CHAPTER 121: CHAPTER 120: TIANYI TOURNAMENT (PART 12)

"Cai Er, what are you talking about, your face is all red?" An Qing finished talking with Jiang Yuesheng and looked up to see Lin Caier’s face like a peach blossom, teasing her, which earned her a glare from Lin Caier.

"It’s a secret, I’m not telling you!"

An Qing laughed heartily and sat down beside Chu Yunyi with Jiang Yuesheng.

Jiang Yuesheng said, "Yun Yi, today we collected a total of forty Competition Tokens; all the tokens on the east side are in our hands. Tomorrow, we should head north to intercept before the teams there arrive; at least another twenty can be collected."

Chu Yunyi leaned elegantly against the back of the sofa and said slowly, "There are ninety-nine Competition Tokens in total, as long as we obtain fifty, we win; there’s no need to take too many."

Jiang Yuesheng said, "That’s true, but there are different ways to win. This year, those kids from Cold Smoke Pavilion are so arrogant; if we don’t widen the score gap, they’ll really think Tianyi Academy has chickened out."

An Qing: "Exactly! I think we should take all the tokens from Cold Smoke Pavilion and Xi Yuan, leaving them with zero! As for Harssas, well, let them be; they entered last and probably won’t find any left."

Chu Yunyi remained silent, not even changing his expression, but An Qing could clearly feel the pressure inside the Qianji tent increasing, making her voice involuntarily smaller until she finally shut up.

Once everyone sat quietly in place, Chu Yunyi finally spoke slowly, "There’s no need to waste energy proving we’re the strongest. Tomorrow we can march slowly, gather fifty Competition Tokens, set up camp, rest, and wait for the competition to end and return to Tianyi City."

Jiang Yuesheng and An Qing exchanged a glance, seeing reluctance in each other’s eyes, but as Chu Yunyi was the captain, his words were orders and they couldn’t disobey.

Jiang Yuesheng: "Alright! Yun Yi, you go rest, An Qing and I will take the night watch."

Chu Yunyi nodded, but just as he was about to get up, he suddenly looked south, his gaze becoming sharp and fierce.

Chu Yunyi’s abnormal behavior startled Jiang Yuesheng, who quickly asked, "What’s wrong?"

Chu Yunyi retracted his spiritual power, shook his head, and said, "Nothing, maybe it’s a Star Beast. Everyone should take turns resting, and we’ll set out at dawn."

Not far from Tianyi Team’s camp.

Qi Ming covered Cui Tianxiao’s mouth, using all his strength to pin him down on the ground. After Chu Yunyi’s spiritual power disappeared, Qi Ming let out a sigh, setting up another Stealth Array on Cui Tianxiao before releasing him.

"Pfah, pfah—!" Spitting out dirt and grass roots, Cui Tianxiao said angrily, "Xiao Ming, what are you doing?" Before he finished speaking, he was ’shh’ed by Qi Ming again.

"We’re very close to Tianyi Team; Chu Yunyi’s spiritual power is too strong, we need to frequently reinforce the Stealth Array on you, it’s almost expired. If I hadn’t covered you with my body just now, we would’ve been exposed!"

"Oh, okay. Huh? Xiao Ming, why aren’t you stuttering!"

Qi Ming glared at Cui Tianxiao fiercely: "Annoying!"

"Hehehe!"

Qi Ming spoke much better now, only stuttering a bit when he was emotionally upset.

Ye Qingting stroked his chin, beginning to analyze the race: "There are ninety-nine Competition Tokens in total, distributed in the east, west, and north. However, the event organizers would never place more than half in one direction. If Tianyi Team wants to win, they will definitely have to change course and continue searching tomorrow. If we can predict their route and set up an ambush ahead of them, this battle will be easier."

Qi Ming frowned: "Brother Ye, the forest is so big, and there are no fixed paths, following them is already hard, predicting is even harder, isn’t it?"

Ye Qingting shook his head and said, "On the contrary, prediction is easier than following. As long as we can find a Competition Token closest to them before Tianyi Team, and wait patiently, we’ll succeed."

This enlightened Qi Ming, whose eyes lit up instantly: "Right, right! Tianyi Team is in the east; if they change direction, it’s most likely to the north. And since Xi Yuan Academy entered third, they have no choice but to head to the north with the fewest tokens. Xi Yuan Academy entered only about twenty minutes earlier than us, so there must still be many Competition Tokens unchecked!"

Ye Qingting nodded and said, "There are a few hours before dawn, let’s put in more effort and head north now."

"Okay!"

Inside the Qianji tent of the Desert Boat Team, Bai Ling was using Healing Technique to treat Chen Qi’s wounds.

He was severely injured by a twelfth-level berserk bear beast, his right arm nearly torn from his shoulder. Even though he drank a potion to stop the bleeding, the wound was too large, requiring a Healing Master’s help to heal, or he wouldn’t be able to wield a weapon in tomorrow’s race.

Shangguan Xian Yu’s sword was bitten through by a Star Beast, causing problems in the Water Element Array on the blade; the siblings were working together to repair it.

Even after drinking a Healing Potion, Chen Qi grimaced from pain: "Damn it, did we stumble into a Star Beast nest? We found so few Competition Tokens and spent the whole day fighting!"

Shangguan Lin Yuan sighed: "Tianyi Team is to the east, Tu Ling Team to the west; neither of them is easy to deal with, and the Star Beasts, unable to fight them, naturally ran to our north."

Bai Ling felt the demoralization in the team’s tone and immediately tried to boost morale: "Star Beasts have legs, they can run anywhere. Let’s not belittle ourselves while boosting others; our Desert Boat isn’t something to be trifled with either! Besides, who says other teams didn’t encounter large packs of Star Beasts?"

Shangguan Lin Yuan remained silent, after all, they couldn’t see other teams’ situations, so no one could be sure; maybe everyone was the same.

Bai Ling put away the alchemy tools and instructed, "Everyone takes turns on night watch, restore your energy, and perform well tomorrow to catch up on today’s progress. I don’t believe Desert Boat’s luck is so bad to have Star Beasts blocking us two days in a row!"

"Yes, Captain!"

In the live broadcast, the big screen showed the Qianji tent of Xi Yuan Academy, with its camouflaged pattern perfectly blending into the jungle.

Host: "This year’s Xi Yuan Academy isn’t very lucky, encountering too many obstacles along the way, with high-level Star Beasts appearing continuously. In terms of distance covered, they’ve traveled less than the last teams to enter."

Lin Zhian nodded: "Yes, whether it’s actual combat or competition, sometimes luck is really important."

Host: "Of the four teams, three have set up camp to rest, only Harssas Academy’s ’Supporting the Unyielding’ team is still advancing. I see they’ve changed direction, maybe they’ve realized they can’t beat Tianyi Team and changed their strategy?"

Lin Zhian: "I don’t think so. Today, taking advantage of Tianyi Team’s momentum, they had a relatively smooth journey. Although there were formidable Star Beasts like three Zhu Yan blocking the way, it didn’t significantly affect them. The ’Supporting the Unyielding’ team’s Primordial Spirit reserves and spiritual power are still at their peak, they have no reason to change tactics unless... their target from the start was Desert Boat Team, following Tianyi Team was merely a tactic to conserve strength."

The host also found Lin Zhian’s analysis accurate, as it made more sense for the fourth place to challenge the third place in a sensible and steady manner, while the assumption of robbing Tianyi Team was quite shocking.

"Makes sense! With ’Supporting the Unyielding’ Team’s speed, they can reach Desert Boat Team before dawn, but continuously trekking is making the team members look unwell!"

Lin Zhian nodded, those young members did indeed look much more haggard compared to the daytime.