Chapter 708 Unified Exam Major “Actor”: Abyss Demon
“Emergency Notice for the Unified Exam: Due to the Abyss Demon Academy’s malicious destruction of exam rules and unauthorized invasion of the Expanding Realm, the hunting portion of this Unified Exam will have its rules modified; hunting Abyss Demons will be the primary target for this exam…”
At night, all the candidates and teaching assistants suddenly received an emergency notice that jumped out from their Knowledge Seeds.
This message instantly woke up both the sleeping and the awake students, and its urgent content, combined with the striking pop-up and prompt, quickly made people realize the seriousness of the situation.
Another Abyss Demon?!
This was the reaction of many to the current news; the Abyss Demon Academy was considered a newly “emerged” Extraordinary Academy, and many people had some impression of this still “warm” name.
The lower-grade students were even more familiar with it!
Because during the final period of last semester, this group of Abyss Demons had also descended at the last moment, bringing them a difficult end to their semester.
Now they had actually come again?
The last appearance of the Abyss Demons had caused the Inferior Demon Academy, Little Demon Academy, Succubus Academy, and similar Extraordinary Academies to merge into one large Extraordinary Academy.
And this academy had not been established for long; with this action, it was likely to be a significant move.
From the notice, it seemed this “incident” had once again been included in this Unified Exam for the students to handle…
This series of incidents had even led many students to feel that Abyss Demons invading had seemingly become a “regular feature” of the Major Unified Exam.
During this time, countless candidates awakened in the deep night and looked at the notice, with a mix of helpless complaints rising and falling, yet they had no choice but to accept the reality.
Those candidates, who were fortunate enough to witness the rifts opening in the Expanding Realm allowing countless Abyss Demons to descend, could not sleep at all.
Abyss Demons are a general term for a major category of demons from the Abyss, and in the Main World, limited by basic reasons, Abyss Demons currently include Inferior Demons, Little Demons, Succubi, Fallen Ones, Undead, and so on, roughly corresponding to the demon Extraordinary Academies known in the Main World.
Now, with the integration of the Abyss Demon Extraordinary Academy, it naturally included these, especially since the new batch of student applications had not yet begun; large Extraordinary Academies would also lack personnel.
As cracks in space opened up one after another across the Ninglan Realm, Abyss Demons crazily surged forth.
However, this time, the scale of the demons was not as “crazy” and “disordered” as when they surged last semester.
Because these Inferior Demons and Little Demons were not just cannon fodder from the Abyss Demon big world; they were actually… “students” within the academy.
If these monsters can still be called “students”…
They once had faces like humans, possessing human dignity, but everything changed after they stepped into those academies.
They found that the Extraordinary Academy they had longed for did not greet them with cool extraordinary powers.
Instead, they weren’t any kind of students; they were like the feed of a demon nest, the flesh and consciousness making up the newborn demons…
Having “reincarnated,” they transformed into this hideous form, with countless negative emotions filling every corner of their bodies, a chaotic soul material and a fragmented consciousness preventing them from maintaining the rationality they once had.
Now… they could only unleash their craziness!
To vent all the craziness, dissatisfaction, and hatred inside them!
They… no, it looked at those people in the distance who were once similar to them, still retaining their human identities, at most having some traits from other races, and that envy, jealousy… hatred stemming from deep within gave them endless power.
At this moment, gathered by the teaching assistants.
“They really have come!”
Seeing this sudden prompt, those who were still somewhat skeptical reacted instantly.
Previously, some had said that certain academies would target this Unified Exam; many people actually did not believe it, but now… the Abyss Demons had proven with their actions that they indeed dared to do so!
At this point, many teaching assistants almost understood how things would develop.
They had all signed Witch Contracts, so they naturally had to strictly adhere to the contract’s content, prohibited from carrying contraband items like large-scale lethal weapons, alchemical items, etc., including supersized weapons.
Therefore, they personally could not completely k*ll a person; the only breakthrough point could only be from the Abyss Demons’ side.
“So what should we do next? We can’t possibly cooperate with the Abyss Demons, right?”
“Let’s take it one step at a time; for now, let’s go see what the Abyss Demons are up to.”
With that, the leading assistant said, many quietly followed along, feeling that this action was not just a simple visit.
The group looked at the distant sky, a pitch-black horizon where a deep, dark crack was opened; even in this night, it was so conspicuous.
The unusual spatial fluctuations stirred up abnormal weather above the Expanding Realm, with the friction in the atmosphere keeping flashing with eerie lightning.
Abyss Demons surged out from the rift, falling from above; they might be heavily injured, perhaps even break a bone, but their self-healing abilities were also terrifying. This self-healing ability, distinct from the immortal nature of living entities, was an instinct derived from the Abyss Demons’ own race, a “blessing” endowed by demonic power.
“Oh… you… are the teaching assistants?” accompanied by a character among the Abyss Demons resembling a “leader” who hoarsely asked this question.
The group of teaching assistants also stopped in their tracks.
“Yes, Demon, you certainly have some guts to invade the Expanding Realm. However, running into us is your misfortune.”
“Then… let’s give it a try!”
…
The next morning.
With the rising sun, the continuous demon invasion that lasted the entire latter half of the night still continued.
Actually, I woke up right after that notice was released.
For such an “unexpected development,” I could only express that I was not surprised, especially since Li Feiya, who was sleeping in a tree, called me to discuss the matter.
Ultimately, my decision was… to temporarily ignore it.
There were no opened spatial rifts near us nor was there a demon tide threatening our lives, so why be anxious?
Night is meant for rest; cultivating energy should be our priority.
In the end, Li Feiya was persuaded by me and did not rush to see those demons immediately.
However, Li Feiya was busy monitoring information from the Plant Network forum all night, keeping track of the latest developments.
And I was in a state of light sleep last night, drifting in and out.
Actually, I did not feel too tired; unable to sleep, I just looked at posts with Li Feiya and chatted about the current “situation.”
I must say that even if it was just the latter part of the night, those Abyss Demons still caused quite a stir in this Expanding Realm.
Currently, there were reports of a total of 8 spatial rifts opened by Abyss Demons, all located within Ninglan Realm; there was no information from outside, likely nonexistent.
These eight locations of Abyss Demons converged altogether to form three demon tides, actually launching attacks on shelters and safe havens!
In fact, this was not unusual; after all, in siege battles, demon tides were at a disadvantage due to their insufficient numbers, as their quantity is sourced from “reserve students” within the academies, not the successive waves of fodder from the Abyss Demon big world.
The key issue was that the demons destroyed the witch academy’s deployed dream creature expelling witch weapons!
This ultimately led to a renewed attack from dream creatures.
One should know that currently, in the Expanding Realm, only Ninglan New City and some shelters had completed the expulsion of dreams, but with the Primordial Dream World continuously reclaiming the Expanding Realm, other places’ Dream Overlapping Phenomenon would only worsen, with no other means to settle.
The disturbance caused by the Dream Overlapping primarily involved “dream creatures” attacking ordinary people, so the Wizard Academy prioritized expelling dream creatures by crafting those witch weapons, ensuring that the Ninglan Realm remained unharmed by dream creatures.
Now, those demons had actually destroyed these witch weapons, indeed causing a lot of trouble for many.
As a result, in many areas, students dared not venture out for fear of encountering dream creatures and dying ambiguously.
Although there were instructors there to back them up, no one wants to experience d*ath.
Thus, many candidates gathered around shelters for activities because the witch weapons in the city could not be destroyed by those demons.
This led to many students being unable to hunt mutated beasts far away to score points.
This situation eased somewhat after the Knowledge Seed issued a reference list for hunting scores related to Abyss Demon types.
When Abyss Demons transformed into specific hunting scores, the candidates’ fears of them significantly decreased.
However, demons remain demons; their strength would not diminish merely because they were marked for scoring.
“Sister Xiao Han, good morning!”
“Yes, good morning~ Just finished meditating, and you seem quite excited this early in the morning,” I said, looking at Li Feiya who had jumped down from the horizontal tree fork.
“Yeah, you don’t know how fierce the demon tide invasion was last night!”
“No matter how fierce, it didn’t reach us here, so that’s not really fierce. Do you want something to eat for breakfast?” I rummaged through my Storage Equipment, preparing to find something to fill my stomach.
“You still have the mood to eat breakfast?”
“Why not? Do you want some? Toast for breakfast.” I pulled out a bag of toast and offered it.
“Sure, let me have some.” Li Feiya, now not hesitating, took the bread and started eating, “This tastes pretty good… I feel like I don’t have the sense of dining al fresco now that I’m with you.”
“If you want to experience that feeling, you can at any time.” I reached out as if to snatch the bread back, but Li Feiya quickly withdrew her hand, putting on a cat-like food protection act.
“Just joking, you don’t really want me to starve, do you?” Li Feiya quickly explained, “By the way, Sister Xiao Han, have you followed up on what happened last night?”
“Well, I kept an eye on it a bit.”
“You don’t know~ those Abyss Demon tides destroyed the dream creature expelling witch weapons in the Ninglan Realm. Now dream creatures are probably going to sweep through the entire Ninglan Realm again.”
“I have seen that; such precise point-clearing likely involved someone skilled behind the scenes,” I evaluated.
“Yeah, I also think those demons plotted this for a long time. They are so wicked, ruining the outcomes of our hard work.”
“Oh? You have achievements in construction? Are you sure it’s not just making a mess?” I asked with a smile.
“Come on~ Metaphors! Each Extraordinary Academy contributed to building the Expanding Realm; these are labor achievements~ I’m also a member of the Witch Academy,” Li Feiya quickly clarified, “But with the destruction of those dream creature expelling witch weapons, I figure the group hit hardest is probably us teaching assistants.”
“So that means… seems right?” I nodded, quickly reacting.
If Abyss Demons continued this way without anyone stopping them, eventually only cities and shelters would be the “safe zones.”
Out there, dream creatures could appear at any time; if they dragged a person’s consciousness into the dream, then that physical body in reality could be facing d*ath.
And this special group of teaching assistants would find it difficult to return to the city.
Those candidates, because of dream creatures, could only stay in the city or some outer areas, resulting in too many people concentrating there.
Moreover, the teaching assistants did not escape the fate of being hunted due to the Abyss Demons’ invasion. A teaching assistant wishing to return to the city would have to d*e once; who could endure that?
Plus, the agreements signed for the Unified Exam hunting prohibited any use of extraordinary powers, including hand-spun spells, with similar force modes belonging to the Wizard Academy’s witchcraft, albeit completed through witch weapons.
Thus, the Dream Demon Spells studied in Ninglan New City could not be used now.
“By the way, Sister Xiao Han! Can you still use that ability? The one for dispelling dreams?” Li Feiya suddenly asked.
“What do you think?” I glared at Li Feiya; the contract explicitly stated that powers outside the Power Network could not be used, and my method clearly relied on extraordinary power.
“Um… Sorry, seems like I asked a silly question…”
“As long as you know it’s silly, don’t think about doing anything special in this situation; we are just ordinary participants in this Unified Exam hunting. Don’t think about turning the tide, let it go naturally; those Abyss Demons are not infinite. I heard those rifts healing now, right?”
“Yeah, the Knowledge Seed has already announced that the instructors have intervened; the Unified Exam hunting continues… it really sounds just like last semester’s final exam script; I almost thought the Abyss Demon invasion was a show invited by various academies,” Li Feiya complained.
“Maybe it is? This time, there were no Abyss Demons in the development of the Expanding Realm. Didn’t that academy claim to be the fourth top academy? It’s probably a result of the high-level negotiation and compromise within the academies,” I casually speculated.
“Isn’t that… Sister Xiao Han, are you just talking nonsense?”
“Why can’t I say it?” No one notified me in advance; it’s all just wild guesses, and I’m not allowed to say?
Previously, when anything happened, Principal Mei or some instructor would always mention it in advance, but this time, since there was nothing, it indicated that the decision was made after the Unified Exam hunting began, and there was no channel to inform me.
Since it was an unexpected incident, then it was none of my concern~
“I’ve dealt with Abyss Demons a decent number of times, so I understand what their nature is like. Therefore, I’m not at all surprised that Abyss Demons would do this.”
