30: Chapter 30 The God of Bathing

"The Secret Realm this time is actually the Twilight Forest!" Ding Siyi looked at the gloomy forest that had suddenly unfolded before her, unable to help but exclaim in surprise, her tone full of astonishment. Towering ancient trees blocked out the sky, with only sparse spots of light leaking through the branches and leaves. The air was filled with the damp scent of rotting leaves, and even the wind carried a biting chill.

"Twilight Forest?" Zhang Wen raised an eyebrow, sensing the faint, lingering Aura of Vicious Beasts around them. "What's so special about this place?"

"You actually don't know?" Ding Siyi turned to look at him, her large eyes filled with disbelief. "This is a notoriously 'tough nut' among Awakening period Secret Realms! The Vicious Beasts inside are not only highly aggressive but also exceptionally skilled at hiding and launching sneak attacks. How many examinees have fallen here in past years... I really don't know what the Provincial Examination Committee was thinking this year, raising the difficulty so high." As she spoke, a cluster of warm orange flames already swirled around her fingertips, the Shimmer particularly conspicuous in the gloomy forest.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wen didn't show any fear; instead, a trace of excitement flashed in his eyes. He raised his hand, and a faint, purple-gold electric arc quietly rose from his palm, carrying an intimidating power amidst the soft crackling sound. "The harder it is, the more interesting it gets." He curled his lips into a smile and pulled Ding Siyi along. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If we dawdle any longer, I'm afraid others will snatch up all the Vicious Beasts, and then how will we earn enough points to get into Qinglan University?"

Ding Siyi was awakened by his words. The worry on her face dissipated quite a bit, replaced by a spark of fighting spirit. "That's true!" She clenched her fists, and the Crimson Pearl Immortal Fire instantly flared up, illuminating her cheeks brightly. "Then we'd better hurry!"

Before the words had even faded, the two tacitly moved into action. Zhang Wen was surrounded by a faint Lightning Radiance, his steps as light and swift as lightning, his gaze sharply scanning the depths of the dense forest; Ding Siyi controlled the immortal fire to protect her sides; wherever the flames passed, the air even warmed up a bit. Moving left and right, sometimes splitting up to attack and sometimes covering for each other, the purple-gold Lightning Radiance and the warm orange flames wove a unique interplay of light and shadow in the gloomy Twilight Forest as they quickly swept toward the areas where Vicious Beasts appeared. They both held a determined drive in their hearts—they had to break through the encirclement in this most difficult Secret Realm assessment and embark on the road to Qinglan University together.

Along the way, Zhang Wen and Ding Siyi were like two "Vicious Beast harvesters" running at double speed. Wherever they passed, the low-level Vicious Beasts ran faster than rabbits—oh no, they didn't even have a chance to run. The purple-gold Lightning Radiance crackled as it swept through, and the warm orange immortal fire whooshed as it burned. Those little guys that could normally scare ordinary examinees weren't even enough to fill the gaps in their teeth here, and their points jumped into their recording sheets as if they had grown legs.

Just as they were killing with gusto, a troublemaker suddenly appeared halfway. An examinee wearing another school's uniform blocked their path with his neck stiff, his chest puffed out as if it had been inflated. "Hey! I claimed this area first. If you're smart, get lost quickly and don't delay my point farming!" Judging by his smug look, he was likely relying on the fact that he had just touched the edge of the Initial Blooming Realm, thinking he could act arrogantly.

Zhang Wen laughed when he heard this. He stopped, smiled, fished around in his pocket, and said slowly, "Classmate, everything is negotiable." As he spoke, a ball of purple-gold Lightning Radiance popped out from his palm with a snap. The Lightning Radiance was twisted into the shape of a pretzel, looking soft and squishy, and he deliberately spun it twice in his hand. "Come on, want to try my 'thunder bath towel'? Free experience, guaranteed to make you feel refreshed and clear-headed all over."

Before the other party could react, the Lightning Radiance slapped onto the back of his neck. The examinee was stunned at first, then his whole body shook like a sieve as if he had been electrocuted. His hair stood on end like a startled chicken's, and he hopped three times on the spot before standing steady. He stared at Zhang Wen with a look of confusion and helplessness, as if asking, "Who am I, where am I, and what did I just experience?"

"You, you're never serious." Ding Siyi covered her mouth and giggled, the Crimson Pearl Immortal Fire dancing on her fingertips as if in agreement.

Zhang Wen shrugged and withdrew the Lightning Radiance. "To deal with unreasonable people, you have to use some 'special methods'."

But Zhang Wen didn't know that after he left, the title of "Bathing War God" began to circulate in this area.

Just like that, fighting and joking all the way, in less than half a day, the recording watches on their wrists were beeping non-stop—the real-time point leaderboard for Nanyang City refreshed, and their two names were prominently hung in the top ten, as steady as if they had been nailed there.

"Huu..." Zhang Wen leaned against a tree trunk, taking a rare breath, and rubbed his wrists. "I'm afraid we've plucked this forest clean of low-level Vicious Beasts. If we keep going forward, we'll probably run into some tough opponents." They had been in 'sweeping mode' the whole way, killing without resting their feet on the ground until now. Even with his abundant stamina, he felt his arms were a bit sore.

But the harvest was truly gratifying. Because the two were splitting the points 60/40, Zhang Wen was currently third, and Ding Siyi was fifth, with Zhang Wen less than three hundred points away from the top of the leaderboard.

"Let's take a break and adjust our state before we continue." Zhang Wen suggested. Ding Siyi nodded busily in agreement, even playfully making a cat-paw-tucking expression.

They had barely rested for a moment when Zhang Wen's expression changed abruptly. "Something's wrong, run!"

Before the words had faded, he scooped up Ding Siyi, his body flashed with Lightning Radiance, and he instantly teleported to the branch of a large tree nearby. Ding Siyi hadn't recovered yet and was just about to ask a question when she saw the ground beneath their feet crack open. A Hundred-Foot Centipede, as thick as a water bucket, burst out from the soil. Its dense legs crushed the mud, sending it flying, and its compound eyes glowed with a dark green light, locking onto the two people in the tree.

That fierce Aura, far exceeding the Initial Blooming Realm, rushed toward them. Cold sweat instantly broke out on Ding Siyi's back—if they had been half a second slower just now, they would probably have become the centipede's meal. She didn't dare to think any further, and the hand clutching Zhang Wen's sleeve tightened a bit.

"Don't be afraid, aren't we fine?" Zhang Wen patted the back of her hand, his voice steady. "With me here, it won't be able to do anything."

Having said that, he leaped down from the tree trunk and charged toward the centipede.

"Careful! That might be a Forming Realm Vicious Beast!" Ding Siyi shouted anxiously, her heart in her throat.

Zhang Wen didn't look back; instead, an overbearing Aura suddenly erupted from his body—the purple-gold Lightning Radiance crackled on his skin, and the intensity of his Aura was clearly that of the Forming Realm!

Ding Siyi's pupils shrank, her face full of shock: He... he actually reached the Forming Realm?!

"Damn it, this guy..." Ding Siyi looked at the figure flashing with lightning under the tree, muttering softly, her cheeks slightly flushed. "He acted like it was so strenuous before; so he was just playing with me?"

But complaints aside, her gaze remained fixed on Zhang Wen without a second of wavering, and she even held her breath to match the rhythm of the battle. The Crimson Pearl Immortal Fire on her fingertips flickered on and off, and her palms were already covered in a thin layer of sweat. Her heart was fluttering, and over and over, only one thought remained: You must win, Zhang Wen.