The Sword God of the Universe

Chapter 331: Chapter 331 How did you sneak in?

Chapter 331: Chapter 331 How did you sneak in?

Outside Red Lotus Academy.

Like Dao Yi Academy, outsiders weren’t permitted to enter Red Lotus Academy at will.

Therefore, Jing Yan could only wait outside for Jing Ziqi to come out.

Jing Ziqi, aware of his arrival, would surely come to meet him immediately.

He waited for over thirty minutes, but although Jing Ziqi did not show up, Mu Yunfei did.

Before Jing Yan had cured Mu Yunfei’s mother, Mu Yunfei and Jing Ziqi had merely been good friends.

However, since then, their closeness had sharply increased, and now they were inseparable best friends.

“Jing Yan?”

“Mu Yunfei?”

Upon meeting, both smiled and greeted each other.

“Yunfei, where is Ziqi?

Isn’t she at Red Lotus Academy now?” Jing Yan looked behind Mu Yunfei, but there was no sign of Jing Ziqi.

“Ziqi actually isn’t at the academy right now.

She took on an academy mission and went to the Hunting Ground!” Mu Yunfei nodded as she spoke.

“The Hunting Ground?” Jing Yan’s gaze sharpened.

He knew about the Hunting Ground, located just outside Lanqu County City, not too far from the city itself.

This Hunting Ground was jointly managed by the Three Major Academies and the Commandery Prince Manor.

The academies would issue missions related to the Hunting Ground, which many students from the Three Major Academies took on to earn Academy Points.

Jing Yan didn’t need to undertake missions for points, but ordinary students, lacking better options, found that completing these missions was the best way to earn them.

“Yes, Ziqi and the others have just headed to the Hunting Ground.

If you leave now, you should be able to catch up with them before they arrive,” Mu Yunfei nodded and said to Jing Yan.

“Good, then I’ll go have a look,” Jing Yan responded.

“Alright, I still have some matters to attend to, otherwise I would have gone with you,” Mu Yunfei said apologetically.

“No worries, I know how to find the Hunting Ground,” Jing Yan replied with a smile, waving his hand dismissively.

After saying goodbye to Mu Yunfei, Jing Yan hurried toward the Hunting Ground.

This Hunting Ground was actually a mountain range just outside of Lanqu County City.

A large number of spiritual beasts existed within the mountain.

However, the Hunting Ground was different from natural spiritual beast habitats like Black Stone Mountain Range and Moonlight Forest.

Originally, it was said that there were no spiritual beasts in this mountain range, and the mountain was completely under the control of the Commandery Prince Manor, where they mined various precious ores and a small amount of Spirit Grass.

Later, once resources had been mostly depleted, the Commandery Prince Manor captured some spiritual beasts from places like the Black Stone Mountain Range to breed in the mountains.

The main purpose of these captures was for taming, but as time passed, the tamed spiritual beasts could not keep up with the growing number of captured ones.

This led to an ever-increasing number of spiritual beasts in the mountain.

Additionally, since these spiritual beasts were reproducing, the population exploded within a century, forcing the Commandery Prince Manor to expend great efforts to control their numbers.

Later still, the Commandery Prince Manor and the Three Major Academies devised a plan to jointly manage the mountain, renaming it the Hunting Ground.

The academies issued missions to allow students to enter the Hunting Ground and hunt spiritual beasts.

This not only tempered the students but also effectively controlled the population of spiritual beasts within.

Two hours later, Jing Yan arrived at the Hunting Ground.

Outside the camp, the Armored Guard of the Commandery Prince Manor patrolled; Jing Yan reported his identity as a student from Dao Yi Academy and had his Identity Token inspected by the Armored Guard, who then allowed him to enter the Hunting Ground camp.

This camp was the gathering place for students from the Three Major Academies before setting out to hunt.

Within the camp, there were many students from the Three Major Academies; however, Jing Yan did not spot Jing Ziqi after a look around.

He guessed that Jing Ziqi had not yet arrived.

Since Jing Yan traveled intermittently using Sky Wings, his journey was incredibly swift.

In contrast, a martial artist like Jing Ziqi would certainly be much slower.

Moreover, as the Hunting Ground was outside Lanqu County City and the area beyond the city was a wilderness, it was quite normal for Jing Yan to not encounter Jing Ziqi on his way.

“Let’s wait a bit more,” Jing Yan briefly considered, then decided to wait for Jing Ziqi.

Yet another two hours passed.

“There she is!” Jing Yan saw Jing Ziqi’s figure among a group of Red Lotus Academy students.

Most students from the Three Major Academies coming to the Hunting Ground wore their academy’s uniforms, though a few wore ordinary clothes.

Jing Ziqi and her group were all clad in Red Lotus Academy uniforms.

Seeing Jing Ziqi, Jing Yan quickly stepped forward to meet her.

“Jing Yan, what are you doing here?” Jing Ziqi, seeing Jing Yan, asked with some surprise.

“I was waiting for you.

I went to Red Lotus Academy to find you, but Mu Yunfei said you had come to the Hunting Ground, so I came here,” Jing Yan said with a smile.

Jing Ziqi also smiled.

“Did you need me for something?” Jing Ziqi revealed her pearly teeth.

Clearly, she was very happy that Jing Yan had come to Red Lotus Academy looking for her.

“It’s nothing important,” Jing Yan shook his head.

“Jing Ziqi, who is this guy?” among those with Jing Ziqi, one person glanced at Jing Yan and asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

The man’s tone rubbed Jing Yan the wrong way, and he frowned slightly.

With a quick sense, he knew this person was at the Late Innate Stage of cultivation, probably a high-level student from Red Lotus Academy.

Jing Yan also took the opportunity to gauge the strength of the others in the group and was surprised to find that, aside from Jing Ziqi, who was at the Middle Innate Stage, all the others were at the Late Innate.

What was going on?

If this was a Late Innate Stage team, how had Jing Ziqi managed to join them?

“This is Jing Yan, my…

friend!” Jing Ziqi turned back to explain to the man.

Jing Ziqi had originally intended to say Jing Yan was her clansman, her younger brother, but the Jing family from Donglin City wasn’t very famous.

Mentioning that Jing Yan was her clansman might have required further explanations, so she simply stated that he was her friend.

“Kid, this is the Hunting Ground camp.

How did you sneak in here?” Hearing Jing Ziqi’s introduction, the man’s gaze sharpened and fell back on Jing Yan.

Clearly, he didn’t regard Jing Yan as a student from the Three Major Academies.

Jing Yan’s frown deepened a bit; the man’s tone was indeed unfriendly, and his eyes held a hint of hostility.

“Could this guy have a grudge against me?” Jing Yan thought helplessly.

He took a closer look at the man, making sure he had never seen him before; there should be no enmity between them.