The Battle of Semi-Saints.

In this era, where Spiritual Energy had not fully revived and Saints were the pinnacle of humanity, the Semi-Saint level practically equated to the truly mightiest.

Saints were too powerful; these peak existences seldom took action. Even in the catastrophe decades ago that swept across the entire world, the Saint-level powerhouses from different countries rarely intervened. In this era of peace, they did so even less.

This battle at the Semi-Saint level could well be deemed the pinnacle of human combat.

Moreover, the divine names of Jiutian Xuannü and Athena almost represented wisdom and warfare in mythological legends, with highly similar divine status and authority. Their battle was very likely not just a contest of victory but a collision of laws and principles, a contention of paths. Perhaps, in this battle, a new Saint might even emerge!

This fight would definitely capture the attention of countless individuals.

The invitation from Jiutian Xuannü was probably not to invite people over but to restrict spectators. Without an invitation, one could not gain entry!

With the power of both the Myth and Mount Olympus, it would definitely be possible to enforce such a measure.

But no matter what, by September 15th, Penglai Island would become the focal point of all Transcendents worldwide and the center of turbulent changes.

The military surely could not be unaware of this. Yet under these circumstances, they still sent the students from Beijing University to Penglai Island for military training.

There definitely was a deeper objective.

Penglai Island… according to some ancient books obtained from the Zeng Family, it was a place where many strong figures gathered during the Mythological Era. Perhaps it's hiding ancient relics? Qin Heng thought to himself.

When he eradicated the Zeng Family in Youzhou, he naturally seized the family's collection of ancient texts. These records contained details about ancient Earth Martial Artists and some information from the Mythological Era, which was quite a bounty for Qin Heng.

However, the Zeng Family was, after all, just a Martial Dao family, not an Ancient Divine Sect with a long-standing heritage. Hence, even if these texts held some records, many were not detailed and even included numerous fragments.

Therefore, Qin Heng's knowledge about Penglai Island was not extensive.

"It's said that it's not just us from Beijing University who will go to Penglai Island," Cao Yucheng suddenly said. "It seems that the freshmen from Tsinghua and Fudan University will also be there."

"That many?" Xu Mingzhe exclaimed in surprise. "Our military training at these top universities is directly overseen by the military high command, right? This is no small occurrence; could there be some major undertaking?"

Tsinghua and Fudan are going as well?

All three were China's top universities. Qin Heng furrowed his brow. If Beijing University's students included five Great Grandmasters, then Tsinghua and Fudan probably wouldn't be simple either.

This was getting interesting. The military really intended to make a big show of it. It seemed Penglai Island most likely held some secrets.

Qin Heng's interest was piqued.

「The morning of September 14th.」

Qin Heng and his classmates assembled on the field, with Tang Feng still acting as their instructor.

However, this time, when Tang Feng saw Qin Heng, he was extremely respectful. In front of all the classmates, he respectfully saluted Qin Heng and said, "Mr. Qin, are you also participating in the military training on Penglai Island?"

The surrounding classmates were all baffled. Whether it was Qin Heng's classmates from the history department or other students passing by, everyone looked at Qin Heng with disbelief.

F*ck! This is too awesome!

Incredible!!

Throughout these ten-plus days of military training, the freshmen at Beijing University had been drilled so relentlessly by their instructors that they typically developed a sense of dread upon seeing them.

Now, a person who commanded such respect from an instructor had appeared.

How could this be possible!?

This defies the heavens!

Many male students turned Qin Heng into their idol; seeing an instructor showing such deference with a salute and addressing him as "Mr. Qin" was exactly what they had dreamed of!

There were also many female students in the history department, and now all of them remembered Qin Heng. Some were even considering how they might pursue him.

Women, by nature, worship the strong.

Qin Heng was undoubtedly a strong person. Compared to those male students who had been trained into a confused wreck by their instructors and were utterly powerless, he truly stood out as exceptional, towering above the rest.

"So cool! Qin Heng is really so cool! I never thought we'd have such a guy in our history department."

"Who is he, and why is the instructor so respectful towards him? Could he be the son of some military bigwig? A second-generation military elite?"

"He's so powerful, and he's both tall and handsome! Ah, I feel like I'm falling in love~"

Many female students were getting excited. All of them watched Qin Heng intently—a tall, handsome guy with a strong build who commanded such deference from an instructor. In the eyes of these girls, who had just stepped out of high school and were starting their freshman year, he was incredibly attractive.

Of course, there were also many male students who found Qin Heng displeasing.

Opposite sexes attract. The same sex repels. It has always been so.

"Damn, what a show-off!" sneered Ma Jun. "This little punk, I don't know whose connections he used. Wait till we get to Penglai Island, and see how I'll slap his face."

He was also a student in the history department and, moreover, the class president. He hailed from one of Beijing's four major families—the legitimate line of the Ma Family—and had always been very proud.

The reason he chose to study history was all to pursue a girl, and this girl had just now been commenting on how handsome and impressive Qin Heng was.

This made Ma Jun extremely angry.

"Bro Jun, compared to you, this kid is nothing but a fart!" said one of Ma Jun's lackeys, flattering him. "If you ask me, Nie Rongrong was probably just going along with the crowd just now. She definitely didn't take that little wimp seriously."

"That's right, that's right! Everything on that little wimp is bargain-bin quality. In my view, he's probably just some grunt's relative or something."

"Master Ma, you're from the legitimate line of one of Beijing's four major families. Crushing him would be no different than crushing an ant! When the time comes, Nie Rongrong will surely understand who the real strong one is," another lackey chimed in, laughing sycophantically.

Nie Rongrong was the most beautiful among the freshman girls in the history department. She carried herself with a cool and lofty air and was generally indifferent towards any male student.

Ma Jun had tried to pursue her, but his usual, never-fail approach—using money—seemed to have no effect whatsoever, which only increased his interest. He had already viewed Nie Rongrong as his forbidden fruit.

TWEET! TWEET TWEET!

Just at that moment, the call to assemble sounded, continuous and far-reaching, spreading throughout the entire drill field.

Tang Feng stood in front of the history department's ranks, his eyes piercing. He shouted loudly, "We are about to depart! Heading to Penglai Island to begin the real military training! Get ready! Once there, you will witness what true—battle is!!"

No sooner had his words faded...

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

A gust of wind howled, the sunlight overhead was obscured by shadows, and then huge military helicopters slowly descended from the sky.