Chapter Ninety-Eight: Divine Powers

“Fellow students, I am Bai Dishan from the Affiliated High School of Anjing University. Please give me two minutes of your time.”

Bai Dishan stood atop a large protruding rock. His thick brows and fierce eyes, bronzed skin, and tall, muscular frame, coupled with the five-foot-long sword he carried in its sheath, made him an imposing figure.

Just standing there, he exuded an aura of majesty and authority.

Moreover, his voice was strong and resonant, carrying clearly across the open mountainside, reaching everyone scattered around.

Han Yang looked up at Bai Dishan with a complex expression and quietly said to Gao Wu, “Bai Dishan is a warrior.”

In Dongjiang, Bai Dishan was considered a top-tier hero, only slightly inferior to Gao Wu. But upon arriving in Anjing, Gao Wu realized that no competitor here was any weaker.

Figures like Bai Dishan and Yuan Qiansheng had long since ascended to the rank of warrior, looking down arrogantly on other talents.

Actually, Bai Dishan carried no airs; his manner and speech were marked by a generous and straightforward spirit, polite and courteous to all. Yet as a warrior, he naturally overshadowed everyone else.

The more arrogant the person, the more stifled they felt in Bai Dishan’s presence. Han Yang admired Gao Wu greatly—having witnessed countless corpses of the Wancang Pine, he understood how formidable this young man was.

Yet Han Yang also knew Gao Wu was not a warrior and harbored some doubts about that recent battle. Besides, Gao Wu liked to joke around, and once familiar, he revealed no sense of oppression.

It was Bai Dishan, however, who exerted tremendous pressure.

Gao Wu nodded slightly. He not only knew Bai Dishan was a warrior but also suspected he was of the same clan as Bai Yushuang.

More importantly, to become a warrior at such a young age and to bear the surname Bai meant he must be from the Bai family of Anjing—no other possibility existed.

Compared to the spoiled Bai Yushuang, Bai Dishan was much more grounded and displayed true leadership qualities. Some people are born with an innate charisma to lead others, and with experience, they become excellent leaders.

Bai Dishan was clearly such a person. Moreover, he had evidently undergone speech training; his words were skillfully crafted, showing the bearing of an elder brother without being overbearing.

To be frank, Gao Wu did not find Bai Dishan annoying; he even admired him a little.

In this scion of a noble family, he saw ability, wisdom, and refinement—far more compelling than Bai Yushuang’s eccentric antics designed to attract attention.

“I mean no offense,” Bai Dishan began, “the beasts here are formidable, and none of us have much experience dealing with them. Though we are competitors, if real danger arises, we must help each other.

“I will send our team’s coordinates on the public channel. Any team facing peril should approach us, and we will surely extend our help...”

All present expected Bai Dishan to declare himself their leader and organize an alliance. Instead, his magnanimous gesture earned widespread applause.

Even Gao Wu clapped in approval.

Regardless of motive, such a statement showed great vision. If he could truly save others from harm, he deserved the role of elder brother.

Why was Song Jiang able to lead? Because he helped those in distress. A big brother shields his juniors and brings them benefits. Otherwise, what’s the use of having a big brother?

Gao Wu liked helping the needy, but he disliked being a leader. He believed all people were equal and helped others simply because he wished to—not to command obedience.

With his speech recognized, Bai Dishan had achieved his purpose.

Thus, the ten teams dispersed.

The mountain forest was dense, mostly tall, majestic pines and cypresses. Fifty people scattered within it vanished from sight.

Han Yang led with an electronic map, Gao Wu brought up the rear. Yang Ru, Yu Rulong, and Song Minglin stayed in the middle; Yu Rulong and Song Minglin pulled a makeshift two-wheeled cart loaded with supplies and luggage.

Suddenly, Gao Wu sensed something—his spirit perception, keen at the center of his brow, detected a subtle anomaly.

He looked up through the gaps between branches and barely made out a dark speck circling in the blue sky.

“About two thousand meters away...” Gao Wu focused his mind. With a spirit power level of fifteen points, he adjusted his pupils to make out the object—it was a drone.

A large biplane drone with a wingspan exceeding six meters, quite a big machine. Gao Wu recognized it as a drone and felt relieved.

It was clearly monitoring arranged by the organizers to ensure the safety of participants.

“But the dense source energy in this secret realm severely disrupts electromagnetic signals. I wonder how this drone transmits its signals?” Gao Wu mused with mild curiosity but did not dwell on it.

Anjing’s major organizations had managed this secret realm for countless years; it was normal to have installed some antenna towers inside.

The secret realm merely had weak electromagnetic signals, not none. Money could always find ways to boost signals.

This secret realm was crucial to Anjing’s security, so investing heavily here was unsurprising.

Two hundred kilometers away at the otherworldly entrance, martial arts masters An Ziru and Shen An watched the giant display screens.

This connection point between the otherworld and the virtual realm brimmed with powerful source energy that severely disrupted electromagnetic signals.

The images on the screens suffered severe color loss and were riddled with gray and white noise.

Still, they showed about thirty different areas.

Over the past decade, thousands of antenna towers had been installed, forming a wireless electronic matrix covering the secret realm.

A small hydroelectric plant was built at the entrance to power the signal towers and related facilities.

Source energy’s interference caused cables to have a short lifespan—usually needing replacement every two years.

Maintenance of these devices, combined with the stationed troops guarding the entrance, meant enormous annual expenses.

But since the secret realm was so close to Anjing, constant monitoring was essential. No matter the cost, the Northern Province’s headquarters had to accept it.

Precisely because of such comprehensive surveillance, they chose this place as the venue for the preliminary competition.

One monitoring screen showed Gao Wu’s face looking up at the sky, standing out among the many feeds.

Shen An smiled warmly. “This kid has very acute perception; his spirit power must be strong.”

As vice president of the Northern Province Hunters Association, Shen An usually wore a cheerful expression. His round face and corpulent body made him appear very approachable.

An Ziru, however, knew Shen An’s cunning and ruthlessness—traits that explained his position.

Such praise for a student was never casual.

She casually asked, “Do you know him, Vice President Shen?”

“Heh, no. I only know his name is Gao Wu, a student from Dongjiang and a registered hunter.”

Shen An remembered Gao Wu because the young man had stirred up a huge mess trying to resolve the Yunling incident, causing chaos during the general assembly.

But this eighteen-year-old had even counterattacked and slain a warrior. He was resolute and gifted; Shen An admired him.

He also knew Gao Wu was close to Song Mingyue, though she rarely contacted the Shen family, being still so young.

Since Qingqing had left early, and Song Yunhe was unreliable, someone had to look after her.

In front of An Ziru, Shen An praised Gao Wu a bit—hoping to leave a good impression on the martial arts master, which could benefit Gao Wu’s university admission interview.

An Ziru understood. She took out her tablet and checked Gao Wu’s profile: Demon Slayer youth, Snow Wave Cup champion.

Slaying demon god cultists was one thing, but winning the Snow Wave Cup carried real weight—enough to qualify him for an interview at Anjing University’s Martial Arts Academy.

She said, “If Gao Wu participates in the interview, I will consider giving him extra points.”

Shen An smiled, “Thank you, Dean An.”

“The situation grows more severe. Our academy is preparing to expand enrollment...” An Ziru sighed as she spoke.

Maintaining such a large cohort of martial artists was a heavy social burden. But modern technology could not solve the problem of interdimensional fusion; cultivating strong martial artists was the only hope to change fate.

Shen An fell silent at this.

The changing environment was why Yunling decayed so rapidly. And this was not an isolated case—the world would only grow more chaotic.

The Kirin Cup’s choice of such a dangerous preliminary was to train young martial artists and prepare for the coming upheaval.

But the secret realm also attracted demon god cultists. If anything went wrong, no one could bear responsibility.

Shen An gazed toward the otherworldly entrance. With his strong spirit power, he sensed the vast, sea-like tide of source energy surging toward the secret realm.

He lightly tapped his black battle armor, its matte black surface metallic yet dull like soaked wood.

This special biochemical armor could automatically absorb source energy in the secret realm, greatly enhancing his combat power.

The higher the source energy concentration, the stronger the armor’s power.

Yet even such biochemical armor could hardly offset humanity’s inherent disadvantages.

After all, the beasts naturally absorbed source energy, and the otherworld housed highly intelligent species and unfathomable demon gods.

When the source energy in the real world also reaches such strength, who knows what the world will become...

As the sun set and twilight deepened, each team chose their campsite.

Being elites, even with little hunting experience, their camp setups were orderly.

With drones monitoring everywhere, the organizers felt reassured.

Once night fell, the drones were recalled. The organizers used locators to confirm each team’s status.

Fortunately, wireless communication remained open, ensuring any team in danger could call for help on the public channel.

Though Gao Wu was the team leader, Han Yang handled these trivial matters.

Gao Wu slept until two in the morning before rising to relieve Yang Ru on watch.

Yu Rulong and Song Minglin guarded the luggage and did not take shifts. Han Yang led the team’s movement and also did not stand guard.

Thus, only Yang Ru and Gao Wu took shifts at night.

When Gao Wu saw Yang Ru enter the tent, he finally took out water and energy bars and ate heartily.

The stronger the physique and the larger the muscles, the greater the consumption. Unable to use source energy himself, Gao Wu had to replenish stamina through food, needing twenty times the calories of an average adult.

Besides regular meals, energy bars were his constant snacks.

Full and energized, Gao Wu donned the Crimson Eye—a special face mask far superior to infrared imaging devices, with excellent protection.

Scanning the surroundings, he found no abnormalities or drones monitoring him and then released his Yin Spirit.

This was his first time entering the virtual realm since his Yin Spirit reached full maturity.

The crimson Yin Spirit stood steadily, wrapped in dense source energy. Gao Wu felt it continuously exchanging energy with the source energy.

Clearly, a mature Yin Spirit could now partially harness source energy and had greatly improved endurance.

In this state, the Yin Spirit was much stronger than in the real world.

Gao Wu tested it briefly. The Yin Spirit flew to over ten thousand meters before feeling unstable. Holding the Destiny Sword, the Yin Spirit could fly over a thousand meters.

This was ten times the real-world flight distance for a Yin Spirit.

The sword flight speed had also doubled, reaching about 100 meters per second.

Carrying a forty-kilogram sword at such speed, even without striking, this velocity alone was enough to kill all grade-one beasts.

After twenty minutes of testing, the Yin Spirit remained stable, unlike before when it was corrupted by source energy.

Gao Wu’s spirit power was heavily drained but still sustainable.

Through these tests, Gao Wu realized the Yin Spirit’s tremendous strength. Crucially, with the Destiny Sword, the Yin Spirit’s power could be effectively converted—extremely powerful and terrifying!

He couldn’t help but feel proud; such transformation was truly miraculous, overwhelming even warriors.

Even that Wancang Dragon probably couldn’t reach 100 meters per second.

But then he reconsidered—warriors and martial artists should also gain enhancements in the virtual realm. His calculations might be somewhat flawed...

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