Chapter 175

The pleasure boat was just twenty zhang ahead.

The fish demons on the left and right were only ten zhang away.

If they continued to advance at this speed, it was very likely they would be surrounded by the fish demons from both sides.

Anyone with a brain could calculate this outcome, not to mention that those who could appear in the special training grounds were all shrewd people.

Seeing a companion escape alone at this time, the expressions of the others changed.

"Despicable!"

A young man cursed angrily, but just as he shouted this, two more figures suddenly leaped high.

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi, I'm sorry!"

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi, apologies, we don't want to die!"

Once surrounded by the fish demons on both sides, they would have no chance to break through the encirclement.

Perhaps Senior Lin Lin Shidi could do it by relying on his formidable strength, but they absolutely could not, and these fish demons had now become crazy; even if they wanted to follow behind Senior Lin Lin Shidi like before, they were willing but lacked the strength.

Ji Rui, who had rushed toward the pleasure boat first, had a look of shame on his face.

He was the one who had previously asked Senior Lin Lin Shidi to abandon them and break through the encirclement alone, but at that time, everyone was still a long distance from the east side of the island, and in his view, the hope of survival was too slim.

In a situation where he couldn't see any hope of life, Ji Rui had accepted the reality of death and didn't want to drag Senior Lin Lin Shidi down.

But now that hope was right before his eyes, his thinking had changed.

He wanted to live!

Even though he knew his behavior was a betrayal of the others, he didn't want to die.

Senior Lin Lin Shidi, apologies!

Other senior and junior brothers, apologies!

Ji Rui soared into the air and reached the shore of the lake. Although the pleasure boat was moored on the water a few zhang away, this distance didn't count for much to him.

However, just as Ji Rui stomped his right foot heavily on the ground, wanting to leap up again, a shadow suddenly surged up from the lake surface. A massive fish demon was opening its blood-red mouth wide. Ji Rui's pupils shrank; he wanted to dodge, but it was already too late, and he was swallowed directly into the fish demon's mouth.

Seeing Ji Rui swallowed in one gulp by the fish demon, the other two young men had looks of horror on their faces and immediately stopped their momentum. But what made them feel even more terrified was that the fish demons that had originally been surging toward Lin Chen and the others now abandoned Lin Chen and the others and surged toward the two of them instead.

"Haha, they truly deserve it!"

Seeing this scene, the young men beside Lin Chen showed looks of satisfaction; this was the end of betrayal.

"Junior brothers, board the boat from one side, and be careful of that fish demon in the lake."

Watching the two people surrounded by fish demons, Lin Chen frowned and said to the young men behind him.

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi, are you going to?"

"I cannot watch these two junior brothers be killed by the fish demons."

Hearing Lin Chen's words, the young men all had looks of disbelief. These two had betrayed everyone; he still wanted to save them?

"Everyone makes mistakes. The two junior brothers were just trying to survive. Thinking about it now, they must have realized their mistake. We should give them a chance. Besides, with these two junior brothers here, they have also attracted the fish demons away from us. From this point of view, we should even thank these two."

Lin Chen's face was sincere, and the young men were extremely moved.

Senior Lin Lin Shidi is not only strong in strength, but at this moment in their eyes, Senior Lin Lin Shidi himself was glowing.

"Jiang Jiang Shijie, please take a few junior brothers and break out from that side."

Jiang Qing gave a strange "Mm" and led a few people to start advancing diagonally.

"Two junior brothers, hold on, I'm coming!"

Lin Chen shouted, his figure leaping up and smashing directly into the circle of demons surrounding the two.

With his current second-stage body of the Mountain-Suppressing Manual, he could completely use himself as a weapon.

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi!"

Seeing Lin Chen kill his way into the demon circle and come before them, the two young men had looks of extreme shame on their faces, and they didn't even dare to look Lin Chen in the eye.

"You just wanted to survive; there is nothing wrong with that. No one is not afraid of death."

Lin Chen spoke to comfort the two, and then said loudly, "Follow me and kill our way out."

"Mm."

The two young men's voices were muffled, but at this moment they had already made up their minds: from now on, whoever dared to speak ill of Senior Lin Lin Shidi or dared to act against Senior Lin Lin Shidi would be their enemy.

The premise was that they could truly survive!

Drip!

Drip-drip!

Drip-drip-drip!

Just as Lin Chen was preparing to lead these two to break through the encirclement, a sharp, short flute sound suddenly came from the lake surface. Accompanied by the flute sound, these fish demons jumped toward the lake one after another, actually abandoning their encirclement of Lin Chen and the others.

Seeing the fish demons retreat, Lin Chen's eyes blinked slightly. It seemed that the test arranged by Lord Xu had already ended.

"The test is over just like that? Why is Old Man Su so stingy?"

Xu Li, who was watching every move here from the distance behind, muttered.

It wasn't like a few more fish demons died.

These fish demons were originally meant to be used for their flesh and blood to refine elixirs; it didn't matter if a few more died.

"The test is over, let's go out and see these kids."

Although he was a bit dissatisfied in his heart, Xu Li also knew that after these fish demons retreated, there was no need for this test to continue.

……

……

The retreat of the fish demons made the young men present somewhat confused, but what followed was the joy of rebirth after a disaster.

"Could it be that reinforcements have arrived, and these fish demons sensed danger and retreated on their own?"

Some young men were thinking, but more of them collapsed to the ground. After the prolonged fierce battle and the tense nerves, with the retreat of the fish demons, these young men could no longer hold on.

"We, we survived!"

"We didn't die, we survived."

Everyone looked at each other, their eyes full of joy, but the next moment, the gazes of these young men fell on the figure walking toward them.

Without Senior Lin Lin Shidi, they wouldn't have lasted until now and would have long since died at the hands of the fish demons.

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi!"

"Senior Lin Lin Shidi!"

All the young men spoke at the first opportunity. Lin Chen glanced at the crowd: "Although I don't know why the fish demons retreated, we still cannot let our guard down. Jiang Jiang Shijie, I leave this side to you; I need to go back for a trip."

Lin Chen's words stunned everyone. Senior Lin Lin Shidi still wanted to go back at this time? "There are still three junior brothers in that iron warehouse, and I also want to see how the instructors are doing."

Jiang Qing heard Lin Chen's words and rolled her eyes in her heart. Lin Lin Shidi, you are acting a bit too much.

"No need to look, we are fine!"

Just as Lin Chen turned around and prepared to walk back, the figures of Xu Li and the others also walked out from the dense forest not far away.

Seeing Xu Li and the various instructors, the young men present were stunned. Weren't the instructors supposed to have perished together with the fish demons?

How did they appear again, safe and sound?

"Lin Chen, well done. This official is very satisfied with you."

Xu Li did not hide the appreciation in his eyes for Lin Chen, and the other instructors looked at Lin Chen with the same expression.

Lin Chen was astonished: "Lord Yu Yu Jiaoxi, Yu Yu Jiaoxi Min, what is going on?"

"This was a test, the final test for you in the special training grounds."

Xu Li spoke directly, then his gaze swept toward the others: "Most of you performed adequately in this test, but a small number of people…… did not pass the test."

Hearing this Lord Xu's words, Lin Chen gave a bitter smile, while those students who had originally thought they had survived a disaster had their mouths slightly open, not knowing what to say.

Is there such a way to test people?

The two students who had followed Lin Chen over were now hanging their heads like ostriches; they knew that the few who did not pass that Lord Xu spoke of included the two of them.

"Being afraid of death is not wrong; no one is not afraid of death, even this official is afraid of death!"

Xu Li's expression turned cold: "But if you are afraid of death and only care about saving your own life when encountering demons, what difference is there between our Great Liang and the previous dynasty?"

"You have disappointed this official. From now on, pack your things and get out of the special training grounds; you are not worthy of staying here."

The two young men's faces flushed red, and they hung their heads without saying a word. Zhang Jiang, who was on the side, sighed: "You two come with me."

Lacking courage is one thing, and hiding in an iron door is fine, but at the final moment, abandoning one's companions to save one's own life—this kind of selfish behavior is not allowed by Great Liang.

After Lord Xu reports the situation of this test to the Martial Administration Hall, these two will no longer receive any subsequent martial cultivation resources from the Martial Administration Hall and can only rely on their families and themselves to obtain subsequent martial cultivation resources.

"Everyone else go back and rest. Lin Chen…… Jiang Qing, you two come with this official."

All the students were taken away by the instructors, while Xu Li led Lin Chen and Jiang Qing toward the shore.

"Do you have many doubts?"

"My lord, what is going on with these fish demons?"

Lin Chen indeed had many doubts, the most puzzling being how Lord Xu controlled these fish demons?

"You will know soon."

Xu Li smiled slightly, and just as he finished saying this, a figure walked out from the cabin of the fishing boat on the lake, accompanied by angry cursing.

"Xu Li, do you know how many fish demons this old man lost this time!"

"This is the answer you want to know."

Xu Li took a step from where he stood, his figure landing steadily on the deck of the pleasure boat like an arc of light. Lin Chen and Jiang Qing looked at each other and also used their light-body techniques; although not as relaxed as Xu Li, they also landed steadily on the pleasure boat deck.

"Old Man Su, don't be angry. I have brought you the culprit who killed your fish demons. You can deal with him however you like; I will absolutely not stop you."

Xu Li laughed heartily, but the old man dressed as a fisherman rolled his eyes. He couldn't deal with anything.

This little girl from the Jiang family goes without saying; she has that fierce man Jiang Duanchao behind her. As for this kid named Lin Chen…… if he were to touch him, he feared that Lord Jia would come to settle accounts with him personally.

"Good kid, you killed hundreds of my fish demons. How does it feel?"

"How does it feel?" Lin Chen thought for a moment and replied: "It feels quite satisfying."

This was Lin Chen's true feeling. This kind of battle where he could go all out, and the scene of blood splattering every time a fish demon died before him, made him feel very exhilarated.

Could it be that I have violent factors in my bones?

"Satisfying?"

The old man didn't expect Lin Chen to answer this way. He was stunned for a moment, then burst into loud laughter: "That's right, killing these fish demons is indeed quite satisfying, but you killed them satisfyingly, while my last two years of work have gone to waste."

"Senior, were these fish demons cultivated by you?"

"This fish is called the Poison-Eating Fish. The mucus in its body is toxic, and it relies on spraying mucus to catch prey. However, under my control, these Poison-Eating Fish did not spray mucus at you, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to withstand it."

Su Dechang explained: "Several types of elixirs sold by the Martial Administration Hall, including those in the outside Elixir Pavilion, use the flesh and blood of the Poison-Eating Fish. I cultivate these beasts to provide materials for refining elixirs. Do you want to know how I cultivate these Poison-Eating Fish?"

Lin Chen nodded; he was indeed curious. Can demons be cultivated?

"Poison-Eating Fish live in groups. There is a Queen Mother in the group. I control this Queen Mother and let her continuously lay eggs, then use some secret techniques to control these Poison-Eating Fish. As for the Queen Mother, once she can no longer lay eggs, I will skin her and pull out her tendons, then cultivate a new Queen Mother. Do you think my methods are cruel?"

Su Dechang looked at Lin Chen with a smile. Lin Chen did not hesitate at all and said directly: "Disciple does not think the lord's methods are cruel. Lord Su once told disciple about the sins the demon race committed against our Great Liang back then. Disciple once saw words left by a senior in a certain book."

"What words?"

"Forgiving the demon race is something for those commoners harmed by the demon race to do, and what we descendants must do is send the demon race to meet those commoners."

As soon as Lin Chen said this, Su Dechang and Xu Li were both stunned. After a long while, the two burst into hearty laughter at the same time.

"Your words are very much to my liking. You are right; forgiving the demon race is something for those commoners harmed by the demon race, as well as the seniors who sacrificed themselves fighting the demon race, to do. What we must do is send the demon race to meet those seniors."

Su Dechang was very satisfied with Lin Chen's answer. Nowadays, demons are rare in Great Liang, and some people have forgotten the harm the demon race caused to the people of Great Liang, especially with the passing of hardliners against the demon race like the Marquis of Zhenbei, some shameful voices have actually appeared in the imperial court.

"Lin Chen, the three months of training in the special training grounds will end in three days. Have you thought about your subsequent martial path?"

Xu Li asked with a smile. Lin Chen replied: "Disciple should be returning to Poyang County to cultivate with focus in the martial hall."

According to what Lin Chen knew from Lord Su, the special care the Martial Administration Hall gives to students ends at the special training grounds. Next, no matter how high a student's talent is, if they want to obtain cultivation resources, they can only rely on themselves.

Of course, students can stay in the martial hall for three years, and there are year-end competitions, prefectural exams, etc., later on. As long as they can achieve good rankings, there are rewards, but there will not be the unlimited resource supply cultivation like in the special training grounds.

All rewards have a standard.

"With your potential, you should be able to enter a Wu Yuan. Jiang girl, have you mentioned this to Lin Chen?"

"No."

Jiang Qing on the side shook her head. Originally, when they were on the shore behind the mountain, she had intended to tell Lin Lin Shidi about the Wu Yuan, but she was interrupted by the fish demons.

"Our Great Liang has five major Martial Academies, but they have no relationship with the Martial Administration Hall. Let Jiang girl tell you the details; this official and Old Su still have some matters."

"Then disciple takes his leave."

Lin Chen knew that these two had matters to discuss, so he left the pleasure boat with Jiang Qing.

"How is it?"

Watching Lin Chen's figure disappear, Xu Li's smile faded, and he asked Su Dechang.

"He is indeed a rare martial genius, and he has his own opinions. I will send a message to Lin Lin Shidi Ji."

"Act quickly; I fear other Martial Academies will snatch him away."

(End of chapter)