Chapter 1115: Chen Ling's Methods

"Sorry, Teacher Ye."

Inside the office, Zhao Yi and the others opened their mouths, then spoke with disappointment, "We tried to track the scent of the Crimson Heaven Cult, but after about fifteen kilometers, near a volcanic area, the trail completely vanished. We then searched the surrounding area separately for two hours but still couldn't find them."

Old Wolf and the others stood beside Zhao Yi, their faces covered in grey volcanic ash, looking utterly disheveled. But more distressing than their appearance was the self-reproach and helplessness in their eyes.

Sitting behind his desk, Teacher Ye looked at the disheveled group. Without a hint of blame, he calmly nodded: "I understand. You can go back and rest now. I'll take it from here."

"Teacher Ye, are you going to use 'its' power again?" Old Wolf's expression was troubled. "That thing is too uncontrollable. If used frequently, no one knows what might happen..."

"It's fine," Teacher Ye interrupted Old Wolf directly. "The last time 'its' power was used was over a decade ago. Using it once more now shouldn't be a big problem."

"But..."

"Don't worry, I'm an expert in this area. I know what I'm doing."

Teacher Ye waved his hand, signaling Old Wolf and the others to leave. After exchanging glances, they reluctantly headed out.

Once everyone had left, Teacher Ye slowly pulled open the bottom drawer. A small, black box lay silently within, secured by a six-digit combination lock. The lock was stained with rust and grime, suggesting it was quite old.

As Teacher Ye turned the lock, a crisp click sounded from inside the box, revealing a syringe filled with a deep blue liquid. The reflection of the dark blue liquid shimmered in Teacher Ye's glasses, and a complex emotion flickered in his eyes.

Just as he reached out to pick it up, a sudden loud crash came from outside the Mother Tree, followed by gasps and shouts from young boys and girls! Teacher Ye froze, then immediately turned and walked to the window. When he saw the scene outside, he stood rooted to the spot.

Three minutes earlier.

"Strange..."

"It should be around here..."

Night gradually encroached upon the Haze Realm sky. Although the Haze Realm had a sun, it seemed incredibly distant; even at the brightest part of the day, the sun appeared no larger than a grain of rice, offering no warmth whatsoever. It was as if they were in a different dimension.

Under the dim night sky, a figure clad in a large red opera robe lingered outside the Mother Tree's canopy, seemingly searching for something. Perhaps due to Chen Ling's inherently striking presence, many students had been watching him from their balconies since classes ended, from dusk until complete darkness.

Initially, the students thought he had something important to do, but they soon realized Chen Ling was just pacing back and forth between the Mother Tree and the edge of the Haze Realm, like an idle old man. Gradually, their interest waned, and only a few remained, whispering amongst themselves while idly watching his red-clad back.

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know... I'm tired of standing. If nothing's happening, maybe we should just go eat?"

"No! That's Brother Chen Ling! He's someone who made both the Calamity and the human realm bow down! He must have something important to do, and I'm staying here to watch!"

"But... he's been wandering around for so long, and nothing's happened yet?"

"Could it be that he just ate too much and is simply out for a walk?"

"...Maybe I should go get him some indigestion tablets?"

The red-clad figure in the distance, slowly being swallowed by the night, suddenly seemed to discover something and stopped. The lights of the Integration Faction's Mother Tree quietly illuminated behind him like scattered stars. Using the faint light, Chen Ling stared intently at a spot beneath his feet, his eyes narrowing slightly...

"Finally found it."

Chen Ling lifted his foot... and stomped heavily onto the grey-white ground.

BOOM—!!!

Instantly, the surrounding earth fractured into spiderweb-like cracks, and dust billowed upwards.

Witnessing this, the young men and women of the Integration Faction were stunned. They couldn't understand why Chen Ling would suddenly stomp and crack the ground. But what happened next made their eyes widen in shock.

"Come out," Chen Ling's indifferent voice echoed through the night, as if issuing a command.

Rustle...

After a brief silence, the spiderweb-cracked ground before Chen Ling exploded outwards, and a dozens-of-meters-long shadow centipede furiously burst from beneath the earth. Its numerous legs thrashed in the air, a sight that made one's scalp crawl! The aura of calamity spread through the Haze Realm. After struggling in mid-air for a moment, the centipede unhesitatingly crashed onto the ground with a thud.

Its ugly, massive head was prostrate before Chen Ling, as if it wished to burrow into the earth. If one looked closer, one could see its enormous body trembling slightly, like a local earth deity who had been stomped upon by the Great Sage, trembling with fear and walking on thin ice.

"He... he he he..."

The tremendous crash shook half of the Integration Faction. Many young men and women emerged from their rooms, bewildered, some still holding dinner bowls or clothes hangers, looking towards the direction of the sound, then standing dumbfounded.

"A Calamity??"

"Judging by its aura, it's at least a Fifth-tier... no, it might even be Sixth-tier!"

"Brother Chen Ling stomped once and summoned a Calamity???"

"Holy crap, wait... it looks like there's more than one!!"

As the spiderweb-like ground continued to heave, four or five smaller shadow centipedes crawled out sequentially after the dozens-of-meters-long giant one. Their reactions were even more intense than the large centipede's; they seemed too terrified to maintain their composure. Two of the smallest even flipped completely onto their backs, their countless tiny legs flailing wildly in the air, utterly panicked!

Seeing this, the large centipede silently twisted its body and nudged the two small centipedes with its legs. After flipping back over, they lay still on the ground as if dead. All six centipedes were now prostrate, facing Chen Ling, and the air fell silent.

With his back to the flickering lights of the Mother Tree, Chen Ling's large red opera robe fluttered gently in the wind. His eyes indifferently surveyed the Calamities, then he slowly stepped forward, directly placing his foot on the head of the Sixth-tier centipede and walking onto its massive back. Even with a foot on its head, the centipede Calamity dared not move an inch, burying its head even lower, exuding a desperate will to survive.

"I'm looking for two people," Chen Ling stated calmly from atop the Calamity's back. "Mobilize all the Calamities from the nearby Ghost Mocking Abysses to find their whereabouts for me. If you find them, I'll let you go... If you don't find them, I'll eat your entire family."