prynovel Chapter 80 Black Wind Ridge Team Formation
Chapter 80 Black Wind Ridge Team Formation
The mission hall at Xingwu University was bustling with noise from morning till night. Three rows of fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, their blinding white light making faces appear bluish. A screen at the front occupied an entire wall, its densely packed mission entries scrolling upwards, the score numbers flashing. The cold light shone on the faces of those standing below, making them look like bloodless masks. The hall reeked of various smells—sweat, medicine, rust, and the fumes from the cafeteria wafting in from the entrance. People were everywhere; some squatted in corners eating dry rations, some napped on benches, and others gathered in small groups around the screen, pointing and gesturing, creating a scene as noisy as a marketplace.
Lin Chen stood in front of the screen, tilting his head back, reading line by line. He swiped his finger in the air, turning the page down. Low-point tasks occupied most of the screen: hunting third-tier ferocious beasts earned 100, gathering spiritual herbs 50, escorting caravans 500—none of them were enough. He turned another page, scrolling to the very bottom, before finally seeing the A-level task. The font was red and larger than the other tasks, as if deliberately meant to draw attention.
Hunt down the fourth-tier ferocious beast, the Shadow Leopard. Location: Outer perimeter of Black Wind Ridge Secret Realm. Reward: 10,000 points. Mission Danger Level: Extremely High. The notes state: It is recommended that martial artists at the Transformation Realm or above form a team of at least four. Below that, in small, gray, and inconspicuous text, it says: "Seventeen people have perished in this mission in the past three years."
Lin Chen turned around and looked at the three people behind him.
Su Ling'er stood to his left, her hair tied in a high ponytail with a pink hair tie adorned with a small strawberry. She wore the core class's silver-threaded uniform, but over it was a light blue vest with bulging pockets stuffed full. She held half a piece of osmanthus cake in her hand, already cold, wrapped in oil paper; she'd only taken one bite. When she saw Lin Chen pointing at the task, her face immediately fell, her lips pouting so much they looked like oil bottles could hang from them.
"Lin Chen, let's try something else!" She tugged at his sleeve and shook it. "The Shadow Leopard can turn invisible and spew poisonous mist. Last time, a senior in the Transformation Realm was scratched by it. He had such a long gash on his arm that it took three months to heal. The four of us are only at the Meridian Opening Realm; it's too dangerous." As she spoke, her eyes widened and sparkled, like a desperate rabbit. The half-piece of osmanthus cake was squeezed out of shape in her hand, crumbs falling to the ground.
Chu Fan stood to Lin Chen's right, wearing a crisply ironed school uniform with the top button fastened. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, took out a worn-out notebook from his jacket pocket, turned to a page with a bookmark, and began to read aloud, his pace neither too fast nor too slow, as if he were giving a presentation in class.
"According to the school's database, in the past three years, missions involving the Shadow Leopard in Black Wind Ridge have resulted in the deaths of seventeen students and serious injuries to thirty-two others. The Shadow Leopard's maximum speed is eighty meters per second, and its poisonous mist can completely paralyze the nervous system of a martial artist at the Meridian Opening Realm within three seconds, rendering them incapacitated. Based on the overall assessment—" He paused, glancing at Lin Chen, "our chances of winning are about thirty-seven percent. If we can set up an array in advance, it can increase to forty-two percent."
He closed his notebook and waited for Lin Chen to speak.
Leng Feng stood at the very back, remaining silent. He wore a faded military camouflage uniform, the top two buttons undone, revealing an old gray T-shirt underneath. A military combat knife slung across his back, its hilt gleaming, a deep scratch on the scabbard. A scar ran from his left cheekbone to his chin, not very deep, but clearly visible. It was a scar he'd received when he was sixteen, slaying a ferocious beast on the border, requiring seven stitches. He looked at Lin Chen, saying nothing, only nodding. That nod was heavy, as if saying, "You decide, I'll go with you."
Lin Chen smiled and reached out to pat Su Ling'er's head. Her hair was very soft, bouncing back as he patted it, like patting a ball of cotton. "Don't worry, I'm confident. Besides, the points from this mission are enough for us to exchange for a month's worth of A-level training rooms. Qin Hao can rely on his grandfather to monopolize training rooms, but we'll earn our points ourselves."
Su Ling'er pouted, stuffed the half-eaten osmanthus cake into her mouth, and mumbled, "I knew you wouldn't listen to reason." She turned around, squatted down, unzipped her backpack, and started taking things out. The backpack wasn't big, but it was packed full, like a treasure chest. She first took out a medicine box, a white plastic box with cartoon stickers on the lid, depicting several round-faced animals. She opened the medicine box, and the medicine bottles inside were neatly arranged, each with a handwritten label, the handwriting round, just like her.
"These are antidote pills, twelve in a bottle, enough for the four of us to each take three." She took out the bottles one by one. "These are healing pills, ordinary ones, for stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation. This is a blasting pill, you can throw it out to blow people up during a fight, it's quite powerful, but be careful not to blow yourself up." She picked up the last bottle, the cap was yellow with a skull drawn on it. "And this is a mind-control powder, I secretly made it, if you sprinkle it out it can dazed people for several seconds. It can save lives in a critical moment, but it's not easy to control the wind direction."
As she spoke, she carefully sorted the medicine bottles and put them back into the medicine box, then stuffed in several rolls of bandages and a packet of acupuncture needles. Her meticulousness was unlike anything she usually displayed.
Chu Fan also squatted down and took out a hand-drawn map from his backpack. The map was the size of an A3 sheet of paper, folded several times, and the edges were frayed. He spread the map on the ground, and it was covered with markings in red and blue pens—red lines were paths, blue dots were safe points, and black crosses were danger zones. The writing was small and dense, but every stroke was neat.
"I've checked the terrain data for Blackwind Ridge and marked the three most likely locations of Shadow Leopard lairs." He pointed to a circled area on the map. "They're all on the southeast side of the outer edge of the secret realm, near a water source. I've also marked five safe retreat routes. If we can't win, we can split up and regroup at this point." He pulled a small cloth bag from his pack, opened it, and inside were seven palm-sized array plates, made of bronze, engraved with intricate array patterns. "These are basic trapping arrays I made myself. They can hold off the Shadow Leopards for about ten seconds. Not long, but enough for us to run or redeploy."
He spoke calmly, as if discussing something ordinary. But Lin Chen noticed that his fingers were trembling slightly when he picked up the array plate—not out of fear, but out of nervousness. Chu Fan was the kind of person who needed to be absolutely certain of everything before he could feel at ease, but no matter how well prepared he was, he would still get nervous.
"Okay." Lin Chen put away the map, stood up, and looked at the three of them. "We'll set off first thing tomorrow morning. Remember, once we're in the secret realm, follow my instructions. No one is allowed to act alone."
The four of them discussed the details for a while before parting ways.