Chapter 78 – Meeting on the Northern Defense Line

Huaming District, Northern Sector.

This was the direction farthest from the soon-to-open Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance.

According to the detection department of Longyao City, the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance would open in the southeastern direction of Huaming District. The eastern and southern parts of Huaming District were closest to the entrance, followed by the west, while the north was the farthest.

Additionally, since the northern sector bordered Longyao City’s outskirts, even if Phantom Demons breached the defense line here, their eventual route would only lead them out of Longyao City into the dangerous wilderness, posing the least threat to the city’s urban areas. Therefore, the defense lines deployed in Huaming District were relatively sparse in the north, with key defenses concentrated primarily in the eastern and southern sectors.

Had Huaming District not been situated close to Longyao City’s border—with several other districts and multiple main roads leading to urban areas in other directions beyond its northern exit, potentially endangering citizens there—no defense line would have been established here at all.

Even with defenses in place, this sector remained the safest among all defense lines. It was the farthest from the entrance and had the smallest population, meaning fewer Phantom Demons would be drawn by the “blood feast” to this direction compared to others.

The defense line chosen by Su Ming and his five companions was precisely in this direction.

After completing their mission registration, the group of six rode in an off-road vehicle, speeding along and successfully arriving at their destination before 3:00 PM.

A camp had already been set up here, with a large clearing opened up in front of it. Only a few buildings remained, serving as cover, making the area resemble a desolate town.

When Su Ming and the others arrived, a military guide immediately led them into the camp.

“This will be your accommodation during your garrison duty. Conditions are limited, so please bear with us,” the uniformed guide said, pointing at a somewhat aged building.

Su Ming and his companions looked at the building, feeling a slight sense of disparity.

It was unavoidable. Back in the Academy District, they had lived in suites as luxurious as presidential suites, with exceptional living conditions. Suddenly switching to such an old residential building, it would be strange not to feel the contrast.

However, Su Ming and the others didn’t complain, nor did they feel wronged.

After all, this was essentially a battlefield. Expecting to continue living in luxury here would be the mark of someone overly pampered.

Even the three junior female students didn’t voice any opinions about it, simply following behind Su Ming and the other two, obedient and well-behaved.

Su Ming and the other two only glanced at the residential building before shifting their attention elsewhere.

They were more concerned about other matters.

“Comrade,” Su Ming took the lead in asking, “may I ask you a few questions?”

“Go ahead,” the guide replied with a sincere attitude, showing no impatience.

“I’d like to know how the garrison duty will be carried out,” Su Ming asked. “Do we just wait here until the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance opens and Phantom Demons invade this area?”

Everyone immediately focused their attention on the guide.

The guide promptly answered their question.”Since not everyone has arrived yet, you don’t need to do anything for now. Just settle your luggage and rest to conserve energy for the upcoming battles,” the guide explained. “About an hour before the Spirit Demon Abyss entrance opens, the commander will gather all Professionals to give you detailed instructions.”

There were still several hours until dusk.

Su Ming and his group weren’t the only ones who had taken on the defense mission for this line.

Rather, Su Ming’s team was merely supplementary here.

It went without saying that those truly relied upon to defend this line wouldn’t be a few students still studying at the Academy.

Even though this location was far from the frontline and relatively safe, considering that a breakthrough in the defense line would mean thousands of people becoming blood sacrifices for the Phantom Demons, the Base City would definitely station powerful Professionals here.

Students were reinforcements, not the main force defending the line.

Therefore, besides ordinary student teams like Su Ming’s, there would also be professional squads stationed here.

Even if no one had taken on the defense mission for this area, the Base City would dispatch Professional squads to serve as the main defense against Phantom Demons.

Currently, the Professionals assigned to defend this line clearly hadn’t all arrived yet.

Under these circumstances, they naturally had to wait until everyone was present before starting work.

“Will many people come here?” Ye Bai asked. “I remember the defense personnel for each line is fixed, right?”

Otherwise, some defense lines would be understaffed while others would be overstaffed, leading to wasted combat power.

So while it might seem like Su Ming and the others could freely choose which defense line to guard, in reality, the number of squads that could take missions for this particular line was limited.

However, Su Ming’s group didn’t know how many squads would come given this line’s importance, nor how many would be from the Academy versus professional Professionals.

That’s why Ye Bai asked this question—to estimate the combat power this defense line would have.

Unfortunately, the guide seemed unable to answer this question.

“Only the commander knows the specific personnel arrangements. We haven’t received notification yet,” the guide shook his head. “We don’t know exactly how many people will come, only that the higher-ups will dispatch a squad with an Upper-Rank Professional as the highest combat power to guard this line.”

Upon hearing this, Su Ming and the others all widened their eyes simultaneously.

“An Upper-Rank Professional?”

Lei Hao’s eyes began to shine.

“There will be an Upper-Rank Professional stationed here?”

An Zijin, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei also expressed surprise.

Even Su Ming exchanged glances with the others.

Clearly, none of them had expected the Base City to dispatch an Upper-Rank Professional to guard this defense line.

But upon second thought, Su Ming found it unsurprising.

“After all, there are thousands of lives at stake. No matter how low this defense line’s importance might be, how low could it really be?”

If these thousands of lives fell into the hands of a Phantom Demon, it would almost be enough to cultivate an upper-rank Phantom Demon.An Upper-Rank Phantom Demon, even if it were a Hazardous Species, would undoubtedly be a calamity capable of wreaking havoc across a region.

Under such circumstances, whether for the sake of the citizens or to eliminate future threats, the Base City authorities had to take it seriously to a certain extent.

The guide had also mentioned this.

“No matter which Defense Line it is, the Base City will assign at least one Upper-Rank Professional to guard it,” the guide explained. “Although our Defense Line here can’t compare to the Frontline or the more critical Defense Lines ahead, an Upper-Rank Professional will still be stationed here.”

The assistance an Upper-Rank Professional could provide was immense.

Just hearing that an Upper-Rank Professional would be stationed here brought a sense of relief to everyone, including Su Ming.

This was the prestige of an Upper-Rank Professional—something lower-rank Professionals could never hope to match.

Even if only one Upper-Rank Professional were to come here, it would be enough to make people feel at ease.

“May I ask who that Upper-Rank Professional is?” Lei Hao couldn’t help but ask.

The guide shook his head.

“I’m not sure. I heard it might be someone from a major Family.”

The guide’s words actually contained quite a bit of information.

“Someone from a major Family?” Ye Bai pondered thoughtfully. “Then it’s probably a Hunter, right?”

“After all, major Families are built on Bloodlines,” Lei Hao added. “Sorcerers usually don’t have Families, unless they marry into one or are recruited as a Guest Elder, retainer, or advisor.”

“So, it must be an Upper-Rank Hunter then?” Jiang Wanyu asked curiously. “What Star level would they be? Four-Star? Or Five-Star?”

“It’s unlikely to be Five-Star,” Yao Beibei said softly. “There aren’t many Five-Star Professionals in Longyao City, and they’re probably all assigned to the Frontline for combat.”

“Mhm, mhm.” An Zijin nodded repeatedly in agreement. “The Upper-Rank Professionals assigned to guard the other Defense Lines are likely Four-Star, and most of them are probably Hunters.”

Su Ming also nodded in agreement with this reasoning.

It couldn’t be helped—Sorcerers were relatively scarce, and Spirit Arts inherently countered Phantom Demons, dealing the most effective damage to them. Wherever they were, Sorcerers were the most sought-after talent.

Even a Four-Star Sorcerer, if they stayed safely in the rear and prepared a powerful Spirit Art, could inflict severe injuries on even the strongest Phantom Demon upon a successful hit.

Especially Advanced Spirit Arts, which were said to be capable of altering heaven and earth. In a war, they were akin to nuclear-level deterrents.

If this Advanced Spirit Art were a wide-area annihilation-type large-scale attack Spell Formula, it could likely annihilate countless Phantom Demons in an instant.

Given this, Sorcerers who could become Upper-Rank Professionals, even if only Four-Star, would receive the utmost attention.

In such a war, a Four-Star Sorcerer capable of using large-scale attack Spell Formulas might play a more significant role than even the highest-level Six-Star Hunter in Longyao City.

Such formidable weapons, with their nuclear-level offensive power, would be utterly wasted if left idle in the rear instead of being deployed on the Frontline to reap lives like wheat.Everyone had clearly come to this realization, thus concluding that the approaching Upper-Rank Professional would not be a Sorcerer, but rather a Four-Star Hunter.

Of course, Su Ming and the others, who were focusing their attention on the incoming Four-Star Hunter, had no idea that a group of familiar faces was also heading here.

“Ah…”

While pondering over matters, Su Ming heard a familiar voice the very next second.

“You…”

Su Ming turned his head toward the source of the sound and immediately froze in place.

Not only Su Ming, but everyone else also stood frozen where they were.

In another direction, a small team was slowly approaching.

Among them was a graceful, beautiful, and aloof figure.

Seeing that figure, Su Ming couldn’t help but recall the scene from that night when she had risked her life to save him.

Yes.

The newcomer was none other than Xu Qianqian.

(End of Chapter)