Fear, confusion, disbelief, terror, reverence.

These were the emotions all the students felt at that moment.

After returning to his normal size, Chen Xiang looked tattered. Luckily, his clothes were made of exceptionally tough materials, or he would have been completely exposed by now.

He slowly walked over to the group. The Yuan brothers swallowed hard, their voices trembling:

"Teacher… Teacher Chen…"

The five students felt dazed, unable to connect the tattered youth before them with the giant who had appeared like a savage beast moments ago.

Man Mu glanced at the completely ruined street, feeling shaken, thinking that even the legendary extraordinary beings were nothing compared to this?

They involuntarily began to reflect on whether they had offended Teacher Chen in any way…

They shouldn't have.

Thankfully, they hadn't.

Chen Xiang didn't care what they were thinking; he waved his hand casually and turned to ask:

"Little Wei? Still pretending to be dead?"

Wei Qingqiu got up from the ground, brushed off the dust, and walked over, glancing at the scattered corpses in the distance, sighing:

"Where do we go now?"

"Naturally, we go to meet Teacher Li's mother…"

As he spoke, Chen Xiang looked at Li Xiaotong, who had her head lowered.

While pondering the meaning of what Li Xiaotong had said about "seeing some things," he asked:

"Teacher Li, how far are we from your mother?"

Li Xiaotong replied softly:

"I don't know… I grew up in Garsh, but I rarely went out, so I don't know the way…"

The others exchanged glances.

Don't know the way?

Then what should they do?

Wei Qingqiu, deep in thought, suggested:

"It doesn't matter if we can't find it; we can wait for Teacher Li's mother to come to us… How about finding a bar? Bars are full of all kinds of people, and news spreads the fastest. If we show up at a bar, Teacher Li's mother should hear about it quickly."

"That works…"

The students nodded repeatedly, then instinctively looked at Chen Xiang.

In the outer three rings, where strength is revered and the weak are preyed upon, the terrifying power displayed by Chen Xiang made him naturally their "leader."

Chen Xiang hesitated for a moment; he thought that waiting here might get the "aunt" to come even faster…

However, glancing at the corpses scattered around, even he felt a bit nauseous, not to mention the thick smell of gunpowder…

Better to forget it.

Chen Xiang decisively announced:

"Then let's find a bar!"

…

A segment of surveillance footage quietly appeared in front of many people.

"He hasn't entered the extraordinary realm."

At the Giant Academy, the old man watched the footage of the two giants, sighing:

"He hasn't entered the extraordinary realm but has reached a height of eight meters… This child's talent on the old path can be described as monstrous."

A middle-aged man curiously asked:

"Director, should we call him back? The Ninth Ring has become increasingly unstable lately; if such a talent were to perish…"

"Not urgent."

The old man stroked his silver fox-headed cane, flipping through files and reports, saying calmly:

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"That cultist from the Void Cult, Lin Yulang, right? The report mentioned he gave this child an invitation to Professor Su Luo's lecture…"

Pausing for a moment, the old man smiled:

"The lecture is in two days; the child will come back then… I want to see him."

"You want to see him in person?"

The middle-aged man was surprised, then puzzled:

"I still don't understand; why not let him return now and wait two days?"

"He comes back, and then what? He's not going to stop going to the Ninth Ring." The old man lowered his eyelids, his expression unchanged, revealing no emotion.

He spoke calmly:

"It's also good for him to familiarize himself with the Ninth Ring."

The middle-aged man's expression stiffened:

"You want him to…"

"Exactly. An unparalleled genius is naturally a treasure for our Giant Academy. After thinking it over, he is the best candidate, isn't he?"

As he spoke, the old man straightened up:

"By the way, do we have any leads on the Twilight Relic?"

"Not yet."

"Don't actually search; just pretend to. That thing is deep in the waters; the less we get involved, the better."

As he spoke, the old man seemed to remember something:

"By the way, has Professor Su Luo arrived in the Great City? If he has, I need to pay him a visit, after all, we invited him to the Eighth Ring for the lecture…"

"He has arrived," the middle-aged man replied with a wry smile, "but we don't know where he ran off to. Such a high-level person always has a peculiar temperament; you know how that is."

"True." The old man chuckled nonchalantly.

…

At the Valley Bar.

Chen Xiang and the others curiously walked in, where colorful lights and neon flickered to the rhythm of heavy metal music.

They randomly found a booth to sit down. The Yuan brothers and Guan Xue were quite restrained, speaking little.

This was not due to the bar itself; the real reason was Chen Xiang. In their eyes, he was a true humanoid monster, terrifying beyond measure…

The earlier scenes had been truly shocking.

"Alright."

Chen Xiang noticed their awkwardness and smiled:

"I'm not going to eat people; is it really necessary to act this way? Things should go on as usual, no need to be so tense."

As he spoke, he casually ordered a few bottles of drinks and pulled out the phone number his sister had given him, dialing it.

"I've arrived at the Ninth Ring… in Area One, at a bar called Valley, sitting in a booth near the restroom."

"The Valley Bar?" The person on the other end seemed surprised but quickly responded, "Stay there and don't wander; we'll come find you."

After hanging up, Wei Qingqiu curiously asked:

"Teacher Chen, who did you call?"

"Someone from home is coming to protect me." Chen Xiang shrugged, while Guan Xue, Zhong Sizhe, and the others exchanged glances.

Protection??

They couldn't help but twitch at the corners of their mouths—such a humanoid monster still needed protection??

Chen Xiang didn't explain further; he couldn't possibly tell them that not making the call would mean facing his sister's discipline when he returned home…

Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

He took a sip from his glass, surprised by the rich aroma of the beer.

Feeling pleased, he turned to Li Xiaotong:

"Teacher Li, you said you could see different things… I'd like to know what you see, what you see in me."

Guan Xue and the others perked up, and Wei Qingqiu also looked over, curious why Li Xiaotong was so confident that Chen Xiang could defeat the Owl Tiger.

But the young girl merely shuddered slightly, keeping her head down:

"It's… not convenient to say here."

Chen Xiang gazed at her for a moment without pressing further. He finished his beer when a waiter happened to approach.

"Sir, would you like to try our latest shamanic drink? Just seven hundred yuan for this one!"

"Seven hundred yuan?" Chen Xiang was taken aback and asked, "What kind of drink is this? Why is it so expensive?"

The waiter pointed to the drinks on the tray:

"This is a shamanic drink with a history of thousands of years! It contains the hair of a male red bull, along with turmeric and ginger. You shouldn't drink it all at once; leave some behind, and we'll pour it on the male red bull's back to transfer your pain and troubles to it!"

He paused and recited earnestly:

"Your heartache, your illnesses, will be taken elsewhere; within the red package of the male red bull, you will live a long life, you will…"

"The incantation needs a change,"

A laugh interrupted them. An old man passing by on his way to the restroom teased:

"In this day and age, living a long life can't be counted as a blessing; sometimes, it's a curse!"

The waiter, a bit indignant, responded:

"Sir, our shamanic drink has a history of thousands of years; how can you call it a curse?!"

The old man chuckled:

"I'm saying your ‘living a long life' can sometimes be a curse… Besides, this drink is of no use."

"It has a history of thousands of years!" the waiter insisted.

"I know, I know."

The old man still smiled cheerfully:

"But it has nothing to do with true mysticism; it originates from primitive human worship. The method involving the hair of the male red bull should come from ancient beliefs…"

He smiled:

"Although it indeed has a history of thousands of years, it's ultimately just a kind of sympathetic magic based on the ‘law of similarity,' or a superstition. Oh, the law of similarity is like the old saying about eating what you want to supplement…"

"Are you ruining the atmosphere?!" the waiter raised his voice by an octave.

"Not at all…" The old man seemed to back down, wanting to slip away, but Chen Xiang, who had been listening, called out to him with a smile:

"Old man, you seem quite knowledgeable about ancient history?"

Saying this, he pulled out seven hundred yuan and handed it to the waiter, accepting the cup of shamanic drink mixed with red bull hair, turmeric, and ginger.

Chen Xiang took a sip but quietly set the drink down and pushed it away from him.

The old man returned, comfortably sitting in the booth, picked up the pushed-away shamanic drink, and poured some out:

"I do have some research; I love history…"

He tasted the shamanic drink, his expression changing, and hurriedly set the cup down.

Chen Xiang smacked his lips, savoring the drink's strange, spicy, and unpleasant aftertaste, intrigued as he asked:

"It sounds like you have quite a bit of research into ancient mystical history?"

"Quite a lot," the old man patted his chest. "Not to brag, but in terms of ancient history among humans, I'm number one!"

"Among humans…" Chen Xiang repeated, feeling that this old man was not simple. He wanted to ask more, but he caught a glimpse of Li Xiaotong, who looked somewhat strange.

At this moment, Li Xiaotong was curled up, trembling slightly, keeping her head down as if in fear.

More than even her fear of Chen Xiang.

What was she… seeing?

Chen Xiang narrowed his eyes slightly and looked back at the old man.

"Old man, I haven't asked your name yet?"

"Me? My surname is Su; just call me Old Man Su."