171: During the assessment

Ye Chunheng stepped back onto the tiger's back. "Let's go in and take a look."

Chu Shengfan looked up and nodded gently. The "Myriad Flower Butterfly Spirit" beside him layered flower shields onto him, obscuring his face beneath the layers of shields, making him somewhat indistinct.

Before the two could move, a large amount of blood mist suddenly spread through the dense forest before them. The trees covered by the blood mist instantly became pitted and scarred, as if corroded by some kind of poison.

The dense forest was rapidly turning into a dead and withered wood.

The blood mist was still thin now, and without the obstruction of the dense forest, the two could temporarily see the scene of the battlefield ahead.

The battlefield was not singular; Contract Masters with their Source Beasts were charging towards the center from different directions, and the "Nether Blood Frenzy Bees" obstructing their path were being killed one by one by their Source Beasts and falling into the woods.

The spreading blood mist was emanating from the dead "Nether Blood Frenzy Bees."

In addition to the function of allowing other "Nether Blood Frenzy Bees" to locate them after Chu Shengfan killed one previously, this mass death had given the blood mist an additional corrosive ability.

The faint blood mist drifted onto the flower shields surrounding Chu Shengfan's body. The tiny petals forming the shields withered and dried up at a visible rate, and the outermost shield was gradually dissipating.

Chu Shengfan looked at Ye Chunheng beside him. Both he and the "Golden Orchid King Tiger" beneath him were emitting a faint golden light that blocked the surrounding blood mist.

Feeling the golden light on his body being corroded, Ye Chunheng's face was full of excitement. This was the challenge he wanted.

"You wait outside, watch your big brother go kill a Bee Queen and come back."

At this moment, Ye Chunheng did not forget to look after his younger brother, giving an instruction. The "Golden Orchid King Tiger" leaped several times and rushed into the depths of the blood mist.

Chu Shengfan gazed intently for a moment. Flashes of spiritual light flickered within the blood mist, indicating an extremely fierce battle.

More powerful Auras were converging towards this direction. It seemed the extra 100 points reward was indeed tempting enough to make even candidates far away rush towards this location with all their might.

This was only the beginning. Chu Shengfan estimated that even if this "Nether Blood Queen Bee" was at the Upper Stage of Spirit Rank, it probably wouldn't last long under the siege of so many Contract Masters.

However, the situation was chaotic, and Chu Shengfan had no intention of getting involved for the time being. He turned and moved a distance away from the blood mist.

Then, behind an ancient tree, he quietly waited for the final result to emerge. It was actually the safest time now that the "Nether Blood Frenzy Bees" were gathered together.

He flipped over and sat on a lower branch of the ancient tree, taking out some pastries made from spirit rice to eat and replenish his expended energy. The "Myriad Flower Butterfly Spirit" beside him offered a few spirit flowers.

The comfort of Chu Shengfan and the "Myriad Flower Butterfly Spirit" did not last long. Three uninvited guests appeared under his ancient tree: three Contract Masters who were also candidates.

They had clearly spotted Chu Shengfan sitting on the branch, or to put it another way, they had come specifically for Chu Shengfan.

"Cheng Yuan, your Source Beast is quite good. Found another lone one."

The three were youths in their twenties: one at Upper Tier of the Extraordinary Rank, and two at Lower Stage of Exotic.

The one who spoke was the Contract Master at High-level Exotic, seemingly the leader of their small group.

A man with triangular eyes beside him immediately responded, "Finding people is my only advantage. When it comes to the actual fight, we still have to rely on you, Brother Yuan Qing."

The leader called Yuan Qing seemed pleased by his flattering words and nodded somewhat smugly.

Chu Shengfan frowned slightly, sensing intense malice emanating from the three of them.

Yuan Qing looked up at Chu Shengfan, who had a square face and was gradually showing a handsome demeanor, sitting on the branch. A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

"Are you going to voluntarily withdraw from the assessment, or should I withdraw you?"

Chu Shengfan pursed his lips helplessly. The scenario he had anticipated had indeed occurred; someone in this assessment was clearly trying to eliminate other candidates early to secure a higher score for themselves.

"Is this behavior allowed by the examiners?"

Hearing Chu Shengfan's question, the three exchanged glances, as if hearing something amusing, and burst into laughter.

"Since this is a survival assessment, facing tests from our peers, isn't this a very normal thing?"

It seemed these explanations had exhausted the patience of the man before him. Two identical Source Beasts appeared beside him in succession.

They resembled canine Source Beasts, but they looked extremely thin with extremely long ears and almost no hair, giving the impression that they were ferocious Source Beasts.

As soon as they appeared, the eyes of these two canine Source Beasts locked onto Chu Shengfan and the "Myriad Flower Butterfly Spirit" sitting five or six meters above the ground on the branch.

The next moment, they slightly crouched to build momentum and then ran up the tree trunk along the bark from different directions as if on flat ground, heading towards Chu Shengfan.

Chu Shengfan adjusted his posture and skillfully leaped down from the treetop, dodging this first wave of attack. However, the two canine Source Beasts pursued relentlessly, trying to pounce on Chu Shengfan with extreme speed.

"Flower Scent..."

When the two Source Beasts reached a certain distance, Chu Shengfan spoke softly.

Pinkish-purple smoke spread from the body of the "Myriad Flower Butterfly Spirit," quickly enveloping the two canine Source Beasts. Almost instantly, their pouncing posture became unstable, and they were about to fall to the ground as if stunned.

The Source Beasts' owner instantly sensed something was wrong. At this moment, Chu Shengfan had drawn his machete and swung it high, aiming to cleave down onto the head of one of the Source Beasts.

Yuan Qing immediately shouted, "What are you two still watching for? Hurry up and send your Source Beasts in!"

In desperation, he also drew a long sword and rushed quickly towards Chu Shengfan, his posture suggesting he intended to block the descending swing of Chu Shengfan's machete.

However, he was ultimately a step too slow. But Chu Shengfan's machete did not successfully strike the canine Source Beast. At extremely close range, the beast's body was covered by a fish-scale-like shield.

This prevented Chu Shengfan's machete from landing successfully.

During this brief moment, Yuan Qing had closed the distance and thrust his long sword towards Chu Shengfan's chest, but it was blocked by the flower shield.

The two stunned canine Source Beasts also reopened their eyes. Chu Shengfan diverted a sliver of attention to the other two men; their own Source Beasts were successively appearing beside them.

And the scale shield protecting the canine Source Beasts was being released by the winged Flying Fish beside one of the men.

The two canine Source Beasts simultaneously scrambled up from the ground, staring menacingly at Chu Shengfan.

One Upper Tier of the Extraordinary Rank and four Lower Stage of Exotic, totaling six Source Beasts. The three men looked at Chu Shengfan simultaneously.

The two canine Source Beasts seemed to have activated a skill, their bodies instantly doubling in size, and an imposing Aura swept directly towards Chu Shengfan.

The "Myriad Flower Butterfly Spirit's" Flower Scent could not temporarily control so many Source Beasts at once, and this skill could not be released frequently in a short time.

Chu Shengfan took a deep breath, looked at the two canine Source Beasts approaching again, and called out,

"Spirit Origin Cloud Mother."