The outer edges of the forest must have been cleared out recently; Wen Yuncheng stepped on some damp grass and realized it was blood. She followed Yan Ling deeper inside, unsure how far Yan Ling meant by “deep” or what range constituted the “outer edges” of the forest. In any case, Wen Yuncheng was getting dizzy. After following Yan Ling for about ten minutes, she was completely lost.

Watching Yan Ling walk straight ahead, Wen Yuncheng felt a little panicked. “1947, do you still remember the way?”

[I haven’t loaded the map template. Your teacher is right ahead of you, what are you afraid of?]

True. Wen Yuncheng relaxed a little. “1947, how come we haven’t run into a single demonic beast after all this time?”

[Didn’t you just see the bloodstains? Someone has probably been through this area. That person might be ahead of you, so they’ve temporarily cleared out a section.]

Just as 1947 was explaining, Wen Yuncheng saw Yan Ling casually change direction. She followed closely and suddenly heard a tiger’s roar.

Yan Ling’s eyes lit up. “I’ll go check it out first. You run over on your own.”

“Wha—” Before Wen Yuncheng could finish her word, she watched, wide-eyed, as Yan Ling suddenly sped up, leaped onto a tree branch, and disappeared after a few bounds.

She stood stunned in the forest. Recalling that Yan Ling’s weapon seemed to be a dagger, she figured her teacher was likely an assassin-type class. Her movement skills were truly impeccable.

With skills like that, it was perfectly normal that Yan Ling hadn’t taken a single disciple in all these years.

Fortunately, Wen Yuncheng had noted the direction. She stretched her limbs a bit and started running.

While running, Wen Yuncheng could still chat with 1947. “Can my Mechanical Master upgrade template learn lightness skills?”

[Like hell it can. No.]

Wen Yuncheng was instantly displeased. “But other Star Kings can fly through the air. If I can’t fly when I reach level sixty, how lame would I be? Could you still call that being a Long Aotian?”

[Don’t worry, you’ll be able to take to the skies at level sixty, too,] 1947 said. [But you won’t have any of the enhancements that come from strengthening Star Power, because you don’t have Star Power. A Mechanical Master has its own advantages. You should be content and not want everything. You can’t have the best of both worlds.]

Wen Yuncheng was a bit speechless. She pulled out the abridged novel 1947 had sent her and found a certain chapter. “Here, the male lead had no money but wanted an auction item, so he just killed someone and took their stuff. Not only did he get the item, but he also got their money.”

1947 immediately recalled the novel, thinking to itself that it hadn’t finished redacting it after all. It adjusted its system voice and said sternly: [That was the pre-overhaul Long Aotian. You’re a new-era Long Aotian. How can you be the same?]

[Besides, that’s a novel, for reference only! When you started school, I told you to act like a Long Aotian and provoke a challenge, but you didn’t dare to, did you?]

[I told you to face-slap your fiancée, did you do it?]

[I told you to…]

“Stop, stop, stop, I was wrong.” Wen Yuncheng sincerely admitted her mistake, even stopping to press her palms together and bow to the sky. “Can you find Teacher Yan Ling’s exact location?”

[Template not loaded,] 1947 said. [Kid, I’m not omnipotent.]

Fine. As long as 1947 stopped nagging, that was all that mattered. Wen Yuncheng had only been trying to change the subject anyway.

She was still running along the path when she suddenly saw Yan Ling dart back. As Yan Ling passed, she grabbed Wen Yuncheng by the collar, hauled her up into the trees, and then, without a moment’s hesitation, took off with her in a high-speed escape.

Wen Yuncheng was dizzy and felt choked. By the time Yan Ling finally stopped and put her down, her legs were so weak that she wobbled twice and plopped right onto the ground. “Teacher, what are you doing?”

“Practicing my skills. It was my first time trying to kill-steal someone else’s demonic beast. I got caught.”

Wen Yuncheng: …I mean, how could you not get caught?!

Now Wen Yuncheng grew nervous too. She scrambled to her feet and looked back, only to get a smack on the head from Yan Ling that sent her sitting right back down on her butt.

“What are you looking at? We lost them long ago. I just snatched a Star Warrior’s tiger, it’s not like it was anything rare.”

“Teacher, isn’t that… not very good?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. In the Demonic Beast Great Forest, the beasts are ownerless. Whoever kills it, gets it. If no one saw you kill the beast, and then someone else kills you, then both you and the beast belong to them.” Yan Ling paused. “But not many people do that latter thing. After all, anyone who does wouldn’t let us know about it.”

Wen Yuncheng: You make a lot of sense.

Before Wen Yuncheng could say anything else, Yan Ling picked her up again. Apparently, Yan Ling felt walking was too slow, and carrying Wen Yuncheng just now had shown her a new way to bring her disciple along.

“1947, don’t I look like a poor, weak, and helpless little chick?”

[But you can eat. One of your meals is worth who knows how many of a little chick’s.]

The scenery flew backward in Wen Yuncheng’s vision. After getting used to it, she actually started to feel a bit comfortable. She even thought that if her teacher wasn’t carrying her like this, a princess carry (crossed out), or even a piggyback ride would be great. It wouldn’t be so bumpy that way.

The dream had just begun when she was thrown to the ground. She found herself locked in a deep, meaningful gaze with a startled wild boar. The boar’s long tusks flashed in Wen Yuncheng’s eyes. With a few panting roars, it charged straight at her.

Suddenly, her head wasn’t dizzy and her legs weren’t weak anymore. Wen Yuncheng scrambled up and ran, immediately using a Flame Exploder. The device was in her hand for less than a second before she threw it. It exploded with a “bang,” giving the boar a huge fright. Low-level demonic beasts are afraid of fire, and the boar Yan Ling had found was a Star Practitioner, so it was also fearful of flames.

Startled by the flames, the boar grew even more frenzied. It charged straight through the special-effects fire, its speed even faster than before.

Pursuer, Self-Destructor. The Pursuer didn’t need to be controlled to explode, but the Self-Destructor did. After creating some distance, Wen Yuncheng finally managed to calm down and enter combat mode. Her mechanical armguards had already extended. After the Pursuer exploded, Wen Yuncheng timed the moment the boar passed the Self-Destructor and, with a thought, made it detonate with a boom!

After the triple explosion, Wen Yuncheng could smell the primitive aroma of cooked meat wafting from the boar. The originally brownish-black boar was now pitch-black, its wounds charred.

Its squeals were just really ear-piercing.

Wen Yuncheng’s thoughts had now shifted from “Help, I’m about to be gored by a pig!” to “This boar meat smells delicious.” Timing the Self-Destructor’s explosion perfectly, she closed the distance and lunged forward, delivering a stabbing kick to the boar’s belly.

The boar staggered from the force but didn’t topple over. Unfazed, Wen Yuncheng vaulted onto its back. The spike on her right armguard shot out and plunged into its head, while she drove the spike from her left arm into its spine. Wen Yuncheng crouched low, and no matter how wildly the boar thrashed, it couldn’t throw her off. Only after the boar breathed its last did she pull out the spikes and get down.

After carefully wiping the blood from her spikes and retracting her armguards, Wen Yuncheng looked at Yan Ling with a sincere expression. “Teacher, why don’t we eat first and then continue?”

Yan Ling gave her a slight smile, and in the next second, picked her up to leave. If Wen Yuncheng hadn’t shrieked at the top of her lungs, “My pig!” and if Yan Ling hadn’t found her embarrassing, Wen Yuncheng probably wouldn’t have even had the chance to collect her spoils.

Fake teachers: Gentle, considerate, patient, and tireless in their guidance.

Real teachers: Fiery-tempered, hands-on, and ready to fight if you don’t comply.

Wen Yuncheng: So, why is Yan Ling an assassin? She should be a berserker!

In the Demonic Beast Great Forest, Wen Yuncheng spent five unforgettable days.

Unforgettable moments included: encountering a third-layer Star Warrior great black bear during a lunchtime barbecue. Wen Yuncheng turned around in a panic to find Yan Ling had vanished. Terrified by the bear, she scrambled up a tree, only to look down and see that Yan Ling had already K.O.’d the bear and was giving her a look of utter disgust. (But it tasted mediocre.)

And also: encountering a Star Practitioner-level fat rabbit that was knee-high, plump, and huge. When Wen Yuncheng used her spike, the rabbit took a bite—its front teeth fell out, and her spike cracked. (But it tasted excellent.)

Among other miscellaneous encounters, Wen Yuncheng killed a total of sixteen Star Practitioner-level demonic beasts and three Star Apostle-level ones. This was mainly because Yan Ling didn’t take her to find Star Apostle-level beasts; those three were killed only because they happened to run into them.

However, the demonic beasts Wen Yuncheng killed couldn’t fetch a good price. Firstly, low-level beasts weren’t worth much to begin with. Secondly, her skills were all explosive, which destroyed the pelts, making them impossible to sell. The beasts that didn’t taste very good were sold off cheaply by Wen Yuncheng (practically given away for free) to the inn, while the tasty ones were stored in her ring as barbecue ingredients for her forest adventure.

Five days later, the main contingent from Star Academy arrived. Wen Yuncheng was tossed back to the academy by Yan Ling.

However, the students who came from the academy were all second, third, or even fourth-years. They all had their own teams, and the teachers would only provide rescue when they sent a distress signal, not follow them closely the entire time. They were all here to train and temper themselves, so naturally, they weren’t willing to bring along a burden like Wen Yuncheng.

Of course, Wen Yuncheng couldn’t join them either. They operated in teams to challenge Star Warrior-level demonic beasts. But Wen Yuncheng received no rewards for team kills; she was only suited for soloing Star Practitioner-level demonic beasts.

Of course, Wen Yuncheng also had an item to call for help: the communication stone Yan Ling had given her at the very beginning.

“That’s just a first-layer Star Warrior. You can try fighting it. I’ll intervene if there’s danger.” Qiu Fei pointed to a gray wolf drinking by a small river. “You need to remember the weaknesses of various demonic beasts and pay attention to dodging.”

“I’m going.” Lin Jinyu gripped her sword and approached the gray wolf. The wolf became alert in an instant. A low, guttural growl rumbled from its throat, and its entire body tensed, looking as if it would pounce and tear at her in the next second—

“Who’s there?!—” Qiu Fei suddenly shouted. As the sound left her lips, a cold light flashed. The wolf’s head fell to the ground. In the next instant, both the head and body vanished, leaving only a pool of blood by the river…

“(Expletive) Yan Ling! Have you no shame?! You’d even steal my disciple’s wolf?!—”

Unfortunately, the wolf-thief was fast and swift, coming and going without a trace, leaving no reply.

Qiu Fei was about to explode with anger. She gathered Star Power in her fist and shattered a tree with one punch, which only slightly calmed her down. She looked at the unfazed Lin Jinyu and forced a kind smile. “It’s alright, Teacher will take you to find another demonic beast. Wolf meat is sour and tough, and it has a gamey smell. Teacher will find you a better one.”

Lin Jinyu glanced at the remains of the tree and nodded. “Okay, Teacher.”