The mountain forest was exceptionally quiet late at night, with insect chirps gradually thinning and only occasional beast roars echoing through the woods.
The wooden walls of the cabin kept out the night dew and cold wind, emanating a sense of secure warmth.
Just then, two sneaky figures appeared outside the cabin.
Using the tree shadows as cover, the two dark figures craned their necks to examine this abrupt structure.
"Lao Tie, is this... a cabin?"
The person on the left lowered his voice, his tone full of suspicion as he scratched his head, unable to comprehend why there would be a ready-made house deep in the mountains.
"Lao Mo" on the right also frowned, leaning closer to inspect it by moonlight:
"Something's not right. This is clearly the Freshman Competition grounds. Where did this cabin come from? Could it be some kind of trap?"
"Trap my ass!" Lao Tie spat, a flash of greed in his eyes.
"I bet there are people inside! Daring to build a cabin to live comfortably during the competition? They must have found quite a few Command Tokens to be so relaxed!"
Hearing this, Lao Mo immediately perked up: "Then what are we waiting for?"
"Let's teach them a lesson, and 'borrow' their Command Tokens while we're at it! Let's go!"
The two exchanged glances, rubbed their hands together, and sneered as they approached the cabin door.
Just as they were about to push the door open, a dark figure suddenly appeared silently beside them.
"Lao Tie, stop bumping into me! I'm about to make my move!"
Lao Mo staggered from the collision and whispered angrily.
"Hey, what do you mean I'm bumping into you? You're the one leaning against me!"
Lao Tie also grew angry, and the two began arguing in low voices right at the doorway.
At this moment, Su Yu yawned behind them, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth:
"Hey, you two, instead of looking for Command Tokens in the middle of the night, what are you doing wandering around here?"
Only then did the two realize that this person was clearly the owner of the cabin!
Su Yu looked at the newcomers, stretched lazily, his tone full of teasing:
"Going to make a move? Then hurry up, don't delay my sleep."
Lao Tie's face darkened, his Martial Soul instantly manifesting as his arms thickened like iron, swinging toward Su Yu with a gust of wind:
"Looking for death!"
Su Yu sidestepped the attack, lightly tapped the doorframe with his fingertip, and two vines suddenly shot up from the ground.
The vines, flexible as snakes, instantly wrapped around the ankles of both men.
"Ouch!"
Caught off guard, the two were pulled by the vines and fell flat on their backs, their Command Tokens clattering to the ground.
Hu Liena's voice came from inside the house, carrying the laziness of someone just awakened:
"Brother Su Yu, what's going on?"
"Nothing, just two people delivering Command Tokens."
Su Yu bent down, picked up the seven or eight Command Tokens on the ground, and shook them.
"Thanks, this saves us the trouble of having to collect them tomorrow."
Lao Tie and Lao Mo struggled to break free from the vines, only to find them tightening even more.
The two watched helplessly as Su Yu pocketed their Command Tokens, their faces turning green with rage.
Su Yu clapped his hands and called into the house: "Nana, go back to sleep. It's handled."
With that, he waved his hand, and the vines dragged the two men deep into the forest, leaving behind only their stifled angry shouts that were soon swallowed by the night.
The cabin returned to tranquility, with only the moonlight outside quietly climbing onto the windowsill.
The next morning—
Su Yu and Hu Liena walked out of the house yawning, both with faint dark circles under their eyes.
"I didn't sleep well last night. Groups kept coming one after another—it was endless."
Hu Liena rubbed her eyes, her tone carrying a hint of drowsiness yet unable to conceal her amusement.
"But the gains weren't small."
Su Yu stretched, working out the stiffness in his neck:
"After counting, including those 'delivered' last night, we've got one hundred and twenty-three already. The first assessment is pretty much secured."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hu Liena couldn't help but glance toward the woods beside the wooden cabin and burst into laughter.
Not far away, on ten tree trunks, two people were hung on each, all students tightly bound to the branches by vines.
Some hung their heads, clearly still not fully awake;
Others struggled with wide eyes, muttering something under their breath but unable to speak loudly due to the constricting vines.
These were all teams that had attempted to ambush and steal Command Tokens last night—without exception, they had been "hung up" by Su Yu using Wood Release.
"Brother Su Yu, isn't hanging them like this a bit too harsh?"
Hu Liena said, though her eyes were full of mischief.
"What else should we do?" Su Yu raised an eyebrow.
"We can't exactly welcome those who come to rob us with open arms, can we?"
"Let them stay here and clear their heads. We'll let them down around noon when the assessment is about to end."
He walked up to one of the trees and looked at the two tied to it—Lao Tie and Lao Mo, who had arrived first last night, now glaring at him weakly.
Su Yu patted the tree trunk and laughed, "Stay put. We won't be serving breakfast."
With that, he turned to Hu Liena and said, "Let's go. Since we have enough Command Tokens, let's take a stroll and see what 'entertainment' the others are providing."
Hu Liena nodded and followed. The two walked leisurely along the forest path, sunlight filtering through the leaves and warming them.
In the distance, occasional arguments and the dull thuds of Spirit Ability clashes from other teams contrasted sharply with their own composure.
On the high platform, the scene was reflected in a crystal ball. Golden Crocodile Douluo watched the students hung on the trees, his lips twitching:
"This kid... really knows how to have fun. He snatched ninety Command Tokens in one night! Looks like first place is in the bag!"
Holy Dragon Douluo couldn't help but chuckle: "Seems many had their eyes on them last night, but they didn't expect to lose more than they gained—ending up as 'decorations' instead."
Though Bi Bidong didn't speak, her eyes held a faint smile as she watched the crystal ball.
In the forest, Su Yu and Hu Liena reached a stream and crouched down to scoop water and wash their faces.
The cool stream water washed away their drowsiness. Hu Liena looked at their reflections in the water and laughed:
"Now, no one will dare bother us anymore, right?"
"Who knows! But we'll handle whatever comes our way! If anyone does bother us, we can always collect a few more Command Tokens!"
Time quickly passed, and noon arrived—the assessment was about to end.
The number of Command Tokens in Su Yu's possession had surpassed two hundred.
Of course, compared to them, the groups they had "friendly exchanges" with had ended up with zero Command Tokens!
The only regret was not running into Xie Yue's group. If they had, he would have definitely "cared" for them a little!
Every week when Xie Yue came to visit Nana, he would badmouth Su Yu to her!
Su Yu had long wanted to "show concern" for Xie Yue—it was just a shame the opportunity never arose.
I originally planned to give Xie Yue some "special attention" during the assessment, but I didn't even catch a glimpse of that old rascal!
Su Yu and Hu Liena returned to the martial arena carrying a large bundle of Command Tokens.