Just over a hundred people had managed to break into this second round.
And their team accounted for nearly twenty percent of that number—a force that could not be ignored.
But as the team grew, new problems arose.
’Too many mouths to feed...’
Chem Wangming looked at the eager, even restless teammates behind him, a sense of caution rising in his heart.
These seventeen people were temporarily bound by mutual benefit, but there were no deep friendships between them. As their numbers grew, it was inevitable that the Evil Qi from slain Demon Beasts would become insufficient to divide among them.
The moment someone felt they could gain more by going solo, this seemingly solid alliance would instantly crumble. They might even turn on each other over the uneven distribution of spoils.
’I have to find them bigger "prey," bigger "rewards."’
"Everyone."
Chem Wangming cleared his throat. He pointed toward the mist-shrouded peak ahead, where the Evil Qi was so dense it was almost tangible, and said in a low voice,
"Not only are there more Demon Beasts there, and not only is the Evil Qi denser, but more importantly..."
He paused, a vicious glint in his eyes, and lowered his voice.
"Most of the experts expected to make the top ten are also there."
As soon as he said this, the once-noisy team fell silent.
"If we run into them, the seventeen of us working together might just be able to eliminate them!"
Chem Wangming’s voice was filled with a captivating allure.
"Think about it. If we let those experts survive until the third round, the one-on-one arena battles, is there anyone here who’s confident they could defeat Ji Li? Or Lü Qing? Or that monstrous newcomer, Chu Bai?"
The crowd looked at each other and fell silent. The answer was obvious: no one was confident.
"But now, things are different!"
Chem Wangming clenched his fist and pumped it fiercely. "Here, there are no rules against any method, and no limits on numbers! As long as we work together and knock those experts out of the competition early, then by the third round..."
"Our chances of getting into the top ten, or even fighting for the top spot, will increase countless times over!"
His words instantly ignited a wildfire of ambition in everyone’s hearts.
Why had these seventeen people united so quickly? It wasn’t just for Demon Hunting. It was because they all shared the same sense of crisis—and the same... ambition.
Those experts, so high and mighty, were like great mountains pressing down on them, making it hard to breathe.
If they could just take this opportunity, while the rules allowed it, to move those mountains...
Even if the team disbanded afterward and they became rivals once more, facing each other would be far better than facing those invincible monsters.
"Let’s do it!"
"Senior Brother Chem is right! Fortune favors the bold!"
"I’ve been sick of those arrogant geniuses for a long time! This time, we’ll make them eat dust!"
Everyone voiced their agreement, their eyes glittering with excitement and greed.
Watching this scene unfold, Chem Wangming sneered inwardly, but his face showed an impassioned look of unity.
"Good! Since we’re all in agreement, let’s head for the peak!"
With a wave of his hand, he led the bloodthirsty group toward the mountaintop where the experts had gathered.
At this moment, Chem Wangming’s targets were no longer just the Evil Qi Demon Beasts.
Just as Chem Wangming and his ambitious group prepared to ascend the peak and begin their hunt...
ROAR—!!!
A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering beast’s roar erupted without warning from the depths of the mist-wreathed summit.
The roar was not only deafening but also carried a terrifying pressure that made one’s very soul tremble. Like an invisible shockwave, it instantly swept across the entire mountain range, echoing through the clouds.
HUMMM!
The sonic assault left everyone’s eardrums ringing sharply, their minds going completely blank.
A few students in the group with weaker Cultivation turned deathly pale, their footing becoming unsteady.
Even an expert like Chem Wangming, at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer, felt a tightness in his chest as the circulation of his Spiritual Power momentarily froze.
"This..."
Chem Wangming snapped his head up, staring intently in the direction of the roar. The confident look on his face instantly turned ugly, even tinged with horror.
"What a terrifying aura!"
The aura was violent and ferocious. Even from a great distance, it inspired a primal, instinctual fear.
"What... what is on the peak?"
Red light flowed from the Fire Element Ring at Chu Bai’s feet. His figure, like a wisp of smoke, darted and weaved between the steep cliffs several times before he leaped up and landed steadily on the highest point of the Black Stone Mountain Range.
With his unrivaled speed and nearly overwhelming combat strength, he had, without a doubt, become the first person to set foot here.
Although the summit was high, it wasn’t a sharp peak piercing the clouds. Instead, it was a wide, flat plateau dotted with strange, jagged rocks and sparse ancient trees, stretching out so far one could not see its end.
The clouds churned below his feet, adding to the sense of vast, desolate emptiness.
Chu Bai didn’t rush deeper. He first closed his eyes and focused his mind, using the keen perception of Qi granted by his [Golden Eye Shattering Illusion] to carefully probe his surroundings.
A moment later, he snapped his eyes open, an irrepressible look of pleasant surprise flashing within them.
"Well, I’ll be! There are actually several auras of the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation entrenched here!"
Those auras were powerful and profound, like primeval beasts lurking in the shadows—far beyond what the Qi Cultivation Third Layer Demon Beasts on the mountainside could compare to.
If an ordinary student sensed such terrifying auras, their face would likely drain of color, and they would run as far away as they could.
After all, fighting above one’s level was already a near-suicidal endeavor, let alone during an assessment fraught with peril.

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