Chapter 446 : Spirit Hunt (2)
"Who knows?" The youths were seen to be saying it in contempt, but deep in their hearts, many of them were actually envious and jealous of Jun Xie, to have the highly admired Fan Jin hovering around him so protectively.
When they got off the carriage, all the stares from the other disciples were directed at them from many different directions, and not a single one among them was friendly. Jun Wu Xie was unperturbed and followed Fan Jin to sit down beside the fire.
Several disciples were seated by the fire and when they saw Jun Xie, they pursed up their mouths, their faces showing obvious disdain.
Fan Jin suppressed the anger rising up within his chest, or he would have given those disciples a good thrashing.
"It's been a long day, eat something." Fan Jin handed a packet of dried preserved meat to Jun Wu Xie and Jun Wu Xie bit at it silently as endless mutterings and insults reached her ears. "Meow~"
[These people are really being obnoxious!]
Jun Wu Xie did not say a word but continued to finish up the food and had a short drink before standing up and returning to the carriage to rest.
When they saw that Jun Wu Xie had left, those jealous and angry voices grew louder.
Fan Jin's face was turning dangerously dark. The vicious curses and malicious insinuations were even too much for him to hear as a bystander and he did not know how Jun Xie could be so unaffected. Fan Jin did not want to stay around longer than needed and ate quickly before he returned to the carriage as well.
He had wanted to comfort Jun Xie a little but he came back to find Jun Xie fast asleep leaning against the carriage wall. Fan Jin sighed softly and took out his coat to cover Jun Xie's tiny frame. Fan Jin sat directly across Jun Xie and held his head in his hand as he looked at the tiny figure sleeping before him.
To be frank, Jun Xie's features were not thought to be outstanding, but without knowing why, Fan Jin was beginning to find that face more and more attractive. That high nose, those red lips, and the long curly lashes on those closed eyes.
As he stared longer at that face, Fan Jin found that the air in the carriage was getting hot and stifling. He gulped down some water and got out of the carriage, to let the chill night air cool down his heated body.
The little black cat was lying beside Jun Wu Xie and it opened its eyes a slit to peek at the flustered Fan Jin who had just hurried out of the carriage.
If that insanely overpowered demon were to know that someone here had developed some other intentions towards its mistress, wouldn't he make mincemeat out of Fan Jin?
After resting for a night, the Zephyr Academy's convoy continued on their journey. After two whole days of seemingly endless trundling and rattling, they finally arrived at the edge of the Battle Spirits Forest at midnight on the second day.
The vast expanses of the Battle Spirits Forest stretched endlessly, farther than the eye could see, and the forest bordered several different countries. The lure of the Spirit Beasts here attracted the eyes of many and many people from different powers came here to hunt them, to gain more spirit stones.
High quality spirit stones were able to increase the powers of ring spirits and were in high demand. While ordinary Spirit Beasts only yielded tiny grains of spirit stones when they are killed and were too tiny to be set onto their rings linked to their ring spirits, people seeked to hunt the higher grade Spirit Beasts to gain spirit stones that they could set in their rings.
Although it was midnight, the outskirts of the Battle Spirits Forest were lit almost bright as day.
Big and small tents were erected all around the outskirts of the forest and many groups of hunters from many different powers were readying themselves for the hunt early the next morning within the Battle Spirits Forest.
When the Zephyr Academy's convoy arrived at the edges of the Battle Spirits Forest, they inadvertently attracted the attention of the groups of hunters. The silvery white banners flying over the carriages were known to every single one of those hunters. The Zephyr Academy, one of the top three academies, was well known to be a place that produced elite fighters and they had what everyone paid the most attention to, the Zephyr Academy's one and only Spirit Healer faculty!
All the different factions among the hunters were also eyeing for a chance to win over the hearts of any disciple from the Spirit Healer faculty!
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Chapter 447 : Spirit Hunt (3)
It was late into the night, and the Zephyr Academy disciples were all exhausted. All of them remained within their carriages and nibbled some food before sleep claimed their tired bodies.
Dawn broke the next morning and as the sun peeked over the horizon, the well rested disciples jumped out of their carriages. The seniors were feeling wary as they stared towards the place that had haunted their dreams on many nights and were looking slightly worried. The new disciples were their direct opposites as many were feeling excited and were exuberant with anticipation. Though some of them were quietly worried, they were nevertheless rather relieved that they would be accompanied by their mentors.
The teachers leading the expedition then gathered the new disciples and explained their mission here at the Battle Spirits Forest.
The whole Spirit Hunt would run for a period of seven days and the Zephyr Academy disciples were to only move about within a marked out area in the South Eastern corner of the Battle Spirits Forest where they would be provided with a detailed map. They did not expect the disciples to meet up with any major problems and the Spirit Beasts did not belong to the higher grades in the allocated area of movement and it would be relatively safe for them.
The teachers did not forget to remind the new disciples in a grave tone, to not stray into unmarked territories as they might run into many high grade Spirit Beasts in those areas. The terrain might be treacherous and if they were not careful, they might easily lose their way within the forest filled with endless dangers.
All the disciples would be given two signal flares and if they were to come across any danger, were injured or ill, they could choose to release the signals and the teachers just outside the forest would evacuate the affected disciple as soon as possible. But, if you pull out of the Spirit Hunt early, the score you would be given for your assessment for the Spirit Hunt would be extremely low.
The signal flares would be distributed to all the disciples, but food and water were prepared by the disciples themselves.
They did not restrict how much you brought and as long as you could carry the load, no one would stop you.
For the Spirit Hunt, the disciples of the Zephyr Academy were allowed to form their own groups to support each other.
And in that aspect, the disciples from the Spirit Healing faculty were the most popular choices.
Although the Spirit Healer faculty disciples were usually less proficient in battle than the other two battle focused faculties, but disciples of the other two faculties were eager to jump on this rare chance to get into the good books of a potential future Spirit Healer, and many would plead and beg for them to join their groups.
Hence, well before the day of the Spirit Hunt, all the disciples of the Spirit Healer faculty had already been taken, without a single one spared.
The strong combined with the strong, it was a common sight during the Spirit Hunt.
And among them, the strongest team was the team that comprised of the previous Spirit Tournament's second ranked Lu Wei Xie and third ranked Ning Xin, which also included Yin Yan of the Spirit Healer faculty and many other elites of the Zephyr Academy. The team totaled more than twenty people and they were perceived to be the most impressive line up the Zephyr Academy could put forth.
As a result, all the teams would welcome almost any disciples who had not managed to find themselves a team to join.
Afterall, to survive seven days within this dense forest would not be an easy task and even if they were not strong or powerful additions, a bigger number of allies would make the task ahead easier to manage.
However.....
There were two people who did not manage to find a team to join up with.
People like.....
The last Spirit Tournament's fourth ranked Fan Jin, and Jun Xie.....
With Fan Jin's skills, many of the others would have fought tooth and nail to have him join them, but Fan Jin was tagged on with his ward, the most hated Jun Xie, which made all the other teams give up on any intentions to recruit the elite Fan Jin.
Jun Xie's name had dropped to the pits within the Zephyr Academy and even Fan Jin's popularity had not been enough to convince the other teams to want them. In the end, when all the disciples of the Zephyr Academy were split into their teams in tens or more, only Fan Jin and Jun Xie were left standing alone all by themselves.
"Cough, it does not matter if there is nobody else. Little Xie, believe in my strength. I will definitely protect you well." Fan Jin said trying to sound comforting as he stared at the excitement all around them, while the withering quiet where they stood struck a stark contrast and he hastened to encourage Jun Xie bravely.
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Chapter 448 : Is That The Weakest or Strongest Team (1)
Jun Wu Xie looked at Fan Jin who was bravely trying to put up a smile when she suddenly turned, and walked purposefully away.
Fan Jin was not about to allow Jun Xie to roam around on his own under all those malicious stares and ran to catch up with him.
Ning Xin and Yin Yan observed Fan Jin and Jun Xie while they hid within the crowd and when they saw that the two of them were ostracised and left out, they then smiled in glee.
"Where are they going?" Ning Xin saw Jun Xie suddenly turn away and walk towards a big group of disciples.
"Those are just trash from the branch division." Yin Yan said with contempt.
Just like the disciples of the main division, the disciples from the branch division were to take part in the Spirit Hunt as well. But the atmosphere in the branch division was the exact opposite, gloomy and dismal. Their ring spirits and spiritual powers could not be compared in any way to those disciples from the main division and having been forced to undergo the ordeal of surviving seven days within the perilous Battle Spirits Forest frightened them to no end.
The group of disciples from the branch division were still immersed in their own thoughts of inescapable doom when they suddenly saw two figures from the main division approaching them and they all stared in wide eyed disbelief.
Disciples from the main division had always treated those from the branch division with contempt and had always avoided them like the plague, and refused to even look at them at all.
And right before their eyes now, two disciples from the main division were walking straight towards the place the branch division's disciples were gathered and all their eyes were fixed on those two figures.
As they stared at the nearing Fan Jin and and Jun Xie, the disciples could not fathom what those two disciples from the main division would want from them.
"Meow~" The little black cat sat upon Jun Wu Xie's shoulders, its fluffy tail coiled behind her neck. It pointed out the direction to Jun Wu Xie and she immediately set off towards it.
Over on that side, four youths were gathered and seated under a tree, chatting among themselves.
Suddenly a tiny figure appeared before them and the four who were chatting excitedly looked up. When they saw the figure's face, the four youths suddenly went quiet, their faces filled with surprise.
"Little Xie?" Qiao Chu, who was biting one end of a blade of grass suddenly jumped up from the ground when he saw Jun Xie. He pounced unhesitatingly towards Jun Xie and was all ready to envelope him in a big bear hug.
However, Qiao Chu was suddenly stopped while he was still in mid air.
Fan Jin's face was in a deep frown, his hand extended stopping the jovial and good looking youth who had wanted to jump onto Jun Xie.
"Who are you? And what were you going to do to Jun Xie?"
"I should be the one asking just who are you?" Qiao Chu was frowning at the sudden appearance of Fan Jin. He had not seen Little Xie for so long and who was this twit to come between them?
"My name is Fan Jin, a disciple from the main division." Fan Jin said with his brows furrowed.
Qiao Chu furrowed his brow as well and spat out the blade of grass from his mouth to said nonchalantly: "Qiao Chu."
Sparks flew between the two candid and unpretentious youths as their eyes met and a fight seemed imminent.
Fei Yan stood up right at that moment and walked over to stand beside Jun Xie, and said with a laugh: "You still remembered to come look for us. We thought you had forgotten all about us!"
Fan Jin had intended to first establish the identities of these people before he would let them interact with Jun Xie as Jun Xie had just too many enemies at that moment. But when he saw the sweetly smiling "girl", Fei Yan, greet Jun Xie so easily, he could not make himself raise his hand again to stop her.
A man must always.....
Treat ladies with gentleness and respect.
"You know each other?" Fan Jin heard Fei Yan's words and asked Jun Xie.
"We came together to enroll into the Zephyr academy." Rong Ruo stood up as well and said smiling.
Fan Jin turned to look at Jun Xie. And after he saw Jun Xie nod slightly to him, Fan Jin finally believed the other youths and lowered his defenses against them.
"Apologies if I've offended you." After ascertaining that the other party were friendly to Jun Xie, Fan Jin's face broke out into a jovial and amicable smile.
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Chapter 449 : Is That The Weakest or Strongest Team (2)
Jun Wu Xie very briefly introduced Fan Jin and Qiao Chu was all smiles very soon.
"Haha, many thanks to you! With you looking out for our Little Xie, we are greatly relieved."
"No, I didn't do much."
After a round of courteous banter, Jun Wu Xie shot them a curious gaze and said: "Come with me into the Forest."
"Sure! We were just about to go look for you anyway." Qiao Chu said with a laugh.
They agreed to enter the Battle Spirits Forest together as a team in moments and the disciples from the branch division looked on as Qiao Chu and his gang left the tree together with Jun Xie and Fan Jin to walk towards the place where the disciples of the main division gathered, their eyes aglow, green with envy.
When the other disciples of the main division saw Fan Jin with disciples from the branch division in his team to make up some numbers, they all started laughing loudly.
"Fan Jin has fallen so low that he has to resort to scouring through the trash! What does he think those useless characters can contribute to in the Battle Spirits Forest?" Yin Yan looked at Fan Jin from afar and said with a cold laugh.
Ning Xin turned to look a brief moment and turned back immediately, hiding the glee that rose within her eyes.
"Leave him to his own struggles, the final result will still be the same anyway."
Yin Yan smiled and was gladdened by Fan Jin's depravity.
Having the main division's disciples gather disciples from the branch division to join their team was unheard of and everyone from the main division were looking at Jun Xie's tiny team as the biggest joke, and many of them soon dubbed them "the weakest" of them all.
Qiao Chu rubbed his nose heavily as the loud whispers all around assaulted his ears. He might not been deemed to be a sensitive guy, but he could definitely sense the daggers behind all those eyes directed at their group.
"Are disciples from the branch division so badly despised?" Qiao Chu asked.
"It's nothing to do with all of you." Jun Wu Xie said without emotion.
Qiao Chu was about to say more when he saw Hua Yao shot him a glance, asking him to shut up.
The main reason behind all those loud whispers from the other disciples of the main division were largely understood by all the others and only Qiao Chu was left still thinking that those whispers were because they despised those who were from the branch division. If anyone would just listen carefully, they would know that all those whispers were targeted at Jun Xie.
"I'll say, Jun Xie. How long has it been since you were admitted into the main division and you have managed to make an enemy out of everyone?" Fei Yan who was always highly capable in gathering information had gone around within the crowd and had gathered sufficient intelligence to know exactly what the situation was then.
From what she had heard, in the eyes of all the other disciples, Jun Xie was a despicable and utterly incorrigible brat!
Jun Wu Xie was totally expressionless, but Fan Jin was the one looking slightly embarrassed instead.
"They had said that you do not show yourself much in the academy, so why is it that you would take part in the Spirit Hunt?" Fei Yan asked, out of pure curiosity, as she cared not in the least all the nasty things she had heard about Jun Xie.
Jun Wu Xie replied curtly: "To kill people."
"....."
"....."
"....."
"....."
"....."
Beside Jun Wu Xie, all the other five people around her stared wide eyed at the tiny figure, unable to find words to respond to Jun Xie's emotionless and curt response.
Qiao Chu wiped the sweat that had suddenly appeared upon his forehead and said: "Little Xie..... That reason is a little..... too brutal..... Don't you think?"
Kill people.....
My dear Jun Xie, can't you be just a little more tactful?
"You..... you must be joking right?" Fan Jin was really shocked to his boots by Jun Xie's chilling words. The cold and expressionless little kid had just come on his first expedition organised by the academy and his only intention was so..... inconceivably brutal. He could not make himself believe that Jun Xie was really here to kill someone.
Jun Wu Xie observed the suddenly paled Fan Jin and hesitated a moment before muttering a non committal: "Mmm."
Fan Jin then heaved a big sigh of relief.
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Chapter 450 : Is That The Weakest or Strongest Team (3)
Fan Jin was greatly relieved but Qiao Chu and gang did not believe it for a moment.
Jun Xie had learnt to kid?
That was what's more unbelievable instead!
That kid fully meant every word that came out of the mouth and when he said he came here to kill, he meant he came here to kill and nothing else!
Qiao Chu and Hua Yao had witnessed Jun Xie in action before and they were certain, without the slightest doubt, that Jun Xie had meant every single word he said.
She took part in the Spirit Hunt and came here today..... to kill people.
But Hua Yao and Qiao Chu kept their thoughts on Jun Xie's revelation to themselves so as not to further startle Fan Jin, and just exchanged a knowing glance between themselves.
Hua Yao shot Rong Ruo a meaningful glance and Rong Ruo quickly caught on. She walked to come before Fan Jin and said: "Big brother Fan, we still have some things we left behind in the branch division encampment. Can I trouble you to accompany me to go retrieve them? When I see the eyes of the disciples from the main division....." Rong Ruo's handsome face was suddenly tinged with worry, as she swept her gaze around at the obviously unfriendly eyes staring at the group.
Fan Jin immediately slapped his own chest confidently and led Rong Ruo back towards the branch division's encampment to retrieve their belongings.
The moment after Fan Jin stepped away, Qiao Chu jumped immediately to stand before Jun Xie to ask: "Little Xie, who do you want to kill?"
Qiao Chu's eyes were bright, lit up with excitement. After the massive massacre of the Qing Yun Clan with Jun Xie the last time, Qiao Chu fell in love with that thrill and excitement that came with being with Jun Xie.
With Fan Jin around earlier, they could not be candid with Jun Xie, as Fan Jin obviously saw Jun Xie as a timid and harmless little bunny. But little did he know that the little bunny in his eyes was one that swallowed people whole without even spitting out the bones. Countless people had fallen prey to that inconspicuous tiny face, and found themselves dead and their bodies already cold before they realised what had happened.
"Don't know." Jun Xie replied.
"Huh?" Don't know..... What did that mean?
Jun Wu Xie raised her hand and toyed with her little finger. "Whoever that comes, will be whoever that dies."
It was not convenient for her to make her move within the academy, but after they entered the Battle Spirits Forest was a different ballpark altogether. She need not consider those misgivings as she had in the academy anymore and the murder in her eyes flashed chillingly. She had said, whoever it was that tried so hard to incite her to come, had better not regret it later.
She had not put in much thought to try to guess who was the one behind all that goading and incitement, she only knew one thing, and that was it did not matter who it was, what mattered was whoever dared to go against her, must be ready to face her merciless wrath!
Qiao Chu's and Hua Yao's faces were all smiles when they saw the same devilish face they had seen the day the whole Qing Yun Clan had been obliterated, appear before them once again.
"Not a problem. Whoever dares comes seeking their death, will have their wish granted." Qiao Chu rubbed his hands in glee.
The intelligence that Fei Yan had gathered lit a fire in the chests of Jun Xie's companions as they listened. They knew Jun Xie, and with his ability, not many things under the skies could catch his fancy. Those brats were accusing Jun Xie of trying to steal a lousy spot in the Spirit Healer faculty through despicable means? That's got to be a joke!
But if so many people were seeking their deaths, they would never dream of denying them their well deserved "wishes".
Jun Xie was all set to kill, a few more would not make much of a difference.
Jun Wu Xie stared at Qiao Chu and the gang, and nodded slightly to them.
When Fan Jin and Rong Ruo came back, Qiao Chu and the others had reverted back to their normal selves and after exchanging a few more words, the deafening sounds of drums sounded and the Zephyr Academy disciples readied themselves to enter the Battle Spirits Forest.
The teams gathered their members together as they listened to the war drums rumble, and the flags of the Zephyr Academy were raised, fluttering in the wind.
The disciples of the main division stood confidently, heads held high, chest puffed up, in high contrast to those disciples from the branch division, whose shoulders were all slumped in defeat, their almost crouching figures filled with dread.
As the last beat of the drums sounded, all the teams started their rush into the Battle Spirits Forest.
They held their torches high, the figures soon swallowed by the dark dense forest.
Many of them rushed in excited and exuberant, but who knew how many of them would end up buried within the deep dense forest this time round.