"Excellent. You’ve done well. When we return to the Divine Temple, I will personally ask my father, the King, to reward you. If we succeed in annihilating the elites of All Stars Academy, the twelve of us will jointly petition the Elders to grant you entry to the Land of Inheritance to observe the Secret Techniques!"

"Thank you, Young Master!" The young man from the White Tiger Clan was overjoyed. After bowing, he slowly withdrew.

As the powerful young man from the White Tiger Clan departed, one of the three remaining experts—a stern-faced man with green hair and green eyebrows—spoke. "The geniuses from All Stars Academy have nowhere left to run. Now, we just need to bleed them out, kill them one by one. I’m sure the Elders would be delighted to see it!"

Bai Yu glanced discreetly at the young man, his eyes narrowing with a hint of wariness.

’This green-haired, green-browed expert is far from ordinary. Among the Twelve Strong Clans, his race is known as the King of Ten Thousand Woods, the Lord of the Jungle. If not for their perpetually small population, they would have conquered the Barbaric Wilderness long ago.’

A faint, cold smile touched the lips of the other young man, the one with black hair and a sinister air. "This time, not only must we defeat All Stars Academy, but we must also slaughter every last one of their experts. However, we must be cautious. Some of the experts from their Top Ten Teams are by no means inferior to the top ten from our Holy Temple. These people are extremely dangerous, and we must be wary of their counterattacks."

Mu Wu sneered. "The experts inside Demon Hunting Canyon are like fish in a barrel. As long as we’re patient, we’ll be able to kill them all sooner or later!"

Bai Yu shook his head and spoke slowly. "I’m afraid it won’t be that simple. The Elders may be able to delay All Stars Academy, but not for long. All Stars Academy has grown frighteningly powerful in recent years, producing an endless stream of young experts. Unless the Barbaric Divine Temple is prepared for an all-out war, we don’t have much time."

The sinister, black-haired young man gave a grim smile. "Don’t worry. Inside Demon Hunting Canyon, the people from All Stars Academy have exhausted their resources. They’re making a final, desperate struggle. We just need to wait for the experts from the other nine Royal Races to arrive. Once the time is right, we’ll mow down these so-called prodigies with unstoppable force!"

"However, there are still some stragglers hiding in the forest. They’re playing hide-and-seek with us like rats, which is rather troublesome."

Mu Wu said, "Gu Ling, you don’t need to worry about that. Since we’ve decided to annihilate the entire younger generation of All Stars Academy, we naturally won’t let any fish slip through the net. Just leave this matter to the experts of my clan!"

"Excellent! Brother Mu, your clan members are the natural Lords of the Jungle, the King of Ten Thousand Woods. Nothing in this forest can escape the eyes of your noble race. It would be for the best if you could handle this."

"I imagine those little rats have no idea their end is near!"

The other two experts smiled faintly.

Nodding slightly, Mu Wu’s gaze swept over the dozens of experts around him before finally landing on three individuals.

"Mu Heng, Mu Song, Mu Bixin! Step forward!"

Two men and one woman stepped out from among the dozens of experts.

"Young Master!" the three of them saluted in unison.

Mu Wu looked at the three with a hint of satisfaction. "You three are rare geniuses of our Wood Race. After me, you are the strongest. Every one of you is on par with the so-called Kings of the Top Ten Teams from All Stars Academy."

"Now is your chance to prove yourselves. Each of you will take a squad of one hundred and search east, south, and north from this point. If you find anyone from All Stars Academy, grant them no quarter!"

"Yes, Young Master!" The three exchanged a glance, a look of delight in their eyes.

One of the Wood Race experts chuckled. "Rest assured, Young Master. They’re just a bunch of Two-legged Sheep from the Human Race. Besides their little tricks and schemes, those frail creatures are no match for the experts of the Barbaric Wilderness. We three will not let you down. We will drag every last rat from All Stars Academy out of these woods and slaughter them. We will make sure not a single one gets away!"

Mu Wu nodded. "Good. You are dismissed."

The three of them hurried down the mountain.

Soon after, a force of several hundred men, led by a few experts from the Wood Race, began a systematic sweep of the entire Heaven-Reaching Ridge.

...

Dozens of miles from Purple Mist Peak, at the foot of a mountain, Qin Feng and his group of eight companions arrived, having made their way through a sea of flowers.

The moon was already high in the night sky.

Strange, dark lights flickered faintly against the black canopy of the sky.

The nine of them had traveled all day and fought a major battle. Though they still had physical stamina to spare, they were mentally exhausted.

Long Ling’Er suggested they rest for a while and resume their search for the Xuelian in the morning.

After a brief discussion, the other eight agreed and decided to rest there for the day.

Qin Feng didn’t mind either way. He had enough energy to go for days without rest. However, some of the other experts from All Stars Academy had been injured in the battle, and their wounds hadn’t fully healed. They needed time to recover.

Traveling long distances while exhausted was a considerable burden even for powerful experts like them, and it could affect their performance.

The group of nine found an open spot and lit a bonfire. As the flames blazed, the four women—Long Ling’Er, Ye Qinghua, Jiang Bing’Er, and Wang Yue—gathered together. They whispered among themselves for a moment, and after a brief exchange, they departed.

Qin Feng’s Sixth Spiritual Sense was exceptionally powerful, so he heard them clearly: the four women were going to bathe.

These four women had been roughing it in the mountains for several days without bathing and could no longer stand it.

Elsewhere, Zhang Xuan leaned impassively against a tree, all alone. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, radiating an aura of cold indifference that would ward off even a Saint.

Lin Zhiqiu and two of the others returned from a hunt with a bristled boar.

Soon, the savory aroma of roasting meat wafted from the bonfire. Lin Zhiqiu roasted the pork to a perfect golden-brown, and it sizzled appetizingly, its mouth-watering scent filling the air.

Qin Feng had long since given up mortal food, so he casually pulled a few Spirit Fruits from his Blue Sea and Heaven and began to munch on them.

Suddenly, Qin Feng looked up and saw Lin Zhiqiu staring at him, his eyes full of longing. Qin Feng’s heart softened, and he casually tossed a fruit to the young man.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Qin Feng!"

’This guy had always called me Junior Brother,’ Qin Feng mused. ’Now that he’s gotten a Spirit Fruit, I’m suddenly ’Senior Brother.’ He’s utterly shameless.’

The other two young men also sidled up.

They were all young, and while they were a bit competitive, there was no real malice in it. As they all started calling out, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother," Qin Feng couldn’t bring himself to be stingy. He casually pulled out several Hundred-Year Jade Spirit Fruits and tossed them to the group.

The men were ecstatic. A single glance at the fruits revealed they were brimming with Spiritual Qi. They were a Sacred Object for healing; eating one could heal at least forty to fifty percent of their injuries.

Qin Feng glanced over at Zhang Xuan. He pulled out another Hundred-Year Jade Spirit Fruit and flicked it forcefully toward him.

Zhang Xuan, who had been meditating, suddenly snapped his eyes open. His gaze fell upon Qin Feng, then to the Jade Spirit Fruit now in his hand. He swallowed it in one gulp and closed his eyes again.

’Quite the personality!’

Qin Feng chuckled softly, found a large tree to lean against, and settled into a cross-legged position to meditate.

Not long after, Qin Feng heard the footsteps of the four women returning.

An unknown amount of time passed. The bonfire had dwindled to embers. Suddenly, Qin Feng sensed a strange disturbance and his eyes snapped open. A black shadow flashed in the corner of his vision. He jerked his head up just in time to see Xue Yu, who had been resting against an old tree across the fire, open his eyes wide. He clutched at his neck, staring intently at Qin Feng for a few moments before collapsing to the ground, lifeless...

(More to come)