61: Chapter 61 S-Rank Otherworldly Fragment

Principal Pang Ban heard this, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.

As the head of the school, he knew this was not the time to lose his temper; he had to find a way to restore the school's reputation while strengthening security.

"You are right."

Principal Pang paced back and forth in the garden with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed:

"This incident has exposed significant security vulnerabilities in our school."

"Our students are too comfortable! Our defenses are too lax!"

"We must reorganize! We need to do something drastic!"

The Dean of Students rolled his eyes, leaned forward, and put on an expression that said, "I have a bold idea":

"Principal, since the thief is operating within the school and hasn't been caught yet."

"That means the school isn't safe right now, or rather... could the thief be hiding among the students?"

"How about... we lure the snake out of its hole? Or perhaps... clear the fields?"

Principal Pang's eyes lit up: "Explain in detail."

The Dean of Students pushed up his glasses and smiled insidiously:

"The Freshman Grand Competition is coming up soon."

"Instead of letting these greenhouse flowers play house in the arena, why not... chase them all out!"

"We won't just chase out the freshmen; we'll chase out the sophomores and juniors too!"

"Clear out the school! That way, the thief will have nowhere to hide, and it'll be easier for us to catch them like a turtle in a jar!"

Principal Pang stroked his chin, contemplating:

"That makes some sense."

"But where should we chase them to? Ordinary field training is boring and won't serve as a deterrent or provide proper training."

The two "geniuses" looked at each other and spoke a place name in unison: "Mist Swamp!"

"Yes! That's the place!"

Principal Pang slapped his thigh, excited:

"That is an S-Rank Otherworldly Fragment that we control!"

"The environment is harsh, and demonic beasts run rampant!"

"But fortunately, we've searched this otherworldly space several times already, and the overly dangerous demonic beasts have been cleared out. There shouldn't be too much danger, and it's perfect for honing the will of these brats!"

"Tell them this is special training in response to the Faceless Man incident! It's to improve their survival skills!"

The Dean of Students nodded repeatedly:

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

"It can divert the conflict, train the students, and conveniently empty the school so we can catch the thief!"

"Killing three birds with one stone!"

"However..."

Principal Pang suddenly frowned:

"The Mist Swamp is, after all, an S-Rank area. The risk factor is still a bit high."

"With so many students going in, if there isn't a ruthless person capable of holding down the fort leading them, there might be trouble."

"The current instructors are too gentle; they can't suppress this bunch of troublemakers."

The Dean of Students pondered for a moment, then suddenly shivered, as if thinking of some terrifying existence:

"A ruthless person... there is one."

"The one who went into seclusion out of shame a few days ago because a freshman took her glasses..."

Upon hearing this, the expression on Principal Pang's face instantly became interesting.

"Teacher Shen Qing?"

"That female devil?"

"Letting her lead the team to the Mist Swamp... will those students even have a chance to survive?"

The Dean of Students chuckled:

"It's precisely because there's no way out that their potential will be stimulated!"

"Besides, Teacher Shen must be holding back a belly full of anger right now. It's the perfect opportunity for her to vent; it's better than her tearing down the school building, right?"

Principal Pang was silent for three seconds.

Then he nodded heavily, a smile of "scamming students without consequence" appearing on his face:

"Good!"

"It's decided!"

"Go notify Teacher Shen Qing and tell her I've prepared a big gift for her!"

"By the way, tell her... that Jiang You who took her glasses is also on the list."

"Hehehe..."

"Jiejie jie..."

In the early morning garden, the two old foxes, with a combined age of over a hundred, let out spine-chilling laughter.

The little pink turtle nearby pulled its head in even tighter upon hearing them.

...

Magic City Martial Arts University, the forbidden grounds for seclusion behind the mountain.

Usually, this place is filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, brimming with spiritual energy; it is a sacred ground for instructors seeking breakthroughs.

However, today, the air here was permeated with the scent of gunpowder, as if it were about to explode.

"Boom!!!"

A loud bang, the roar of some heavy object breaking the sound barrier.

Immediately after, a heavy stone door engraved with defensive formations flew out dozens of meters like a kicked piece of foam board, slamming fiercely into the opposite cliff face, wedged so deep it couldn't be pried out.

Subsequently, a slender, beautiful leg wearing a red high-heeled boot stepped elegantly out of the dust.

Teacher Shen Qing.

The youngest Peak Fourth-Order instructor at Magic City Martial Arts University, and also the recognized "number one beauty of the academy."

Today, she wasn't wearing those bulky combat uniforms, but a sharply tailored dark red trench coat with a tight black T-shirt underneath, outlining her breathtaking curves.

Her long, wine-red wavy hair was draped casually over her shoulders, and her cold, stunningly beautiful face wore a chilling sneer at this moment.

She was stunningly beautiful, and terrifyingly cold.

"That old immortal, Principal Pang Ban..."

Teacher Shen Qing elegantly put on her leather gloves while rolling her eyes at the air with great flair, but the words that came out of her mouth were venomous:

"I've only been in seclusion for three days! Three days!"

"I had just touched the threshold of the Fifth-Order, just about to enter the state of unity between heaven and man, and he pulled the alarm all night long?"

"What? Did the school go bankrupt? Or did his old bones finally fall apart, and he's in such a rush for me to see him off to his grave?"

Teacher Gu Yan, who had been waiting outside the door for a long time, was so scared by these rebellious words that he almost knelt down.

In the entire school, the only one who dared to talk about the principal like this was this Miss Shen.

"Ahem... Teacher Shen, mind your words, please mind your words..."

Teacher Gu Yan held his folder and poked his head out from behind a large tree, trembling.

Teacher Shen Qing slanted her phoenix eyes, her gaze sweeping across Teacher Gu Yan's face like a knife:

"Why is it you? Where is that old man Principal Pang? He didn't dare to come himself, so he sent you to be cannon fodder?"

"Speak. Did the school get nuked? If it's not a matter of that magnitude, you'd better be prepared to lie in the infirmary for half a month."

Teacher Gu Yan wiped away cold sweat, quickly trotted over, and reported with a bitter face:

"Teacher Shen, although it wasn't nuked... it's pretty much the same."

"You don't know, last night... our school was robbed."

"Robbed?"

Teacher Shen Qing sneered and smoothed out her slightly messy hair: "Is that all? Our school is so poor that only these few dilapidated buildings are left; what is there to steal? Don't tell me someone stole the pots from the cafeteria?"

Teacher Gu Yan swallowed, gestured with his fingers:

"No... someone drank the A Class Jade Spiritual Pool dry."

"Drank it dry?" Teacher Shen Qing paused and raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying someone used a water pump to drain it?"

"Not a water pump, with their mouth."

Teacher Gu Yan wore an expression of constipation: "It is said that the thief is a big eater, complained that the water wasn't enough to drink, and complained that it didn't fill them up."

"And then..."

Teacher Gu Yan took a deep breath and dropped the bombshell:

"Then he went to the principal's back garden and took that Fourth-Order Profound Water Giant Turtle that the principal keeps..."

"Stewed it?" Teacher Shen Qing chimed in.

"No... it's even worse than being stewed."

Teacher Gu Yan's voice trembled: "The thief drained the essence of the turtle meat and even stripped off its shell. Now that Profound Water Giant Turtle... is crying in the principal's arms, bare-bottomed."

"Pfft—"

Teacher Shen Qing's original cold and beautiful image instantly collapsed, and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

That smile was like flowers in full bloom, yet it carried a bit of schadenfreude and wickedness.

"Hahahaha! Bare-bottomed?"

"Principal Pang's precious turtle had its shell stripped? Hahahaha! Serves him right! Let him show off with that turtle every day!"

"This Faceless Man is too talented! I must treat him to a drink!"

Teacher Gu Yan looked at Teacher Shen Qing, who was trembling with laughter, and weakly reminded her:

"Teacher Shen... the principal is very angry, and the consequences are very serious."

"Because they can't catch this Faceless Man, the principal has decided to impose martial law on the whole school and open the [S-Rank Otherworldly Fragment, Mist Swamp] as a special training ground."

"He's chasing all the freshmen to juniors inside for a week of wilderness survival field training."

Teacher Shen Qing stopped laughing, her eyes instantly becoming sharp: "Mist Swamp? That place is full of poisonous insects, and the mud pits can swallow people. You're letting this bunch of weaklings go? Is that old man Principal Pang trying to carry out a great purge?"

"That's why we're asking you to come out of seclusion!"

Teacher Gu Yan quickly handed over the appointment letter:

"The principal has specially approved you to serve as the chief examiner, and also... the team leader for Class F."

"The principal said that for that bunch of... er, that bunch of talents in Class F, only a goddess with a powerful aura like you can suppress them."

"Especially that one named Jiang You..."

Hearing the two words "Jiang You."

Teacher Shen Qing's slender fingers gently stroked the hilt of her blade, her eyes flashing, and a dangerous arc curled at the corner of her mouth.

"Fine, I'll take this job."

"It just so happens that I've been very angry these past few days and need to find a place to vent."

"Class F, right? Tell that bunch of little brats that their good days... are over!"

...