Chapter 44: Restoring Morale

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Restoring Morale

"What’s... going on with you all?"

The staff member watched in surprise as the five-person team dragged a pile of soul beast corpses, their faces a complex mixture of dazed, sullen, and anxious expressions.

It was the third day of the mock college entrance exam in the Falling Flood Dragon Icefield Secret Realm. This was the first time the staff member had ever seen such a bizarre-looking team.

What was so strange was that, in his view, four of the five were in the Soul Pupil Realm. It made sense that they could kill this many soul beasts, but by all rights, they should have been happy about it.

If someone had been injured or, heaven forbid, died, they should have looked sad or grieved. But this collection of mismatched expressions, tinged with an air of grievance... what on earth had happened?

The staff member was curious. Genuinely, deeply curious. Unable to restrain himself, he asked the group of five if something had happened.

"It’s nothing. It was our first time in the Wind Snow Area, and we’re all having a little trouble adjusting. These soul beast corpses are our entry fee. Thank you for your trouble." Zheng Zhuoran explained, subtly changing the subject.

Hearing they had been to the Wind Snow Area, the staff member felt a flicker of understanding. He began to re-examine the five of them.

’To have the courage to enter the Wind Snow Area on just the third day, they must be top students,’ he thought. ’And only one girl is slightly injured while the others are fine. They can definitely be classified as "outstanding talents." I’ll have a good report for Manager Lin tonight.’

The staff member then began to take stock of the soul beast corpses behind them.

Hmm?

Frost Spider?!

This wound... It’s from a sword!

"Thirteenth Middle School... Li Heng?!"

While inspecting the soul beast corpses, the staff member suddenly spotted a Frost Spider, neatly sliced in two, amidst a pile of Snowflake Little Demons.

Moreover, he had seen a similar wound on a Frost Spider before.

It didn’t take long for him to recall when he had last seen such a wound, and who exactly had inflicted it.

In the three days since the Falling Flood Dragon Icefield Secret Realm had opened, students who could turn in a Frost Spider were exceedingly rare. And for one to be this cleanly and smoothly sliced in two... As far as the staff member could recall, there was only one person capable of that.

So, the staff member asked tentatively.

"You... I remember, aren’t you Li Heng’s teammate? You’ve become a Soul Pupil? Excellent! Excellent!"

Before anyone could answer, the staff member noticed the shorter girl looked familiar. He then remembered that she was Li Heng’s teammate from before, and she had even broken through to the Soul Pupil Realm.

It would have been better if he hadn’t brought it up. His rapid-fire questions instantly made the five students’ expressions even more complicated, and the atmosphere grew incredibly awkward.

"Li Heng teleported away."

After nearly ten seconds of silence, Bai Shasha finally spoke, but she only uttered a few cold words before falling silent again.

’That brilliant swordsman... teleported away?’

’No way.’

For a moment, the staff member couldn’t believe it. But seeing the looks on their faces, he didn’t press the issue. He just felt it was a bit of a shame.

’Such a prodigious talent in Swordsmanship!’

’I should still report this to Manager Lin tonight.’

Although there was the small hiccup regarding "Li Heng," it didn’t stop the staff member from logging the five of them into the "outstanding talent template." After asking for their middle school and names one by one, he let them enter the settlement.

"Let’s all just say something," Zheng Zhuoran began. "As the one who started this team, I’ll state my position first. Li Heng is, without a doubt, the most skilled person our age I’ve ever met. In every respect, as far as I’m concerned, he’s number one."

"As for Li Heng suddenly tearing his Teleportation Talisman and ending his mock exam... We all agreed beforehand that anyone could leave at any time, so I won’t comment too much on that. After all, everyone makes their own choices."

"Besides, I thought about it carefully afterward. Li Heng was the closest to those Cold Ice Pythons. The pressure on him was probably immense. But no matter how you look at it, we’ve lost a powerful teammate, and that’s a blow to us."

Zheng Zhuoran spoke candidly, first stating his position and then discussing Li Heng. It all came from the heart, and after getting it out, the tension in his face seemed to ease a little.

After nearly half a minute of silence, Lin Tao was the one to speak next.

"Regardless, I’m half to blame for Li Heng teleporting away. My scouting was flawed. Otherwise, we never would have ended up there, and Li Heng wouldn’t have left. I’ll go apologize to him after this mock exam is over."

The expression on Zhang Jian’s face was unreadable. After Lin Tao finished, he chimed in, "I just can’t believe it. A guy that strong is actually so... so *cautious*! We clearly had time to fall back! It’s just... incredible!"

Xue Qing said nothing. She seemed not to have recovered yet, still looking dazed, as if a beautiful dream had just been shattered.

If Xue Qing was merely disillusioned, then Bai Shasha had gone far beyond that. She was starting to question her entire existence.

’I even took out my Wolf Claw Curved Saber!’

’I even summoned the courage to fight side-by-side with him!’

’You were the one who taught me to face danger with composure, to charge forward into peril instead of cowering and running away like I used to.’

’You were the one who could single-handedly break through a surrounding wolf pack! You were the one who remained perfectly calm when facing a Frost Spider so powerful that even Soul Pupils wouldn’t dare to provoke it!’

’You were absurdly powerful!’

’You were... you were...’

Bai Shasha couldn’t understand it at all. From that distance, given Li Heng’s incredible strength, he had more than enough time to fall back. Why did he have to choose to rip the Teleportation Talisman?

In truth, they were all just making excuses for Li Heng. At the time, every single one of them had heard him loud and clear. It was Li Heng who spoke up, saying he couldn’t hold on and that they should all retreat together.

And then there was that phrase.

"I’m outta here!!"

Even though they had all agreed beforehand that anyone could leave the team and rip their Teleportation Talisman at any moment.

But when Li Heng said those three words—"I’m outta here!"—his decisive tone was exactly like a player in a certain canyon-themed game instantly using their Flash to abandon a teammate.

’The pressure on Li Heng must have been too great! He probably wasn’t scared. How could an expert as powerful as him be so scared that he’d rip his Teleportation Talisman!’

Even as Li Heng’s "I’m outta here!" echoed in their minds, they all outwardly claimed he must have had his reasons.

"Hey! Let’s pull ourselves together!" Zheng Zhuoran said, trying to lift their spirits. "So we lost one expert. Our team still has four Soul Pupils and a healer. We’re still a high-spec squad. It’s only the third day of the exam! We still have four more days!"

Seeing that everyone except the still-dazed Xue Qing had voiced their thoughts, Zheng Zhuoran spoke up to boost their morale and lighten the mood.

Zheng Zhuoran’s words seemed to bring everyone back to their senses, at least a little.

’That’s right!’

’No matter what happened!’

’The mock college entrance exam is still going!’

’There are still four days left. We need to use this time to hone our skills, try to farm more Soul Energy Items and gear, and pull ourselves together. That’s the most important thing right now.’