Chapter 187 - 160: Everyone Is Back

Chapter 187: Chapter 160: Everyone Is Back

Hearing Xu Cheng’s words, Ji Zhixing exchanged a glance with Xiao Mingyue. They both saw the astonishment in each other’s eyes.

Ji Zhixing naturally knew why Gongye Zhou was so furious. He was the one who had caused it, after all. And it probably wasn’t just Gongye Zhou. Cao Zhenxing, Yu Mengdie, and Lu Xinghe were definitely in a foul mood right now as well.

After all, the group had truly toiled for several days, only to find that out of over a hundred Mist Tree fruits, barely twenty or thirty remained. He had taken the rest. Unless those three were Saints, there was no way they could be in a good mood.

However, looking at Xu Cheng’s expression, Ji Zhixing thought for a moment and decided not to explain for now. It would be too much of a hassle. He would let Xu Cheng figure it out on his own.

When he had collected those hundred-plus Mist Tree fruits in the Mist Valley, Yu Mengdie had screamed his name, and Lu Xinghe had charged directly at him with murderous intent. More than one person had definitely witnessed that scene.

Once those people returned, the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest was bound to get lively.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Suddenly, just as Ji Zhixing was thinking this, waves of spatial fluctuations flashed continuously through the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest. Soon after, everyone who had entered the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land this time was teleported back here by the Azure Sky Divine Wood.

"What’s going on? I wasn’t even in any danger, so why was I suddenly teleported back?"

"Me too. I was in the middle of searching for a treasure land, and in the blink of an eye, I’m back here."

The students from the three universities burst into discussion, none of them understanding what had just happened. Many looked around in bewilderment.

"Do you guys think Lu Xinghe and his group managed to conquer the Mist Valley?" someone suddenly guessed.

"It’s possible." Hearing this, several people nodded, feeling that this speculation was highly likely.

"Does that mean we’ll be leaving the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land soon?"

Someone sighed. "The Spirit Ruins Treasure Land only opens once every three years. The next time it opens, it’ll be for the new students of our three universities. It won’t have anything to do with us by then."

"It’s too difficult. The difficulty level for our cohort is practically hellish."

"Four geniuses who fused with Tier 5 genes. And then there’s Ji Zhixing, who somehow had dumb luck and conquered the Thundercloud Treasure Land, casually sweeping away the treasures in the Twisted Forest along the way."

A few students shook their heads, lamenting their own poor luck.

"Something isn’t right."

Suddenly, someone glanced over at Lu Xinghe and his group, who had also returned to the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest, and noticed that their expressions were exceedingly ugly. At the same time, they saw the group scan the crowd before locking their terrifyingly gloomy gazes onto Ji Zhixing in the distance.

"What’s going on? Why are they staring at Ji Zhixing?" someone asked in astonishment upon seeing this.

"Why else?" A student who had previously watched the battle from outside the Mist Valley spoke up with a complicated expression. "Lu Xinghe and the others worked their asses off for days, and just as they were about to conquer the Mist Valley, Ji Zhixing snatched the prize right from under their noses!"

Earlier, he had thought Ji Zhixing was overestimating himself by scheming for the Mist Treasure Land while Lu Xinghe and the other Tier 5 gene geniuses were working together. He never expected Ji Zhixing to actually succeed in taking the treasures right out from under their noses.

"What happened? Are you telling the truth? Ji Zhixing really took the treasures from the Mist Valley? How did he do it?"

Hearing this, the surrounding crowd instantly erupted into an uproar. No one could believe it was true; after all, it sounded like pure fantasy. Ji Zhixing’s strength was decent, but there was no way he could compare to Lu Xinghe and the others.

"Is what they’re saying true?" Standing not far from Ji Zhixing, Xu Cheng heard the distant chatter and turned around in shock, staring at him in disbelief.

It wasn’t just Xu Cheng. Jiang Qingqian and Ye Chutong, who had walked over to greet Xiao Mingyue, also froze and looked at Ji Zhixing at the same time.

"Don’t look at me like that," Ji Zhixing said with a smile. "I just got lucky and developed a new gene ability. I snuck in and took the treasures from the Mist Valley ahead of them.

"Besides, I didn’t take all the treasures. I left some for them."

"Holy crap! I was wondering why Gongye Zhou was so furious!" Xu Cheng immediately understood the situation. "You’re amazing!" He gave Ji Zhixing a thumbs up, his eyes full of admiration.

Regardless of how Ji Zhixing had managed it, this feat sounded like a myth to him. After all, those four had all fused with Tier 5 Radiant Moon Level genes and were the top geniuses entering the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land this year. Yet Ji Zhixing, a Cultivator who had only fused with a Tier 3 gene, had actually managed to snatch meat from the tiger’s jaws—and succeeded.

"That is amazing," Jiang Qingqian and Ye Chutong, who were standing nearby, agreed, their expressions revealing their shock.

Xiao Mingyue stood to the side, a smile curving the corners of her lips as she watched the scene unfold.

However, compared to the three of them, the gazes of Lu Xinghe and his group in the distance were extremely hostile. The four of them glared fixedly at Ji Zhixing, the fury in their eyes practically overflowing. Lu Xinghe, in particular, had a touch of gloom on his usually calm face.

Ji Zhixing glanced at them before looking away, completely unbothered. He had already reaped the benefits; what did it matter if they glared at him a few times?

Seeing his indifferent attitude, the four became even more infuriated, but there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

"Alright."

Just then, Bai Yuan walked over, accompanied by the teachers from Feng City University and Yun City University. The expressions of all three were calm, betraying neither joy nor anger.

"The main treasure lands within the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land have basically all been explored, and the remaining scattered treasures aren’t worth spending more time on," Bai Yuan announced. "Therefore, this trip to the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land ends here."

The female teacher from Feng City University nodded and added, "Once you return to your respective schools, you can exchange your gains from the treasure lands for points or resources. Each school will announce their specific exchange rules."

The male teacher from Yun City University simply swept his gaze over the crowd without saying a word.

They didn’t give the students any time to chat. As soon as Bai Yuan and the other two finished speaking, a wave of spatial fluctuations washed over them. Ji Zhixing’s vision blurred, and in the next moment, he found himself back in the plaza of Yu City University.

"We’re back."

Ji Zhixing looked up and saw that it was around two or three in the afternoon. On the sports field, some students were cultivating or chatting. Seeing their sudden appearance, they were all momentarily stunned.

"Are those the students from the genius class and the ones who passed the selection tournament to enter the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land? They’re back already?"

"Why so fast? Didn’t they say the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land would be open for a month?"

"Under normal circumstances, it’s a month. But I heard that in the past, if extremely powerful students appeared—like geniuses who fused with Tier 6 Blazing Sun Level genes, or multiple geniuses with Tier 5 Radiant Moon Level genes—the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land might close early."

"But isn’t this way too fast? It hasn’t even been twenty days."

"It’s normal. I heard earlier that Feng City University produced two geniuses who fused with Tier 5 genes this time."

"Yun City University also has a Tier 5 gene genius. And that genius even possesses a six-star quality gene ability. Their strength is absurdly high."

"Is that so? Then it looks like most of the treasures in the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land this time were snatched up by them and our school’s Cao Zhenxing."

The students on the field gossiped animatedly, their tones filled with envy. In their eyes, everyone who entered the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land was an elite from their respective schools and had definitely reaped substantial rewards. The few geniuses who had fused with Tier 5 genes, in particular, were undoubtedly the biggest winners.

Hearing their discussion, Cao Zhenxing’s face darkened with fury.

Twice!

He had been suppressed by Ji Zhixing twice now.

"Huh, did the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land close this early this time?" Just then, a teacher passing through the plaza noticed the scene and asked curiously.

"It’s him..." Ji Zhixing’s gaze shifted slightly when he saw the teacher.

This was the very teacher who had previously thought it was a huge loss for him to refuse Mr. Liang’s Tier 6 Blazing Sun Level Six-armed Moon-devouring Demon Ape inheritance. He had later learned that this teacher’s name was Zhou Mu.

"There were quite a few geniuses who entered the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land this time," Bai Yuan said calmly, glancing at Zhou Mu.

"I heard as much. Word is that both Feng City University and Yun City University have geniuses who fused with Tier 5 genes. Still, I didn’t expect the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land to end so quickly this time." Zhou Mu shook his head, marveling at how frequently geniuses were appearing in this cohort of students.

His gaze swept over the thirty students in the plaza. When he saw Ji Zhixing, his eyes paused for a fraction of a second before moving away.

He was still bothered by Ji Zhixing’s previous choice. Refusing to walk a guaranteed path to heaven, and instead acting like a frog in the bottom of a well, stubbornly trying to carve out his own narrow world—in his eyes, Ji Zhixing’s choice was purely short-sighted and drastically overestimated his own abilities.

"Everyone who entered the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land this time is a genius. He only fused with Tier 2 genes. Even if he has two Tier 2 genes, it’s not enough to compete. His harvest this time probably isn’t very much," Zhou Mu thought to himself. Nodding to Bai Yuan, he walked off into the distance, no longer paying any attention to Ji Zhixing.

"Let’s just see if he’ll ever wake up to reality," Zhou Mu thought. In his view, unless Ji Zhixing made a different choice and decided to walk the path of the Six-armed Moon-devouring Demon Ape, entering the elite class would most likely be the peak of his life. After that, he would simply fade into mediocrity.

Ji Zhixing glanced at Zhou Mu and similarly withdrew his gaze. He had no particularly good impression of the man, but he didn’t harbor any ill will, either. Everyone had their own opinions; he didn’t need to care about how others saw him.

"Alright, since you’re back, go do whatever it is you need to do." Seeing Zhou Mu turn to leave, Bai Yuan waved his hand, gesturing for the crowd to disperse.

He then looked at Ji Zhixing. Seeing that the young man was also about to turn and leave, he hurriedly called out, "Hey, hey, Ji Zhixing, don’t leave yet! You earned over ten million points in a single day today. It’s time to pay back the two hundred thousand points you owe me."