopped talking. She gave a glance at her and said, "Don"t tell me that you do not have anything on your mind?"
"Alright, just take it as if I didn"t say anything." Lin Haoxue immediately shut her mouth and gestured zipping her mouth shut.
"Alright, knock it off. Let"s go!" Shen Molian smiled. After she started walking forward, she realized that ever since she started to get along with Lin Haoxue, she had started to smile more often. She also felt more relieved whenever they were together. Originally in the Demon Beast Forest, Lin Haoxue already had Shen Molian"s trust when she was taken by the fire dragon in order to save her life; however, now Shen Molian liked her even more from the bottom of her heart.
And this was exactly what Lin Haoxue wanted. She acted cute in front of Shen Molian to let her relax and ease her mind. She viewed Shen Molian as a dear friend since she had looked for her regardless of the consequences back in the Demon Beast Forest. However, Shen Molian still always looked cold and depressed as if she had a lot of worries on her mind, and that is what made Lin Haoxue distressed since she really hoped that Shen Molian could be happier.
The mission building was still as packed as before, especially the lobby. It was even more crowded than the last time they were here. After all, these students needed achievement points to obtain cultivation resources and to get these they had to compete missions.
When Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian once again showed up in the mission building, it immediately aroused a huge commotion.
Both of them ignored the crowd and went up to the fifth floor.
Surprisingly, on the fifth floor, there weren"t any student present to accept missions, there was only a drowsy elder resting his upper body on the table.
"Wake up! Elder Xie! We"re back!" Shen Molian went forward and shouted near the elder"s ears.
"It"s good you"re back, but why did you have to yell? You"re bothering my sleep!" The elder seemed impatient, therefore, he just waved his hand as if he were getting rid of flies.
Seeing this scene, Shen Molian and Lin Haoxue looked at each other and laughed wryly. Even though his cultivation base was deep and immeasurable, he really had weird characteristics and a bad temper.
Just when both of them were about to turn around and leave, the elder seemed to think of something. He immediately shot up from his chair and stared at Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian with his sharp eyes. The sleepiness in his eyes had vanished and soon he roared out loud in surprise, "It"s you! Unexpectedly, you guys came back in one piece?"
Elder Xie was probably too surprised so he didn"t have good control of his volume. His loud shout backed by his profound power immediately pa.s.sed throughout the entire academy.
At the peak of Profound Pract.i.tioner Academy, there was a courtyard which contained the strongest spirit power. A young man wearing a white shirt sat in that courtyard with his legs crossed, and when he heard this roar, he immediately opened his eyes which glistened with surprise. Then this young man stopped cultivating, got up from the ground, and flew out of the window heading for the mission building.
"What? We can"t come back in one piece?" Lin Haoxue rolled her eyes and thought, What was that? As if we shouldn"t have come back alive!
"Haha, this is awesome! You guys are still alive."
Elder Xie didn"t seem to notice Lin Haoxue"s bad tone, and therefore, he just laughed out loud for a long while. When he laughed so hard that tears almost fell, he finally stopped. Then soon he turned serious and spoke firmly, "The fact that you guys were able to survive this time is a very fortunate thing. Did you realize that this magenta mission you guys received, it was simply someone"s scheme."
"Scheme?" Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian were shocked and immediately realized why this mission was way tougher than the level which students at their Profound Pract.i.tioner Academy could bear.
"Right, someone meant for things to happen this way." In drifted another male voice into the fifth floor"s lobby. This was a voice Lin Haoxue was familiar with.
"Little Ai Zi, You"re here." Seeing this owner of this voice who was a young handsome man in a white shirt, Elder Xie had already calmed down. He said, "Then you can explain what is going on to these two little girls. I"m sleepy. I"m off to finish my nap."
After finishing talking, Elder Xie then went back to resting his upper body on the table.
"Mr. Ai, what"s this about?"
Lin Haoxue asked Mr. Ai, the dean of Profound Pract.i.tioner Academy, full of curiosity about what was going on.
"This is Elder Xie"s special way of cultivating. Don"t have to worry about him." Mr. Ai seemed to be familiar with Elder Xie"s behavior and it didn"t bother him.
"Then what"s this scheme you guys were talking about earlier?" Lin Haoxue kept asking.
"You guys follow me." Said Mr. Ai as he took a glance at Elder Xie who once again entered his dreamland.
Following Mr. Ai, Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian left the mission building and went to the courtyard where he cultivated.
Even though they were at his courtyard, Mr. Ai didn"t seem relaxed. Therefore, he set up some protective precautions and then started explaining,
"Some missions in our academy are issued by the academy, itself, and some missions are given by outsiders. If the difficulty of the mission isn"t too high, we will let our students take them. Likewise, this magenta mission was a.s.signed by outsiders. We were not the only one that received this magenta mission, but all the other Profound Pract.i.tioner Academies in the Wuhuan Empire received it as well. As for who exactly sent this mission out still remains unknown. We tried to track them down, but we didn"t succeed."
"What was their purpose for doing this?" Lin Haoxue"s face turned pale, and she started to wonder what kind of influential power could scheme against all the Profound Pract.i.tioner Academies in their Wuhuan Empire?
"It was said that the purpose was simple and there was only one purpose: to turn everyone into a sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?"
"Right, a sacrifice to give birth to an exceptional treasure."
Hearing this, Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian were shocked and felt cold in their heart. They both had the same thought that if we were really supposed to be sacrificed to an exceptional treasure, then this treasure could only be the Yin Yang Double Gateway. In other words, that incomplete Yin Yang Double Gateway they had seen in the Demon Beast Forest was possibly set-up by someone? No wonder there were dangers which sprung up everywhere around that thing.
Just, what kind of person could mastermind such a thing?
"You guys probably didn"t fully understand that in this world there are a lot of exceptional treasures, but they can only grow at the expense of others. Certain heavenly items can only grow when a specific amount of spirit beasts and profound cultivators, a specific amount of spirit power had been absorbed." Mr. Ai explained.
"What? This is how it works?" Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian started to be scared. They knew what this Yin Yang Double Gateway was for and what position it occupied in this world. They thought they had known enough things, yet now, it seemed like what they knew was still very little.
"Yes, that"s right. I didn"t plan to ask you guys about what you encountered." Mr. Ai said seriously, "However, you need to realize that the appearance of this treasure itself was done by man, it wasn"t an act of heaven."
That terrifying experience in the Demon Beast Forest was all schemed by someone, Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian were now very scared.
"Furthermore, except the two of you, all the other students in our academy that entered the Demon Beast Forest weren"t able to come back alive. Therefore, you should act as if you never received this mission before, understood?" Mr. Ai said seriously.
"We understand, president."
"Alright, go home." To outsiders, we will announce that the two of you went out to gain experience and that you didn"t take on any missions. Therefore, you won"t obtain any achievement points this time. Since you came back in one piece, there should have been a lot of chances for you to obtain useful treasures.
"Yes, Mr. Ai." Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian responded in unison.
Suddenly, Lin Haoxue thought of the small black dragon inside her body and wondered what it was about, but after thinking about it for a short while, she ended up not asking about it. This was a secret that belonged to herself.
"Moreover, don"t underestimate the Demon Beast Forest. No matter what you guys have experienced, you need to remember that you were lucky. The level of danger in the Demon Beast Forest isn"t even imaginable for you guys. Every existence in the depths of that forest is extremely fierce and violent. Even Profound Immortals would be helpless before them."
Even Profound Immortal realm cultivators were able to deal with them… Hearing this, Lin Haoxue and Shen Molian both took in a cold breath. It seems that they really were lucky to be alive.
"Alright, go home, both of you." Mr. Ai used these words to end up today"s conversations.
The two of them went back to their dorm.
Even though they didn"t get any achievement points from this experience, they didn"t seem to care that much. Because compared to achievement points, what they gained this time was priceless. Furthermore, to not give them achievement points was to protect them.
Just thinking about what kind of realm the people who arranged this had achieved made them sweat. If it was known that in the end they had taken all the benefits, it could easily get them killed.