The Stone Golem quickly returned to the Cave Fortress, and the three instructors gracefully dismounted. Su Xinyan lightly waved her Magic Staff, banishing the Stone Golem back to the Undead Realm.

Inside the fortress, a crowd of eagerly awaiting instructors surrounded them.

A female instructor asked, "Instructor Su, how did it go? Was it smooth?"

Su Xinyan pointed at the Sealing Demon Box in her hand and smiled. "Mission accomplished. Everything went smoothly. Thanks to Fang Zhou's timely warning, we arrived just as the Desecration Torch was evolving to the Black Iron Stage. I've brought back its Desecration Core and will send it to the military academy right away."

The female instructor breathed a sigh of relief and said excitedly, "That's great! Once this Desecration Core is purified, Cave 1 won't have any more hidden dangers."

Su Xinyan smiled mysteriously and said leisurely, "The Desecration Core has already been successfully purified by Fang Zhou. He even received a reward from the World Will and comprehended a brand-new World Rune."

"What?!" a chorus of instructors exclaimed in surprise.

"An Undead Mage can purify a Desecration Core?"

"Fang Zhou actually comprehended a World Rune?"

"The earliest predecessors who comprehended World Runes only did so at the Bronze Tier. Fang Zhou is just an Apprentice-level Professional!"

Amidst the instructors' fervent discussion, Lu Hu cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Alright, keep this news confidential for now. Do not make it public. We'll conduct a test once Fang Zhou returns from the hunting expedition and assess the situation properly. Also, just like yesterday, edit today's student combat highlights for the other students to use as a reference."

The instructors nodded in agreement and began to busy themselves.

Lu Hu then turned to Su Xinyan and said, "Instructor Xinyan, I'll have to trouble you to take the Desecration Core back to the academy for testing."

Su Xinyan gave a casual salute, carried the Sealing Demon Box through the Cave Fortress, and hurried back to the military academy.

「An hour later.」

Sea City Military Academy, Principal's Office.

Su Tiankuo absentmindedly toyed with the Level 2 Nether Stone that had been purified from the Desecration Core, his serious old face still bearing a trace of disbelief. "To purify the Desecration Core so thoroughly without damaging the original materials... how on earth did that little guy Fang Zhou do it?"

Su Xinyan sprawled unceremoniously on the sofa and laughed with immense pride. "I've always said it: we Undead Mages are invincible! Those Light-Attribute Professionals, even with their Purification skills, can only completely dissolve a Desecration Core, leaving nothing behind.

"Compared to their utterly crude methods, what Fang Zhou did this time was a work of fine embroidery—incredibly precise."

Su Tiankuo nodded with a touch of emotion, then asked, "What World Rune did he comprehend?"

Su Xinyan replied, "It seems to be a very practical skill enhancement Rune called Night Watcher I. Its effect is to reduce the Spiritual Power consumption of skills. I've checked the World Rune compendium, and the Human Alliance didn't have this Rune previously, so it appears to be a new one."

Su Tiankuo pondered for a moment before speaking. "World Runes are gifts and rewards from the Blue Star's Will. Only living beings on Blue Star who have the potential to save the world have the opportunity to obtain them. For Fang Zhou to comprehend a World Rune at the Apprentice Stage shows that the Blue Star's Will recognizes his immense potential.

"Xinyan, I will later send you the Human Alliance's latest research on World Runes. Please pass it on to Fang Zhou and have him develop and utilize his World Rune to its fullest. As long as he continues to contribute to Blue Star, he will have the chance to obtain more and even stronger World Runes in the future."

"Yes, Principal!"

Su Xinyan gave a playful salute, then turned to wheedle Su Tiankuo. "Dad, look, Fang Zhou has already earned the recognition of the Blue Star's Will. Can't you give our Undead Mage research team a little more support? For instance, you could allocate several hundred thousand contribution points, or maybe get some senior Undead Mage Professionals to join us. Or, you know, increasing our reimbursement ratio to ninety-nine percent wouldn't be out of the question either."

Su Tiankuo snorted, pushing away his daughter, who was being uncharacteristically clingy. "Heh, several hundred thousand contribution points? Even if I dared to give it, would Fang Zhou dare to accept it?"

After a pause, he relented slightly. "You don't need to ask. I will increase subsequent support at my discretion."

Seeing her objective achieved, Su Xinyan casually agreed, then snatched the Level 2 Nether Stone from Su Tiankuo's hand. "Alright, Dad, you can get back to work. I'm going to get my beauty sleep. This Gemstone is Fang Zhou's trophy, and it's a rare Undead-Attribute one at that. Since it's been tested and there are no problems, I'll return it to him after the Cave Hunting is over."

Without waiting for Su Tiankuo to reply, she hurriedly left the principal's office.

Watching the door creak shut, Su Tiankuo rubbed his brow, feeling somewhat helpless. This girl... always siding with outsiders!

He slowly stood up and gazed out the window at the faint morning light, unable to suppress a chuckle. Heh, this little monster Fang Zhou really is an eye-opener! With him around, we might actually be able to challenge the First Military Academy's throne in the upcoming recruit tournament.

***

「The next morning, at Sea City Military Academy.」

The first-year students arrived at their classroom on time to watch the final day's hunting livestream of the seed candidates. However, before that, the instructors first played them a short film: a montage of the exciting combat highlights from the second day.

Compared to their energetic and spirited state on the first day, most of the students in this video looked rather worn out and battered.

Except for the first three clips, the other seventeen combat videos mostly showed how the elite students managed to escape from being surrounded by demons.

The Natural Summoner Meng Hongzhuang, who was initially riding her giant bear leisurely, had to trek arduously on her own after her bear was injured and fell unconscious, barely escaping after playing a long game of hide-and-seek with a pack of Fierce Wolves in the dense forest.

The supremely self-confident and destiny-defying Demon Hunter Ye Fan, when faced with swarms of Night Demons, could only make a series of hasty strategic retreats, moving as swiftly as the wind.

The Earth Knight Zhao Yuan, who had been relying on his tough hide to charge back and forth through hordes of weaker demons, unfortunately ran into a lurking Middle-Rank Apprentice-Tier elite demon. Caught completely off guard, he was nearly eliminated.

***

Such dire situations were unbearable to watch, leaving the observing students with grave expressions and a sinking feeling in their stomachs.

It wasn't until the highlight reel showed Fang Zhou's crisp and fluid combat scenes that they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Ranked in the top three was Fang Zhou's effortless extermination of the Demon Swamp Frog swarm in the Foul Swamp.

In fact, this battle seemed rather unremarkable to Fang Zhou. The only real challenge had been his position in the muddy swamp, which required him to take out the leader first to end the battle swiftly.

But the instructor responsible for making the video had thoughtfully assigned homework after this particular clip. He required the students to summarize Fang Zhou's battle strategies and combat highlights in this swamp annihilation with a minimum of 2,000 words.

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