CHAPTER 168: CHAPTER 168: THE SHATTERED LEGENDARY CROWN, DEATH APPROACHES

Looking at Lu Hu’s pensive expression, Su Tiankuo continued earnestly, "A gentleman keeps his tools ready and waits for the right time to act. When your actual strength is insufficient, it’s unwise to take on tasks that are beyond your capacity. Promoting Fang Zhou directly to Senior Sergeant this time was perfect. Let him settle down and consolidate his gains for a while. A genius like him has a much wider path for growth; we must not rush it."

Upon hearing this, Lu Hu was reminded of the brutal battles on the Human-Demon Battlefield, and his expression instantly turned grim. In truth, for a mere first-year to be promoted to the rank of Senior Sergeant was already an unprecedented record at Sea City Military Academy, making him truly one of a kind.

According to the Sea City Military Academy’s four-year program and the typical cultivation speed of its cadets, first-years were at the Lower Apprentice Tier upon their Awakening. They would be granted the rank of Junior Sergeant and given F-level permissions. On average, cadets would break through to the Middle Apprentice Tier within four to five months. By the end of the first academic year, as they became second-years, the vast majority would reach the Upper Apprentice Tier.

During their second year, most cadets would find themselves stuck at the Apprentice Tier. It typically took about a year to break through the bottleneck and advance to Black Iron. Only a few exceptional individuals, like Senior Die Wu, who got a head start and stayed ahead of the curve, could rely on their talent and effort to advance to Black Iron before entering their third year.

For all military academy cadets, advancing to Black Iron automatically conferred the rank of Corporal and an upgrade to E-level permissions. After two years of training, once they became Black Iron Tier Professionals, cadets would have typically mastered a number of professional skills, established a basic combat system, and possessed decent combat proficiency and practical ability.

Therefore, in the third and fourth years, the academy arranged numerous combat missions, such as Cave Hunting, exterminating Demon Worshipers, clearing out Fierce Beasts, and exploring Spatial Fragments. During these two years, tempered by live-or-die combat, the cadets’ combat ability and tactical proficiency would improve by leaps and bounds. Compared to the relatively calm cultivation of the first two years spent building a foundation at the Apprentice Stage, the cultivation speed of the upperclassmen would naturally increase as well.

Most cadets could reach the Middle or Upper Black Iron Tier by graduation. Their military rank could also be elevated to Senior Sergeant, allowing them to become highly capable junior officers. Only a tiny fraction of exceptionally gifted cadets could break through the bottleneck before graduation and advance to the Bronze Tier. These Bronze Tier cadets would be awarded the rank of Lieutenant and upgraded to D-level permissions.

Of course, this was the standard training process. Each cohort of Seed Students had its own unique development path. Seed Students typically possessed far superior talent and enjoyed substantial resource allocation from the academy. For example, ordinary cadets were only granted E-level permissions upon reaching the Black Iron Tier. However, first-year Seed Students like Fang Zhou could enjoy this treatment while still in the Apprentice Stage. With all these advantages combined, the cultivation progress and growth speed of Seed Students far surpassed that of ordinary cadets.

As for an unprecedented, monstrous genius like Fang Zhou, both Lu Hu and Su Tiankuo were already prepared to let him skip grades and graduate early.

After a moment of silence, Su Tiankuo stood up, about to say something, when a surge of black gas suddenly clouded his face. For a moment, his strong, burly body swayed.

Seeing this, Lu Hu rushed forward to support the wavering Su Tiankuo. He asked nervously, "Commander, has the demonic qi corrosion reached such a degree?"

After panting heavily for a while to suppress the rampaging demonic qi in his body, Su Tiankuo managed to recover. He pushed Lu Hu away, his face as grim as water. "I still have a few years left. What are you getting so nervous about? Stay calm in the face of crisis. I taught you that when you were just a rookie. How are you still so spineless?"

Lu Hu turned his head, his throat bobbing twice. His voice came out somewhat dry. "Commander, is there really no hope?"

Su Tiankuo chuckled calmly. "In the decades of the Era of Myth, I’ve never seen a Legendary Professional whose King’s Crown was shattered by an Abyssal Demon live more than ten years. The fact that I can still hold on for a while is already much better than those other old geezers. I take life and death in stride and fight anyone who crosses me! I, Su Tiankuo, have never been a coward. I’ll spend a few more years with Xinyan, lead a few more batches of new recruits, and hopefully discover more rising stars like Fang Zhou. When I’m about to die, I’ll forcefully condense my King’s Crown, charge into the Mythical Battlefield, and see if I can’t drag a few of them down with me!"

Veterans like Su Tiankuo and Lu Hu, who had retreated from the front lines due to grave injuries, were long accustomed to partings of life and death. Therefore, as Lu Hu looked at Su Tiankuo’s fierce, authoritative face, his hair and beard seeming to bristle with resolve, he felt more hatred than sorrow.

It was a deep-seated hatred for the Abyssal Demons.

Thinking of how he was almost crippled by a Soul Judge Demon’s [Soul-Vibrating Poison Arrow], Lu Hu couldn’t help but say, "Commander, I’ll go with you then!"

SMACK!

Su Tiankuo slapped Lu Hu on the head, making the powerfully built man stagger. "Stop spouting that nonsense!" he said irritably. "I’m a dead man walking, but you’re still young, kid. You might still have a chance to recover."

Lu Hu pursed his lips, unconvinced, assuming Su Tiankuo was just trying to comfort him. He was about to speak again, but Su Tiankuo, who knew him inside and out, waved a hand to cut him off.

"Xinyan told me today that while purifying the core of the Desecration Torch, Fang Zhou comprehended a new skill called [Soul Realm], which allows him to subtly sense surrounding soul fluctuations. I may know a thing or two about the physical body, but I’m completely ignorant when it comes to the soul. Still, I have a feeling that, given Fang Zhou’s talent and enough time, he might just be able to deduce a more powerful and complete Soul Series skill tree from this new [Soul Realm]. Soul Judge Demons might be experts at manipulating souls, but I believe Fang Zhou definitely has a chance to break the vicious curses they leave behind. When that time comes, you’ll have an opportunity to advance even further. There’s no need for you to throw your life away with this old bag of bones."

Hearing this, though his spirits were still low, Lu Hu couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. "Soul Series skills? Good grief, I really can’t fathom how that kid’s brain works! If the entire fortune of the Undead Mage profession amounted to five bushels, I’d say Fang Zhou alone has taken eight! All the other Undead Mages combined would still owe three bushels!"

"Ahem!" Su Tiankuo’s beard trembled as he rolled his eyes and glared at Lu Hu. "How can you say that? I don’t think Fang Zhou himself is that arrogant! Besides, Xinyan is nearly as good as he is!"