Grinning, Ricardo scanned the students' expressions and said, "And you can't take the main road, you can only climb the mountain! Alright, form groups now, you have three minutes to prepare!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the students immediately sprang into action.

Five people per group, there was no doubt that Steve and Charlie would be in the same group as Du Chen. Additionally, Simo, the dwarf who had been sharing beef jerky with the brothers and had a good relationship with them, joined as well.

When there was only one spot left, the witch Helen stood in front of Steve, the group leader. Before she could say anything, Steve nodded repeatedly, "Beautiful, rest assured, it is my duty to ensure your safety and get you food!"

Du Chen quickly pulled Steve aside and whispered, "Big Brother, why did you invite her too?"

Steve grinned, "Dear little brother, Big Brother is doing this for your own good. It's obvious that this girl is interested in you. Big Brother is creating an opportunity for you!"

"I'm not interested in her!" Du Chen said helplessly.

"Alright, let it be!" Steve pat Du Chen's shoulder with a smile.

After the group formation was completed, all the students gathered their boxes weighing over a hundred kilograms at the foot of the mountain, ready to go. It was at this moment that the sinister-looking Ricardo ominously smiled and shouted, "Finally, to stimulate your potentials a bit more, here's a little challenge for you!" With Ricardo's words, a group of staff members came with numerous iron cages behind the students. Inside the cages were countless pythons!

"Oh my god!" The students' faces turned pale.

Du Chen looked at the pythons behind him and smacked his lips, exclaiming, "Big Brother, Ricardo is indeed the sinister devil!"

"Yes!" Steve's face also paled slightly. However, Charlie glanced at the snake cages and disdainfully turned his head, focusing on the direction of the mountaintop.

Helen kept her head low all this time. When she saw the snake cages, she slightly raised her head and a hint of brightness flashed in her sky-blue eyes.

"Alright, in three minutes, these pythons will start chasing you. Start now, little ones!"

With the temptation of food in front and the pursuit of pythons behind, the students' potentials were truly stimulated. Following Ricardo's command, the students picked up their boxes and rushed towards the mountaintop.

Just as they took a few steps, Ricardo's voice rang out again, "Lastly, I remind you, the water element teacher of the academy will cause you a little trouble!"

The path Du Chen and his companions were walking on was a small trail in the mountains, surrounded by lush green trees. Looking up, they could see the misty fog emanating from the hot springs on the mountaintop, with a faint red glow guiding their way.

Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse as they were halfway through their journey near the Hot Springs Mountain. It started pouring rain, a trouble caused by the Water teachers.

Luckily, all of them had been well-fed for the past three days and were in good physical condition. They listened to the sound of rain hitting the leaves and trudged through the muddy path, managing to cover most of the distance in just half a day.

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As they got closer to the mountaintop, the amount of water on the ground increased. Some of the small puddles were even knee-deep.

Struggling to walk, Steve complained, "Damn it, those teachers are going too far! Don't they fear triggering a mudslide with this heavy rain!?"

Du Chen chuckled, "Come on, big brother. This is the Hot Springs Mountain. There are countless high-level fighters here. How could a mudslide happen? Oh my, poor Semo brothers fell into a water hole. Let's go rescue them!"

For humans, the deepest water hole would only reach their knees, but for our Sino dwarf Sem, it was already up to his neck. He slipped and accidentally fell into a water hole, leaving only his black head exposed, waiting for rescue with a gloomy expression in his big eyes.

"Damn it, is there any medication that can make me taller? I'll buy it no matter the cost!"

His words amused everyone, and Du Chen pulled Semo out of the water hole and placed him on top of a box. "The road is difficult to walk on. Sit on this!

Annie, also known as Helen, covered her mouth with one hand and lifted the box with the other, smiling, "It's nothing, just ate too much beef jerky and carbonated water, feeling a bit nauseous."

Eating too much beef can indeed cause discomfort in the stomach, but everyone didn't think much of it. However, hidden behind her hand, Helen's seductive lips formed a strange curve.

"Hiss!" She made a sound similar to a snake searching for its way, but the sound was very low, so low that even Du Chen, with his exceptional hearing, didn't notice.

After walking for a while longer, victory seemed within reach when suddenly, Du Chen felt the ground beneath him tremble. Immediately after, his feet gave way and his body started spinning.

At that moment, a student walking ahead of them shouted, "Oh no, it's a mudslide! Run!"

The students training on the Hot Springs Mountain immediately fell into chaos.

The disaster came too quickly, and in an instant, Du Chen and the others were swept away by the mudslide. When Steve activated his Qi to search for his brother, the scene before him was chaotic, with no sign of Du Chen.

Black-faced demon Ricardo's roar came late, "Training canceled, all students can use Dou qi to avoid the disaster!"

In the moment of disaster, Du Chen was stunned for a moment. Acting purely on survival instinct, he immediately used his Lotus Inner Qi to protect himself, then leaped onto an old tree with a trunk as thick as a waist.

Damn it, the Hot Springs Mountain is guarded by countless high-level fighters, how could a disaster happen? If it does happen, it must be the work of high-level fighters!

I hope Big Brother and the others are okay.

As Du Chen worried, Helen suddenly descended from the sky and also landed on the tree. Using her Qi, she stabilized the trembling old tree in the mudslide and smiled, "Francis, you jumped onto the tree so quickly just now. I don't think even someone with the Water Body Constitution could have that ability, right?"

Could it be that this mudslide was caused by this witch?

What a bastard! She doesn't care about the safety of others at all, does she?

"Annie, my body is fine. What's so surprising about unleashing potential in a life or death situation? And in these three days, I've also learned a lot from Vice Dean Philip," he struck a pose, "I can already meditate and activate the water element."

"Philip?" Helen was taken aback.

"Yeah, my mentor is Vice Dean Philip!" Du Chen suddenly realized that Helen's expression had become strange.

"It seems that Francis, you are very safe. I need to go help other students. Goodbye!" Helen left with those words in a hurry.

What is this witch up to?

........

In the midst of chaos, Helen found herself in a secluded mountain hollow. Like many other students, she erected a Qi shield to protect herself and was then engulfed by the rushing mudslide.

Underneath the soil, Helen maintained her shield while emitting a hissing sound.

A small golden snake emerged from the mud, "Miss, I have taken care of everything. No one will suspect us."

Helen furrowed her brows, "Sulan, I only asked you to create chaos. How did your friend cause such a commotion?"

"I didn't expect it to turn out like this either!" The golden snake sighed in a remarkably human-like manner, "But fortunately, while the teachers of the academy are busy suppressing the mudslide and rescuing students, we have achieved all of our objectives."

Helen nodded, "Hmm, the other targets can wait. You should follow through, but make sure to gather information about Philip's alchemy laboratory!"

"A few of my brethren have already infiltrated his laboratory, but I just received news that Philip's experiment can actually alter human talents. Now, many people have set their sights on him. Even the grandson of the Lionheart King has brought one of the Nine Divine Beasts, Reno, here."

"Our difficulty has increased, hasn't it? Regardless, if Francis is not the mysterious fighter god or if he is but refuses to help, we can only rely on Philip to save our father!"