Lin Yuan’s group and other students reached the Blackwood Ravine forest — the second trial location. Everyone locked their eyes on the skewering, thick black trees whose branches are sprawling, ceasing the sunlight to reach the ground. All groups are faltered in different diverging paths into the Blackwood Ravine forest.

"Our Day 1 starts now, Chen Ming," Lin Yuan muttered, cavitationing his knuckles.

Chen Ming didn’t answer. He looked into the deep forest unobtrusively. Lin Yuan and Chen Ming darted their heads in all directions to check the traces of any beasts.

"What a gloomy forest!" Chen Ming amazed, his eyes sparking with a green light.

"Yeah, Chen Ming. It lives up to its name." Lin Yuan chuckled, his voice low as whisper. "But... master said it has numerous beasts, and there are Rank 4 beasts in this forest, right? Why can’t we find anything until now?"

"Be patient, Lin Yuan..." Chen Ming glanced, offering a faint chuckle on his lips. "We just started our three day trial."

Blackwood Ravine forest has many herbs, ruins, and many Rank 1, Rank 2 beasts are found here. Rank 3 beasts are also found but rare compared to Rank 1 and Rank 2 beasts. But when it comes to Rank 4 beasts there are only two or three in this vast forest. Every student was warned by Mo Qinghe: If you encounter a Rank 4 beast, RUN AWAY. Don’t fight!

"Lin Yuan, I wonder what type of Rank 4 beast resides in this forest, but I was scared at the same time about how powerful it is.." Chen Ming muttered, his eyes frowned.

Lin Yuan didn’t answer, his face was devoid of emotion. The black pupils of Lin Yuan are looking like an abyssal dark sea. They walked slowly towards a pine tree, its canopy was broad, blotting out the sun and creating an everlasting twilight beneath the tree like long needles of light. A low crunchy sound rattled from the left bush to Lin Yuan.

SHRIEK!

Lin Yuan instantly launched the shell strike, a bright beam shot out from his palm, piercing through the bush. Lin Yuan and Chen Ming heard a screeching sound as the beam passed through the bush. They slowly reached towards the bush with a defensive stance.

"Haha... It’s just a small monkey, Lin Yuan," Chen Ming smirked, crouching down beside the corpse of the monkey. He slowly reached the monkey corpse to grasp the Rank 1 beast core. In a blink pale-white beast core appeared in his hand. Chen Ming placed the core in the bag. "We need to find five Rank 2 beasts or two Rank 3 beasts, Lin Yuan."

"Yeah... let’s hope two Rank 3 beasts appear in front of us..." Lin Yuan sighed, darting his head towards rightside, watching the vast forest. "It’s a piece of cake to me... I can easily kill a Rank 3 beast."

Lin Yuan sneered, a confident grin lingering gracefully on his face.

****

Far left of the Blackwood Ravine Forest...

"We are lucky, Su Wan’er," Ying Yue grinned, plucking the dark green herbs in a crouch position. "We already found plenty of Spirit herbs on Day 1. These herbs are mid quality common medicinal herbs, which will cure minor wounds — cuts, bruises, less toxic venom..."

"But the main part of this trial is to get beast cores... Tskkk... I can’t sense a single beast," Su Wan’er scorned beside Ying Yue, handing the fistful of spirit herbs to Su Wan’er. The spirit herbs are dark-green in color, shimmering with pale-white light.

Ying Yue nabbed the spirit herbs from Su Wan’er, and kept them in a brown bag – a medium sized bag which can carry up to 11 pounds. Su Wan’er rushed towards an apple tree, where few spirit herbs remained. Her large breasts are jiggling, synchronising with her footsteps. And she crouched near the spirit herbs.

"We have ample of time, Su," Ying Yue stood up, holding the bag of spirit herbs. "And we will find the beasts soon which helps us to win this trial. That arrogant Lin Yuan snatched the win of the first trial, he even killed Zhang Wei and Xiao Chen. But Lin Yuan didn’t receive any punishment because the two brainless men tried to kill Lin Yuan for mere beast cores. Pathetic..!"

Ying Yue was always calm and gentle, but Lin Yuan’s actions disrupted her peaceful nature, leaving her feeling resentful and intimidated. She walked near Su Wan’er with heavy footsteps.

Su Wan’er rose with a final handful of spirit herbs, and gave them to Ying Yue.

"We have a bag full of spirit herbs... 30% of the trial was completed at the start of our journey. Let’s go and find the beasts soon."

Su Wan’er lunged forward, walking straight into the forest. Ying Yue followed her companion with a sly smile on her face.

After an hour of walking, Ying Yue spotted a fire beetle — a Rank 2 beast with fire attributes on the trunk of a Maple tree. Ying Yue was a wolf beast holder. She creeped forward in a stealthy manner like a wolf, raising her hand, a hand of wolf materialised, surrounding her hand.

CRUNCH!!

Ying Yue stepped on a dry maple leaf. The Fire Beetle sensed the sound, and lunged towards the sound with a missile speed, forming a reddish fire on the cephalic horns of the beetle.

Bam!

Ying Yue barely dodged the attack, leaving a faint trail of blood on her face. A small fire lit on her left shoulder. Su Wan’er instantly snuffed the fire, clamping her hands on the fire.

"Are you okay, Ying Yue?" Su Wan’er frowned, her hands clasping in front of her chest.

"Yeah... I am fine... Thanks for helping," Ying Yue clicked her tongue, smearing the blood on her cheek. "This sneaky beetle is strong..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Su Wan’er clenched her fists in anger, faint white light shimmering around her hands. She is the holder of a boar beast. The boar beast’s strength gathered into her hands, leaving that white light on them.

"Let’s attack at once, Ying Yue," Su Wan’er instructed, taking a fight stance. "This beetle’s core is ours!"

Ying Yue eyes are like wolf’s eyes. She lunged forward with a strategic thought in her mind. The beetle jumped, which was slammed into the ground with a small crater under the beetle due to impact of slam.

WHOOSH!

As the beetle leapt, Ying Yue dodged, a faint smirk crawling on her face. It’s the confident smirk reflecting that Ying Yue’s strategy worked. As Ying Yue dodged smoothly, Su Wan’er came into the beetle’s vision with an incoming devastating punch.

BANG!

"Water Boar-Punch!!!" Su Wan’er yelled, landing the punch onto the beetle. Her boar has a water attribute.

With a loud explosion that shook the surrounding leaves, the beetle was blasted backward like a cannonball. It smashed violently into the trunk of an oak tree, the impact echoing like a cracking whip. Due to the impact, the creature’s armor splintered into a hundred fragments, unable to withstand the overwhelming force. A green, viscous liquid splashed from the cracks onto the wood in a ghostly hue. The vitality that once pulsed through its form vanished in an instant, replaced by a profound and hollow silence.

The beetle slowly slithered down to the ground. Even in death, the fire contained within its core seemed to flicker one last time before fading into the damp earth. Ying Yue sluggishly sauntered towards the dead beetle.

"I feel pity for you... fire beetle," Ying Yue shrieked, crouching in front of the beetle’s corpse. She put forth her hand, hovering on the beetle. Then a green sphere took shape between the hand and corpse. It was the Rank 2 beast core.

"One..." Su Wan’er counted, putting off the boar’s light with a slick of her hands.

Ying Yue beast essence remained normal, halting with a round swirl. But Su Wan’er used half of her beast essence to punch the beetle. She needs to replenish the beast essence now. And group 4 secured the first Rank 2 beast core in the forest.

****

Lin Yuan’s group.

BAM!

"Shell guard!!" Lin Yuan yelled, guarding an attack from the Rank 2 beast — Flame hound. The Flame hound slammed on to the guard of Lin Yuan. The guard was stronger than before because he was in the Peak Stage now. "Chen Ming now!"

In an instant, a sharp beam shot through the chest of the Flame hound. A burning-red geyser of blood shot out from the wound before the hound fell to the ground. Chen Ming huffed, his chest heaving heavily. As he was a Mid Stage cultivator, the attack took his 2.5% beast essence, and left him feeling exhausted until the beast essence replenished again.

But, Lin Yuan was a Peak Stage cultivator; he has 10% beast essence. The Shell Guard consumed only half of it. And the replenishing speed was also few paces ahead compared to Chen Ming.

Lin Yuan reached out for the Flame hound’s core. In a second, a green core emerged on the palms. Now Lin Yuan group also claimed a Rank 2 beast core.

LEAP!

Lin Yuan sensed something was approaching them, and pushed Chen Ming instantly. They dodged the missile-speed attack at the last second. Lin Yuan startled his head, his eyes narrowing with shock and joy at the same time. He was shocked because it was a Thunder Mantis. And the joy because it was a Rank 2 beast. But Chen Ming was worried as he left only with 4% beast essence; he can only use Piercing beak attack only once.