CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: SEARCHING FOR THE ENTRANCE

Very quickly, the newcomers mounted the Gale Beast and set off.

The prototype of the Gale Beast is a large eagle, and along with the Clouded Horse, they cover almost all transportation methods.

One governs the sky, the other governs the ground.

To ensure a fair test, they decided to disperse the newcomer teams in different locations.

Huang Xiaotian also came along. He glanced at the drop-off locations for the teams and laughed:

"This time, you’re not using the equidistant drop-off rule?"

The so-called equidistant drop-off rule was something Lee Zhen had previously researched. It was meant to ensure fairness, suggesting that every team should have roughly the same distance to the Secret Realm entrance.

"I’m not stupid. If I did it like that, Lin Chen would definitely guess it." Lee Zhen said smugly, "I want to mislead him."

"He probably already saw through this little trick of yours."

"Impossible." Lee Zhen didn’t believe it.

Huang Xiaotian sat on the Gale Beast, ready to take off, and Lee Zhen got on too.

"Aren’t you going to keep an eye on Ning Zimo?"

Ning Zimo, the first place.

In past years, if Lee Zhen participated, he would always observe the performance of the first place.

After all, that’s the main focus for nurturing talent.

"I’m going to watch that kid make a fool of himself."

Lee Zhen was eagerly anticipating.

...

"Toad..."

Lin Chen squatted on the ground, muttering softly to himself.

He asked Xiaobai if it could smell the scent of the Corpse-Eroding Beast, and Xiaobai shook its head.

Bai Jiajia and Sun Guang nearby wiped their foreheads, thinking that Niu Niu is not a dog, how could it be used as a scent Spirit Beast?

Qin Hao didn’t think it was anything unusual; Lin Chen’s Plowhorn Beast was quite extraordinary.

"If there are no clues, let’s just wander around and try our luck," Bai Jiajia, still an optimistic girl, said, "Everyone, smile... people who smile never have bad luck."

"..."

The three men were silent.

What an inspiring encouragement.

Morale -1!

"It’s my fault," Lin Chen suddenly said, "I was careless."

Bai Jiajia and Sun Guang thought he was admitting a mistake, so the former comforted him: "It’s okay, anyway, we didn’t expect to achieve great results, just treat it as training."

But Lin Chen said, "Had I known, I should have gone out fifteen minutes later during the assessment and bluffed a bit; it would have been easier to find now."

The three of them didn’t understand, what kind of logic was that?

What does the first round of assessment have to do with this real combat?

For once, Lin Chen explained:

"Based on Chairman Lee’s nature, if pursuing fairness, he would most likely place all five of our teams at the same distance. I only need to draw a circle, find the center, and I could determine the general location of the Secret Realm entrance."

Their pupils lit up.

An unprecedentedly conceived path...

"Why doesn’t it work now?"

"When I raised my hand today, his gaze towards me was off, a bit provocative and smug," Lin Chen said, "I think he most likely changed the rule."

The three suddenly understood. Qin Hao had experienced Lin Chen’s analytical skills before, yet he was still greatly amazed.

By comparison, he considered himself quite dense.

"So what now?" Bai Jiajia suddenly felt confident.

"Let’s disperse first and gather some clues, sand, water sources...."

...

"Hahaha, told you so."

On the back of the Gale Beast, Huang Xiaotian couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Although they were high up, Huang Xiaotian had a Ghost Sound Beast with excellent hearing, capable of picking up their conversation from a certain height.

Lee Zhen fell silent in self-reflection.

It turned out that when Lin Chen raised his hand at the end, it was also to probe him.

"So young yet so cunning..." Lee Zhen was annoyed but secretly pleased.

He too now felt Lin Chen was quite a talent.

His thinking was frighteningly clear.

A person like this, wherever he goes, will undoubtedly have a bright future.

"However, this time, it’s useless to observe; let’s see how you handle this."

While speaking, the four below spread out with their beasts to search and then regrouped.

Lin Chen sat on the ground to analyze.

The Corpse-Eroding Beast likes damp places, so the first thing Lin Chen thought of was to head towards the water source to search.

However, even nearby water sources were in several locations, making it hard to pinpoint.

"The Corpse-Eroding Beast’s body will have mucus, which is corrosive and may remain on soil, sand, stone, and wood. Everyone, please keep an eye out."

Lin Chen dispersed them for the second time.

After two hours, they finally had a clue.

Qin Hao had discovered a corroded tree not far away.

Lin Chen hurried over and indeed saw it.

He had Xiaobai take a sniff, and Niu Niu almost vomited, so Lin Chen quickly had it sniff from a distance to memorize the scent.

Xiaobai lifted his head and immediately pointed in a direction, which made everyone happy as they followed.

However, since Xiaobai wasn’t a dog, it soon lost the scent, and the trail was broken again.

Nightfall was approaching quickly, and Lin Chen had Qin Hao gather firewood.

"Is this enough firewood?" Qin Hao followed Lin Chen, not wanting to overthink.

"Not enough, find some more, pile up five; I’ll join you in gathering." Lin Chen said while starting to help.

The other two were somewhat puzzled, and Bai Jiajia approached, saying, "Lin Chen, I don’t mind resting, but since we should be nearby already, we should rest and then continue searching."

"It’s too dark, very dangerous."

"But we don’t need so many bonfires. Even if we’re staying overnight, we could take shifts next to one fire."

"My Spirit Beast is a clean freak and dislikes too many people. One per fire is best, clean and hygienic."

"...."

Bai Jiajia glanced at Xiaobai, thinking how could a Plowhorn Beast be a clean freak?

Surprisingly clean for a Niu Niu.

Bai Jiajia believed him, and without further inquiry, she helped gather the firewood, thinking Lin Chen might have given up.

Based on previous years’ real combat, teams usually found the entrance within 8 hours, and five hours had already passed.

If they waited until tomorrow, they would have already fallen far behind the schedule.

Subsequently, they truly piled up four bonfires. Bai Jiajia, intending to rally the team a bit more, went over to Sun Guang, unexpectedly getting called back by Lin Chen.

"My Little Fox is timid; it finally fell asleep, so please try not to speak, thank you, my apologies..."

The Little Fox widened its eyes, thinking, "I haven’t fallen asleep yet either."

"...."

No matter how good Bai Jiajia’s temper was, she wanted to get mad.

Your Spirit Beast is so finicky.

However, with Lin Chen flashing a clean smile, Bai Jiajia refrained from showing anger, after all, one doesn’t get mad at a smiling person, and...

Lin Chen’s smile was quite charming.

So there they stayed quietly for half an hour, some meditating, others sleeping.

Suddenly, Xiaobai, lying beside Lin Chen, opened its eyes, and the Little Fox on its back quickly leaped onto Lin Chen.

"Moo~~"

A soft cow call ensued, and it immediately stood up.

Lin Chen rose with it, startling the others, who asked, "What’s up?"

"The Corpse-Eroding Beast is here!"

As he spoke, Lin Chen raised a torch and swept it around, while the others looked up and were instantly covered in cold sweat.

They saw, emerging from the darkness, seven or eight pairs of glowing eyes, and under the torchlight, they could see...

It was indeed the Corpse-Eroding Beasts.

"Move!" Bai Jiajia commanded forcefully, signaling her Spirit Beast to attack.

Her Spirit Beast was named:

[Lightning Cat]

[High-level Mortal Beast]

Its prototype was the tabby cat.

Although there were many Corpse-Eroding Beasts, their combat strength wasn’t high, most being level five or six, which was trivial for them.

Xiaobai didn’t engage as it was an information class beast, and if it fought, it would be classified as a combat beast, and these Corpse-Eroding Beasts didn’t look strong anyway.

This is also a traditional rule for Monster Hunters: combat and information classes must be clearly defined during real combat training, which makes a good test for both sides.

In just five minutes, they cleared out seven, leaving one.

Bai Jiajia’s Spirit Beast was in the zone and wanted to chase it, but Lin Chen immediately whispered to her, "It’s injured, don’t kill it, let’s keep it alive."

The Corpse-Eroding Beast, hearing this, fled desperately, and Lin Chen and his team pursued it.

As they went on, the beast’s shadow disappeared, and Lin Chen suddenly stopped them, signaling them to stay quiet.

"It..." Bai Jiajia watched where it went, about to point the direction.

"Cough~~" Lin Chen interrupted her spellcasting and then waved his hand, saying, "This way."

Bai Jiajia’s eyes widened, thinking, but it clearly went in the opposite direction.