In the spacious classroom, only a few dozen figures were buried in self-study, most of them in twos and threes, with a few solitary ones.
Yueqi Wuka sat alone.
She was one of the few with the least seniority in this advanced class, but at the same time, one of the most desperate in the entire class, and even the entire training base.
Many people were diligent here, and internal competition was the norm in the training camp, but compared to internal competition, Yueqi Wuka's life-burning training had scared many of her peers.
She was also a frequent visitor to the infirmary.
Many of the trainees in the training base had experienced encounters with eerie creatures, and some had lost family members to them.
These people were often the most driven.
Yueqi Wuka's situation was even more tragic; her entire family, dozens of people, had been killed by eerie creatures, and all she received was an apology from a mysterious guard.
Nothing else.
Disappointed and despairing, she was fortunate enough to be selected and come here.
Here, she could gain the power of revenge, and one day, she would reform the entire Sakura Kingdom.
Yueqi Wuka glanced at the long sword placed on her desk, her eyes firm.
Suddenly,
A slender figure walked to the podium at the front and knocked.
"She's..."
"It's Miss An!"
"So our exploration class teacher is Miss An!"
"Who is Miss An?"
"Huh? You don't even know Miss An? She often appears with the instructor!"
"Emmmm, but the instructor rarely shows up either."
Luo Jianxing, an old hand, was quite familiar with An Jianyou.
Newer batches of trainees like Yueqi Wuka were more unfamiliar, but they could hear from the conversations of others that the seemingly delicate girl was a powerhouse!
They had also heard of the title "Miss An."
And now they saw her in person.
Under the gaze of all those eyes, An Jianyou gracefully walked onto the podium.
In reality, she was a little nervous.
Life is unpredictable.
How did she, an ordinary college student, suddenly become a teacher, teaching the elites of the organization?
Most of them were older than her.
However, it was only a little nervousness. Compared to enduring the eerie tide of Wave City, entering the eerie realm alone, and witnessing the battle between the instructor and a terrifying existence with her own eyes, a few classes were a small matter!
Her strength was too weak, and she couldn't help the instructor in battles, but she had to help her instructor in other aspects.
Go for it!
An Jianyou encouraged herself, put on her signature poker face, and began her lecture.
At first, the elites were surprised by Miss An's identity, but later they gradually became immersed in the content of the "General Knowledge of the Eerie Realm Advanced Course."
An Jianyou was a top student and currently the person with the most exploration steps in the eerie realm within the Torch Organization.
Her teachings combined with the textbook made many people suddenly realize.
However,
Theory was theory, after all. The more they learned, the more curious the students became, feeling like their hearts were being tickled. But where was the eerie realm?
"There will be another class tomorrow, the Eerie Realm Exploration Practical Class."
"Gather at 8 o'clock sharp."
"Now, class dismissed."
...
The next day, at 8 AM.
At the Pacific Base, in front of the entrance to the Torch Secret Realm, passing trainees were surprised to find that the big shots were wearing more complete gear today.
Yesterday, except for the flashy Jiang Nian, most people were wearing ordinary clothes, at most white-level training gear.
Today was different. They wore their most prized possessions, and many had even exchanged for equipment and items overnight.
Luo Jianxing patted his clothes.
"Green-level Phantom Series combat uniform, green-level Cheetah Series combat boots, green-level Scarlet Shadow Series combat knife, plus a green-level tactical backpack, and various potions."
"Brother Luo, isn't your full gear a bit exaggerated? You bought the potions last night, didn't you!"
"Exaggerated? Not at all. We've been taking our eerie realm class for a while now. Don't you know how dangerous the eerie realm is? Look at Old Gou over there, he's even wearing a green-level cloak over his combat uniform, and I estimate his backpack is already full of potions."
Isn't that more exaggerated than him?
This was caution, as well as the wealth and pride of "veteran" Torch warriors.
You prodigy newcomers might have caught up in strength, but you definitely can't compete in equipment, humph~!
"But there are quite a few people today. I didn't expect so many people to be taking this class."
The entire large classroom from yesterday only had forty-odd people.
Today, there were over a hundred people gathered at the assembly point, all of them cunning. Upon hearing about the practical class, they rushed here overnight from various places.
...
At this time,
In the country of Wave,
"Two experts from the Torch Office left overnight, and they seemed to be in a hurry."
Anderson frowned at the report from his subordinate.
Could it be that a major disaster was about to happen?
"It shouldn't be within our Wave country. If it were, Torch wouldn't keep it from us. However, the disaster might be happening in our Europe, and Torch is short-handed, so they're deploying strong individuals from all over."
Anderson felt he had found the truth.
He pondered for a moment and ordered, "Closely monitor the situation in various parts of Europe for any major events."
Perhaps, they could discover more secrets.
...
Pacific Base, in front of the secret realm entrance.
An Jianyou emerged from the secret realm and swept her gaze over the assembled crowd, feeling a little headache.
After all, there were too many people.
Exploring the eerie realm was a dangerous task, and she was responsible for both popularization and protection.
Under her care, no one could afford to lose an arm or a leg.
She gave some instructions and then led the group through Entrance No. 5, and exited through Entrance No. 3.
The environment changed instantly.
What appeared before everyone's eyes was a gloomy sky, with wisps of gray mist drifting, and a few two-story small buildings standing in isolation.
There were also a few stationed Torch elites here, usually rotating every three days.
The one in charge this time was the Torch Fire Keeper, Master Ming Deng.
However, Master Ming Deng had never entered the eerie realm himself.
His muscular physique meant his mental power was not up to par, and for the very few others who could meet the standard...
An Jianyou spoke, "Some of you should be able to sense the special fluctuations here."
"What special fluctuations?"
Luo Jianxing and most others were bewildered.
Many of them were here for the first time, with little knowledge of secret realms, let alone special fluctuations.
It wasn't mentioned in the textbook... Oh, wait, they had only flipped through a third of the new textbook yesterday.
Luo Rui said, "The book states that only when one's mental power exceeds 15 points can they sense the spatial-temporal nodes within a secret realm and thus enter the eerie realm."
"This can usually only be done by Awakened individuals of the third tier."
Of course, for Torch elites, even if they were only at the second tier, if they frequently trained in the Lotus Pond, raised their "Basic Visualization" to a very high level, and drank mental secret medicine, it was entirely possible to increase their mental power to over 15 points.
It's just that elites with such abundant contribution points and time had usually already advanced to the third awakening.
Among the elites, a few individuals had captured spatial nodes at this moment.
Gou Ping'an could vaguely "see" the changes in the nodes, surging like tides. All they needed was to gently touch at the right moment, and they could pass through like a vortex to the other side.
Paladin Roland could too. He was a third-tier Awakened of the physique-oriented path, but unlike Master Ming Deng, who was a Buddhist master but had almost all his awakened breakthrough points poured into physique, resulting in profound Buddhist teachings and visualization techniques, his mental power was still not high enough.
Although both of them "saw" it, neither made a move.
Gou Ping'an aside, Roland was also a steady person, and furthermore, the dangers of the eerie realm were clearly stated in the textbook.
Recklessness was not to be tolerated.
"Today is a practical class. In the future, if you want to go to the eerie realm, you can form your own teams, but you need to apply in advance... That's what the instructor said."
"Then now, let's set off."
With mental power exceeding 15 points, one could enter the eerie realm independently or bring others along by touch.
The stronger the spirit, the more people one could bring.
However, An Jianyou didn't need to be so troublesome. As soon as her voice fell, a circle of deep darkness spread rapidly outwards from the spot where she stood.
The domain of the netherworld enveloped the surroundings.
The next moment,
Hum—
With a blink of an eye, they had set foot in the eerie realm.
Gray mist shrouded the land, and trees emitting faint white light appeared in everyone's vision, along with rolling hills and all sorts of strange plants growing on them.
"This is the eerie realm?"
"No, this is just the doorstep of the eerie realm."
As soon as they entered, the fresh scent of hundreds of people immediately attracted the eerie creatures lurking nearby. Two seconds later, the eerie creatures were chopped to death by a flurry of blades and swords.
Many people grumbled about not getting a kill, but when they emerged from the secret realm and truly stepped into the eerie realm shrouded in thick fog, it was a different story.
Eerie creatures surged like a tide.
After only walking a few dozen meters out of the secret realm, the surging tide of eerie creatures was more numerous than any they had ever encountered before.
"Face the enemy!"
"Two three-headed Chaos-level eerie creatures... three heads... six heads!"
"Holy shit! Holy shit!"
Even without An Jianyou, the magnificence of this team could rival the combined top forces of all countries on Earth in reality.
But in the eerie realm, facing almost infinite and rapidly self-healing eerie creatures, they would still be wiped out in less than ten minutes.
Thus, An Jianyou lit the Bright Light Torch.
Well, the preceding scare tactic was instructed by the instructor. The instructor's arrangements must have had a reason.
She did as she was told.
The next moment, she saw everyone walking more cautiously, appearing to have a clear understanding of the danger of the eerie realm.
This was the instructor's intention, right?
It indeed had a reason.
She took out a few more torches and had people light them.
But even so, eerie creatures still pounced from time to time, a few, a dozen, dozens, constantly attacking the team.
The frequency and danger level were far greater than in her previous explorations.
"Is it because there are too many people?"
"The scent of human life attracts eerie creatures, as does the accumulated mystery. The stronger the mystery, the greater the attraction to eerie creatures, and now..."
Emmmm, now there were many people, and their mystery was strong. In the eyes of eerie creatures, the Bright Light Torches were probably black veils that could conceal their whereabouts, but now their group together was like a large mobile spotlight, and the Bright Light Torches couldn't hide them much.
"Therefore, exploring the eerie realm is still best suited for small teams of 3-5 people."
From a third-person perspective, Fang You watched An Jianyou and the others in a place where they couldn't see.
Today was Torch's first large-scale entry into the eerie realm, how could he not take it seriously? He not only pushed aside all his work but also packed his equipment into the mouth of his flesh-and-blood bird.
Ready to intervene at any time, and Xiao Huan was also on standby.
Not only that,
Fang You glanced to the side, the ten-meter-tall ancient god-slaying weapon, Light Red, was also on standby and had charged three grids.
Even if a terrifying existence jumped out, he would...
But there were no accidents along the way.
No subordinate of a commander-level or throne-level evil god suddenly jumped out to intercept them, and he didn't know if they were scared, couldn't find them, or both.
It was probably both.
The shallow layer of the eerie realm belonged to both the eerie realm and Earth, with a unique environment and rules, just like why Yi Yueluoxi always stayed in the black tower and chose to seek profit through transactions.
Besides being a lawful force herself, it was more likely because...
She couldn't leave the black tower.
Otherwise, with her not weak strength, wouldn't exploring and treasure hunting in the shallow layer of the eerie realm be more profitable?
Fang You felt a bit regretful that there were no accidents along the way.
He wished there were accidents; it was better to deal with them openly than to hide in the dark.
He was sure that there were still remnants of evil gods on Earth; these things were endless.
...
At this time, in the eerie realm, about three kilometers away from the secret realm entrance.
Luo Jianxing and the others were sweating profusely, trembling uncontrollably.
For Fang You, it was an ordinary day with no accidents, but for them, they had just encountered a great terror.
A ferocious giant with three heads emerged from the thick fog, wielding a blood-stained giant club and roaring as it charged.
"It's a Three-Headed Troll!"
"A Calamity-level eerie creature, hiss~!"
Then,
Two arms suddenly emerged from the dark ground and tightly grabbed the troll's ankles.
In mid-air, two figures crossed paths.
One figure had a strange smile on its face, while the other figure had no face and wore a tattered dance costume.
Four-star eerie creatures: The Laughing Puppet and the Faceless Dancer.
Both were rare, small-bodied eerie creatures. The latter was An Jianyou's newly captured pet, wearing tattered clothes and dancing with flamboyant steps, throwing blades with every breath.
With the combined efforts of the three eerie creature pets, the Three-Headed Troll encountered great terror and crashed to the ground.
The two giant hands slowly sank into the deep darkness, and the laughing puppet and the dancer in tattered clothes also vanished from sight.
Oh, hiss—!
Compared to the Calamity-level eerie creature, Miss An was truly ferocious.
Amidst the ferocity, the team also reached their destination.
Ahead lay a stretch of rolling hills, a special environment different from reality.
But it was not a deep-level entrance, but a mining site.
There was a vein of mysterious material here!
At the opportune moment,
A real-time mission popped up in the minds of the sub-apostles present with a "ding."
"Assist in establishing a mining outpost and clear surrounding eerie creatures."
Clearing eerie creatures was not difficult, but opening the mine would be somewhat challenging.
Luo Rui and others were confused.
An Jianyou said, "The instructor had prepared for this long ago."
She took out a unique small bead.
"Seed of the Fog-Dispelling Bonfire"
"Description: A seed of construction condensed from a miracle blueprint, it is the foundation for building miracle structures."
The building seed was dropped.
It sank into the soil, and faint threads spread out, outlining an indistinct building silhouette.
An Jianyou then poured out four combat engineer puppets and a pile of mysterious materials from her spatial ring.
There were white, green, and blue.
With the building seed as the foundation, the construction process had one advantage: no need to rack your brains, just work hard.
The Torch elites received their tasks and transformed into construction workers.
Transporting materials, hammering and building, injecting life energy.
As energy was injected, the materials slowly integrated, and the lines outlined by the building seed gradually solidified.
About half an hour later,
The purple building, "Fog-Dispelling Bonfire," was completed.
The "Brightwood," which served as the main fuel, had already been added. The moment the building was formed, with a whoosh, the flames slowly ignited, dispelling the darkness and filth in the world. The gray mist in their vision seemed to be pushed by gusts of wind, constantly receding.
The shallow mist within the range of the Bright Light Torch dissipated.
The dense gray mist outside the range of the torch also receded visibly.
Sunlight shone down, warming their hearts.
The life energy that had been greatly consumed within their bodies gradually replenished.