CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: BEAST TIDE

Chu Chen glanced at the leaderboard, then looked at the sky with a hint of reluctance and said, "It’s getting late, let’s head back."

The four of them heard him and did not refuse.

Chu Chen and the other two had already secured the top three spots, and his own points had exceeded a thousand.

The five of them had all reached their goals, and having farmed for points here continuously, they were nearly sick of it.

With about half an hour until nightfall, Chu Chen decided to head back. After all, the examination ends tomorrow morning, and he didn’t want to stay here any longer.

Before nightfall, the five found a cave halfway back and casually left its owner behind for a meal, thus drawing a satisfying end to the three-day examination.

Central area of the forest.

"Is everything ready?" the black-robed man asked coldly.

The five responded in unison, "Everything is ready, we can act at any time."

"No rush, let’s wait a bit longer."

"Sir, we can’t wait any longer; the examination is about to end. By then, our mission will have failed, and we can’t bear the consequences," the gaunt man said anxiously.

The black-robed man heard this, glanced at the other person coldly, and immediately a shadow flashed by, smacking the gaunt man away.

"Fang Tao, are you tired of living?"

The gaunt man turned out to be Fang Tao, who had disappeared for half a month.

"I dare not, I’m just worried about the task failing and implicating you," Fang Tao said, enduring the severe pain from his body, quickly kneeling on the ground with a look of terror.

"Do you think I’m a three-year-old? Do you think I wouldn’t know your little schemes?" the black-robed man sneered.

"Have mercy, I was just momentarily confused, blinded by hatred..."

"Enough, just do what you’re supposed to. If the task fails because of you, I’ll make sure you know what it’s like to wish you were dead."

"I understand, I definitely won’t let you down."

Time quietly passed, and the students participating in the examination gradually relaxed their vigilance, fatigue and drowsiness suddenly washing over them.

Soon, snores started reverberating one after another, even the students responsible for keeping watch unknowingly fell asleep.

This situation appeared in most of the teams, including Chu Chen’s group.

"It seems they are truly exhausted."

"Sigh! We’re not having it easy either, watching them fight is even more tiring than doing it ourselves."

"Just hang in there a bit longer, after tonight our task will be over."

At this moment, in the central area of the forest.

The black-robed man looked at the sky, eyes shimmering with anticipation.

He slowly turned and said to Fang Tao and the five others, "Trigger the beast tide."

Upon hearing this, the five immediately showed joy; after two days of preparation, they could finally close the net.

"Chu Chen, I hope you can survive this beast tide; don’t let me down. I want to personally execute you, let you taste the flavor of failure," Fang Tao murmured, looking towards the forest’s edge.

Moments later, in the central area of the forest, terrifying explosions erupted suddenly in over a dozen places, followed by the emergence of many terrifying presences at those sites, coincidentally at the border between the core and central regions.

Originally resting and hunting, the Star Beasts fell into a frenzy, their roars and howls echoing endlessly in the forest.

Intimidated by those terrifying presences, they could only escape to the outer regions of the forest.

The Star Beasts in the forest’s core region were also alarmed; those terrifying presences had reached Lord level, enough to threaten them.

"Roar"

A furious roar came from the forest’s very center, followed by the explosion of an unsettlingly terrifying presence.

This presence far exceeded Lord level, and the core region’s Star Beasts instantly fell silent.

At this point, those Lord-level presences suddenly vanished, as if they had never appeared.

The owner of that terrifying presence sensed the unfamiliar presences disappear and gradually withdrew its presence.

The central region returned to calm.

The black-robed man felt the sudden disappearance of the presence, sighed somewhat regretfully.

But he quickly turned his gaze to the forest’s outer region.

By now, the beast tide had formed, with the Star Beasts from the central region frantically fleeing to the outer region.

The City Defense Army, blocking the outer region, first discovered the beast tide and immediately notified the school, organizing forces to intercept without delay.

Upon receiving the notification, the school immediately restored communication functions on the bracelets, informing the students still in the examination of the beast tide news.

The director, Ye Qing, was anxiously pacing; the students still in examination were the school’s treasures, and if anything went wrong, his position as director would be over.

Ye Qing took out his communication bracelet and contacted Chen Haoxiang.

"Principal, a beast tide suddenly broke out in the East City Forest, we need support here," Ye Qing said, somewhat uneasy.

"What? A beast tide! What are you all doing, with no prior detection? Immediately organize people to go rescue, I’ll be there soon, they are the future of Celestial Star City, absolutely must not let anything happen," said the principal before hanging up.

Ye Qing dared not delay and immediately organized teachers from each class and the City Defense Army stationed in the outer regions to go for rescue.

At this moment, within the cave where Chu Chen and the others were, a piercing sound reverberated.

The five jolted awake in a panic, looked at each other in confusion, and finally came to their senses.

The communication bracelet emitted a glaring red glow, followed by an urgent voice.

"Attention all students, I’m Director Ye Qing, a beast tide has appeared in the forest. The examination is now terminated, everyone evacuate immediately. Repeating, everyone evacuate immediately."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen and the five others’ expressions suddenly changed, the residue of drowsiness in their eyes instantly vanished.

Without waiting for the others to inquire, Chu Chen said deeply, "Don’t doubt it, this is real, we evacuate immediately." Then he called out to Lei Yao and walked out of the cave.

Seeing this, Wang Lu and the other four dared not delay, quickly summoned their Guardian Beasts, and followed.

At this time, the City Defense Army responsible for intercepting the beast tide had been defeated.

War General Level and Commander Level Star Beasts surged like a torrent towards the outer regions of the forest.

Soon, the Star Beasts in the outer regions also started to riot, rushing at the forefront of the beast tide, exerting all their might.

This was not because they were particularly diligent, but they feared being trampled to death by the Star Beasts behind them.

The reason for the beast tide was simple: big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps. When weaker Star Beasts encounter stronger ones, they can only choose to flee, especially when faced with a group of powerful Star Beasts.

The speed of the beast tide was swift; just as the five ran out of the cave, they felt the ground tremble slightly, followed by a rumbling like a stampede.

Chu Chen felt as if thousands of troops and horses were charging at him.

This made the usually calm Chu Chen experience intense fear inside.

At this moment, two burly men in military uniform jumped down from the treetops not far away.

Seeing this, the five were startled, but after recognizing the men’s attire, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Secret protection had long been anticipated, and for the pair’s appearance, naturally, they were not surprised.