Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 253: Subdivision

“What was that?” Yun Ruoyan, still lying in Li Mo’s lap, asked curiously.

“A bewitching flower.” Li Mo pointed at the vine still trying to squirm into the ground, and a purple flame engulfed it and turned it into ash.

The crowd had never seen such a mysterious living creature, and they were all somewhat mystified by the sight.

“What was that?!” Yi Qianying had been right behind Yun Ruoyan. When the flower attacked Yun Ruoyan, she was only saved because Pei Ziao had dragged her aside in the nick of time. At the moment, she was hiding behind Pei Ziao’s back, her face stark white.

“That’s a bewitching flower.” Guan Tianyu had clearly seen its like before. “It’s able to bewitch one’s mind, and different people will smell different things based on what they like or their own life experience. Once it attracts those people closer with its unusual scent, it’ll feast on them.”

“Senior Brother Guan, why didn’t you warn us earlier if you know so much about this flower?” Guan Ruliu asked coolly. She and Zong Yang were from the same cohort, and it was because of Guan Tianyu’s meddling that Zong Yang had been unable to participate in the training. Although she didn’t state it outright, it was obvious that she harbored deep resentment for Guan Tianyu.

“That’s not my fault,” Guan Tianyu exclaimed. “The bewitching flower takes on a different appearance each time it appears, and it’s not so easy to distinguish! What’s more, isn’t Master Mo here with us?”

Guan Ruliu sniffed, ignoring him.

“Everyone, be careful,” Li Mo warned. By this time, he had already put Yun Ruoyan down. “Follow me carefully, and don’t look at or touch anything you’re suspicious of.”

Li Mo turned and headed in the direction of the forest, and the crowd hurriedly followed behind him. After about an hour’s worth of walking, they saw a treehouse in a clearing up ahead. By the side of one large tree were carved handholds and footholds that could easily be climbed.

Although Li Mo could have simply flown to the treehouse, he agilely demonstrated how to climb up to the treehouse instead, and the other students mirrored his movements. The treehouse was very large, easily hosting the thirty students. After they entered, they huddled together and waited for Li Mo’s orders.

By then, night had already fallen. However, because it was their first time in a new environment, the students were all excited and surprisingly lively.

“Are we going to be sleeping here tonight?” a student asked curiously.

“We’re not sleeping with the male students, are we?” a female student suddenly exclaimed.

“We’re here to train! Do you think it’d be like Kongming Academy, or even back home? Just be thankful that we even have a roof over our heads!” Guan Tianyu yelled back.

“Exactly so! You students from the southern colleges are really quite soft, aren’t you?” Rong Yueshan laughed.

“We might be soft, but not softer than your northern college’s Miss Yi! Has she poked her face out after her first scare?” The southern college student who had posed the earlier question sounded quite displeased. “I heard that Miss Yi’s the crown prince’s concubine. Is Young Master Pei her guard?”

Yi Qianying had been hiding behind Pei Ziao’s back like a little bird. Although neither of them had been particularly intimate with each other, it was quite clear that they seemed to have a rather ambiguous relationship.

Pei Ziao immediately defended himself. “The crown prince’s concubine has had close ties to my Pei family since childhood, and we’re as close as brother and sister. There’s no need to try to dramatize our relationship.”

Pei Ziao glanced subtly at Yun Ruoyan as he spoke. She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room and looking at her surroundings. There was nothing in the treehouse, neither beds nor a stove, and it was only meant to be a temporary place to rest.

“Whether or not my words are truthful, I’m sure everyone else here can judge for themselves.”

“Excuse me, Senior,” Yi Qianying finally spoke up for herself. “What exactly are you implying? I don’t quite understand your words. Could you be clearer?”

That southern college student wasn’t from the Li kingdom, so she wasn’t afraid of this supposed crown prince’s concubine at all. However, when she next piped up, Li Mo interrupted her.

“Silence! I’ll only say the following once, so listen closely. This is the campsite that the students from the three institutions constructed while they were here.” Li Mo continued coolly, facing a sea of rapt eyes. “You’ve all realized how the surroundings here are different from what you’re used to. Everything—trees, plants, animals—is far larger here than we’re used to on the Chenyuan continent.”

“Master Mo,” Guan Ruliu suddenly interrupted. “Why didn’t you inform us about what it would be like here in this dimension? You knew about the bewitching flower beforehand, didn’t you? If you’d informed us earlier, then Junior Sister Yun wouldn’t have been so easily bewitched.”

Guan Ruliu’s confusion was one shared by many of the students, causing them to think that the expedition had been organized in such a hurry that no one had bothered to explain anything to them.

At least during the new students’ first expedition, they’d been given a storage pouch with a map inside. This time, however, they had received nothing! Some of the students originally thought that they wouldn’t need a map with Li Mo around as guide, but Li Mo’s next words proved them wrong.

“The reason that the training feels rushed is in order to replicate what it’s like to enter the alternate dimension a year from now,” Li Mo replied. “That portal doesn’t open at a set time: it might open in the evening one day, or perhaps in the wee hours of dawn, while you’re sleeping soundly. As soon as the portal opens, you have to enter it rapidly without any preparation.”

Li Mo’s dark gaze swept over the assembled crowd. “I’m as unfamiliar with this alternate dimension as you are. The elders have each described their experience in this dimension to me, but they don’t agree with each other. We hypothesize that the alternate dimension we enter changes each time the portal is opened, so we need to be able to get used to unfamiliar surroundings. This time, you should treat this training ground as one such unfamiliar environment.”

The students nodded in agreement.

Yun Ruoyan looked at Li Mo with new eyes, as if this were the first time realizing that here, his role was that of an instructor of Kongming Academy.

“Furthermore, this trial is completely different from the beginner’s trial you complete to enter Kongming Academy,” Li Mo continued severely. “Last time, because you were expected to fight for a limited number of positions, fighting and brawling were generally permitted. Here, however, the main goal is to hone your adaptability, and there’s no need to fight each other. Your objective will be to improve your skills, raise your cultivation, gather spiritual herbs, pills, and beast cores of use to you, and survive with your own strength.”

“Yes, Master Mo!” the students chorused.

Li Mo then assigned the thirty students into ten groups of three, each of which would head in a different direction, then gather back in a week’s time. What made Yun Ruoyan somewhat surprised was that Li Mo had actually grouped him, Zhuo Yifeng, and Yun Ruoyan herself together.

Yun Ruoyan wasn’t surprised to be in the same group as Li Mo, but she was very surprised that Li Mo would put Zhuo Yifeng with them. After all, Zhuo Yifeng held a bitter grudge toward Li Mo, and he’d even tried to kill Li Mo before!

As far as Yun Ruoyan knew, Li Mo would never go easy on someone who had tried to kill him. From her perspective, it was already surprising enough that Li Mo hadn’t punished Zhuo Yifeng. He’s not going to take this expedition as an opportunity to get rid of Zhuo Yifeng, is he…?

As soon as that errant thought popped up, she quashed it. Based on Li Mo’s capabilities, he didn’t need any such trick to deal with Zhuo Yifeng. In that case, was Li Mo really trying to take care of Zhuo Yifeng? That seemed to be the case.

Yun Ruoyan felt as though she really had wronged Li Mo before. Her anger dissipated as if it had never existed, and she looked toward Li Mo much more softly than before.

Li Mo could sense the changes in Yun Ruoyan’s expression, but he didn’t seem very happy. Yun Ruoyan had resented him for half a day because of another man, and she’d calmed down immediately once again because of that man…

“Master Mo, I’d like to join your team,” Rong Yueshan suddenly piped up.

“Right, I want to be with Master Mo too!”

“Me too!”

Rong Yueshan’s request was echoed by many of the other members on the expedition, knowing that their safety would be all but guaranteed with him around.

“This is a teleportation scroll.” Li Mo ignored their requests and instead tapped on one of the floorboards of the treehouse. Beneath his palm immediately appeared a stack of scrolls.

As soon as the students heard that these were supposedly legendary scrolls, their eyes all lit up in unison...

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