Chapter 147-4: Farewell to the God of Wealth, Return to Anti-Tide (4) |
After resting in two shifts, the Grind Kings set out once more.
But the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.
They chose to detour around the spot where they had encountered the soul beast last time, yet they were still attacked by a soul beast.
Fortunately, there was no swarm of soul beasts besieging them this time.
With burst damage under the blessing of Extreme Speed inherited souls, they easily slew the soul beast blocking the road.
After four days, and three consecutive battles along the way, Li Zheng and his brothers finally exited the plain region.
The third leg of the journey was not as dangerous as the White Plain, but the road was rugged, with towering mountains and dense forests of ancient plants along the way.
Before entering the third area, Li Zheng climbed a towering ancient tree and sat on the trunk, gazing toward the horizon.
His eyes swept over the distant overlapping mountains, a thousand layers of ranges rolling like a slumbering giant dragon lying across the land, with no end of the journey in sight.
This was when the importance of flying vehicles became apparent, but only three people in the team had flying vehicles, and the endurance was only half an hour.
They ultimately decided to cross the mountains on foot.
Before this leg of the journey was over, Li Zheng and the others had exhausted their stored provisions.
Fortunately, with the Analysis ability and Guide providing assistance, they could clearly know which plants were edible and which were poisonous and inedible.
If there truly was no food to eat, they could also buy Spiritual Food listed by other players from the Trading House to replenish their strength.
This segment of the journey made Li Zheng and the others feel like wild men. As they moved forward, they had to guard at all times against various potential small dangers.
For example, a kind of flower-spotted mosquito. When gathered in swarms, it looks like a mass of colorful miasma moving, buzzing and circling, with an endlessly annoying sound, and extremely aggressive.
They personally saw a calf-sized monster besieged by a swarm of flower-spotted mosquitoes and, in the blink of an eye, only a skin bag remained. All flesh and blood was devoured, and not even the bones were left.
According to the Analysis information, this type of mosquito injects flesh-dissolving venom when it bites, and it also carries an anesthetic effect, causing targets bitten by a swarm to be unable to move, forced to watch themselves be devoured.
When sleeping in the dense forest, what Li Zheng and the others feared most was encountering flower-spotted mosquitoes. There was simply no way to sleep in peace.
There were many other dangers hidden in the dark, such as a kind of colorful venomous spider, adept at weaving an invisible giant web between branches. With the slightest carelessness, you could crash headfirst into the trap, and then see a buffalo-sized, shaggy venomous spider open a mouth full of fangs glowing green and attack straight down from the trees.
Killing them was not difficult, but the process was truly frightening.
In the hot and humid environment, all kinds of poisonous insects and fierce beasts ran rampant. Dealing with them did not carry the same pressure as soul beasts, but it was indeed exhausting.
On the fourth day, Li Zheng and the other Grind Kings finally emerged from the mountains.
Looking into the distance, an ancient and majestic castle-like structure lay across the horizon, and above it circled a large number of flying monsters used for vigilance and observation.
“Finally here!”
“Hahaha, we cleared it. I am going into the training camp to gorge on Spiritual Food.”
“At last we do not have to be on edge. Staying tense the whole way was too hard to endure.”
Seeing the castle in the distance, the Grind Kings cheered with joy.
There were no more dangers on the final leg. They came out of the forest and headed straight for Gale Fort.
A few hours later, they arrived in front of the city gate of Gale Fort.
Before they could enter the city, a figure dropped from the sky and blocked their path.
The figure blocking the road was not a humanoid. Its body looked as if it were pieced together from crystals, with faint blue energy luminescence radiating from it, and it held a slender crystal spear in its hand.
“Identity.”
Facing the guard’s inquiry, Li Zheng spoke at once.
“We are first phase graduate trainees from the Snow Valley training camp, delayed in arriving for special reasons.”
Upon hearing this, a series of flowing lights flickered across the crystal-formed face of the guard, after which it nodded.
“Your situation has been recorded. Before entering the second phase training camp, you will need a detailed examination of your physical condition. Follow me.”
With that, the guard turned and walked into the city. Li Zheng and the others immediately followed.
They could fully understand the physical examination.
Along this journey, they would encounter soul beasts released by the Soul Return race, and the hallmark of soul beasts is that they can perfectly inherit everything from what they devour, including memories.
If used as spies, they could easily infiltrate the Anti-Tide Legion.
So the examination was also to confirm whether they were trainees or soul beasts that had seized their bodies.
Following the guard into the city, a thick sense of history washed over them. The buildings here were all built of stone, and many had even begun to show signs of weathering, making them look ancient.
The ground was paved with heavy bluestone slabs. They followed the guard into a tall building of peculiar design.
The floor of the hall was covered in spiritual patterns.
Along the way the guard had already introduced the process of the physical examination. Next, they only needed to carry it out according to the guard’s requirements.
When the tests were finished, under the guard’s lead Li Zheng and the others were brought to an empty house and arranged to stay there. Next, the guard would contact the instructors of the second phase training camp to connect with them.
An hour later, while waiting in the room, Li Zheng and the others met the chief instructor of the second phase training camp.
As soon as he entered, the chief instructor slapped the door with a smack, startling Li Zheng and the others into a jolt.
Turning their heads, they saw a man nearly two meters tall standing at the doorway, bare-chested, his physique towering and solid as an iron tower. His shoulders were broad, and his bulging pectorals were like two hard slabs of rock, rising and falling slightly with each deep breath.
Surging vitality roiled within him, making a sound like the rush of waves.
The Grind Kings players could even clearly sense the vitality fluctuations spilling from inside his body.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rock Sand, chief combat instructor of Gale Fort in the second phase training camp.” Rock Sand’s gaze swept over Li Zheng and the others as he introduced himself coldly.
Hearing this, Li Zheng and the others all stood up, straightened, and offered the Anti-Tide war salute.
Their focus sharpened, the Analysis ability activated, and Rock Sand’s related information surfaced in their minds.
[Rock Sand]
Hunt Level: 105
Target Analysis: An outstanding warrior of the Gold Steel race, a Thorn-rank warrior of the Anti-Tide Legion, currently serving in the Anti-Tide Legion’s Gale Fort training camp as chief combat instructor, responsible for cultivating new-generation reserve trainees of various races.
—
From the analysis, it could be seen that Rock Sand, like Mad Sand, was a Thorn-rank warrior of the Anti-Tide Legion.
After a brief exchange and completion of identity registration,
Rock Sand swept his gaze over Li Zheng and the others and said in a deep voice:
“Starting tomorrow, you officially join the second phase training camp. But I can tell you clearly, every training item you missed must be made up. Be ready to face hard training.”
“Instructor, may we freely tour the training camp now?” Li Zheng asked at this moment.
“Outside of training hours, all time is free. You may go anywhere outside the canteen.”
With that, Rock Sand did not wait for Li Zheng to answer and turned to leave.
—
Night fell.
After finishing a day of high-intensity training, Ghost Eye was wolfing down food in the canteen.
Seated around the same table with him were the brothers from the Snow Valley training camp.
During the meal, Ghost Eye subconsciously glanced at a burly, towering figure in the distance, and the other seemed to sense it, lifting his head and baring a ferocious grin at him.
The other was a trainee from the first phase Dragon Valley training camp and the acknowledged strongest trainee at Gale Fort, their current second phase training camp. Throughout the second phase training he had pressed Ghost Eye down the whole way, his strength in a unique tier for this phase.
“If only that bunch of animals were here. Following them to keep running the hunger tactic training, even if we cannot win we could at least vent some anger.” A Brass race trainee sighed in a low voice at this time.
Hearing this, the eyes of the trainees who had come from the Snow Valley training camp dimmed.
If the player race trainees had not stepped forward then and chosen to sacrifice themselves to cover the retreat, they would never have made it here.
“After we finish eating, let’s go to the cemetery.” Ghost Eye said, then took big gulps of food.
Upon hearing this, the other trainees also quickened their eating.
After dinner ended, the trainees from the Snow Valley training camp followed Ghost Eye toward the cemetery area east of the training camp.
Entering the grounds, countless tombstones stood within.
Every tombstone was a cenotaph, with no bodies interred. Most were for trainees who had died on the road to the second phase training camp, but not all fallen trainees qualified to be interred here.
Every trainee commemorated in the cemetery had sacrificed themselves for the sake of other trainees.
To honor these brave and fearless young reserve warriors, the second phase training camp had established a cemetery here.
Over long years of development, the cemetery’s size continually expanded.
Borrowing the starlight that spilled down, they walked along the moss-covered path to a row of tombstones at the end.
On each tombstone a name was carved.
Gold-Farmer, Dirt Poor, Family-Sharing Stepdad, Murderous Intent Rising…
Ghost Eye stepped forward, crouched before Li Zheng’s tombstone, and placed a piece of Energy Paste he had brought with him upon it.
“Gold-Farmer, you know the rules of the training camp. We cannot take Spiritual Food out of the canteen. Share this Energy Paste among yourselves.”
As he spoke, Ghost Eye’s memories returned to that day.
He recalled the scene of the player race trainees giving their lives to cover them, fighting to the death to help them escape the soul beasts’ encirclement.
In the final image, Li Zheng lay in his arms, vomiting blood without end, his expression wan and withered.
When the Li Zheng in his memory dissolved into black mist, Ghost Eye’s heart twinged along with it, and he could not help taking a deep breath.
“Do not worry. Once we finish our studies, we will go to the White Plain to avenge you. I swear by the Anti-Tide God, and by the honor of my Four-Eyed race.”
With that, Ghost Eye reached out and wiped the tombstone, then stood up.
After Ghost Eye stepped aside, the other trainees came forward one after another, reaching out to wipe the tombstones of every player race trainee.
In this way they expressed their remembrance of the departed.
Finally, they stood in a line and observed a moment of silence before the tombstones.
Recalling scene after scene from the Snow Valley training camp, their eyes reddened.
Just then, a cheeky voice came from behind:
“The emotions are spot on. Shouldn’t you kowtow once before you go?”
“Right. They paid with their lives for you. A kowtow would not be too much, would it?”
Familiar voices came from behind.
The trainees from the Snow Valley training camp all turned around to look.
What they saw were familiar faces standing not far away, looking at them with teasing expressions.
In that moment, Ghost Eye and the others even felt they were dreaming and had not yet awakened.