Chapter 20 : Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Entering the Abyss
Li Mu shook his head.
“It’s gone!”
Wang Longcheng let out a long breath of turbid air.
After gasping a few times like an ox, he gradually returned to that same calm, seasoned bearing he had shown earlier.
Only then did Li Mu understand that Wang Longcheng was a true beast.
He had been using Li Mu’s Fiery Golden Eyes to help him take aim!
He knew very well how dangerous those two meridians were.
He simply had no way to pinpoint them accurately by himself.
But the moment he could sense the place Li Mu’s ocular technique had locked onto, he made his decision instantly! A strong man cutting off his own arm!
If he had truly found a quiet place and asked Li Mu to help him locate them carefully and solemnly, Li Mu might actually have made a mistake because of the pressure.
Instead, it was precisely when Li Mu felt the least burden psychologically that his targeting was the most accurate!
Although the human body contained a vast number of meridians, losing two of them would not damage one’s foundation outright.
But the danger involved was still tremendous, and if the position had been wrong and he had blown up the wrong ones, what then?
That would have been irreversible damage.
The moment he heard Li Mu say, “It’s gone,”
even the adjutant driving in front could not hide the excitement on his face.
As Wang Longcheng’s personal guard, he knew very well how much this strange illness had plagued Wang Longcheng.
There had once been a time when Wang Longcheng had been carrying out a major mission.
He had been fully focused on issuing commands and directing the battlefield.
Then, in a moment of urgency, he coughed once— and spat out a mouthful of blood directly onto the command platform.
Fortunately, everyone in the command room at that time had been Wang Longcheng’s trusted men.
Otherwise, if news of that incident had leaked out, Wang Longcheng’s career would already have been over.
And the injury that had caused this severe meridian damage in Wang Longcheng had come from a great merit.
Originally, with that achievement alone, Wang Longcheng should have been able to take another step upward and be promoted to Chief Commander.
Unfortunately, if his realm did not enter the Profound Rank, it would be very difficult for him to rise any further.
Now that the affliction had been removed, Wang Longcheng could finally devote himself wholeheartedly to breaking into the Profound Rank.
“Are you confident about the First Abyss Battle?”
Having adjusted his mood, Wang Longcheng looked at Li Mu with a smile.
“Yes!” Li Mu nodded.
“Be absolutely careful during the first battle. After it ends, come visit my home.”
Wang Longcheng nodded, his eyes full of appreciation as he looked at Li Mu.
The adjutant driving in the front was filled with envy toward Li Mu.
He had served as Wang Longcheng’s adjutant for two years, and only this year had he finally received this kind of treatment once.
This kid Li Mu was truly about to soar to the heavens!
Wang Longcheng owed Li Mu a towering debt of gratitude.
As the saying went, great kindness was not repaid with mere thanks.
If you casually said thank you, then would that not leave the other party wondering whether you meant to dismiss the matter with just a few words?
It was precisely by not saying the word “thanks” that one gave greater reassurance.
How could the Deputy Commander of such a large military district possibly leave a debt of this magnitude unpaid?
Sooner or later, it would be repaid.
And telling him to visit his home was already a sign of intimacy.
“Alright,” Li Mu quickly agreed.
After returning home, Li Mu told his family only the things he could say.
That was to reassure his mother and aunt.
But his younger cousin and younger cousin sister were still too young and loose-lipped. Li Mu was afraid they might go out and say things they should not, stirring up unnecessary trouble.
The next two days of military training passed in complete peace.
Li Xiaohong and Li Lan did not come looking for Li Mu.
Instead, they directly lied to the family.
They said the two of them had gone to find Li Mu, but Li Mu had refused to return to the Li Family and had even cursed at them.
The members of the Li Family immediately flew into a rage, denouncing Li Mu for failing to appreciate their kindness.
Given their nature, there was naturally no way they would lower themselves again to invite Li Mu back.
Li Lan and Li Xiaohong had achieved their goal.
There was no way they were going to persuade Li Mu to return.
A poor loser like Li Mu would definitely agree in one breath.
That would simply have been letting him off too easily.
Very quickly, the three days of military training came to an end.
On the morning of the fourth day, the fortress above the Abyss entrance of Ironhand City became lively!
At eight o’clock in the morning, the fortress plaza was already packed with people.
The largest crowd was not the students at all, but parents from all walks of life.
The First Abyss Battle carried a death rate.
Any student could potentially be fighting his last battle.
Although the chances were low, family and friends had to be allowed to watch.
Li Mu’s mother and his aunt’s whole family had all come.
Chen Jiaqi and Chen Jiafeng had specially taken leave today.
Li Mu was preparing to go report in.
His mother and aunt gave him a long stream of instructions, telling him again and again to be careful.
Only after watching Li Mu head toward the registration area did the whole family enter the multimedia hall to find their seats.
The students registered in orderly fashion, then entered the Abyss through the elevators.
Meanwhile, school leaders, families, and relatives all went into the multimedia hall at the center of the plaza.
Above the entire vast multimedia hall hung one enormous three-dimensional main screen, along with twenty secondary screens positioned all around it.
These screens displayed a 3D stereoscopic effect, and no matter from what angle one looked at them, they always appeared front-facing.
A giant scoreboard had also been raised.
And inside the Abyss, the students who had entered were already beginning to gather.
Naturally, the Li Family had also come.
From afar, Yang Suying caught sight of the Li Family sitting in the front rows.
Her teeth immediately clenched with hatred.
This time, for the First Abyss Battle, Li Xiaohao was enrolled in the best school in the East District, Saint Dragon Martial Academy.
The status of Saint Dragon Martial Academy in Ironhand City was absolutely top-tier.
It possessed two S-Rank talents. One was Li Xiaohao, and the other was named Zhang Zhiwei.
As for this Zhang Zhiwei, on the very day he awakened his S-Rank talent, he broke through into Second Grade.
And over the past few days, he had advanced at a terrifying pace. It was said that he had already reached the Late-Stage Second Grade!
Before awakening their talents, everyone’s cultivation would remain compressed for a long period.
That was the best phase for laying a foundation in the First Grade Realm.
After awakening one’s talent, there would be a period of rapid growth, when long-accumulated effort exploded forth.
That was entirely due to the effort put in during the earlier stage.
Zhang Zhiwei belonged to the classic type who was strong in both talent and aptitude, and his influence was immense.
As for Li Xiaohao, his reputation within that school was much worse.
As the saying went, without comparison, there could be no harm.
Even after military training ended, Li Xiaohao was still only at the Late-Stage First Grade.
Compared with Zhang Zhiwei, and with that disgusting background of having stolen another person’s talent, he was deeply unpopular.
On the second floor of the multimedia hall stood a crowd of important figures from the Department of Education and the Department of Resources.
The Deputy Director of the Department of Education for the East District and the Deputy Director of the Department of Resources,
two important figures, were seated at the very front of a private viewing room.
Beside them were officials from both departments.
Behind them sat the principals of the twenty-odd schools participating in this battle.
Zhang Teng, principal of Soaring Dragon High School, and Yin Changming, principal of Blackwater High School, were both among them.
At eight twenty, all the participating students had entered the Abyss.
The cameras from every drone were trained on the students preparing to receive their final instructions.
Qin Zhanye rode in personally on a Monsterblood Warhorse, arriving before the teleportation zone.
He was giving the final pre-battle mobilization speech.
“I’ll emphasize this one more time.”
“None of you are to go to any area that is not marked on the map!”
“Any area you can see on the map has been specially cleared in advance.”
“If you encounter any monster that is not listed in the Monster Compendium you studied, flee at once!”
“If you discover any suspicious teleportation gate, cave, underground hole, energy mass, or the like,”
“report it immediately and withdraw at once!”
“Now, according to the teams you’ve already formed, enter the teleportation gates over there hand in hand.”
“I wish all of you a triumphant return!”
Qin Zhanye raised his long saber high and roared.
Li Mu looked down at his tech watch.
The thing was shaped like a little turtle.
It was issued free of charge by the state. Once one entered the Abyss, everyone got one.
Its function was that of an upgraded phone and locator.
It could connect in real time to the map function of the Abyss, allowing one to view the map while inside, and it could also transfer over part of the electronic information from one’s phone.
For example, it could display the live points rankings.
And the name of this little turtle-shaped device was the Triumphant Turtle.
Humanity had named it that in the hope that the users would return in triumph.
The three days of military training had already caused nearly forty percent of the students who had originally signed up for the First Battle to give up on it.
Some had even directly decided to switch to the academic track and aim for an academic university in the future.
That was because the Abyss was too oppressive.
Military training had not only put them through drills, but had also shown them a great deal of recorded material.
Those recordings were actual war records of the Abyss-Suppressing Army.
They were completely different from the livestreams online—far more real, far crueler, and far bloodier!
Many people had retreated in the face of difficulty, returned to school ahead of time, and sworn that they would never join the Abyss-Suppressing Army Reserve.
Those who remained could be said to be hot-blooded young elites.
Even if they said they were not afraid, now that they were about to face monsters, all of them were feeling a strange tension.
The moment Qin Zhanye raised his saber and shouted, everyone immediately started shouting too.
“Return in triumph!”
“Little turtle!!”
“Squirtle!!!”
At that moment, all the students howled and yelled, shouting all sorts of things, and even bursts of laughter were mixed in.
They were using this bold, ridiculous way to resist the invisible pressure of the Abyss!
Then they charged toward the enormous semicircular area encircled by the dozen or so teleportation gates.
Over the past few days, the students of Blackwater High School had often invited Li Mu to join their team.
But Li Mu had refused every time.
He was only suited to being a lone wolf.
So while quite a few students paused in front of the Abyss teleportation gates, searching for teammates, Li Mu had already stepped into one of the gates...