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Chapter 40
The rumbling sound of the plane filled the air.
Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but furrow her brows.
She was on the transport plane heading to the exam’s secret realm. This was a military-grade vehicle used by the Beastmasters Association for transport, far less comfortable than the commercial planes meant for selling tickets. The noise from the engines was so loud that it made it impossible to hear anything else.
The cabin was filled with participants of the ranking assessment. When they first boarded the plane, a few lively ones were chatting, but now, everyone had obediently fallen silent in the midst of the overwhelming noise.
To ensure fairness in the assessment, the transport plane would randomly place the participants at different locations within the secret realm.
Some participants from the same school who had planned to team up would also have their positions shuffled. They would have to find their partners on their own after arriving at the secret realm.
Of course, there were also participants like Mu Huiyue, who had chosen to go solo.
The atmosphere between the participating schools was very different.
At Hongzhou’s Shengshuitan High School, centered around the legendary son Fang Xuyang, the students were tightly knit. Even before boarding the plane, they were already discussing how to respond to the different environments of the secret realms, clearly indicating they would act together as a group.
The participants from Lishang High School in Lizhou, due to the special nature of their contracted beasts, would also team up.
The participants from Yunzhou mostly only spoke to their fellow students.
There was only one participant from Xizhou, who silently sat in a corner and had no intention of interacting with anyone.
The few participants from the capital, Jingzhou, also seemed to have good relationships with each other.
In contrast, the participants from Changning First Beastmaster High School in Xingzhou, a school capable of competing with Shengshuitan High School for top spots, were scattered and showed no intention of teaming up.
The differences were likely due to the differing presence of their ace participants.
Fang Xuyang of Shengshuitan High School, like his contracted electric lion, was skilled at and loved being the center of attention.
His strong abilities also generated an equivalent level of influence, causing the participants from Shengshuitan High School to naturally form a group centered around him.
As for Lin Fei from Changning First Beastmaster High School, although he appeared to have a gentle personality, deep down he was not an easy person to deal with.
At school, he only maintained surface-level relationships with teachers and classmates, smiling at everyone he met.
Even with Chen Jiashu, who ranked second in the selection trials, their relationship was only that of teammates on the school team, not even close enough to be considered friends.
Mu Huiyue’s gaze fell on Lin Fei, who was not far away, but she quickly looked away.
She wasn’t concerned with Lin Fei’s personality, but she preferred the way the participants from Xingzhou approached the competition.
The key to the ranking trials was the “individual ranking,” not a school-based beastmaster league.
While they might team up during the chaos of the secret realm battle, once they reached the elimination round, they would have to face off individually. The approach used by Shengshuitan High School seemed more like making the selected students serve as stepping stones for Fang Xuyang, everyone fighting with all their might to send the most promising person to the elimination rounds.
She had no interest in being Lin Fei’s stepping stone.
There was still some time before they reached the secret realm, so Mu Huiyue closed her eyes to rest and began recalling all the information she had gathered about the trials.
She had, of course, watched that popular pre-competition video by Kuma Xi, and had gone further to watch past battle videos of a few top contenders, memorizing the signature beasts they used.
In addition, there are the competition rules for the Wilderness Survival Contest in the secret realm.
As stated in the earlier announcement, participants must survive in the secret realm for five days. During this time, they will need to defeat different tiers of extraordinary creatures and defeat other contestants to obtain tokens, each earning points.
At the end of the five days, the top 8 participants based on their points will advance to the next round of elimination until all rankings are decided.
Within the secret realm, only extraordinary creatures below the tenth growth stage have been pre-screened.
Defeating a juvenile extraordinary creature, regardless of its species or level, earns 1 point per creature.
Defeating an elite species of extraordinary creature in the growth stage earns 10 points per creature.
Defeating a warlord species of extraordinary creature in the growth stage earns 100 points per creature.
Defeating a monarch species of extraordinary creature in the growth stage earns 1000 points per creature.
Defeating the realm’s lord and obtaining the token awards 10,000 points. The main participant may also receive 300-1000 points, depending on the contribution.
Defeating other participants awards:
Battles between participants must be conducted in official combat under the record of the “V-type Video System.”
Beastmasters are not allowed to engage in multi-against-one battles or ambushes, but continuous combat is allowed.
The assessment of the loser in an official battle ends immediately, and they are directly sent out of the secret realm.
Mu Huiyue glanced at her “token,” which is a numbered tag that serves as proof of the participant’s identity.
The number on it represents the participant’s rank when entering the secret realm, based on a comprehensive assessment of the beastmaster’s level, the level of their main beast, their normal hidden energy value, and their past performance in various combat events.
Her number was “21.”
When submitting her registration materials, Mu Huiyue was still a Level 2 Beastmaster, and her main beast, Baiya, was a mid-tier warlord species in the juvenile stage, Level 10. She was barely in the top ranks among the participants, but not particularly outstanding.
She awakened quite late and had not participated in any high school-level Beastmaster Leagues, so her combat record was nonexistent.
Her ranking was largely due to Baiya’s normal hidden energy value breaking 10,000.
Even for a warlord species, there is a difference between a high-tier evolutionary type, with a mature cultivation path and immense potential, and an ordinary warlord species.
Although Baiya hasn’t evolved yet… that’s a problem to solve in the future. Baiya’s current combat power is far beyond just the 21st place.
Defeating extraordinary creatures or other participants can earn points, and directly challenging the secret realm’s lord should be the quickest way.
However, as the king of points in the assessment, the secret realm’s lord will definitely not be simple.
Additionally, the number, types, attributes, and distribution of wild extraordinary creatures are all a blank slate for participants without a map.
Mu Huiyue planned to spend a day gathering information, then decide on the best method for earning a large number of points.
Suddenly, a commotion spread through the cabin. Everyone looked out the window, where an isolated island covered in lush greenery appeared on the endless ocean horizon, with dense vegetation filling every area visible.
The participants from Lihzhou, who were skilled at navigating dense forests, immediately showed expressions of joy.
Mu Huiyue tightened her grip on the straps of her harness. Behind her was the parachute device she had donned before boarding the plane. Although Beastmasters had much stronger physiques than ordinary people, she still felt a bit nervous about her first time jumping and parachuting.
The first to be randomly dropped was Fang Xuyang from Shengshuitan High School. He walked confidently toward the jump exit, his goggles secured over his eyes, and his short hair blown into a chaotic mess by the wind.
Fang Xuyang placed one hand on the cabin door, glanced back briefly, and his gaze landed on Mu Huiyue for a moment before he jumped out with precision and ease.
The brief glance was mostly blocked by his goggles, and the nervous Mu Huiyue didn’t even notice it.
Her shadow beneath her feet stirred for a moment. Mu Huiyue decided to send Ellen back into the Beastmaster space for now. After all, during the parachute descent, her shadow wouldn’t have a proper landing point, and Ellen might have trouble moving around outside.
…
…
The wind howled past her ears.
After a dull thud of landing, Mu Huiyue emerged from the bushes, looking somewhat disheveled.
The landing device wasn’t a parachute; it was a system designed using the wind-elemental abilities of extraordinary creatures. The descent was rapid, and only near the end did it release energy to ensure the user’s safety.
After landing, she wasn’t injured, but the experience of free-falling for so long was far from pleasant.
She stood up, looked around at her surroundings, and then summoned two of her contracted creatures.
As Ellen appeared, she melded into Mu Huiyue’s shadow, while Baiya stayed by her side, performing its duties as her protector.
Mu Huiyue glanced at her investigator wristband. The region’s normal hidden energy value ranged from 300-500wP, with spatial measurements showing a wood attribute. The hidden energy coverage was over 72%, and no chaotic areas were detected.
The region’s hidden energy value was lower than that of an E-grade secret realm in its arrival phase, but much higher than an average town area, indicating that this area was already in the merging phase of a secret realm.
After hundreds or even thousands of years, when the secret realm fully merges with the planet, the normal hidden energy value of this region will approach zero, transforming it into a habitable area where even ordinary humans can live.
The location where Mu Huiyue landed resembled the scene she had seen from the plane—vast stretches of dense forest. Tall palm trees and dense shrubbery were the most common plants.
Influenced by the wood-elemental energy, the vegetation here was particularly lush, with plant individuals even surpassing the natural limits of their environment, growing into many strange shapes.
Mu Huiyue checked her outdoor attire—she had tightened the cuffs of her pants and sleeves, her long hair was tied back, and the main supplies along with the backup items were stored in Ellen’s shadow. Now, she only had a light backpack on her.
She walked forward with Baiya.
In forest-type secret realms, extraordinary creatures from the earth, wood, and insect elements were more commonly found.
Among them, insect and wood-type creatures were particularly troublesome, as they could carry poison-related abilities, making the wilderness very dangerous.
Additionally, the secret realm should also have various wood-elemental extraordinary resources, which the Beastmaster Association allowed participants to freely use.
Not far ahead, Baiya suddenly stopped, perked up its dog ears, and let out a low whine.
Mu Huiyue looked in the direction of the sound and saw a movement in the dense vegetation. Suddenly, a creature with a huge shovel-shaped head emerged from the foliage.
[Name]: Shovel Ironworm
[Attributes]: Insect, Steel
[Species Level]: Medium Elite
[Growth Rank]: Juvenile Stage, 4th Rank
[Core Talent]: Iron Claws (Steel D-rank)
[Description]: A common insect-type extraordinary creature found in forest landscapes, an evolved form of the iron cicada pupa. It has sharp head pincers and a volatile temperament, relentlessly pursuing what it deems as enemies.
[Normal Hidden Energy Value]: 812P
This Shovel Ironworm has a small crystal embedded in its vulnerable abdominal area, which is a “token” previously placed by the Beastmaster Association. Breaking the crystal will be considered defeating the wild extraordinary creature, and the points will be automatically recorded.
The Shovel Ironworm looks terrifying but is actually quite average in strength, making it a perfect first opponent to test the waters.
“Baiya, use Dark Strike!” Mu Huiyue gave the attack command.
The Little Cloud Dog leaped out.
In the dense forest environment, the daylight was dim, and the area covered in shadows was much larger than that of a normal, flat battle arena. Baiya used Shadow Step to move at full speed, its figure quickly becoming a streak of dark shadow, darting toward the Shovel Ironworm, which had already detected the enemy.
Bang—The Dark Strike skill hit!
The Shovel Ironworm didn’t have time to react and let out a sharp screech. The crystal on its abdomen shattered, and the entire worm wobbled and fell to the ground.
A small terminal with arc-shaped wings flew over, displaying that Mu Huiyue had earned 1 point.
Mu Huiyue let out a small sigh of relief. With Baiya’s current combat power, facing an elite species, young stage extraordinary creature, it was expected to be a one-hit victory.
After all, wild extraordinary creatures hadn’t undergone the training of Beastmasters. Their battle instincts were relied on more than tactical awareness. Even if the same species and rank were encountered, their combat abilities could vary greatly.
She was about to praise Baiya for its performance and encourage it to continue, but then she saw the little dog whimpering in fear, stepping back two paces.
“Woof…?” (It seems like there’s something moving inside…?)
Countless buzzing sounds filled the air as a swarm of wings suddenly attacked Mu Huiyue’s eardrums. She widened her eyes slightly and saw vast “black clouds” emerging deep within the forest.
The black clouds were made up of hundreds and thousands of Shovel Iron Bugs, and there were even huge, mature individuals among them.
Mu Huiyue: “…”
She couldn’t shake the feeling that this scene was oddly familiar?!
Without time to say anything, Mu Huiyue quickly grabbed Baiya and desperately ran in the opposite direction.