Beneath a towering ancient tree, two teams stood locked in a tense standoff.
"This wooden token is ours. You'd better look elsewhere."
"Why should we? We found it first—why should we give it to you?"
"How ridiculous," someone from the opposing team sneered. "Do you really think whoever finds it first gets it? In the end, strength decides everything."
"Exactly. If you're only four people, you should've quit from the start. Why come in here just to embarrass yourselves?"
The opposing team burst into laughter.
They were right about one thing—the team that had discovered the token was Jiang Shuyun's group. They had searched the secret realm for a long time before finally finding this token. There was no way they were handing it over.
Jiang Shuyun stepped forward calmly.
"If you want to compare strength, then let's battle. One-on-one. The loser leaves."
Seeing that the one who stepped out was a girl, the other team laughed even harder.
"Sending a girl to fight? Looks like you've really run out of people."
Their captain then walked forward—a tall, muscular boy who clearly trained regularly.
"Let me show you what real strength looks like."
He released his Pokémon: a Primeape, its aura clearly at high mid-rank.
"Captain, teach them a lesson!" his teammates cheered.
The muscular boy raised his eyebrows at Jiang Shuyun, a mocking smile on his face.
Jiang Shuyun calmly tossed her Poké Ball.
With a thunderous roar, Charizard landed heavily on the ground.
"Charizard?!"
The muscular boy—and his entire team—froze in shock.
A Charizard meant the trainer's strength was at least high-rank early stage. This was far beyond what they could handle.
But at this point, backing down was no longer an option. Jiang Shuyun certainly wasn't about to let them retreat gracefully.
Flames erupted across Charizard's body as it transformed into a streak of fire and charged forward.
Primeape, fearless by nature, charged as well, throwing a powerful punch straight at Charizard.
Flare Blitz versus Cross Chop!
There was no suspense.
There wasn't even a moment of stalemate.
Primeape was blasted away like a rag doll, slammed hard into the trunk of the massive tree, and then collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.
"Primeape!"
The muscular boy cried out as he rushed forward.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shuyun had Charizard fly up and retrieve the wooden token hanging from the tree.
The rest of the opposing team could only watch helplessly. They didn't dare interfere.
If even their captain was defeated in a single exchange, what chance did they have?
Just as Jiang Shuyun took the token from Charizard, a voice sounded from behind them.
"I remember you. I saw you at the training base. You're from Rongcheng No. 1 High, right?"
Liu Lixuan and the others instantly turned alert.
Another team had arrived—and it was Meng Ming's team from Rongcheng No. 2 High School.
Clearly, they had their eyes on this token as well.
"Meng Ming…"
Jiang Shuyun tightened her grip on the token slightly.
Their captains were about evenly matched, but the problem was numbers. Meng Ming's team had five people, while they only had four. If a fight broke out, they would be at a disadvantage.
Meng Ming scanned Jiang Shuyun's team but didn't see the person who had once defeated him. His brow furrowed.
"You're missing someone. Where's your fifth member?"
No one answered.
They all understood—if a fight broke out now, it would be the toughest battle they'd faced since entering the secret realm.
Sensing the tension, Meng Ming pulled out a wooden token of his own.
"Relax. I already have one."
Even when no one replied, he simply sighed.
"If you don't want to say it, forget it. We'll meet sooner or later anyway."
Nearby, the previously defeated team—still lingering—was trying to console their captain.
"Captain, don't be discouraged. We can try the entrance. Aren't there still seven tokens there?"
"My Primeape is already out of action," the captain said bitterly.
"Even if we go, what can we do?"
Just as Meng Ming was about to leave, he paused, interest sparked by their conversation.
"Seven tokens at the entrance? What do you mean?"
They glanced nervously at Jiang Shuyun's group, then finally explained everything they knew in detail.
When Meng Ming heard that a mysterious figure had casually produced seven tokens at once, his eyes lit up.
His instincts told him this person was anything but ordinary—possibly even a rival on the same level as the one who had once defeated him.
At this point, the news of Oliver defeating a high-rank Pidgeot in a single move hadn't spread yet, so this team didn't know that part.
Meng Ming grew genuinely curious.
Since they were heading to submit their token anyway, he didn't hesitate any longer and led his teammates away.
Only after they were truly gone did the Rongcheng No. 1 High team finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Big Sis, let's submit our token quickly," someone said.
"Staying in the secret realm too long is nerve-wracking."
"Alright," Jiang Shuyun nodded. "Let's go."
They headed toward the entrance.
By now, a long time had passed since the competition began.
With so many participants searching relentlessly, Greenwood Secret Realm—already not very large—had been completely scoured. All the tokens had long been discovered.
Teams with tokens hurried to the entrance to submit their results.
Teams without tokens rushed there as well, hoping to snatch one at the last moment.
With the rumors Oliver deliberately spread, most competitors had already gathered there in advance.
The entrance of the secret realm had become the eye of the storm.
Nearly all remaining competitors were converging on that spot.
High above, Oliver leaned casually against a thick tree branch, seven wooden tokens in hand, calmly watching the time on his phone.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
At the final moment, Oliver flicked his wrist and tossed the tokens downward.
The crowd instantly exploded.
"It's started!"
"Grab them!"
"Over here!"
"Run for the exit!"
Chaos erupted.
Anyone who managed to grab a token instantly became the target of everyone else.
And at that very moment, Meng Ming's team from Rongcheng No. 2 High and Jiang Shuyun's team from Rongcheng No. 1 High finally arrived at the scene.
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