Martial arts have become extinct worldwide, yet I am forced to have a large family.

"What do we do now? Run?"

Nan Shunian instinctively grabbed Yang Xian's arm, her voice slightly tense.

"Junior students, don't get excited. It might not be the enemy," Liang Gaoyi said calmly.

"Not an enemy?" Nan Shunian looked somewhat surprised. "But senior, that thing looks way too villainous! It doesn't look like anything good!"

"Quiet down for a moment." Yang Xian patted Nan Shunian's hand that was gripping his arm. "Listen to what Senior Liang has to say."

If the monsters really invaded, the bigwigs in Southsea City wouldn't have remained completely silent.

It's even more impossible to allow a seventh-realm demon to swagger in and fly over Chengwu University in the core area.

If they're not enemies... then they're probably the "Exorcism Cult".

Yang Xian's mind flashed back to the information Jiang Mengyun had given him about the "Glory Society," which also contained some information about the "Exorcism Cult."

"If I'm not mistaken," Liang Gaoyi's voice confirmed Yang Xian's guess, "that three-headed dragon should have been sent by the 'Exorcism Cult' to aid our South China Sea."

He pointed to the sky.

"Look closely, there are people standing on the back of that dragon."

After his reminder, Nan Shunian and Yang Xiancai noticed.

On top of the largest dragon head in the middle, there were indeed several blurry figures standing.

Because of the distance, it wasn't very clear.

"Exorcism Cult? What's that?" Nan Shunian asked blankly.

Yang Xian glanced at her sideways and couldn't help but retort, "You're supposed to be from a martial arts family, you can't possibly not know this, can you?"

"Oh! Don't worry about that!" Nan Shunian blushed, stubbornly sticking out her tongue.

Liang Gaoyi patiently explained:

"The Exorcism Cult is a large organization active in the Western Continent, primarily dedicated to resisting demons."

"But their philosophy is different from ours as martial artists. They refuse to walk the path of martial arts and instead specialize in controlling monsters to fight."

"The core members of this organization are said to be mostly ordinary people."

"An ordinary person?" Nan Shunian's eyes widened:

"Senior, you're not kidding, are you? How could an ordinary person control a monster?"

"That three-headed dragon at the seventh realm up there, could it also be controlled by an ordinary person?"

This completely overturned her understanding.

Even powerful warriors can only choose to defeat or kill high-level monsters; trying to "control" a monster is an almost impossible task.

It's important to understand that "defeating" and "manipulating" are two completely different concepts.

The former is far less difficult than the latter.

Even martial artists wouldn't dare say they could do it easily, so how could a group of ordinary people?

This sounds absolutely fantastical.

"It is said that... they have mastered a special technology that can erase the self-awareness of monsters, turning them into complete puppets in battle, thus achieving complete submission."

Liang Gaoyi's erudition was on full display at this moment:

"But how exactly it is achieved involves the core secrets of the Exorcism Cult, which we outsiders do not know."

"As for that three-headed dragon... if I'm not mistaken, it should be controlled by a person of archbishop level."

Yang Xian was secretly amazed.

I never expected that Senior Liang would always be so forgetful.

But I remember these basic facts very clearly.

"I have a question," Yang Xian raised a crucial one, "Since most of those who control monsters are ordinary people, how do they avoid being affected by the aftershocks of battle?"

The higher the level of the battle, the greater the destructive power and the wider the range of impact.

Let alone a world-destroying being like a ninth-realm Martial God, even a Martial Saint or Martial Emperor could easily annihilate a large number of ordinary creatures with just a wave of their hand.

On the battlefield, things change in an instant; who will listen to your sense of morality?

To catch the thief, first catch the king; to eliminate the manipulator, you must first find a way to take them down. This is the most basic tactical thinking.

Liang Gaoyi nodded:

"What we can think of, the exorcists can think of as well."

"To avoid this risk, they usually hide their own bodies inside the bodies of the monsters they control."

"Use the monster's powerful body as a barrier to avoid being directly hit by the aftershocks of the battle."

"Holy crap, a human piloting a Gundam? Is that that cool?" Nan Shunian was stunned.

"Senior, you just said they came to support us?"

"Would they really be that kind as to travel halfway around the world to help?"

In her view, the relationship between countries and organizations is more of a competition.

Such international aid that crosses oceans and seeks no reward always sounds somewhat unreal.

"The support was just a side effect." Liang Gaoyi shook his head:

"The Exorcism Cult's influence is spread all over the world. They will actively go to areas where spatial rifts are active in order to search for and enslave powerful monsters. This is an important source for them to replenish and expand their 'battle pet' army."

Battles naturally lead to losses, which makes it even more necessary to replenish them with a constant stream of monsters.

For the exorcism cult, recruiting "laborers" from all over the world can both strengthen their own power and gain a good reputation, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

"I see..." Nan Shunian suddenly realized, "But why did they specifically fly over our school? Why didn't they just go to the spatial rift and catch the monsters?"

As she spoke, she suddenly looked at Yang Xian with a strange expression: "They didn't come here to see you, did they?"

"What do you want?" Yang Xian rolled his eyes at her, annoyed. "I can ignore the news of the 'Martial Arts Extinction Curse,' so the higher-ups wouldn't spread it around and make it known to everyone."

Such a major event concerning the future of China would be kept strictly confidential by the top leadership; how could a foreign organization possibly know about it?

"I guess..." Liang Gaoyi's gaze drifted towards the distant back mountain, his tone tinged with uncertainty.

"They're here to see Bai Chuyi..."

------

The back mountain.

"Principal Huang, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The archbishop spoke fluent Chinese from the very first word.

"Archbishop Lemon, I've long admired your name." Principal Huang said with a polite smile.

"I never expected that the first reinforcements to arrive in South Sea City would be from your sect."

"I'm just a little curious, why does Archbishop Leimen have time to come to my little university instead of going to the front lines to capture monsters in the spatial rifts?"

He was practically saying it outright...

You've come to the wrong place, haven't you?

"Haha, of course I'll go." Lemon's face was still beaming.

"However, before I went there, I heard that your school recently produced an extraordinary genius..."

"He is also an extremely rare SS-level talent student."

At this point, a hint of eagerness flashed in the archbishop's eyes.

"I wonder if I would have the honor of meeting this genius?"