231: Chapter 231 Introductory Trial

"The rules of the trial are very simple." The Deacon Monk held up a finger, "You hundred people will be sent into Dao Hu Mountain together. Within seven days, you only need to do two things: First, survive! Second, obtain at least one 'blood pattern fruit'!"

As he spoke, he took out a fruit from his bosom that was completely crimson and covered in strange blood-colored patterns, displaying it to everyone.

"This is the blood pattern fruit, usually growing near the nests of Yao Beasts, containing weak Spiritual Qi. It is the proof for this trial. Seven days later, anyone who can walk out of Dao Hu Mountain alive and holding a blood pattern fruit will be considered to have passed the trial and can be promoted to an Outer Sect Disciple!"

Promoted to an Outer Sect Disciple!

This news was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up turbulent waves in the hearts of all the Utility Disciples!

An Outer Sect Disciple meant higher status, more resources to Cultivate, and true Cultivation Techniques! This was the goal everyone dreamed of!

For a moment, incomparably fervent light burst forth from everyone's eyes, and their breathing became rapid.

However, the Deacon Monk's next words were like a basin of ice water poured over their burning hearts.

"Of course, you can also choose... to rob each other."

The corners of the Deacon Monk's mouth curled into a cruel arc.

"In the trial, there are no restrictions on rules or methods. You can form teams or go alone; you can cooperate or... slaughter. In the end, we only look at the results."

"One last reminder." His voice suddenly turned cold, like a freezing wind from the Nine Netherworlds, "Inside Dao Hu Mountain, you are responsible for your own life and death!"

Responsible for your own life and death!

These eight words were like four cold iron hammers, smashing heavily onto everyone's hearts, instantly extinguishing most of the excitement that had just ignited, replacing it with a chill rising from the bottom of their hearts.

This was no trial; it was clearly a cruel, bloody elimination match with their lives as the stakes!

Gao Feng stood in the corner of the crowd, his expression calm, but his heart had long since been stirred.

He finally understood why the Rank system of Wuxiang Temple was so strict, and why the Disciples here were all filled with baleful energy. Under this cruel "Gu" raising competition mode, only the most ruthless, strongest, and those who knew how to use the rules could survive and climb up.

It was cruel, but also fair.

How similar it was to the bloody wars he had experienced in his past life!

Soon, escorted by the Law Enforcement Disciples, the hundred Utility Disciples were brought before a huge teleportation array. With a sensation of the world spinning, the next moment, Gao Feng found himself in a strange, primitive mountain forest.

Ancient trees reaching the sky blocked out the sun, and the air was filled with the smell of damp rotting leaves, as well as a faint, fishy scent belonging to Yao Beasts.

The surrounding Utility Disciples were either gathering in groups of three or five, vigilantly discussing countermeasures; some were like headless flies, rushing blindly into the depths of the dense forest; others had already begun to eye the seemingly weak "prey" around them with malicious intent.

A bloody hunt had already begun from the moment they stepped into this mountain forest.

Gao Feng did not hesitate. He did not choose to form a team with anyone else, nor did he, like the others, plunge headfirst into the dense forest that looked full of life but was actually fraught with danger.

Relying on his rich wilderness survival experience as a special forces soldier in his past life, he just looked up at the position of the sun, identified the direction, and immediately made the most correct choice.

He avoided the depths of the jungle where water sources were abundant and Yao Beasts were most likely to gather, and instead turned to climb toward a relatively steep ridge with a wider field of view.

Advancing along the ridge, although the journey would be more difficult, it could maximize the avoidance of the territories of large Yao Beasts, and allow him to observe the surrounding terrain and movements from a high position, firmly grasping the initiative in his own hands.

He was like an experienced old wolf, silently blending into this dangerous mountain forest, starting his own hunting journey.

His goal was not just the blood pattern fruit, but also those... "fellow Disciples" with malicious intent.

After traveling for about an hour, Gao Feng stopped at a mountain pass on a ridge, his body sticking to the shadow of a giant rock like a gecko, restraining his entire Aura.

Below him, in a small mountain hollow, a fight was unfolding.

Two Disciples wearing Utility Disciple clothing were working together to besiege another lone Disciple.

That lone Disciple was clearly not weak, having reached the cultivation of the Qi Refining Second Layer, and the short blade in his hand was dancing with great vigor.

But the two people besieging him cooperated extremely tacitly. One pinched a Spell seal, and vines emerged from the ground like spirit snakes, constantly harassing and binding the Disciple's movements. The other kept throwing fist-sized fireballs from a distance to conduct long-range bombing.

This was the first time Gao Feng had seen a battle between Cultivators in this world so intuitively.

There were no flashy Moves, no so-called martial virtue or Dao morality; there were only the most direct and effective means of killing.

Spell attacks were primary, Magical Artifacts were secondary, and they cooperated tacitly, using their respective advantages to constantly consume and suppress their opponents.

This was the most mainstream combat logic in this world.

Gao Feng watched very carefully, remembering the two's fighting style, the characteristics of the Spells, and the laws of Spiritual Qi circulation one by one.

In the end, under the dual onslaught of vines and fireballs, the lone Disciple accidentally tripped over a vine, and was immediately hit in the chest by a fireball, letting out a shrill scream and falling to the ground, life or death unknown.

The two skillfully stepped forward, searched from his bosom a blood pattern fruit that had just been obtained and was not yet warm, and then disappeared into the depths of the jungle without looking back, not even bothering to look at the fallen fellow Disciple again.

Cold and efficient.

Gao Feng walked out of the shadows, looking at the figure lying in a pool of blood, his eyes without the slightest ripple.

He stepped forward, checked the person, and found there was still a trace of weak breath. He did not choose to help, nor did he choose to finish him off; he just turned and left silently.

In this trial, sympathy was the cheapest and most fatal thing.

After another half day of searching, Gao Feng finally found a blood pattern fruit tree growing on a cliff in a hidden valley.

The tree bore three completely crimson fruits, emitting an alluring luster in the afterglow of the setting sun.

However, Gao Feng's gaze did not stay on the fruits, but fell on the pitch-black hole under the fruit tree.

A faint fishy stench drifted out from the hole.

He knew that the real test had arrived.

He did not rush forward, but patiently lurked nearby, observing carefully.

Finally, as night was about to fall, a Yao Beast about half a meter long, covered in black bristles, with a pair of greenish eyes, poked its head out of the hole.

It sniffed the air vigilantly, and after confirming there was no danger, it crawled out of the hole.

A First-Rank Yao Beast, Poison Quill Rat!

This kind of Yao Beast, although small in size, was as fast as lightning. What was more troublesome was that the bristles on its back were like steel needles, capable of shooting out and carrying paralysis toxins!

For a Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage, it was an extremely difficult opponent.

Gao Feng took a deep breath and gripped the firewood axe that had been with him for more than a month, which was tucked at his waist.

He did not choose to force his way in, but picked up a stone and threw it hard toward the other side of the valley.

"Pa!"

The stone landed in the grass, making a soft sound.

The Poison Quill Rat was instantly startled, its greenish eyes suddenly turned toward the direction the sound came from, and it let out a "Zhi Zhi" threatening cry.

Just at the moment it was distracted, Gao Feng moved!

His body, which had been tempered countless times, was like a hunting cheetah, without making a sound, bursting out from the shadows on the other side. The firewood axe in his hand drew a cold arc in the air, carrying an indomitable Aura, slashing straight at the back of the Poison Quill Rat's neck!

"Zhi!"

The Poison Quill Rat sensed a fatal crisis and let out a shrill hiss. Its body arched violently, and the hundreds of black poison quills on its back shot toward Gao Feng like a torrential rain of pear blossoms!

What a fast reaction!

Gao Feng's pupils constricted, but he had long anticipated this!

The axe he slashed was not a real Move, but a feint to force the opponent to use its trump card!

Just at the moment when the sky full of poison quills was about to reach him, his charging body sank violently, and he slid across the ground, narrowly passing under the poison quills!

And the axe in his hand swung upward!

"Puchi!"

A muffled sound of a sharp blade entering flesh!

The sharp axe blade precisely slashed across the Poison Quill Rat's soft, undefended belly!

Blood sprayed out instantly!

"Zhi Zhi Zhi!"

The Poison Quill Rat let out an incomparably shrill scream, and the severe injury to its belly greatly reduced its speed.

But the vitality of a First-Rank Yao Beast was still tenacious!

It endured the severe pain, turned around violently, opened its mouth full of fine fangs, and bit fiercely at Gao Feng's ankle with a fishy wind!

At the critical moment, there was not a trace of panic on Gao Feng's face.

His toes tapped violently on the ground, and his body floated backward like a feather without weight, while the axe in his hand swung out again!

This time, it was no longer a slash, but the back of the axe, which smashed fiercely onto the Poison Quill Rat's head!

"Peng!"

A dull impact sound!

The Poison Quill Rat's skull shattered in response, its greenish eyes instantly lost their luster, twitched a few times, and then completely stopped moving.

Hu...

Gao Feng let out a long breath of turbid air, and a layer of fine sweat beads seeped out on his forehead.

Although the entire battle process was only a short dozen breaths, the danger was beyond words.

If it weren't for his combat awareness and skills far exceeding ordinary people, anyone else, a normal Qi Refinement Stage Disciple, would probably have been unable to escape death when facing this Poison Quill Rat.

He stepped forward, confirmed that the Poison Quill Rat was dead, and then carefully picked the three blood pattern fruits and put them into his bosom.

However, just as he finished all this and was about to leave, a sound of rustling footsteps, accompanied by several malicious gazes, was projected from the dense forest on both sides of the valley.