Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

The next morning.

“I’m sorry for troubling you again, big brother.” Xiang Xiaoyu awkwardly scratched her head. Yesterday’s incident had made her accept her life as it was. If her parents had abandoned her, she did not need to dwell in her imagination anymore; instead, she must appreciate what she already had.

Xiang Ning had been worried that Xiaoyu would be sad this morning, but apparently that wasn’t a problem.

“Don’t worry about it, hurry up and eat breakfast. We’re running a bit late today.” He hurried her like a typical housewife.

She giggled and walked into the bathroom.

Today, he could still walk her to the lower secondary section, and they even met Chen Zixin at the gates.

“Good morning Senior Xiang Ning, Xiaoyu,” Chen Zixin politely greeted the siblings. She thought it must be a good day since she had bumped into Xiang Ning this early in the morning.

“Morning.” Xiang Xiaoyu hurried forward and turned to smile at Xiang Ning. “We’ve got it from here. Bye!”

Xiang Ning grinned and waved, leaving the lower secondary section under the watchful gaze of many young, bashful girls. He then followed the path to the upper secondary section that was lined with tall trees. When he left the path, someone suddenly tapped his left shoulder so he instinctively turned, but there wasn’t anyone there. He caught a whiff of a flowery scent and turned his head to the other side, where he saw an adorable girl in front of him. The girl mischievously stuck out her tongue. She was Lu Shiyu.

“Good morning,” she greeted with a small bow, wiping the mischief off her face. Xiang Ning thought the sudden transformation was cute.

“We’re proceeding with team training today, right? How do you feel about heading to the wilderness tomorrow?” Xiang Ning placed much importance on the upcoming wilderness activity. He had thought it over last night and decided not to upgrade his mental power to tier one, nine-stars. If he did that, what if Dong Qianyu and Lei Zhongyuan noticed? What would he do? It wouldn’t be as simple as them thinking he was some genius if he grew too fast. Then he would become a lab rat and be kidnapped for science; they might even cut his brain open.

However, the ten thousand Fury Points were just too tempting to pass up, so he spent them all on upgrading his Mountain-Splitting Slash. Now, Xiang Ning had successfully passed the Awakened level and reached Peak Mastery, something many people could never reach in one lifetime.

Skill: Mountain-Splitting Slash (Peak Mastery)

Ninety percent of martial artists fail to pass from Assimilation to Awakened, but to attain Peak Mastery… only one in ten thousand martial artists passed that particular hurdle. It was something most could only dream of!

If Lei Zhongyuan knew that Xiang Ning had already attained Peak Mastery in a skill, even if he guessed Xiang Ning had a master behind him, he would still undoubtedly take him away. Peak Mastery didn’t just mean absolute mastery of a skill; it showed how extraordinary a martial artist was. As long as you had one skill at the Peak Mastery level, you would be qualified to open a dojo and recruit students.

It was obvious that Xiang Ning didn’t know how much Peak Mastery meant to other people—he was new to this, after all.

Lu Shiyu quietly stood next to Xiang Ning while carrying her bag, then wistfully answered, “It won’t be a problem.”

“Mm, we’ll be fine. I’ll protect you all,” Xiang Ning said in a gentlemanly tone. Other people might think he was just saying it to impress a girl, but Lu Shiyu understood.

He meant it.

“I’ll protect you too.” No one heard Lu Shiyu, though she had a hint of sweetness in her tone. Although Xiang Ning had said ‘you all’, she could not help but imagine him as Thor, striking monsters down for her.

Very soon, they separated when they arrived at school. Xiang Ning was impressed by how generous all the students were, giving him Fury Points when they met him. They only gave him a little, but the points still quickly accumulated. By the time he arrived in class, he had already gotten more than a thousand points. He must find a way to thank them for their kindness!

Su Muhan continued her lecture on wilderness survival that morning. They had been on the same topic for a few days now, as if she wanted to stuff everything she knew into their brains as soon as possible. She was truly a dedicated teacher.

Xiang Ning didn’t find it boring and took many notes. For example, he learned to immediately run if he saw certain beasts, to run when everything fell silent, and to run when there was a rising fog. Basically, Su Muhan’s number one lesson was to keep yourself alive.

She listed out every possible danger in the wilderness, which made for a very beneficial class to Xiang Ning. After the morning class, she called for him.

They were both on the way to the office when Class 2’s class teacher, Zhang Lian, passed them. Her face instantly darkened when she saw Xiang Ning. This was the bottom-scraping, good-for-nothing, part-time student who had caused her most talented student, Zhao Huatai, to transfer schools in a rage. So why wouldn’t she be mad?

She had even heard of him mingling with her student, Fang Rou, and the new transfer student… there were even people talking about their close relationships! That greatly irritated her—this kid beat up and chased out a male student of hers, then proceeded to seduce her girls? Her impression of Xiang Ning was that he was the scum of society; it couldn’t possibly be any lower.

“Hmmph,” she coldly huffed, suppressing her anger.

Xiang Ning naturally ignored her. Perhaps she was menopausal. He must respect the elderly.

At the office, Su Muhan only spoke after the rest of the teachers had left. “Xiang Ning, I hear that you’ve formed a team with Li Zimo, Liu Ruoxue, and the two girls from Class 2?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Mm, I think you have a strong team there. You guys are already as strong as the team from Class 1, but I need to remind you that Qiling Academy isn’t the only school entering the wilderness. Other academies of Marsh City will also send teams. There’s more than a hundred teams in total, including our ten.”

Xiang Ning was surprised by the numbers. He felt like he had just been cheated. That devious fox! Why would Lei Zhongyuan announce such a generous reward, making them think that only Qiling Academy was involved? So there was nothing generous about it after all!