Chapter 144: Two Choices! The Power of a Grand Master!

"Someone dares to attack the Three Schools Alliance Team? Death wish!"

"Principal Xu, Principal Jiang, head to the cultivation garden!"

The moment Hu Ping shattered the talisman tablet, a furious feminine cry echoed from Shun'an Supply Base: Deputy Principal Ling Shuang!

As nearby adepts at the supply base remained confused,

a powerful aura of an Eighth-Rank Grand Master erupted from within the base!

Many, caught off guard, staggered and nearly collapsed to their knees!

Boom! Boom!

Immediately, two more formidable Grand Master auras exploded outward.

Several adepts already trembling on their legs collapsed outright onto the ground with a thud!

"Principals, let's go!"

Before the supply base, a void gate suddenly formed.

Then, Deputy Principal Ling Shuang and the other two, radiating fury and overwhelming Grand Master auras, burst out of the base.

They stepped inside and vanished.

"Whoa! What terrifying auras!"

"Damn, these three are all Grand Masters, right? Such terrifying presence!"

"True—they seem to be the deputy principals of the three top universities."

"Three university deputy principals? Holy shit, did something happen to the students on their study trip?"

"Looks like something big is about to go down."

"......"

On the streets near the supply base, many low-rank adepts who had knelt rose from the ground.

None felt embarrassed among themselves.

After all, being crushed by an Eighth-Rank Grand Master's aura wasn't shameful.

More than that, they were curious why the three deputy principals had left in such furious haste.

"Did something happen at the cultivation garden?"

On the rooftop of Shun'an Supply Base, Director Zhou Ying also heard Ling Shuang's cry.

Her beautiful face tightened with furrowed brows.

She immediately pulled out a communicator and ordered:

"Glory Squad, Ninth and Tenth Teams, proceed immediately to the Demon Cavern Cultivation Garden! Protect the Young Mistress!"

"Understood!"

A deep voice responded from the other end.

"Young Yun has a protective talisman, and three Eighth-Rank Grand Masters from the three universities are en route to guard her—she should be fine."

"But who dares strike at the three top universities?"

Zhou Ying stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing toward the Demon Cavern Cultivation Garden, her lovely face filled with deep confusion.

For any nation, young adepts represent hope, represent the future!

They are an absolute taboo, an inviolable scale!

Even among great nations in their power struggles, rarely do they target rising prodigies still in their youth.

Much less make such a massive disturbance.

"Is this... a spatial energy fluctuation?!"

On the other side, as Hu Ping saw the entire cultivation garden engulfed by strange spatial ripples, her face turned pale.

Meanwhile, after shattering the talisman, Ling Shuang and the other two should have teleported directly to Hu Ping's side.

But they were blocked outside the cultivation garden!

"I told you already—your spatial Grand Master is useless!"

The Grand Bishop let out a wild laugh, his face twisted as he extended a swollen, jet-black beast claw:

"As for you—die first! Black Cloud Claw!"

The Grand Bishop himself was a Seventh-Rank Master; Hu Ping was only at Peak Sixth-Rank, and her heart had already been crushed by surprise.

Even though she drew her weapon and fought desperately to counter,

she was still pulverized into a mist of blood by that terrifying claw...

"Fuck!"

Seeing Hu Ping's death, Kiran finally snapped out of his shock and cursed under his breath.

Xu Jingming's expression was grim as well.

Seventh-Rank Master!

Even if he unleashed all his hidden cards, he couldn't possibly resist!

Boom boom boom~~~

Yet at that moment, the ground trembled slightly—the spatial field surrounding the garden began to destabilize!

"Can this shake the Beast Emperor's space?!"

The Grand Bishop sneered at the three figures floating in the distance, then glanced at Dong Sheng:

"Holy Son, I leave this place to you."

Hum~~~

As he spoke, the Grand Bishop's blood aura surged again, flooding entirely into the beast bone as he slowly rose into the sky.

The spatial field faintly covering the entire garden stabilized once more.

Around them, four figures in black robes emerged, each with a Fourth-Rank Lower-tier aura.

Unlike ordinary adepts, these four seemed to have entered a beast-mutated state.

Some had horns sprouting from their heads; others had legs transformed into massive beast limbs.

Their auras were chaotic, faintly resembling those of ferocious beasts!

After stepping forward, these four bizarre Fourth-Rank adepts respectfully stood behind Dong Sheng.

"Finally—finally, the moment for the Church of Fate to appear has come!"

"Xu Jingming, Kiran—come, let you see my true form!"

Dong Sheng's handsome face twisted into a maniacal grin.

His body suddenly contorted as if mutating!

Puch! Puch!......

Four arms burst from his abdomen; two antlers grew from his head; his legs thickened into tiger-leopard-like limbs!

Simultaneously, his aura surged rapidly!

Mid-Second-Rank... Upper-Second-Rank... Lower-Third-Rank...

Eventually, Dong Sheng's aura climbed from Mid-Second-Rank all the way to Peak Fourth-Rank!

His form, like those of the four around him, appeared grotesque—human and ferocious beast forcibly fused together!

"What the hell?! What technique is this? It boosts power by two full ranks?!"

Kiran's eyes widened in shock.

"The aura of divine blood..."

Xu Jingming's gaze flickered—perhaps because he had absorbed divine blood,

he could faintly sense multiple types of divine blood aura clinging to Dong Sheng!

One divine blood was an SSS-grade resource!

Combining several divine bloods to reach Peak Fourth-Rank strength didn't seem strange.

But how did Dong Sheng manage to absorb so many different divine bloods...?

"From Mid-Second-Rank to Peak Fourth-Rank—this is the power of the Church of Fate!"

Dong Sheng gazed at his own form, eyes filled with rapture.

Then, with mocking amusement, he looked at Xu Jingming and Kiran:

"I give you two choices. First: join the Church of Fate and hunt other students with me.

Second: be crushed and killed by me.

So—what will you choose?"

"Protect the students!"

"Hold the line! The deputy principals have arrived—they'll enter any moment!"

"Break out immediately! Protect Xu Jingming!"

"......"

Throughout the garden, guarding adept squads clashed with emerging Church of Fate cultists.

Many instructors tried to break through toward Xu Jingming.

Daxia's most outstanding S-Rank awakened adept must not be lost!

If he fell due to a heretical sect, their guilt would be unforgivable!

Yet the Church of Fate had more Sixth-Rank adepts than the instructors!

For now, the instructors couldn't shake off these adepts' harassment.

Yet under the protection of instructors and surrounding adepts, the three schools' new students suffered minimal casualties.

Some were thrown into panic, but there were also several outstanding freshmen.

Fight together and slay the followers of the Sect of Heavenly Fate who surge around you!

Song Qiuyun was one of these standout students.

Qi Dongxia and Liu Wentao were still at the First Stage, so she acted alone.

Once the protective talisman was activated, she could not leave its protective range, so she chose not to activate it.

Instead, she held her halberd, her beautiful eyes filled with resolve, struggling forward toward Xu Jingming.

"Principal Ling Shuang, why don't we teleport directly into the plantation?"

In midair, Jingda's vice principal Xu Ping, watching the freshmen and instructors below locked in chaotic battle within the plantation, exclaimed anxiously.

Jinda's vice principal Jiang Mo was also puzzled.

"I tried—it's impossible to break through the space within the plantation."

Ling Shuang gazed coldly at the figure hovering above the plantation, clutching a beast bone:

"The bone in his hand is likely that of a Ninth Stage Beast Emperor with spatial abilities—the plantation's space has been sealed."

"A Ninth Stage Beast Emperor's bone with spatial abilities?"

Xu Ping's heart sank.

A Ninth Stage Beast Emperor's entire body is a treasure trove.

Its blood can be refined into SSS-grade resources highly beneficial to human adepts.

If lucky, certain bones of the Beast Emperor may carry some of its former abilities!

And such abilities cannot be easily breached even by an Eighth Stage Grand Master!

More importantly, there are still two S-Rank adepts inside the plantation.

If those two S-Ranks perish, the situation will become dire.

"So what if you have three Grand Masters? I want you to watch helplessly as my Sect of Heavenly Fate slaughters every last freshman!"

"Today is the greatest awakening day of the Sect of Heavenly Fate!"

Seeing that Ling Shuang and the others could not break in, the Grand Pontiff's arrogant laughter echoed simultaneously.

"It's the Sect of Heavenly Fate?!"

Xu Ping, vice principal of Jingda, frowned darkly:

"Sixty years ago, we eradicated them from Daxia's territory—never thought they'd rise again!"

The Sect of Heavenly Fate worships ferocious beasts as gods.

They believe ferocious beasts will ultimately rule Planet Blue, making them true "human traitors!"

Any nation that discovers traces of the Sect of Heavenly Fate will move to annihilate it.

Daxia had completely wiped out the Sect of Heavenly Fate within its borders sixty years ago.

Yet no one expected it to return now in this form!

Beside them, Ling Shuang uttered no threats—only her gaze grew colder.

"We strike together. In three minutes, we should be able to break his spatial seal."

"Three minutes?"

Jiang Mo, vice principal of Jinda, frowned tightly.

In three minutes, some of the freshmen and instructors inside might survive—but those two S-Ranks would already be dead beyond hope.

Yet right now, they had no other option.

"Attack! I will make the Sect of Heavenly Fate pay the heaviest price!"

Xu Ping, vice principal of Jingda, suppressed his fury, already accepting the sacrifice of Xu Jingming and Jilan.

"Xu Jingming, I hope you can hold on until we break through the seal..."

Though he knew Xu Jingming's chances of survival were vanishingly slim, Ling Shuang could not help silently pray.

She slowly exhaled, her icy beautiful eyes fixed on the plantation ahead, spatial ability pushed to its limit:

"Rise!"

Black hair whipped wildly behind Ling Shuang, her Eighth Stage Grand Master aura fully unveiled.

The next instant,

With a thunderous roar, the entire plantation—over ten thousand mu in area—rose from the ground, levitating into the air!

Ziziziz~~~

Two different spatial forces collided, revealing the hidden spatial seal around the plantation!

It was a spherical space, enveloping the entire plantation—including the ground beneath!

"The underground space is sealed—cannot be breached. The weakest point of the space is in the southeast!"

Ling Shuang cried out sharply.

"Understood!"

Xu Ping and Jiang Mo nodded simultaneously.

Immediately, Xu Ping's body swelled, his ability activating—he transformed into a golden giant ape over ten meters tall!

He pulled a staff over ten meters long from his space ring, his massive feet stomping through the forest as he strode toward the southeast.

Jiang Mo's body shattered into a raging torrent of deep blue seawater, surging toward the southeast!

PS: I'm back—I didn't realize how exhausting a wedding would be, but I've finally completed one of life's major milestones.

I just saw off my mother-in-law's party; updates resume today.

Sorry to readers who waited these past few days. (Sincere apologies)