What? You opened a resort on the battlefield of all races?

Xiao Qiong finished speaking.

He had expected to see the students' relieved expressions.

however.

There was no cheering.

There was no reason to be thankful.

The entire hall fell into a dull, even blood-soaked, deathly silence.

Many students who were just clamoring to recharge their accounts now all lowered their heads, their shoulders trembling slightly.

"No...casualties?"

A hoarse, broken sound, like sandpaper being rubbed, rang out from the front row of the hall.

Zhao Feng slowly stood up.

He didn't look at Xiao Qiong, but kept his head down.

His shoulders were trembling violently.

He walked slowly and heavily to Xiao Qiong.

Zhao Feng then raised his head.

Those eyes were now filled with bloodshot veins.

Tears mingled with intense pain, rolling down her cheeks in large drops.

"Lord of the Manor, you said there were no casualties?!"

Zhao Feng suddenly roared, his voice echoing in the empty hall, making people's eardrums ache.

His eyes were red and he roared in despair.

"Chen Tiantian is dead!"

"Sun Hao is dead!"

"Zhang Yu is dead!"

"Many other brothers from Wuhan University are dead!!!"

With each name Zhao Feng called out, his body would convulse violently.

The tragic scenes in the Stone Forest flashed before his eyes once again.

Half a meter long, white bone spurs.

The gushing blood.

A companion who was nailed firmly to the black rock.

Their eyes were wide open, and their gazes were filled with despair after crushing the jade pendant.

"They died right in front of us!"

Zhao Feng's knees buckled, and he knelt heavily in front of Xiao Qiong with a "thud".

He gripped the floor tiles tightly with both hands, his fingernails snapping and bleeding.

"It's less than ten meters away from me!"

"The alien's bone spikes pierced their chests!"

"They didn't even last a second!"

Xiao Qiong shuddered, and the smile on his face vanished instantly.

"impossible."

Xiao Qiong was startled, her brows furrowing into a tight knot.

"The life-saving jade pendant is engraved with defensive array patterns of the Nine Heavens Realm. Once crushed, even a group of Flying Heaven Realm cultivators would be absolutely unable to break through the shield in a short time! How could it not even last a second!"

"Those brothers from Cangyun Martial Arts University gave us their own life-saving jade tokens to save us. But those tokens were all worthless!"

Zhao Feng suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Xiao Qiong, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Sun Hao crushed the jade pendant, but nothing happened!"

"Xu Tiantian crushed the jade pendant, turning it into a handful of useless white ash!"

Zhao Feng's voice was extremely shrill, filled with unyielding despair and indignation.

"No shield! No defense! Not even a sliver of light!"

"???"

Xiao Qiong's body swayed suddenly.

He opened his cloudy old eyes wide and stared intently at Zhao Feng.

"Scrap metal?"

Xiao Qiong quickly turned her head, her lightning-fast gaze piercing Fan Rui, who was standing not far away.

"Where are the others? Where's Wuyue Wuda?!"

Fan Rui took a step forward, his expression grave.

"Lord of the Manor, our jade token is working properly."

"But those students who received the Cangyun Martial Arts University jade tokens did not experience any reaction after crushing them."

"Just like an ordinary stone, it breaks when it breaks."

Xiao Qiong frowned even more deeply.

There were only faint sobs in the hall.

The jade tokens were made by the Academic Association and were handed over to the Cangyun Martial Arts students only when they entered the teleportation array.

Only the jade token of Cangyun Martial Arts University is invalid, doesn't that mean—

Someone is deliberately targeting students at Cangyun Martial Arts University!

"it is good."

"Very good."

Xiao Qiong suddenly opened her eyes.

Those old eyes, which had previously seemed somewhat cynical, now held only extreme violence and chilling killing intent.

A terrifying pressure emanated from his gaunt body, little by little.

The glossy tiles underfoot made a "crackling" sound as they succumbed to the weight, and countless spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread out.

If he hadn't bought those teleportation scrolls in advance...

I'm afraid none of these students will survive!

who can that be?

Xiao Qiong's teeth were grinding together.

No matter who it is.

Xiao Qiong's fingers gradually closed, forming a fist.

Even if I turn the world upside down, I will grind your entire clan to dust!

"Lord Lord."

Despite Xiao Qiong's terrifying pressure, Fan Rui managed to speak with difficulty.

"What do we do now?"

Xiao Qiong took a deep breath, her chest heaving violently.

He forcefully suppressed the murderous intent he was releasing back into his body, and the sound of the tiles shattering stopped abruptly.

Now is not the time to track down the killer.

There are also students from other academies in the battlefield of the heavens!

"Everyone, listen up!"

Xiao Qiong's voice resonated throughout the hall like a booming bell.

"Regardless of which university you attend, and whatever grudges you may have against each other!"

"Return to the battlefield immediately!"

"Go and bring back to me every human warrior you can see who is still alive!"

"Not a single one can be left behind!"

"yes!"

------

Nanjiang Prefecture, the main venue for the Youth Martial Arts Competition.

Under the enormous semi-circular dome, the eyes of 100,000 spectators were fixed on the projection screen, which was half-off.

A low-pressure atmosphere, like dark clouds, enveloped the entire venue.

"It's dark..."

In the front row, the man wearing a baseball cap opened his mouth, and two words were squeezed out from his dry throat.

He stretched out a trembling finger and pointed to the screens in mid-air that had lost their images.

The more than one hundred small split screens that originally represented students from Cangyun Martial Arts University, Qinglan Martial Arts University, Haichuan Martial Arts University, etc., have now mostly turned into a deathly black.

In the very center of the screen, the blood-red text "[Elemental Connection Disconnected/Target Lost]" was extremely glaring.

"They...could they be dead?"

A young woman next to her covered her mouth, her voice clearly trembling with tears.

"Of course! He's definitely dead!"

"Ten minutes ago, I witnessed firsthand that student from Qinglan Martial Arts University being pierced through the chest by a bone spike from the Thorn Feather Clan, and then the screen went black!"

"With that kind of injury, if you're unlucky, your heart might be shattered. How could you possibly survive!"

This isn't a match where you stop when you've made your point; this is—

Battlefield of the Heavens!

"Then what about the remaining people...?"

On the screen, the camera cuts to the edge of an underground rift valley located in a Class B area.

The teams from Xiling Martial Arts University, Nanjiang Martial Arts University, and Pingning Martial Arts University were huddled in a recessed cave.

Outside the cave, countless bloodweb spiders were crawling down the rock wall.

The spider, the size of a water tank, contracted violently, opened its mouth full of fangs, and sprayed out streams of green, corrosive venom and blood-red spider webs.

"Sizzle—"

The venom landed on the students' jade pendants' elemental shields, instantly releasing large plumes of pungent white smoke.

The once crystal-clear shield visibly thinned, its surface now covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

Inside the shield, Qingshan, the burly martial arts master from Xiling, howled in agony, venom dripping continuously from his massive body, the intense toxins causing him to tremble uncontrollably.

The male student from Nanjiang Wuda University who had previously been in charge of receiving them knelt on the ground, his face covered in snot and tears, crying out in despair.

They are waiting.

The rescue teachers were supposed to descend from the sky after those jade tablets were crushed.

but.

Apart from the overwhelming number of Bloodweb Spiders spewing venom, there wasn't even a single Flying Realm martial artist in the sky!

"Where's the rescue team?! Where are all the rescuers?!"

In the stands, the retired veteran who was missing an arm suddenly kicked over the seat in front of him and roared at the direction of the podium with red eyes.

"How long has this been going on for the hell?!"

The veteran's roar instantly ignited the fear and anger that had been suppressed in the hearts of 100,000 spectators.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Countless audience members stood up, pounding on their seats and frantically throwing empty water bottles and snack bags at the crowd below.

"Give us an explanation! The Wuhan University Association must give us an explanation!"

"Why is the rescue so slow?! Are you treating the lives of humanity's future prodigies like a joke?!"

"And Cangyun Martial Arts University! Why is it that only their life-saving jade tokens failed?!"

"If you crush it, it won't even form a shield. Is it a life-saving jade tablet or a death warrant?!"

"Who gave you the audacity to throw a group of students at the Thousand-Pound Realm and Rock-Solid Realm into a Grade B area teeming with Flying-Sky Realm alien races?! Is this a competition or murder?!"

The sound waves came one after another like a tsunami, making the dome of the entire main venue vibrate.

One hundred thousand people were protesting, demanding an explanation from the federation; their anger nearly set the entire venue ablaze.