Chen Wen's first stop, arranged by his life assistant Jiang Chang, was the capital of Western Australia—Perth.

The city's scenery was quite nice.

But this time, Chen Wen and his two assistants didn't have time to enjoy it.

The three of them stayed here for three days.

Besides purchasing some essential supplies, Chen Wen also made his best effort to adapt to the Western Australian environment.

This included, but was not limited to, overcoming jet lag and acclimating to the climate, which is completely different from the Northern Hemisphere.

It was mid-summer here, the exact opposite of mid-winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Chen Wen roughly estimated the time.

According to the experienced Feng Zhong, Xu Qiang, and Zhao Tian Cai.

The three of them had participated in the Desert Extreme Challenge together.

The schedule for the Desert Extreme Challenge was quite tight.

Crossing the desert, even with camels, would require them nearly eighty days to traverse the Great Sand Desert.

And for the rest of the journey, they didn't make it to the end.

Around the hundredth day, they reached the central area of the Kimberley Plateau, following the stream to a plain.

Here, due to continuous travel and psychological pressure,

alongside difficulties from competitors from other countries,

they did not persevere.

But they were well aware that even if they continued, success was uncertain.

Too much time had been spent.

Crossing the Great Sand Desert would take at least seventy days, assuming astonishing speed and smooth conditions along the way.

But crossing the remote areas of the Kimberley Plateau and seeking rescue was highly dependent on luck.

If lucky, one could find assistance within fifty days upon reaching the northwest of the Kimberley Plateau.

If unlucky, even after 150 days, no rescue would be found.

Such was their fate.

Moreover, the timing of the Desert Extreme Challenge was downright distressing.

They calculated.

Crossing the Great Sand Desert for seventy days, they reached the Kimberley Plateau at the end of the rainy season.

This season was dubbed by the locals as the "suicide season!"

Of course, it's not that locals commit suicide en masse during this time.

The saying stems from entering the Kimberley Plateau's wilds during the rainy season being akin to suicide!

During the rainy season, the air humidity on the Kimberley Plateau can reach 100%!

The hot and humid weather is unbearable, temperatures are high, and sudden storms and lightning are common.

Such sweltering and muggy conditions, along with the severe weather, can make survival extremely challenging.

Every rainy season, the untamed wilderness of the Kimberley Plateau claims hundreds of lives.

This is one source of the "suicide season" moniker.

Chen Wen was thus filled with tension and curiosity for this challenge.

According to Zhao Tian Cai, if Chen Wen passes the Desert Extreme Challenge on his first try,

he will have reached near the ceiling level of the Eight Extremes Challenge.

Apart from the Cold Extreme Challenge and Sea Extreme Challenge, if he can maintain stability in the other challenges, he will succeed.

Such is the difficulty of the Eight Extremes Challenge!

As for the higher ceiling—the Cold Extreme Challenge and Sea Extreme Challenge—as Zhao Tian Cai stated,

"That damn thing is not meant for humans to conquer! Those old fossils who've been dead for dozens or hundreds of years are purely making things difficult for younger adventurers!"

At the time, Xu Qiang, sitting nearby, nodded in strong agreement and recounted some of Zhao Tian Cai's embarrassing moments.

During the Sea Extreme Challenge, Zhao Tian Cai nearly lost his dignity as a man to a bullet fish, also known as a titan triggerfish, due to an accident!

This was the source of his anger.

Back on track.

After adapting for three days, Chen Wen headed for the Australian Expedition Association, as arranged by Jiang Chang.

Here, Chen Wen met with the vice president of the Australian Expedition Association responsible for receiving them and settled into a very nice hotel.

This vice president had accomplished six challenges and cooperated as a teammate with Liu Yu in multiple challenges, including the Desert Extreme Challenge.

He was older than Liu Yu.

Being unable to participate further in the Eight Extremes Challenge,

the vice president used the funds accumulated from the Eight Extremes Challenge to start a business.

Now, he was a well-known hotel owner and travel agency owner in Western Australia,

also a person of financial freedom.

After a brief conversation with the vice president, he informed them to gather at the Exploration Association's survival division in ten days.

Here, they would inspect the contestants' equipment, distribute gear, and conduct final training.

Moreover, the vice president revealed to Chen Wen a rather crucial piece of information.

"There are quite a lot of participants in this Desert Extreme Challenge."

The vice president said mysteriously, "Nine countries in total are participating, with full teams, totalling forty-five people. In the past, such numbers wouldn't exclusively target the Desert Extreme Challenge!"

According to the vice president,

the difficulty of the Desert Extreme Challenge was unusually high; most preferred to achieve initial success by opting for easier challenges.

Like Zhao Tian Cai's group.

Thus, in previous years, the initial Desert Extreme Challenge typically had less than twenty participants.

This year it doubled, surprising the vice president.

"Moreover, let me tell you the participating countries—Hua Country is a given, and the remaining are Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Spain, Portugal, and us, Australia."

The vice president thought for a bit, then continued, "Among them, one team, the seed player team, includes you, Japan, United States, France, Spain, Russia, and us, Australia."

Chen Wen was enlightened.

Japan, Spain, Portugal, and Australia he didn't know much about.

But in the United States, Adam had shared some intel.

Among the five members participating from their side, besides Adam and Gaston, there were three others.

Among these, the seed player was a middle-aged white man named Hope.

This man was the vice president of the American Survival Association, very skilled, of the same generation as Feng Zhong and Zhao Tian Cai.

The remaining two were Hope's subordinates.

One was old, one was new, and their capability was average.

There was also intel from France.

Phil, the vice president who had considerable interaction with Chen Wen before, had contacted Chen Wen

expressing an interest in collaboration.

This time, their president Lloyd was personally participating, bringing along three vice presidents and a newcomer for the challenge.

The strength was also formidable. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The vice president from Australia didn't divulge much about the contestants.

According to him, forty-five contestants were simply too many.

He estimated that within the first twenty days, half would be eliminated.

Hence, keeping track of the contestants' information was not very useful.

However, as contestants could freely target other countries' teams at will,

the vice president advised Chen Wen to be cautious.

He said mysteriously, "You've been targeted this time, quite a few want to eliminate you during this challenge, making you fail entirely. Also, some might intend to severely injure you, not 'might,' but for sure!"

At these words, Chen Wen was taken aback.