225: Chapter 225, Part 1

The horn sounded.

"Move out!"

Eight hundred figures moved simultaneously!

Those with a Void Core soared directly into the air, flying toward the opposite shore.

Those without a Void Core tread upon the waves, speeding across the water's surface.

Yunan Prefecture was indeed powerful; all one hundred of its contestants took to the sky, turning into streaks of light as they flew toward the Monster Continent.

Only sixty or so from Tianshui Prefecture could fly.

As for the lower-ranked Luoshui Prefecture and Pingling Prefecture, there were even fewer.

But at this moment, no one was paying attention to that.

Everyone's eyes followed those figures flying at the very front.

In less than thirty seconds, all the contestants vanished past the edge of their vision.

On Guanyao Island, a massive holographic projection slowly unfurled.

The real-time image leaderboard for the Hunting Competition officially opened.

High-definition images were simultaneously projected into the sky.

Tourists, teachers, students, and parents all looked up, searching for the figures they were following.

...

Monster Continent.

Lin Yun, the Zhao sisters, Jun Moxiao, and Qin Wushuang were in the first tier, speeding along the way.

Minglu Planet had two continents.

The one where Yao Beasts were raised was three times larger than the one where humans lived.

Eight hundred contestants rushing in was like throwing a handful of sand into the ocean; it barely caused a ripple.

After flying for over a hundred kilometers, the group gradually dispersed.

Those without Void Cores traveled together, forming teams to hunt Second-Stage Perfection Yao Beasts.

Those with Void Cores each flew off in different directions.

Lin Yun looked at the Zhao sisters.

"I'm heading toward the center. What about you?"

Zhao Muyi thought for a moment.

"We'll look around nearby; we're in no rush to go deep."

Lin Yun nodded.

"Alright, be careful."

After saying that, he activated his Void Core, and his speed suddenly increased, turning into a streak of light as he flew toward the center of the Monster Continent.

...

Hunting activities were held on the Monster Continent every year.

In competition years, it was specifically students who did the hunting.

Third-stage Yao Beasts were rare, let alone fourth-stage ones.

If any truly existed, they would have been hunted down by officials long ago.

Otherwise, the rules wouldn't have been set.

Anything below Second-Stage Perfection cannot be hunted; they must be left to breed.

As Lin Yun flew along, the primitive landscape along the way felt very novel to him.

Towering ancient trees blotted out the sun.

Exotic flowers and strange plants grew everywhere.

Occasionally, unknown Yao Beasts would dash past and quickly disappear into the jungle.

After flying for over six hundred kilometers, he finally encountered his first target prey.

An Armored Rhino of Second-Stage Perfection was drinking water by the river.

Lin Yun descended from the sky and killed it with a single sword strike.

Points +1.

Total points: 1.

Not long after he left, a drone flew over and carried the Yao Beast's carcass away.

...

Lin Yun continued deeper.

After traveling several thousand miles, he encountered a few more Yao Beasts that met the criteria.

He killed them all.

His points increased to 7.

On the individual leaderboard, his name appeared in fifth place.

Lin Yun opened his Communicator and pulled up a map of the surroundings.

His eyes immediately lit up.

Top right.

A thousand kilometers away, there was a basin.

There was a high probability of a Ming Deer herd there!

He put away the map and performed the 'Phantom Shadow Evasion'.

His speed suddenly surged, several times faster than before!

In less than twenty minutes, he arrived at the edge of the basin.

During this process, his points increased by another 5, and he moved to third on the individual leaderboard.

...

On Guanyao Island, Principal Yang Qi watched this scene, feeling very satisfied.

Beside him, the principals of Luoshui Prefecture and Pingling Prefecture had faces full of envy.

"Old Yang, your Tianshui has produced an extraordinary student this year."

Yang Qi stroked his beard and smiled without saying a word.

...

In the basin.

Lin Yun did not hide his aura and flew straight in.

After searching around, he finally discovered a Ming Deer herd.

Over sixty of them!

The leader was an Early Stage third-stage Ming Deer.

Following behind were eleven at Second-Stage Perfection.

Both sides discovered each other at the same time.

The Ming Deer herd instantly panicked!

Every part of a Ming Deer was a treasure; the value of one was worth two or three of other Yao Beasts.

Under human management, Ming Deer basically had no natural enemies.

After so many years, the only thing they feared now was humans.

The leading Ming Deer let out a startled cry, turned around, and bolted!

The other Ming Deer followed it, fleeing frantically!

Lin Yun's eyes lit up.

Over sixty of them—one Early Stage third-stage, eleven Second-Stage Perfection, and the rest were varying between first and second stage.

Without a word, he chased directly after that Early Stage third-stage Ming Deer.

...

On Guanyao Island, there was a chorus of gasps.

"Look! Someone has encountered a third-stage Yao Beast!"

"And it's a Ming Deer!"

"Which school is that student from?"

Countless tourists grew excited.

This was the first time a contestant had encountered a third-stage Yao Beast since the competition began.

And it was a Ming Deer at that!

In the footage, Lin Yun easily caught up with the fleeing Ming Deer.

He even had the mood to tease it.

"Hey, you're the leader of the herd. Isn't it embarrassing to be the first one to run?"

The Ming Deer naturally couldn't understand; it just fled for its life.

At the same time, a sonic wave attack erupted!

But Lin Yun was prepared.

His Body-Protecting Profound Qi went up, and the sonic wave was weakened by ninety percent.

What remained couldn't affect him at all.

He caught up and struck with his sword!

'Gale Shadowless Sword'!

The sword light was like the wind, shadowless and formless!

The Ming Deer let out a miserable cry as a deep wound appeared on its back.

Second strike!

Heavily wounded!

Third strike!

Kill!

The Early Stage third-stage Ming Deer crashed to the ground.

Lin Yun didn't stop; he turned to chase the other Second-Stage Perfection Ming Deer.

...

On Guanyao Island, the crowd had already exploded!

"Three strikes! He killed a third-stage Yao Beast in just three strikes!"

"Who is that person?!"

"Which school?"

"Look at the school badge! Tianshui! It's Tianshui Martial Arts University!"

"Tianshui? That Tianshui that ranks fifth or sixth every year?"

"How is that possible!"

The crowd was boiling with excitement.

One had to know.

In previous Hunting Competitions, it was always the final day before the top geniuses joined forces to hunt a third-stage Yao Beast.

No one had ever challenged a third-stage Yao Beast alone right at the start, let alone an area-of-effect attack type Yao Beast like the Ming Deer.

Although the participating students were all geniuses.

At the end of the day, they were only at the Second-Stage Perfection Realm, and they only had Void Cores in their bodies.

There was still a gap compared to the true Golden Core of a third-stage Yao Beast.

It was easy for a third or fourth-grade Void Core to wound a third-stage Yao Beast.

But to kill one...

It was difficult, difficult, difficult.

If a Yao Beast couldn't win, wouldn't it just run?

The Ming Deer, especially, would run the moment it saw a human, regardless of whether it could win or not.

Fleeing was their first priority.

In the footage, Lin Yun was like a tiger among sheep, killing all those Second-Stage Perfection Ming Deer with one strike each.

Eleven deer, eleven strikes.

He didn't touch the remaining low-stage Ming Deer.

The rules were clear: anything below Second-Stage Perfection could not be killed.

After finishing the kills, he sheathed his sword and continued deeper.

...

The leaderboard refreshed.

Individual Leaderboard:

First Place: Lin Yun, 54 points, Tianshui Martial Arts University

Second Place: 17 points, Yunan Martial Arts University

Third Place: 16 points, Qingchuan Martial Arts University

A landslide lead!

Prefecture Leaderboard:

Yunan Prefecture: 82 points

Qingchuan Prefecture: 71 points

Tianshui Prefecture: 69 points

Fengling County: 66 points

Tianshui Prefecture had leaped into third place!

On Guanyao Island, the cheers were deafening.

Yang Qi stroked his beard, smiling even more happily.

The principals next to him had complicated expressions.

The principal of Luoshui Prefecture sighed.

"Old Yang, your Tianshui is going to turn things around this time."

Yang Qi laughed loudly.

"It's early, it's early. The competition has only just begun."

But the smugness in his eyes couldn't be hidden.