Ye Fei followed the tracks on the ground and again found a Sharp-furred Bear's cave.
But he was a step too late. The entrance to the small, hastily dug cave was already splattered with dark red bloodstains.
The Sharp-furred Bear inside had long since been disemboweled, its Points Jade Token and bear gallbladder already taken. At least a full day had passed.
"Five days... and this is the sixth one. Who is it? Who the hell is it?!"
Ye Fei frowned and began to search the area, trying to find any traces of a battle.
This Sharp-furred Bear had the strength of a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator. With its tough hide and sharp fur that could effectively block Magic, it was an extremely difficult Spirit Beast to deal with.
If he had to fight it, it would have taken him at least an hour of kiting, slowly bleeding it with his Flying Sword to weaken it enough for him to claim victory.
Therefore, a battle like that should have left behind numerous traces.
By examining those traces, he could easily identify the Magic and Magical Artifacts the Hunter used, and from there, deduce their identity and background.
Ye Fei was confident he could do it, as the number of people in this trial with such strength could be counted on one hand. They were almost certainly the direct heirs of the Five Great Immortal Races.
However, despite searching the entire scene meticulously, he couldn't find a single trace of a struggle.
It was as if the kill had happened in just a few moments.
The Sharp-furred Bear hadn't even had time to move or raise its quills before it was killed instantly.
"Damn it! An outsider must have interfered with this trial!"
Ye Fei thought it over and concluded that not even the heirs of the Five Great Immortal Races possessed the power to instantly kill a Sharp-furred Bear. He was certain an outsider had interfered.
He started to get anxious. 'I've only collected nine points. At this rate, there's no way I'll make it into the top ten. Those people from the Five Great Immortal Races really don't play by the rules.'
In Ye Fei's mind, a high-level Cultivator from one of the Five Great Immortal Races must have secretly interfered to help someone cheat.
What he didn't know, however, was that the other disciples from the Five Great Immortal Races were all thinking the exact same thing: someone wasn't playing by the rules!
They had all encountered similar situations.
Ever since Xiao Chen discovered how easily he could rack up points, he had transformed into the bane of Spirit Beasts, a harvester of Jade Tokens.
For the past five days, he had been traveling recklessly, making noise to attract Spirit Beasts, exploring every side path, and delving into every cave he found.
The Spirit Beasts, agitated by drugs for the trial, weren't as wary as their wild counterparts, making them very easy to track.
More importantly, thanks to the tenfold Magical Power recovery speed from his Augment, Xiao Chen had more than enough Magical Power to cast the Golden Light Technique and Fireball Technique over and over without any concern for consumption.
He had so many Points Jade Tokens that he'd even fashioned two large, makeshift sacks out of fox pelts to carry his loot.
Items like the stingers from Two-tailed Scorpions, the gallbladders of Sharp-furred Bears, and the fox pelts themselves were all high-quality materials that could be exchanged for Spirit Stones.
By now, both large sacks were stuffed to the brim.
Xiao Chen couldn't help but sigh. 'It's a shame I'm not an Inner Sect Disciple yet, or I'd have a Storage Bag to carry all this for me.'
His frenzied hunting spree had even caused a noticeable shortage of Spirit Beasts along the main path.
The disciples who started after him couldn't find any Spirit Beasts and were forced to veer off course, trekking over mountains and through valleys to search for prey.
Of course, some disciples, confident in the protection of their Magical Artifacts, chose to speed up and rush ahead to confront the "culprit."
Su Wanqing was one of them.
Although she was from the Fourth Division and had started late, she relied on the Wind-controlling Sword gifted to her by her family. She quickly caught up, overtook Xiao Chen, and ran into a sixth-level Qi Refining pangolin just ahead of him.
Su Wanqing was born with a Dual Spirit Root, and at only eighteen years of age, she had already broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refining.
With their Cultivation levels being equal, the pangolin was naturally no match for her and was soon beaten to within an inch of its life.
Just then, Xiao Chen crested a small hill and appeared right behind the pangolin.
He casually launched a fireball and finished off the dying Spirit Beast.
"Hey, who are you! I found this Spirit Beast first!"
A crisp, questioning voice rang out immediately.
Xiao Chen looked up at the sound of the voice and saw a young woman in a pink gauze dress. The hem was adorned with tiny pearls and silver tassels, and she wore a pair of elegant cloud-toed brocade slippers.
She held a shimmering golden Flying Sword and was striding gracefully toward him.
Her large, bright eyes, like two pools of clear spring water, were sizing him up.
Huh?
Xiao Chen noticed a delicate embroidered pattern faintly visible on the lining beneath the light gauze of her top.
It was a scene of a carp leaping among lotuses, outlined in gold and silver thread. Thanks to the ample... contours of its owner, the pattern looked especially lively and vivid.
As a disciple of the Li Huo Sect, he recognized it at a glance: the symbol of the Su Family, one of the Five Great Immortal Races.
"Greetings, Junior Sister Su. I'm Xiao Chen from the Second Division. Please don't misunderstand. I didn't intend to steal your kill; I was just passing by."
'I don't need this one Spirit Beast,' he thought. 'I've got so many Jade Tokens I can barely carry them all. In fact, I was just thinking about what to use to make another sack.'
Besides, judging by the pangolin's wounds and the broken trees nearby, she had clearly gotten here first.
So, he might as well let her have it. There was no need to needlessly offend a Junior Sister Su with such a powerful background over a mere six points.
"Junior Sister?" Su Wanqing arched an elegant eyebrow. "What's your Cultivation level? What's your background, that you dare call me Junior Sister?"
All the participants in this trial were Outer Disciples, and the strongest among them were only at the sixth level of Qi Refining.
Therefore, based on Cultivation level alone, Su Wanqing was indeed in the highest tier.
Xiao Chen was taken aback. He had been killing sixth-level Qi Refining Spirit Beasts as easily as slaughtering chickens lately, so he had started to look down on that level of power.
When he saw Su Wanqing, he had subconsciously assumed he was stronger and called her "Junior Sister."
Now that she had called him out, he realized it had been a slip of the tongue.
According to standard etiquette, as the one with the ostensibly lower Cultivation level and no special seniority in the sect, he should have addressed her as Senior Sister.
"Ahem, my apologies, Senior Sister Su. I haven't seen another person in days and got mixed up for a moment."
Xiao Chen immediately corrected himself. 'It's just a title, no big deal.'
He then cupped his hands in a farewell gesture. "Since you encountered the pangolin first, Senior Sister, it is your prey. I was just passing by and had no intention of competing for it. I wish you the best of luck. I'll be on my way."
Hearing this, Su Wanqing took a step to her right to let him pass.
As they passed each other, she took a closer look and saw that Xiao Chen was carrying two large, crudely made sacks on his back, both bulging as if stuffed to capacity.
'Are those... fox pelts from a sixth-level Qi Refining beast?!'
As he walked, she could hear the crisp clinking of a large number of Jade Tokens knocking against each other.
She realized it instantly: Xiao Chen was the one who had been slaughtering all the Spirit Beasts.
This was completely outside of Su Wanqing's expectations. As she had been rushing along, she had become convinced that a competitor from one of the great families was cheating.
She never would have guessed that the person who had actually hunted all those Spirit Beasts was... Xiao Chen.
"Wait! Don't go yet!"
Su Wanqing froze for a few moments, only reacting and calling out to him as he was about to walk away.
Xiao Chen turned, slightly puzzled. 'What does this young lady want? I already said I don't want the pangolin, so why won't she let me leave?'
'Don't tell me she saw my sacks and is thinking of robbing me?'
'We're out here in the desolate wilderness with no one around. I'd advise you to be nice.'