Chapter 352: Chapter 352. A Leader’s Perks

After two and a half days, Ji Zhi informed everyone to prepare because they were about to arrive. They looked around and saw that the land below was a desolate meadow surrounded by mountains and woods. No human settlements were visible in the vicinity. When Ji Zhi mentioned that Shi Zi lived a secluded life, they didn’t expect it to be this secluded.

They were heading toward a mansion in the middle of the meadow. A tiny river ran beside the mansion. Around the mansion was some kind of stone formation. Ji Zhi explained that the formation was to confuse intruders who try to approach from land.

“Look there,” Ji Zhi pointed.

After looking in the direction Ji Zhi indicated, one of them said, “Is that a battle puppet?”

“There are more puppets scattered around the formation,” another said after observing the place.

“Yes,” Ji Zhi said. “Those who dare to intrude will not only get confused by the formation but also risk getting attacked by those battle puppets. Each of those battle puppets at the outer range has the strength of the Peak Transformation Stage. The ones in the middle area have power equal to the Beginning Mystic Stage. Those closest to the mansion were as powerful as Intermediate Mystic Stage cultivators.”

“What about intruders approaching from the sky?” Wu Di asked.

The answer presented itself before Ji Zhi answered. The air around them distorted, and a stone wall appeared before them. The great eagle came to an abrupt stop, or else it would crash into the stone wall. The stone wall wasn’t a regular wall. It was like a piece of wall floating in the sky. Arranged haphazardly behind it were more walls. These walls filled the sky above Shi Zi’s abode.

“Illusions?” Xin Wuming asked.

“This is part of the effects of the formation protecting this place,” Ji Zhi explained. “The walls may be illusions, but that doesn’t mean you should just crash into them. There might be no actual wall there, but this formation creates a mental influence that will make your body think there are walls. Depending on your mental power, there will be an effect if you try to brute force these illusions.”

“The great eagle’s mind is simple. It will receive wounds as if crashing into a real wall if it barges in,” Sima Fang concluded.

“That is correct,” Ji Zhi said. “To navigate safely through this formation, the great eagle must fly through the maze of these floating walls.”

“This means the formation is useless against most Martial Realm cultivators,” Yan Long said. “Human cultivators will know these are illusions. Even if these illusory walls affect them somewhat, it won’t be severe.”

“Shi Zi’s security measures are not only this formation,” Ji Zhi pointed using his finger.

The students looked at where he was pointing and saw three humans floating toward them among the floating walls. These humans passed through the walls as if they were air. When these humans came close, the students realized they were not humans. They were battle puppets.

“Those were low-tier runic-grade battle puppets,” Ji Zhi informed. “They had the strength equivalent to Mystic Stage cultivators.”

The students were astonished to hear it. Martial realm cultivators were treasures to any country. A battle puppet was most of the time more formidable than their cultivator counterpart, considering they could not get tired, felt fear, or hurt. For Shi Zi to produce battle puppets that matched a cultivator of this realm was an incredible feat. No wonder he used to be the kingdom’s chief puppet maker.

One of the three low-tier runic battle puppets approached the group. A human voice was heard from it, “Who dares to trespass my territory?”

“Old Zi, it is me!” Ji Zhi shouted.

“Ji Zhi? Is that you, old fart?” The battle puppet replied.

“Damn it, Old Zi. Can’t you be more decent? I am with my students here,” Ji Zhi uttered. “They are Royal Academy’s ten most talented students in the senior class.”

“You brought the specimens I requested? Very good! Very good! Come in!”

The floating walls rearranged after the battle puppet stopped speaking. The previously chaotic arrangement reorganized into neatly stacked arrays that formed a tunnel in the sky. At the end of the tunnel was Shi Zi’s mansion.

“He didn’t refer to us as specimens, did he?” Tuang Yin asked.

Ji Zhi uttered a vocal signal understood by the great eagle, and it resumed its advance. It flew through the tunnel. The three low-tier runic battle puppets let the great eagle pass. The great eagle safely crossed through the formation and landed before the mansion’s door just as that door opened.

A frail-looking old man came out of the opened door. He wore a simple robe that sported tears in a few spots. If Ji Zhi hadn’t jumped down and embraced the old man, everyone would think the guy was a servant.

Everyone left the great eagle before it flew back out. The formation didn’t hinder it from leaving.

“This is Shi Zi, the master of this mansion,” Ji Zhi introduced the frail old man to the students.

“These are the ten?” Shi Zi asked. His conduct made it seem like he was appraising the ten. “They look more promising than the previous ten. I hope they don’t disappoint. I don’t know where to get better ones if they also fail. Come, let’s enter!”

Shi Zi and Ji Zhi entered the mansion together. The students looked at one another with weird expressions.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Tuang Yin said.

Huang San laughed. “I guess some people never change. Let’s head in.”

“Whatever the challenge is, I will succeed!” Wu Di announced.

“Pipe down, you brute!” Yan Long scolded.

Wu Di responded by punching at him. A fist made of light flew out of his punch. It slammed into the ground near Yan Long.

This sudden attack startled Yan Long. He exclaimed angrily, “Are you looking for a fight?!”

“You bet I am,” Wu Di returned. He took a battle-ready stance.

Sima Fang clapped his hands. “Now, now. You two are forbidden to fight. We are a team. We do not fight each other. We cooperate.”

“Buzz off, lady,” Wu Di said.

Yan Long didn’t accept the advice as well. He told her, “Don’t think because the principal picked you as the leader, then I will listen. No one commands me!”

Ji Zhi, who had walked past the entrance door, came back out again when he heard the commotion.

“Do you think you can take the principal’s words lightly like that?” Ji Zhi said. “Sima Fang has been appointed the leader of this team. This is not a meaningless appointment. There will be consequences if you don’t follow Sima Fang’s order.”

“Consequences? What consequences?” Wu Di asked.

“At the end of this mission, you will be graded,” Ji Zhi said. “Those with poor grades will receive reduced rewards. The grades are between one to ten. If you receive the full ten marks, you will receive the full reward, which is 20,000 academic points and a droplet of the Spring of Life.”

“You hand out Spring of Life’s droplets for rewards?” Si Zhi, who stood beside Ji Zhi, asked with surprise.

Ji Zhi continued his explanation instead of answering Si Zhi, “If you receive the lowest mark, you will not return empty-handed. You will receive 5,000 academic points, but that’s all.”

“We must score full marks to receive the Spring of Life’s droplet?” Amon asked.

“Not necessarily. As long as you score higher than 5, you will receive the droplet,” Ji Zhi said. “But you will receive fewer academic points, of course.”

“Let me guess. The one who grades us is Sima Fang,” Huang San said.

“Now you understand the consequences for not following your team leader’s command?” Ji Zhi asked.

“Hehe,” Sima Fang chuckled while looking at Wu Di and Yan Long.

Wu Di stood upright and gave Sima Fang a formal salute. “Wu Di reporting to leader Sima Fang!” He exclaimed.

Yan Long threw Wu Di a disgusted glance, but he also acted less rebellious to Sima Fang than before.

“I need to warn you all about another thing,” Ji Zhi added. “If Sima Fang dies in the mission, all of you will automatically receive the lowest mark. Hence, you will only receive 5,000 academic points. Even if her death is not anyone’s fault, it doesn’t matter. Whatever the reason, if she dies, everyone receives the lowest possible reward.”

“What? That’s not fair!” Yan Long protested.

“I’m more concerned about hearing the possibility of us dying,” Tuang Yin remarked.

“All missions are risky. Do you think we are given a peaceful special mission?” Xa Jien criticized Tuang Yin’s remark.

Ji Zhi gave Yan Long a hard stare, which made Yan Long take an involuntary step back. “Not fair? If you want to join the kingdom, you should learn to get used to group hierarchy. In a war between two armies, the one who loses his general will receive a tremendous morale blow. That’s why every soldier in the army has a duty to protect the general. Protecting your leader is the basic responsibility of any functional group. Losing the leader will be a failure of every member of the group. If you can’t accept this, quit the royal academy and go back to your clan!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep