71: Chapter 71 Restarting the Menghara Trials.

Dragon Country's Imperial Capital, Professional Association office.

Xiao Yuhe was pacing back and forth at this moment, a hint of worry on his face.

Although the Starry Sky Rift had still not been completely repaired, the Starry Sky Beast Tide had fully receded, and the entirety of Tianxuan had returned to its original order.

And the Desert Trial, which had been postponed due to the sudden incident, was decided to be restarted after a vote by several countries...

Since it was an exploration of a land of death, safety considerations had to be the top priority...

Each country would send five contestants and one mentor; before entering the trial, there would be a strength assessment to determine the order of entering the depths of the Desert based on the final rankings...

Since it was an exploration of a land of death, the earlier one entered, the more they would surely gain. The lower the ranking, the fewer the gains. The contestants were all young people in their teens or twenties, with a hidden pride in their bones; they would definitely all compete for that first place...

Xiao Yuhe wasn't too worried about the geniuses' safety; they might not gain much, but they definitely had the ability to protect themselves...

What he was worried about were the geniuses from other countries...

"What did Chu Ran say on his end?"

"He's already headed there. He said that even if we didn't mention it, he would have made a trip to the Desert himself..."

...

On the border of the Menghala Desert, Nanxiu Country.

A lot of people had already gathered here, all of them exploration teams from various countries.

The Dragon Country team members were currently standing in a corner; there was Chu Tianxiong, Mu Zhiyu, and two other men, who were respectively the third-place winner of the Genius Battle, Jiang Tao, and the fourth-place winner, Shen Ming.

There were about forty people here, seven teams in total. Each team's skin color and appearance were different; there were Black people, White people, and people jabbering in gibberish that Mu Zhiyu couldn't understand...

The Desert's sunlight was very intense; just standing there gave off a sense of irritability. Mu Zhiyu was wearing denim shorts and a short-sleeved shirt; her long legs, covered in sunscreen, naturally attracted many greedy gazes.

Mu Zhiyu was no weak little woman; she didn't hide her displeasure at those flagrantly offensive gazes at all. She immediately shot back an international "friendly" gesture, but those people, instead of reining it in, became even more brazen.

Especially the Nanxiu Country team; two burly Black men actually began walking toward the Dragon Country team's location...

"Wat do yu mean! Why yu show middle finga to us?"

A leading burly Black man walked up to Mu Zhiyu and was about to reach out and shove her, but his wrist was caught by Chu Tianxiong from the side. Chu Tianxiong glared at him; seeing this, another Black man behind him was about to step forward and grab Chu Tianxiong's collar, but he was also blocked by Jiang Tao and Shen Ming from behind...

The atmosphere on the scene became somewhat tense and volatile.

The friction between the Nanxiu Country team and the Dragon Country team instantly attracted the gazes of everyone around; at this moment, they were all watching this "good show" with various expressions...

"Does yu Dragon Country have no one left? Comin' to the Desert witout enough people, don't get beaten down durin' the rankin' match."

The Black man mocked them in broken Chinese, and unrestrained laughter instantly rang out from the surroundings.

Hearing him say this, the people from other countries suddenly noticed that the Dragon Country team only had four people, and it seemed they didn't even have a mentor...

Having heard that Dragon Country was the main battlefield of the starry sky vortex not long ago, combined with the current situation, everyone speculated whether something had gone wrong in Dragon Country...

"Shut your dog mouth if you don't want to go back to picking cotton."

"Yu!"

Hearing Jiang Tao's retort, the smile on the Black man's face instantly vanished, and the veins on his neck bulged, looking full of aggressive momentum...

Hearing this, the surrounding onlookers laughed even harder. That period of humiliating history for Nanxiu Country was a hellish joke told after meals in other countries; now that it was said to their faces by a Dragon Country person, it was no different from a fatal blow...

"Shut up! If you have any grievances, settle them with strength during the ranking match!"

Just as the atmosphere had reached a breaking point, the Nanxiu Country mentor walked over and glared angrily at the leading Black man. The Black man immediately let go, and the Nanxiu Country team then returned to their original position...

But that Black man still occasionally cast provocative glances toward the Dragon Country team's location. Mu Zhiyu didn't show the slightest weakness and fought back, and the two teams engaged in a long-distance confrontation.

Seeing that the two teams didn't start a fight, the teams from other countries shifted their gazes with looks of disappointment...

Right then, Mu Zhiyu suddenly looked into the distance and started smiling: "He's here!"

Everyone turned their gazes, only to see a Shadow-Devouring Mosquito Beast rapidly galloping toward them, and sitting on its back was an Oriental face, clearly a Dragon Country person.

Chu Ran found the Dragon Country team's location in the crowd and jumped down.

"I heard you went to Sakura Sun? How was it?" After Chu Ran arrived, the displeasure on Mu Zhiyu's face instantly vanished, and she asked excitedly.

"It was alright. I wiped out the Blood Cult and then killed a demonic beast while I was at it," Chu Ran said calmly.

Hearing this, Mu Zhiyu and the others couldn't help but be stunned.

"How do you manage to say something like that so casually?"

"Also, mentioning killing a demonic beast separately—what grade was the one you killed?"

Chu Ran: "Saint Spirit Level."

"Holy crap!"

...

On the other side, several people from the Nanxiu Country team were looking at Chu Ran's group with ill intent.

"Although they barely scraped together five people, they still don't have a mentor..."

"And looking at their performance, that fifth person who just arrived should be the strongest among them. A Monarch Grade Mosquito Beast... Dragon Country's geniuses do have some strength, but not much." The Nanxiu Country team captain narrowed his eyes and spoke disdainfully.

"Kendi, when are you going to fix that habit of underestimating the enemy? He's a Beast Tamer!" Mentor Wenger said crossly.

"Teacher, I don't care if he's a Beast Tamer or a Dog Tamer, there's no difference in my eyes. As long as they're below the Ninth Revolution and Saint Spirit Level, I am invincible."

"Yeah, with Captain Kendi's Peak Eighth Turn strength from his Soul Seed Flame and Fire Domain, there shouldn't be anyone here who can beat him besides the mentors of each country."

Hearing his teammates' praise, Kendi's face also beamed with pride.

"In a bit, I'll go and cripple their captain, and teach these people the lesson that they need to follow the rules on someone else's turf!" Kendi looked toward Chu Ran with a dark expression.

As it happened, Chu Ran turned his head at that exact moment, and the two of them met eyes...

In that instant, Kendi's consciousness drifted in a daze; he actually saw four terrifying, hovering phantoms behind that young man!

He suddenly felt his legs go weak, and his whole body was about to collapse, but a teammate beside him quickly supported him.

"What's wrong, Captain Kendi?"

"It's nothing... I suddenly feel a bit dizzy..."

"It must be from being angered by those Dragon Country people. I just went to draw lots, and the first match is us against the Dragon Country team." The teammate shook the wooden stick in his hand and laughed:

"We're really lucky; the chance to establish our authority has come!"

...