Chapter 174: A Fearsome Ability!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"Our own Federation's Lieutenant General Proteus, the Old Beast of the Northeastern Muqi elite family, King Makino of the Twilight Empire, and General Raye of Dosa. A little further out, those such as Queen Helen of the Aoya Alliance, the Water Sage of the Southstar Galaxy, and the Frost Monarch of the Chaotic Lands all have similar Domain abilities," Su Qing listed all the renowned masters of the entire human world who fit the conditions.
"Similar? Then that means they are all not the one ..." The dean caught what Su Qing implied.
"Yes, although these masters' Domain abilities are extremely similar to what I sensed, they are merely similar." Su Qing knew very well that those masters' Domain abilities were still distinctly different.
"In other words, this is a Domain master who has yet to be registered ..." The furrow of the dean's brows grew even deeper. "Su Qing, in your opinion, could this be some Domain masters intentionally hidden away by an enemy nation? A scheme targeting our Federation?"
Su Qing was silent. The dean's worries were not made in jest — ever since the Twilight Empire set a trap which managed to kill the Federation's god-class operator Major General Ling Xiao, weakening the Federation's deterrent power by a whole three levels, anything could be possible.
However, after some thought, Su Qing opened his mouth to say, "It's also possible it's just some newly advanced Domain masters. We just haven't received their information, that's all." This would be the optimal outcome, but Su Qing was not optimistic about it. This was because one newly advanced Domain master was still possible, but three mysterious Domain masters appearing without warning at the same time? This was clearly a little too much of a stretch.
The dean also knew this well. After a beat of silence, he continued to ask, "Can you find out the whereabouts of the targets now?" No matter what motives these visitors had, they needed to locate them as soon as possible — it was best to take control of the initiative.
Hearing this, Su Qing laughed dryly and said, "Sir Dean, you've forgotten that I'm not good at tracking ..."
The dean rapped himself on the head in frustration and said glumly, "D*mmit, I've gotten confused by all these troublesome matters ... Lu Nan, is he here?" asked the dean, looking towards the group of teachers.
"I'm here, Sir Dean!" shouted a teacher not too far away helplessly, raising his hand. When will the honourable dean remember his face? He had been standing right beside him, and he still needed to ask whether he had come ... it was so sad!
Although Lu Nan felt a little hurt, he still immediately locked onto the strongest water element energy at the scene and began to search. But this time, he failed — because the energy could only be found within this area of 100 metres. There was nothing else beyond that range, just as if the Domain master had never even left the area.
Lu Nan was undaunted. Without hesitation, he locked onto that somewhat vacant-feeling energy signature, but no matter how hard he tried to lock on, his ability just could not capture that wispy energy. After trying 5 or 6 times, which all ended in failure, Lu Nan could only choose to give up, and try instead to lock onto that somewhat conflicting and uncomfortable energy signature.
Lu Nan thought that this would likely end in failure as well, but surprisingly, he managed to lock on in an instant. However, before he could commence path tracking, he found that the energy which came into contact with his Domain energy had actually begun to burn without being fanned by the wind, and had begun to devour his energy ...
This bizarre phenomenon caused Lu Nan's expression to change drastically. He resolutely cut off the energy he had used to lock onto that foreign energy signature. His reaction time could be considered godlike in terms of speed, and yet, within these short few seconds, that frightening energy had already consumed one-fifth of his own energy.
The dean noticed the change in Lu Nan's expression, saw him stumble back several steps, looking somewhat haggard and weak, and could not help but ask in surprise, "Lu Nan, are you alright?"
Lu Nan's expression was pained as he said, "I'm sorry, Sir Dean, I am unable to find out where the targets have gone ..."
"What is all this?" The dean's irises contracted, doubt and surprise swirling in his heart.
It should be known that even if Lu Nan's tracking ability was not number one in the Federation, it was still more than enough to qualify in the top 3. As long as he tried to track someone, even a master at the Domain level would find it difficult to escape his search. The dean had thought that this time again Lu Nan was certain to be able to find some clue, but unexpectedly, even he was helpless.
"That water element Domain master Su Qing mentioned had never left this area of about 100 metres, so there's nothing for me to find ... Meanwhile, the other vacant-feeling energy, I cannot lock onto it, and as for the other one ..." Lu Nan's complexion paled, expression revealing traces of lingering fear, "That energy is too terrifying. The moment I locked on and touched it, it began to burn on its own, as if it wanted to devour all my energy. Luckily, I cut off that part of my energy without hesitation, otherwise ..."
If he had hesitated at all due to unwillingness, maybe tried to think of some other way, those few seconds of delay might even have caused his entire being to be burned up by that fearsome energy, leaving no trace ... this was just too frightening! The more Lu Nan thought about it, the more frightened he was. He had never before encountered this kind of strange and terrifying energy ... who could the Domain master who possessed such energy be?
Lu Nan's words were heard loud and clear by everyone present. Their expressions changed, and some of them could not help but take a step back reflexively, as if afraid of being contaminated by this fearsome energy and thus bring disaster upon themselves.
After listening to what Lu Nan had to say, the dean contemplated silently for a few seconds, and then, he said faintly, "You all, do you think that the water element Domain master could have died at the hands of this person?"
The dean's words enlightened everyone there. This would explain why that water element Domain master had not left this area.
"But there isn't a body here ..." remarked one of the teachers, confused. However, he stopped abruptly after only spitting out half his sentence, because he thought of the characteristics of the other's Domain. Perhaps after being contaminated by this energy, that water element Domain master had been thoroughly consumed?
Everyone there realised the same thing, and could not help but shudder. They looked at those areas with bloodstains, and a chill rose within their bones. They wished they could just leave this place immediately.
The dean was not expecting a response from the other teachers with his comment. He looked towards the direction where the grand armed melee was going on, sighed, and said, "I only hope now that those two mysterious masters are not targeting the students of our academy ..."
The dean's words had barely faded when the pressure of his presence abruptly expanded, and with a grim expression, he ordered, "Su Qing, return to the central control room immediately. Request a class red comprehensive alert from the mainframe. We must ensure that this grand armed melee ends perfectly!"
"The rest of you, freely choose an area to monitor. We need to cover all the areas where the grand armed melee is taking place, and keep a close eye on the progress of the grand armed melee. If you notice anything suspicious, request backup from the academy mecha squad!"
The dean passed down a long string of commands, spurring all the Domain stage instructors into motion. This time, the appearance of a mysterious Domain master within the Central Scout Academy had caused all these Domain masters to emerge from the depths of the academy where they had been hiding. And all of them were now fully focused on monitoring the grand armed melee! Due to their presences, the grand armed melee was fully under their control at all times, so no major injuries or deaths occurred. For the students of both grades involved, this was truly a pleasant surprise.
********
In a small forested area in the academy, a white-clad, slightly short and petite youth crashed forcefully into a red-clad, tall and thin youth. There was a muffled thud, and then both boys were repelled back from one another to fall heavily to the ground ...
The white-clad youth got up again shakily, roughly swiping away the blood at the corner of his lips. His gaze was as fierce as that of a wolf as he glared at the red-clad youth stumbling to his feet across from him.
They were the 7th grade white-clad Xie Yi and the 10th grade red-clad Yuan Chen. Initially, Yuan Chen had thought that it would be a simple matter to handle a white-clad 7th grader, but who could have expected that Xie Yi had such hidden depths — his strength was no lower than his at all. The two of them fought a difficult battle, ending up in a stalemate.
In the beginning, they were still using some techniques, exchanging blows, using a move to counter a move for a rather glorious battle. But later on, after the two of them had used up most of their stamina, they no longer had the mood to keep dragging the fight on. Thus, they began to fight power with power, trying to use blunt force to overpower the other.
Just like this, they clashed violently again and again — if one stopped to count, they had probably clashed up to 20 to 30 times. It should be said that by now, the two of them were already at the end of their ropes. Now all that was left was to see who would fall first, unable to hold on for that final breath.
"D*mmit, a 10th grade red-coat is really hard to handle. I underestimated them ..." Xie Yi thought glumly to himself, spitting out the blood in his mouth.
Xie Yi was someone who liked to play the pig to eat the tiger, and so had hidden away all this time within Class-B. Although Class-A's Qi Long, Wu Jiong, Li Yingjie and such were extremely popular and well-known within the grade, he was not bothered at all by this. He believed that he would not lose to anyone with his capabilities — the only one he was uncertain about was the uncrowned king of their grade, Ling Lan.
Xie Yi had always been of the opinion that the 'strong' of the scout academy wasn't all that strong. Only at the First Men's Military Academy where all the best talent gathered — that was the gathering grounds of the true aberrant prodigies. Only the cream of the crop of all the planets of the Federation would be accepted there, to become the strongest of the strong.
Thus, ever since he was 6 years old, his goal had been the First Men's Military Academy. He had lain low till now, just waiting for the day he applied to the First Men's Military Academy, when he would make his grand debut 1 !
"Looks like I'll have to use my ace in the hole, although it's quite troublesome to use it ..." Xie Yi was not an indecisive person. Sensing that he would not be able to finish off the opponent under current circumstances, he decided to pull out his trump card and go all in.
Xie Yi shifted into an attack stance with a fist facing outwards, just like before, but this time, a sheen of purple light flashed swiftly across his body. With the flickering of this purple light, the muscles of his face twitched noticeably and his expression was one of sufferance, as if tolerating some discomfort.
"Die!" roared Xie Yi, pouncing fiercely. Meanwhile, his opponent, the 10th grade Yuan Chen, had similarly readied himself to attack. Almost simultaneously, the fists of the two boys collided once more.
"Ahhh!" Yuan Chen howled piteously, his entire body spasming violently as if he had been electrocuted.
Xie Yi's condition was not much better than Yuan Chen's; his body was also trembling minutely, and the pain on his face was obvious.
A few seconds later, the two of them sprang apart to fall to the ground. At this time, Yuan Chen looked wretched. He was unconscious, and black smoke rose faintly from his slightly agape mouth, his body still twitching every so often.