Comprehensive Combat Practice

The focus of the course will shift entirely to hands-on combat drills and live battle simulations.

The classroom fell silent for two seconds before erupting into a massive uproar.

"Full-scale live combat? That's the level of dangerous training we usually face as juniors."

Zhou Tong furrowed his brow. Everything this year was too abnormal.

Ever since the demonic invasion incident last semester, everything had felt like someone had hit the fast-forward button.

The outside world was being pushed forward, from the big shots down to the little people, and now even the sanctuary of the school was being forced to accelerate.

An Changqing also had his brows tightly knitted.

He knew that the academy's previous teaching system had been tested countless times.

For them to radically break away from that routine now, there must be a reason hidden from outsiders.

From the unusual timing of the training sessions to this complete overhaul of the curriculum...

An Changqing had a nagging feeling that the world was truly on the verge of chaos.

"Quiet down, everyone."

Sima Ming once again used his spiritual energy to suppress the restless emotions that were about to spiral out of control in the room.

"I know your hearts are filled with doubt and fear about the unknown."

He slowly walked out from behind the lectern, stopping right in front of the first row of desks.

"You must be cursing the academy in your minds, thinking they're disregarding your lives by forcing you, freshmen who aren't ready, into brutal combat."

"Making first-year freshmen jump straight into full-scale battle certainly breaks a century-old tradition here at Huaqing."

Sima Ming's gaze swept across the young faces in the front rows one by one.

"But I must honestly tell you all a cruel truth today."

He deliberately emphasized his tone and volume.

"There is no longer time left for your generation to grow slowly and steadily step by step."

"Even those of you who studied at the Northern Frontier before probably don't know that in the past half-month, the Northern Frontier defensive line has suffered three deliberate waves of beast hordes."

"As for the domestic situation, stray Fallen Ability Users and followers of demons have been acting frequently lately, and the local superpower branches are barely keeping up."

"If the academy keeps you sheltered in a greenhouse and lets you learn at a normal pace, you'll most likely become the first batch of people to die on the battlefield."

Sima Ming's voice echoed through the spacious classroom.

"So the academy's top brass held an emergency meeting last night and came to this decision."

Sima Ming placed his hands on the edge of the lectern, looking down at the students in the front rows.

"Starting next week, all first-year theory courses will have their time reduced by eighty percent."

"The time saved will be used for you to form into teams of four and directly take on real field missions issued by the Superpower Association. These will be graded."

His words just now confirmed An Changqing's suspicions.

A look of concern rose on An Changqing's face, because his father and mother were the first line of defense for humanity.

Most people, when mentioned by him, always thought of his father, but An Changqing himself knew that his mother's strength was also at the pinnacle of the world.

The classroom immediately burst into chaos.

This was practically like tossing them, these flowers raised in a greenhouse, straight into the meat grinder of the wilderness.

"But Dean, I've never even seen a real demon before."

A male student's voice carried a clear tremor.

"That's exactly why we need to get you bloodied early. Only by seeing blood and learning how to kill enemies can you survive in this world that's about to fall into chaos."

Sima Ming picked up his teaching notes from the desk.

"This lesson isn't about anything else. I'm just giving you one assignment."

"By sunset tomorrow, I want to see your completed team formation lists in the academic system."

"Find teammates you're willing to trust with your back, because that might determine how long you get to live."

After saying that, Sima Ming turned and walked straight out of the classroom.

Did he really have the heart to do this? But as he said, there simply wasn't enough time left.

Rather than letting them grow slowly through the normal process, it was better to force quick growth, even if it came with some pain. That was still worth it.

The classroom door closed again behind him as he left.

It left behind a room full of bewildered freshmen staring at one another.

The silence in the classroom lasted only ten seconds before it was shattered by a deafening wave of noise.

The freshmen, who had been slumped over their desks exhausted moments before, seemed injected with adrenaline. Everyone sprang up from their seats.

They started scurrying around the classroom like headless flies, trying to latch onto a sturdy leg that could keep them alive in the coming dangers.

Within half a minute, An Changqing's desk was surrounded by layers of people packed tightly together.

After all, this top-ranked student was not only mild-tempered but also had proven strength.

Teaming up with An Changqing was like buying a guarantee. His popularity had always been terrifying.

Chen Guan sat in the back corner of the classroom, watching the chaotic scene up front.

Hardly anyone came looking for him. Those who knew him better, like Wang Hanyue, already knew who he'd team up with. Those who didn't know him well were afraid to approach this guy with a reputation as an oddball.

After politely declining a crowd of people, An Changqing brought Su Yuehe and Long Ao over to where Chen Guan sat, a smile on his face.

Su Yuehe's fingers slid quickly across her screen, pulling up the field mission list just released to the first-year freshmen section of the academy.

Because she had been at the Northern Frontier, even Su Yuehe hadn't checked the academy's mission situation in a long time.

"The situation is way worse than I thought."

Su Yuehe said, frowning deeply as she looked at the rows of mission briefs marked with red warnings on her screen.

"The Superpower Association has cleared out all lower-level missions. Right now, the lowest grade in the system starts at C-rank."

Su Yuehe pushed the tablet to the center of the table so everyone could see clearly.

"This means the association's lower-level operatives are completely overwhelmed. They're using us, the current students, as free high-level labor."

Long Ao leaned in for a look at the densely packed missions.

"Isn't that just perfect? I was afraid they'd give us some boring tasks like finding lost cats and dogs to tick me off."