Chapter 22: Chapter 22

The So-Called Hunting Grounds

"Teacher, I remember I asked you a question last time,"

Mo Ying suddenly said.

"You've asked enough questions to fill a million-word novel—how would I know which one you mean? Is it 'Why can angels fly?' Well, because they have wings."

In the breakfast hall, Liushu put down the newspaper in his hands.

Since there were still many students here for breakfast, Liushu didn't light a cigarette.

"Not that, not that one... It's... what exactly is a hunting grounds?"

Once again, Mo Ying asked her question.

"Didn't I say we'd make a unified announcement once you advanced to second year? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Liushu didn't answer Mo Ying's question.

"The ladder tournament ends in five days! By then, we'll all be in the second year. It's just five days early, there's no real difference!" Google seaʀᴄh novel{f}ire.net

Mo Ying was an impatient person.

"I told you, I'd get my pay docked for answering now, come on, just let me off the hook."

"That won't happen. I already reported it to the principal! Principal said you don't have any salary left to deduct."

Liushu's heart ached a little.

"So just tell us already."

"What did the principal say?"

"She said you can tell us now,"

Liushu looked at Xiya.

Seems Mo Ying was telling the truth.

"All right then, let's say it's a reward for Mo Ying winning the championship in yesterday's individual match. I'll give you a rough explanation."

"The hunting grounds... it's something that suddenly appeared in the last few centuries, an abnormal phenomenon."

"First, you need to understand the Abyssal Rift."

"The Abyssal Rift is an anomalous space wedged into the real world—a heretical abyss, that's why it's called the Abyssal Rift."

"For example, if you go out for a walk at night, and while walking suddenly find yourself in a strange world where there's no sun, no moon, and no other life—chances are you've entered an Abyssal Rift."

"An Abyssal Rift is an abnormal space. It's a fragment of another world that has seeped into Yggdonia. Once you step into the Abyssal Rift, you basically can't come back."

"Ahem, let me continue."

"Six hundred years ago, many Abyssal Rifts appeared across Yggdonia. From these rifts, hordes of powerful monsters and terrifying plants poured forth. To fight these monsters, countless lives were lost."

"Seven million died."

Mo Ying covered her mouth.

"That's right, seven million died. These monsters ravaged Yggdonia for nearly a month, and that's how many people died."

"Life in Yggdonia couldn't deal with these monsters because they couldn't be killed. At a certain time, they would just resurrect."

"This was a disaster that could destroy the world, and the only being who could end it was a god—the Goddess of Order."

"The Goddess of Order stepped in to save countless lives, or else this world would've been destroyed."

"She completely sealed off the ten Abyssal Rifts that appeared in Yggdonia, so the monsters inside could never come out again. But people could still enter those rifts."

"Very soon, people found that killing monsters inside the Abyssal Rift would drop a peculiar kind of crystal."

"That's the Suti. It's the fundamental source driving the advancement of technology in this world. The training fields you use and much of the advanced tech—all are forged from Suti."

"Suti can create the highest technology, form protective shields against harm, and be crafted into sharp weapons."

"In this ladder tournament, the Prism shields you're all wearing are made from Suti."

"People quickly realized the importance of Suti, especially for Tianke."

"You know, those robots in Tianke are the most skilled in tech. The existence of Suti is an enormous blessing to them."

"So, Tianke started buying back Suti at high prices."

"More and more people flooded into the Abyssal Rifts to hunt those monsters, exchanging the Suti dropped by monsters for rewards from Tianke."

"These people became known as Hunters, and the Abyssal Rifts turned into hunting grounds."

"But people soon discovered something else."

"Not all hunting grounds are the same. In one, an entire army entered and not one soldier came out alive, while in others, even regular adventurers could come and go unharmed."

"At first, no one paid much attention. They thought it was just bad luck for those who died in the hunting grounds."

"Until one day, a monster crawled out of a hunting grounds."

"The Goddess of Order did seal the hunting grounds, that's true. But some monsters parasitized onto people and came out with them."

"Later, those monsters destroyed a small country. Six hundred thousand died."

"Before an even greater disaster could occur, a Sovereign-grade Hunter cut off the monster's head and put an end to the incident."

"Do you still remember what a Sovereign-grade Hunter is?"

"One who stands at the side of the gods is called Sovereign,"

Liushu gave Mo Ying a big thumbs-up.

"After this, the gods instituted strict rankings for the hunting grounds. If you weren't strong enough individually, you were not allowed to enter the higher-ranked hunting grounds."

"There are ten hunting grounds, located in various parts of the world."

"They are strictly graded—the higher the rank, the more dangerous. No one has entered the first hunting grounds so far, not even the gods."

"I don't quite understand..."

"If the Goddess of Order is so strong, why didn't she stop these monsters earlier? Then seven million wouldn't have died."

"How would I know what the gods think? I'm just an ordinary person,"

Liushu replied, looking around the breakfast hall. Seeing that there were no students left, he lit a cigarette.

"To this day, monsters still occasionally find bizarre ways to slip out of the hunting grounds,"

"Why don't the gods eliminate the hunting grounds entirely, instead of just sealing them?"

"Probably because of Suti. The gods know how important Suti is to technological advancement in the world. To let technology develop further, the gods didn't remove the hunting grounds."

Liushu casually offered a reason that sounded convincing.

"They probably don't realize that the hunting grounds and space are enmeshed too deeply—if the ten hunting grounds were forcibly removed, the world itself would be riddled with holes,"

"There are some things that must not be spoken of,"

Liushu responded internally to Qili.

"The existence of Suti has made Tianke terrifyingly powerful,"

Liushu continued to the two girls.

"Those machines of Tianke were already the forefathers of tech, but with Suti, their technology suddenly spawned the anomaly known as 'anomaly points.' So long as someone's mind is still intact, they can use masses of Naye to reconstruct their body and revive. If they develop for another few hundred or thousand years, no one in the world might ever truly die."

"So if Tianke controls such terrifying technology, aren't they now the strongest race?"

Mo Ying exclaimed in awe.

"The strongest race is the angels. Tianke, though frightening, still isn't a match for the angels."

"There have been four great wars in this world's history."

"The Angel Resistance War, the Lost Ones Uprising, the Serpent of the Heavens Hunt, and the Holy Council War."

"The Angel Resistance War was a war initiated by the angels against all the world's races. The angels are the only race to have waged war on every other race in existence—their combat prowess ranks absolutely first."

"In second are the demons, third are the dragons, fourth the elves, fifth the beastkin, sixth the dolls, seventh are humans, and eighth are Tianke."

"Tianke ranks last just because they're too low-key. Personally, I think Tianke has already surpassed the dragon race."

"All angels worship the same being—their Supreme Wing, the one they refer to as 'Our Lord.'"

"The Supreme Wing of the angels is also the Goddess of Time of this world,"

"How do you know that?"

"It's written in the books,"

"That's right, Xiya is correct. The angels worship the Goddess of Time. Most records about the gods are written in the books. Mo Ying, if you'd just read carefully, you'd know a lot more."

"There's nothing in the books about the Holy Council War, though."

Xiya flipped through a history book and showed the to Liushu.

"That's a problem with the books, not with me,"

Liushu spread his hands.

Mo Ying twirled the chopsticks in her hand.

She had crossed to Yggdonia from another world. Everyone spoke of gods in Yggdonia.

But she had never actually seen one with her own eyes.

"I understand how you feel. Many people are like you. They've never seen a god, never seen a Sovereign, so they don't believe gods exist,"

Liushu seemed to see right through what Mo Ying was thinking.

"Teacher Liushu, have you ever... ever seen a god?"

Mo Ying raised her head to meet Liushu's eyes.

"So... how long are you three going to stay?"

A staff member for the breakfast hall came over.

"Sorry, we'll leave right away, right away,"

Liushu hastily got up. Before they knew it, they had occupied the space for quite some time.

The three of them tidied up a bit and walked out of the breakfast hall.

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