The moment they stepped through the gate, the thunderous war drums and clamor of the outside world were completely cut off by towering ancient trees and thick mist.
Sunlight struggled to penetrate the layered dark-red canopy, falling upon rotting leaves that had accumulated for who knew how many years, leaving only a pale glimmer.
The air reeked of damp earth and the sour stench of decaying vegetation. From deep within the silent forest came bone-chilling beast howls, as if countless greedy eyes were watching from the shadows.
The survival free-for-all—the moment everyone entered this blind zone, its cruel law of the jungle had already begun operating silently.
The first challenge facing all teams wasn't how to deal with enemies, but rather: how to score points?
Should they play it safe, slowly hunting down isolated Rank 1 beasts? Or rely on their team's strength to risk casualties by charging medium and large beast packs directly?
"Stop."
Less than a mile into the forest, Lin Feng, walking at the front, suddenly raised his hand, signaling the team to halt.
He turned around. That face, always warm as jade before clan elders, had now completely shed its "gentle senior brother" disguise.
After his humiliating defeat in the arena, his gaze was sinister as a newly awakened viper, coldly sweeping over his teammates as he issued the first directive upon entering the hunting grounds:
"No one acts rashly."
Lin Feng's voice was extremely low, yet carried an unquestionable coldness. "The tournament lasts three days and nights. The real deciding point comes at the end. On day one, our mission is familiarizing ourselves with the terrain, adapting to the miasma, and low-risk hunting of isolated beasts. We won't compete for momentary glory."
He glanced toward the dense forest where faint sounds of battle echoed, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of his lips:
"As for those fools rushing to show off on the scoreboard... let them bleed first."
With this order, Team Three became like a lone wolf hidden in tall grass, retracting all its fangs as it began silently threading through this perilous Blood Wood Forest.
About half a day into their advance.
"Movement ahead."
Lin Mu, who had been ranging along the team's flank, suddenly lowered his voice in warning.
Everyone quickly crouched, using dense shrubs for cover as they quietly parted the thorny branches to peer forward.
In the forest clearing ahead, an extremely brutal meat grinder was unfolding.
It was Lin Yan's team from the Punishment Hall.
These Punishment Hall elites, emanating killing intent, were fighting like starving mad dogs against a herd of over twenty "Bristle-Mane Boars" in a bloody melee.
Lin Yan was bare-chested, his not-yet-healed wounds having torn open again, yet he seemed to feel no pain. His fists burned with roaring flames, each strike accompanied by the boars' shrill screams and the smell of charred meat.
His teammates had completely abandoned defense, trading injury for injury, killing until the surrounding soil was stained dark red with blood.
Too ferocious, too brutal.
Looking at the high-value boar carcasses littering the ground, their newly recruited main tank Lin Zhong's eyes flickered, his Adam's apple bobbing as if wanting to suggest they "steal the kills" or take advantage of the chaos.
"Stop watching. Move."
But Lin Feng gave a cold laugh, decisively signaling as he led the team to quietly withdraw from the area.
"Young Master, we're just letting them have those points?" Lin Wan'er asked in a puzzled whisper while carefully following.
"Let them kill."
Lin Feng used his sword to push aside blocking thorns while coldly analyzing: "The boar herd's points are high, but look at how they're fighting—they're trading lives for points. Primeval Essence can be replenished with Primeval Stones, but mental exhaustion and accumulated injuries can't be faked."
"The more fiercely they kill now, the greater their Primeval Essence and medicine consumption. By day three, these mad dogs will be spent arrows at the end of their flight."
Avoid their edge, strike later. Lin Feng's calculations were perfectly clear.
The team continued circling through the forest. Before long, terrified screams broke the squad's silence.
In a hollow to their left, they encountered a weaker team cobbled together from ordinary inner disciples. This team had clearly overreached in their greed, provoking a pack of Rank 1 mid-level "Wind Wolves."
Now their formation had completely collapsed as several wind wolves herded them like sheep. One person had already been knocked down by a wolf, about to die in its jaws.
"Save them."
This time, Lin Feng didn't choose to detour. Without hesitation, he drew his sword and led the charge.
His purpose wasn't some brotherhood kindness, of course—it was because these wind wolves had already been worn down. Striking now would let him legitimately claim the kill points while barely lifting a finger.
"Attack." Lin Feng commanded in a low voice.
In the next instant, the Metal Rend Gu's edge and Lin Zhong's Savage Bull Gu's brutal charge cut into the battlefield simultaneously.
The fierce assault sliced through the already bloodied wolves like a hot knife through butter, slaughtering them all within breaths, not even giving them time for a complete death howl.
"Thank you, Young Master Lin Feng! Thank you for saving our lives!"
The rescued team, having escaped death, collapsed to the ground one by one, tearfully cupping their hands in gratitude, nearly kowtowing. "If not for your righteousness, we'd all have died here today!"
"We're all sect brothers—we should look out for each other. I'm just glad everyone's safe."
Lin Feng sheathed his sword, wearing that formulaic smile warm as a spring breeze, graciously accepting their praise. He even "generously" left them one wolf carcass as a consolation prize.
However, the moment he turned and led his team deeper into the forest—
The warmth in his eyes was instantly replaced by ice-cold contempt.
"A bunch of trash, thinking they deserve to compete for true inheritance."
Lin Feng silently spat out these words in his heart.
As dusk fell, the first day's trial was about to enter its most dangerous night.
To seize the initiative on day two, intelligence became paramount. After the team made camp, Lin Mu volunteered to separate from the main group, transforming into a dark shadow as he slipped into the deeper forest.
The trial zone's environment was extremely harsh.
The dense canopy blocked stars and moon, while the pervasive forest mist severely impaired vision. The Eagle Eye Gu that had been invincible in the outer regions was greatly diminished here, its sight severely compressed, showing only twisted gray-green.
But this nightmarish environment for ordinary people became Lin Mu's home turf and comfort zone.
Because his "eyes" were never meant just for "seeing."
Deep in his aperture, the blood-ant-shaped Blood Scent Gu quietly activated.
In Lin Mu's extraordinarily keen perception, the entire pitch-black jungle seemed to shed its disguise. The faint smell of blood drifting through the air rapidly constructed a three-dimensional "living map of the hunting grounds" in his mind.
Lin Mu moved like an agile night cat, leaping silently between treetops.
During his reconnaissance, he even secretly observed several teams from other halls.
He crouched among the dense branches of an ancient tree, watching a team below being besieged by several petrifying lizards.
These people might have displayed flashy techniques on the arena, impressive on paper, but in this muddy, dim wilderness with no rules, facing tireless, honor-less wild beasts, their movements were extremely clumsy.
One slightly larger collision would instantly scatter their defensive formation, followed by panicked shouts and wild bursts of Primeval Essence.
"Greenhouse flowers."
Lin Mu naturally had no interest in playing the righteous hero. After confirming this area held little value, he drifted away like a falling leaf, vanishing silently into the darkness.
Night fell completely.
The first day's trial concluded in an atmosphere of oppression and blood.
Based on the occasional clashes and fighting sounds between teams in the forest, Lin Yan's team had killed most fiercely and pushed hardest, so their points were certainly far in the lead—but at the cost of every member being wounded.
Lin Feng's team, having adopted a "conservative points + steady advance" strategy, probably ranked only mid-tier in points, but had the advantage of full-strength members with abundant Primeval Essence.
Inside a concealed cave, Team Three's campfire was kept low.
Lin Mu, like a perfectly dutiful subordinate, half-knelt on the ground, using a charred branch to draw a simple yet extremely precise terrain map in the dirt.
"I scouted an area of ten miles radius."
Lin Mu pointed to several spots on the map, reporting in a low voice: "The true Rank 2 final boss, the Blood Jade Python, is hidden deep. No activity detected yet. But through scent tracking, I've located three territories of Rank 1 Peak Beast Kings."
He drew heavy circles at three positions with his branch.
Looking at those markings on the ground, Lin Feng, who had been resting with eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open. The fanaticism and ferocity that had been suppressed all day finally released without reservation in this moment.
He stood up, tapping one of the marks representing the "Wind Wolf Pack" with his scabbard, his tone frigid as he issued the second day's combat orders:
"Hibernation ends."
"Tomorrow, following Lin Mu's route, we strike the Beast King's lair directly and pull our points to first place in one stroke!"