In a frenzy of slashing, the power within his body gradually dissipated. Yang Hao’s body, once swollen and distorted, finally shrank back to its original form.
When Yang Hao finally collapsed, having exhausted the very last bit of strength in his body, he suddenly realized with shock that the scene before him was ten times more horrifying than when he had first entered.
The once golden-glowing area was now splattered with blood. The black beast’s blood was red too, spraying like a fountain across the cave walls, and still gushing out nonstop.
The once invincible black beast now lay lifeless on the ground. Its lower half had been hacked into pieces of varying sizes by Yang Hao. Blood, guts, and chunks of flesh were scattered everywhere, creating a revolting mess.
Yang Hao’s eyes widened, his body trembling, as if he still couldn’t believe that all of this had been done by his own hands.
“Not bad, my excellent apprentice. You really have potential,” Heng Yuanzi was astonished. “I’ve underestimated you all along.”
Yang Hao continued staring wide-eyed, his mouth open in shock but saying nothing.
Heng Yuanzi grew anxious. “My dear apprentice! Dear apprentice!”
It turned out that Yang Hao had been holding onto a desperate will to live or die, which gave him the courage to dive into the belly of the black beast and tear it apart from the inside. Truthfully, he didn’t really have the strength to do this. It was purely through luck and bravery that he survived. Now that everything was over, the fear he had suppressed surged up, and he naturally needed to vent it properly.
Staring at the bloodied remains of the black beast, he stupidly chuckled again. “Didn’t expect I could be this powerful.”
“That’s all thanks to my pills,” Heng Yuanzi quickly claimed credit.
“It also depends on my sword techniques, right?” Yang Hao completely forgot that his earlier wild slashing couldn’t even be considered swordsmanship. “This was my own innovation. It should be called… called… the Five Sword Style.” He immediately named his new school.
“What Five Sword Style?” X13 floated over unsteadily. “You’re just a blind cat that stumbled upon a dead rat.”
“Alright, enough talking,” Heng Yuanzi reminded Yang Hao. “Quickly take out the beast’s inner core. It wasn’t easy to defeat it.”
Yang Hao furrowed his brows and reluctantly reached his hand into the pile of bloody flesh from the black beast, fumbling around what seemed to be its lower abdomen. Eventually, he really did pull out a black orb the size of a ping-pong ball. This orb looked somewhat like a glass marble, but it had a warm touch to it, and it smelled strongly of blood.
“Good apprentice, quickly hide it well. This is an important ingredient for refining the core pill,” Heng Yuanzi was delighted, as if he had personally discovered a treasure. “Now there’s hope for our sect to regain its former glory.”
There was no need for Heng Yuanzi to say more. Yang Hao, who loved hoarding treasures more than anyone, had already hidden the inner core close to his body. He then rummaged around the cave and found three pieces of raw crystal stones of roughly similar size that could be taken away.
Besides the one he needed to hand in himself, he planned to bring one each for Elsie and Amanda. Yang Hao’s plans were naturally well thought out, but he didn’t anticipate that even after bringing the raw crystal stones back, new dangers awaited him at the Advanced Academy on Remon Star.
Since the journey to the dark beast’s lair was long, when the exhausted Yang Hao finally returned to school, two full days had already passed. Of course, Yang Hao had no way of knowing that shortly after he left the dark beast’s lair, another mysterious team had entered the cave.
After returning to school, Yang Hao told no one. He simply went straight to his dormitory and had a blissful sleep, the most comfortable and relaxed sleep he had ever experienced in his life, accompanied by many pleasant dreams. He firmly believed that with these few raw crystal stones, he would be able to peacefully complete the remainder of the semester at school and eventually graduate and join the military.
The next morning, Yang Hao was awakened by a mournful tune, as if someone were playing a funeral dirge on a trumpet. Looking out the window, he saw a thin mist covering everything. He had no idea what had happened at school during these days, so he decided not to sleep anymore. He slung the three raw crystal stones onto his shoulder and strode toward the school’s plaza.
Indeed, something unusual was happening. It was still early, but hundreds of students had already gathered in the square, many clustered together whispering. It seemed like something big had happened. In the center of the square stood a brand new sculpture, but due to the fog, Yang Hao couldn’t clearly see what it depicted.
“We mourn for him. The days he spent with us have taught us so much…” Teacher Jack’s voice was filled with sorrow as he delivered the eulogy.
“Hey, who died?” Yang Hao was completely confused. He patted the shoulder of a student standing at the back.
Without turning around, the student replied impatiently, “Yang Hao, of course.”
“What?” Yang Hao was shocked. He looked at X13 dozing on his shoulder. “Yang Hao died?”
“How could he not die!” The student still didn’t turn around, confidently analyzing, “It’s already been three days and two nights, and this guy still hasn’t returned. He must have died in the dark beast’s lair.”
“That’s not necessarily true. Maybe he actually managed to collect the raw crystal stones and came back,” Yang Hao, of course, didn’t want to reveal his identity yet. He wanted to see who was so eager to mourn him.
“Others might have a chance of returning alive, but Yang Hao definitely won’t,” the student said confidently. “Yang Hao is completely useless. Forget about the dark beast’s lair—he probably couldn’t even defeat the simplest monster. How could he possibly return?”
“What a joke!” Yang Hao muttered angrily in his heart.
“Let me help you with that joke!” Heng Yuanzi, ever the loyal mentor, chimed in.
The student kept mumbling, “I bet thousands of credits that he wouldn’t come back, but the odds were only 1.1 to 1. Not even worth winning anything. This guy, even in death, couldn’t be more valuable.”
“If that’s the case…” Yang Hao was already grinding his teeth. “Then why are you even attending this memorial service?”
“Because they paid us,” the student said excitedly. “Elsie, for some reason, gave everyone two thousand credits to come to the memorial. If I had known this, I would’ve wished Yang Hao had died earlier.”
“Heng Yuanzi suddenly popped up with a question. ‘What’s engraved on the sculpture?'” Yang Hao asked the same question in the same manner.
The student replied, “A sculpture of Yang Hao’s body, of course. They say it was made by a famous artist. It should be worth quite a lot.”
“It was made so quickly, so it can’t be that great,” Yang Hao muttered.
“The idiot had barely set off for the dark beast’s lair when Elsie started looking for someone to carve it,” the student giggled. “It’s obvious, right? Everyone knew he was doomed to die, so of course we needed to prepare early.”
Yang Hao nearly fainted from anger. It turned out that everyone had assumed he wouldn’t return, not even Elsie, who had already prepared a memorial service for him in advance.
“My dear apprentice… do you want to teach these people a lesson?” Heng Yuanzi asked with a sinister tone.
Yang Hao was already feeling upset. He had always thought that although he kept a low profile at school, he hadn’t offended too many people. Yet, none of these people were any good—they bet money on whether he could return and even attended the memorial service just for the money. It was simply intolerable.
“Just use our sect’s secret technique to make them look ridiculous,” Heng Yuanzi said in a conspiratorial tone, like a scheming mastermind.
“How do we do it?” Yang Hao was persuaded.
“You swallow a Dragon-Tiger Great Rejuvenation Pill, then release the pill’s energy as true qi. The fog here will absorb the pill’s energy, and then…”
“And then what?”
“You’ll find out once you do it,” Heng Yuanzi chuckled sinisterly. “I guarantee it’ll be spectacular and fun.”
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