Chapter 124: The Despair Brought by Li Heng

Chapter 124: Chapter 124: The Despair Brought by Li Heng

While exchanging pleasantries with his classmates, Li Heng realized something. He probably didn’t need to bother with the rope ladder; all that mattered was getting aboard the Flying Boat.

Besides, it was only a height of thirty meters—much lower than what he was used to in the Dungeons, where he’d flown at altitudes exceeding two hundred meters.

He’d soared through the Dungeons on his Ice Simurgh, zipping around freely two hundred meters up in the air.

Flying a mere thirty meters now didn’t seem like a big deal to Li Heng. Still, just to be safe, as he opened his pet space, he also retrieved three flying daggers from his medium-sized Space Stone.

FWOOSH~

FWOOSH~

...

As Li Heng opened his pet space, blasts of frigid wind suddenly swept through the students. A thin layer of frost even formed wherever the cold air passed.

As the icy wind blew past, Lu Shengming felt a faint pressure and frowned. His expression only eased when a two-meter-tall, blue figure materialized before the crowd.

In fact, it eased so much his jaw went slack. Stunned, he murmured, "An... an Ice Simurgh Bird?!"

Lu Shengming himself was stunned, to say nothing of the other students.

When a towering, two-meter-tall avian creature composed entirely of crystalline, icy feathers materialized beside Li Heng, all ten students froze in place.

Some of the students didn’t recognize the Ice Simurgh Bird. But as Soul Apprentices, the moment they laid eyes on the unfamiliar avian Soul Beast, a primal fear gripped them from deep within.

It was the kind of terror that made them want to turn and flee without a second thought!

’This has to be a high-tier Soul Beast!’

As for the students who did recognize it, they were simply scared stiff. "A... a Tier Two High-Grade Soul Beast... an... Ice... Simurgh... Bird?"

A Tier Two High-Grade Soul Beast!

Normally, a Soul Apprentice would turn and flee at the mere sight of a Tier Two Soul Beast. Even most Soul Masters at the Soul Warrior realm wouldn’t dare face one alone.

And this wasn’t just any Tier Two High-Grade Soul Beast, but an Ice Simurgh Bird—one of the most powerful of its kind!

Even some Soul Masters at the Great Soul Warrior realm wouldn’t dare challenge an Ice Simurgh Bird one-on-one without extensive preparation.

After all, its ability to fly was not to be underestimated!

But now...

"Li... Li Heng... y-you... what is..."

Li Heng’s elemental affinity leaned toward snow. While the Ice Simurgh was an ice-type, the snow element was a mutation of ice. Combined with an affinity score that was already over a hundred, the Ice Simurgh had become quite clingy toward Li Heng.

Ever since emerging from the pet space, the Ice Simurgh had been gently nuzzling its head against Li Heng.

When Li Heng heard a classmate suddenly address him so formally, he realized the Ice Simurgh’s aura must have frightened them, so he spoke up to explain.

"Oh! Sorry, everyone! I might have startled you. This is my Soul Qi Pet. It’s very well-behaved and won’t attack anyone." As he spoke, Li Heng reached out and stroked the Ice Simurgh’s head.

Soul Qi Pet!

GULP~

After Li Heng called it his Soul Qi Pet, someone audibly swallowed. It was hard to pinpoint the exact emotion, but the way they looked at Li Heng had distinctly changed.

Before, it had been mostly respect.

Now, it was mostly fear.

’Li Heng... seems much more terrifying than we imagined.’

’We thought getting a score of 4021 made him a monster, but we never expected he was a *real* monster—something even more terrifying!’

Even Chen Bingjing, who had been teasing Li Heng just moments ago, felt her scalp tingle with a fear that came from the very depths of her soul. She recognized the Tier Two High-Grade Soul Beast.

The Ice Simurgh Bird!

’Just one attack from that thing... No matter how skilled I am with poisons, the moment I saw an Ice Simurgh Bird, I’d turn and run without a single look back.’

Now, Chen Bingjing just stared blankly at Li Heng and the Ice Simurgh, her eyes completely glazed over.

After all, Li Heng’s words—"my Soul Qi Pet"—had been crystal clear, and they were still echoing in her mind.

Bai Shasha, however, said nothing when she saw Li Heng summon the Ice Simurgh. Her expression remained unchanged.

But when she saw Li Heng pull out the three flying daggers, her brow furrowed slightly. She clenched her fists tightly and thought, ’So... you’re already strong enough to practice with a secondary weapon? I’m still... not working hard enough!’

Honestly, Bai Shasha wasn’t afraid of the Ice Simurgh Bird, nor was she afraid of Li Heng. Her only fear was that the gap between them was growing wider and wider.

Her hands were clenched tightly, but she didn’t say a word, her gaze locked on Li Heng and the three flying daggers now at his waist.

"Alright everyone, I’m heading up to the boat. You all should hurry up too!" With that, Li Heng mounted the Ice Simurgh and took to the sky.

Li Heng had considered inviting Bai Shasha to ride with him, but her expression seemed a little off. Besides, they’d never ridden together before, so he decided against it.

Only after about thirty seconds of watching Li Heng interact with the Ice Simurgh Bird, and hearing him speak, did the other students finally snap out of their daze.

"Wh-what kind of monster is that?"

"An Ice Simurgh Bird, a Tier Two High-Grade Soul Beast! Extremely dangerous!"

"A Tier Two Soul Beast? And a freaking high-grade one at that? You’ve got to be kidding me! My legs were about to give out."

"Is Li Heng really a high school student, just like us?"

...

No one paid any mind to Li Heng’s parting words to "hurry up." They were all completely fixated on discussing the Ice Simurgh Bird.

Most of the students admitted that they hadn’t understood how Li Heng could have achieved such an absurd score of 4021. But now, after seeing the Ice Simurgh, it all made sense.

Because Li Heng himself was simply absurd.

After calming down, one student began to analyze the situation. "His family must be incredibly wealthy. They probably bought him a Tier Two High-Grade Soul Beast egg, and he must have brought a ton of medicinal herbs with him into the exam."

Hearing this, Lu Shengming, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "Li Heng’s family is quite ordinary; neither of his parents are Soul Masters. As for this Ice Simurgh Bird... I believe I know where it came from..."

Seeing the students’ intense curiosity, Lu Shengming recounted what happened the day Li Heng’s score was tallied.

A long time after Lu Shengming finished, the ten students remained utterly silent, their minds seemingly unable to process anything. The only things still echoing in their heads were the words Lu Shengming had just spoken.

An ordinary family!

He carried in no herbs, yet turned in a massive pile of Tier Two and even Tier Three herbs!

He turned in a huge pile of Tier Two Soul Beast Cards, as well as the score card for the Ice Simurgh!

Li Heng scored 4021 points without bringing any herbs or a Soul Qi Pet, and on top of that, he defeated an Ice Simurgh and tamed it...

This was beyond the students’ comprehension. Even Lu Shengming admitted that if he hadn’t witnessed it himself, he would have thought it was an outrageous exaggeration.

But the truth was even more staggering, because Lu Shengming hadn’t told them that Li Heng... was already a Soul Warrior!

From Lu Shengming’s perspective, the shock of the Ice Simurgh Bird was already enough to crush these students’ confidence. There was no need to plunge them into utter despair.

’They’re all future students of our academy, after all!’

After a long silence, someone finally spoke.

"Can we use weapons to climb the rope ladder?"

Hm?

Lu Shengming looked toward the voice and saw Bai Shasha, her expression grim and her fists clenched.

"As long as you’re not a Soul Warrior, you can do what you like to the Flying Boat. If you use sharp blades, it will repair itself," Lu Shengming explained.

"Thank you, Teacher!"

After Lu Shengming’s explanation, Bai Shasha spun around crisply, drew two curved blades from her waist, and leaped onto the first rung of the rope ladder.

She plunged the curved blades into the hull with vicious force!