CHAPTER 105: CHAPTER 105: MAPS AND PURSUERS_1

「Meanwhile, in Ao City.」

The three Martial Kings—King Xiong, King of Thunder, and King Xing—stood obediently beside the surveillance room, like primary school students. The sofas in the middle of the room, originally meant for them, were now occupied by two elderly men: Edward Bawell, the Dean of the Royal Martial Arts Academy, and Yun Tianyi, the Dean of the Yanjing Martial Arts Academy.

These two genuine, long-standing Martial Emperor experts sat silently on the sofas, their gazes surprisingly and uniformly fixed on Wang Zhan’s live feed.

Interestingly, the large screen before them, initially divided into dozens of feeds, one for each Martial Arts Academy, now displayed only Wang Zhan. The feeds for the other students from the Chu State Military Martial Arts Academy had vanished.

When Yun Tianyi heard Wang Zhan accuse the Royal Martial Arts Academy of initiating the conflict, a mischievous smile touched his lips, while Edward, beside him, snorted coldly.

"Taking advantage and then playing innocent," Edward retorted, his tone unfriendly.

"I think the boy is spot on," Yun Tianyi said, stroking his beard. "The Royal Martial Arts Academy is arrogant and domineering. If not for Wang Zhan, those little brats from the Royal Martial Arts Academy would likely be even more outrageous. I say it’s good they were eliminated; fewer troublemakers in the world."

Edward shot Yun Tianyi a sidelong glance. "Old man, are you looking for a fight?"

"Bring it on. You think I’m afraid of you?"

Seeing that the two top figures were about to clash, the three Martial Kings present quickly intervened with placating words. After a considerable amount of soothing talk, they finally managed to quell the two Deans’ anger.

Just then, King Xiong received a message, and his expression subtly changed. "My lords," he began, "we’ve just received word from the referee committee. The situation on the front line has intensified. The Death Forest might be incorporated into the main battlefield..."

For this competition, it wasn’t just the three Martial Kings serving as referees. There was also a large number of Martial Generals scattered throughout the competition area. Many of these Martial Generals were also charged with rescuing competitors. Beyond rescue operations, their more critical responsibility was to ensure the competition area remained under control. After all, the Death Forest was already a true battlefield, and they had to guarantee the students’ safety. Some student sacrifices were acceptable, but large-scale, unwarranted casualties could not be allowed.

At this moment, something had clearly occurred that was beyond their control.

"Let the competition continue," Edward said impassively. "The purpose of this competition has always been to accelerate these students’ growth. Exposing them to a real battlefield a bit early isn’t necessarily a bad thing."

That might be so, but the intensity of a real battlefield was far beyond what these students, still hovering around the Martial Artist and Warrior stages, could possibly withstand.

King Xiong instinctively looked towards Yun Tianyi, hoping he would say a few words of persuasion. Then, King Xiong could report the situation to the Federation, allowing them to adapt as needed.

However, Yun Tianyi pondered for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "The old fellow has a point. Let the competition continue for now. If something truly serious happens, we’ll react then." He gave King Xiong a reassuring look and added, "With the two of us here, no major mishap will occur."

Ao City was not particularly close to the Death Forest, but for two Martial Emperor experts, the distance could be covered in a mere moment.

Thinking this, King Xiong breathed a sigh of relief, said no more, and quietly stepped aside.

「Meanwhile, in the Death Forest.」

Night had fallen, and the distant roars of beasts echoed continuously in Wang Zhan’s ears. Most beasts were nocturnal, so at night, the Death Forest became especially dangerous.

I was reckless. I should have spent the night outside and entered during the day. That way, I would have had at least a full day to find a safe place to stay, Wang Zhan thought, already feeling some regret.

The environment in the Death Forest was even more treacherous than he had imagined. His mental energy scan had already detected several intermediate or higher-ranking soldier-level beasts, including two that were possibly upper-class soldier-level beasts. An upper-class soldier-level beast, even the weakest, was equivalent to a human level-four Martial Master or above—definitely an opponent Wang Zhan couldn’t face at his current stage.

As Wang Zhan cautiously scouted ahead, he suddenly detected the aftershocks of a battle nearby, along with human cries.

Have I run into people from other academies so soon? Wang Zhan was slightly taken aback. It’s nighttime, when beasts are most active. Who would be so bold as to fight them now? Aren’t they afraid of attracting other beasts?

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Wang Zhan significantly narrowed the range of his mental energy scan, doing his best to conceal his presence as he slowly approached the sounds of battle.

A few minutes later, he reached the edge of a clearing in the forest.

In the clearing, three intermediate soldier-level beasts were attacking a human team. The team members were not very strong, roughly equivalent to level-three or level-four Warriors. This team of five, besieged by three intermediate soldier-level beasts, had almost no chance of survival.

And events were indeed unfolding in that direction.

Wang Zhan had just concealed himself when he saw a beast tear a man in half at the waist. The man’s blood appeared pitch black under the gloomy moonlight—an incredibly eerie sight.

They’re not wearing Academy uniforms, and these martial artists look older, not like students. They must be a team of human soldiers from the battlefield, he deduced.

Without hesitation, after observing the situation for merely half a minute, Wang Zhan rushed out.

"Wind and Cloud Break, Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon!"

He immediately unleashed the third move of Wind and Cloud Break. Wang Zhan intended to end the fight quickly; he couldn’t begin to imagine how many beasts a prolonged battle would attract in the Death Forest at night.

The power of the Earth-grade martial art was fully displayed in Wang Zhan’s hands. After a fierce gust of wind, an intermediate soldier-level beast fell instantly to his Liyun Blade.

Taking advantage of the brief lull, Wang Zhan glanced at the five-person team, only to see another human martial artist die in a beast’s maw.

"Hold on!"

Wang Zhan dared not delay. He rapidly continued his assault, immediately drawing the attention of the two remaining intermediate soldier-level beasts. Then, swinging the Liyun Blade, he repeatedly unleashed the three forms of Wind and Cloud Break. Finally, when his stamina was depleted to about sixty percent, he dispatched the remaining two beasts.

’Strength+7’

’Agility+4’

’Physique+6’

Defeating three consecutive intermediate soldier-level beasts had granted Wang Zhan an increase of around twenty points to each of his three main extreme attributes—a handsome gain indeed.

But Wang Zhan had no mind to celebrate these gains; he hurried to the side of the Martial Artist team. Only one man, around thirty years old, remained, sitting blankly on the ground. Beside him, his teammates were all dead; two of them didn’t even have intact corpses.

Wang Zhan had seen similar scenes before, but every time he faced such raw sacrifice, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.

"Friend, my condolences..."

As soon as he spoke, Wang Zhan noticed the remaining man had a fist-sized puncture wound in his chest, his internal organs visibly crushed. It was an absolutely fatal injury. Not even a deity could save him.

"I’m beyond saving." The martial artist shook his head slightly and, trembling, took a neatly folded piece of cloth from his tunic. "COUGH, COUGH... Cross the Death Forest... go to the human encampment in the east... give this map to General Qin."

"What map is this?" Wang Zhan took the cloth. Hearing it was a map, he was about to open it.

However, the dying martial artist stopped him. "Don’t look! You’re a student participating in the competition, right? You can’t look at this map..." The martial artist’s voice grew fainter and fainter. "All of you... your personal terminals have real-time monitoring... This map must not fall into the hands of certain people."

With those words, the last martial artist breathed his last.

Wang Zhan stared blankly at the martial artist’s body, then at the blood-stained cloth in his hand.

Just like martial arts techniques, can’t even maps be trusted on the human network now? Wang Zhan mused, feeling a surge of emotion. If he hadn’t understood before, he was beginning to grasp it now. The human network, after all, was just a tool. And like any tool, it could be exploited by those with ulterior motives.

I knew humanity wasn’t a monolith, but to have to guard against your own people even at the moment of sacrifice... that’s too tragic, Wang Zhan sighed softly.

At that moment, the sound of approaching beast footsteps echoed from the distance, clearly attracted by the recent fight. Wang Zhan couldn’t hesitate any longer. Whether he went to the human encampment in the east or not could be decided later. First, he had to find a safe place to survive the night.

「A short while after Wang Zhan left the clearing」

A colossal creature appeared in the open space. It devoured the corpses of the three intermediate soldier-level beasts one by one, yet still seemed unsatisfied.

But just as the enormous creature prepared to leave, several WHOOSHING sounds echoed. Immediately after, three figures dressed in black also appeared in the clearing.

"Huh? A General-level beast? Is there such a big guy around here?" one of the black-clad men said in surprise. His figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he was beside the General-level beast he’d mentioned.

With a single punch, the massive General-level beast was sent flying dozens of meters, crashing through countless sturdy tree trunks. Perhaps terrified, or perhaps realizing it was no match for its attacker, the General-level beast made no attempt to retaliate after being sent flying. Instead, it wailed and fled.

Meanwhile, the other two men in black had finished inspecting the scene.

"Qin Yuan Team is completely wiped out. The map is missing. From the signs of battle, someone must have helped them and taken the map."

"Can we catch them?"

"They just left not long ago. We can."

"Then don’t delay! The newly discovered source stone mine is crucial. Go!"

As the words faded, the three black-clad figures vanished instantly. And they were heading in the exact same direction Wang Zhan had taken!