Chapter 345: The Mediocre Commoner, a Supporting Role in the Age of Power

Chapter 345: The Mediocre Commoner, a Supporting Role in the Age of Power

"Is this really Teacher Sch?"

"Wow... He's so adorable!"

"If I could have a child like this, I'd be laughing in my coffin!"

"I used to think I hated kids, but now I realize it's not about whether they're kids or not..."

"Shouldn't it be my turn to hold him, Miss Cao?"

The female students, who had gradually returned, surrounded the child-like Sch Jing, their excitement palpable.

As his appearance had transformed into that of a child, the sternness he usually exuded was somewhat diminished, and the female students were bolder in their interactions with him, frequently attempting physical contact.

However, Sch Jing was firmly protected by Cao Sinian, preventing any unwanted advances.

The male students stood by, merely observing from the sidelines.

He Han sighed enviously, "These girls are really something. Miss Cao, too. Usually, she acts so cold, but now her true nature is revealed. She obviously wants to force Teacher Sch to go back and put in some 'star effort' with her!"

Zhao Longtu glanced at him and asked curiously, "Why did Teacher Sch become smaller?"

Chen Xingyan explained, "He said he cultivated a rather peculiar martial art that can alter his physical structure and transform his body. Not only can he become smaller, but he can even turn into animals..."

Zhao Longtu scratched his head, "Is this really possible through martial arts training?"

While he could understand becoming smaller, he had never encountered it in real life, but he had read about it in novels. For instance, the Heavenly Mountain Child-Grandma, so a martial art like this didn't seem too far-fetched.

However, transforming into animals seemed more like fantasy, something that would be associated with the Monkey King.

But they had already witnessed many strange things about Sch Jing, so this transformation seemed less surprising. Compared to his ability to produce kitchenware and cook in the Iron Tree Sea, turning into a child or an animal was easier to accept, and they weren't overly shocked.

Sch Jing was surrounded by the female students, with Cao Sinian holding him gently like a mother tiger protecting her cub.

He crossed his arms, his head leaning into Cao Sinian's soft and rounded embrace, enveloped by the fragrance of a young girl. However, he showed no expression, resembling a precocious and composed child.

"Don't be disrespectful to Teacher Sch," Cao Sinian said calmly.

"You're the one being disrespectful!" the girls retorted.

Cao Sinian paused slightly, pretending not to hear, and averted her gaze.

"You're feeling guilty, aren't you!"

"Hurry up and let go of Teacher Sch!"

Sch Jing pouted, "Alright, stop arguing."

He freed himself from Cao Sinian's embrace and said in a childish voice, "We'll have another mobility task soon, so make the most of the time to rest. Otherwise, you might not feel it now, but after every eight hours of long-distance travel, the accumulated fatigue will make it challenging to recover."

Despite his childlike appearance, the moment he spoke, the authority he had built up over time immediately asserted itself, leaving the female students no choice but to obediently agree with disappointment.

"You too, Sinian." Sch Jing looked at Cao Sinian.

"I have high expectations of you. Women are naturally limited by their genes and not suited for struggle, but you possess the calm temperament of a potential powerhouse."

"But right now, you're not calm enough."

Cao Sinian lowered her head, "I know I was wrong, Teacher Sch."

Sch Jing acknowledged with a hum and walked towards her. He extended his right hand.

Seeing this, Cao Sinian obediently squatted down, making herself shorter than Mini Sch Jing.

His tiny palm touched her head, gently caressing it.

"Go and rest... You'll have a tough time later."

Sch Jing spoke softly.

...

Night fell.

Surprisingly, the Iron Tree Sea, devoid of the sun, experienced a distinct day and night cycle similar to the present world.

According to Sch Jing's research, this was because the Borderland was a fusion of the present world and the Alien World, and every Borderland, no matter how chaotic, would retain traces of the present world.

The Iron Tree Sea was no exception, with day and night alternating despite the absence of the sun and moon. This was due to the influence of the present world's laws in this region.

At this moment, the second Mandatory Mobility Task had commenced.

Anyone with basic wilderness survival knowledge knew that pitch-black nights were highly unsuitable for movement. Humans primarily relied on vision to perceive the outside world, and in the absence of good visibility, encountering dangers could result in a significant loss of response capabilities.

However, the time limit for the Mandatory Mobility Task was eight hours, while the duration of the night exceeded eight hours.

Everyone had to navigate through the darkness to reach the designated task area, or they would incur a substantial point deduction.

Sch Jing's class was silently making their way through the pitch-black steel forest.

Unlike the day, when they maintained a wide formation, the students now huddled together, with very little space between them.

No one spoke, and the silent night exerted an invisible pressure. The darkness, where vision was limited, always seemed to conceal hidden dangers, prompting everyone to remain quiet.

The official supplies provided to the candidates included flashlights, but at this moment, no one was using them.

Here, it wasn't truly the wilderness, and the flashlight's light not only illuminated the path ahead but also stood out in the darkness of the night, attracting the attention of other students from different classes nearby.

A black cat, significantly larger than its peers, was nimbly weaving through the steel tree clusters.

Its paws landed silently, and its black fur provided excellent camouflage in the night, making it nearly invisible, like a ghost.

Only a pair of dignified indigo-blue vertical pupils, filled with authority, revealed a glimpse of its form.

A black shadow flame silently burned in the depths of its pupils, and the darkness of the night couldn't hinder Xue Cat Cat's vision. In his eyes, the world turned into black and white, yet every detail was crystal clear.

The indigo-blue eyes surveyed each student, some calm, some afraid, some cautious... He observed everyone's reactions.

Finally, his gaze settled on a student named Xu Zixuan.

Perhaps because he thought no one could see his face in the darkness, Xu Zixuan wore a carefree expression, looking relaxed and nonchalant.

Unlike the others, he didn't seem to feel the pressure that many students experienced in the darkness.

"You know what," Xu Zixuan suddenly spoke up.

The tense silence they had been maintaining was suddenly broken by his unexpected words, startling the surrounding students, who turned their heads towards him—though it was too dark to see clearly, they looked in the direction of the sound.

"What are you doing, Old Xu? You're giving me goosebumps," He Han whispered in complaint.

Xu Zixuan gave a dismissive snort and said, "They say that out of every twenty men, at least one is gay."

Although it was an odd time to strike up a casual conversation, his words piqued the curiosity of some students, who asked, "So, that means there's at least one gay person in our class, right?"

Xue Jing's class had a total of thirty-one students, ten girls, and twenty-one boys, with zero armed helicopters or Walmart shopping bags.

"I think it's definitely Bai Jing," He Han said casually. "He's cute, and his butt is super sexy."

Yuan Bai Jing, who was keeping watch over the surroundings, heard this and looked at He Han in horror. Instinctively, he tucked his buttocks in a bit, and his straight posture became hunched.

The other students, especially the boys, moved away from He Han.

"He Han, I already knew you were a pervert, but this..." Fu Jiali started to speak but then hesitated.

"You're not allowed to come within ten meters of Teacher Xue from now on, or else..." Ye Jingqiu said in a solemn tone.

He Han's eyes widened in surprise. "No, this is a topic that makes people nervous! I was just joking!"

"Are you guys misunderstanding me a little too much...?" Chen Xingyan said.

"There's nothing about you that could be misunderstood. You're just a pure pervert, and everything you say is just exposing your pervertedness..." Chen Xingyan added.

Amidst the chaos caused by He Han's remarks, almost no one noticed that Xu Zixuan, who had initiated the conversation, didn't speak again after that.

Above the crowd, sitting on a metal branch, Xue Cat Cat quietly observed Xu Zixuan as he silently moved away from the group.

He reached into an invisible gap and took out his wristband, catching it with his cat paw. He glanced at the map on it.

All the light dots representing the students were still clustered together, with none straying away.

The wristbands distributed by the officials to the candidates had tracking capabilities, allowing teammates and their assigned examiners to see each other's positions on their wristband maps.

If a person moved but the tracking didn't, then the wristband was definitely not on that person.

Xue Cat Cat's sharp gaze swept across the students, and his near-superhuman vision quickly spotted the issue.

On the left side of a male student's supply bag, a black wristband was hanging from a small pouch.

'He hung the wristband on someone else so that when he starts moving, no one will notice he's left... Is that what he's thinking?'

Xue Cat Cat shook his head, and his figure vanished from the branch.

In a hidden spot within the steel forest.

In the pitch-black environment, several figures gathered.

"Li Sui Sui, you're still alive? Didn't the Demon Lord finish you off?"

The appearance of the unusually short figure among them surprised everyone.

They had witnessed Li Sui Sui being punched by that demon-like man, causing half his body to disappear... Although they didn't think a Limit-Breaking Master's vitality would succumb to such an injury, they assumed Xue Jing would deliver the final blow. They never expected Li Sui Sui to survive.

So, this Demon Lord has principles and doesn't kill children?

...But this wasn't an ordinary child; he was the strongest child on the planet's surface.

Such a threat, no matter how small, should be eradicated, right?

Li Suisui spoke calmly, "What's wrong? Are you disappointed?"

Unconsciously, everyone shook their heads, "No, of course not."

Someone exclaimed with joy, "That's great! If you were dead, we would have no choice but to deal with that Demon Lord. But now..."

Li Suisui interrupted with a shake of his head, "You're wrong."

"It's not that 'if I die, we can't handle Xue Jing,' but 'even if I'm alive, I can't handle Xue Jing.'"

"Huh?" Zhou Yinglin asked in confusion.

"And on top of that, all of us together can't handle him either?"

Li Suisui gave him a surprised look.

"When did you get the idea that you have the right to interfere in my battle with Xue Jing?"

Zhou Yinglin's eyes twitched, suppressing his anger at being humiliated. He spoke in a somewhat stiff tone, "So, what do we do now?"

Li Suisui calmly replied, "This operation has already failed in its primary objective."

"The pre-battle assessment of Xue Jing's strength was severely miscalculated. Capturing or killing him was completely impossible."

"Now, all actions shift to the secondary objective—to prevent Xue Jing from achieving sufficient results in this Martial Arts Exam and becoming a 'Golden Body.'"

Li Suisui paused, and in the lightless environment, no one noticed the hesitation on his face.

"Regarding the candidates he leads, have them all withdraw."

"But when instructing your subordinates, try not to kill them."

Someone puzzledly asked, "Huh? Why? If we hold back, there might be many unexpected outcomes."

Li Suisui spoke calmly, "As I said before, when working for the Secret Martial Arts Society, think about yourself first."

"Consider the consequences of offending Xue Jing, and whether you can bear them."

"Umm..." Everyone recalled that punch, which could be described as opening up the heavens and splitting the earth, and a sense of powerless despair immediately filled their hearts.

Zhou Yinglin suddenly asked with some doubt, "You fought with Xue Jing and were severely injured... How are you recovered now?"

Li Suisui's expression remained unchanged as he calmly replied, "This is the vitality of a Secondary Limit-Breaker. You wouldn't understand since you haven't broken any limits."

Zhou Yinglin furrowed his brows.

He was about to speak when Li Suisui seemed to read his thoughts, continuing in a cold tone, "Don't try to show off your shallow understanding in front of someone far beyond your reach. It will only expose your incompetence."

"The last person you treated this way was named Xue Jing, and you know the consequences better than anyone."

"You're just an ordinary mortal, a mere backdrop to the times. Keep your mouth shut, and don't think you're a genius."

Upon hearing these words, Zhou Yinglin expected to feel furious.

However, before anger could take hold, a cold feeling spread throughout his body.

On the U19 Finals stage, the Heaven Feather Robe woven on that person's body, the epic battle between the child and that man, and that punch that shook the heavens and the earth...

A sense of powerless despair, leaving no room for rebuttal, rose within him.

Compared to Xue Jing and Li Suisui, true geniuses, he was merely an ordinary mortal, a backdrop to the times...

The cold, hard truth was laid bare before him without reservation.

Zhou Yinglin's lips trembled, and he remained silent, unable to speak.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps on metal echoed nearby.

"Who's there?!"

Someone immediately shone a flashlight in that direction.

"It's me."

In the light, Xu Zixuan casually raised his hands and smiled.

Li Suisui frowned, "Xue Jing has grouped all his subordinates into one team, and they should be moving together... How did you get away?"

Xu Zixuan waved his hand, "Don't worry, no one noticed me leaving."

"Xue Jing wasn't with you?" Li Suisui had a bad feeling.

Xu Zixuan explained, "He was, but don't worry, he didn't discover me. Today, Cao Sinian was by my side the whole time, so I couldn't find an opportunity until now..."

Before he could finish, Li Suisui sighed, "Stupid fool... I don't know if you're doing this on purpose or if you're genuinely this foolish."

"Do you really think that the things you secretly do in class, those little tricks you think the teacher at the front of the class can't see?"

"Why do you always like to show off your insignificant, ridiculous tricks in front of the strong?"

Li Suisui's gaze shifted upwards.

In the pitch-black darkness, his eyes met a pair of deep blue eyes, standing out in the lightless environment.

...

(I promise not to disappear without updates again. I was even rumored to have died in a car accident...

Recently, I've been struggling with writer's block for this part of the story. I took a break at the beginning of the month, thinking that without the pressure of a deadline, I could take my time. But as time passed, I kept putting it off, and now I'm stuck halfway through...

I'll take a leave if I can't continue writing!)

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end