The Elders of the three sects nodded to each other, then each took out a Formation Disk.
They quickly formed hand seals, and their magic power rapidly poured into the Formation Disk.
In an instant, the entrance to the forest glowed brightly, and a gigantic luminous gate appeared out of thin air before everyone.
Upon seeing the luminous gate, everyone surged towards it, pushing and shoving, attempting to seize the initiative.
Surprisingly, those who rushed into the luminous gate first disappeared the moment their figures passed through it, presumably having entered the Formation's range.
Fang Hong also followed the crowd, steadily walking towards the luminous gate; his expression was calm, with a hint of caution in his eyes.
The moment he stepped through the luminous gate, a flash of white light instantly appeared, and the intense brilliance made him instinctively close his eyes…
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in an unfamiliar mountain forest.
The surrounding trees were lush and green, but everyone else around him had vanished.
"Roar!" Suddenly, a deafening bear roar came from behind him.
Fang Hong's heart tightened, and he quickly turned his head to see a tall black bear pouncing on him from behind.
This black bear was enormous, three zhang tall, covered in black fur, with fangs exposed from its wide-open, blood-red mouth, and a trace of drool hanging from its lips; in the center of its forehead was a golden mark…
Fang Hong had no time to think, so he quickly raised his hand, and magic power rapidly condensed at his fingertips.
Electric arcs flickered and jumped at his fingertips, emitting a "sizzling" sound.
Immediately after, a thick Thunderbolt Technique burst forth, instantly piercing through the black bear's large head!
The black bear's body stiffened abruptly, and with a dull thud, its massive body fell heavily to the ground, its limbs twitching a few times before it became motionless on the spot.
Seeing this, Fang Hong quickly walked to the black bear's side and took out his identity token from his Storage Pouch at his waist.
He brought the identity token close to the golden mark on the black bear's forehead; the mark, as if attracted by something, transformed into a faint light and slowly merged into the identity token…
After the mark was taken, an astonishing scene occurred.
The black bear's corpse dissolved into particles of light before his eyes and vanished into the air, leaving no trace.
Seeing this, Fang Hong's eyes widened slightly, and he was greatly surprised.
Only then did he realize that this black bear was an illusion created by some Formation, not a real Demonic Beast!
Fang Hong's original plan to use his demon gourd to collect the Demonic Beast's corpse for refining Spirit Pills had thus fallen through…
Fang Hong shook his head helplessly, temporarily pushing the matter of the demon gourd to the back of his mind; for now, he still needed to focus on the Ascension Gathering.
After all, this gathering was related to whether he could join a sect and obtain Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivation Techniques.
Thinking of this, Fang Hong looked down at the identity token in his hand; the kill points on the token instantly became "one point," and his ranking was surprisingly "first"?
Fang Hong was slightly startled, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
However, before he could even celebrate, the ranking number began to jump rapidly.
In less than a few breaths, his ranking quickly dropped.
First, he fell out of the top ten, then out of the top hundred, until he fell out of the top one hundred fifty on the list…
Fang Hong looked at the constantly changing ranking, a faint smile on his lips; it seemed everyone was diligently hunting Demonic Beasts, striving to get ahead.
He also needed to seize the time, otherwise, if others pulled ahead, it would be difficult to catch up.
He carefully put away his identity token and walked towards the surrounding mountain forest, ready to search for Demonic Beasts to hunt.
Thus, Fang Hong cautiously patrolled the mountain forest; whenever he encountered a Demonic Beast with a mark on its forehead, he decisively struck and killed it.
Most of these Demonic Beasts were at the First-Level Middle-Stage, and for Fang Hong, who was already at Qi Refinement Stage Perfection, dealing with them was not very difficult.
Often, in a single encounter, he could cast a Spell and instantly kill them.
With each strike, his kill points also rapidly increased.
…
Time passed imperceptibly, and the first day of the Ascension Gathering quickly ended.
It was now evening, and the sky was gradually darkening.
Fang Hong looked at the sky and decided to find a place to rest for the night.
Moving through the mountain forest at night was not very safe; not only might he encounter stronger Demonic Beasts, but he might also run into other Cultivators with malicious intentions, and being ambushed would be troublesome.
Speaking of Cultivators, Fang Hong had not encountered a single one yet; perhaps everyone was too scattered after being teleported, as the Nanyang Ancient Forest region was quite vast.
Fang Hong searched for a suitable resting place in the mountain forest, and as he walked, he came to a small valley.
The valley was surrounded by high mountains, with flat terrain in the middle, appearing very secluded.
Just as he was about to rest there, he was surprised to discover that there was actually a cave further ahead!
The shape of this cave was regular, clearly not naturally formed; it must have been artificially excavated.
Fang Hong's expression instantly became vigilant; his hand unconsciously gripped several Wind Blade Talismans, and he cautiously released his Divine Sense to sense the situation inside the cave.
Soon, he sensed a very strong aura inside the cave; could there be other experts inside?
"Puff!" Suddenly, a purple fireball shot out from the cave.
The fireball was extremely fast, streaking across the air in a purple trajectory, carrying rolling heat waves, and attacking Fang Hong!
Fang Hong's expression changed slightly; without time to think, he pushed off the ground with his feet, and his whole body dodged to the side.
"Bang!" The purple fireball was incredibly powerful, landing on a tree.
Instantly, the tree was engulfed in raging flames, emitting "cracking" sounds, and in the blink of an eye, it was burned to ashes.
"Such powerful might, this is not the strength a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator should possess!" Fang Hong was greatly alarmed.
He looked towards the cave entrance, only to see a giant black scorpion slowly crawling out from within.
This giant scorpion was massive, over a zhang long, covered in black armor, with a golden mark in the center of its forehead, just like the Demonic Beasts he had encountered before…
"A Second-Level Demon Beast, a Purple-Patterned Scorpion!" Fang Hong exclaimed to himself.
This Purple-Patterned Scorpion's strength was comparable to a Foundation Establishment Stage Early-Phase Cultivator, no wonder the fireball just now was so powerful.
Fang Hong had not expected that the three sects would even arrange Second-Level Demon Beasts as part of the assessment; although he was somewhat surprised, Fang Hong did not panic excessively.
"Awooo…" The Purple-Patterned Scorpion let out a howl, its voice sharp and piercing.
Immediately after, it pushed off with its hind legs and quickly leaped towards Fang Hong, simultaneously raising its tail high and fiercely stabbing at Fang Hong with its stinger!