78: Safety or danger? Upgrade the soul bond ring!

Ye Ze didn't expect Liu Anran to be waiting for him.

It seemed that after the Special Training Camp ended, as a specially recruited student from the headquarters, she had also completed a phase of training and could go home.

"It's on the way..."

Liu Anran pouted, and Ye Ze smiled faintly upon seeing this, "Alright."

Looking at the young man and woman before him...

Wan Feipeng, who was beside them, blankly rubbed his head, feeling as if he was silently glowing and even somewhat superfluous.

But he was the one who came first!

He was the one who waited for Ye Ze here first! Damn it!

Seeing Wan Feipeng standing there in a daze, Ye Ze couldn't help but call out to him with a chuckle.

After all, he was the one who brought him to the Special Training Camp, so he couldn't heartlessly abandon him there when it was time to leave.

The three of them boarded Ye Ze's exclusive hovercar.

They returned to Lin Yuan City.

With the college entrance exam and the first God grade secret realm about to open, Ye Ze planned to go back and improve his strength.

If he could enter the God grade secret realm, the competition would definitely be unprecedentedly fierce, so he naturally had to make sufficient preparations.

Of course, if the fellow examinees for the college entrance exam knew that Ye Ze could still significantly boost his combat power...

They would probably burst into tears on the spot: Please, stop!

At this moment, inside Ye Ze's special car returning to Lin Yuan City, there were long sofa seats on both the left and right sides.

Ye Ze and Liu Anran sat on one side, while Wan Feipeng sat alone on the opposite side, with all three of them silent.

Wan Feipeng once again felt his brightness increase.

As they neared Lin Yuan City, Ye Ze suddenly looked puzzled:

"Have Lin Yuan City's guards returned to normal now?"

A day ago, the Investigation Department's Director went missing in the No. 17 Contamination Zone, and Lin Yuan City immediately entered a state of alert.

In just one day, it had actually returned to normal?

Seeing that there was finally something to talk about, Wan Feipeng immediately replied:

"It's fine now; the Investigation Department's Director and all the accompanying personnel have returned safely."

"Returned safely? All of them!?"

Ye Ze couldn't help but be surprised.

It was rare for an entire team to return safely after being missing for more than a day in a Pollution Land.

Even a partial return was considered an ideal situation; but a complete return, that was a bit too ideal...

Liu Anran was unaware of this matter while at the headquarters, so she just listened quietly.

Upon hearing this, Wan Feipeng immediately dispelled Ye Ze's concerns:

"Don't worry, the Demon Suppression Army has already verified them; they have all been confirmed to be themselves."

"According to the Director, they discovered a peculiar crystal that caused them to lose their bearings and their signal..."

Ye Ze still frowned, "All verified? Including their abilities?"

It wasn't that Ye Ze was naturally suspicious.

Rather, when solving problems in the Ancient Battlefield and the World Tree, he remembered the 'Lion's Full Strength' theory that the other party had put forth.

A lion uses its full strength even to hunt a rabbit.

This meant that when dealing with Demons, even weak ones, one must go all out, as Demonic methods are bizarre and allow for no carelessness.

It also meant that when Demons dealt with enemies, they would definitely go all out.

Even if a Demon's overall strength was greater than its opponent's, it would not underestimate any opponent; often, stronger Demons were even more insidious.

The Ten Thousand Spirits World, which had already been destroyed, suffered this very loss.

But Wan Feipeng still affirmed, "The guards have all verified them; their abilities are also their own."

"They are definitely not substitutes like Skin-peeling Demons."

"That's good."

Hearing the Demon Suppression Army's verification results, Ye Ze finally felt a little relieved.

The hovercar landed near the War College.

As soon as he got out of the car, he saw Liu Boyan, with a beaming smile, leading several Teachers to greet them, including Teacher Xia Qing, who had become an official Teacher.

Although the results of the Special Training Camp were confidential and not announced, it was still worth celebrating that two students from the War College had returned from the Special Training Camp!

"Dad~"

After not seeing him for several days, even the usually indifferent Liu Anran couldn't help but be quite excited.

Ye Ze saw this and teased, "Teacher Liu, your mouth is almost reaching your ears, are you that happy?"

Beside them, Teacher Xia Qing couldn't help but laugh and explained:

"There's another reason."

"It's because the Director is back, so Teacher Liu finally doesn't have to work overtime and can rest."

No wonder, he finally got to rest... Ye Ze could understand completely.

Wan Feipeng got out of the car and scanned his surroundings, asking with displeasure:

"Where's your Vice Principal? A Special Training Camp student is back, and he doesn't even come to take a look?"

A Teacher explained, "The Vice Principal went to receive the Investigation Department's Director; it's said there are some achievements to be reported..."

Wan Feipeng snorted, "He's probably just trying to claim credit."

However, at this moment, no one paid much attention to these things.

After the welcome ceremony, there was supposed to be a dinner gathering, but Ye Ze still had three treasures he hadn't used yet, so he went home first.

...

At the same time, inside the War College.

Zhao Xuan looked melancholic.

Ever since he learned about Ye Ze soloing a team dungeon, being awarded a bronze medal (outdated news), and even being taken away by the City Lord to participate in the Special Training Camp—a series of news...

It had caused him, who originally aimed to surpass Ye Ze, a great deal of pain.

How could he be getting further and further from his goal the harder he tried!?

At this moment, he held a 'transfer application' and headed to the Vice Principal's office to get it stamped.

"Once I transfer to Dongwu First High, that's where I'll truly show my abilities!"

"Sooner or later, I will sooner or later defeat Ye Ze!"

He walked through the teaching building and arrived at the Vice Principal's office on the second floor.

He reached out and knocked on the door... "Thump-thump."

No one responded... "No one? Didn't I just agree with Zhou Wei?"

As Zhao Xuan was wondering, the Vice Principal's office door opened automatically.

Zhao Xuan looked up and into the room, his entire body frozen in place...

On the ground, there was a pool of blood, and half of Vice Principal Zhou Wei's head lay near the door.

On the leather chair in the office, a figure leaned back leisurely.

A pressure like a mountain roaring and a tsunami crashing down pressed on Zhao Xuan, almost suffocating him:

"King, King..."

Splat—

A blood-red hand reached out from the office and slapped Zhao Xuan into a puddle of blood...

Zhao Xuan died.

At this moment, a female student happened to pass by.

The scene of Zhao Xuan being slapped into a bloody pulp happened right before her eyes...

However, she seemed to have seen nothing, looking left and right, muttering:

"Huh? Where's Zhao Xuan? I just saw him..."

...

...

Ye Ze replicated Shadow Evasion, transforming into a mass of dark shadow to rush home.

At the same time, he had Squirrel dispatch fifty Shadow Doppelgangers to patrol and scout various parts of Lin Yuan City:

"If any anomaly is discovered, report it promptly."

The matter of the Investigation Department's Director still made him uneasy; if nothing happened, he could also use the Shadow Doppelgangers for travel, so it wasn't superfluous.

Back home.

Ye Ze eagerly took out the three treasures he had exchanged for, ready to improve his strength.

First, he immediately used the 'Legendary Equipment Upgrade Scroll' to upgrade the 'Spirit Pact Ring'!

[After upgrade, equipment attributes are as follows:]

[Spirit Pact Ring (Summoner Exclusive)]

Quality: Gold Legendary ☆

Attributes: Agility +30, Spirit +60, Mana +1000

Special Effect: When a summoned beast is near you, movement speed +300%!

Attached Skill - 'Spirit Pact': Can copy two temporary skills from a contracted summoned beast; disappears after one use, can be stored. 100 mana cost, 20-minute cooldown.

[Confirm upgrade?]

----

Indeed!

From only being able to copy one skill at a time, he could now copy two!

It did not disappoint Ye Ze's expectations!

"Confirm upgrade!"

Thus, Ye Ze, as a Summoner, also gained his first piece of Legendary equipment.

He immediately copied 'Martial Arts Mastery'; this talent, with 80% cooldown reduction, stamina reduction, and immunity to negative status effects, could be permanently active!

For the other slot, he copied 'Shadow Evasion', so he could slip away as a shadow if there was danger.

Then, he took out that dual-race Summoning Skill Book!

"Demon + Dragon Race, I wonder if there will be a strong one?"

The Ultimate Summoning entry had already been granted to Ye Ze; if there weren't any strong ones below Level 16 in these two races, it would be a huge loss!

But, it shouldn't be...

As per usual, Ye Ze took out Squirrel and held it in his hand, while using the skill book with his other hand!

[Ultimate Summoning activated!]