Chapter 1287: Chapter 1258: Changes in Black Stone City
Watching the departing Chupacabra, Li Chen’s eyes remained calm, without any intention of chasing after him, because he had already said that he would not kill him.
However, not killing him and not doing something else to him are completely different concepts.
From the very moment he acted against the Chupacabra, Li Chen injected a surge of True Qi into his body, which ordinarily wouldn’t cause any reaction and would merely lie dormant deep within the Chupacabra’s body.
But if he were to activate the True Qi, it wouldn’t be so calm.
For instance…
“Boom!!”
A sound of explosion came from afar, and Li Chen calmly withdrew his gaze, not even bothering to look in that direction again. Removing threats completely had always been his principle, and after going through so much, Li Chen had become even more steadfast in upholding this principle.
“Little ones, are you alright?” Arriving beside the group of trainees, Li Chen asked with a smile.
Upon hearing Li Chen’s words, the trainees quickly stood up, straightening their bodies, putting on a composed demeanor no matter how tired they were.
Seeing the expressions of the trainees, Li Chen couldn’t help but laugh.
He had seen this kind of expression before.
Back when he founded the Palace of the Nether King, every time new Nether Army warriors joined, during their first training session, those newcomers would also display such expressions.
“Let’s go, we’re going home.”
Upon hearing Li Chen’s words, the trainees couldn’t help but smile.
However, after saying it, Li Chen felt somewhat stunned.
“Home?”
My home, it’s not here…
Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about those tangled affairs and led the trainees out of the forest with large strides.
And with Li Chen joining them, the group no longer needed to be as cautious as before, instead moving quickly and efficiently out of the forest.
“Phew—”
Looking ahead at the no longer endless expanse of trees, the trainees took a deep breath of relief, revealing genuine smiles on their faces.
Although everyone had grown and learned a lot during their time in the forest, after all, that environment was not suitable for them, accustomed as they were to living in human cities.
Now, having finally left the forest, the trainees felt a sense of genuine joy.
“Finally going home!”
“I don’t know why, but I used to hate vegetables, yet now I suddenly want to try some!”
“Me too, whenever we found wild fruits in there, we had to carefully research if they were poisonous, and vegetables were out of the question; it was meat every day, and I used to hate greasy things the most!” complained a female trainee.
“Alright, alright, once we go back, you can choose whatever you want to eat, and the teacher will treat you,” Li Chen replied with a smile.
Upon hearing Li Chen’s words, the trainees immediately cheered excitedly.
…
Black Stone City.
Li Chen led the trainees back into this human city once again.
Initially, they thought their disheveled appearance would draw odd looks from the surrounding people, but upon returning to Black Stone City, the group wasn’t met with strange stares; instead, the people around them appeared straightforward, even somewhat sympathetic.
Puzzled, Li Chen looked around and discovered that within Black Stone City, many people appeared as ragged as they did, without knowing when they had appeared.
Some of them even looked more bedraggled than they did.
The number of such people was quite large!
“Hmm?” Li Chen keenly noticed that these people’s faces bore the exhaustion and desolation only seen after a long journey, clearly indicating that they were not locals of Black Stone City but had come from elsewhere.
“Fleeing here?”
For some reason, Li Chen was suddenly reminded of what the Chupacabra had said in the forest, causing a slight heaviness in his heart.
“Did the Demon Clan make a move?”
After hesitating, Li Chen didn’t delay further and led the trainees straight towards the Academy of Paradise.
What made Li Chen laugh wryly was that upon reaching the gates of the Academy of Paradise, he was stopped by the guards.
“Sorry, the Academy of Paradise is a place for teaching and nurturing minds; we do not entertain outsiders temporarily. If you have hardships, please seek help at the City Lord’s Mansion first,”
Li Chen smilingly took out an emblem only possessed by teachers of the Academy of Paradise: “I’m not fleeing; I’m a teacher at the academy, and these are my students. We went out for a month and just returned.”
“I see.” The guard quickly stepped aside and curiously glanced at the bedraggled trainees: “Did you meet the Demon Clan too?”
“Demon Clan?” Li Chen’s heart stirred, but his expression remained unchanged as he gently shook his head: “We only went to the mountains for training.”
Seeing Li Chen unwilling to elaborate, the guard nodded without further question. Being from the Academy of Paradise, the teacher and trainees needed no more hindrances.
On the way back to the Academy of Paradise, Li Chen noticed that among the refugees, there were not only humans but also a significant number of other races.
Black Stone City, as a human city, historically maintained relations with friendly races, and now seemed to offer refuge, allowing these refugees a temporary place to breathe.
But just from this, if the Demon Clan had truly acted, their movements must be substantial.
After arranging for the trainees to rest, Li Chen immediately sought out the academy’s principal.
As per procedure, he was required to report to the principal after completing the trainees’ outdoor training.
Moreover, he genuinely had many questions to ask this wise man.
He wanted to know what exactly had happened over the past month.
Maybe others didn’t know, but Wang Qiu, as the principal of the Academy of Paradise, an Earth-level expert, should know some insider information.
“Teacher Li, you’re finally back.”
Upon seeing Li Chen appear in his office, Wang Qiu seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Principal, earlier I saw some people outside, what exactly… has happened?” Li Chen feigned ignorance and asked curiously.
Upon hearing Li Chen’s question, Wang Qiu sighed and shook his head: “Actually, I don’t know much, but what I can tell you is that Black Stone City is no longer safe. In fact, no race is truly safe now.”
“Because, war has broken out.”