Spare Me, Great Lord!

If the Class A aptitude geniuses had been called back to school as a means to motivate the ordinary Daoyuan Class students, Lu Shu’s return was to motivate those Class A aptitude geniuses.

Certainly, the geniuses could serve to motivate Lu Shu as well. Having completed their own missions, the Class A aptitude geniuses now had a somewhat powerful air around them.

Their missions were life-threatening in nature, which spurred their mental maturity when they looked straight into the eyes of death.

The return of those 80 people back to the Cultivation Colleges of their own cities created a stir among ordinary Daoyuan Class students, because of the drastic changes in their personality and temperament in comparison with their old selves.

Nie Ting and Shi Xuejin could see their rapid growth, and it was perfectly possible that someone might ascend to Class B in no time. Although Lu Shu’s progress was even faster, he could be easily surpassed if he stopped putting in effort.

He had to be put to good use, since he was determined not to venture overseas.

After Nie Ting hung up the call, Shi Xuejin said, smiling, “Do you think Lu Shu and those geniuses will be mutual inspiration for each other in Lop Nur? But I have a question. Li Xianyi has never declared that Lu Shu was his disciple, but it seems to me that he has taught him everything. Not everyone can inherit the secret techniques of chi mountain and the sea of chi from the Hall of Swords.”

“In my memories, he and Li Xianyi had been neighbors ever since the dawn of the Spirit Qi era. Back then, with his dilapidated foundation, it’s very likely that Li Xianyi was in a hurry to pass down his skills, and this might have given Lu Shu the chance to learn his swordplay. However, it is uncertain whether Lu Shu can be counted as Li Xianyi’s disciple, because Li Xianyi has never even tried to convince Lu Shu to join the Golden Foundation,” Nie Ting replied calmly.

“You are expecting Lu Shu to uphold and develop the noble cause of the Golden Foundation? Forget it.” Shi Xuejin laughed.

Just when they were chatting, Nie Ting’s phone rang. He took a look at the caller’s ID and picked up the call. “Yes? Li Yixiao.”

“Can I have special permission to go to school too? Recently I feel that I am lacking in knowledge and hence would like to further my studies in a school environment… If I am given the chance, I will be able to serve our country better in the future.”

Nie Ting drew a deep breath and hissed, “Get lost.”

…

After he sent Li Yixiao away, Lu Shu started packing his luggage, which contained a few sets of clothes, useful equipment and some food.

He did a casual search online on Lop Nur, which showed that the place was characterized by its odd and barren Yardang landforms. Most of its land was covered by deserts with little vegetation. Water would be a crucial problem on the trip, but the Heavenly Network must have had ample preparation in this area given the huge number of people involved. Besides, Chen Baili was also equipped with invisible storage equipment, provided by the Heavenly Network for every Heavenly King.

Most of the rumors existed in the form of folk tales and their credibility could not be trusted. Lu Shu believed that in the current Spirit Qi era, practitioners could even ignore the harsh external environmental restrictions such as sand storms.

Yet, the appearance of a relic implied that there were hidden dangers. They would not be fighting against natural hazards, but rather, real magical creatures and a strange civilization.

Lu Shu learned from Li Yixiao that those Class A aptitude geniuses had grown up after their deadly missions.

And now, all Cultivation College students were forced to train their combat effectiveness in the relic. One could not deny the Heavenly Network’s increasing haste for progress.

Zhong Yutang informed Lu Shu to depart at night, which gave Lu Shu the time to make a special trip to buy goggles and a windbreaker. It was not because he was afraid of the cold, though, but rather he simply would not appreciate the storms blinding his eyes. The money spent on those was insignificant against the potential gain from the relic exploration.

Lu Shu spent a whopping 3 hours bargaining only…

When Zhong Yutang’s car sent to fetch him had arrived, Lu Shu was still in the shopping mall…

Lu Shu saw Zhong Yutang waiting outside his house when he finally returned home. Zhong Yutang was silent for a long moment before he asked, “Can you tell me where have you been? What took you so long?”

Lu Shu took two seconds and came up with a clever response. “As a member of the Heavenly Network, I investigated the civilians’ opinions on the commodity prices in the magical era.”

“Okay. So what have you found?” Zhong Yutang asked, stunned.

“I realized that the local prices are exorbitant. Hence, I corrected their wrong views,” replied Lu Shu.

“Fancy you describing bargaining in such a noble way! You spent more than one hour just to get a lower price for five pairs of socks,” Zhong Yutang said, expressionless.

“From Zhong Yutang’s distress, +666!”

“Haha, look at you.” Lu Shu grinned awkwardly but somehow politely. “Where is our car? When are we leaving?”

According to the original plan, Lu Shu would be driven to the Daoyuan camp at the junction of the three states before setting out to Lop Nur via a military personnel carrier.

He was informed at the camp that other students had departed more than a day ago, and he would be leaving with the last group, which consisted of seven students who were injured during the actual combat practice.

They could only leave after they had fully recovered, because any action would be impeded by their wounds.

The seven of them had never met Lu Shu at the camp. When they gathered, Lu Shu was empty-handed while the rest carried huge backpacks stuffed with provisions and tents.

The atmosphere was rather awkward, as if Lu Shu was a tourist while they rest were going to the battlefield.

The seven of them were not from the same team, but they had long since been acquaintances during the time in the sick bay. A person whispered to others softly, “Who is that guy? Look how fair his skin is, I don’t think he’s been through the training. Did he come through the back door?”

It was very natural, because students with privileged backgrounds could also be exempted from military training.

“Agreed. He’s not tanned at all. Besides, those Class A aptitude geniuses are even darker than us, so he’s certainly not one of them either,” another person whispered back. They had seen those geniuses, who were all pitch-black from the intense training. Under those conditions, no amount of sunblock was ever enough.