Students stumbled back. Their magical beasts whined in fear.
Silver Wolf leapt in front of Tianyu, fangs bared, fur crackling with cold moonlight.
Tianyu gritted his teeth.
They had run headfirst into a rare bronze magical beast — far beyond what students should handle.
But retreat wasn't an option.
"Xiao Hui — Wolf Howling Bomb!"
The crescent mark on Silver Wolf's forehead blazed. Moonlight swirled in its jaws, forming a glowing cannon of energy that fired straight at the python.
BOOOOM!
A dent appeared on the python's scales — only a shallow one.
"T-That barely hurt it!"
"Everyone, attack together! There's only ONE python!"
Tianyu's voice shook them awake. Humbled, they shouted orders to their magical beasts. Roars filled the forest again — claw strikes, elemental bursts — but nothing left more than scratches.
The Lava Python reared its flaming head, ready to strike.
The heat from its breath alone felt like fire at their throats.
And then—
A soft green glow lit the forest floor.
Shang Jiao finally moved.
A single vine slid from her palm… then sank into the soil.
In the next heartbeat—
Crack—!
WHOOSH!
Countless vines shot up from beneath the soil, weaving between the startled students like green serpents before launching themselves at the Lava Python. In one fluid motion, the vines lifted Shang Jiao into the air with effortless grace.
Her feet never touched the ground.
Her green armor shimmered like living jade, vines wrapping around her legs and waist as if holding up a queen of the forest. She looked down from above, poised, steady, terrifyingly calm.
Tianyu's breath caught.
"Silver-level… so this is the difference," he murmured.
Even Lei Feiyu, at bronze-level, could only float for a brief moment right after his armor transformation. Sustained flight? Impossible for him.
But for Shang Jiao… it looked natural. Like breathing.
A faint smile touched her lips. "Inescapable Net."
Green fire flickered in her palm — then the ground trembled.
Bright emerald light spread like cracks beneath the earth, converging under the Lava Python. A heartbeat later—
SWISH—SWISH—SWISH!
A forest of vines erupted upward, each one thicker and taller than the Lava Python itself. They closed in from every direction, weaving into a massive net that snapped shut around the beast.
BOOM!
The python slammed into the ground, carving a crater into the soil. Roots burst out from beneath it, binding its rocky scales.
Shang Jiao raised her hand.
A single vine curled behind her arm, sliding down to her palm and twisting itself into a staff of living greenery.
She hurled it with practiced precision.
"Thorn Explosion."
The staff struck dead center.
CHAK—CHAK—CHAK—
A blinding green flare burst outward. Vines lit up like burning emeralds.
Then came the sound — a crisp, explosive crack.
CRRRRSHHH!
Thousands of razor-thin thorns erupted from the vines, shredding scales, skin, and stone. The Lava Python didn't even have time to scream. Its entire body split apart, collapsing into gravel that scattered across the forest floor.
Tianyu stared at the crumbling heap.
Even after everything he'd seen, he was stunned.
"This… this fighting style… It's nothing like Brother Lei's."
Lei Feiyu fought with raw power — explosive, overwhelming, direct.
However, Shang Jiao fought like a manipulator — suffocating, controlling, then annihilating with precision.
Same "armored envoy."
Two completely different paths.
He suddenly understood why the world classified armored envoys into types.
Strength-type.
Control-type.
Speed-type.
Defense-type…
Shang Jiao was the pinnacle of a control-type.
Lei Feiyu, pure strength-type.
No wonder their armors differed, even though both were bronze and silver level.
*
"Let's keep going," Shang Jiao said lightly after finishing off the monster, as if she hadn't just crushed a bronze beast like a bug.
Class 2 followed in buzzing excitement, whispering and reenacting the battle with dramatic hand gestures. The energy was infectious.
They pushed through the last stretch of the Dark Forest — and the trees abruptly parted.
A vast grassland spread before them, golden and peaceful under the sun.
But the peace didn't last.
The grass rippled.
Then rippled again.
And then—the ground moved.
Countless magical beasts rushed out from the grass in thick waves.
Dozens became hundreds.
Hundreds became thousands.
Tens of thousands surged forward, forming a living tide that stretched to the horizon.
"R-R-Roar!"
Students' legs trembled. Some nearly fainted.
They'd never seen a beast tide before.
And the instructors?
They stood behind, arms crossed.
Not moving. Not helping.
Just watching.
"Xiao Hui! Attack!"
Tianyu was the first to move, eyes bright with excitement rather than fear. After weeks in the wilderness with the cleaning team, this scene felt almost familiar.
Silver Wolf roared and shot forward like a silver comet.
Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Jungle Panther Cat…
Ding… Ding… Ding…
Notifications popped up nonstop. The Silver Wolf's claws and blades flashed relentlessly. Blood sprayed, bodies fell, and the tide shuddered under its assault.
The other students finally snapped out of their shock.
"Attack!"
"Go! Support Tianyu!"
"Don't fall behind!"
The quiet grassland exploded into chaos — fireballs, water blades, stone fists, shockwaves — a battlefield of pure instinct and survival.
Blood turned the earth red.
The metallic smell filled their noses, making stomachs churn.
Some students gagged. Some whispered prayers.
An instructor sighed softly behind them.
"When I saw this for the first time, I could barely stand."
Another nodded in sympathy.
"This group… not bad."
Then — Shang Jiao's body glowed again.
Bright green light pulsed from her skin.
The other instructors winced but said nothing. They'd expected this.
Huge vines burst from the ground all across the plain, dragging clusters of beasts into the air and flinging them toward Class 2's direction like sacks of flour.
"O-O-OI, Instructor?! Are you trying to kill us?!"
Class 2 shrieked as dozens of beasts landed in front of them.
Shang Jiao's answer?
A calm, beautiful smile. "Training."
Class 2 wanted to cry.
*
The number of magical beasts pouring into the area had already thinned, like a raging river suddenly split into countless tiny streams.
But that brief relief died instantly.
CRACK—RUSTLE—WHOOSH!
Shang Jiao's vines burst out from the ground again—thick, fast, ruthless—dragging entire clusters of beasts from other battle zones and dumping them directly in front of Class 2.
It was like watching a dried riverbed suddenly flooded by a tidal wave.
And the wave became a sea.
"Holy sh*t, Instructor is way too strong!"
"Miss Shang Jiao, I love you! Beautiful + violent = invincible!"
Class 2 erupted in cheers.
Of course, they were excited—more beasts meant more EXP, more growth, faster upgrades.
It was like heaven, personally feeding them magical beasts on a silver platter.
Meanwhile, the other classes were collapsing emotionally.
"Isn't this cheating? What the hell are we supposed to fight?!"
"Instructor, can you lend us a hand, too? Everything good is going to Class 2!"
"Is it too late to transfer to their class?!"
Jealousy burned through the entire field.
Class 2 was basically bathing in monsters.
Everyone else? Eating scraps.
But complaining was useless.
All the instructors, even the strong ones, just sighed helplessly behind their classes.
No one dared interfere.
Because Shang Jiao… well—Shang Jiao was Shang Jiao.
Fiery temper.
Violent methods.
Extreme bias toward her "cub" students.
And zero fear of confrontation.
The instructors had learned through blood and tears: Do not get between Shang Jiao and her class.
"Shang Jiao! Leave some for the other kids!" Lin Zexian finally shouted, completely exasperated.
Shang Jiao only shrugged, tossed her red hair, and continued to dump another wave of magical beasts in front of Class 2.
She wasn't stopping.
Couldn't stop.
Wouldn't stop.
*
Even though beasts filled the field, each student only got a few after splitting the load.
Meanwhile, Tianyu's Silver Wolf sat there yawning.
Too easy.
Too few.
Not enough challenge.
Tianyu sighed and patted its huge furry head. "Xiao Hui, let's push a bit further."
Silver Wolf's ears perked up instantly.
They broke away from the densely packed Class 2 cluster and jogged forward to a more dangerous zone—the middle of the beast flow.
Here, the magical beasts came in larger numbers, thicker groups, fiercer movements.
Finally, something worthy of a meal.
SWISH—SHUA—SHUA!
Two enormous Silver Blades shot forward, slicing through the beast horde. Their arcs flew cleanly through necks, spines, hearts—whatever lay in their path.
Beasts didn't fall.
They split.
One attack, twenty corpses.
The Silver Wolf, now evolved and upgraded countless times, was shooting out Silver Blades that travelled thirty meters before fading.
It was devastating.
Meanwhile, other students were struggling to kill one magical beast at a time.
But Tianyu?
He sat down.
Literally sat down on the grass, hugging his knees.
There was nothing he could do.
Charging further would break the rules.
Attacking beasts belonging to other classes would cause chaos.
And everything behind him was already wiped out by his wolf.
So he lounged on the grass while Silver Wolf casually flicked out Silver Blades whenever something wandered too close.
Like swatting flies.
Shang Jiao, watching from a distance, blinked. "How did Class 2 raise a monster like this?"
She had personally fed Class 2 the biggest waves of beasts. And yet—
Tianyu's wolf still outperformed every other magical beast on the field.
The Silver Blade's range, energy density, and destructive force… none of it resembled black-iron level.
It was outrageous.
Which meant she needed to throw even more beasts toward him.
The other instructors nearly choked.
Shang Jiao was snatching beasts from every class and dumping them on Class 2.
And Class 2 still wasn't full?
What was wrong with these kids?
*
"Alright, Tianyu," Shang Jiao finally said from afar, shouting across the plain. "You can move alone. But don't leave my sight!"
She knew beast horde training was too easy for him. If he stayed stuck behind the others, he'd waste his potential—and she refused to allow that.
Tianyu's eyes lit up. "Then I'll head deeper!"
With Silver Wolf roaring excitedly, he sprinted toward the densest, most ferocious part of the beast tide.
Where the real hunt was.
He wasn't intimidated.
He had walked through the nest of tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands—of black devil bugs.
Compared to that?
This beast tide was child's play.
Just when he reached the thickest part of the plain, something caught his eye.
"Eh?"
Silver Wolf stopped at the same time, muscles tensed.
The ground… moved.
But not like before.
This wasn't a wave of magical beasts.
This was something else.
Something bigger.
Something alive.
Tianyu's pupils shrank. "Something's coming."