Chapter 89: The Return

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: The Return

The wheel of time rolled on incessantly.

The daily cycle of the five youths was condensed into a brutal routine: slaughtering until exhaustion, treating their wounds, and sinking into brief, fleeting slumber.

Under this grueling survival intensity, the concept of days and months had been completely obliterated. Amidst the nerve-numbing sea of foul blood, their sole consolation was the intense expansion of the magic power within their bodies. The cultivation realms of all five broke through their bottlenecks, leveling up continuously.

Evelyn broke through two more stars, firmly stepping into Tier Two, One-Star.

Leon and Lucius advanced simultaneously, currently reaching the threshold of Tier One, Nine-Star.

Phoenix and Jeremy originally started at Tier One, Six-Star, but in these life-and-death battles, their speed of comprehension surpassed the other three. Leaping forward three consecutive stars, they were now on par with Leon and Lucius at Tier One, Nine-Star.

However, blessings never come in pairs, and misfortunes never come alone. Good news was inevitably accompanied by bad news.

What had been troubling Jeremy and keeping his brows furrowed these past few days were the wounds inflicted by the wasteland magical beasts. Even if they were merely scratches from low-tier monsters, the corrosive poison on their claws was incredibly stubborn.

For the wounds to close completely, it was imperative to use magic power with a holy purification attribute, or consume sacred items like Holy Spirit Water or Spirit Pearls. Applying ordinary healing potions was like a drop in the bucket.

Even though prior to entering the rift, Jeremy had carefully used the team’s accumulated points to exchange for a large reserve of Holy Spirit Water, under the intensity of being clawed and torn day after day, their stockpile had hit rock bottom.

Just as Jeremy was racking his brain trying to figure out how they would survive once the Holy Spirit Water ran dry, good news arrived. Evelyn’s third skill had officially awakened the moment she stepped into Tier Two, thoroughly solving this deadly dilemma.

Evelyn’s new skill was named: Purifying Spirit Arrow Domain.

When activated, a magic matrix formed by tens of thousands of phantom arrows would blanket the battlefield, carrying a large-scale purification effect. If applied to enemies, the purifying light would instantly transform into a decaying aura, aggressively devouring and forcibly stripping away all of the opponent’s buffs.

With the support of this third skill, both her and (magic arrow division) skills were heavily enhanced, pushing her damage output to its absolute peak.

The reason this skill was considered a lifesaver was that its purifying power perfectly countered the corrosive attributes of the wasteland magical beasts. Although it did not possess the rapid, regenerative healing potency of Holy Spirit Water, when combined with ordinary potions, it was more than enough to cleanse the toxins, allowing their wounds to close safely.

As for whether this purification effect would be effective against the toxins of higher-tier magical beasts, they would have to wait for actual combat to draw a conclusion.

Thanks to the team’s overall strength being elevated to a new height, coupled with the fact that the youths had gradually adapted to and mastered their other senses in the darkness, their subsequent battles were no longer as tragic and desperately close to death as the first few days.

Throughout that tormenting period, Griffin had only appeared a handful of times, always timing it precisely for the moments when they were utterly exhausted and standing on the brink of death. Griffin would merely swat the monsters away, keeping his students from being torn to shreds, and absolutely refrained from interfering any further.

Every time after saving their lives, Griffin would vanish without a trace right before they passed out, leaving the group no chance to even utter a single curse.

They truly didn’t know whether to curse Griffin for being cold-blooded and heartless, or reluctantly admit that he still had a microscopic shred of conscience left.

A few more days passed after their realm breakthroughs, and Griffin’s figure finally made an official appearance.

"The required quota of demon soul crystal cores has been met. You can pack up and get the hell out of here."

Griffin’s indifferent voice, devoid of a single ripple of emotion, rang out.

If it were a magical beast, Jeremy could rely on its murky demonic aura to lock onto its position. But facing a pervert like Griffin, when Griffin intentionally concealed his magic power, Jeremy could only prick up his ears and rely on the source of the sound to pinpoint his direction.

Jeremy asked in a deep voice: "Exactly how many days have we been here?"

They hadn’t counted the number of crystal cores. The Soul Magic Card provided by Griffin had been pre-engraved with an automatic tallying magic; every time one hundred cores were gathered, a ’ding’ notification would sound. Initially, engrossed in battle, Jeremy didn’t pay attention to counting the chimes, and later on, he simply gave up, pouring all his focus into swinging his blades to stay alive.

Griffin: "Sixty-three days."

Sixty-three days... That meant they had surpassed the initially set two-month deadline. Time had passed faster than Jeremy anticipated, but at least they hadn’t overshot it by too much; they were still in the safe zone.

Jeremy intended to take this opportunity to probe for some information about the Heaven’s Orbit Matrix beneath the tower. But just as Jeremy parted his lips, Griffin seemingly read his mind and flatly interrupted: "A fated opportunity—if you picked it up, just obediently accept it."

This nonchalant attitude proved that for the past two months, Griffin had been hiding in the shadows all along, perfectly aware of every move and incident they had gone through.

The phrase ’just accept it’ carried a very clear implication: Griffin himself had no way to remove it, or perhaps Griffin was simply too lazy to get involved in the mess.

Jeremy tactfully shut his mouth, decisively dropping the subject.

Griffin had no interest in chatting. With a light flick of his fingertips, a massive sphere of magic power enveloped the five of them. A spatial matrix flared with a blinding light. In the blink of an eye, the fishy stench of the sea and the desolate sand and dust vanished, replaced by an entirely different scenery.

They had been teleported back to the rift exit managed by their department.

--

It wasn’t until his nose caught the familiar, faint scent of phantom orchids filling the classroom that Jeremy felt certain they had safely returned.

Just as Griffin’s magic power was about to dissipate, Jeremy suddenly remembered a crucial clue and hastily spoke up: "Mentor Griffin, wait a moment. Do you know the origin of the characters carved into the rock wall in the underground cave in the first area?"

If Griffin had been secretly tailing them, Griffin definitely would have seen those texts on the very first day.

Sure enough, Jeremy’s prediction was not wrong. Griffin’s intellect had a firm grasp on everything.

Hearing the call, Griffin halted his steps, glancing sideways at Jeremy from the corner of his eye.

"That string of characters on the wall records clues leading to a sealed undersea palace in a C-rank rift area. The amount of Nightmare Demon liquid you collected that day just so happens to be the guiding catalyst to pinpoint the ruin’s exact location. What, want to throw your life away and give it a try?"

Every missing link in Jeremy’s mind instantly connected. It turned out the ruin guidance that the Beastman mutant had mentioned earlier was precisely this string of texts. However, the ruin itself was not located in an F-rank area, but sat grandly all the way in a C-rank zone...

Between his life and treasure, which was heavier and which was lighter, Jeremy had his own sense of measure. He politely yet decisively refused: "...Let’s leave that for later. Right now, we aren’t in a hurry to court death."

Thinking for a moment, Jeremy added: "But if possible, I hope you will assist in guiding us later on." Naturally, ’later on’ referred to the time when they had fully fledged their wings and met the standards to enter a C-rank rift.

"No need to worry about pointless things." Griffin obviously read Jeremy’s underlying meaning. A slender hand leisurely reached up to unbutton his cuff, the movement incredibly elegant: "After all, that is a clue you fools had to throw away half your lives to dig up. Before you possess the qualifications to set foot inside, I absolutely will not let any other piece of trash get even half a step close to it."

The five reluctant students labeled as "fools" were simultaneously left speechless: Should they throw water in his face or kneel down in gratitude?

"Are you going to bark anything else? If not, scramble back to your nests."

Griffin’s mouth was as venomous and detestable as always.

"I do." Leon sneered, his tone sarcastic to the bone: "I was just thinking of submitting a request to the academy to forge a custom trophy for you. Judging by two criteria: Unparalleled foul mouth and Empathy deficit, if you claim second place in this department, I bet no one would dare claim first."

Leon smirked, twisting the knife: "Even within the next hundred years, I predict no prodigy will be able to surpass you. Therefore, I reckon the award for ’Most Ruthless and Immoral Person of the Year’ would suit you perfectly."