Chapter 66

Chapter 66 Su Bei was quite sensitive to gazes. In fact, most ability users were sensitive to such things, as their enhanced mental power made the presence of others' stares more noticeable. Moreover, the people around them didn’t seem to have any ill intentions, so they didn’t bother hiding their curiosity, openly scrutinizing the group. Was it because they were wearing masks? Or was there something else off about them? The others naturally noticed the stares as well. Mu Tieren cautiously asked Meng Huai, "Teacher, why are they looking at us like that?" Meng Huai knew exactly why, as did the other teachers. But he had no intention of warning the students in advance, "I’m not sure. Let’s take it one step at a time." From his tone, Su Bei could tell that Meng Huai actually knew the reason but simply didn’t want to say. He raised an eyebrow, mentally ruling out the possibility that the masks were the issue. If Meng Huai knew the truth, then Ye Lin must know as well. Earlier, it was Ye Lin who had suggested they wear masks. At most, she might withhold information to train them, but she wouldn’t outright set them up. So, it must be something about the outside? After some thought, Su Bei quietly moved to the back of the group, planning to be the last one to step out. Coincidentally, Jiang Tianming noticed his movement again. Remembering what had happened the last time Su Bei did this—when the "Tianqiong Academy" students had come to provoke them, and those at the front had been insulted—Jiang Tianming had an idea and followed him to the back. His movement, however, drew even more attention. Several people quickly turned their heads, their gazes now fixed on the two standing at the very end of the line. It was Wu Mingbai, who was closest to Jiang Tianming, who spoke up first, "Why are you two standing at the back?" Jiang Tianming immediately distanced himself, "I only moved back because Su Bei did." Su Bei: "..." Really? You’re just throwing me under the bus like that? Suppressing the urge to glare at him, Su Bei forced an awkward but polite smile and looked at Si Zhaohua, "I’m just following the formation." Si Zhaohua, remembering that he had indeed assigned Su Bei to the rear, quickly explained, "That’s right. I told him to stay at the back."@@@@ Hearing this, the others lost interest and turned their gazes away. They had thought there was some kind of discovery. Among everyone, only Jiang Tianming, who had witnessed Su Bei’s previous actions, and Meng Huai and the other teachers, who knew the truth, didn’t buy his explanation. The rest, even if they felt something was off, couldn’t justify standing at the back with them. Seeing Jiang Tianming stubbornly staying at the rear with him, Su Bei finally had the chance to glare at him. Jiang Tianming, knowing he hadn’t been fair, gave him a pleading look and mouthed slowly, "I’m sorry!"—but I’ll do it again next time. Su Bei rolled his eyes in exasperation. This guy wasn’t exactly honorable. If given the chance, Su Bei would definitely pay him back. Watching their interaction from a distance, Lei Ze’en couldn’t help but chuckle and say to the other two, "Ah, youth. It reminds me of how we used to bicker and mess around back in the day." However, Ye Lin wasn’t about to let herself be dragged into this. Pointing at Meng Huai, she said, "Bicker." Then pointing at Lei Ze’en, "Mess around." Finally, pointing at herself, she blinked emphatically, "Watch." She had always been the one watching the drama, not participating in their antics. Seeing her distance herself, Meng Huai immediately protested, "And who was it that always secretly took revenge whenever we messed with you all these years?" "You do realize it was because you started it, right?" Ye Lin asked with amusement. "Alright, alright," Lei Ze’en interjected, used to playing peacemaker. "I wonder how Su Bei knew about this. He hasn’t been to an alternate space before, has he?" Speaking of the students, Ye Lin immediately returned to her usual gentle demeanor, "Of course not. Non-ability users would be corrupted if they entered an alternate space. He must have gotten the information from another source. After all, this kind of thing isn’t exactly a secret." "Or maybe he’s an early awakener," Meng Huai said with a smirk, crossing his arms. "That kid has already mastered advanced-level mental power." Hearing this, Ye Lin and Lei Ze’en were immediately surprised. The information of students in the S-Class was encrypted, and unless they or Meng Huai revealed it, others wouldn’t know. "Kids these days are really something," Lei Ze’en muttered, scratching his head. "Advanced-level mental power? I didn’t achieve that until I was twenty-five." "If other ability users heard you say that, they’d probably be furious," Ye Lin said with a laugh, trying to comfort him. She wasn’t lying. Achieving advanced-level mental power required both talent and effort. Many people never succeeded in their lifetime, and those who did before thirty were as rare as phoenix feathers. If Lei Ze’en still doubted himself, others might as well bang their heads against a wall. But for Su Bei to have reached advanced-level mental power in his first year of high school was truly remarkable... "They’re about to step out," Meng Huai reminded them. The other two immediately turned their attention, ready to enjoy the show. Not just them, but the other ability users in the rest stop were also eagerly watching. Every year, the new students led by their teachers were a source of entertainment. Sure enough, as the group reached the halfway point, two dark shadows suddenly emerged from the ground on either side, attacking Si Zhaohua and the others who had stepped outside the canopy’s barrier at lightning speed. "Watch out!" Si Zhaohua reacted quickly, activating his ability and transforming into an angel. His wings spread out to block the attack from one side. However, his wings weren’t long enough, so Mo Xiaotian used his air wall to cover the remaining gap. Just as they were preparing to defend against the attack from the other side, an earthen wall suddenly rose from the right, blocking the enemy’s advance. —This was Wu Mingbai’s ability. With the first wave of attacks blocked, the group regained their composure. They could now clearly see their attackers—several sand rat-like nightmare beasts. Lan Subing removed her mask and activated her ability, softly uttering a single word, "「Freeze」." In the next second, the aggressive nightmare rats froze in place. The others didn’t waste this opportunity. Mu Tieren charged forward, punching one of them away. Mo Xiaotian’s explosive cubes also succeeded in detonating. Through recent training, he had learned to compress air more efficiently, increasing the power of his explosions. Combined with the small size of the nightmare rats, one was instantly blown to pieces. Li Shu, somehow, managed to touch a nightmare rat’s head, and within seconds, it collapsed lifelessly to the ground. The last one was taken care of by Qi Huang. Her phoenix flames were incredibly powerful. Even defensive-type nightmare beasts couldn’t withstand a direct hit, let alone fragile ones like the nightmare rats. So, as long as the "closure point" is sealed, the nightmare beasts in this alternate space would be trapped like fish in a barrel. Long before arriving here, everyone had already studied the relevant knowledge about alternate spaces and was well aware of these terms. "The teachers really think highly of us," Li Shu looked very honored, though his words were clearly sarcastic. But he wasn’t wrong. At the very least, everyone agreed with him. Assigning such a task to them—wasn’t that overestimating their abilities? After all, even many adult ability users only enter alternate spaces to eliminate nightmare beasts. As for closing the "closure point," that wasn’t even something they considered. Forget about finding it—even if they did, getting close to it would be incredibly difficult. Many nightmare beasts specifically guard the "closure point." As long as the "closure point" exists, they can return to the nightmare beast world at any time to recover. While the specifics weren’t clear, it was written in textbooks that nightmare beasts recover quickly in their own world. Everyone knew this—they had spent an entire month studying nightmare beasts! Moreover, the difficulty of closing the "closed point" didn’t end there. Once the "closed point" was sealed, the alternate space would lose its vitality and become stagnant. Therefore, the alternate space naturally protects its "closed point." Typically, the "closed point" is located in a perilous area. "Fortunately, our task is only to find the 'closed point.' The teachers wouldn’t assign us an impossible mission. We definitely have a chance to complete this," Jiang Tianming said, always calm and rational when facing challenges. After some thought, he quickly analyzed, "At first, the teachers led us down this path. They gradually fell behind and then disappeared. So, I think the direction we’re heading now is likely the path to the 'closed point.' We just need to keep going straight." This analysis made sense. After calming down, everyone realized that this was indeed the direction the teachers had guided them. The teachers wouldn’t deliberately mislead them—this was probably the only hint they had left. "Then let’s keep moving forward," Si Zhaohua said, taking out a compass to confirm their direction. They were currently heading due north. "Does anyone not have a compass? Speak up now so we can figure out a solution. That way, if we get separated for any reason, we won’t get lost." Mo Xiaotian, Wu Jin, and Zhou Renjie raised their hands. Mo Xiaotian had completely forgotten to bring one, while the other two hadn’t considered the possibility of being separated from the group and had only packed more commonly used items. In truth, Su Bei hadn’t brought a compass either. He had packed very little. His reasoning was simple: since they were traveling as a group, he didn’t need to carry so much. Besides, with the fate compass above his head, as long as the protagonist group was nearby, he would always have a "protagonist group pointer." As long as he looked in the direction of the protagonist group, the small pointer would definitely fluctuate. In this world, no one could influence fate more than the protagonist group. Just for this, he had even prepared a mirror in his storage ring! After confirming their direction, the group continued forward. Crossing a rolling sand dune, they finally saw signs of human presence. There were four people, all wearing matching brown uniforms, fighting a massive snake as thick as two people. The snake’s upper body alone stood as tall as two people. The group watched as the snake pressed its belly against the ground, its thick tail whipping out and wrapping around the person closest to it, lifting them into the air. "Help... help!" the man trapped in the air shouted, his face rapidly turning purple. He flailed wildly, a flaming knife in his hand desperately slashing at the snake’s tail. Whether it was his struggling or the pain from the cuts, the snake raised its head and hissed. In the next second, it slammed the man into the ground with a heavy thud. "Ugh!" The man immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and slumped to the ground. "Mingcheng!" a green-haired woman in the team screamed. The sleek green bow in her hands glowed pink and shrank to the size of two palms. The green-haired woman raised her bow, but instead of aiming at the snake, she aimed at her trapped teammate. A pink arrow shot out, hitting the man in the stomach. In the next moment, it turned into a warm flow of energy, and the man immediately perked up. The other two seized the opportunity to attack the snake. One wielded a dragon-patterned staff in close combat, while the other held a shield, standing in front of the green-haired woman. Clearly, they were trying to distract the snake and free their trapped companion. This was a team where everyone’s abilities were weapon-based! With their keen eyes, Su Bei and the others could tell that the small team was no match for the snake. Wu Mingbai was the first to act, manipulating the sand to rise and completely block the snake’s vision. Jiang Tianming, working in perfect sync, flung a hidden weapon from his pocket. A star-shaped projectile shot straight for the snake’s eye. "Hiss!" The snake, struck in such a vital spot, let out a painful scream. Its tail whipped out, flinging the trapped man away. If it had been an ordinary person, such a blow would have shattered their internal organs. But ability users had extraordinary physical resilience. The man rolled on the ground and quickly got back on his feet, rejoining his team. Immediately after, Qi Huang’s flames and Mo Xiaotian’s air cubes attacked, followed by several elegant yet razor-sharp white feathers. The snake, though formidable, couldn’t withstand so many attacks. With a final, unwilling hiss, it collapsed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Su Bei, Jiang Tianming, and Wu Mingbai launched another round of attacks on the fallen snake, then exchanged smiles. Clearly, everyone had good instincts for finishing off their enemies. The four-person team was stunned. The massive snake that had been beating them senseless had been so easily defeated by a group of students? This year’s students were incredible! The first to recover was the woman with the bow. Her weapon disappeared, and she walked over empty-handed. The man with the buzz cut, who had been rescued, followed closely behind her, sticking to her like glue. "Thank you so much for helping us earlier. Which academy are you from? We’ll send you a commendation banner when we get back," the green-haired woman said gratefully. Before anyone else could respond, Lan Subing immediately shook her head repeatedly, looking as if she wanted nothing to do with it. A commendation banner? What kind of new social nightmare was this! No one really had a need for a commendation banner, and with Lan Subing so vehemently opposed, Jiang Tianming decisively declined, "No need, it was just a small favor. Can we take the nightmare beast’s body with us?" Nightmare beast meat could fetch a good price, and the skin of such a massive snake would likely be quite valuable. Jiang Tianming had glanced at the prices while passing by the stalls earlier that morning. Just selling this one snake could cover his and Wu Mingbai’s living expenses for a year. Ability users really do make good money, Jiang Tianming thought. "Wait," Su Bei spoke up before the other team could respond. He looked suspiciously at the giant snake, then at Jiang Tianming, "You’re not planning to use my storage space to carry this snake, are you?" "This is our snake," Jiang Tianming emphasized. "It’s worth a lot of money." Su Bei didn’t need the money—his father had left him a sizable inheritance. But under Jiang Tianming’s pleading gaze, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse. "Guess I’m out of luck," he muttered. Note: Just became the office treasurer, and this job is lowkey driving me insane ???? so I'm translating this chapter to keep my sanity. If anything sounds weird, let me know in the comments. Appreciate y'all! Buy me a cup of coffee