Chapter 171 - 162: Before the Military Training

Chapter 171: Chapter 162: Before the Military Training

After taking care of the situation with the Xisha Area’s rules, Li Heng returned to his private wooden cabin, spent one thousand Soul Energy Points, and entered the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain dungeon to grind.

And he used Yun Han!

Yun Han’s power was indeed more than twice as strong as the Qi Kongchan Longsword. Even when facing five Blessed Blood Wolves pouncing at him at once, things were much easier.

But Li Heng quickly withdrew from the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain because he had been afflicted with "cold poison"!

His Snow Affinity was only 10 points, and his cold-related attribute affinity hadn’t reached the required 20. So, when he used his Swordsmanship against the pack of Blessed Blood Wolves, he defeated them with ease, but afterward, Li Heng felt a chill spread through his body—a cold that radiated from the inside out.

It was somewhat similar to how one feels after a severe cold, and when it became serious, he could clearly feel his body slowly freezing over.

Even with his cold resistance, Li Heng could barely withstand this freezing sensation. He had wanted to kill a few more Blessed Blood Wolves, but he simply couldn’t muster the strength and ended up exiting the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain dungeon.

’Looks like I should avoid using Yun Han in the real world as much as possible until my Snow Affinity reaches 20 points.’

The feeling of being poisoned was unbearable for Li Heng; it could even be described as a fate worse than death. He could barely stand it inside the dungeon, let alone in the real world.

So, Li Heng only ran the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain dungeon once that night and did not enter it again.

Afterward, he took out a map from his medium-sized Space Stone. It showed the area around Li Liang City and was one that Hongyu and Mo Ya had helped him obtain earlier.

With Li Liang City at its center, the map detailed the surrounding area for two thousand li, with some locations described in great detail.

Ever since arriving at Meteor University, Li Heng knew the school would eventually require him to leave campus and explore the surrounding region. That’s why, back when he was at Snow Feather Tower, he had the foresight to ask for this map.

Furthermore, after his spar with the spear-wielding upperclassman, he had also asked about the freshmen’s military training.

In response to Li Heng’s questions, the two upperclassmen—who had spent a year washing clothes—explained that while it was called "freshman military training," it was actually a form of "selection." There wouldn’t be any real soldiers acting as drill instructors.

There would only be supervising instructors! And the activities would take place in the area surrounding Meteor University.

The two laundry-duty upperclassmen added that last year’s activities were confined to a two-hundred-li radius, but they didn’t know what this year’s training would entail.

That was why after finishing his run in the Divine-level Wolf King Mountain, Li Heng spent time memorizing the map to prepare for the next day’s military training.

He didn’t know how much the map of Li Liang City resembled the current surroundings of Meteor University, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

He spent the entire afternoon and evening studying it, only resting after he had a general grasp of the layout.

—

By the next day, news that Li Heng, the freshman from the Comprehensive Department, was a Soul Warrior had reached the ears of everyone in the Xisha Area.

For most students, the breakthrough from Soul Apprentice to the Soul Warrior realm was something that happened during the first semester of their junior year at Meteor University, which was when the curriculum on elemental Soul Energy Skills began.

Among Meteor University graduates, the percentage who reached the Soul Warrior realm was as high as 80%.

Exceptionally talented students might break through during their sophomore year, but for a freshman to arrive already a Soul Warrior was pitifully rare.

One had arrived in the Xisha Area two years ago—Gu Qingwu. Now, two years later, another had appeared—Li Heng.

Inevitably, the students of the Xisha Area began to compare Li Heng and Gu Qingwu.

Gu Qingwu’s strength was something all the students had witnessed for themselves. As for this underclassman, Li Heng, they had only heard that his Swordsmanship was quite impressive.

Ordinarily, after Li Heng’s spar with the spear-wielding upperclassman, some people in the Xisha Area would have stopped by to get acquainted with him.

Gu Qingwu had also told Li Heng that he should go and greet a few of the upperclassmen, a common courtesy for newcomers to make their introductions.

However, because of the military training scheduled for the Meteor University freshmen, all these plans were put on hold. Instead, some of the bored students, or those with "ulterior motives" toward the new first-years, all headed toward the docking area for the Flying Boats.

The most excited crowd for the annual freshman military training wasn’t the freshmen themselves, but the sophomores who had gone through it the previous year, and even a few juniors.

Eighty to ninety percent of the sophomores were there to watch the freshmen’s military training out of pure schadenfreude.

This was true for ordinary universities, and Soul Energy Universities were no exception.

When Li Heng arrived at the Flying Boat docking area, it was already packed with people. The freshmen were gathered in the center, while those standing on the periphery were likely the "upperclassmen."

Li Heng, dressed in a long white robe, naturally stood out among the freshmen, and he quickly drew the attention of some sophomores and juniors.

One or two of the more extroverted ones even greeted Li Heng proactively.

"Lookin’ sharp, frosh! Good luck! Try not to get wrecked!"

"Hey, that freshman’s kinda cute! If you place in the top three, I’ll buy you a drink!"

"You’d better pray it doesn’t rain, frosh! The training goes on even in a downpour, you know!"

...

Li Heng responded politely to the upperclassmen’s "enthusiasm," then did his best to find the gathering point for the freshmen from the Comprehensive Department.

But before Li Heng could find them, a large group of freshmen from the Comprehensive Department began to converge on him.

These freshmen from his department declared that Li Heng was their acknowledged big shot. No matter what the military training involved, they figured it was never a mistake to rally around the strongest guy.

Li Heng didn’t react to this; he couldn’t very well tell his classmates where to stand. He did, however, notice two familiar faces among the students gathering around him.

The flat-chested, petite girl and Bao Yaoyao!

The former wore a cyan long dress, while the latter wore a blue one. Both had their hair tied up in ponytails.

Li Heng greeted them when he saw them, but with so many classmates crowded between them, a simple wave and nod had to suffice.

No instructors had appeared yet, and since they had only been given a general assembly point, the freshman gathering was rather chaotic.

Despite the chaos, a clear pattern was emerging. Each of the five major departments had a freshman dressed in white, and the largest crowds were gathered around these particular students.

The rest were either standing in small groups or were completely on their own.

The freshmen stood around like this for several minutes before two figures were seen flying out from the Meteor University campus. One was riding a sword via Sword Control, while the other stood atop an avian Soul Beast.

When the two figures arrived above the freshmen, a voice boomed out, leaving everyone completely baffled.

"The official off-campus nature excursion for all freshmen of this class of Meteor University hereby begins!"