Chapter 135: Remember That You Are a Cultivator
Just like that, time and time again, Mark was blown to pieces. He had not even made it halfway through the trail buried with mines. It was getting dark too, so he probably wouldn’t be able to succeed even by late at night.
[Are you kidding me? This is the thirtieth time already. What the hell are you doing?]
The system initially thought that failing around twenty times would be enough, but seeing Mark struggle through the thirtieth time and still not understand what Nexus and the system wanted, it was truly getting extremely impatient.
"Is this my fault? There are so many mines, and every time they explode, they make my head dizzy. The more I try to remember, the easier it is to get confused. The easier it is to get confused, the sooner I blow up after taking a few steps."
Mark’s face was scrunched up in misery. He really didn’t want to keep experiencing this helpless and desperate feeling of being blown to death over and over again.
"What are you standing there for? If you can’t get down to the foot of the mountain today, I’ll have to make you undergo another month of special training."
The moment he heard the words special training, Mark started trembling. The lessons alone had already been terrifying enough. Wouldn’t special training be even more terrifying?
Of course, Nexus had no intention of doing anything too troublesome. He simply thought Mark was taking too long, so he was ’encouraging’ Mark to give him some motivation.
"No need, master. I guarantee I’ll get down the mountain today."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mark immediately ran off. He was so hurried and frantic that this time, he was blown to pieces even earlier than before.
After coming back to life once again, Mark awkwardly looked at both his master and the system. At this point, he wasn’t even sure whether he could get to the foot of the mountain in a short amount of time.
[You stupid mortal, where is your brain? Although I often say Nexus has no brain, you’re much worse than him. Think carefully. We aren’t making you repeatedly seek death.]
At this point, the system could only scold Mark and conveniently give him a few more hints. Otherwise, there was a high chance that Mark would continue acting like an idiot.
Nexus didn’t stop the system either. He knew very well that Mark was lacking in many ways, so being able to improve to his current level in such a short time was already acceptable.
"Think?"
Mark frowned and then looked at the trail that had killed him dozens of times. For the first time, he stopped to think and observe instead of simply using his eyes to guess.
Looking here and there, Mark discovered... there was nothing special about it at all. It was just a dirt path filled with hidden mines... Just dirt... Dirt!
Only at this moment did Mark remember that he was a cultivator. Although he had only been cultivating for a few days and didn’t even have a realm yet, there was indeed a little spiritual power inside his body.
His earth spiritual root had an extremely amazing ability to sense the ground. Although Mark’s current sensing range was very limited, that was enough to help him detect the mines.
A cultivator actually forgot that he was a cultivator... Mark was now so embarrassed that he didn’t dare look directly at his master or the system.
"M-master... I... I..."
Mark wanted to explain why he had been so pathetic, but no matter how much he thought about it, he still didn’t know how to put it into words.
[A useless piece of trash is still a useless piece of trash. When will you finally be capable enough to improve the reputation of the Cultivation Academy? Get down to the foot of the mountain now.]
The system had no patience to listen to Mark’s explanation now. What was there worth listening to when a useless piece of trash wanted to explain why he was useless?
"Go quickly. There are plenty of opportunities for you to train at American Hunter Academy. Remember that you are a cultivator, and cultivation is the source of your power. Your F-rank ability doesn’t mean much."
After thinking it over carefully, Nexus decided that he would stay here for quite a long time. He might even stay here permanently if he couldn’t find a better place.
The academy had no shortage of facilities or excellent teachers. Letting Mark or any other inexperienced disciple train here would be much better than developing on their own outside.
"Y-yes."
Mark nodded repeatedly and slowly walked along the trail. His footsteps were still slow, but compared to before, there was a huge difference.
There was no trembling from not knowing what was waiting for him ahead. Now, although he was slow, Mark could ’see’ the mines hidden near him.
At this slow pace, by the time it got dark, he had successfully crossed this difficult stretch of trail.
"Let’s go."
Nexus looked at the system, and the two of them appeared at the foot of the mountain in the blink of an eye. The trail was restored by Nexus to its original state, to the point that every grain of dust was exactly where it had been.
"Master, it’s already dark now. Is it really okay for us to go to American Hunter Academy at this hour?"
This issue made Mark feel a little uneasy. In his mind, he was still someone who had no right to come to a place like this. Yet now he was even coming at night to bother other people, making him feel extremely guilty.
[A lowly mortal with lowly thinking. You must remember that even if you are a useless piece of trash in the eyes of the great system, you are the number one disciple of the Cultivation Academy. There is no lowly mortal worth making you feel nervous.]
The system’s sincere advice that sounded like a punch to the ears made the corner of Mark’s mouth twitch.
Thinking about it carefully, Mark felt that there really was something wrong with his thinking. Standing in front of Cerberus, he hadn’t felt as nervous as he did when standing in front of American Hunter Academy, even though Cerberus was clearly the more dangerous existence.
Their group walked straight to the entrance of American Hunter Academy. The journey was so easy that Mark couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
"Master, how can the world’s top hunter academy have such a lax security system?"
Mark couldn’t understand how they had openly walked several miles from the foot of the mountain to here without seeing a single person watching them.