Volume Two: The Thousand Faces of Youth — Chapter Ninety-Six: Shen Jiewen

Page 1/3

Shen Jiewen was the star broadcaster of the Transmission Department, specially hired by the academy to cover the various high-level duels within the VRF. Almost every class at the academy had someone like her—a figure responsible for commentating on competitions, stirring up student enthusiasm, encouraging fierce competition, mutual honing, and ultimately molding outstanding talents. In return, the academy granted these top commentators certain conveniences regarding exams and graduation requirements, even providing resource preferences, as most of their time was devoted to commentary, leaving little opportunity for personal training. This was the academy’s way of reciprocating.

Shen Jiewen received major news: tonight, Shaoshan Fire and the Constellation Society would engage in a grand showdown. Within just the afternoon, all major forums across the academy began nonstop promotion of the event. Furthermore, Jiang Feng—the head of the academy’s intelligence network and a member of the Constellation Society—had his subordinates spontaneously publicizing the duel. Within hours, the match became widely known.

As the broadcast was about to begin, Shen Jiewen made her final preparations. Tonight’s duel was bound to be a highlight, especially since the Student Council had arranged for two special guests: Qin Shiqian, president of the Arctic Domain, and Feng Wuming, president of Wind Chime Valley.

The scheduled time was eight o’clock. At 7:55, Shen Jiewen’s livestream started early. They sat in the Transmission Department’s broadcasting room, equipped with the most sophisticated control consoles and the academy’s highest-grade camera gear—everything designed specifically for broadcasting VRF battles.

With subtle makeup applied, after exchanging greetings with the two guests, Shen Jiewen officially began the livestream.

“Hello everyone, I’m Shen Jiewen. It’s a pleasure to meet you all again.” She greeted all the viewers watching online in a formal tone. The comment stream instantly flooded with messages.

“Jiewen, Jiewen, Jiewen”—purely messages directed at Shen Jiewen.

“I heard there’s a ‘Little Reaper’ in tonight’s duel—is that true?” Someone expressed curiosity about the participants.

“I’ll tell you—yes, there is a Little Reaper, but he’s got a dead weight in Sky Eye,” another viewer explained to the crowd.

“Sky Eye Jiang Feng isn’t good at combat, so why is he fighting?”

The comments began to question the Constellation Society’s decision. Most believed that tonight’s victory was destined for Shaoshan Fire.

Shen Jiewen continued, “First, let’s welcome tonight’s two special guests, President Qin and President Feng.”

The two society heads smiled slightly and greeted the camera.

Shen Jiewen then said, “Judging by the comments, many viewers are very concerned about tonight’s participants. I wonder what your thoughts are—who do you think will win?”

Page 2/3

Adjusting his black-rimmed glasses, Qin Shiqian spoke confidently, “Honestly, I’m still more optimistic about Shaoshan Fire. After all, Shaoshan Fire is one of our academy’s veteran societies. It possesses a depth that the Constellation Society lacks. When it comes to harnessing the strength of fire-type ability users, it’s possible that most of the teachers’ knowledge can’t compare to what Shaoshan Fire has. Moreover, Shaoshan Fire is sending their well-coordinated president and vice president—Yanmodang Che Dou and Xiao Linghuo. This duo gave other societies a real headache in last year’s society battles. Xiao Linghuo’s toxic fire emitted poisonous gas to control the battlefield, and once the opponents’ abilities were restricted, Yanmodang finished the fight with high burst damage.

As for the Constellation Society, their president Huo Ye is indeed a very powerful ability user. Honestly, if he faced Tan Xiao one-on-one, I wouldn’t guarantee that Tan Xiao would necessarily win. But their other member…”

Qin Shiqian paused briefly before continuing, “Sky Eye Jiang Feng is well-known throughout the academy. He’s undoubtedly excellent, and the Constellation Society’s invitation to him surprised me somewhat. But his strengths aren’t in combat. I’m also curious why the Constellation Society chose to field him.”

“Thank you for your opinion, President Qin. President Feng, what’s your perspective?”

With a laugh, Feng Wuming said simply, “Since old Qin supports Shaoshan Fire, I’ll back the Constellation Society. The reason… the Constellation Society has Huo Ye. He’s someone who specializes in creating miracles.”

His words were brief but implied that with Huo Ye on their side, the Constellation Society had a fighting chance.

Shen Jiewen responded, “Well, both presidents have stated their support. Let’s watch closely and see who claims victory.”

The two sides entered a pre-created room and promptly decided which side would choose the map. The selection right went to Shaoshan Fire.

The map was the Blazing Fire Gobi—a terrain clearly suited for fire-type ability users, exclusive to Yanmodang. The map’s data was stored under his account, and no others were authorized to use it.

A flash of white light revealed Huo Ye’s figure appearing at a point on the map. Around him stretched a vast expanse of burning red gobi desert, the temperature soaring. Huo Ye hadn’t yet activated his abilities to suppress sweat secretion but was already drenched.

Once he managed to reduce his body’s moisture loss, his clothes quickly dried, leaving behind harsh wrinkles.

With Jiang Feng present, they naturally anticipated Yanmodang would choose this map, so they had already donned fireproof suits beforehand. These suits were lightweight and breathable, not hindering their movements. Yet the temperature was so extreme that even breathing felt like inhaling a scorching iron.

“This is ridiculous. I refuse to believe this map won’t affect them at all,” Huo Ye wiped sweat from his brow. Though he said this, fire-type ability users were naturally less affected by high heat.

“Let’s go and cut them down,” Huo Ye said, leading Jiang Feng to search for Yanmodang.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled violently, as if something was about to break through the earth. Sensing danger, Huo Ye immediately activated sound-location abilities and discovered a group of Calamities approaching.

“Dodge!” he shouted, swiftly lifting Jiang Feng and escaping the area. Huo Ye’s strength was considerable, and carrying one person was nothing. However, the threat below was fierce and unmistakably of the same species—the Blood-winged Mole Crickets.

Page 3/3

Mole crickets, known by various common names such as “plow dogs” or “soil dogs,” are subterranean insects skilled at digging tunnels, favoring humid heat, and notorious for damaging farmland. However, these Calamities, in mole cricket form, were much larger than their real-world counterparts.

Standing about fifty centimeters tall and up to two meters long, they had three pairs of legs, with the front legs especially developed: large round coxae, strong and slightly flattened femora, broad and hard tibiae ending in four sharp flattened teeth—two larger ones movable—forming digging claws perfect for tunneling. Their backs bore short, tough wings suited for long-distance flight, colored as if soaked in fresh blood, a vivid scarlet.

The scorching ground was ruthlessly torn apart as a vast swarm of blood-winged mole crickets surged forward, a black mass so dense it sent chills down the spine.

“It’s supposed to be virtual reality—why are there Calamities here?” Huo Ye asked as he fled, carrying Jiang Feng. He couldn’t afford to fight the swarm now; though confident he could eliminate them, his mission was the duel. Expending energy on fighting Calamities would be counterproductive.

Jiang Feng, jostled by Huo Ye’s movements, managed to speak brokenly, “Boss, I think maybe… they enabled the Calamity option. Usually, this wouldn’t be turned on for standard duels, but maybe… they want to use the Calamities to interfere with us.”

Ability users still faced Calamities on the battlefield. These students could be considered backup hunters for Calamities. VRF training facilities were certainly not designed only for human-versus-human combat.

Calamities were always the opponents of ability users, so VRF maps could include them, launching indiscriminate attacks on all participating humans.

“Damn it! Yanmodang, Xiao Linghuo, just you wait!”

Qin Shiqian and Feng Wuming both twitched their lips in disbelief. Who else could be as cunning as you?

However, as the top broadcaster, Shen Jiewen noticed a blind spot and posed a question: “Unexpectedly, Shaoshan Fire enabled the Calamity option. But why would they do that? Calamities attack indiscriminately and should also harm themselves if this option is turned on.”

Feng Wuming casually sipped some fine tea obtained from Huo Ye but said nothing. Qin Shiqian, however, speculated, “This is likely Shaoshan Fire’s strategy. Could it be that they’ve set the duel mode to war mode?”

Page 3/3