Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Great Catastrophe

"Understood," Deng Duojie replied, and hurried off toward the dense forest.

"Deputy Director Zhang, that kid must be playing tricks!" Wu Man glanced again at the elder. "The defensive circle my students set up is impenetrable. I won't say more, but if he got within thirty meters, he would have been discovered! There's no way he could have taken the camp flag!"

"That is indeed the case," the elder replied coolly, his gaze settling on Li Chonglou. "Child, what method did you use to get through their defenses? Hmm... Don't worry, you can say if you wish, but I won't force you."

"I..." Li Chonglou hesitated. "I didn't use my essence force. If one is careful enough, they won't notice."

"Nonsense!" Wu Man was furious, her cheeks twisting in anger. "To reach Left Mountain from here, you must pass through the Beast Forest in the valley! Twin Ridge doesn't have large beasts, but there are hundreds of savage creatures like lynx, panther, and short-faced bear. At night they're especially active. Without essence force, how did you get through the Beast Forest?"

"Exactly!" Tie Renhao chimed in. "We were attacked by panthers on our way here. They seemed starved, and even though they sensed our essence force, they still dared to attack. You? Without using your essence force, you would have been eaten!"

"Everyone has their own secrets," the elder said. "Child, you don't need to explain. Still... I'm curious."

"It's not really a secret," Li Chonglou shook his head. "Instructor Wu, Your Highness, it seems you've never trained in the Ancient Forest. I brought the urine of a saber-toothed tiger. If you soak yourself in it, the small beasts won't dare approach."

"Oh? There is such a method?" The elder was surprised. As the academy's deputy director, he enjoyed high status and was well cared for by the duchy, so he had never needed to train in the Ancient Forest. Though it wasn't far, everything there was unfamiliar to him.

Wu Man was stunned, and Tie Renhao was at a loss for words.

"Have you been to the Ancient Forest?" Wei Qingfan suddenly interjected.

"Heh..." Li Chonglou only smiled mysteriously. The question left him somewhat bewildered. Had he been there? It seemed he had... Yet he couldn't recall.

"Fine!" Wu Man found a new weakness. "Even if you have a way through the Beast Forest, how did you avoid the stinger bees?!"

As she spoke, Wu Man bent to pick up a stone, and with a sudden force, hurled it deep into the flag altar. A dull crash echoed.

Buzzing... A swarm of stinger bees rose like a dark cloud, circling overhead, almost shrouding the whole mountain.

"Speak! Without essence force, how could you get past their blockade?" Wu Man demanded coldly.

"Instructor Wu, you deliberately provoked them. I'm not foolish enough to cross the bees," Li Chonglou sighed. "From midnight, the dew in the air grows heavier. When it settles on their wings, flight becomes difficult. Especially before dawn, stinger bees usually don't leave their nest. You saw it yourself—I'm filthy because I crawled all the way in. Even if a few bees were out wandering, they wouldn't notice me."

Wu Man was silenced again. All she could do was glare at Li Chonglou, trying to find some flaw in his expression.

Ordinary people, when lying, betray themselves in their demeanor, but Li Chonglou had been hypnotized by Ye Xin. He believed every word he spoke was the truth, and he was convinced he had saved the day. As always, he was the irreplaceable hero!

So Li Chonglou remained imposing, refusing to back down as he stared back at Wu Man.

"Intelligent and courageous, very good..." The elder smiled.

"You flatter me," Li Chonglou replied with a smile.

"Since you already took the camp flag, why didn't you say so at the time? Why wait until now?" Wei Qingfan spoke again.

Ye Xin couldn't help but glance at Wei Qingfan—a precocious youth not to be underestimated. Only someone present would notice this contradiction; Li Chonglou had been affected, but from an outsider's perspective, it would have been hard to see.

"A thousand contribution points... We all know what kind of support the Cambrian Hall will provide us," Li Chonglou said slowly. "You didn't want to lose; neither did we. If you saw me take the flag, who knows what you'd do? I didn't know where Deputy Director Zhang and Instructor Xie were, no one could vouch for me. If you acted out of spite, stole the flag and hung it back up, what then? If I said Fifth Camp had won, you'd deny it, and I'd have to swallow the loss."

"Outrageous! What do you take us for?!" Tie Renhao shouted.

"It's wise to guard against others, even if you mean no harm," Li Chonglou replied.

At that moment, footsteps approached from the forest. Soon, Deng Duojie and the students from First Camp emerged, gasping for breath, their faces dark with frustration. Deng Duojie clutched a camp flag, saying nothing as she handed it to Wu Man.

Wu Man took the flag—sure enough, no signature from Xie En. She threw it aside in fury and declared, "I refuse to accept this! No matter how eloquently he explains, I don't believe he could sneak past all of us into the flag altar. He must have cheated! Deputy Director Zhang, I demand a rematch!"

"Are you being reasonable?!" Ye Xin shouted. In truth, that flag was genuine. Xie En's ink was special, concocted by Ye Xin from squid ink mixed with other medicines. The pigment, a protein, would dissolve, causing the signature to vanish within three hours.

"Yes, right! Not satisfied? You just want to cheat?" another student called out. They thought defeat was certain today, but Li Chonglou had stepped forward and won the flag, ensuring Cambrian Hall was theirs. Upon hearing Wu Man demand a rematch, the crowd erupted.

"Who said that? Step forward!" Wu Man shouted. A warrior forged on the battlefield, her fury unleashed an indescribable pressure that spread in every direction.

"Instructor Wu, there's no need to intimidate the children," Xie En replied with a fake smile. "A rematch would be unfair. But I do have a suggestion that may convince you. Deputy Director Zhang, it will require your approval."

"Instructor Xie, what is your suggestion?" the elder asked, turning to Xie En.

"Why not let me and Instructor Wu have a match?" Xie En spoke deliberately. "If I lose, Fifth Camp will relinquish Cambrian Hall. If Instructor Wu loses, the academy will transfer First Camp's thousand contribution points to us. But let me say this first—my signature skill is speed. In a lightning-fast duel, I can't guarantee I'll hold back. If there's injury or death, the academy can't hold me responsible."

The atmosphere suddenly turned silent. The elder's gaze slowly shifted to Wu Man, whose face was dark as iron. She wanted to speak, but fell silent.

Xie En hadn't spelled it out, but everyone there understood: this would be a duel to the death.

"Well? Instructor Wu, do you not accept?" Xie En smiled.

The warriors of Sin Camp had survived countless deadly trials. Whether it was the steady Xue Baiqi or the carefree, seemingly indifferent Xie En, each possessed a fierce and ruthless side.

If Wu Man dared nod, blood would certainly be spilled today—it would be Wu Man's, or Xie En's.

"You..." Wu Man gripped her sword hilt. She hadn't wanted to accept the challenge, for Xie En's presence was dangerously intense, his killing intent even stronger than hers. Yet she had been forced into a corner; refusing would leave her no dignity as First Camp's instructor.

Just then, a thunderous crash exploded overhead. As an invisible wave swept down, every branch and leaf on the mountain was blasted to fragments. Everyone, including Xie En, Wu Man, and the elder, was hurled to the ground. The flag altar's swirling stinger bees were instantly reduced to dust, vanishing as if they had never existed.

What had happened? Each person struggled to lift their head and look toward the source of the sound.

Boom—a blazing white sphere streaked across the sky at unimaginable speed, trailing a tail of light nearly ten thousand meters long.

Immediately, the sky turned fiery red, and a massive ripple spread, collapsing inward at the center, condensing into a human figure who plummeted from the heights.

That was... a person? Ye Xin, usually reserved and shrewd, was now dumbfounded. His vision was keen—he could clearly see the figure was bald, draped in a fiery red garment like a monk's robes.

"Blessings or calamity come without invitation, only by one’s own hand. Good and evil have their recompense, shadowing every step! You... think you can escape?!"

A voice like a bell thundered between heaven and earth, its invisible force filling every corner. Every grain of sand, every breath of air seemed to solidify. Everyone present was forced prostrate, pinned to the ground, unable to move.

"Hahaha... Bald monk, do you dare debate good and evil with me?!" The speeding sphere halted, roaring in fury. "Tens of millions of lives on the Red Sun Path, seventy-one mountain gates—the karma falls on you! Bald monk, you only covet my legacy, committing monstrous sins, and yet you dream of ascending the heavenly road?!"

"Even a true Buddha has nameless anger! Go!" The red figure raised a hand, and a colossal lotus, over a thousand meters wide, appeared out of nowhere, plunging straight toward the sphere.

"Bald monk! I will fight you to the end!!" The sphere soared upward, crashing headlong into the giant lotus.