The little white horse immediately understood, let out a slight whinny, and then trotted briskly towards the mission point.
In less than half an hour, Li Younan returned to the mission point.
At this moment, only an exceptionally brawny white male was standing in the open gathering area.
He noticed Li Younan riding towards him from a distance.
As Li Younan reined in his horse and it halted with a snort, the other man spoke rather unfriendly: "You must be the one galloping all over the meadow yesterday, making such a racket with the hoofbeats, weren’t you?"
Li Younan dismounted, casually tidying the reins, and shrugged indifferently: "There’s no rule against it."
The man was indeed a bit annoyed because the urgent hoofbeats had scared away the wild boar he was about to approach yesterday.
However, he didn’t say much more.
He was the Australian known as "King of Rabbit Hunters," Rodris.
Up until now, he has scored 9 points, confident that he would advance to the next round without any suspense.
Like Julian, although he had watched "Alone in the Wilderness," he couldn’t match the figure in the show with the Asian face before him, treating Li Younan as an ordinary contestant.
At this moment, he didn’t take Li Younan seriously—this guy not only galloped around but also returned early today, obviously didn’t gain much yesterday.
In Rodris’s mind, the real competitors in this competition were only two: Julian and Mark.
In fact, when he scored the 9th point yesterday, it was already 3 AM. During that time, he had secretly sneaked into their live broadcasts, posing as a fan to inquire about scores, and quickly got the answers: Mark with 11 points, Julian with 8 points.
To Rodris, 9 points was sufficient.
The first round primarily eliminated lesser competitors, winning first offered no extra benefits, better to conserve energy and exert in subsequent competitions.
Therefore, he decisively began sleeping at 4 AM, resting for over three hours!
This adjustment made him feel in great condition, among all hunters, his energy should be the best maintained.
However, Li Younan noticed the dark circles under Rodris’s eyes, sighing slightly in his heart, thinking these foreigners really go all out, aren’t they afraid of sudden death?
For him, nothing was more important than a good night’s sleep.
After a while, other hunters started arriving one after another.
Soon, all contestants gathered at the mission point, waiting for the organizers to announce the results of the first round.
Upon Julian’s arrival, with a glance, she immediately spotted Li Younan.
She walked over lightly albeit slightly tired, scrutinized him, and said with a quirky expression: "You look really spirited."
Li Younan replied truthfully: "But you look really terrible."
Indeed, Julian’s dark rings were quite noticeable.
Julian sighed helplessly: "I was fussing around all night yesterday."
She curiously whispered, leaning forward, "What about you? Didn’t you go hunting last night?"
Li Younan nodded confidently: "Yeah, I thought it was too cold and dark at night, so I chose to sleep. There’s nothing more important than a good sleep."
Julian’s feelings were suddenly mixed.
But upon reconsideration, considering he’s that famed bear hunter, he definitely has enough confidence.
She pondered for a moment and then asked: "So how many points did you score yesterday?"
Just then, a voice suddenly interrupted their conversation: "Hey, Julian, you don’t look so good."
Julian turned her head to see a lean man in a cowboy hat coming over, with a confident smile on his face.
He was Mark.
He glanced at Li Younan nonchalantly, his eyes showing a hint of disdain.
He overheard the conversation between Li Younan and Julian, someone who prioritizes sleep and spent the whole night sleeping, obviously just a trivial player.
The interrupted Julian was somewhat annoyed, retorting without politeness: "You don’t look much better yourself, buddy."
Mark laughed heartily: "Exactly, I didn’t sleep much last night, but it was worth it—I scored 13 points."
Upon hearing "13 points," Rodris’s eyebrow arched slightly.
He had previously heard information about 11 points, but on further thought, whether 11 or 13 points didn’t make much of a difference in essence compared to his 9 points, as they’re all advancing anyway.
Julian responded evenly: "Well, congratulations."
Mark’s smile widened, feeling his smile was charming, and he even ran a hand through his meticulously trimmed stubble: "No doubt, I’m the first."
"Here’s a secret for you, after the first round, the top four contestants will pick a location for round two in order."
"And during selection, not only can you choose your own spot, but you can also designate a location for another hunter."
"So, would you like me to pick an easy spot for you? I’m more than happy to help if you agree to go on a date with me after the competition."
Julian was a bit surprised, not expecting such rules.
Rodris was also taken aback beside them, silently calling the move—this advantage for the hunters in the top ranks would be significant.
Mark continued: "There’s no doubt the easiest location is the canyon area. Perhaps, I can pick that for you."
Julian rejected bluntly: "You better drop that idea, I won’t go on a date with you."
Mark wasn’t angered, merely shrugging: "If that’s the case, I’ll just have to choose the most difficult Indian ruins area for you."
Such blatant threat immediately made Julian glare at him: "You’re really despicable."
"Rules allow it."
Amid their verbal exchange, the organizers’ cowboy arrived on horseback.
He held a list in his hand, scanning the gathered crowd, cleared his throat, and announced loudly: "Folks, now announcing the first round rankings."
"I’ll only announce once, the top 8 stay, the rest are eliminated and return to the ranch headquarters."
He paused, picked up the list, "First, announcing the first place—"
He deliberately paused, scanning the crowd before clearly stating: "The first place is, with 15 points—Li Younan!"
In an instant, the confident smile on Mark’s face froze.
points?
He almost wondered if he heard wrong.
How could anyone score 15 points?
Before he recovered from the shock, a collective gasp and whispers had already erupted among those around.
For most hunters, two to three points after a night’s hard work would be the norm, this figure was astronomical to them.
Rodris was also stunned, and in astonishment, suddenly found the name "Li Younan" sounding incredibly familiar.
He abruptly realized something, quickly turning his head, casting a sharp gaze at the Asian youth who had been seemingly idle and relaxed in the corner.
Among all hunters, the happiest was Julian.
She almost gleefully exclaimed: "Oh my gosh! 15 points!"
At once, she looked at Li Younan in delight, eyes brightening, "You... you actually scored so high! My goodness!"
Li Younan smiled slyly and winked at her: "Given your constant emotional support, how about I pick a canyon area for you in the second round?"
"Great, I could agree to go on a date with you!"
"Uh... then I won’t help you."
Julian: "..."

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