Ben emerged from the principal's office with a helpless expression.
The principal had persuaded him to temporarily move back to the school.
Ben hadn't given in easily; he had made up countless excuses, even claiming he loved sunbathing and had bought a sunbathing machine that wouldn't fit in a dormitory.
Unexpectedly, the principal waved his hand and granted him the same treatment as Leo.
An independent dormitory!
The so-called independent dormitory was actually a teacher's residence, like a small house, with plenty of space.
Even the largest sunbathing machine could fit.
In the end, Ben had no choice but to agree.
To avoid delays, the principal asked him to move in immediately.
At noon, Ben ate lunch at the cafeteria, and by the afternoon, he started moving.
When Ben returned to his apartment, he noticed that across the hall, Emima's door was wide open — she was packing her things.
"Sister Emima, are you moving out?" Ben asked.
"Yes!" Emima smiled. "I received a new transfer order. Since you're moving back to school, they don't need me guarding this place anymore."
"Where will you be transferred to next?"
"Maybe the front lines. I'm not sure yet — I'll have to report to headquarters to find out."
Ben nodded and politely said, "Thank you for taking care of me all this time, Sister Emima."
Emima shook her head and smiled. "I should be the one thanking you. Even though I was stuck here, it was the most relaxing period since joining the Zodiac Bureau. Plus, thanks to you, I gained 20 spirit energy points in the fifth level Spirit Realm."
After exchanging a few polite words, they each returned to packing.
Although the sunbathing machine was large and heavy, it could be disassembled into several parts.
As for the weight... with Ben's current strength, a few hundred pounds meant nothing.
He could probably carry a heavy truck without effort now!
Ben packed everything he needed and finished moving in just two trips.
He didn't sell the old apartment — he kept it.
After moving in, as Ben was tidying his new dormitory, Joe Root, Duminy, and others came knocking at his door.
"Brother Ben, we heard you moved back to campus, so we came to visit you!"
"Yeah! Also to see if you needed help!"
Soon, everyone scrambled to help him clean up and organize his dormitory.
Later, Leo also dropped by for a visit.
That evening, Ben treated his classmates to a simple meal at the cafeteria.
After dinner, Ben had just returned to his dormitory when he received a call from his grandfather, Mark.
"Grandpa? It's so late — why aren't you asleep yet?"
"Haha! Grandpa's too happy to sleep!"
Hearing the hearty laughter, Ben immediately guessed that Mark must have heard today's good news from his eldest cousin.
"Grandpa, even if you're happy, you still need to rest. Stay healthy, so you can watch me lead the Henry family to new heights!"
Mark was overjoyed.
"Good, good! Grandpa will listen to you and go to sleep now. Good grandson, work hard — if you need anything, tell the family."
"I know."
After hanging up, Ben noticed a message from Hales, sent a few minutes earlier.
The message warned him that a bounty exceeding 100 million had been placed on him on the dark web!
Ben wasn't surprised.
The principal had already warned him that his performance today would attract attention.
A bounty was inevitable.
Opening the internet, Ben saw that news about their championship victory had already spread nationwide.
Public opinion about Ben had shifted greatly:
"I heard the Chicago University team won thanks to Ben's brilliant command!"
"Yeah, it's all over the news."
"They say Ben has a unique Spirit Realm talent, capable of sensing crises that others can't detect!"
"Some claim that Song Haitang's consistent SSS ratings are actually due to Ben!"
Of course, there were trolls too:
"Haha, stop whitewashing him! Must be the Henry family's money at work."
"Your brain must be broken. Look at the official reports!"
Ben just skimmed through the comments and ignored them.
After experiencing several Spirit Realm adventures, he was used to trending online.
A month passed in a flash.
Since Ben and Leo stayed within Chicago University all month without venturing out, nothing major happened.
Today was November 1st.
Early in the morning, Ben opened his eyes inside his sunbathing machine.
Race: Human
Constitution: 1920
Spirit: 560
Strength: 1920
Agility: 1920
Talent: Kryptonian Bloodline [Steel Body ③, Super Strength ③]
Skills: Fist Bone Impact, Armament Haki (Grandmaster)
Spirit Energy Points: 345
Originally, including the reward from the fifth level Spirit Realm championship, Ben had 1145 spirit energy points.
However, during the month, he used 800 points to upgrade his Armament Haki to Grandmaster level.
Grandmaster-level Haki was different — it drastically increased defense and attack power and could cover his whole body and weapons, enhancing their sturdiness and strength.
Very practical!
Ben hadn't tested his full power yet, but he was confident that within Chicago University, only the principal could rival him now.
After washing up, Ben went for breakfast at the cafeteria.
Living on campus was indeed convenient.
By 10 AM, he made his way to the playground.
Today was Spirit Realm opening day — time for the sixth level adventure!
This time, the sixth level Spirit Realm was an amnesiac one.
The school only knew that teams would consist of ten members.
How did they figure that out?
Simple: they experimented by having people shake hands before entering.
When they came out, only actual teammates could still hold hands.
Ben's team was almost the same as last time.
When he arrived at the training ground, everyone was already there except Leo.
"Brother Ben! So happy to fight alongside you again!" Duminy said excitedly.
Joe Root laughed, "Stop flattering yourself. It's clearly Brother Ben carrying us!"
Everyone chuckled.
In the distance, many students looked on enviously.
After all, being on Ben's team almost guaranteed an SSS mission rating!
Who wouldn't want that?
At 11:00 AM sharp, Leo finally arrived.
Naturally, no one minded his lateness.
Leo's safety was paramount.
Soon after, the campus leader, Aryan, shouted:
"Final minute! Everyone get ready!"
Everyone quickly joined hands, ten per group.
Moments later, time was up.
All the freshmen vanished from the training ground.
A flash of white light later.
Ben and his team found themselves in a desolate wilderness under a gloomy, oppressive sky.
Weeds stretched endlessly in every direction.
"What hellhole is this?" Duminy muttered.
Just then, a prompt appeared in everyone's left eye:
[Please arrive at any checkpoint before dark.]
Red arrows also appeared in their vision, each pointing in different directions.
Song Haitang — or rather, Leo — explained, "Those are directions to checkpoints. We need to reach one before nightfall. Maybe we can split up...?"
Ben immediately said, "No splitting up. Let's head to one location together!"
Everyone agreed without hesitation.
Ben picked a random arrow and led the way.
He said, "It'll get dark soon. Let's move faster."
Then he turned to Leo and offered, "Leo, let me carry you!"
Leo blushed but agreed, knowing the mission came first.
Ben felt a soft weight press against his back and smiled wryly.
Then he turned to the others:
"Those with low agility, pair up with faster students. Reaching the destination might be our first test!"
Everyone became serious.
Even carrying Leo, Ben remained relaxed — in fact, he had to slow down for the others to keep up.
They marched across the barren wasteland.
Half an hour later, they spotted a city wall nestled between two mountain peaks — one of the checkpoints marked in their vision.
From afar, Ben saw many ancient-armor soldiers standing in formation on the walls.
"Brother Ben, they're wearing ancient armor!" Joe Root gasped. "We're in modern clothes. Will they think we're monsters?"
"We have to risk it anyway," Ben replied.
He reminded Joe Root to cancel his werewolf transformation to avoid misunderstandings.
Joe quickly shifted back to human form.
As they neared the wall, a cavalryman galloped out and shouted,
"Stop! Who goes there!"
The Spirit Realm automatically translated his words.
Everyone halted, secretly preparing for a fight.
The cavalryman stopped in front of them and asked,
"You alien races — are you reinforcements?"
Just then, a new task prompt popped up in their vision:
[Basic task: Help defend the checkpoint!]
[Main task: Kill the monsters!]
[Duration: 12 hours]
[Hint: The more monsters you kill, the better your evaluation.]
Everyone turned to Ben instinctively.
Ben answered calmly, "Yes, we're here to reinforce you."
The cavalryman glanced at them skeptically — ten people seemed too few — but he said nothing and turned his horse around:
"Follow me!"
Ben took the lead, striding forward confidently.
He wasn't worried about traps — with his current strength, there was little to fear.
The others followed closely.
Before long, more transcendents began arriving at the city walls...
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