Yao understood the nature of these mechanical pets. They were man-made, imitations—functional, sophisticated, yet ultimately pale reflections of the true Mechanical Clan companions. That single character difference, 'Clan,' represented a chasm of power. The Mechanical Clan stood among the mightiest of the Ten Thousand Races. If humanity's strength lay in vast numbers and respectable average genetic potential, the Mechanical Clan's inherent gene-hierarchy dwarfed that of humans, their racial average power soaring far above. Of course, such a grand racial gap was beyond the scale of a single empire or province. Capturing a true Mechanical Clan entity as a pet? Not even an Orange-Blood family marshaling all its resources could achieve such a feat.
Mechanical Pets, however, were Imperial Research Institute replicas. Their ceiling was far lower, but humanity excelled at mimicry. A top-tier mechanical pet could surpass most ordinary Blue-Grade companions. Ultimately, a pet's value lay in synergy with its master. Take her little locust, Xiao Huang. Among Blue-Grade pets, its base stats were likely mediocre, even poor. But it perfectly addressed her critical weaknesses: psychic energy reserves and combat endurance. That was true compatibility. And because it was compatible, she had invested resources, stubbornly nurturing it to its current state.
So, what ability would this new mechanical pet awaken? She had deliberately chosen a moment of peak physical and genetic complexity for the binding—this new arm's gene-grade should be exceptionally high. What effect would its blood have on the activation?
Secretly, Yao mused: First a locust, then a turtle for genetic talents… feels like the universe is subtly mocking me. At least the turtle is just a talent, not a pet. But this mechanical pet… please, for the love of all that's logical, don't let it be a duck or something. I'm begging here!
Ding. Mechanical pet egg incubation complete.
The cold, metallic shell shimmered with iridescent light. Cracks spider-webbed across its surface, but it didn't fully shatter. Beneath, crimson light flowed like molten lava, tracing intricate patterns. At first glance, it looked like… a tortoise shell.
No way. A turtle? A mechanical turtle? Ninja Turtle, perhaps?
Yao watched, silently pleading, then picked up the egg. At her touch, it resonated, establishing a psychic bond instantly. Simultaneously, the shell disintegrated completely, revealing the mechanical lifeform within.
Glorious, golden-metal wings. Streamlined crimson patterns. A fierce, elegant beak and claws. It exuded a high-grade, luminous sheen of gold and red.
Heavens, a phoenix?
No… a turkey?
A mean, plump, aggressive-looking metal turkey?
First a duck, now a chicken?
She'd be livid! But she wasn't. Instead, she stared, momentarily stunned. "You've got to be kidding me. A sweet after the bitter? No more low-base, high-investment projects like Xiao Huang? A high-start, high-growth path?" While the underdog story was thrilling, who wouldn't want a shortcut—a pet with solid innate talent from the get-go?
She scooped up the fiery bird to inspect its stats.
Crimson Radiance Metal-Finch (Blue-Grade Peak Mechanical Pet)
Level: 1
Psychic Energy: 50,000
Strength: 100,000
Constitution: 50,000
Agility: 80,000
Skill 1: Angry Bird – Metal-Shift Bullet Penetration.
Skill 2: Fusion – Upon merging with master, shares 50% of all master's attributes.
Skill 3: Energy Field – Can morph to release/discharge an energy field, capable of absorbing ten times its own energy capacity at once, then unleashing it through Skill 1, multiplying damage tenfold.
Yao fell silent. Her heart hammered against her ribs before she forcibly calmed it. "One of the most combat-specialized mechanical bird pets," she murmured. "Berserker-type. Extreme offense. But… catastrophically energy-intensive. Basically fights once or twice explosively before needing to retreat for recharge or be destroyed outright. High firepower, abysmal endurance."
A clear weakness, but the strength was blindingly obvious.
And then… Yao smiled, looking down at her left arm. It worked. This arm.During the bonding, the egg must have sensed the Star-Devouring Vine's energy-absorption properties and hatched into the pet most desperately lacking in endurance: the Crimson Radiance Metal-Finch.
She was more than satisfied. This exceeded her best hopes. It was top-tier among Blue-Grade pets, as noted—Peak-grade. Its base stats were nearly ten times Xiao Huang's initial ones, and as a mechanical avian, it was a higher order of being than a biological insect. The gap was vast.
It was just… its appearance was both adorable and fiercely irascible. Its temper too…
"Boss! Name the target. I'll blow it to smithereens!" The Metal-Finch planted its… hands(?) on its hips, its metallic brows furrowed in a comically thuggish pose.
Yao was taken aback. "Not yet. First, a name. Your companion is Xiao Huang (Little Yellow). How about… Xiao Hong (Little Red)?"
The bird squawked, "Why not call me Da Hong (Big Red)?"
Yao nodded. "Alright. Da Hong it is."
The Metal-Finch: "?!"
Ding. Mechanical pet bird named: Da Hong.
Da Hong instantly erupted, metallic feathers sprouting actual flames… only to be unceremoniously stuffed into the pet space by Yao. Best to avoid premature detonation.
Inside, she heard Xiao Huang's terrified shriek… Do birds eat locusts?
"Don't you dare eat it, or I'll stew you," Yao's mental command was sharp.
Da Hong, who had been eyeing the locust with a predatory glint, froze. "Huh? Oh, right! Almost forgot. I'm mechanical. Don't even have a digestive system. Relax, Boss, I'll just… look." It sidled closer to the petrified Xiao Huang. "She seems to have fainted. Maybe she needs CPR? Or mouth-to-beak resuscitation?" It eagerly extended its sharp metal beak.
You call that resuscitation?!
Xiao Huang convulsed, instantly revived, and shot into her little hidey-hole, ignoring the terrifying red menace.
Yao sighed inwardly. Can these two even form a combat team?
As she pondered mediating this irreversible interspecies conflict, a disturbance echoed from outside.
Someone was coming.
Her core attributes hadn't skyrocketed. The tangible gains were Da Hong and the remade Vine-Arm. But she could now perform a double fusion—with both Da Hong and Xiao Huang simultaneously.
Post-fusion, her Agility breached 300,000.
Sometimes skill effects trumped raw stats. But when stats were sufficiently overwhelming, they could negate skill advantages, as skills were fundamentally built upon them. Besides, she had stealth and concealment to spare. She melted into the shadows just as two figures, reeking of fresh blood, tracked into the chamber fifteen seconds later.
Speak of the devil. Wei Mingtang and Yue Mingze. The blood on them was recent—whether from prisoners or other examinees was unclear. In Wei Mingtang's palm, a thread of blood wriggled like a tiny serpent, pointing the way.
Of course,Yao realized. Almost forgot she's Dark-aligned. Such tracking arts are their specialty. She used my severed arm as a ritual focus.
The duo drew closer. Yue Mingze was on high alert. They'd hunted some examinees and prisoners on the way, boosting their points, but it was nothing compared to taking down a major criminal or a top contender.
"You're sure it was Oaks earlier? How? The one I saw looked more like Li Cang—the light-element affinity matches," Yue Mingze asked. He knew Wei Mingtang's prowess leaned towards assault, not perception. True insight specialists were freaks like Xie Yiyuan, born with a silver spoon of ancestral talent.
"Simple logic," Wei Mingtang replied, her voice devoid of inflection. "Li Cang is stronger than you. He wouldn't have been forced to sever his own arm by you."
Yue Mingze scowled. "How do you know he's stronger? We haven't fought. You've analyzed his data?"
"Fought Xie Yiyuan briefly. Li Cang, who contends with him for the top three, is at least on that level. You are not." Her analysis was brutally straightforward, requiring no fancy perception arts.
Yue Mingze had no retort. He acquiesced silently. Then Wei Mingtang halted. He immediately stopped, already preparing to deploy his clone.
Found?
Wei Mingtang pointed a slender finger at a section of the wall ahead. Yue Mingze flanked, cutting off retreat. Wei Mingtang unleashed a cloud of corrosive dark mist, focused solely on that patch of stone.
Ssss—The wall hissed, dissolving rapidly, revealing a hollow. Inside was not a person, but a single sheet of paper.
Wei Mingtang's usually impassive face flickered with an odd expression. Yue Mingze peered over. "What? She's gone? This paper… what the hell?!"
On the white paper was a crude drawing. Two lines hung down, each with a stick figure attached, tongues lolling out. Two stick-figure 'hanged men.' Arrows pointed to them, labeling their names.
Hisname was there too, misspelled and crossed out.
A line of text below: "You harm the innocent. May you meet a terrible end." The word for 'end' was a glaring homophone typo, turning it into something absurd.
"That little—!" Yue Mingze's temper, honed in the gritty streets, flared. "Is she a child? Playing with curse notes? And a damn typo! She spelled my name wrong! On purpose, I bet! Still sore about the arm?" The sheer juvenile pettiness of it was toxic.
Wei Mingtang seemed momentarily at a loss for words. After a pause, she stated, "She's improved. Slipped away. Not confident against us both. Her perception is sharp; she sensed our tracking. Don't waste time. This way. The Ape-Demon Chieftain. The others are likely grouping for it now." She turned and left, Yue Mingze grumbling behind her.
Yao hadn't avoided them out of inability. She had sensed a third presence—Hong Yan—lingering not far away. A fight would draw him in, forcing her to face three top-tier opponents simultaneously. Unsure of Wei Mingtang's full capabilities and Hong Yan's limits, she chose discretion. The 'warning' note was meant to annoy and divert them.
It worked.
Soon, Hong Yan, following the duo's trail, arrived. He noticed movement ahead.
A battle.
BOOM!
A wall exploded. Pang Ci and the remnant forces from three cities, forming a ragged squad, were employing guerrilla tactics against a superior force.
They were on the third layer now. Most examinees from other cities had been eliminated. Of the initial 4000, a third fell on the first floor, hundreds more on the second, and the mass prison break culled further. Less than 800 remained, mostly driven back to the first three layers. Ironically, the weaker ones were on higher floors, unable to flee fast enough. The strong had descended to counter-hunt smaller prisoner groups.
Pang Ci's group wasn't slow; they'd been ambushed.
"I'm saying, with prisoners everywhere, we examinees should cooperate! Why block us? We kill each other, the prisoners win!" Shedding his usual dark assassin persona, Pang Ci revealed a silver tongue, trying to reason.
"The prisoners are mostly lured and split by Xie Yiyuan's group to the lower floors. Few remain here."
Pang Ci: "Then go fight them! Don't you want points?"
"You little dwarf, think I'm stupid? You're carrying point items!"
"We really aren't!"
As they argued, explosions erupted from both flanks.
"Damn you, dwarf, that's dirty!"
"You're one to talk! You sent two!"
Luo He Sanqian had ambushed from the enemy rear, while two spatial assassins struck Pang Ci's group from behind. It wasn't just the Luo Yu City team; the enemy force was larger, pressing them hard. If not for Lin Hengjing's special Snow-Goose providing unique support and Liu Yun's exceptional healing, they'd have fallen already. Fighting side-by-side bred默契 (tacit understanding). They knew each other's limits.
But it seemed the end was here. The enemy was too strong.
Cornered, Pang Ci played his trump card again. "Don't forget who my boss is! Oaks! Powerful, cunning, shameless! You kill us, she finds out, you're dead! Haven't you heard? Rumors say she's first-echelon level! Think your skulls are hard enough?"
"I'm her favorite underling! Here are her two favorite beauties, little and big! And her favorite old healer…"
Yu Qin and Lin Hengjing: "..."
Liu Yun: "??"
Wu Xiaomei: What does that mean? Am I not pretty?
"First echelon? You're delusional! Kill them!"
A barrage of attacks descended…
At that moment, a sphere of flame dropped, encasing Pang Ci's group, effortlessly blocking the onslaught.
Hong Yan stepped from a side corridor, wreathed in flowing magma.
Holy—!
Everyone in Beiluk Province knew him. A consensus top-three monster. Both sides trembled.
"You're Oaks's people?" Hong Yan asked, his tone deceptively mild.
Pang Ci's heart raced. Does Oaks know him?Given 'Xie the Scumbag's' usual modus operandi, their collective assumption was unanimous—must be an enemy.Oaks didn't have friends.
Even Yu Qin suspected ulterior motives and hostility.
Pang Ci swiftly denied. "No! We're victims she forced into service! In a lawful society, who'd call someone 'boss' unless desperate? Hey, boss, you need followers?"
The Luo Yu City group: That's not what you said earlier!
Hong Yan chuckled, a cold glint in his eyes. "Was thinking of using you as bait to lure that bastard Oaks out. But if you're unrelated… then you're expendable." He flicked a finger. The magma at his feet surged, a molten wave crashing toward the three-city group.
The Luo Yu team rejoiced internally—The three-city squad is done for!
Their joy was short-lived. The searing heat-wave rushed toward them too. Hong Yan was targeting everyone! A mass slaughter!
Both groups were paralyzed, unable to outrun the lava. The toxic fumes emitted by the magma inflicted a 40% movement speed debuff. Doomed.
As death approached, Yu Qin recalled her mother's question: If there was a direct path to power, granting you stronger talents so you'd never be trampled like an insect again, would you take it?
She had firmly refused. The cost—likely separation from her mother—was too high.
Yet, she'd always been fiercely proud. Sensitive and mature beyond her years, alienated from simpler peers, bearing the stigma of an unknown father… she always felt she had to be betterto cross those social chasms.
And still, she fell so short.
Was it because of her mother, forced to flee to Jingyang, giving birth under duress, raising her under the shadow of the man's threats…
Her mother spoke of it more often lately. And Zhou Miao's cryptic hints… Would they face that man someday? In her current state, how could she protect her mother and grandmother?
Yu Qin didn't close her eyes. She stared, unblinking, at the rolling magma, fists clenched, her heart feeling as if it were burning…
ROAR!
The lava crashed down, inches from their faces. They braced for the searing pain and imminent ejection from the exam.
Then…
"Shorty. Duck."
The voice was slow, slightly raspy, yet carried a strange, soft resonance—like a summer evening breeze rustling through cypress trees.
It was… oddly pleasant. Pleasant enough to make several members of the diminutive Yun family, watching elsewhere, feel a sudden, inexplicable urge to comply.
Then, they saw the threads of light. Not beams, but hyper-dense lances of solidified radiance. They shot forth, piercing throughthe oncoming magma wall, aiming directly for Hong Yan's face.
The command to 'duck' was practical. The light-lances passed at torso height. Staying upright meant being impaled before the lava even arrived—though perhaps the caster could adjust their paths? Regardless, the net of light-knives shot forward, slicing into the magma.
But magma was liquid. Shouldn't it just flow through the gaps?
It didn't. The light-threads hardenedupon penetration, imparting a steel-like rigidity to the surrounding molten rock. The complex mixture of minerals partially solidified around the threads, clogging the 'holes' in the net. The terrifying lava flow stalled, blocked by its own rapidly cooling, jagged matrix. Only trickles seeped through, easily dodged.
They were saved.
"Above you!" Lin Hengjing, who had spotted the speaker first, shouted.
Yao, having just emerged and expended focus on the net, had ceded the initiative. A waterfall of magma cascaded from the ceiling directly above her.
So sudden.It poured down like a crimson curtain.
Somewhere, defeated Que Baige had a single, vindictive thought: Damn you, Oaks. Now you know how it feels.
But perhaps not quite the same.
Sizzle—The viscous magma hit the ground, baking the stone, filling the corridor with blistering heat. Yao had already flickered aside. From the heart of the magma pool, Hong Yan reconstituted himself. No banter, no probing strikes. Based on prior events and rumors, he'd already categorized Oaks as first-echelon, likely nipping at the heels of the top few.
"So it was you, the mastermind behind the scenes. Secured the sixth-floor prize, have you? Probably caught up to us. No wonder you've abandoned skulking in the shadows, daring to face me directly." As he spoke, Hong Yan's left hand flashed. From the magma beside him, a five-meter-long, Blue-Grade Peak Inferno Salamandercrawled forth. Level 30. Its stats touched the two-to-three hundred thousand range. It radiated savage heat, its maw glowing red.
Simultaneously, a tiny Fire Spritematerialized above Hong Yan's head, accelerating fire-element absorption and boosting fire-arcane damage by 30%.
"Damn! A Fire Sprite!"
"Run!"
A combat-mode Fire Sprite was a game-changing force multiplier. Combined with the powerful Inferno Salamander, the trio—master, pet, sprite—unleashed a terrifying assault. The corridor was engulfed in crimson annihilation. The very walls began to melt.
The others scrambled back, witnessing Oaks, now the sole target, erupt with a formidable aura.
Double Fusion.Her Strength and Constitution soared past 200,000, Agility exceeding 300,000. She kept the pets internalized. Xiao Huang wasn't combat-oriented. Da Hong was only Level 1—its stats and skills ineffective, making it a liability. Unleashed, Xiao Huang would be instantly vaporized. Thus, fusion for raw attribute buffs was the optimal choice, narrowing the genetic gap with geniuses like Hong Yan.
But this meant she was essentially one against three.
The Salamander's breath-beam arrived. Yao, having pre-judged its trajectory, spread her wings of light and air, spiraling upwards. BOOM!The beam obliterated a section of wall, tunneling four meters deep. But Hong Yan was swift. His left hand moved, preparing a debuff—Slow/Stagger!
Thump!
An intercepted light-thread struck his casting arm. The debuff fizzled.
But his right hand was already forming a seal. An Arcane Diagram ignited instantly!
Trap!The failed debuff was a feint. This instant-cast diagram was the real threat.
Support-Type Arcane: Descent of Darkness.
A bane for light-element casters. It would sever her affinity, blind her to light elements, crippling her primary arsenal. The follow-up strike would be fatal.
Darkness diddescend. The diagram ring dropped over Yao's head…
Pang Ci and the others watched, hearts in their throats.
The ring settled. Yao's body shimmered with its constraint. Her motion to cast an art halted.
Perfect opening!
The Fire Sprite had finished channeling. A torrent of fire energy flooded Hong Yan and the Salamander. The beast activated its ultimate fusion skill: Volcanic Colossus.
Hong Yan's body armored over with thick, fiery salamander scales, magnificent and terrifying. He grasped the air. The Fire Sprite flowed into his hand, morphing into a blade of condensed, white-hot plasma—a Sprite-Weapon.
Indeed, Sprites could also serve as weapon spirits.
The plasma blade rose. The surrounding magma reversed flow, surging into the weapon.
Leaping Sunder!
Luo He Sanqian's eyes gleamed. So Hong Yan, who favors controlling magma from range, is actually a close-quarters fighter at heart. This is his true killing move.This strike could obliterate an Elite Level 45 entity, gravely wound or kill someone of Yue Mingze's caliber. He was clearly taking Oaks seriously, unleashing a major move early to deny her any chance for tricks—her combat adaptability was too high. Overwhelming force was the answer.
And Yao was currently under the effects of Descent of Darkness…
The blade fell toward her crown.
At the last possible microsecond, her eyes snapped open, meeting the gaze of the Volcanic Colossus.
Wrong.
She wasn't constrained.
That ring was a fake, a simulacrum of light! The real one had missed!
This scheming bastard!
She has a counter—must evade!
Hong Yan's realization was instantaneous, but mid-leap, he couldn't easily dodge. He willed magma-wings to sprout and shift his trajectory…
But… where were the fire elements?
Why couldn't he summon them?!
Stunned, Hong Yan, unable to manifest wings, was committed to the downward strike. The only option: meet force with force!
Cleave!
The plasma blade sheared down, annihilating hundreds of light-threads. But a single-target attack couldn't erase an Area-of-Effect barrage. Dozens of remaining threads struck his armored form.
He had calculated their piercing power. His fused defense was 350,000. These threads shouldn't penetrate!
And indeed, ping-ping-ping-ping!The light-needles impacted the scales like rain against reinforced glass. Since when could a drizzle shatter a window?
Unless… one specific thread altered its density mid-flight, bypassing the physical defense matrix entirely, slipping inside.
Hong Yan's face changed. He sensed the intrusion but was too late to expel it. Inside his body, the thread released something even finer—a tendril of crimson vine.
Sssssip—
His vital energy, his very life force, was suctioned out violently, as if hit by a industrial pump, fueling the invader's growth.
In one, maybe two seconds, before he could muster the resolve to sever his own limb, the empowered Star-Devouring Vine, guided by Yao's will…
"You're mistaken, little brother Hong Yan," her voice, laced with dark amusement, reached him. "I haven't caught up to you."
Swish!
The vine erupted from his chest.
Hong Yan's pupils contracted violently. The onlookers were stunned.
An instant-kill?
Did he eject?
No. He teleported.
They watched as, a hair's breadth from cardiac perforation, a pre-activated formation at his feet flared. He vanished.
Everyone: "?!"
An Arcane Teleportation Gate?That incredibly rare, top-tier escape art? Had he acquired it as a prison-layer prize? Likely a basic, one-time use scroll, but sufficient in these restricted environs.
Pity. Didn't finish him.The top three were indeed hard to kill. They had their own treasures.
Yao's expression darkened. She turned to the elated Pang Ci group. "Strip."
Strip? Boss, that's a bit…They were bewildered.
Then they saw Yao's other hand—light-threads lashing out, finishing off the fleeing Luo Yu City examinees.
Pang Ci immediately dropped his trousers, revealing skinny legs.
Yao: "..."
"Equipment. She means strip your gear. Spare sets too, give them to her," Yu Qin was the first to comprehend, already removing her armor.
Yao glanced at her. She hadn't planned to take theirs, but the short girl was stubborn, thrusting the gear forward. Ah. She probably guessed I need metal.
No time to argue. Yao collected all their gear, plus the loot from the fallen Luo Yu team, and turned to leave.
"Wait," Lin Hengjing spoke up. "Could we… entrust our point items to you? You can take a 10% custodial fee. That way, we operate with 'naked' points. If we're eliminated, we retain most of our earnings, making continued risk-taking viable. Otherwise, the risk-reward ratio forces an early exit." The quiet one's mind was sharp. An ingenious solution.
Yao was surprised. "Not afraid I'll just take it all?"
Lin Hengjing met her gaze. "Killing us lets you take it openly. Agreeing and then stealing… damages your moral reputation."
"My what now?"
"..."
Lin Hengjing immediately regretted her words. Right. This person has no such reputation. She probably doesn't care.Yet, their recent interactions sometimes made them feel Oaks had a sliver of… decency. When she wasn't speaking, scheming, or fighting. Forget it.
Yao took their point items and vanished.
Relieved of the burden, the group, though now unarmed, felt a new freedom. "Let's go loot others for gear first!" Their path was diverging toward the chaotic.
Yu Qin, however, pressed a hand to her chest. That feeling earlier…
And their captain… where was she headed now? To hunt prisoners for points? Or to hunt other geniuses?
Why did she seem so… unhurried after Hong Yan's escape?
Outside the arena, the spectators were likely in an uproar. Oaks's power growth was terrifying.
Yao wasn't hurried because the vine-tendril fragment remained inside Hong Yan. She could sense it. Even if its activity faded, the light-thread she'd sent as a pursuit marker had reached him.
She knew exactly where he was.
And she was faster.
21 minutes remaining.
Yao checked the time. It took 35 seconds. She caught up to the fleeing Hong Yan, phased silently from a wall, and transformed—not into a person, but into a tiny, near-microscopic louse. It settled into the unruly strands of his hair.
And so, she hitched a ride.
Hong Yan, unaware, was consumed by the humiliation of being routed by a Xie family nobody from a backwater branch. His decision was swift: Find allies. Gang up on her.
But who? It had to be the top contenders.
The proud Hong Yan, who'd never deigned to team up, found his principles swiftly abandoned after a sound thrashing. He soon located a candidate.
"Don't attack. Truce. To deal with Oaks. She beat me." Hong Yan appeared before Li Cang, who was leading Li Yu and others in systematically dismantling a group of a dozen prisoners.
Li Cang observed the newcomer calmly. He noted Hong Yan's agitated aura, the signs of recent, intense combat. With their genes and potions, surface injuries healed fast. But the admission was startling.
Before Li Cang could respond, Li Yu and Dong Longzhao voiced disbelief. "Impossible!"
Hong Yan, who normally wouldn't spare them a glance, sneered. "You think I'd willingly admit defeat to a trash-planet rat for fun?" He turned to Li Cang. "Well? Team up or not? If not, I'll find someone else."
Li Cang frowned. "Why not seek Xie Yiyuan? Given their internal feud, he'd want her dead."
"You think I don't know how you Great Houses operate? Internal strife has limits. You don't openly fight while external threats exist—clan laws forbid it. It's how you maintain cohesion. This exam is public. Xie Yiyuan isn't an idiot."
Fair point. Li Cang considered, then nodded. "She didn't pursue you? You shook her off?"
"Obviously. If she'd caught up, I'd eat this wall." He'd used a precious, cooldown-bound teleport scroll. He wasn't about to admit that. But he was confident he'd lost her.
The louse in his hair: ...
Yao hadn't finished Hong Yan earlier precisely to use him as a mobile hideout. Perceptors like Xie Yiyuan or Wei Mingtang wouldn't thoroughly scan a familiar, powerful rival. Hiding in plain sight.
And she'd bet Hong Yan would seek alliances. She was infiltrating the enemy camp to observe the other top players. Even if she could defeat Hong Yan now, caution was wise. What if another dark horse lurked among the elites? Commoners produced a Wei Mingtang. Could the Orange-Blood families not have a hidden ace?
18 minutes.
All claws would be bared as time dwindled… Though this team seemed odd. Yao observed that most were light-element arcanists. Aside from the late-joining Dong Longzhao and Hong Yan, Li Cang's core group was light-aligned. A family specialty, perhaps. Useful for combination arts.
Yao mentally reviewed possible large-scale combo attacks while studying Li Cang. He seemed solid, perhaps only slightly stronger than Hong Yan—his wariness showed. In battle, he avoided presenting his back to Hong Yan, yet, being honorable himself, didn't exploit Hong Yan's openings either. A principled opponent.
"Based on your description, Oaks excels in perception and speed. Hard to ambush. Let's target the Chieftain first. Without you, we lacked confidence. Now we can try." The Ape-Demon Chieftain offered the highest point value. Everyone coveted it, hence the point-grinding and preparation. But with enough strength, striking early was best.
Forward!
The group, morale high, set off to find the giant ape, utterly unaware their squad was now arguably the strongest present—boasting threetop-tier first-echelon combatants, if one counted the stowaway louse.
Three minutes later, the first layer was starkly divided. One side was dominated by the Ape-Demon Chieftain and powerful prisoners, a charnel house of fallen examinees. The other side held: Xie Yiyuan and his Xie family contingent; Yun Baobao and Zhang Doudou's duo; and… Wei Mingtang and Yue Mingze's pair.
Aside from the latter two duos, the other groups had absorbed numerous examinees. Only scattered, weaker squads remained stubbornly independent.
The Que family's situation was awkward. With Que Baige's sudden decline, they were leaderless. Que Baimo had tried to rally them, but his weakness and indecisive leadership failed. After a brutal encounter with prisoners, the group fractured. The remnants here were pitifully few.
Everyone's here.
Hong Yan shot Li Cang a sidelong glance. "Without me, you'd still be downstairs fighting minions, missing the main event."
The groups who'd arrived earlier: "..." Is he calling us early birds here for the… unpleasant stuff?
The Ape-Demon Chieftain, the apparent 'main event,': ?
No wonder he has no friends,Yao mused from her perch. Then she caught herself. Wait. Isn't Oaks even more universally disliked?She'd said 'strip,' and the three-city squad had acted like she was demanding something indecent. Their minds are truly in the gutter.