CHAPTER 104: CHAPTER 104 DEATH FOREST_1

Karl handed a bottle of Mixed Essence Pills to Wang Zhan. After taking them, Wang Zhan felt his physical strength and Essence Energy recovering rapidly, and he finally sighed in relief. Being exhausted to the limit in the wilderness was not a particularly enjoyable experience. However, Wang Zhan quickly registered what Karl had just said.

"Wait a minute, what did you just say about the Royal Martial Arts Academy?" Wang Zhan snapped back to attention.

With a smug grin on his face, Karl laughed, "Didn’t you knock out the team from the Royal Martial Arts Academy? The headmaster of their academy wasn’t too pleased, and he created quite a fuss at the Federation Headquarters! Although the issue has been temporarily put to rest, no one knows what further trouble that mad man from the Royal Martial Arts Academy might stir up." Upon hearing this, Wang Zhan was slightly startled.

"So, what is the strength of the headmaster of the Royal Martial Arts Academy?"

"I’m not sure about the specifics, but over a decade ago, he was already a Martial Emperor Expert," Karl said forthrightly.

"Mar...Emperor?" It was the first time Wang Zhan had heard of this level.

"Above the Martial King... Forget it, that’s still too far out of your reach. To put it simply, the headmaster of the Royal Martial Arts Academy is one of the seven Elders of the Federation. You should understand now."

He understood, but he felt a chill run down his spine.

For such a high-ranking figure to personally cause a fuss over a single competition, wasn’t that a bit excessive?

"You’re telling me he won’t come after me, would he?" Wang Zhan asked with some concern.

"He probably won’t, at least not directly. But as for underhanded tactics, who knows?" Karl chuckled. "Even though these people are all our martial arts seniors, they can play pretty dirty."

"Even though the issue has been suppressed for now, keep in mind that the Royal Martial Arts Academy has cultivated many of the cream of the crop over the years, most of whom now hold prominent positions throughout the Federation."

At this point, Karl patted Wang Zhan on the shoulder, giving him a look that clearly said, ’You’re on your own now.’

It looks like I’ve really stirred up a hornet’s nest this time... Ah well, no use worrying about it. I’ll face whatever comes my way; what’s there to fear? Wang Zhan quickly put the matter out of his mind. After all, dwelling on it was pointless.

Meanwhile, with all the beasts having been killed, the Sky City Martial Arts Academy team that had been trapped in the valley was finally able to leave. The seven of them approached Wang Zhan and Karl.

"Greetings, Seniors. Thank you for saving us," the team captain, Wu Yao, along with his team members, bowed deeply to Wang Zhan and Karl—mostly towards Wang Zhan.

Wang Zhan’s numerous strategies and the shocking final blow from before were deeply imprinted in their minds.

Wang Zhan restrained himself from laughing and instead said, "Alright, give me all the beast cores you’ve collected this week. Then you can leave the wilderness area."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yao and the others were taken aback, clearly unaware of this rule that came with being rescued.

Karl looked at Wang Zhan with a slightly exasperated expression. "Are you hell-bent on getting Chu State Military Martial Arts Academy to first place in the team battle?"

"Of course. Didn’t I join this competition aiming for first place?" Wang Zhan replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yao and the others were initially stunned, but then they suddenly realized.

"Wait a minute, you’re not a rescuer? You’re a competitor like us?" Wu Yao could hardly believe it.

The person in front of them, who had killed five beasts in one blow, including two intermediate Soldier-level beasts, was actually a competitor like them.

What’s there to compete for then? Why not just give first place to him directly?

Wu Yao had always considered himself a genius, a standout among Level 9 Martial Artists.

But facing Wang Zhan, he experienced for the first time what a truly despairing gap in ability felt like.

"Yup, I’m from Chu State Military Martial Arts Academy," Wang Zhan admitted with a smile. "You guys are quitting anyway, so what’s wrong with me taking some reward for saving you? When I sent the Royal Martial Arts Academy packing earlier, didn’t I take all their beast cores too?"

"You were the one who ousted the Royal Martial Arts Academy?" This news came as another shock to Wu Yao.

Karl, on the other hand, said quietly from the side, "This guy single-handedly ousted the Royal Martial Arts Academy and didn’t leave them a single beast core. If nothing unexpected happens, this time your Sky City Martial Arts Academy can end up tied with the Royal Martial Arts Academy for last place."

Wang Zhan was startled. "Wait, you don’t have to give me all the beast cores; you can keep a lower-class one."

Sky City Martial Arts Academy only needed 100 points to surpass the Royal Martial Arts Academy.

"You really plan to thoroughly offend the Royal Martial Arts Academy?" Karl looked at Wang Zhan.

"We’re already on bad terms, so what have I got to fear?" Wang Zhan said nonchalantly.

Soon, the members of Sky City Martial Arts Academy handed over all their beast cores. There were a total of thirteen lower-class Soldier-level beast cores, of which Wang Zhan took twelve.

"That’s 1,200 points, plus these beast cores here, another 3,500 points." Wang Zhan checked the leaderboard. Indeed, the points were updated in real time. Chu State Military Martial Arts Academy’s points now nearly doubled those of Yanjing Martial Arts Academy, which was in second place.

"So, our personal terminals are actually devices monitoring us contestants, right?" Wang Zhan looked at Karl. "The points update in real time. It’s pretty obvious."

"They never intended to hide it in the first place," Karl said nonchalantly.

With things wrapped up here, Karl prepared to leave with the Sky City Martial Arts Academy team.

As he was leaving, Wang Zhan suddenly stopped him and asked, "I plan to take a look around the unknown area. Can you give me some tips?"

"That’s against the rules..."

"Considering that I’m going solo, could you give me some unimportant tips?" Wang Zhan pressed, clearly trying to take advantage of Karl’s good nature. "Look, the Royal Martial Arts Academy students were obviously prepared before the competition. The other three major academies probably were too. But we, from the ordinary martial arts academies, genuinely know nothing..."

Seeing that Wang Zhan wouldn’t let him leave without some information, Karl reluctantly shook his head. "The unknown area, called Death Forest, is a ring-shaped forest zone, and the wilderness where we are now is actually just a clearing enclosed by it."

"Is there more?"

Since he had already started talking, Karl didn’t mind saying a little more. In any case, Wang Zhan would be informed of all this via his personal terminal as soon as he entered Death Forest.

"Death Forest is the frontline edge of the Oceania Battlefield. In other words, in Death Forest, you will often encounter human teams fighting with beasts. As for the rest, you’ll find out naturally once you get there."

Karl pulled his hand away from Wang Zhan’s grasp. "I’ve said enough. Don’t push your luck. Just focus on competing well. That’s all."

As his words fell, Karl led his team away without looking back, as if afraid Wang Zhan might stop him again.

After Karl and his team left, Wang Zhan found a secluded place to recover his strength. It wasn’t until around two in the afternoon that he had fully recovered from the weakness caused by Fatal One Slash.

Death Forest, the edge of the battlefield, huh... Pondering Karl’s words, Wang Zhan quickly hurried towards the unknown area.

「By evening, Wang Zhan had reached the edge of Death Forest.」

The sky began to darken, and even standing at the edge of the forest, Wang Zhan could faintly sense the dense Spiritual Energy emanating from the deep woods ahead.

This concentration of Spiritual Energy... it’s like being in a different world! Wang Zhan was surprised.

Due to a significant increase in his mental energy, Wang Zhan’s range of detection now exceeded one kilometer. So, when he projected his mental energy, he immediately sensed the eerie concentration of Spiritual Energy.

The place where I’ve sensed the densest Spiritual Energy before was Flame Valley, which is already quite deep into the wilderness... So, is the strength of the beasts actually related to the concentration of Spiritual Energy?

The more Wang Zhan speculated, the more he pondered it, the stronger the ominous feeling in his heart grew.

So, why haven’t human Base Cities ever exhibited such dense Spiritual Energy? Are the Base Cities truly defended by humans, or is it because the Spiritual Energy there is too sparse, making them not worth fighting over for the beasts?

It was precisely because he understood more about the power disparity between humans and beasts that Wang Zhan vaguely felt that humanity might be living a little too comfortably.

If he were on the side of the beasts, holding the absolute advantage and occupying 70% of the planet, there would be no reason not to completely exterminate the human race. Especially since the truly high-level beasts possessed intelligence no less than that of humans.

After thinking for a while, Wang Zhan couldn’t make head or tail of it, so he temporarily put it aside.

At that moment, a new message appeared on his personal terminal.

A new mission prompt? Wang Zhan’s eyebrows shot up as he opened the message.

The message was not long, and Wang Zhan finished reading it quickly.

Just as Karl said, this Death Forest is on the frontline of the war between humans and beasts, and the entire forest is actually a ring-shaped belt... The wilderness area where we were active before is just an uncontested wasteland enclosed by this ring...

Wang Zhan laughed bitterly.

So this area, filled with lower-class and intermediate soldier-level beasts, with occasional appearances by upper-class soldier-level beasts, was merely a ’wasteland’ in Oceania?

Aside from the simple introduction, the message also contained the remaining mission content.

The message read: "Explore the Death Forest region. Participate in frontline battles between humans and beasts. Points awarded will be determined by the situation."

Looking at his personal terminal, he knew very well that many people were probably watching him right now through the images it transmitted.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhan cleared his throat and said, "The thing with the Royal Martial Arts Academy—it was truly them who provoked us first."

Regardless of whether his words had any effect, after speaking casually, Wang Zhan went straight into Death Forest. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared.