Two hours passed quickly. Many people's soul power had not yet fully recovered, but it had already recovered more than half.
"Everyone, get up!" Long Shan roared.
Everyone quickly stood up and lined up in formation.
"Was the running just now tiring?"
"Is there anyone who wants to quit?"
Long Shan's oppressive gaze swept across the entire group. All the young people remained silent, even those boys and girls who had fainted earlier showed no intention of leaving.
"Very good. It seems you have all prepared yourselves to face death. You already possess the heart to become stronger, but that is far from enough. Only by facing death and going through hardships are you qualified to become true powerhouses. Now, I will allow you to become strong and cross the forest behind me!"
The crowd did not show much reaction. Most people had already guessed that the next part of the training would involve this forest.
"The terrain inside this forest is complex; it was specially designed for your training. There are quite a few hundred-year-old soul beasts inside. Your task is this: enter through the gate behind me, and within three days, exit through the gate on the other side. That counts as completion. The first five to finish will have their next soul ring hunted by an instructor. For the rest, if you break through, you can only team up with other students to hunt soul beasts. The ranking in this assessment will be added to your total points. The amount of total points will determine how much attention the Spirit Hall will pay to you after graduation."
"Anyone who has not come out within three days will receive zero points for this assessment. You may begin now. I will be waiting on the other side. I look forward to seeing performances that will amaze me."
Long Shan stepped aside. The students looked at each other. Finally, someone took the lead, and the whole group surged toward the forest gate.
Jiang Chen stayed alone, hanging at the very back of the group.
He wasn't in a hurry. Since the instructor had given them three days, it meant that passing through this forest was not going to be easy.
Moreover, judging from how these people had performed during the run earlier, even if they were given an extra day's head start, Jiang Chen still wouldn't be worried.
The instructor said there were quite a few hundred-year-old soul beasts inside. A hundred-year soul beast could be 100 years old or 999 years old; no wonder the instructor suggested forming teams. If everyone acted alone, the casualties would likely be disastrous.
Jiang Chen thought for a moment. It would be better to let those people go ahead, open the way, and fight. He could just follow behind and enjoy the fruits of their victory.
Only after everyone had poured into the forest did Jiang Chen slowly walk to the entrance.
"Little brother, wait a moment." Qingqing suddenly called out to Jiang Chen and jogged over with her two long, toned legs.
Jiang Chen looked at her in confusion.
"If you encounter danger inside that you cannot handle, find a place to hide. After three days, we will go in to search and rescue you."
"Thank you, big sister. I understand." Jiang Chen raised his head. He didn't dare look straight at her, after all, his height only reached her thigh.
"Mm, go ahead. When you come out, big sister will treat you to a meal," Qingqing said with a smile.
Jiang Chen nodded, darted inside, and disappeared into the jungle.
"Qingqing, why are you being so nice to that kid? Don't tell me he's your illegitimate son?" The woman with the whip and voluptuous figure walked over and teased her.
"Sister, I'm not even married yet. I just think he's kind of cute and can't bear to see him die," Qingqing explained.
But in her heart, she was thinking something else: "Innate full soul power… If he doesn't die, he will definitely become a major figure in the Spirit Hall in the future, maybe even an elder. If you only go to befriend him after discovering his talent, it will be too late…"
"That kid really is very cute, about the same age as my son. I don't know whose child he is, to be willing to send such a young boy here," the whip woman said somewhat regretfully.
"Alright, let's go to the other side and wait," Long Shan said.
"Hey, Boss Long, these little brats won't be coming out anytime soon. You promised last time, you're treating us all to a big meal tonight, right?" a male instructor said with a sly grin.
"No problem. Tonight's expenses are all on me."
...
...
As soon as Jiang Chen entered, a thick forest scent hit him in the face. Towering giant trees dozens of meters high surrounded him, the ground was covered with dense underbrush, and he could hear the roars of soul beasts.
His face was full of curiosity as he observed the surroundings.
The others had already gone far ahead. He could only faintly hear some shouting coming from the front.
Jiang Chen followed their tracks and chased after them.
His movement technique was extremely nimble; he could always slip through the gaps in the bushes without any hindrance.
After advancing a few hundred meters, he saw a huge creature lying on the ground ahead.
It was a large tiger with yellow and white striped fur, already killed by someone. A yellow soul ring was quietly floating above its corpse.
"So this is a soul beast," Jiang Chen said curiously. He circled the big tiger several times. It looked similar to the tigers he had seen in his previous life, only much larger.
Soul power surged in his hand, and faint black mist appeared. With a beckoning gesture toward the yellow soul ring, it was pulled over and circled him, but it could not enter his body.
"So this is how you hunt soul beasts and absorb soul rings." After understanding, Jiang Chen lost interest and continued running forward.
Along the way, he saw several more soul beast corpses. These hundred-year soul beasts likely didn't have very high cultivation years; otherwise, they wouldn't have been killed so easily by those teenagers.
However, there were also some torn pieces of clothing on the ground, showing that someone had been injured.
All 128 participants were Battle Soul Masters and moved very quickly. Jiang Chen chased after them rapidly until he finally caught up when they reached a large river after exiting a section of jungle.
The river was surging violently and was at least thirty to forty meters wide. Everyone was stopped in their tracks.
Jiang Chen looked left and right but didn't see any place to cross. At this moment, three small boats were moving across the river.
Each boat carried four people, rowing hard with the oars in their hands. They had already reached the middle of the river.
Jiang Chen guessed that these twelve people must have been the fastest to reach the riverbank, seized the opportunity, and took the boats.
The people on the shore were cursing and grumbling. Many regretful voices could be heard, regretting that they hadn't run faster and let others take the boats.
The twelve people on the boats kept turning back, excitedly shouting a few times, venting their exhilaration.
More than one hundred people behind them had no boats and were bound to fall far behind. They had already secured an absolute advantage.
But what surprised Jiang Chen was that the Five Heavenly Kings were not on the boats — they were standing quietly on the shore watching.
Something's wrong! Jiang Chen suddenly became alert.
At that moment, the boats that had reached the middle of the river suddenly began to shake violently. The people on board screamed in terror.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, countless palm-sized gray monster fish leaped into the air and crazily bit toward the twelve people.
Soul rings kept lighting up, and various soul skills were released, killing large numbers of the strange fish. However, there were simply too many of them. When they flew up, they covered the sky and blocked even the view of those on the shore.
When the strange fish finally disappeared, the twelve people and their boats were gone; only large patches of bloody waves remained.
"Hiss…"