"Oh."Kaziel responded flatly and quickly walked forward, grabbing Su and helping him up.
Su frowned, leaning heavily against Kaziel. His leg had gone completely numb—he could not move at all.
Seeing this, Kaziel raised an amused brow. He leaned in close to Su's ear and whispered, "Admiral, you can use your light ability to soothe it."
"I know," Su replied coolly. His left hand clenched into a fist, a golden light flickering in his palm as he eased the tingling pain in his leg.
Now that the weight pressing down on her was gone, Mu Qingyun nimbly got up and, without a word, reached behind to rub her tailbone.
That really hurt!
She looked up at the two leaning against each other and raised an eyebrow. Unexpectedly, the two of them standing together gave off quite a subtle feeling.
"Kaziel, stay here with Su and let him rest this morning. No need to go hunting virtual creatures. I will go alone," she said, glancing at Su's furrowed brow, a trace of guilt in her expression.
She had fallen asleep last night and Su had not woken her up. As a result, she had used his leg as a pillow for the entire night.
She knew her head was not light. After an entire night, it would be a miracle if his leg wasn't numb.
"You go ahead. We'll play it by ear," Kaziel smiled and helped Su back into the room.
Seeing this, Mu Qingyun said no more. She remained in her room to cultivate for a while longer. Once she figured the two had likely rested enough, she went to call for departure preparations.
Over the next few days, their team followed the same routine. After six days, everyone was thoroughly exhausted, with dark circles under their eyes.
Xiong Ruoyou could barely lift her arms. She collapsed onto her back like a corpse, staring up at the ceiling as if life had lost all meaning.
Ha. Anyone who saw her in this state might think she was on a wilderness survival show—or worse, a battle royale.
Fan Xuanye was not in much better shape. Though their virtual points had skyrocketed to 920, he was on the verge of a breakdown.
He felt the military academy was utterly insane. The difficulty level of the virtual creatures varied wildly, and they could only hunt ones they had a decent chance of defeating.
Couldn't they just standardize the difficulty a bit?
That night, Mu Qingyun lit a bonfire, roasted some rabbits, and mixed up drinks using orange juice.
Truth be told, each morning when she saw the devastated expressions on Xiong Ruoyou and Fan Xuanye's faces, she felt a little guilty.
If she were in a solo team, such intense hunting would not matter. Even if she dropped from exhaustion, it would be her own problem. Being eliminated was no big deal.
But because of the team format, she could not afford to drag her teammates down. She had no choice but to push them to endure the high-intensity hunts with her.
"Phew—I'm dying to know the rules for the second stage," Xiong Ruoyou murmured, now in her bear form, sprawled on the ground, eyes fixed on the fire.
"The second stage takes place in the academy's artificially constructed ruins," Su replied while glancing at Mu Qingyun, who was diligently preparing the rabbits. "It's team-based. The ruins cover a vast area. Once it starts, we may not even be able to find each other."
"Isn't there a livestream?" Kaziel rested his head on his arms, his tail tapping the ground leisurely.
Compared to him, Xiong Ruoyou and Fan Xuanye looked like complete wrecks—or more precisely, a wrecked bear and a wrecked snake.
"The livestream will be practically useless," Su continued, his tone serious. "The ruins are constantly shrouded in mist. Only at night does it lift. But at night…"
He suddenly paused, realizing he had said too much, and stopped mid-sentence.
"What happens at night?" Xiong Ruoyou asked curiously.
Su simply shook his head. "I don't know."
"…Seriously?" The whole group collectively rolled their eyes.
[Why even bring it up if you're not going to explain? What happens at night?!]
[No clue. But he's right about the livestream. It's basically useless. Every night it shuts down, and during the day, the fog covers everything. You can't see anything—and worst of all, you can't hear anything either.]
[Huh? Then what's the point of watching?]
[Exactly. That's why barely anyone watches the second stage livestreams. There's nothing to see and nothing to hear.]
[Then how do the participants even function in there?]
[Who knows.]
...
"Just two more days. Hang in there," Mu Qingyun said, using a stick to draw a few numbers in the dirt. "Even if we can't find each other in the second stage, it doesn't matter. With the combat experience we've gained over these days, we should be fine."
Her logic made sense, and Xiong Ruoyou felt a bit better.
Most of the time during the hunts, Fan Xuanye and Mu Qingyun did the heavy lifting. Die Wu occasionally joined in as a support unit.
Xiong Ruoyou handled the weaker creatures. When they encountered stronger ones, she had no choice but to stay back.
Although she knew she was not very useful, she was not discouraged. There was still plenty of time before the second stage. Worst case, she would just ask her dad and uncles to help her with some extra training.
After eating and resting, they set out again the next morning to hunt virtual creatures.
Today, everything went surprisingly smoothly. By the time they gathered at night, their virtual creature points had reached 980!
Only twenty more to go.
Everyone was filled with confidence about the final push.
Xiong Ruoyou smiled brightly at the livestream device and turned off the comments. "Dad, did you see that? Look at the number above my head—we're at 980 now! Tomorrow, make something delicious and come pick me up!"
Then she turned to Mu Qingyun and grabbed her arm with enthusiasm. "Dad, this is Mu-ge. When we get out, I'm bringing him home with me. Get familiar with his face now."
"Your father is watching the livestream?" Mu Qingyun glanced at the device and asked.
"Probably. But even if he's not, my uncles definitely are."
Xiong Ruoyou continued chattering into the device, but Mu Qingyun did not find her noisy—in fact, it felt rather heartwarming.
Although her family was not with her, they could still communicate through the livestream. Maybe, just maybe, her father and uncles were watching right now, worried but proud.
Fan Xuanye, Su, and Kaziel all smiled gently at Xiong Ruoyou, expressions tinged with envy.
Xiong Ruoyou was so pure and kind because her family protected her and doted on her—she had been raised like a little princess.
The firelight flickered, illuminating each of their faces.
Tomorrow, they could finally leave this place.
But not everything in life goes as smoothly as expected.
Like a boat floating on a calm sea, the surface may appear peaceful, but beneath it, turbulent waves are already surging.