“Alright.” Lan Xuanyu agreed then entered his simulation cabin once again. The door closed, and he closed his eyes as he strived to adjust his state of mind.
The familiar sensation came on again as his surroundings changed and became clear. When Lan Xuanyu opened his eyes, he realized that he was back in Star Dou Forest.
Bird chirping sounds could be heard. The refreshing vegetation fragrance filled the air with the moisture of the earth.
Without any prompting, he was back.
Lan Xuanyu looked around his surroundings and immediately scaled a large tree he chose and hid himself within the leaves. He observed his surroundings and calmed himself down.
What are they testing me for? Regardless of how intelligent he was, there were no clues for him to guess.
“Survive for 24 hours within the Star Dou Forest. That is the additional test.” Right at this time, a familiar voice sounded out in his head.
Finally, a clue. This allowed Lan Xuanyu to heave a sigh of relief. Better to get a hint than to fumble on it.
Survive for 24 hours? Seems like I was placed deeper into Star Dou Forest.
There aren’t any soul beasts around. Guess I’ll just waste time out. It was difficult for him to distinguish the direction to keep away from the core region. Seems like I can only take one step at a time.
Upon thinking about this, Lan Xuanyu remained stationary and leaned against the tree. He was alone without the help of his teammates. He remained as still as the tree. I will resolve problems as they come. He was not proficient in speed, so hiding was the best way to waste time.
He simply concealed himself on the tree and waited quietly. Seconds and minutes passed. Lan Xuanyu was surprised to realize that he did not encounter any problems. Despite the occasional passing of soul beasts below, they were ordinary 10-year and 100-year soul beasts. It seems that I am in the outer region of Star Dou Forest.
He did not encounter a single soul beast that had discovered his presence on the tree after a few hours.
Although Lan Xuanyu felt that it was strange, he remained unmoved. He was not anxious and pondered to himself that there would definitely be difficulty in surviving the test for 24 hours, since Shrek Academy was never one to take action without thinking. But after another few hours, nothing seemed to have changed. He did not believe that Shrek Academy would forget about him and let him pass the test that easily. Furthermore, there was Ji Hongbin’s warning. So, despite the tranquility and peace, he remained cautious and did not dare relax.
Time continued to pass as Lan Xuanyu counted in silence. Gradually, the sky darkened as dusk approached.
Maintaining the high vigilance and concentration led to easy fatigue, even with his Spiritual Power already at the Spirit Sea realm. The sky darkened as night came. Star Dou Forest became even quieter.
Lan Xuanyu did not dare be careless as he could only rely on himself, so he chose to wait quietly.
According to his assessment of the situation and the height of the sun, he reckoned that he had entered at midday. This meant that the test would only be over at noon the next day.
More than 10 hours had passed. Night in Star Dou Forest was extremely cold, and strange noises would occasionally sound out. It was only then did Lan Xuanyu realize the importance of teammates. Even if there was only one, the two could take turns resting and recovering their mental state while keeping watch. At the moment, he had to maintain high vigilance by himself. Who knew when the actual test would start?
Just like that, he remained open-eyed and sat up for an entire night. But even so, nothing happened as dawn came, and the sky became bright. In another few hours, his test would be completed.
But the closer it approached, the tenser Lan Xuanyu became. He suddenly realized that the test was even more difficult than what he had envisioned. Because if the start was already that pressurizing and only increased as time passed but nothing happened, then it would mean that something was bound to occur at the final moments, and it would be an extremely difficult problem.
Ignoring the fact that he had stayed up for over 20 hours without sleeping, he had maintained and stretched taut his mental state. Even so, he did not dare to relax.
Fatigue started pouring in as Lan Xuanyu pinched his thigh for the third time, using the pain to maintain his sober state.
Right at this time, he suddenly heard a strange sound — the ‘sou sou’ sound produced when something was rushing through the forest.
Lan Xuanyu’s eyes widened as he roused himself awake. He unleashed the golden- and silver-patterned Blue Silver Grass that curled around his hands.
The true test was about to begin!
He quickly judged the direction in which the sound was coming from. He concentrated his attention toward the direction and through the rustling leaves.
Right at this time, a figure suddenly appeared in the distance, rushing in his direction at a fast speed. She was extremely fast but also evidently in a panic.
Lan Xuanyu squinted his eyes and focused on her.
She was a human — a girl, he immediately judged. And when she came closer, Lan Xuanyu’s squinted eyes became large, and he almost cried out in shock.
How can it be her?
That’s right! He recognized the girl that was in a difficult situation. He more than recognized her; they had even fought alongside each other just recently. Who else could it be but Dong Qianqiu?
Dong Qianqiu was in a mess with distinct cuts on her dress. This revealed the left side of her flawless calf. She was extremely fast and occasionally unleashed layers of ice mist behind as she ran.
Her enemy must definitely be strong for her to turn up in such a situation!
Very quickly, Dong Qianqiu was close to the tree that Lan Xuanyu was hiding on.
What do I do? Lan Xuanyu was caught in a dilemma at this moment. Evidently, Dong Qianqiu had not discovered him. So long as he did not make a sound, Dong Qianqiu would run past him. But she was in a dire situation with a few bloodstains on her bosom. Am I to let her past without revealing myself?
Right at this time, a roar came out from the distance. Lan Xuanyu turned and noticed a vigorous and nimble figure pouncing out from Dong Qianqiu’s ice mist and charging straight at her.
It was a ferocious tiger with black and white patterns and a pair of wings on its back. Layers of black qi circulated around its body with a faint purplish airflow that lingered around. Even the black and white patterns on its back were moving continuously, as though they were alive.
That is a…
Sinister Dark Demon Tiger? Those with patterns on its back were 100-year, while the black mist around represented 1,000-year. The appearance of the purplish light was an indicator that it had turned sinister. This meant that the four meter-large tiger in front of him had a cultivation of 10,000 years.
A 10,000-year Sinister Dark Demon Tiger? What did that mean?
The tiger was a king among the soul beasts. Among the tiger-type soul beasts, the Sinister Dark Demon Tiger was only preceded by the Golden Tiger King that had the golden bloodline and variants of the Dark Devilgod Tiger species. It was one of the first-rate soul beasts. Although it was not the strongest, it was close. More importantly, the Sinister Dark Demon Tiger in front of them had 10,000 years of cultivation!
A 10,000-year soul beast. How could the two of them — Soul Masters with two and three rings — resist it?
When the Sinister Dark Demon Tiger pounced outward, the black qi around it surged and shot forward. All the light in the surroundings seemed to be devoured by its immense size.