That night, Ling Jiu and Bai Ya tossed about in bed until four in the morning before they fell asleep.

  The next morning, they wanted to sleep in, but their little wish was instantly destroyed by Wukong.

  The little guy was already complaining about feeling hungry early in the morning. He banged on the door so hard that he woke the two of them up.

  “Let’s get up!”

  Ling Jiu smiled bitterly. “If we don’t wake up, I think he’ll smash the door open.”

  “Probably not.”

  Bai Ya then helplessly said, “The child’s temperament changed ever since that day. It seemed like his wild behavior just disappeared, and he became more well-behaved as well as obedient.”

  “That day?”

  Ling Jiu was dumbfounded.

  “He went out to play and hit his head against something one day. He remained unconscious for three whole days before waking up.”

  Bai Ya looked apologetic. “After he woke up, there was a big change in his character. Not only did he become well-behaved, but he would even take the initiative to help me do something within his power. It’s like he was a brand new person!”

  “Hit his head……”

  Ling Jiu was speechless for a moment. Why did this plotline sound so familiar?

  Did Kakarot[1]’s character not change dramatically after he hit his head as well?

  “Forget it, anyway, it’s good if he is obedient. It would be hard to discipline him if he’s too rowdy.”

  Ling Jiu did not continue dwelling on the problem. He later got out of bed after a moment of intimacy with Bai Ya.

  After breakfast, they started planting trees again.

  He had left home for far too long this month, and he did not want to go anywhere now. He only wanted to sit in peace and live a simple, warm life.

  However, the Replication Arcana’s cooldown was up, and Ling Jiu could not sit idle.

  “What Arcana should I replicate this time?”

  As Ling Jiu planted trees he scanned both Bai Ya and Wukong’s Arcana information.

  Name: Bai Ya

  Race: Earth Human

  Arcana: Thunder Manipulation (Awakened, Replicable), Mimeograph (Awakened, Replicable)

  “Both of Bai Ya’s Arcanas are good. The Annihilation Thunder could destroy everything, and it will be even more terrifying in my hands.”

  “There is also the Mimeograph Arcana, which will allow me to create duplicates of myself. This is like having a clone, and I can use the duplicates to do a lot of things, like…… train!”

  He then looked at Wukong.

  Name: Sun Wukong

  Race: Golden Saiyan Ape

  Arcana: Apex Physique (Awakened, Replicable)

  “It’s really Apex Physique!” Ling Jiu exclaimed in secret.

  “I wonder what Wukong’s physical attributes index are?”

  For physical Arcanists, the physical attribute index was a very critical indicator.

  How much strength, speed, and endurance could be put to play was all reliant on one’s physical attribute index. That directly determined one’s level of strength.

  “Let’s take Wukong to get his physical attribute index tested someday, no rush to replicate it now.”

  Ling Jiu did not rush to replicate Wukong’s Apex Physique. He had intended to measure it before replicating. If Wukong’s physical attribute index was lower than a million, then there was not much sense replicating it.

  “Let’s copy Bai Ya’s Mimeograph Arcana first and I can let the duplicates train. My greatest weakness now is not my body, but my Arcana level.”

  As he thought of this, Ling Jiu decisively replicated Bai Ya’s Mimeograph Arcana.

  Replication successful. Assimilate?

  \r \r \r

  “Honey, I’m going to the bathroom!”

  “Go on then!”

  Some time later, Ling Jiu had successfully assimilated the Mimeograph Arcana. As he carefully felt the changes in his body, a thought occurred to him.

  The next moment, Dark Bio-energy rushed out of his body and converged beside him. Once half of the Dark Bio-energy had poured out of his body, a duplicate appeared.

  His looks, expressions…… were almost exactly like Ling Jiu’s, just like Kagebunshin in Naruto[2].

  “It’s really alike!”

  Ling Jiu was amazed.

  Subsequently, Ling Jiu made more duplicates, and a moment later, the toilet was filled with more than ten duplicates. Nevertheless, Ling Jiu still felt that he could go further.

  Bai Ya could create three duplicates at most, and Ling Jiu could make even more. Ten was not his limit.

  “You have only one purpose!”

  Ling Jiu gave the ten duplicates an order. “You are to absorb the Dark Bio-energy in the universe and train hard. Understand?”

  Bai Ya actually did the same thing. The first thing she did after waking up was to duplicate herself and let her copies enter the forest to absorb the mysterious energy as well as train.

  After a long period of growth, the first batch of Arcana Trees they had planted began to create mysterious energy, and the amount was rather substantial as the energy produced every day was enough for Bai Ya to train with.

  At night, Bai Ya would recall the duplicates, and the duplicates’ training for the day would be applied to her body, causing Bai Ya to grow steadily.

  “Understood!” the ten duplicates replied in unison.

  “Very well!”

  Ling Jiu nodded in satisfaction. “All right, train well. I won’t disturb you guys.”

  Immediately after, Ling Jiu left the airship.

  For the next few days, Ling Jiu went nowhere, as he stayed on the Ares Plain, planting trees and educating Wukong. His days were relaxing and comfortable.

  However, these leisurely days soon came to an end.

  That day, a loud alarm sounded across Mars, calling on all cadets of the matriculation camp.

  “What happened?”

  Ling Jiu and Bai Ya looked at each other as they rushed toward the camp at the same time. Before he left, Ling Jiu did not forget to recall nine of the duplicates, leaving only one behind.

  The duplicate that was left behind could take care of Wukong and the forest.

  When they rushed back to the camp, many of the cadets had arrived. By the time every cadet got there, the camp commandant and the top cadres of the matriculation camp had all arrived too.

  “Brother Niu, what’s going on?” Ling Jiu found Niu Ben and asked in confusion.

  “I don’t know the specifics either.”

  Niu Ben shook his head. “But I heard that it seems like a new wormhole had been found.”

  “A new wormhole?”

  Ling Jiu was dumbstruck, and just as he was about to ask, the camp commandant’s voice rang out. “All cadets, listen, there is only one reason for us to summon you here today.”

  All of the cadets held their breath and listened.

  “Last night, at the Antarctic pole, the satellite suddenly detected an unusual heat fluctuation.”

  The camp commandant’s voice was loud and clear. “You should know that the Antarctic pole is covered by snow and ice all year round. The thickness of the ice and snow is as high as 2,000 meters. The climate there is extremely harsh, and the annual average temperature is minus 48 degrees Celsius.

  “Now it’s June, and it happens to be the coldest time in Antarctica. The temperature in the South Pole has reached an astonishing minus 80 degrees Celsius, much colder than usual.

  “The temperature there is almost the same all year round. Under normal circumstances, there should not be any abnormal heat fluctuations, but that happened suddenly yesterday.”

  The camp commandant paused slightly as he glanced at everyone. “At 11 o’clock last night, the temperature in the South Pole suddenly shot past 100 degrees Celsius, and it lasted for a whole 81 seconds!”

  As soon as he said that, the audience was in an uproar.

  What was the Antarctic pole?

  A place with temperatures well below zero degrees Celsius all year round.

  It had a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius?

  How was that possible?

  Ling Jiu and Bai Ya looked at each other with confusion on their faces.

  What the hell was this situation?

  In the face of everyone’s confused look and the eagerness to find out what had happened, the camp commandant continued.

  “As this unique situation had happened, the top echelon of humanity had informed the Ultimate Matriculation Camp and ordered us to investigate the situation. So, our operatives had found a tunnel near the South Pole.”

  “A tunnel?”

  Everyone gasped.

  “A tunnel that leads straight down 5,000 meters under the Antarctic.”

  The camp commandant then slowly said, “After the operatives entered the tunnel, they found a new wormhole inside it.”

  “Another wormhole?”

  “Isn’t it just a wormhole? Is there a need to summon all of us with such fanfare?”

  “Who knows? Maybe this wormhole is special?”

  “Have you guys noticed that there are more and more wormholes being discovered recently……” the cadets whispered.

  “The new wormhole is called Wormhole 52. When our operatives entered it, they found another planet of life on the opposite side.

  “The planet is not inferior to Earth. It not only has forests but also mountains and emerald green lakes…… Of course, there is an astonishing number of Direbeasts living on that planet too.

  “Most importantly……”

  At this point, the camp commander suddenly paused, before continuing.

  “Our operatives found traces of intelligent life on the planet like houses, tools, boats, buildings, and the like.

  “That means there is intelligent life on the planet.”

  Hearing what the camp commandant said, everyone was shocked as a look of excitement appeared on their faces.

  Alien planets were almost dime a dozen now, and alien life was not rare to them either because……they had seen plenty at that point!

  However, extraterrestrial intelligent life or an alien was not something they had come into contact with before. Therefore, everyone was naturally curious.

  “It’s a pity that after our operatives searched the entire planet, they could not find any clues about this intelligent race.”

  The camp commandant slowly said, “They seemed to have collectively vanished, leaving only their houses and buildings to speak of their existence.”

  “They’ve disappeared?”

  “How could they disappear for no reason?”

  “Strange……”

  “So, the mission given to you by the matriculation camp is, enter the planet, an search for this intelligent race.”

  The camp commandant continued, “If they have really gone missing or become extinct, investigate the truth of their extinction or disappearance.”

  The camp commandant raised his voice further. “The first to find this intelligent race or find the truth behind their disappearance or extinction will be richly rewarded.

  “Do you have any questions? If there are none, you may head out now.”

  “Commandant, I have a question!” one of the cadets opened his mouth.

  “Speak,” the camp commandant said faintly.

  “Sir, I remembered you mentioning that there is a large amount of Direbeasts on the planet. I would like to know, how strong are they?” the cadet asked.

  To answer the question, the camp commandant only said one thing, “The operatives determined that this planet’s danger level is…… S-class!”

  “S-class!”

  All of the cadets went into an uproar again.

  The matriculation camp or rather the humans judged an alien planet’s degree of danger based on four classes: Class A, S, SS, and SSS.

  Class A meant that there were no stellar lifeforms on the planet.

  Class S meant that there were stellar lifeforms on the planet but not too many. Their levels were usually low and their strength average.

  As for Class SS planets, there were stellar lifeforms on them, and they were very powerful, which made them extremely dangerous planets.

  Lastly, Class SSS meant that the planet was on an entirely different level altogether.

  “This planet is Class S, so the planet has stellar lifeforms and is quite dangerous?”

  The cadets began to have a serious look on their faces.

  [1] Reference to a character from the Dragon Ball series

  [2] Reference to a Ninja technique in the anime, Naruto