After a thousand years of cultivation, he returns at the pinnacle!

Deep in the forest, Zhang Laibao was leading his men cautiously forward.

They followed the bloodstains and messy footprints on the ground, venturing deeper and deeper. The surrounding trees grew denser, the light dimmer, and the sweet, pungent stench in the air grew stronger.

"Teacher Zhang."

A young female teacher behind her lowered her voice, her face pale: "This smell...is wrong."

"The smell of blood." Zhang Laibao said expressionlessly, "And there was a lot of it."

The female teacher's face turned even uglier.

After walking for about five more minutes, Zhang Laibao suddenly stopped, raised his right hand, and signaled the people behind him to stop.

"arrive."

Ahead was a wide-open space.

When the light from the illuminating crystal shone down, everyone gasped.

On the open ground, seven mutilated corpses lay scattered about.

Some skulls were shattered, red and white scattered on the ground; some bodies were cut in half at the waist, with internal organs spilling out from the wounds; some limbs were incomplete, the cuts were bloody and mangled, revealing stark white bone fragments.

Blood soaked the entire open space, pooling into small pools in the low-lying areas, gleaming a dark red under the light of the crystal.

"This..." The young female teacher covered her mouth, her face turning pale.

"What is all this...?"

"Don't panic." Zhang Laibao's voice remained calm, but his clenched fists betrayed his inner anger.

"Inspect the scene and see if there are any survivors."

The teachers split up and carefully examined each body.

No one is alive.

This was an expected result, but the moment everyone saw it with their own eyes, their spirits plummeted.

"Teacher Zhang," a male teacher stood up, his voice hoarse, "seven of them, all dead."

Zhang Laibao remained silent for three seconds.

"Make a note of their location, and have someone come and collect their remains later." He took a deep breath. "Now, find the black-scaled wolf. It killed our students; we can't let it get away like this."

However, he fell silent as soon as he spoke.

Because he saw a large dark red stain on the other side of the open space, about ten meters away from the seven corpses.

That's not human blood.

It was the blood of some enormous creature, in a huge quantity, spraying over a wide area, turning the surrounding vegetation and ground a deep brown.

In the center of that bloodstain, something was scattered.

Zhang Laibao walked over, squatted down, and brought the illuminating crystal closer.

Those are scales.

The black scales, each about the size of a palm, have sharp edges like knives, and their surfaces still bear traces of dark red flesh and blood.

The scales of the black-scaled wolf.

But that's not the reason he fell silent.

What silenced him was that these scales did not fall off naturally, but were forcibly peeled off his body by some force.

Zhang Laibao picked up a scale and turned it over to look at it.

There are burn marks on the back of the scales.

It wasn't the burning of flames, but some higher-level force, as if it were completely severing the connection between the scales and the body at the molecular level.

His pupils contracted slightly.

He had seen countless battles and countless ways of dying, but he had never seen anything like this...

This is a clean and efficient method of destruction that borders on cruelty.

"Teacher Zhang," the male teacher also came over, and his expression changed when he saw the scales and bloodstains on the ground.

"This is?"

"Blackscale Wolf bloodstains." Zhang Laibao stood up, his gaze sweeping over the entire area of ​​bloodstains.

"Although we don't know who it was, this black-scaled wolf has clearly been killed, and... the methods used were extremely terrifying."

Upon hearing this, all the teachers couldn't help but frown.

Who killed him?

The students present were all high school students who had awakened their talents less than a week ago; the strongest among them was only at the A-level talent level, and their strength was at most at the D-level. Facing the C-level Blackscale Wolves, they would only be slaughtered.

The teachers were all on standby at the camp and did not enter the forest at all.

The people from the Bureau of Foreign Affairs are still on their way.

So, who killed this black-scaled wolf?

If the young lady of the Liu family and Lin Feng, two students who had awakened S-level talents, were present, they might have been able to defeat this guy if they joined forces. But now, one is dead and the other is injured. Among the students, Zhou Minglang seems to be the only slightly stronger one, but he died here in a very tragic way.

When Zhang Laibao led three teachers out of the forest, it was already completely dark.

The light from the illuminating crystals flickered in their hands, casting long, distorted shadows. Zhang Laibao, walking at the front, had a livid face, and the scar on his face looked particularly grotesque in the interplay of light and shadow. The three teachers behind him were in no better shape—one was deathly pale, one had red-rimmed eyes, and the other kept his head down, silent.

In the camp, most of the students had already returned to school via the teleportation array, leaving only a few teachers packing up the last supplies. Seeing Zhang Laibao and the others emerge, a young female teacher went to greet them, but before she could speak, Zhang Laibao raised his hand to stop her.

Where is the principal?

"He should still be in his office," the female teacher said cautiously. "Director Liu just called and said the principal wants you to see him immediately after you return."

Zhang Laibao nodded, said nothing more, and strode towards the teleportation array.

As the light from the teleportation array engulfed his figure, he glanced back at the forest behind him.

The dark red vegetation turned almost pure black in the night, like a lurking beast, mouth agape, waiting for its next prey.

Jiangzhou College, President's Office.

Zhang Jianguo did not turn on the lights.

He sat there behind his large desk, the ashtray in front of him overflowing with cigarette butts. Outside the window was the night view of Jiangzhou, a tapestry of lights and bustling traffic, no different from any other night.

But his mood was different from any other night.

Several documents were spread out on the desk. The top one was the list of students for this practical training exercise. Seven names were circled in red on the list—Zhou Minglang, Zhao Lei, Sun Xiaowan, Li Zhiyuan, Chen Haonan, Liu Yang, and Wang Siqi.

Seven.

Seven students, just like that, gone.

Zhang Jianguo closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. His temples throbbed, and his mind was a jumbled mess.

Zhou Minglang, A-level Swordsmanship Talent. Zhao Lei, B-level Fire Talent. Sun Xiaowan, B-level Wind Talent. Li Zhiyuan, B-level Enhancement Talent. Chen Haonan, B-level Lightning Talent. Liu Yang, C-level Ice Talent. Wang Siqi, C-level Healing Talent.

These children were among the most outstanding students in Jiangzhou Academy's graduating class. They were supposed to take the college entrance examination a year later, enter the best Awakened University, and then go to the front lines to kill Apostles and make a name for themselves.

Now, they are all dead.

He died during a live-fire training exercise that should have been safe and harmless.

He died on the academy's own training ground.

He died at the hands of a C-rank monster.

Zhang Jianguo opened his eyes and looked down at another document on the table.

That's the monster list for the training ground. It clearly states: 15 E-rank Shadow Wolves, 10 D-rank Thorn Monsters, and 3 E-rank Poisonous Bee Swarms. There are no C-rank monsters, and no Blackscale Wolves.

The list was signed by the head of the logistics department and stamped with the college's official seal. All the paperwork was complete, the procedures were compliant, and there were no issues whatsoever.

How did this black-scaled wolf get in?

Zhang Jianguo picked up the third document. It was a preliminary investigation report just faxed over from the Foreign Affairs Bureau, containing only a few lines:

"Preliminary investigation revealed signs of deliberate damage to the perimeter of the training ground. The method of sabotage was highly professional, suggesting it was carried out by inside personnel. Further investigation is underway."

Sabotage by human intervention. Internal personnel.

Zhang Jianguo read those words again, then put the document down and looked out the window.

Such a thing is absolutely unacceptable at Jiangzhou Academy, so no matter the cost, he will find the mastermind behind it all.

However, there are no clues at the moment, but the timing of this event is too coincidental.

Could it be that someone wants to deal with Jiang Chen this way? Or are there other reasons?

Just as Zhang Jianguo was pondering, there was an urgent knock on the door.

"Principal," Zhang Laibao's voice rang out from outside the door, "I'm back."

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Zhang Laibao strode in. His combat uniform was stained with mud and blood, and his face still carried the stench of the forest.

Zhang Jianguo didn't turn on the light, but simply pointed to the chair opposite him: "Sit."

Zhang Laibao sat down, and the two remained silent for a moment in the darkness.

"You saw everything?" Zhang Jianguo asked first.

"I saw it," Zhang Laibao said hoarsely. "Seven students, all dead. Their deaths were gruesome."

"Anything else?"

Zhang Laibao remained silent for a few seconds.

"And that black-scaled wolf."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

"The Blackscale Wolf is dead too. But it wasn't killed by our people, nor by the Bureau of Heterodox Affairs. It was already dead before we arrived."

"Its death was very strange." Zhang Laibao's voice was very low. "Its scales were peeled off its body, and its flesh turned into blood mist, which was scattered around the open space."

The office was so quiet you could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Zhang Jianguo didn't press further. He simply nodded, as if he already knew this outcome.

"What about the family members?" he asked.

"I've already notified them," Zhang Laibao said. "Director Liu is handling it. But you know how difficult these things are..."

He didn't continue.

Seven children, seven families. You can imagine how those parents reacted when they received the news.

Zhang Jianguo remained silent for a long time.

Outside the window, Jiangzhou's night scene remained as vibrant as ever. Car headlights formed flowing rivers along the streets, and neon lights on the high-rise buildings flashed with multicolored lights. No one knew that on this ordinary night, the world had collapsed for seven families.

"Tomorrow morning, take a few people and personally visit each household," Zhang Jianguo finally spoke, his voice tired but firm.

"We will handle the compensation matter with the utmost leniency. Funeral expenses and survivor's benefits will be provided at the highest standards. If the parents have any other requests, we will try our best to accommodate them."

"Understood, about that black-scaled wolf."

"No investigation."

Zhang Jianguo's voice was soft, but resolute.

Zhang Laibao was stunned.

"headmaster?"

"I said I won't investigate," Zhang Jianguo repeated. "Who killed that monster is not to be investigated. This matter ends here."

"Principal, do you know who did it?"

Zhang Jianguo fell into a deep silence, and at this point, Zhang Laibao knew he shouldn't continue asking questions.

Zhang Laibao waited a few seconds, then didn't ask any more questions, pushed the door open, and walked out.

The office fell silent once again the moment the door closed.

Zhang Jianguo sat motionless in the darkness.

He was also at the training ground this afternoon.

He wasn't just in the training grounds; he was even nearby when Zhou Minglang and the others first encountered the Blackscale Wolf.

He went with Jiang Chen.

From the moment Jiang Chen stepped into the training ground, he had been paying attention to this boy. The Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs' order of "no interference" was too abnormal, and he wanted to see for himself what was so special about this so-called "abilityless person".

He saw Zhou Minglang and the others mocking Jiang Chen, saw the Black Scale Wolf appear, and saw the students running away in panic.

Then Jiang Chen raised his hand, and the students who had fled far away reappeared in the center of the open space in the white light. The students who had clearly been far away from the scene returned again, but Jiang Chen's expression was so calm. He calmly watched the black-scaled wolves slaughter those students, one, two, three, until the seventh fell.

He couldn't see the fear and pity in Jiang Chen's eyes; instead, he saw a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.

In that instant, he understood that Jiang Chen was behind it all.

After that, he saw the Black Scale Wolf pounce on Jiang Chen, and then a scene he would never forget was born.

Jiang Chen raised his right hand, put his index and middle fingers together, and casually pointed forward a little.

The C-rank Blackscale Wolf exploded into a cloud of blood mist in an instant.

Zhang Jianguo nearly dropped his binoculars.

He stood there, stunned, his mind blank.

Then he saw Jiang Chen tilt his head and glance in his direction.

Hundreds of meters apart, separated by layers of tree shadows, their eyes met in the air.

Although he didn't know how Jiang Chen obtained this mysterious power, he understood that the boy was far more dangerous than he had imagined.