132: Chapter 132 is difficult, extremely difficult...

The night passed without incident.

At the break of dawn the next day, the four of them left the small inn where they had been staying.

Chen Aoyun and Fan Ling moved together. Before the four of them parted ways, Chen Aoyun instructed Zhao Hongxiu and Xiao Zhenghong,

"The Raiders from other factions are all higher level than you two. Be careful while searching for clues in the city and try to act as covertly as possible. If you encounter an NPC that you suspect is in the compass, do not approach them. The compass is with me, so you won't be able to activate it; just remember the location..."

Zhao Hongxiu and Xiao Zhenghong had much more experience than Chen Aoyun, which had nothing to do with their status as [Strategists]. Chen Aoyun's performance in the two previous Game of National Destiny matches had long made them view him as the backbone of the team. After listening carefully to his instructions, the two went their separate ways and disappeared into the vast sea of people in the town.

Chen Aoyun and Fan Ling also began their operation.

The 'Dean's' mission was to escort students into the city, which meant they had to leave the city first. However, Chen Aoyun did not head straight for the city gates with Fan Ling; instead, he first snuck into the academy to gather clues.

Fan Ling was on the [Path of the Artist]; he possessed no combat ability but could use skills to change his own appearance.

After disguising himself as a student, Fan Ling glanced at Chen Aoyun.

"It's good to be young..."

Chen Aoyun did not need a disguise; he already looked like a youth. After casually settling an 'injustice' on the road, he used the money he earned to buy some books and an outfit, and the two easily blended into the academy.

They did not encounter any factions from other countries inside the academy, and gathering information went smoothly.

"It's a good thing I entered the city early. If it had been a few days later, it would have been really troublesome."

They found a student in the school with a typical extroverted personality, who said,

"Have you heard? Three days ago, although the City Defense Army went out of the city and defeated the Calamity Demons, after all the Calamity Demons were defeated, they left a zone of 'Scar of Chaos' outside the city.

That ring of 'Scar of Chaos' won't pose any threat to anyone, but it can cause anyone who enters it to feel fear!

Many students who were about to enroll have been blocked from entering by this ring of 'Scar of Chaos'.

Sigh, I heard that the school beauty senior who was returning home is also trapped outside the 'Scar of Chaos'. I hope it doesn't affect her enrollment; otherwise, the academy will be missing a beautiful sight..."

As expected of an extrovert, he kept on chattering away.

The two of them had a hard time getting away from the guy and leaving the academy.

"It seems the main difficulty in helping students enroll lies in the 'Scar of Chaos'. There are no Calamity Demons in the 'Scar of Chaos', it only induces fear; it doesn't sound like much of a threat."

After leaving the academy, Fan Ling analyzed as they walked. Since they needed to leave the city, they soon arrived at the city gate.

"The 'Scar of Chaos' isn't much of a threat, but the threatening threat is the Raiders from other countries!"

Chen Aoyun grabbed Fan Ling, who hadn't realized the danger, and pulled him into a corner. Then, Chen Aoyun pointed at a figure under the city gate,

"Although his clothing and appearance are the same as the ordinary NPCs in the city, his eyes are off. He's loitering near the city gate, looking neither like someone who just entered the city nor like someone who wants to leave. He must be a Raider from another country, no doubt about it.

Good thing you pulled me back. What should we do now? We can't tell his combat strength. Should we try a different gate, or force our way through?"

"Forcing our way is too dangerous, and I'm afraid there's someone guarding the other gates too. So, let's do it this way..."

With a wave of his hand, he activated a skill, and Chen Aoyun and Fan Ling beside him immediately changed their appearance, transforming into the look of merchants.

Not only was their attire changed, but their faces had changed as well.

Fan Ling was stunned and looked at Chen Aoyun in confusion,

"Aren't you on the [Warrior Path]? The [Warrior Path] doesn't have camouflage abilities. Where did this disguise trick come from?"

Chen Aoyun briefly told Fan Ling about the second set of skills and Tang Junlin, without going into too much detail, and warned Fan Ling, that chatterbox, that he must keep it a secret.

Upon hearing this, Fan Ling was extremely shocked. He made a zipping motion over his mouth, but he didn't quite understand why Chen Aoyun wouldn't report such a thing.

"I might walk a path that even Tang Junlin never thought of, so some things are not convenient to report..." He looked deeply at Fan Ling, "Although you're a chatterbox, you can keep your mouth shut when it comes to big things. The path I'm walking might need accomplices... need partners. If you can keep this secret, I'll count you in later!"

Fan Ling was stunned, "Damn, are you testing me?"

Chen Aoyun didn't answer; he pulled Fan Ling and walked straight toward the city gate.

Suppressing the shock and confusion in his heart, Fan Ling refocused on the present.

As they got closer to the city gate, Fan Ling couldn't help but worry,

"Is your disguise reliable? The opponent's level should be higher than yours. In front of high-level powerhouses, ordinary [Roleplayer] skills will be greatly discounted..."

Chen Aoyun walked toward the city gate with a calm expression and lowered his voice to say to Fan Ling,

"Don't worry, the biggest feature of the second set of skills is that it ignores level suppression; after all, it's a 'Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill'."

Using [Green History] from the 'Three Sages of History', Chen Aoyun simulated the Heroic Spirit [Lü Meng]'s [Crossing the River in White Clothes].

Although [Crossing the River in White Clothes] under the Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill category cannot be counted as a conceptual skill, as long as Chen Aoyun didn't mess around or make any out-of-character movements while the skill was active, the guy under the city gate would definitely not be able to see through his disguise.

They actually walked out of the city gate without a single flaw, and Fan Ling was envious,

"How do you get this second set of skills? Get me one too!"

Chen Aoyun told the truth,

"There is a special scroll. If you give up leveling up and use experience to activate the scroll, you can obtain a second set of skills. However, the second set of skills requires first comprehending a Natal Heroic Spirit..."

Suddenly, Fan Ling realized,

"I was just saying, in the last Game of National Destiny, that girl Zhao Hongxiu clearly participated with you, but she didn't level up after it ended. I was puzzled before; even if [I Want to Win Hard] could only strengthen one person's experience, Zhao Hongxiu should have gone from lv5 to lv6, yet her level remained the same. Honestly tell me, is Zhao Hongxiu already your woman?"

Seeing that Chen Aoyun didn't speak, Fan Ling asked again,

"Silence implies consent? Then how did Zhao Hongxiu pass your test? ... No test, right? You just trusted her directly, right? Hehe, testing your brothers, but trusting beauties directly..."

After all, he had more contact with Zhao Hongxiu. Chen Aoyun wasn't really someone who valued sex over friends, but the more he explained, the more guilty he sounded, so Chen Aoyun simply didn't explain anything at all.

While they were talking, the two had already arrived at the ring of 'Scar of Chaos' outside the city.

As soon as they stepped into the 'Scar of Chaos', an inexplicable and intense feeling of fear instantly appeared in their hearts.

They didn't use the 'Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Skill' again.

Without the mission 'Tang Junlin's Final Guidance', the [Luck Value] cap in the attribute panel was used to construct the second set of skills.

Every 20 points of [Luck Value] cap could construct a second set of skills for a [Strategist] or [Roleplayer]. After construction, the [Luck Value] cap would not disappear, but every time the second set of skills was used, it would consume 5 points of [Luck Value].

Perhaps it was more appropriate to view [Luck Value] as 'Mana'. The consumed [Luck Value] would recover within ten days. With a 20-point [Luck Value] cap, he could only activate the second set of abilities four times in ten days; Chen Aoyun had to use it sparingly.

"[Heart of the Brave]!"

The second set of skills had to be used cautiously; for ordinary skills, there was no need to consider so much.

Chen Aoyun activated the [Heart of the Brave] skill from the [Warrior Path]. This skill could strengthen his and his teammates' morale and boost conviction, making it perfect for dispelling the fear of the 'Scar of Chaos'.

Using [Heart of the Brave] to break through the 'Scar of Chaos', at the other end, the two soon found an NPC who looked like a student.

It seemed he had been wandering outside the 'Scar of Chaos' for a long time. When this student saw that the two had actually walked out of the 'Scar of Chaos', he immediately stepped forward to seek help.

"Two strong friends, I am a student of the academy and am in a hurry to enroll. Can you help me walk through this terrifying zone?"

Chen Aoyun: "Of course."

Not to mention that escorting him all the way would be time-consuming, there might also be Raiders from other countries nearby.

If he applied [Heart of the Brave] to this student, wouldn't the student be able to walk through the 'Scar of Chaos' by himself?

This would also count as completing the Dean's mission.

So Chen Aoyun tried to directly buff the student in front of him with [Heart of the Brave].

"It won't stick? After casting the skill on these students, it expires immediately after they leave a certain range from me?" Chen Aoyun was a bit surprised.

"You've really been glitching too much; how could it let you take such a shortcut." Fan Ling rolled his eyes heavily, "Let's just honestly escort him through the Scar of Chaos."

Chen Aoyun just wanted to nod when suddenly the hair on his body stood on end. A Raider from an unknown faction approached from afar and instantly arrived in front of the two.

Escorting was definitely out of the question, but fortunately, their disguise was still on, and the opponent didn't see through Chen Aoyun's identity.

The opponent only took away the student, leaving Chen Aoyun and Fan Ling where they were.

Still unwilling to give up, they walked along the perimeter of the 'Scar of Chaos' for a long time and finally encountered a second student wandering outside the 'Scar of Chaos'.

But not long after Chen Aoyun and the other approached to talk, another Raider from another country popped up.

This second student was, naturally, intercepted and taken away again.

Fan Ling was speechless:

"How do we do this? Why don't you try to see if you can take them out."

Chen Aoyun said,

"The feature of the second set of abilities is ignoring the opponent's level. Offensive skills can ignore the opponent's defense. But the gap in level hasn't been smoothed out. If I rely on the second set of skills to attack a high-level Raider, the opponent will be injured, but I will definitely be the first to fall."

Fan Ling helplessly found a place to draw circles, "Always getting intercepted by others, and we can't fight them either. Difficult, too difficult..."