16: The final signal flare

After repelling Lin Jiang, Su Ze's group of three took a short break before setting off again.

The Void Spirit Turtle was still in a state of dormancy and had not woken up.

Although it was said that powerful Beast Tamers did not need to rely on the power of their beasts and could change the weather and collapse mountains with their Spiritual Power alone,

for a low-level Beast Tamer like Su Ze, without his beast, he was not much stronger than an ordinary person, making it very dangerous in this place teeming with monsters.

"Don't worry, Little Ze. Until your little turtle wakes up from its nap, I'll be responsible for your safety!" Wang Zi promised, patting his chest.

He and Xu Yao stood in front and behind, protecting Su Ze in the middle.

Although Wang Zi was somewhat unreliable, Xu Yao's strength was dependable.

As long as they didn't encounter any more Great Xia Spirit Guards with insufficient awareness like Lin Jiang attacking them, there wouldn't be any problems.

They walked forward for a long time; Tianyun Volcano seemed to be right before their eyes, and the heat waves grew stronger and stronger.

But as the saying goes, 'looking at the mountain kills the horse'—it looked close, but there was still a considerable distance to go.

By now, Wang Zi was drenched in sweat, looking as if he had dehydrated and shrunk a size.

Su Ze even suspected that if they got any closer to the volcano, the fat on Wang Zi's body might be squeezed out.

Not just him; Xu Yao and Su Ze were also feeling uncomfortable.

Wang Zi panted and said, "I say, Little Ze, we've noticed along the way that the further in we go, the stronger the monsters are, and every one of them carries a Fragment."

"But we've gathered almost enough Fragments now. There's no need to keep going further, right? Like you guys said, can't we just 'borrow' the rest from others?"

Su Ze said, "At this point, I won't hide it from you. I'm going to the volcano not just to collect Fragments, but because I have something important to do, so I must continue inward. This has nothing to do with you; I can walk the rest of the way alone."

Wang Zi asked, "To what point are you going?"

"Until I see the crater!"

"Holy crap, you're not planning to learn how to skinny dip in the crater, are you?"

Xu Yao wiped the fragrant sweat from her forehead and said, "Your beast is currently dormant. There's no way I'm leaving you alone. It's just a crater; I happen to want to see it too!"

Wang Zi had a mournful face: "You two are acting like a devoted couple, while I'm just a poor single dog..."

"Fine, just to prevent people from saying I'm not loyal later, I'll come along too! I don't believe this place can actually deep-fry me!"

"Gurgle..."

Just then, the Void Spirit Turtle on Su Ze's shoulder suddenly made a sound, then slowly extended its limbs and head from its shell, stretching its body.

"Phew... finally awake." Su Ze also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Water Prison Art!"

This was originally a skill used to trap people, but now Su Ze used it on the three of them.

Three spheres of water appeared out of thin air and trapped them inside. The cool water instantly enveloped their bodies, not only blocking the heat but also replenishing their hydration.

Then, before they could suffocate, Su Ze canceled the Water Prison.

"Phew, comfortable!" Wang Zi took a deep breath.

Xu Yao's complexion looked much better, but then she noticed her clothes were soaked, making them somewhat transparent.

Fortunately, the ambient temperature was still very high, and the moisture on her clothes evaporated in a short while.

The three took a short rest and prepared to set off again.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of intense fighting and cursing in a foreign language from not far away.

The three widened their eyes: "Something's happening ahead! Have the Fusang Dark Guards infiltrated?!"

...Not long ago, Lin Jiang, who had been captured by the Fusang Dark Guards, was anxiously waiting for the signal to assemble.

Several impatient Fusang Dark Guards couldn't wait any longer and had threatened him multiple times.

Finally, Lin Jiang jumped up from the ground, his face brimming with an excited and agitated smile, while the bracelet on his right hand was flashing.

"The message is here! It's a notification from Detachment Commander Guo Linshan to assemble!"

"Then why aren't you checking it already?!"

Lin Jiang shuddered and hurriedly looked at the message.

Then he looked up and said, "The assembly point this time is in the East 30 Region. If you want to go to the volcano, you need to head north. There won't be any problems."

One of the Dark Guards grabbed Lin Jiang's wrist and checked it personally, making him grimace in pain.

Then he turned to the captain and said, "The message is correct. He's not lying."

The Dark Guard Captain said, "Very well. Then we will keep our promise and let you go first, but your younger brother must stay to prevent you from playing any tricks."

"No problem. After I leave, wait a while before you set off, until almost everyone has reached the assembly point."

"Great Xia brat, you don't need to tell us that!"

Then they released Lin Jiang from his restraints. He looked back a few times at his controlled younger brother before quickly rushing towards the assembly point.

But at this moment, Lin He didn't sense any danger at all and was still repeatedly emphasizing: "My brother has already gone to cooperate with you, you must do what you promised me!"

"Heh, don't worry!"

...Tianyun Volcano, East 30 Region.

To facilitate defense, the Great Xia Spirit Guards had divided the four cardinal directions of Tianyun Volcano into one hundred regions each.

The volcano in the middle also had fifty regions, totaling five hundred and fifty people.

It didn't seem like many, but the Great Xia Spirit Guards were originally the elite of the elite. The entire Eastern Third Detachment plus the Reserve Team barely managed to scrape together that many people.

In previous years, the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination certainly wouldn't have needed so many people for defense, but this year was an exception under the blatant threat of the Fusang Dark Guards.

As soon as he arrived at the East 30 Region, Lin Jiang was stopped by someone who asked, "Lin Jiang, I thought I heard quite an intense fighting sound coming from the region you're responsible for. What happened?"

With such a condescending tone, one would have thought he was already a formal Spirit Guard.

But in reality, he was a reserve member just like Lin Jiang, except that he had already promoted to level twenty by consuming a quenching thought bead, and was only one final oath away from becoming a formal Spirit Guard.

"None of your business!" Lin Jiang replied in an unfriendly tone, then walked into the group.

"Hmph, a guy who hasn't broken through yet dares to be so arrogant. I'll wait to see you get kicked out of the Reserve Team!"

After no one else arrived, the captain of the Third Detachment, Guo Linshan, began counting heads.

"548, 549..."

"One person short?!" Guo Linshan's expression changed. This was an emergency situation that would require interrupting the exam for an urgent alert.

But then someone shouted, "Reporting, Captain! Sun Hao, who is in charge of the North 57 Region, suddenly had diarrhea just before receiving the message. He asked me to report first and pass on a message—he'll be here in a moment!"

Guo Linshan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but also snorted coldly: "No organization, no discipline! I'm going to give that guy a harsh lesson later!"

But what he didn't see was that in the assembled group, Lin Jiang's forehead began to break out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.

"North 57 Region... that's exactly the region the Fusang Dark Guards have to pass through to get to the volcano... I hope they don't run into each other..."

But the things people fear most often happen.

Just as he was feeling extremely uneasy, a Signal Flare suddenly exploded in the northern sky, exceptionally brilliant!