Chapter 5: The Hope for the Future of Jiuzhou

His gaze shifted to the other side. Three teachers were joining forces to fight off the Thornflower Mantis. Two of them had already been wounded by the mantis’s razor-sharp scythes and were no longer able to fight. The last teacher, desperate to hold the creature back, resisted with all his might.

The mantis raised its scythes high, about to strike a fatal blow.

Xiang Nan dropped his sword, lunged forward in a single bound, and launched himself into the air with a forceful arc, delivering a flying kick.

A crisp notification sounded in his mind: "Ding! Skill 'Shadowless Kick' triggered. Base skill +10, compatibility +2%."

A flurry of leg shadows flickered before their eyes, each carrying unstoppable force, swirling into a dense web that locked the Thornflower Mantis in place.

Against such a fierce onslaught, the Thornflower Mantis could do nothing but endure the beating. Its entire body was driven backward, plowing deep trenches in the concrete ground.

"Die!" Xiang Nan shouted, and with a final kick, sent the mantis flying.

Harnessing the momentum, Xiang Nan twisted midair in a full 1800-degree spin and landed, his feet striking the ground with such power that they left deep marks in the cement.

The Thornflower Mantis, now more than twenty meters away, crashed to the ground. Its body shattered into several pieces, lifeless.

Another notification resounded: "Ding! Primary mission complete. Reward: 10% compatibility points."

Spiritual energy in the surroundings surged into his body, setting his blood ablaze. After this flurry of actions, his cultivation level soared to Stage One, Three Stars.

The next moment, a fierce wind arose.

Behind Xiang Nan, a towering phantom appeared in the air—standing with hands behind his back, exuding an air of supreme confidence. Though his features were indistinct, the aura of a king and the bearing of a grandmaster were unmistakable.

Everyone present was forced back three steps by the phantom’s overwhelming presence. They had no choice but to raise their hands to shield themselves from the raging wind.

Moments later, the wind subsided, and the phantom faded, merging seamlessly into Xiang Nan.

Astonishment rippled through the crowd.

Sun Hai, deep in thought, nodded emphatically, tears of excitement glimmering in his eyes. "A heaven-sent prodigy! Heaven blesses our Jiuzhou!"

Meanwhile, a young teaching assistant in the hall quietly picked up his phone and slipped away to an inconspicuous corner...

At the Mountain Lake Bay Villas—

"What? A reversion of Huang Feihong’s bloodline?!"

"And he even killed a second-tier mutant beast?!"

Gu Zhihong, in his fifties, nearly dropped his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Are you sure?"

"Excellent! Good! As for your request to transfer to our school, I approve!"

"And listen, stall the scene as long as you can. Don’t let those reporters spread the news too quickly!"

Hanging up, Gu Zhihong immediately dialed another number.

"Du Hua, grab the admission letter and come with me to the Ancestral Awakening site at Songjiang Martial High—now!"

"To the high school? To recruit someone?" On the other end, Admissions Director Du Hua was utterly bewildered.

"Principal, are you serious? We’ve never done anything like this before. Isn’t it a bit undignified?"

"Undignified? Who cares about that? I’m telling you to poach this talent!"

"A genius who’s awakened Huang Feihong’s bloodline cannot be allowed to fall into someone else’s hands!"

Du Hua’s face darkened. "Uh... Principal, that’s not what I meant… Wait, who did he awaken?"

Gu Zhihong’s voice rose, "The Saintly Warrior Doctor Huang Feihong!"

"Enough talk! Move it! If we don’t go now, there won’t even be scraps left for us!"

"Whether our school can rise again depends on this one chance!"

"I’m going for broke!"

Du Hua took a deep breath. "Understood! I’m on my way!"

Back at the examination site.

Quiet now settled over the area.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the four mutant beasts lying cold and dead in the center of the field.

"This... Am I dreaming?"

"Four second-tier mutant beasts, all killed by Xiang Nan, who’s only at the first tier?"

"Amazing! He’s the pride of the Empire Flowers!"

"No wonder everyone wants to awaken the bloodline of a martial arts grandmaster—power is everything!"

"How fortunate, to awaken such a formidable master!"

Only Sun Hai, who had witnessed countless generations of students, truly understood.

The reason Xiang Nan could slay second-tier deathworms was not merely the power from his bloodline reversion.

Much more depended on Xiang Nan himself—his physical prowess, reaction speed, tactical intellect, and above all, his justice and courage. Perfection, in every sense!

Here stood a true prodigy—the hope of Jiuzhou’s future!

Outside, around the school.

Parents and reporters waited anxiously for news of the ancestral awakening.

Suddenly, the ground trembled. Alarm bells blared, and chaos erupted from the direction of the examination hall.

Everyone tensed.

"What’s happening?!"

"Mutant beasts have invaded! Oh no, what about our children?"

"Let me through, I have to save my child!"

Desperate parents surged forward, heedless of all else. Even the national television reporter was nearly trampled in the rush.

"Dear viewers, this is the site of the ancestral awakening at Songjiang High. Just now, the alarm for mutant beast incursion was sounded, and it seems the beasts have entered the hall—"

The reporter turned her camera on the panicked crowd, continuing the live broadcast.

At that moment, a booming roar came from above.

A helicopter thundered into view, bearing a special dragon insignia on its hull.

"Look! The Longyuan Corps is here—our children are saved!"

"The Longyuan Corps, guardians of Jiuzhou! They arrived just in time!"

"I wonder what’s happening inside?"

Those who hadn’t managed to squeeze in still wore faces full of worry.

At that same instant, the screech of brakes split the air.

A black sedan sped to a halt at the school gate. Gu Zhihong and Du Hua leapt out in haste.

A sharp-eyed reporter recognized him at once.

Isn’t that Gu Zhihong, principal of East City Martial Arts University?

Before she could react, another brown sedan came racing in.

Out jumped Duan Lixin, principal of Songjiang Martial Arts University—also in a rush?

Then another—Xie Jiang, admissions director of Majestic Capital Martial Arts University?

All the top brass from the major universities had arrived. What in the world was happening?

The reporter was utterly bewildered.

Inside the school, at the examination site.

Countless parents had already rushed in.

Seeing their children safe and sound, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, looking toward the center of the field, they all gasped.

The entire examination ground was split in half, devastated, strewn with rubble and earth, and pitted with blackened craters corroded by venom.

The massive corpses of four mutant beasts lay sprawled across the site.

Even cold and lifeless, they sent chills down everyone’s spines—a terror that made their scalp tingle.

In the sky, the Longyuan Corps’ Captain Mountain Rooster, not yet landed, already glimpsed the slaughtered mutant beasts.

"Second-tier mutant beasts—did you kill them?" Mountain Rooster strode straight toward Sun Hai.

In the crowd, Sun Hai was the most senior by appearance.

But Sun Hai’s legs were badly injured, and the teachers behind him bore heavy wounds as well.

Anyone could see how perilous and brutal this battle had been.

However, everyone knew that the teachers in a secondary school were mostly low in cultivation, holding primarily academic posts.

To face four second-tier mutant beasts and keep casualties so low, then make it out alive?

Mountain Rooster’s eyes were full of doubt.