A moment later, they arrived at the meeting hall of the Imperial Capital Academy.
Today's host, of course, was Dean Songhe of the Imperial Capital Academy, who would explain the details of the training.
The students from Pearl Institute and Imperial Capital Academy were going to the same place for training, so their meeting was held together.
"The destination for this training is Jinlin City, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River plain!" Dean Songhe announced.
"Jinlin City? I've never heard of such a city before," Jingjing, who was very knowledgeable about geography, couldn't help but speak up.
She was a genius with an astonishing memory, remembering all the cities in the country very clearly, but she had indeed never heard of Jinlin City, which Dean Songhe mentioned.
Teacher Qiuyuhua from Pearl Institute sighed and said, "Jinlin City is a bit special because it was wiped off the map fifteen years ago."
Dean Songhe sighed slightly and said, "Fifteen years ago, a demon disaster occurred in Dongting Lake. Over-proliferating demons attacked the city. Fortunately, a mage on an outing in the wilderness noticed the disaster and notified the government in advance to evacuate the population. The very next day, the demons attacked the city, and those who didn't manage to leave were all buried within Jinlin City."
When mentioning this, Dean Songhe's emotions were clearly a bit sad, but it was only for a fleeting moment.
A student from Imperial Capital Academy asked, "Then isn't that just a deserted city now?"
"That's right."
Songhe nodded and then said, "Ten years ago, it was still a paradise for demons. In recent years, many hunter mages have sent back news that most of the demons there have disappeared, and we have received preliminary confirmation. Jinlin City is no longer as terrifying as it once was.
The purpose of sending you for training this time is because I need data on this entire deserted city. Although most of the demon tribes in Jinlin City have migrated, there are still different types of creatures living and wandering there. Your task is to scout as many locations in this city as possible, and record how many servant-level demons and how many warrior-level creatures you encounter."
Upon hearing this, many people breathed a sigh of relief. Collecting data alone wouldn't be difficult.
Dean Songhe nodded and then said, "That's right, what we need is a risk assessment of Jinlin City. This will be considered for whether to rebuild it."
Everyone started discussing, and at this moment, the chubby fool Luosong asked, "Dean, you want us to count the number of servant-level and warrior-level demons, but shouldn't we include commander-level demons?"
"Oh, if you encounter a commander-level demon and manage to return alive, that would be quite remarkable," Dean Songhe said casually. Although he spoke lightly, everyone present couldn't help but shiver.
After all, once they reach commander-level strength, not only is their intelligence no less than that of humans, but their territorial awareness is also extremely strong.
Tang Miao had a particularly deep impression of this. After all, when he went to Tianshan, he and the big snake had fought many times because of it... Dean Songhe continued, "Individual ability is ultimately limited in a deserted city full of demons. I hope that whether you are students from Pearl Institute or Imperial Capital Academy, you will learn to help each other and return safely from this outing."
Following Songhe's introduction and the admonitions of several teachers from both schools,
everyone embarked on their training journey... The Dongting Lake Plain also belongs to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, located in northern Hunan Province.
This is not a tourist destination, but the third largest dangerous lake in the country.
Such a huge lake is surrounded by various different ecosystems, and the demons inhabiting it are countless!
Among them, the notorious Lizard-Skull Giant Demon tribe, which occupied Jinlin City as its nest, used Dongting Lake as its base camp.
After arriving at the nearest city, the people from both academies could only choose to walk to Jinlin City.
During this time, Jingjing from Imperial Capital Academy told everyone a few things about the demon tribes, which was, of course, why Mo Fan asked. Luosong, as always, was annoyed with Mo Fan and even provoked him with the events of Bo City, but after being reprimanded by Mu Ningxue, he obediently shut his mouth.
After some time... They had walked about fifty kilometers from the safe zone. This area still had military mages patrolling and standing guard, and they hadn't encountered any reckless demons, but it would be hard to say what they would find deeper in the mountains!
"We can just follow this abandoned railway line," Song Xia said, pointing to the moss-covered tracks beneath their feet, holding a map.
Song Xia's way of giving directions was flawless. Although Jinlin City was destroyed, the railway tracks were still correct.
Everyone agreed, and Tang Miao, being directionally challenged, wouldn't try to steal the spotlight.
But there are always those who like to show off, like Lu Zhenghe. After Song Xia confirmed the route, he was not at all polite and directly asserted his status as the leader.
Looking at everyone, he said, "Let me say this beforehand, I have always served as the commander in the team. Since the school requires us to cooperate to complete this training mission, the seventeen of us can't be without rules. I will be the commander. You can offer opinions, but the general direction will be decided by me. How to proceed, how to deal with demons, when to rest... all these will be decided by me."
The few people from Imperial Capital Academy had no objections.
However, it was naturally impossible for those from Pearl Institute to follow his command.
"Our side will be commanded by Song Xia. When things happen, you can discuss them," Zhao Manyan suddenly interjected.
To this, everyone from Pearl Institute had no objections. After all, they were from two different schools, and having their own commanders and discussing everything was not a bad thing. Especially since Song Xia was quite responsible.
As for Zhao Manyan, he simply disliked Lu Zhenghe's sycophantic and pretentious demeanor. Otherwise, he wouldn't care who the captain was.
Lu Zhenghe agreed, after all, he didn't think he could command the people from Pearl Institute. The route was set, they would follow the abandoned railway tracks. Although they were already dozens of miles outside the safe zone, they hadn't encountered any demon blockades, as if there really weren't many demons in this city anymore.
A long walk, one-two-one, didn't take too much time. After all, they were all mages, and even when walking, their speed was much faster than ordinary people.
Moreover, with not many demons obstructing them along the way, they smoothly covered most of the journey.
It wasn't until they arrived in front of a mountain track that everyone had to stop.