Chapter 22: Stepping Out of the Forbidden Zone, the Entire Arena Falls Silent

Outside the abandoned city, at the temporary command center.

The sunset, like blood, stained the scorched earth outside the perimeter even more sorrowfully and brilliantly.

On the giant holographic countdown board, only ten minutes remained until the end of the Martial Examination.

Outside the perimeter, it was already chaos.

The wailing of ambulances, the cries of parents, and the roars of teachers were intertwined.

Candidates were trickling out of the exit, looking disheveled. Some had broken arms, some were covered in blood, and others were even carried out on stretchers, their faces filled with fear of this world.

This was the Law of survival in the High Martial Era. Even if it was just an exam, it was a screening of life and death.

On the podium, the Director of the Jianghai City Education Bureau and several observers from top martial arts universities were staring at the big screen with solemn expressions.

"Although this year's casualty rate has been controlled within 5%, because of that sudden beast tide, the mentality of many talented students has collapsed." An observer from the Magic City Martial Arts University shook his head and sighed, "Especially that Zhao Feng. He hasn't come out yet, and his vital signs are extremely weak. I'm afraid..."

Zhao Tianba, who was standing to the side, had a face so gloomy it could drip water.

Ever since the entire assassination squad of the Zhao Family lost contact yesterday, he had been having a bad premonition, and his eyelids wouldn't stop twitching. Now, seeing candidate after candidate come out, but not seeing Zhao Feng, his heart sank bit by bit. The special communicator in his hand had already been squeezed with deep indentations.

Among the surrounding crowd, many people began pointing at the Zhao Family.

"Did you hear? It seems the Zhao Family played dirty in the exam venue, and it backfired."

"Shh, keep it down. Zhao Tianba looks like he wants to eat someone..."

These whispers pricked Zhao Tianba's eardrums like needles.

He forced himself to stay calm and snorted coldly: "Hmph, my son is carrying a full set of C-grade alloy equipment, plus the secret medicine of the Family, how could he have an accident? He must be trying to sprint for first place, killing a few more Demonic Beasts."

Just then, a very discordant sound came from the mist at the exit.

"Creeak—creeak—"

It was the teeth-grinding sound of rusty chains rubbing against gears.

In this atmosphere of killing and tragedy, this sound seemed completely out of place, even carrying a hint of absurdity.

"Quick, look! Who is that?!"

"My god, is that... are they coming back from an outing?"

"That is... School Beauty Su? And that legendary 'Sleep God' Jiang Chen?!"

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on the exit.

The afterglow of the sunset broke through the mist, and a yellow shared bike with severely peeling paint, missing even its bell cover, slowly rode out.

The girl riding the bike had long hair fluttering. Although her white training suit was a bit messy and crystal-clear sweat beads hung on her forehead, her stunningly beautiful face seemed to be plated with a golden edge in the sunset, breathtakingly beautiful.

She was pedaling hard, seemingly complaining about something.

And on the back seat behind her, the style changed abruptly.

The city-famous "Sleep God" Jiang Chen was sitting sideways without any regard for his image.

His arms were wrapped around Su Qingyue's slender waist, and his head was leaning recklessly against the girl's back. With the bumping of the bike, one could even see a snot bubble of varying sizes emerging from his nose.

Not to mention wounds, there wasn't even any obvious bloodstain on them!

The visual impact of this scene was too strong.

On the left were candidates carried out with broken hands and feet, and on the right was Jiang Chen, riding a bike, hugging the school beauty, and sleeping soundly.

The whole scene was dead silent for a full three seconds.

"This... this is too outrageous, right?!"

Li Changfeng, the principal of the Third High School, had his eyes almost popping out. He had prepared himself for the possibility that Jiang Chen would be targeted, or even severely injured and crippled, after all, he had heard about the Zhao Family's methods.

But now it seemed... this kid was not only fine, but he had also turned the Young Miss of the Su Family into his exclusive driver and human pillow?

"Jiang Chen!!"

A roar containing endless rage and killing intent broke the silence of the scene.

Zhao Tianba could no longer hold back.

He pushed through the crowd and rushed to the bike with a few aggressive bodyguards, his eyes bloodshot like a wild beast choosing someone to devour.

"Stop! Give me a stop!"

Su Qingyue was startled by this roar and subconsciously squeezed the brakes.

"Screech—"

Under the force of inertia, Jiang Chen's head rubbed heavily against Su Qingyue's back, that soft touch making him wake up in a daze.

"Ugh... are we here? Why is it so noisy..." Jiang Chen rubbed his sleepy eyes, jumped off the back seat, stretched a big yawn, and his whole body's joints made a series of cracking sounds.

"Jiang Chen!" Zhao Tianba stared at him fixedly, his voice trembling, "Where is my son? Where is Zhao Feng? Where is he?!"

Jiang Chen picked his ear, looked at the mad dog in front of him with disgust, and said nonchalantly:

"Family Head Zhao, your question is really interesting. Where your son is, you should go ask the search and rescue team, or... go ask those Demonic Beasts if they are full. Why ask me? I'm not his dad, I have no obligation to help you carry your child."

"You're full of crap!"

Zhao Tianba was furious, his reason completely collapsing at this moment.

"Someone saw you in a building! It must be you who harmed him! You lowly commoner, you dare to harm a scion of a noble Family! If you don't give me an explanation today, don't think about leaving here alive!"

Boom!

Before the words fell, a terrifying pressure belonging to a Grandmaster Realm powerhouse erupted like a landslide and tsunami, instantly covering a radius of fifty meters.

The surrounding students and parents instantly turned pale, and many students in the Qi and Blood Realm had their legs go weak, kneeling on the ground, even breathing became difficult.

This was the might of a Grandmaster! Mental Energy pressure!

Su Qingyue, who was at the center of the pressure, let out a muffled groan, blood overflowing from the corner of her mouth, her palm gripping the hilt of her sword tightly, but she found that she didn't even have the strength to draw the sword.

However, Jiang Chen was standing there, not even moving.

Deep in his Sea of Consciousness, that purple crescent mark—【The Empress's Private Property Mark】, seemed to have been provoked, flickering slightly.

【Ding! Detected low-level mental pressure (Grandmaster level).】

【The Empress's Mark automatically protects the host: Does this kind of trash deserve to make My pillow kneel?】

【Pressure devouring in progress...】

The mental impact that would have been enough to crush the Qi and Blood of an ordinary person, the moment it touched Jiang Chen, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, disappearing without a trace.

Jiang Chen not only didn't kneel, but yawned boringly, two physiological tears squeezed from the corners of his eyes.

"Ha... Family Head Zhao, your voice is so loud, aren't you afraid of flashing your tongue?"

Zhao Tianba's pupils contracted violently.

How is this possible?!

This was his Grandmaster pressure unleashed in anger!

Even a Peak Bone Forging Realm would have to kneel, why did this kid in the Qi and Blood Realm have no reaction at all? Even... yawning?

Could it be that there is a peerless powerhouse protecting him in secret?

A fear originating from the unknown crawled into Zhao Tianba's heart for the first time.

"You... you..."

"Zhao Tianba! Just try touching my student!"

Just then, an ice-blue Sword Qi appeared out of nowhere, instantly shattering Zhao Tianba's residual Aura.

Mu Qingxue, in white, descended from the sky like a Fairy, blocking in front of Jiang Chen.

The long sword in her hand had a cold gleam. Although her surface strength was only Peak Qi and Blood Realm, the extreme cold intent that erupted at this moment actually forced Zhao Tianba back half a step.

Jiang Chen stood behind Mu Qingxue, looking at that graceful back, his nose tip lingering with the familiar cold and fragrant scent.

【Triggered passive: Succubus Touch (Remote Version).】

【Detected that the Cold Poison in Mu Qingxue's body is overflowing due to emotional agitation.】

【host evaluation: Although the back is beautiful, it's a bit hard as a pillow, the front is softer.】

Following that, Principal Li Changfeng's figure also appeared nearby, looking majestic, followed by a team of soldiers armed with live ammunition.

"Family Head Zhao, this is the Martial Examination site, with the Education Bureau Director and the military in charge. You are committing violence in public, do you want to challenge the Laws of the Federation, or do you think your Zhao Family can already be above the country?"

A big hat was put on him, plus the black gun barrels around, Zhao Tianba's face turned blue, and he finally sobered up a bit.

He knew that it was impossible to make a move today.

He stared at Jiang Chen, gritting his teeth, every word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Good! Very good! Li Changfeng, you can protect him for a while, but not for a lifetime! If I find out that my son's death has anything to do with him, I will make his whole Family pay with their lives!"

Jiang Chen poked his head out from behind Mu Qingxue and said with a smile:

"Family Head Zhao, food can be eaten indiscriminately, but words cannot be spoken indiscriminately. Your son's bad luck was that he insisted on playing with 'Beast Attracting Agent' in a pile of Demonic Beasts. As for me... I've always been lucky, I can find treasure even when sleeping. If you don't believe me, look, my points this time should be pretty good."

"Points?"

A teacher leading the First High School team couldn't help but sneer. His students had just been scared by Jiang Chen's Aura, and now he was looking to get back at him, "You two hid in the restricted area and slept, what points could you have? I'm afraid it's zero, right! It's a miracle to be able to come out alive, and you still want to show off?"

The surrounding people also shook their heads one after another. Although Jiang Chen came out alive, looking at his empty hands (except for that mountaineering bag), it didn't look like he had any gains.

"Exactly, even School Beauty Su was implicated."

"Since everyone is so concerned about my grades..."

Jiang Chen shrugged indifferently, walked to the point settlement counter, took off his smart watch, and threw it to the staff member, "Then please calculate it. I'm also quite curious, whether this sleep was worth it."

The staff member was a young girl. She looked at Jiang Chen with some sympathy, picked up the watch, and placed it on the scanner.

"Beep—Reading data..."

On the big screen, Jiang Chen's point details began to scroll.

Thousands of eyes in the audience, including Zhao Tianba, stared fixedly at the screen, waiting to see Jiang Chen make a fool of himself.

However, the next second.

The girl in charge of scanning suddenly widened her eyes, the watch in her hand dropped onto the table with a "clatter", and she looked as if she had seen a ghost.

"This... Director! Is this instrument broken?!"