Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Two: Kachi

In the spectator area of Venue B, Jin Puxian, the president of the Truth Chamber, wore an eerie smile. He was not the real Jin Puxian; though he had been implanted with a parasite by Qimu, which normally only made him more violent and powerful, Qimu was now using his connection to the parasite to temporarily seize control of Jin Puxian’s consciousness.

He could feel it—the entity inside was not entirely his own. There was another force within his body, one belonging to the Twelve Calamities. As the Eleventh Calamity, Qimu knew this all too well.

Qimu thought to himself, "The Tenth, is it? It seems Lord Calamity sent him to coordinate with me, though we never crossed paths before. He must have just ascended right as I was dispatched to infiltrate. This is fine. Since I can’t find a chance to get to Bancroft, I’ll take this opportunity to pass the message out."

Feng Wuming and Qin Shiqian walked side by side toward Venue B, spotting Xiao Linghuo sitting stealthily alone in a corner. Exchanging a glance, they approached quietly and sat on either side of him, sandwiching him.

"President Feng, President Qin, what are you two doing?" Xiao Linghuo asked, bewildered.

Feng Wuming crossed his legs, resting his horsetail whisk gently across his knees. He chuckled and said, "Coming here, of course, is to observe Brother Huo’s battle. After all, we might finally see him fight with everything he’s got. Whether it was the initial exam, the battle against the mercenaries outside the city, or the fight against your Mountain Fire faction, it always felt like he was holding something back. It’s not that he wasn't serious; it's just that he always seemed to have a trump card up his sleeve."

Qin Shiqian adjusted his glasses. "I don’t think he’ll go all out. If he really has a trump card, he’d save it for the club wars. Why use it in a minor exam?"

"Then why are you here?" Xiao Linghuo asked.

Qin Shiqian shrugged. "I just want to see him devour a calamity again. That scene was truly shocking."

"Do you have some kind of weird taste?" Xiao Linghuo asked.

"No, no, just a curiosity about the unknown," Qin Shiqian waved his hand.

"And what about you, Vice President Xiao? Why are you here?" Feng Wuming asked.

"Me? I’m just here to see what kind of trouble he can stir up," Xiao Linghuo replied. "Don't you think that wherever this guy goes, unexpected situations always arise?"

"Now that you mention it, that’s true. Let’s wait and see," Qin Shiqian said.

In Venue C, an old man slowly shed the darkness surrounding him, revealing his gnarled, wrinkled face to the onlookers. His voice was like a broken erhu with strings about to snap—raspy, harsh, low, and breathless, leaving those who heard it feeling a tightness in their chests.

"Oh... a little doll... a group of even weaker little dolls watching... wanting to treat this old man like... a caged beast... to watch that... sense of violent life-and-death struggle?"

His speech was fragmented, as if he might stop breathing at any moment. Were it not for the aura he could not hide, he would truly appear to be nothing more than a frail, elderly human at the end of his days.

Just as the students were gasping under the pressure of the Ultimate-class entity’s aura, Tan Xiao stood up. He grabbed the handle of his giant hammer with one hand and said calmly, "That’s not it. We came here to learn, to grow stronger, and to grow stronger to protect humanity. And you are merely a stepping stone for our growth."

In Venue A, the moment the prison door opened, a dark shadow lunged out, heading straight for Huo Xialan. It was undoubtedly the Ultimate-class entity she had to face. As it sprinted, it shrieked in frenzied delight, "Wahaha! A woman! Women have the most nutrition! I’ve... *slurp*... I haven't eaten a woman in so long! Don't move, little girl, let big brother take a bite first!"

As the crazed figure brushed past the white Hanfu, his head detached from his neck without warning. But before it could hit the ground, he caught it with his hands and shoved it back onto his neck. He wiped his fingers across the wound, and it vanished into thin air—this was the powerful regenerative ability of an Ultimate-class entity.

Huo Xialan turned around, expressionless, and pointed her sword, Yazhi, at the entity. She said coldly, "Die."

"A fierce woman! Good, good, a fierce woman's meat is even more fragrant!" The entity clawed at his own face, laughing hysterically.

In Venue B, the calamity inside the cage had yet to emerge. Huo Ye sat there calmly, seemingly indifferent to whether the calamity might suddenly lash out. Today’s exam seemed like it was going to be difficult.

What Shangguan Yudie hadn't finished saying earlier was that the calamity inside was very strong—it possessed the energy signature only found in a Calamity-class.

"Tch, what the hell. Even if I want a challenge, couldn't you stop causing trouble during an exam?" Huo Ye clearly didn't appreciate Old Jack’s gesture.

Though he looked calm on the surface, he was cursing internally. He needed to be on high alert.

*Click, click.* The sound of footsteps grew clearer, the echoes diminishing. As the shadows within the cage receded, the face of the Ultimate-class entity was slowly revealed.

It was an ordinary-looking young man with narrow, drooping eyes that looked extremely gloomy. The only thing that didn't look human was the sharp horn on his head.

"This is... don't you guys think he looks familiar?" Jiang Feng asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

"It seems so."

"I think I’ve seen him somewhere."

"It’s Karen!"

The last sentence slipped out of Shangguan Yudie’s mouth. This guy looked identical to the Karen they had killed with the Starry Sky group, only his aura was exceptionally dark.

Huo Ye narrowed his eyes, glanced at the emerging calamity, and finally raised his eyelids to a normal level. He stood up, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his blade.

The Ultimate-class entity, like Karen back then, had a Roman numeral "X" on his neck. He was a Calamity-class subordinate of the Tenth Calamity.

"Calamity-class! It’s a Calamity-class!" Someone shouted in a panic after scanning the entity with their crystal brain.

"Are you kidding me? A Calamity-class in an exam? Has the academy lost its mind?"

"Even if he is the 'Little Grim Reaper,' he only just promoted recently. How could he possibly beat a Calamity-class?"

When Huo Ye sensed that the creature was a Calamity-class, he knew there were only three possible outcomes for the day: either he forfeited and dropped out, he was defeated and rescued before dropping out, or he went all out and took the opponent down with him.

This was a duel with no path of retreat.

The Ultimate-class entity rolled his neck, his eyes hollow, and asked indifferently, "Kid, what’s your name?"

Huo Ye sneered, "My name is... Chigulikakazabaman."

What the hell? At a time like this, why are you making up such a bird-brained name? Why do you have to be so difficult? The observing students were losing their composure.

The members of Starry Sky twitched, but they desperately tried to convince themselves to get used to it. Huo Ye was just like this—prone to intermittent bouts of being a jerk.

Who would have thought the entity would tilt his head to the other side and say, "My name is Kachi. Chigulikakazabaman, why do you have the scent of my younger brother on you?"

Huo Ye didn't correct the name he had just fabricated. Instead, he pondered for a moment and said, "Your brother? Was he a space-type user who looked just like you, had a horn on his head, liked to use people’s heads as toys, and was a bit of a brain-dead idiot? I killed him!"

Huo Ye’s vivid description immediately brought the image of Karen to many people's minds. It was too accurate!

Kachi pointed at Huo Ye, agitated. "You... you... you killed my brother?"

Huo Ye acted as if he had just realized. "Oh! That was your brother? Well, that’s perfect. How about I send you to keep him company?"

"Send you to keep him company"—he really dared to say that! This was a Calamity-class! He wasn't afraid of the wind flashing his tongue by bragging like that!

But only the people from Starry Sky knew that Huo Ye wasn't bragging. If he said those words, he was absolutely prepared to give his all to take down this Calamity-class. This would likely be the most dangerous battle among the three of them.

Eddie, watching Huo Ye’s calm and collected performance on the screen, couldn't help but smile inwardly, though his face remained tense. "Mount Tai collapses before him without his expression changing." This kid’s mindset was becoming increasingly steady. Even though his tongue was sharp and unforgiving, he was undoubtedly weighing every possibility, not letting a single factor that could affect the outcome slip by. This was the Huo Ye he had raised—the future Calamity Exterminator!