The bus drove smoothly on National Highway 207.
This time, headed to Lingyun Grotto Heaven for the selection test, besides the leading teacher Xu Lan and the eight new talents from Linjiang First High School, there were also two teachers with Professional Level Martial Artist licenses accompanying them.
One of them was Teacher Da Lei, Lei Ying, who taught everyone medical skills, and the other was Heh Shiwei, the physical education teacher responsible for teaching external training techniques, who was also the advisor of the Sanshou Club.
Heh Shiwei was tall and robust, with frighteningly broad shoulders, occupying two seats all by himself, sitting in the second row.
He often proactively chatted with Lei Ying and Xu Lan, appearing very attentive. Even a fool could understand his intentions.
Meanwhile, in the carriage, the eight martial arts talents participating in the selection were discussing the quota assessment for entering Lingyun Grotto Heaven.
Hou Fei couldn’t help but complain, "I heard from Teacher Xu Lan that this time there are twelve prestigious schools competing, over a hundred students, and in the end, only twenty can enter the grotto."
With a one-fifth chance, Hou Fei felt his hopes were slim.
Not just him; in the team, Yuh Shouping and Lu Yifan also felt this sense of powerlessness. They were practically there to accompany the race this time.
On the other hand, Ye Qingzhou, Miao Yi, Zhu Jinfeng, Leon, and Xu Yuebing all had a good chance.
The reason was none other than the fact that the five of them were incredibly strong, far surpassing other martial arts apprentices of their age.
Especially Ye Qingzhou; the skills of the remaining seven from Linjiang First High School put together weren’t enough for him.
Regarding the inside of the grotto, martial arts families had their own intelligence sources, so they were well-prepared this time.
Particularly the Linjiang Xu Clan, being local influential figures, knew many secrets.
Xu Yuebing whispered to Ye Qingzhou, "Be serious this time. My sister mentioned that the most important place inside Lingyun Grotto Heaven is the site of the Divine Feather Sword Sect. There, not only can you occasionally find rare cultivation technique literature, but if you’re lucky, you might also find some spiritual pills to enhance your cultivation."
Ye Qingzhou was puzzled, "I heard many items in the grotto are very old. Are you sure the pills you find haven’t expired?"
Xu Yuebing gave Ye Qingzhou a sidelong glance, "Idiot, do you think I wouldn’t consider something so simple? The pills found inside the grotto have an unknown sealing method, which seems to convert primordial qi into some inert substance completely enveloping the pill, allowing it to resist the passage of time."
She then informed Ye Qingzhou of many precautions, all of which were lessons learned through blood and tears by martial arts families in their early explorations of the grotto.
Ye Qingzhou listened intently, marking them down in his heart.
On the bus, everyone was very relaxed, treating this trip as an outing, thinking that even if they couldn’t get the entry quota, it would be a chance to unwind.
However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred!
The ground shook, and the wide national highway ahead was suddenly cleaved in half by a massive crack.
The driver hurriedly hit the brakes, a panicked expression on his face. "What’s happening? Is it an earthquake?"
"An earthquake in Linjiang too?"
"The last time Linjiang had an earthquake was three centuries ago, right?"
Just as everyone was talking, a loud noise came from the crack, and a gigantic black snake burst forth before everyone’s eyes.
It flicked its tongue, emitting a chilling hiss, and attacked without warning.
The massive snake body was forty meters long, its scales black as ink, with dark gold patterns faintly visible on its belly, and its raised head exuded an eerie aura as if from a primordial wilderness. The source of thɪs content is novèlfire.net
"Tyrant Black Python!"
"Why can a monster of this level come close to a human city?"
Heh Shiwei turned pale, paralyzed by just one glance from the Tyrant Black Python’s vertical pupils, unable to suppress the fear and despair welling up from deep within.
Lei Ying shouted clearly, "It’s the spiritual martial technique Evil Gaze. Everyone, be careful not to look into its eyes!"
The Tyrant Black Python was registered with the Martial Arts Association as a powerful creature. The weakest Python had Master Level combat power, and Pythons even had innate martial techniques, a powerful ability inherited through bloodline without the need to learn.
At this moment, its tail whipped and wrapped around, tightly coiling half its body around the entire bus, dragging it to the side continuously.
With its hard snake scales and strong muscles, the Tyrant Black Python kept tightening, and the bus emitted a creaky metallic crunch under the unbearable force, as the windows shattered.
At this critical moment, Ye Qingzhou unsheathed his sword and slashed an escape route: "Go!"
He pulled Xu Yuebing out with him, and the others followed suit.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, on top of a large tree, Daiqi put down her electronic binoculars and reported to Cecil through a Bluetooth earpiece, "Captain, the target is confirmed."
"Bring him back, and kill all the others."
Daiqi then emitted a hissing infrasound, manipulating the snake tide to surround Ye Qingzhou’s location.
Cecil was orchestrating the operation remotely from the shadows, "How is the enemy’s strength?"
Daiqi showed a disdainful expression, "Very weak. One Professional Fourth Rank, Life Energy Level 45. Two Professional Third Ranks, with Life Energy Levels of 37 and 34, respectively. The remaining eight are all martial arts apprentices, and all have Life Energy Levels below 10. They have no Master Level combat power, nor do they have a numbers advantage against the snake tide."
"Do not be careless. There’s an old saying in Dongji Kingdom: ’Even a lion goes all out when hunting a rabbit.’ For the sake of this plan, I’ve used a precious Intermediate Dragon Blood Potion. If we fail, you know the consequences."
The thought of how the organization dealt with incompetents made Daiqi shudder with fear. She didn’t want to become "experiment material" and immediately vowed, "Yes, I will not fail!"
Then Daiqi quickly put away her previous contempt and disdain, her expression becoming serious.
Because having injected the Dragon Blood Potion as well, she could rely on her high bloodline suppression to command the snake tide and launch an attack.
Ye Qingzhou and his team, having escaped the bus, were planning to retreat but found themselves surrounded by the snake tide!
A massive number of Iron-Scaled Snakes and Flying Arrow Snakes, along with ordinary venomous snakes, formed a dense crowd, making even the bravest feel fearful, while those with phobias of dense clusters were almost scared out of their wits.
On the other side, the air-conditioned bus worth over two million had been twisted into a lump of scrap metal by the Tyrant Black Python, sparking as it crumbled.
Even in such a perilous situation, Xu Lan did not forget her responsibility as a teacher: "Lei Ying, Heh Shiwei, let the students go first. We will cover the retreat."
Lei Ying nodded, "Okay."
Though she appeared to be a delicate and charming school nurse, she was actually the one with the highest martial arts cultivation and combat strength among the three.
But Heh Shiwei wasn’t having any of it. He turned and ran without looking back, "You guys hold them off; I’m going to call for help!"
Despite his tall and strong build, often talking boastfully, he revealed his true cowardly nature at the first sign of danger.