The next day.

After last night's majority vote, they ultimately chose to stay and continue surveying.

Having learned from Lu Zhenghe's tragic example, Shen Mingxiao and the others were clearly much more honest now and just wanted to finish the survey as soon as possible.

They spent an entire day and finally managed to investigate all the survey points. Although they encountered quite a few demons along the way, all the situations were risky but not dangerous.

"Now that all the survey points have been checked, we'll return along the same route tomorrow morning," Song Xia said to everyone.

"If I had known the wild was this dangerous, I'd rather die than agree to become an exchange student," Luo Song complained bitterly.

"Sigh, Lu Zhenghe is dead. Once we go back, we definitely won't escape getting berated."

Xu Dalong couldn't help but sigh as he thought about Lu Zhenghe dying in the City Hall building.

Although he normally didn't get along with Lu Zhenghe, they had at least been classmates, and his sudden death made people feel regret.

"Stop saying useless things. Get some rest. It'll still take quite a while on the road. Let's try to get back to the city early," Zhou Haoyu said.

Although Lu Zhenghe was dead, Lu Nian was definitely on his way here already, and returning by the same route meant running into him.

If not for Lu Nian's treasure chest, Zhou Haoyu could have led everyone on a detour back.

However, even if they met head-on, Zhou Haoyu could still get rid of Lu Nian and all his subordinates.

The only problem was, killing these people might bring trouble for his clan and himself.

A cold gleam flashed through Zhou Haoyu's eyes. He must plan carefully—it would be best to drag that old thing Song He down as well.

Early the next morning, the group ate a little food, then followed the road out of the city.

After leaving the city, they headed back along the abandoned railway line by the original route.

Compared to when they first came, their speed was obviously much faster—clearly no one wanted to stay here another moment.

After walking for about an hour, a group of figures appeared ahead.

They wore matching uniforms, somewhat similar in style to Military Mages, but with completely different colors.

Zhou Haoyu's expression turned serious. A group showing up at this time could only be Lu Nian and his subordinates.

[Unlock Condition: Kill!]

The group's morale had been low, but upon seeing Military Mages appear, they immediately picked up their pace—they wanted nothing more than to throw themselves into the arms of the military.

Lu Nian didn't strike immediately but quickly swept his gaze across the crowd, then frowned.

Where was his little brother?

Could it be that they had run into danger and Lu Zhenghe was still behind covering the retreat?

"Impossible."

Lu Nian knew Lu Zhenghe's character very well—there was no way he would stay behind alone for others.

Eliminating all the other possibilities, only one was left.

A fierce light flashed in Lu Nian's eyes. He took a long drag from his cigarette, then said to the men behind him, "Kill all the irrelevant people."

Zhou Haoyu reacted instinctively and immediately used Spiritual Telekinesis to pull Qingqing and Zhao Mingyue at the front of the group back.

The next second, several chains of frost shot up from exactly where they had just been standing.

If the two girls hadn't been dragged back, they definitely would've been impaled on the spot!

Everyone felt chills down their spines. Why were these Military Mages—supposed symbols of justice—attacking them?!

"Interesting. As expected of the most suitable test subject."

Lu Nian's face revealed a look of surprise and delight after his first attack failed.

He'd long heard of Zhou Haoyu's extraordinary talent, but today he realized Zhou Haoyu was far more terrifying than the rumors said.

Zhou Haoyu frowned. From the sound of it, Lu Nian was clearly coming for him?

That made sense. Bo City had sealed the news of Mo Fan's natural dual elements, and Mo Fan hadn't revealed his third element during the exchange meet.

"It's Thunder Cloud—be careful!!"

No one knew who shouted it, but everyone looked up and immediately saw a massive thunder cloud hanging above their heads.

Bolts of lightning flickered chaotically inside the cloud—it was the Level-Three Thunderbolt Zhou Haoyu had displayed before.

Although the lightning aura was slightly weaker this time, it was still a genuine Level-Three Thunderbolt!

"It's a Mid-Tier Level-Three Thunderbolt—everyone, get out of the way!" Mo Fan shouted.

As soon as he finished speaking, the clear sky rumbled with an enormous boom.

Forked lightning bolts slammed down toward the heads of Zhao Manyan, Zheng Bingxiao, Shen Mingxiao, and Luo Song.

Zhou Haoyu hurriedly activated his defensive magic equipment, and a Water Barrier appeared in front of everyone. Lightning crackled wildly on it, but couldn't do any damage.

But Shen Mingxiao and Luo Song weren't as fortunate. They'd happened to be outside the barrier and could only stare helplessly as the forked lightning fell on them.

The lightning pierced through their bodies in an instant, and with a loud bang, they exploded into a rain of blood.

Viscous blood splattered against the barrier—though it was quickly absorbed by the Water Element shield, everyone was still deeply shocked.

"Dead… they're all dead!"

Liao Mingxuan trembled uncontrollably and shouted in horror.

The others weren't any better—some collapsed to the ground, others hid behind Zhou Haoyu, clutching his clothes tightly.

This was their only hope of survival.

"I didn't expect you to have that level of magic equipment. The Zhou Family really spared no expense to raise a peerless genius like you," Lu Nian first exclaimed in surprise, then slowly stepped forward a few paces. "How long do you think your barrier can last? If you obediently give up resisting, I can let two of you leave."

Zhou Haoyu placed his hand in his pocket and quietly turned on the recording function on his phone.

Lu Nian only gave it a glance and didn't care at all.

They had more than twenty people, while the other side only had Zhou Haoyu worth paying attention to—the advantage was entirely theirs!

"You specifically came here to cut us off. Your goal shouldn't be as simple as killing, right?" Zhou Haoyu asked.

"Brat, you're getting more and more interesting to me. If you're willing to cooperate with my research, I guarantee you'll become a true powerhouse."

"And I'm not talking about something as mundane as a High-Tier Mage!"

Looking at the calm Zhou Haoyu standing before him, Lu Nian grew even more satisfied. With someone like this, the success rate of his experiments might increase by several percent.

To Lu Nian's offer, Zhou Haoyu merely gave a cold laugh.

Demon Element wasn't that easy to awaken. Without Little Loach's help, even Mo Fan wouldn't have regained consciousness.

"What exactly are you talking about? What experiment?" Zhou Haoyu asked with a confused expression, deliberately guiding Lu Nian to keep talking.

"It's fine to tell you. It's about creating an entirely new magic system. Once this magic system is created, it will completely reshape the current human order!"

As he spoke of this new element, Lu Nian suddenly grinned widely.

"Heh, if you were really researching a new element, you wouldn't need to slaughter people like this, would you?" Zhou Haoyu said.

"You're not wrong. In any revolution, rivers of blood are inevitable. But history will prove everything—all sacrifices are for the sake of ultimate success."