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In the following five or six caves, after Yang Fan’s consciousness exploration, he would re-enter the caves.
After several validations, Yang Fan had reason to believe in the accuracy of consciousness exploration.
“I must thank the Demon Lotus Thousand Hands for releasing the dark mist. If it were elsewhere, this method wouldn’t be viable.” Yang Fan muttered to himself as he walked out of the passage.
On online survival videos, some wilderness experts unanimously believed that the greatest enemy in the wild wasn’t the beasts but rather the feeling of loneliness.
While Liu Qi and Zhang Jie could chat with each other, Yang Fan found himself only able to speak to himself.
Of course, if one had to count a companion, the mysterious orb could barely qualify. However, in Yang Fan’s consciousness, the orb had increasingly become like a part of his own body.
He couldn’t possibly engage in small talk with his right hand for no reason.
After confirming the feasibility of consciousness exploration, Yang Fan’s exploration speed began to soar.
Just spending two to three minutes perceiving the dark mist situation at the cave entrance allowed him to determine whether there were Qilin Fruits inside and if there were any anomalies.
“None.”
“None!”
“Still none!”
After checking over a dozen caves in a row, Yang Fan couldn’t help but complain.
“Not even a single regular Qilin Fruit?”
“Could it be that Liu Qi was right, and the Crimson Qilin Fruit isn’t in any of the caves?”
Liu Qi’s words echoed in his mind; he had declared that Yang Fan must die!
However, Yang Fan’s luck didn’t improve. The next dozen caves yielded no results.
Despite saving a significant amount of physical effort with consciousness exploration, the frequent use of this method left him exceptionally fatigued. Both physically and mentally, he was drained.
“I can’t go on…” Yang Fan stood at a cave entrance, unwilling to accept the situation, resting against the cave wall, voicing his frustration.
Even though he was in a competition with Liu Qi for the Crimson Qilin Fruit, Yang Fan’s current condition couldn’t sustain further searching.
Survival remained his top priority. Despite his concerns about Liu Qi getting there first, Yang Fan had to take the time to recover.
After a busy day, Yang Fan was utterly exhausted. He rested in a chamber overnight, waking up the next day.
Glancing at the time displayed on his wrist screen, it was the third day of the trial!
The third day marked another day of exploring caves. By noon, both physically and mentally drained, and without having eaten anything, Yang Fan consumed his third piece of Rank 1 Exotic Beast Spirit Flesh in a chamber.
After consuming the spirit flesh, Yang Fan conducted his customary self-assessment.
Strength: 82, Speed: 77, Stamina: 70.
This time, the enhancements were quite substantial, with all three metrics increasing by around 30%.
Particularly noteworthy was the stamina increase of 40%.
However, Yang Fan believed that this boost might not solely be attributed to the Rank 1 Exotic Beast Spirit Flesh.
His body wasn’t inherently weak; it was the result of prolonged bed rest leading to underdevelopment and muscle atrophy. Although his potential might not match that of an average person, the high-intensity activities over this period could still lead to some improvement.
The significant stamina increase was indeed compelling evidence. Despite three months of recovery training not fully maximizing his stamina, the recent exertions had naturally contributed to some recovery.
“The wrist screen data shows that Rank 1 Exotic Beast Spirit Flesh can enhance by around 20%, which seems quite accurate.”
After his recovery, Yang Fan resumed exploring the caves.
It wasn’t until 8 p.m. that he found another Qilin Fruit in a cave.
However, this Qilin Fruit was also dark green, much darker than the main body of the Demon Lotus Thousand Hands, bearing no resemblance to the crimson color.
“Another contaminated one…” Yang Fan shook his head, plucked the fruit, and stored it in the other side pocket of his pants. “Two found, and neither of them is what I’m looking for!”
After a day of extensive exploration, Yang Fan was exhausted and barely holding on as he reached the next cave entrance.
Supporting himself against the wall, he checked his condition and felt too drained to continue exploring.
Just as Yang Fan was deciding to take a break, his hand inadvertently brushed against a crack in the wall.
He hurriedly inspected the crack.
After exploring each cave, Yang Fan would leave a mark at the entrance to avoid revisiting and to aid in his records.
“These are the marks I left… Have I explored every cave?!” Yang Fan exclaimed.
In total, 341 caves had been thoroughly explored.
“341 of them! Damn it, the Crimson Qilin Fruit isn’t in any of these caves!”
Both he and Liu Qi had their speculations, but now it seemed that Liu Qi might be closer to the correct answer, likely to find the Crimson Qilin Fruit first!
“Wait a minute!” Yang Fan struggled to control his emotions. “Although the Crimson Qilin Fruit isn’t in any cave, that exotic beast isn’t either!”
“I spent a whole week circling the Qilin Lair here, a full two days, and it didn’t come to me… The exotic beast is likely guarding that Crimson Qilin Fruit!”
“If that’s the case, Liu Qi won’t easily get the Qilin Fruit!”
With this realization, Yang Fan felt a bit more at ease. The competition with Liu Qi might not be over yet.
“If I want to steal the Qilin Fruit from the exotic beast, I must ensure my stamina is at its peak. I must rest well!”
The fourth day of the entrance assessment!
Yang Fan consumed the final piece of Rank 1 Exotic Beast Spirit Flesh.
His data underwent another transformation.
Strength: 100, Speed: 91, Stamina: 86!
Staring at these numbers, Yang Fan stood still for a long time.
“Strength… one… hundred!” Yang Fan clenched his fist tightly.
After facing several life-and-death trials, he had finally reached… the physical condition of an ordinary person.
While Liu Qi and Zhang Jie likely had better physical conditions, Yang Fan paid no mind to such comparisons.
Whispers reached his ears.
“Look at that useless trash, here to meet his end!”
“A third-rate cripple, trash data… tsk tsk tsk… coming to participate in the assessment, how ridiculous.”
“Yang Fan, I regret to inform you that even if you pass the assessment, no team will want you.”
Having spent four days in the world of Shan Hai Jing, Yang Fan had witnessed individuals being torn apart by exotic beasts, experienced firsthand how cruel and despicable people could be for their own gain, and seen how some strayed unknowingly into the wrong path.
This was probably how the world truly was.
Yet, despite these experiences, Yang Fan never cared. He simply longed for that person more than ever.
If she were still here, even with just a tiny achievement, she would surely be proud of him.
“Xiao Fan, I know you’ll wake up. Mom believes in you…”
“Mom, I… I can be like a normal person now. If only you could see me as I am now, how great would that be…”
Since witnessing his mother’s tragic death, Yang Fan had never opened up to anyone, but now there was no one around.
“Mom, I miss you so much…”
Taking a deep breath, Yang Fan’s gaze hardened once more.
He grasped the Grey Pine Spear beside him, stood up, raised his left arm, discreetly wiped away the tears from the corner of his eye, and walked towards the cave entrance.
If the Crimson Qilin Fruit wasn’t in the caves, then the unexplored area must be the central zone of the abyss.
With a total of 341 caves evenly distributed around the base of the cliff, each cave approximately eight meters apart, the circumference of the Qilin Lair was roughly 2720 meters.
Calculating in a circular manner, the radius was around fifty meters.
In that location, he might encounter the exotic beast guarding the Crimson Qilin Fruit and potentially come face-to-face with Liu Qi, who sought to bring about his demise!
“No matter the exotic beast or Liu Qi, Zhang Jie, no one can stop me!” Yang Fan emerged from the cave entrance and headed towards the central zone of the abyss.