Chapter 126: Hunt 1
Chapter 126: Hunt (1)
Of the twenty teams, only seven were able to retrieve a Rainbow Mirage Pheasant in the end. The other eight probably ran out of the Thousand Ashes Gorge to an unknown location.
Cloud Leopard easily completed the task. To him, it was not difficult at all.
Su Chen was unlucky and did not complete the mission, so he got a taste of being physically tempered by thunder and lightning.
Two teams of students tried to be clever – they thought to themselves that since there weren’t many Rainbow Mirage Pheasants to begin with, they tried to forcefully seize them from other students. In the end, they were severely punished with one day of flogging.
Yu Chengjiao savagely whipped the students as he yelled, “You were informed at the beginning of this training that you are forbidden from attacking anyone under any circumstances unless it is a combat exercise! We are not trying to raise tricky snakes; we’re preparing your teams for battle. This is not a competition but a true battle!!!”
SNAP!
The sharp whip carved out large chunks of flesh and blood.
All of the students stood there, mutely gazing at the ten students who were being punished. This moment was deeply etched into their memories.
Before going to bed, the students began to interact with each other much more frequently.
They introduced themselves to each other and got to know one another. No one knew who would be in a team with who, so getting to know more people would make forming teams on-the-spot much easier.
Even those who were arrogant, like Ji Hanyan, lowered their haughty attitudes and began interacting with other people.
That night, everyone fell into a deep sleep.
Their hard work and fatigue caused them to quickly fall to sleep. Su Chen went straight to the Dreamrealm to cultivate his Ancient Arcana Techniques.
This habit of his, however, brought him suffering: just when he was getting into it, he suddenly felt the world before his eyes begin to shake.
The tremors were so powerful that it felt like the world around him was going to collapse.
A massive crack opened up beneath Su Chen’s body, and Su Chen’s body plummeted into it.
“AHH!” Su Chen loudly yelled and opened his eyes. He discovered that he had been tied securely to a wooden column.
Yu Chengjiao yelled at them from nearby, “Idiots! Morons! Did your instructors never tell you that your ability to respond to the outside world is basically nonexistent when you’re in the Dreamrealm? If you’re not in a secure environment, absolutely do not enter the Dreamrealm! Daring to enter the Dreamrealm in this kind of situation is not looking for death but committing suicide!!! Those of you who entered the Dreamrealm tonight can sleep atop these columns!”
Su Chen turned his head to gaze around him, only to find around twenty people also tied up on the column like him.
As he gazed into the distance, he found that the training grounds had been ravaged.
All of the tents had been destroyed and knocked over as if a heavy storm had moved through.
No, there were still four tents that were still standing. They stood alone amidst the carnage.
“What’s going on?” Some people who still hadn’t caught on to what had happened yet couldn’t help but ask.
Su Chen realized something and turned around to look at Cloud Leopard.
Cloud Leopard walked over and said, “A few of the instructors came and ambushed peoples’ campgrounds.”
So it was exactly as he had expected.
He should have realized this much earlier. During this period of time, he had truly become too careless. He had focused all of his efforts on his studies, but he had overlooked the purpose of this training.
The goal was to simulate a true battle!
Cloud Leopard continued, “Those who were able to detect and guard against the ambush were left alone, but those who didn’t detect it had their campgrounds destroyed. People like you, who entered the Dreamrealm, or those whose instincts were too slow, met this fate.”
“……”
Su Chen thought for a moment, then asked, “What about you?”
Cloud Leopard’s lips quirked up in a smile as he pointed at a perfectly untouched campground. “Mine is over there.”
As expected.
After they woke up, Yu Chengjiao was waiting for them at the Reflection Rock.
Behind him was a large black cloth covering something.
After everyone had arrived and lined up, Yu Chengjiao yelled, “Today’s mission is The Great Forest Escape. On the battlefield, you will encounter all kinds of situations. Sometimes, you will have the advantage, but sometimes you can also run into great danger. Today, you will be tested on your ability to survive even in the face of such dangers.”
As he spoke, he pulled away the black cloth behind him with a flourish, revealing a large number of Origin Formation cages.
Confined within the cages were Demonic Beasts.
Demonic Beasts!
These were Demonic Beasts!
All of the students felt their hearts seize.
Yu Chengjiao said, “That’s right. These Demonic Beasts are the targets that you need to deal with. Of course, your mission is not to kill them but merely to escape and survive their attacks.
Everyone involuntarily trembled in fear.
Someone mustered up the courage and asked, “What if we can’t escape?”
“Then you will die!” Yu Chengjiao replied.
Everyone was stunned.
Was this some kind of practical joke? Those were Demonic Beasts!
Even the lowest-tier Demonic Beast was more powerful than the strongest Vicious Beast. Their strength was roughly equivalent to that of a Yang Opening Realm expert.
The most powerful Vicious Beast within the Thousand Ashes Gorge, the Dragonfish, was already a nightmare for many students. Now, a horde of Demonic Beasts had suddenly appeared for them to deal with.
They might as well have asked all the students to cut off their own heads and commit suicide.
As if anticipating the despair everyone felt, Yu Chengjiao laughed, “Don’t worry, the Demonic Beasts we got this time are of the lowest tier, and they have been drugged in order to limit their strength.”
Upon hearing these words, everyone felt a ray of hope reappear.
Someone asked, “How much has their strength been decreased?”
Yu Chengjiao spread his hands. “That’s hard to say. All I can tell you is that every beast’s strength has been decreased by an unknown amount. Some might only be weakened by 10%, and their strength is mostly the same. Some might be weakened by 90%, making them even weaker than most high-tier Vicious Beasts. Knowing exactly how much they have been weakened by and how strong they are requires you to test the waters yourselves. When battling enemies, assessing your opponent’s strength is a critical skill. A mistaken assessment means you might make the wrong choice, and a wrong choice could result in failure or even death. Thus, whether to battle or flee depends on you. Of course, if a team decides to counterattack and successfully kills a Demonic Beast, there will be a reward. But if your strength is not up to par, then your death is deserved.”
Upon hearing these words, everyone fell silent.
Today’s training exercise was not simple in the slightest.
It not only tested everyone’s analysis and observation abilities, but it also tested their ability to fight or flee.
As he gazed at everyone’s serious, contemplative expressions, Yu Chengjiao nodded in satisfaction. “Remember, you can use any method to escape, but you cannot leave the Thousand Ashes Gorge. Each team will be made of four people today; come on up and draw lots. Every person gets one number, and those with the same number are on the same team! Every team is assigned to one Demonic Beast. As for how strong your opponent is, that depends entirely upon your luck.”
After he finished speaking, one group of people after another began to draw lots.
Su Chen was part of the last group to draw lots. His number was 12.
Not far away, the students were beginning to team up based on their number.
Someone waved a stick in the air as he yelled, “Who is 12? Over here!”
Su Chen turned to look in the direction of the speaker and found three people standing there.
One of those people was Gu Qingluo.