246: Chapter 243 Good News and Bad News.

Ye Ming was truly getting a headache from the three Academicians who acted like children, and the Director and the others felt the same way.

Unfortunately, this group of old men were the precious treasures of China; they couldn't be hit or scolded, and had to be coaxed.

Thus, after failing to break up the fight, the four of them unanimously decided—if you can't afford to offend them, you can at least hide from them.

They stealthily retreated.

The initial phase went smoothly, and no one noticed the four's little movements. But as they retreated to the courtyard gate, Old Sun suddenly shouted, "Xiao Ye, where is Xiao Ye?!"

"Here, I'm here."

The Director, who had been frozen in fear, heard that it wasn't him they were looking for. With a beaming smile, he pushed Ye Ming back into the courtyard, then quickened his pace with Zhao Qi and Yue Ruo, passing through the gate and climbing toward the back mountain.

"Director, that wasn't very kind of you." On the small path through the bushes, Zhao Qi walked in the lead, holding a dry branch he had picked up, occasionally sweeping away the thorns blocking the way.

"Heh, I wasn't kind? You were the one who ran the fastest just now."

Zhao Qi turned around, his face flushed red: "Nonsense, I just have naturally long legs!"

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry to the top of the mountain." Yue Ruo stood with her hands on her hips, urging the two who had stopped.

The small team set off again. Zhao Qi, who was clearing the path in front, couldn't stand the silence and started a new topic: "What has Lin Miao been busy with these past few days? She leaves early every morning and doesn't return until it's almost dark."

"I heard from Ye Ming that she's been chopping trees somewhere on the back mountain."

"Did Immortal Xu give her immortal medicine?"

"Nope."

"Then how is she chopping them?"

"Humans have been chopping trees and starting fires for thousands of years; do they all rely on immortal medicine?"

The Director interjected: "Wow, the young lady is impressive. I was wondering why Xiao Ye was holding her hand in the courtyard last night; so he was popping her blisters."

"Right? I also think Xiao Miao has some real grit."

Zhao Qi didn't say anything, just swung the wooden stick in his hand a bit faster.

Although the three often bickered, their relationship wasn't bad; in fact, it was the opposite, as they had always been close.

The Director, who quickly noticed his unusual behavior, feigned a displeased tone: "If you feel ashamed, just go chop trees immediately. Immortal Xu hasn't taken back the rusty iron axe."

Once he finished speaking, not only were Zhao Qi and Yue Ruo stunned, but the Director also trembled all over, lowering his head and muttering something.

That's right, why didn't Immortal Xu take the axe away? Was it really an accidental oversight?

If it were an ordinary person or matter, the three of them would probably have thought so. But since it was Immortal Xu who did this, they wouldn't believe it was unintentional even if they were beaten to death.

Then why? Associating this with how Lin Miao had been leaving on time every day to chop trees since entering the Mountain Gate, without a moment of slack, the three of them seemed to realize something.

It wasn't that he forgot to take the iron axe; this was clearly Immortal Xu testing our will and character!

Recalling how they had become lazy all day long after losing the immortal medicine provided by Immortal Xu, the three couldn't help but feel ashamed.

They had spent all day boasting about being seniors and leaders, feeling smug, yet they were not even as good as a newcomer who had been on the job for less than a year. They were simply unworthy of Immortal Xu's high expectations!

Zhao Qi viciously snapped the wooden stick he was holding against the ground: "I won't leave until I chop down the iron tree on the mountaintop!"

The remaining two clearly felt the same; they set off for the mountaintop again, their footsteps firm and powerful.

However, when they arrived at the slope of the mountaintop with high spirits, they remembered that their axes were still left in the courtyard, and an awkward atmosphere immediately spread.

How could they chop without axes? That would definitely not work!

After a detailed discussion, and finally through the Director's "ideological work," Zhao Qi was made to "voluntarily" go down the mountain to retrieve the axes.

But just as he turned around, noises came from behind the slope.

"I did it, Senior Sister, I did it!"

"Me too, me too!"

Amidst the echoing exclamations, there was a sharp sound of something piercing the air.

They looked at each other and simultaneously rushed to the top of the slope, looking down at the open space below.

In the open space, Luo Xiling stood at the edge with her arms crossed. In the middle, the four people had their right index and middle fingers pressed together to form a sword gesture, waving them around randomly in front of them, controlling long swords to circle above their heads.

Somewhat surprised, the Director patted the dazed Zhao Qi and asked: "How did they all succeed at once?"

Startled awake, he rolled his eyes: "How would I know?"

"Director, sword flight is truly cool!" Yue Ruo gazed at the four long swords tracing arcs in the air and crossing each other.

"Work hard at chopping trees. As long as Immortal Xu is moved by our sincerity, teaching us a trick of sword flight definitely won't be a problem!"

"Well said..."

"Director! And Brother Zhao, Sister Yue." Luo Xiling caught a glimpse of the three people standing on the top of the slope from the corner of her eye, and she happily waved her hand and ran over quickly.

"Why are you here?"

"Uh, we... came over to see how your practice is going."

Puffing out her small chest, she said proudly: "Under the careful guidance of this Senior Sister, their heart-cultivation is all finished!"

Although Luo Xiling's tone was firm and her confident expression seemed trustworthy, the three of them judged, based on the little girl's wise brain, that this matter was currently doubtful.

"Ahem..." Zhao Qi cleared his throat and wisely changed the subject: "Since they can all fly swords, does that mean they've passed?"

"That is incorrect."

He was puzzled; why did Luo Xiling deny it so decisively and quickly, and her tone even had a hint of Immortal Xu's style.

In an instant, he realized her lips hadn't moved. The familiar tone came from behind him. Suddenly enlightened, he hurriedly turned around: "Immortal Xu."

"Why have you all come here?" Immortal Xu, in his white robes, scanned the three of them.

"We have realized Immortal Xu's profound intentions!"

The Director spoke with a solemn expression, and Immortal Xu said nothing.

Seeing this reaction, the three were overjoyed. Not speaking meant tacit agreement; they had guessed right after all!

Zhao Qi hurriedly said: "We were indeed dull-witted to ignore Immortal Xu's painstaking efforts, but fortunately, we have realized it in time and are prepared to follow your wishes and chop trees with all our hearts."

"You all... are not bad." Immortal Xu was silent for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face. "It is not too late to mend the fold. Please, proceed."

After speaking, he turned his head to Luo Xiling: "Although you have all gone through heart-questioning, heart-cultivation, and learning the sword technique, the path of cultivation is long and arduous. You must never become complacent or slack."

"Yes!"

Nodding in response, Immortal Xu instructed: "The calamity will arrive in three days. The Mountain Gate needs to send people, and you all shall go together tomorrow."

The Director asked in surprise: "Wasn't it said that this calamity is considered a test for Hogwarts? Are you, Immortal Xu, going to intervene? If you want to assess them personally, shouldn't we wait until it ends? Isn't it a bit early to go now?"

"Lives are innocent. If they are unable to resist, the Mountain Gate will take action to protect the people and ensure their safety."

After a moment of silence, the Director bowed with his hands cupped: "Immortal Xu's righteousness is noble; the Mountain Gate's righteousness is noble."

When he raised his head again, the person had already disappeared.

...

Until Zhang Mu left the "world," his head was still a bit dazed. "Finally realized my profound intentions? Where did they realize that from? Did I have profound intentions? Why don't I know about it myself?"

Asking himself from the depths of his soul, he couldn't come up with an answer. Since it wasn't an urgent matter anyway, he shook his head and cast the thought from his mind.

"There isn't much time left. Hurry up and display our military strength, and the follow-up plans, the ascension plan, can get on the right track."

Muttering this, he exerted his magic power to the fullest and sped toward the artificial island.

...

In the boundless ocean, a reef island stood alone. After the mysterious young man left, Toby and Leon had nothing to do, and with no hope of escape, they had no choice but to accompany the Mountain Rock Giant in its play, albeit reluctantly and with trepidation.

But soon they realized they were being a bit conceited. The big guy couldn't be bothered to pay attention to them at all, happily pressing one end of the seesaw with its finger to play with Misha.

Getting bored of playing, Misha jumped to the ground, trotted to the side of the carousel on the island, and picked her favorite white horse to sit on. After a few seconds, the equipment didn't move, and she remembered there was no electricity on the island.

Just as she was about to climb down in disappointment, a pillar-like rock finger descended, flicking the top cover of the carousel to make the machine spin.

Misha's happy laughter, mixed with the sound of gears and metal structures breaking from the machine being forced to run, echoed all around.

The carousel obviously couldn't withstand such abuse, and it completely fell apart and broke down after a while. The Mountain Rock Giant caught Misha, who had flown out, in a timely and steady manner, and placed her on the ground.

The thing was broken, and there was nothing left to play with. Poking her chin with her finger to think for a moment, she suggested she wanted to play on the Mountain Rock Giant's body.

It didn't refuse, holding Misha safely and soundly in its huge palm, and then let her run on its arm.

The Fallen Spirit's body surface looked relatively smooth because its size was too majestic. Misha, who was considered petite even among humans, felt like she was climbing steep peaks as she ran on it, slipping and falling from the mountainside several times.

Fortunately, the big guy was paying attention at all times, immediately raising stone pillars on the surface of its body to catch her safely. Afterward, to facilitate her movement, wherever Misha ran, it would control the steep stone walls in that area to become flat.

Having run from the palm to the wrist, she was already exhausted. Misha, who was slumped down, wanted to go to a high place to overlook the ocean, so she asked the big guy to put her on its shoulder.

The Fallen Spirit seemed to dote on the little girl very much, using magic to lift her to its right shoulder.

After sitting there for a while, she planned to go to the left shoulder to see the scenery. But this time, the Mountain Rock Giant, which had tolerated all her requests from the beginning, shook its head and refused.

With its ten fingers intertwined behind its back and its upper body slightly leaning forward, Misha tilted her head and asked: "Is that your master's spot?"

The stone head, like a planet looming before her, nodded.

"I've played enough. Could you please send me down?"

Being pinched by two fingers and placed back on the ground, the stunned Toby and Leon hurriedly ran over: "Misha, how did you do that?!"

"Isn't that how making friends works?"

"That's true, but..."

Misha waved her hand to interrupt them, saying: "Uncle Toby, I've already tested it. It won't hurt us, but it also won't let us leave."

Previously, she had communicated with the Mountain Rock Giant using language, and the other party responded, indicating it could understand our conversation.

With thoughts racing in his mind, Toby hurriedly covered Misha's mouth, while guiltily looking up to peek at the Mountain Rock Giant's expression.

"Mmph—" Prying the palm away, Misha said somewhat helplessly, "Uncle Toby, it knows what I'm doing."

"Are you sure?" Leon asked in astonishment.

"Of course."

"Then, it doesn't seem to care about your purpose? Why?"

"Oh, please—" Misha said angrily, almost unable to resist rolling her eyes, "Would you get angry at a clumsy excuse made up by a child who wants to eat candy?"

Pondering for a moment, Toby felt that indeed, he wouldn't.

His three-year-old son often made up some absurd lies for snacks—using his mom's phone to send him a message, instructing him to buy a bucket of fried chicken legs on his way home from work.

He guessed that at the moment the message was sent, the child was very proud of his superb acting skills. But he completely forgot that while it's normal for a wife to ask her husband to bring fried chicken legs, calling the husband "Daddy" in the text message was not quite right.

Uh, not absolutely, it mainly depends on the occasion. In short, would Toby be angry about this? Most people would probably just find it cute.

No wonder Misha was so bold in her probing. Leon and Toby sighed at the same time, completely giving up the idea of running away, and boredly circled around the island.

Probably because they were really bored, the two found some thin, palm-sized stone slabs on the ground and skipped them on the sea surface to kill time.

After playing with a few pieces, they felt a slight tremor under their feet. Subconsciously turning back, they found the Mountain Rock Giant had squatted behind them at some point, still in the posture of arms hugging its thighs.

Toby held up a stone slab: "Want to join?"

It nodded its head.

"At least your attitude is friendly... Alright, come on, I'll demonstrate for you first." Saying this, he threw it horizontally; the spinning stone slab left a trail of ripples on the sea surface before sinking to the bottom.

The faint blue flames in the Mountain Rock Giant's eye sockets swayed rapidly.

This seemed to mean it was interested. Toby was thoughtful, raising his hand high: "Come try... Sorry, it's too small for you."

Compared to its vast palm, the stone slab was like a black sesame seed falling into a rice jar, insignificant.

But things went beyond Toby's expectations. Two of the Mountain Rock Giant's fingers easily pinched the stone slab and flung it violently toward the sea surface.

"Whoa! God!" Leon jumped high, "At least sixty splashes, that's just too cool!"

Trotting a few steps closer to it, Leon held out his hand: "Hey buddy, one more!"

The big guy generously satisfied him, skipping more than ten stone slabs in a row. Toby and he handed them over right at its feet, cheering excitedly: "Oh!!!"

As if encouraged, the Mountain Rock Giant's movements became increasingly fast and sharp, its emotions gradually climbing until reaching a peak.

After ten minutes of mechanical handing over, the stone slabs were taken almost as soon as they were lifted. But when he handed one out again, Leon suddenly found the object still in his hand.

Subconsciously looking up, he saw it gesturing with both hands, followed by a circular stone disc appearing in front of it.

How big was it? Leon looked up, unconsciously spreading his arms to measure it, which was obviously futile.

In the end, relying on visual estimation, he came up with a barely vivid concept—it was like the moon had arrived.

Wait, it... is it going to throw this stone disc into the sea?!

Toby, who was next to him, also realized it, his face changing drastically, and he was about to speak out to stop it.

Regrettably, the Mountain Rock Giant, already caught in a state of excitement, moved like lightning and threw it directly out.

"Shit!!!"

Watching the sky-covering waves smashed up by the stone disc coming toward them, the two retreated with trembling hands and feet.

Toby shouted in fear: "Mr. calamity, please hurry and stop the tsunami!"

Strangely, the Fallen Spirit did not pay attention to them and just stood there motionless.

Are we going to die here? With sorrow filling their hearts, they held back and pulled Misha back to retreat.

"It's just teasing you to make you happy."

As this calm voice reached their ears, a magnificent arm swept over their heads, across the sea area in front.

Several minutes passed, and it gradually became calm.

Still under the pressure of death, Toby panted and looked up. Sure enough, sitting on the Mountain Rock Giant's left shoulder was the young man they had met yesterday.

"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" The young man asked with a smile.

"The bad one."

"No, the lucky one first."

"Uh, Mr. Solon, I chose..."

A faint gaze swept over, and Toby immediately became obedient, saying: "Please, go ahead."

"Three days from now, you can go home."

"Really?! That's great! By the way, what about the bad news?"

"I am coming with you."