CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37: UNDERCURRENTS SURGING

After surviving the disaster, Chu Chen did not show a trace of relief but instead scanned the battlefield with a solemn expression.

The victory was hard-won.

Lei Yao’s frenzy state had ended, and the star power in its body was almost exhausted, with barely any stamina left. It had only one-tenth of its combat power remaining and would need at least a day of recuperation to recover. It had over thirty wounds of varying sizes, which, even if not severe, would affect the upcoming assessment.

The Angry Wind Elf only had a few scratches, but its star power was drained, leaving it without combat strength.

The Spring Tree Demon was in the best condition, having only consumed a large amount of star power without suffering any injuries.

The Earth Rock Rat was in a similar condition to the Angry Wind Elf, but it still had about fifty percent of its star power left.

Finally, the Iron Armor Giant Lizard was undoubtedly the most severely injured. Without timely control, it would have to withdraw from the assessment for treatment; otherwise, it would suffer from hidden injuries or even risk death.

This meant that Chu Chen’s team was no longer capable of fighting, and immediate recuperation was imperative.

Chu Chen quickly approached Wang Lu and the others, whispering, "Time is tight, let’s quickly gather the spoils of war and feed the guardian beasts as much food as possible." Saying this, he took out a dagger and headed towards the Dog King’s corpse.

The four people, seeing this, dared not delay and hurriedly began to act.

The Fire Cloud Dog corpses were also of considerable value.

The dog fangs could be used to make weapons, crafts, and were also an evolutionary material.

The fur could be used to make clothes.

The flesh was also valuable, though not much could be taken away.

A moment later, the five of them finished collecting all the spoils.

There were only three types of spoils.

The first was star cores. Whether by good or bad luck, they managed to scavenge three star cores from the pack, with the Dog King’s star core being the size of a baby’s fist. That single star core was worth nearly ten thousand Alliance Coins, which uplifted their previously gloomy mood considerably.

The second was dog fangs. However, they only collected the canines of the Fire Cloud Dogs, and specifically from the upper jaws. Each canine was worth between one hundred and two hundred Alliance Coins. The five collected a total of forty-six canines, with a total value of around seven thousand Alliance Coins.

The third was meat. Given the current situation of the team needing at least a day of rest, food was an issue. Learning from last time’s lesson, this time Chu Chen processed the flesh.

First, he used dirt to seal the exposed flesh, roughly covering the bloody scent. Then he wrapped the meat in grass, and finally covered it with another layer using his clothes.

After three rounds of processing, ninety percent of the bloody scent was masked.

"Cold Face, can the remaining star power of the Spring Tree Demon support one use of a healing skill?" Chu Chen asked gravely.

Cold Face nodded and said, "It still has about ten percent of its star power left, barely enough for one use."

Relieved, Chu Chen patted Gangzi’s shoulder and said deeply, "Summon the Iron Armor Giant Lizard now."

Without hesitation, Gangzi immediately summoned his guardian beast.

When the group saw the Iron Armor Giant Lizard, everyone was shocked.

It lay weakly on the ground with its eyes closed. Its black scale armor was stained with dark red blood, and the bloody holes on its back were still oozing blood, although the amount was significantly reduced.

Chu Chen knew very well that this situation wasn’t due to the Iron Armor Giant Lizard’s strong self-healing ability but because its blood was nearly exhausted.

Without delay, Chu Chen urgently reminded, "Quick, use the healing skill."

Cold Face snapped out of her shock at his words, clutching her chest as she choked out the command.

The Spring Tree Demon swayed a withered bough, gathering a rich stream of wood element towards it.

The withered bough suddenly showed new vitality, as a touch of green quietly appeared, and a small bud sprouted from it, rapidly growing under the nurture of the wood element.

Chu Chen could clearly sense the vigorous life force contained within the bud.

The bud grew extremely fast, maturing from a young plant to full bloom in the blink of an eye.

When its vitality peaked, it detached from the twig and slowly drifted towards the Iron Armor Giant Lizard.

The green leaf transformed into a wisp of essence of life, merging into the Iron Armor Giant Lizard’s body, followed by a miraculous scene.

The bleeding from the holes on its back stopped immediately, and new granulations began to grow within the wounds.

Unfortunately, this condition lasted only a few moments before it stopped.

The Spring Tree Demon was not a purely healing-type guardian beast, so its healing abilities were not outstanding, but achieving such an effect was already quite commendable.

Fortunately, the Iron Armor Giant Lizard’s life was saved; once the Spring Tree Demon’s star power recovered slightly, it could heal it several more times, allowing its wounds to fully recover.

Seeing this, the previously somber expression on Gangzi’s face eased slightly, and a hint of gratitude appeared in his gaze towards Chu Chen.

After retracting the Iron Armor Giant Lizard back into his soul sea, Gangzi asked quietly, "Scholar, what should we do next?"

Chu Chen articulated his thoughts without reservation.

"Where should we rest, then?" Cold Face asked deeply.

Without hesitation, Chu Chen pointed in the direction they had come from and said, "We’ll head to the very edge of the forest; it’s the safest there."

"Doesn’t that mean we’ve traveled in vain? Even if we rest by tomorrow, finding star beasts won’t be easy," Wang Lu immediately retorted.

"We’re the first group to enter the forest. Continuing forward might lead us to star beasts, and if we encounter them in our current state, we’d be eliminated for sure. The old adage says it’s wise to retreat for a while; besides, these star beasts are not easy to deal with."

Wang Lu reluctantly nodded.

With the Earth Rock Rat leading the way, Chu Chen and the group carefully advanced.

Soon, they encountered another examination team.

This team only had four people, with a mismatched lineup—three of them had strong attack-type guardian beasts, while one had an agile attack-type guardian beast.

This kind of lineup could easily crush solitary star beasts, but against pack-type star beasts, they stood no chance.

The two teams merely nodded in courtesy and then parted ways.

The low spirits seemed contagious; the initially cheerful quartet departed with heavy hearts.

Before long, Chu Chen’s group settled beside a small creek.

They had been in the forest for no more than an hour, yet they had experienced two battles. Even though three of their rankings remained in the top three, none of them showed any excitement.

They were keenly aware that their current scores would soon be surpassed, especially for Gangzi, whose guardian beast was severely injured and hadn’t earned any points in the battle with the Fire Cloud Dog Pack.

At this time, a blood-colored bird guardian beast flew high above the East City Forest.

It cautiously avoided the city defense army’s blockade, landing in the central area of the forest.

The blood-colored bird beast perched on a tree, silencing the surrounding insects and birds as if they dared not disturb it.

"Master, when should we make our move?" a cold voice emanated from the crimson bird beast’s back.

"No rush; the assessment has just begun. We’ll act once those wastes are eliminated. It’s a pity that girl named Zhang Yuyan didn’t participate in the assessment, or it would have been a great achievement," a silhouette in a black robe said deeply.