185: Teacher's Stele Road

Lingnan Academy, inside the Gravity Secret Realm.

The sky here has no sun or moon, nor can clouds or stars be seen. The dome is a hazy gray, pressing down very low, as if a Demon Tamers Beast carrying its master up a few hundred meters could crash through the dome and catch a glimpse of the heavenly realm.

But in fact, for every meter one leaps higher, gravity increases. Thus, no one has been able to touch this seemingly low gray mist. What lies at the top remains a mystery.

Xie Ning stood on a large moss-covered rock, looking at the thin red light curtain in front of him. On the other side of the light curtain was an endless flight of stairs.

At this moment, students walked past them.

"Do you know? About that Little Leopard Zhao from the Zhao Family."

"I know, I know. It's spread all over the academy. He hired two girls, and I don't know if they couldn't agree on the price or if he got caught in a badger game, but someone covered his head with a sack and beat him senseless with a brick. Oh man~ that scene was hilarious. In just one night, the views reached millions!"

"I don't know which prankster was so mean that they filmed the whole thing. I heard Little Leopard Zhao has been sent to the hospital, and I wonder if he'll be impotent from now on."

"It's strange, though. A Family as wealthy and powerful as the Zhao Family—it shouldn't be hard for him to get women. Why would he go out to hire them?"

"Who knows, maybe it's just his perverted taste..."

Hearing these conversations, Xie Ning and the Demon Cat Woman exchanged a look, suppressing their laughter with very strange expressions.

This incident wouldn't kill Little Leopard Zhao, but his reputation was completely ruined, which was a significant punishment.

Aside from this interlude, Xie Ning and the Demon Cat Woman walked up along the red light curtain. As they walked, Xie Ning even counted along the way.

Almost every few steps, a memorial tablet made of various materials—be it iron, wood, or rock—stood there, emitting light of different colors. Each was inscribed with the name of a mentor. These were the master tablets Fei Shanqiu had mentioned before, which also served as the status ranking for every mentor in the academy.

This ranking not only affected a mentor's honor but also determined the amount of resources and various privileges they received from the academy.

For example, in the recent tasks assigned by the Monster Taming Alliance that Xie Ning completed, mentors with high rankings on the master tablets had the right to choose which ones to take. Those with lower rankings had to take what others left behind. As for Yan Ruyu, who had no master tablet, she didn't even have the right to choose and had to take whatever was assigned.

Furthermore, because there was no master tablet, the resources obtained by the class after completing tasks would also be discounted.

While lost in thought, the two unknowingly reached the brightest step, where a meter-high, simple, diamond-shaped bronze master tablet stood.

There were three glowing words on the master tablet—Mu Changfeng.

Interestingly, the signature at the bottom—the person who challenged the master tablet rank—was not Mu Tian, but Zhao Long.

"It seems the steps lit up now only reach here, the 591st step." Xie Ning looked up higher into total darkness.

Clearly, no one had been able to challenge a higher position yet.

The Demon Cat Woman said thoughtfully, "This kind of master tablet is somewhat similar to the Mount Tai Trial."

"What Mount Tai Trial?"

"As the name suggests, it's a trial of climbing Mount Tai. It's over 7,000 steps long, with gravity doubling every ten steps; a challenge every hundred steps, and an ordeal every thousand steps."

As she spoke, the Demon Cat Woman's eyes glazed over as if she were reminiscing about the past. A moment later, she looked back at the steps within the red curtain.

"Comparing the two, your academy's Master Tablet Road seems like a miniature version of the Mount Tai Trial. However, that place is different from your academy; it doesn't have this energy barrier blocking it, and it's even more impossible for people to stand outside the barrier and watch so easily."

"I see." Xie Ning nodded, his thoughts unknown. After a few seconds, he said, "Let's go back. I've seen enough."

Before leaving, he gazed once more at the pitch-black 592nd step... When the two returned to the dormitory courtyard, Su Qin rushed out and shouted, "Big Brother Xie, Big Brother Xie, there's huge news!"

Su Qin said excitedly, "Just yesterday, that Yan Chengze actually died! Someone pierced his heart and head, and his body was found in the Urban Village. A sanitation worker only found it today."

"Pierced through the head?" Xie Ning and the Demon Cat Woman exchanged a look and both turned to Su Qin. "What are the details?"

"It's just like what the news online said. The sanitation worker found Yan Chengze's body this morning and reported it to the City Defense Force. The City Defense Force sent people to investigate. As it turns out, surveillance from the hotel to the road showed he was on his way to book a room when a cat snatched his ID card. He chased it into the Urban Village, and that's where the murder happened," Su Qin explained.

"Then how do you know he suffered fatal wounds to his chest and forehead?" the Demon Cat Woman asked.

"Sister, don't forget there's an autopsy report. Just flip to the next page," Su Qin said somewhat irritably. He then quickly tapped a few times and handed the phone to the two.

According to the autopsy report published online and the City Defense Force's investigation, it was suspected that Yan Chengze did not die after receiving a fatal wound to his heart. Just as he was getting up, his head was pierced by a cold sharp weapon. The wound was smooth, showing the attacker's extraordinary swordsmanship.

Seeing this, the Demon Cat Woman's eyes filled with doubt, while Xie Ning looked toward the back mountain with a pensive expression, inwardly shocked.

If not for that later sword strike, Yan Chengze might have actually escaped. And if he had escaped, it would have been Xie Ning's turn to suffer.

In the end, I still lack experience. There's still a lot to learn.

"This incident has already spread throughout the academy. Many students are calling it the 'Cat Chasing Incident.' Come to think of it, if he hadn't chased that cat or even gone to book a room, none of this would have happened," Su Qin muttered to himself.

Xie Ning nodded. "Yeah, I just didn't expect those Three Bows from back then to be used so soon. I didn't want to at first, but I had no choice..."

To Su Qin, the latter half of the sentence was somewhat nonsensical.

Afterward, Su Qin left the courtyard on business. Before leaving, he said, "Oh, by the way, Xiaoyu brought a bottle of healing medicine over and left it on your desk."

After saying that, he glanced at the Demon Cat Woman again.

He knew Xie Ning had applied for a Guardian, a Gold Rank one at that, but he was still startled when he first saw the Demon Cat Woman this morning.

After all, that appearance was truly too terrifying.

After Su Qin left, Xie Ning also brought out the healing medicine from the house.

"Summon the Dread Cat."

The Demon Cat Woman was delighted to hear this and nodded quickly, summoning the Soul Hunting Dread Cat, which was also covered in burns.

The explosion at the Experimental Base back then didn't just cause burn injuries; there were also complex wounds formed by other substances mixing during the blast. Even a creature as strong as a Gold Rank Demon Tamers Beast could not heal on its own.

After the Soul Hunting Dread Cat was summoned, it first bared its teeth at Xie Ning before sitting down with a whimper.

"The little guy is quite vengeful," Xie Ning joked. He put on gloves, poured some healing medicine onto his hand, and applied it evenly to the Soul Hunting Dread Cat.

As the medicine was applied, it soon let out a comfortable purr.

Just then, a hand reached out, wanting to touch the medicine on the Dread Cat's body. Startled, Xie Ning quickly grabbed it.

"What are you doing?" Xie Ning asked blankly.

The Demon Cat Woman stared with wide eyes, looking somewhat embarrassed and helpless. "I... I also want to restore my skin..."

Hearing this, Xie Ning shook his head with a wry smile. "Humans and Demon Tamers Beasts are different. This is healing medicine specifically for Demon Tamers Beasts; your body won't be able to handle it. Besides, this medicine contains substances for fur growth. Aren't you afraid of growing thick animal hair all over your body? Of course, if you're suffering from hair loss, I could give you some."

At these words, the Demon Cat Woman quickly retracted her hand in fright, stepped back twice, and shook her head vigorously.

Seeing her originally bright eyes dim, Xie Ning couldn't bear it and said, "Don't worry. In the future, if there's an opportunity, I'll help you find some medicine to restore your skin. After all, I promised to do so when we signed the Guardian Contract."

"Tha... Thank you..."

Xie Ning smiled.