Chapter 708: Joint Exam Professional “Actor”: Abyssal Demon

“Joint Exam Emergency Notice: Due to the Abyssal Demon Transcendent Academy maliciously violating the Joint Exam rules and privately invading the Expansion Realm, some rules for this Joint Exam Hunt have been modified, with hunting Abyssal Demons as the primary objective of this Joint Exam Hunt…”

At night, an emergency notice suddenly popped up on the Seeds of Knowledge held by all the examinees and Teaching Assistants.

This piece of news instantly woke up the students, both those who were asleep and those who were not, and the urgent content, coupled with the eye-catching pop-up window and pressing prompt, quickly made people realize the seriousness of the matter.

Abyssal Demons again?!

This was the reaction of many to the current news; the Abyssal Demon Transcendent Academy was considered a Transcendent Academy that had only recently “risen,” and many still had an impression of its fresh name.

And the lower-grade students were even more familiar with this!

Because at the end of last semester, it was these Abyssal Demons who descended at the very last moment, putting a difficult end to their finals.

They actually came again this time?

The last appearance of the Abyssal Demons caused those Transcendent Academies, such as the Imp Academy, Little Devil Academy, and Succubus Academy, to integrate into a single large Transcendent Academy.

And such an academy had not been established for long, so this move was likely another major action.

Judging from the notice, this “accident” was probably included in this Joint Exam again, to be dealt with by the respective students…

These consecutive accidents even made many students feel that something like the Abyssal Demon invasion had seemingly become a “regular feature” of major joint examinations.

During this period, countless examinees woken up in the middle of the night looked at this notice, and for a time, sighs of helplessness and complaints rose and fell, but they had no choice but to accept the current situation.

And those examinees who had the fortune to see the rift opening in the sky above the Expansion Realm, allowing countless Abyssal Demons to descend, were truly unable to sleep now.

The Abyssal Demon belonged to a general term for a major category of demons in the Abyss, and in the Main World, limited by foundational reasons, the Abyssal Demon currently roughly included the Imp, Little Devil, Succubus, Fallen, Undead, and Necromancer, etc., almost corresponding to the demon Transcendent Academies that could be named in the original Main World.

Now that the Abyssal Demon Transcendent Academy had integrated them, it naturally included these, and moreover, the volunteer application for the new batch of students had not yet begun, and large Transcendent Academies would also be short of personnel.

As space rifts opened one after another across the Ninglan Land Boundary of the Main World, Abyssal Demons also surged out madly from within.

However, the scale of the demons this time was not as “mad” and “disordered” as when they poured out last semester.

Because these Imps and Little Devils were not the cannon fodder produced batch after batch in the Abyssal Demon Great World, but rather… “students” in the academy.

If these monsters could still be called “students”…

They also once had human-like faces and human dignity, but after they stepped into those academies, everything changed.

They discovered that the Transcendent Academy they yearned for did not welcome them with cool Transcendent power.

And they were not students; they were like the nourishment for that demon lair, forming the flesh, blood, and consciousness of the newly born demons…

Having gone through “rebirth,” they had transformed into this hideous appearance; countless negative emotions filled every corner of their bodies, and their chaotic Soul-substance and fragmented consciousness prevented them from maintaining due rationality.

Now… they could only engage in mad catharsis!

Venting all the madness, dissatisfaction, and hatred in their hearts!

They… no, They looked at those people in the distance who were once similar to them, still maintaining their human identity now, at most possessing some characteristics of other races—that envy, jealousy… and hatred that originated from the depths of their hearts!

This granted them endless power.

And at this moment, where the Teaching Assistants had gathered.

“They actually came!”

Seeing this sudden prompt, those who were originally somewhat skeptical instantly reacted.

Some people had previously said that an academy would target this Joint Exam, and many actually did not believe it, but now… the Abyssal Demons proved with their actions that they truly dared to do this!

Having reached this point, many Teaching Assistants roughly understood how the situation would unfold.

They were all people who had signed a Witch's Contract and naturally needed to strictly adhere to the contract's contents, not being allowed to carry contraband items, such as mass-destruction weapons, Alchemical Items, etc., which also included Over-spec weapons.

Therefore, they could not completely kill a person relying solely on themselves, so the breakthrough could only come from the Abyssal Demon side.

“Then what should we do next? We couldn’t possibly cooperate with the Abyssal Demons, right?”

“Take it one step at a time; in short, we should first go and check out the Abyssal Demons’ activity.”

As the one leading them said this, many people silently followed, and no one thought that this action was merely as simple as just going to take a look.

The crowd looked at the distant sky; in the pitch-black expanse, a deep, dark rift had opened up above, and even on such a night, it was conspicuously visible.

The abnormal spatial fluctuations stirred up meteorological anomalies above the Expansion Realm, and the frictional atmosphere constantly flashed with bizarre lightning above.

Abyssal Demons thus surged out from the rift, falling from above—perhaps they would be heavily injured, perhaps they would suffer fractures, but the demon’s self-healing ability was equally terrifying; this was a type of self-healing ability distinct from the Undying Nature of life levels, an instinct inherent to the Abyssal Demon race itself, and moreover, a “blessing” that the power of the demon bestowed upon them.

“Oh… you… are the Teaching Assistants?”

A character, like a “leader” among the Abyssal Demons, asked this question in a hoarse voice.

This group of Teaching Assistants also stopped their steps.

“Yes, demons, you have some nerve to actually dare to invade the Expansion Realm? But running into us is your bad luck.”

“Then… let’s see about that!”

***

The next morning.

Accompanying the rising of the sun, the demon invasion, which had lasted for the entire latter half of the night, was still ongoing.

Actually, I woke up right after that notice was released.

Regarding this kind of “unexpected development,” I could only express that I was not surprised, especially since Liffia, who was sleeping on the tree, even woke me up to discuss the matter.

Ultimately, my decision was to… temporarily ignore this matter.

There was no spatial rift opening near us, and no demon tide surging toward us to endanger our lives, so why be anxious?

Nighttime was for rest, and recuperating our strength was what we should be doing.

In the end, Liffia was persuaded by me and did not immediately go to see the demons for herself.

However, Liffia paid attention to information like the Plant Network forums for the entire night, constantly following the latest developments.

As for me, I was also in a state of shallow sleep last night, waking up and falling asleep intermittently.

Actually, I didn't feel too much fatigue; when I couldn't sleep, I would look at the posts with Liffia and chat about the current “war situation.”

I had to admit that even though it was only the latter half of the night, those Abyssal Demons still caused a major incident in the Expansion Realm.

The currently tallied total of space rifts opened by the Abyssal Demons was 8, all located within the Ninglan Land Boundary; there was no relevant information on the Plant Network for areas outside the Ninglan Land Boundary, so it was highly likely there were none.

And these eight locations where the Abyssal Demons converged collectively formed three demon tides, which actually launched attacks on the Shelters and Sanctuaries!

Actually, this wasn't much, as the demon tides were at a disadvantage in sieges; their numbers were insufficient, after all, their numbers originated from the academy's “reserve students” and not from the endless batches of cannon fodder in the Abyssal Demon Great World.

However, the demon tides had caused a major incident, and the key was that the demons had destroyed the Sorcery Tools for driving out Dream State creatures that the Wizard Academy had set up!

Ultimately, this resulted in the Dream State creatures attacking again.

It must be noted that in the current Expansion Realm, only Ninglan New City and some Shelters had completed the Dream State Dispel, but as the Primal Dream State continuously reclaimed the Expansion Realm, the Dream Overlap Phenomena in other places would only intensify, with no other means available to soothe them.

The main trouble caused by the Dream Overlap was the invasion of “Dream State creatures” against ordinary people, so the Wizard Academy prioritized the expulsion of Dream State creatures, creating those Sorcery Tools to ensure that the Ninglan Land Boundary was not harmed by Dream State creatures.

Now that those demons had actually destroyed these Sorcery Tools, it had indeed brought trouble to many people.

To the extent that many areas were now places students dared not go, fearing they would encounter a Dream State creature and die a baffling death there.

Although there were mentors to back them up, no one wanted to experience death.

Therefore, many examinees were now only gathering and operating around the Shelters and Sanctuaries, because the Sorcery Tools inside the cities could not be destroyed by the demons.

This led to too many students being unable to go to distant places to hunt Mutated Beasts and obtain scores.

This phenomenon was only somewhat alleviated when the Seed of Knowledge released the reference list for obtaining scores from hunting Abyssal Demon species.

Only when the Abyssal Demons became a specific hunting score did the examinees' fear of them significantly decrease.

But demons were still demons; their strength would not decrease just because they were marked for a score.

“Big Sis Xiao Han, it's morning now?”

“Mhm, good morning. I just finished my Meditation, and you seem very excited this morning.”

I looked at Liffia, who leaped down from the flat tree branch, and also greeted her.

“That’s right, you don’t know how intense the demon tide invasion that happened in the latter half of last night was!”

“No matter how intense it was, if it didn’t affect us here, it wasn’t intense, so what do you want to eat this morning?”

I rummaged through my Storage Equipment, preparing to find something to fill my stomach.

“You’re still in the mood for breakfast?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Do you want some? Breakfast bread.”

I took out a bag of toast bread, handed it over, and asked.

“Okay, I’ll have some.”

Liffia no longer stood on ceremony with me, and after accepting the bread, she tore it open and started eating.

“The taste is really good… I feel like I haven't experienced roughing it since following you.”

“If you want to experience that feeling, you can do so anytime.”

I reached out as if to snatch the bread back, but Liffia retracted her hand and performed a cat guarding its food.

“I was just kidding, you can’t really make me go without food.”

Liffia immediately explained.

“Um… but speaking of which, Big Sis Xiao Han, did you pay attention to what happened in the latter half of last night?”

“Mhm, I paid some attention.”

“You wouldn't believe it those Abyssal Demon tides destroyed the Sorcery Tools for driving out Dream State creatures in the Ninglan Land Boundary, and now the Dream State creatures are probably going to sweep across the entire Ninglan Land Boundary again.”

“I saw that. Such precise, targeted cleanup was probably guided by an expert behind the scenes,” I commented.

“That’s right, I also think those demons had been planning this for a long time; they are truly terrible for destroying the fruits of our hard work.”

“Oh? You had construction achievements? Are you sure you weren’t just causing trouble?”

I asked with a smile.

“Aiya, it was a metaphor! Every Transcendent Academy put effort into constructing the Expansion Realm, and these are all the fruits of labor. I’m also a member of the Witch Academy.”

Liffia quickly explained, “But with the damage to those Sorcery Tools for driving out Dream State creatures, the most severely targeted group is probably us Teaching Assistants, right?”

“Thinking about it… that seems to be the case, too?”

I nodded and quickly realized it.

If the Abyssal Demons continued to act this way and no one stopped them, then in the end, only places like the cities and Shelters would be “safe zones.”

Dream State creatures could appear outside the city at any time, and if a person’s consciousness was swept into the Dream State by a Dream State creature, their physical body in reality would be waiting to die.

And the Teaching Assistants, this special group, would probably find it difficult to return to the city.

Because of the Dream State creatures, those examinees could only stay inside the city or in specific areas outside the city, and the number of people gathered there was simply too many.

Moreover, the Teaching Assistants had not escaped the fate of being hunted just because of the Abyssal Demon invasion; a Teaching Assistant wanting to return to the city had to die once—who could endure that?

Furthermore, the contract signed for this Joint Exam Hunt prohibited the use of any Transcendent power, which also included hand-cast spells; a power model similar to hand-cast spells was the Sorcery of the Wizard Academy, except that they relied on Sorcery Tools as a medium to complete the Hand-cast Sorcery.

Therefore, the Dream State Spell learned in Ninglan New City could not be used now.

“Oh right, Big Sis Xiao Han! Can you still use that? That ability to dispel the Dream State?”

At this moment, Liffia suddenly thought of something and asked.

“What do you think?”

I gave Liffia a glare; the contract explicitly stipulated that Transcendent power outside the Power Network could not be used, and my method clearly required Transcendent power, didn't it?

“Uh… sorry, I seem to have asked a foolish question…”

“It’s good that you know it was foolish. In the current situation, don’t think about being special; we are also just ordinary participants in this Joint Exam Hunt, and don’t think about turning the tide; just let nature take its course. Those Abyssal Demons are not endless, and I heard that the torn-open space rifts have already healed now, right?”

“Mhm, the Seed of Knowledge has already announced that the mentors have intervened, and the Joint Exam Hunt will continue… that really is the exact same rhetoric as the final Joint Exam last semester. I was about to think that this Abyssal Demon invasion was a group of actors hired by the various academies,” Liffia complained.

“Maybe it is? The Abyssal Demons were not involved in the development of the Expansion Realm this time. Didn’t that academy call itself the Fourth Top-tier Academy? It was probably the result of a compromise through negotiation among the high-level academy management,” I guessed casually.

“No… Big Sis Xiao Han, can you just say things like that so casually?”

“Why can’t I say it?”

No one informed me about this matter in advance either; I was just casually guessing everything, so am I not allowed to say it?

In the past, if anything happened, Academy Head Mei or one of the mentors would have mentioned it to me beforehand, but not this time, which indicated that this was “decided” only after the Joint Exam Hunt had begun, and there was no channel to inform me.

Since it was a sudden accident, then it had nothing to do with me.

“I’ve dealt with the Abyssal Demons quite a few times; I still largely understand their nature, so I was not at all surprised that the Abyssal Demons did these things.”