CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27: EYES RED WITH ENVY

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

Everyone else carefully put away their Soul Beads, but when they reached Wang Lan’s hands, he absorbed them one by one as if they were sugar beans.

After absorbing more than a dozen in succession, Wang Lan suddenly felt several pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

Looking up, he saw a variety of expressions. Jiang Xinyu was all right, just a bit surprised, but Gong Feiyu’s expression was somewhat twisted. Wang Youle’s eyes were blood-red; that look was all too familiar, like a guy in junior high who used to pick fights with Wang Lan for no reason.

It was said that the boy’s parents were highly educated. He transferred from Tong City and, on his first day of school, declared to the entire class with a condescending attitude that he would take first place in the grade.

That year, Wang Lan was still a low-key good kid. A hundred thousand primary school students hadn’t yet hoisted Wang Lan upon a pedestal. In the first month’s exam, he dominated the first place with a twenty-point lead over the boy.

Wang Lan still remembered that boy’s eyes, as red as Wang Youle’s were at this moment.

Afterwards, every exam saw the boy explode with jealousy. For the sake of his eye health, he returned to Tong City to dominate there for the second term.

Looking back, Wang Lan still felt a twinge of guilt.

"Why can you score so well? Why, why can’t I surpass you no matter how hard I try?"

"I’m leaving. Being in the same class as you was my misfortune. Suzhou City may be yours, but Tong City is mine!"

Recalling that sunset farewell, Wang Lan internally sent his blessings but also felt helpless. After all, I didn’t want this, but... what can I do if my strength doesn’t allow it?

In Wang Youle’s heart, Soul Beads were more precious than gold, time, or even life itself. Seeing Wang Lan squander them so carelessly, he felt a pain that made it hard to breathe—a pain that was slowly tearing him apart.

But Wang Lan didn’t mean to hurt his soul like that. After all, the only value Soul Beads held for him was skill points, even if they could also replenish Star Power. What else was he supposed to do if not absorb them to extract those points? Was he supposed to just let them pile up and weigh him down?

"Xu, your expression is getting more and more ferocious... If there’s something you want to say, just say it. I can take it."

"What the hell can you accept wholeheartedly? You obviously don’t know how hard it is to come by Soul Beads; don’t you feel any regret? Who absorbs them like you do? The best value of Soul Beads comes from absorbing them in the largest quantity. At least after accumulating three hundred, you should absorb them all at once to maximize your chance of breaking through the shackles of Star Power limits and advancing to a new stage. You’re absorbing them one by one, what? Are you lacking mana that badly? Is your Star Power being consumed so much? Doesn’t wasting Soul Beads like this hurt you? I’ve noticed this habit of yours before. I always thought you were using some ineffective Star Martial Skill that depleted your Star Power. But now I see you’re just absorbing them for fun."

"That’s not true, Soul Beads really do help me a lot..." Wang Lan said seriously, and then took out another Soul Bead.

SNAP— The Soul Bead shattered as its Star Power was drained and dissipated. The sound of breaking echoed like the snapping of Xu Xiangwen’s heartstrings. In an instant, veins bulged on Xu Xiangwen’s forehead.

"Feiyu, quick, stop me! I’m afraid I can’t restrain myself and might kill him... hurry..."

"I want to kill him too, but hold back. The Soul Beads are his; let him do what he wants with them. Besides, it’s not like you can beat him anyway."

Wang Lan continued to absorb Soul Beads, and Xu Xiangwen silently turned away, pretending not to see.

All of Wang Lan’s skills had reached the peak of the Bronze Nine levels, and there were no more skill points to allocate. But even if he couldn’t allocate points to skills, Wang Lan still poured them into the Phoenix Form. I, Wang Lan, have always kept my word. Even if I encounter danger, even if I am beaten to death, I will never use the Phoenix Form again. Its side effects are worse than a clean death. Thinking this, he added another ten skill points to the Phoenix Form.

Keeping ten Soul Beads in hand in case he ran out of mana, Wang Lan finally stopped his nerve-wracking behavior for everyone else.

"We’ve rested enough, let’s continue," Jiang Xinyu stood up, gently untied the ribbon from the back of her head, letting her long, flowing hair dance in the air, as beautiful as a sky full of flying dandelions.

If Snow Spiders were the main force of Exotic Beasts in the junior trial grounds, then Flaming Leopards, Gale Wolves, and dozens of other Exotic Beasts could be collectively referred to as other Exotic Beasts.

Snow Spiders could easily spawn tens of thousands of offspring, while the entire population of Flaming Leopards numbered only a few thousand. However, after Jiang Xinyu’s team’s tragic, inhumane cycle of herding and slaughtering for several hours, the number of Flaming Leopards had already decreased by a third.

In the central den of the Flaming Leopards, the newly ascended Leopard King had successfully inherited everything from his predecessor. Besides the loyal little brothers, there were also dozens of the most beautiful female leopards in the tribe.

While the Leopard King was diligently working for the propagation of his tribe, a one-eyed Flaming Leopard rushed into the den in a panic, "My king, terrible news..."

The Leopard King shuddered with fear and turned his ferocious gaze to the cyclops as if looking at a corpse. If it hadn’t been for the fact that this loyal subordinate had made great contributions to defeat the Old Leopard King, he would already be dead.

"A small team of trialists is brutally slaughtering our brethren. Nearly two thousand brothers have been killed already. If this goes on, our tribe will be exterminated..."

ROAR—

A leopard’s roar shook heaven and earth. Wang Lan and his teammates, who had just finished collecting Soul Beads, stopped in their tracks.

"What’s happening?"

"The Flaming Leopards are rallying to their central tribe. Perhaps we’ve hunted them too fiercely. Shall we change locations?"

"The intelligence of Exotic Beasts isn’t high. Even if they’re temporarily aware of danger, they will come out again after a while. It would be a waste of more than an hour to change spots, and in that time, we could collect quite a number of Soul Beads." Wang Youle was in a good mood now; anyone would be happy after successfully gathering seven to eight hundred Soul Beads in a day.

Having just stepped into the Star Shine Stage, Wang Youle was set to advance to the middle phase with so many Soul Beads. His position in the team was secure. Moreover, Wang Youle’s ability to join Jiang Xinyu’s team was definitely not an undeserved reputation. At least his strength was top-notch among the children from ordinary families in the class. The trial not only yielded a large number of Soul Beads but also marked significant progress in Basic Skills. Even though there was a clear gap compared to Wang Lan and the others, he was still far better than most.

"Even if you want to fleece someone, you can’t just focus on the Flaming Leopards. If we keep killing like this, the Flaming Leopards will become protected animals."

"Let’s kill another batch," Jiang Xinyu decisively quelled any potential dissent before it could sprout. "Next batch, we switch places. Gale Wolves, Tierra Mice, and Extension Beasts in turn, one type a day, and the ten-day limit will be almost up."

"Alright then."

After resting for half an hour, Xu Xiangwen used his Heavenly Eye to scope out the area and found that most of the Flaming Leopards were concentrated on a gentle slope.

There’s nothing wrong with using old tricks if they’re effective. Given the pitiful intelligence of the Flaming Leopards, they weren’t the kind to learn from their mistakes. After being harassed by Wang Lan and the others for a short time, thirty Flaming Leopards unleashed a roar indicative of the beast clan’s indomitable spirit and charged after Wang Lan and the others in unison.

The collective chase inflamed their blood, numbing their sense of vigilance and fear. They had no idea that the pack of Flaming Leopards behind them was getting further and further away, with many more of their brethren not joining their charge.

With prey ahead and no backup behind.

In that moment, the Flaming Leopards felt invincible, as if all obstacles before them would be annihilated under the force of their charge.

That is, except for... powerful Star Martial Skills.

So it was only when Wang Lan and the others scattered in an instant and snow began to whirl around Jiang Xinyu, with countless icicles pouring down like a barrage of bullets, that the Flaming Leopards realized they had fallen into the despicable humans’ trap again.

After a sweeping strike, the Flaming Leopards were frozen, dumbfounded. Before they could recover, a huge shadow suddenly fell at their feet. Looking up, they saw massive hailstones the size of basketballs falling from the sky like meteors.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM— Those crushed to death on the spot were considered lucky. Many more had their spines broken or legs smashed.

In the spirit of humanitarianism, Wang Lan and the others quickly went forward to relieve them from their suffering with swift blade strikes. Compassion for the world, infinite merit, amen.

"Something’s not right... The Flaming Leopards are charging in unison," Xu Xiangwen, with his Heavenly Eye open, shouted harshly.

"Towards us?"

"Yes, led by the Leopard King."

"Retreat!" Jiang Xinyu shouted, making a split-second decision.

"But there are still a few that haven’t dropped Soul Beads..." Wang Youle called out reluctantly.

"We can afford to lose those, move it!"

Quite a few, really... such a pity to leave them... but...

Seeing his teammates turning to leave, Wang Youle gritted his teeth and quickly followed. The valley walls on either side retreated swiftly as the roaring of Flaming Leopards echoed behind them.

"Have they caught up?"

"No, but they’re blocking the mouth of the valley. Our exit at the back is essentially sealed. It looks like we’ll have to go back the way we came to Wind Valley. Gale Wolves aren’t as foolish as Flaming Leopards. It’s possible..."

Suddenly, Xu Xiangwen’s words ceased, and Jiang Xinyu and the others stopped in their tracks in an instant.

A huge Flaming Leopard, as big as a warhorse, suddenly appeared in everyone’s field of vision, only about a dozen meters away.

A pair of blood-red eyes stared coldly at the group of five, and from its slightly parted mouth, saliva dripped continuously.

"He looks hungry..." Xu Xiangwen asked somewhat nervously.

"Now all I want to ask is how you scouted. How could you not notice it when it’s so close? Didn’t you say that the Leopard King was behind us? Then what is this thing?"

"I was too focused on watching behind us and didn’t pay attention to the front. Also, the Leopard King is indeed behind us, still with the Flaming Leopards at the valley entrance roaring... This one... perhaps... it’s from a different tribe, here for a family visit?"

"Stop joking around. This Leopard King is the one that fought with the Spider King before, and those injuries were left by the Spider King," Jiang Xinyu said coldly.

"So you mean the Leopard King behind us is the new king, who took advantage of the old Leopard King’s injury to stage a coup and exile him? The Old Leopard King has been lingering nearby, licking his wounds, and now, hungry, he’s come out to hunt and happens upon a five-course human buffet delivered to his doorstep?"

"Lanzi, you still have the mood for jokes at a time like this?" Gong Feiyu looked at Wang Lan speechlessly.

"He’s injured, and his strength hasn’t fully recovered," Wang Lan said gravely.

"Although there’s a certain gap between the peak of Star Cloud and the early stage of Star Cloud, this gap is not insurmountable," Jiang Xinyu slowly extended a finger. "Let’s take him down!"