Falling Cloud Valley.

Back Mountain.

Thud!

With a muffled sound, Qi Yuan descended from the sky, landing steadily on a patch of soft soil.

Raising his eyes, his view was filled with lush, verdant forests, deep and tranquil, with only the occasional distant cries of demon beasts breaking the silence.

He looked around but didn’t see any trace of others.

Since the flying boat was moving rapidly when everyone jumped off, and it was also stipulated that only one person could descend every ten breaths, the disciples participating in the Grand Competition were scattered to different locations.

Of course, this was deliberately arranged by the Internal Affairs Pavilion to prevent disciples from attacking each other immediately upon landing.

Apart from setting some rules, how this Grand Competition would unfold next was not within the consideration of the Internal Affairs Pavilion.

Only those who stood out in fierce competition would qualify to enter the Inner Sect.

Qi Yuan glanced at the score-recording jade token at his waist and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly:

If nothing else, Falling Cloud Valley does have its foundations. At the very least, they are seriously selecting talent. Only by simulating the harsh environment of the cultivation world to the greatest extent can true powerhouses be filtered out.

As these thoughts flowed through his mind, his figure swayed, and he vanished into the depths of the dense forest.

Meanwhile.

Xie Yuxing, holding a heavy, dark-colored long blade, carefully made his way through the jungle.

Suddenly, a gray blur silently swept past the grass and trees, pouncing toward his back like lightning, bringing with it a gust of foul wind.

“What is that?” Xie Yuxing was startled, but he had been on guard. Without even looking back, he fiercely swung his long blade behind him.

Squelch—

The sharp blade passed through flesh without any resistance, splattering a spray of blood.

The Gray-backed Wolf, at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, let out a miserable cry as its corpse was cleanly split in two and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

In the next moment, the jade token at Xie Yuxing’s waist shimmered with fluorescent light, displaying a number: [Two].

“Two points.”

Seeing this, Xie Yuxing’s face immediately lit up with joy. Although he was at the Perfection of Qi Refining and one of the top contenders in this Grand Competition, his luck seemed rather poor. Since entering, he had gained nothing until now; this was the first demon beast he had encountered.

Before the Grand Competition began, all demon beasts in this area had been carefully cleared out by the Internal Affairs Pavilion. All Foundation Building realm demon beasts were driven to another area, leaving only those at the Qi Refining stage.

Because demon beasts’ combat power exceeds that of cultivators at the same level, according to the rules, hunting demon beasts below the sixth layer of Qi Refining earns one point, while hunting demon beasts at the seventh layer and above earns two points.

Now that he had easily slain a Qi Refining seventh-layer wolf demon, he could gain exactly two points—an unexpected delight.

Before he could catch his breath, rustling sounds came again from the dense forest not far away.

Xie Yuxing tightened his grip on his magic blade and warily looked toward the direction of the sounds. He noticed movements approaching from afar; branches and leaves shook continuously along their path until they were right before him.

“More demon beasts?” He narrowed his eyes slightly and swung his long blade horizontally. A visible sharp blade aura shot out with a howl toward that direction.

Swish!

The blade aura ran rampant; surrounding trees were severed at their waists, revealing a large clearing.

Just as he prepared to strike again, two figures jumped out from the forest, shouting:

“Senior Brother Xie, don’t attack! It’s us.”

Upon seeing who it was, Xie Yuxing relaxed slightly but did not sheathe his blade. Instead, he asked warily:

“Junior Brother Liu, Junior Brother Liang, what are you two doing here?”

Hearing this, a tall and stout young male cultivator among them put on an ingratiating smile and explained:

“We just met up as well. Since we saw you landing nearby earlier, we specifically came looking for you.”

“Looking for me for what?”

Xie Yuxing frowned and gave them a puzzled look.

The tall, stout cultivator smiled slightly and said sincerely:

“Senior Brother Xie is outstandingly heroic and exceptional; you’re sure to take first place in this Outer Sect Grand Competition.”

“But as the saying goes: one person’s plan is short-sighted; many people’s plans are long-sighted. Fighting alone puts one at a disadvantage. Why don’t we travel together? With you as our leader, we’ll just follow along for some scraps.”

The other disciple also nodded and then said with a fierce expression:

“For me, whether I make the top ten or not doesn’t matter. I must find that Big Qi kid and teach him a harsh lesson. Then I’ll snatch his jade token—that’ll satisfy my anger.”

“That’s right. Once we spot any trace of that guy, we absolutely cannot let him off easily. If our three-man team works together, it’ll at least increase our chances so he doesn’t escape.”

Hearing these words, all three instantly felt a sense of shared hatred; even their relationship grew closer.

Xie Yuxing pondered briefly before nodding.

“In that case, you two can follow me. But let me be clear upfront: I want seventy percent of all points earned by our team; you two can split the remaining thirty percent.”

These two Junior Brothers before him were one at the seventh layer of Qi Refining and one at the eighth layer; together, they were no match for him. There was no need to worry about them trying any tricks; they would make suitable helpers.

“Thank you for your generosity, Senior Brother Xie.”

The two expressed their joy and gratitude profusely as if overwhelmed with emotion.

However…

A clear voice shattered this harmonious scene:

“You said you wanted to teach me a harsh lesson? Well, now I’m standing right here. What do you say?”

Hearing this voice, all three changed expressions simultaneously, then quickly reacted, looking toward its source.

About ten zhang away from them, a familiar figure emerged from some bushes, looking at them with an amused half-smile.

“Big Qi! So it’s you!”

After clearly seeing who it was, all three were stunned for a moment, then their eyes blazed with fury as they gritted their teeth angrily.

“Great! Before we even went looking for you, you actually delivered yourself right to our doorstep.”

“This time, let’s see how you die!”

With several furious roars, all three summoned their magic weapons, charging toward Qi Yuan.

“If you’ve got guts, chase after me.”

Qi Yuan gave a faint smile, then turned around and started running.

“Hmph! Trying to run? This time we definitely won’t let you off!”

Watching his fleeing figure, how could they be willing to let him go? They immediately gave chase close behind.

An unknown amount of time later, all three were somewhat panting, having completely lost track of Qi Yuan.

“Dammit, how can this guy run so fast?”

The tall, stout cultivator wiped sweat from his forehead, cursing under his breath. “Next time I’ll definitely break his legs.”

Xie Yuxing surveyed their surroundings, confirming their location, then pointed in one direction.

“It looks like he went east. As long as we keep going in this direction, we’ll run into him sooner or later.”

Awooo——

Right at that moment, wolf howls suddenly came from all directions. Immediately, over twenty Gray-backed Wolves abruptly leaped out from among the trees, forming up positions surrounding all three.

This wolf pack consisted of robust individuals with glossy fur. The leading Wolf King was fully at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, coldly staring at its prey ahead.

“Work has arrived.”

Seeing this wolf pack, instead of being alarmed, all three looked pleased.

These were clearly shining points!

Gray-backed Wolves could be considered among the weakest demon beasts on the Back Mountain. Apart from having sufficient numbers, they were useless, lacking even innate spells—perfect point-farming tools.

“Brothers, let’s go slaughter these vile creatures.”

Xie Yuxing waved, leading the charge and pouncing forward.

The other two, like tigers descending mountains, charged into the wolf pack, wildly hacking and slashing, seemingly venting all their earlier anger onto them.

Instantly, wolf corpses littered the ground, and rivers of blood flowed.

One quarter-hour later.

“Heh, not bad, earned a full fifty points this time.”

Xie Yuxing wiped blood off his head, his face full of excitement. The other two followers also wore joyful expressions.

Before they could free themselves from the joy of harvest, another group of Gray-backed Wolves entered their view.

After another fierce battle, the trio again annihilated the entire group of Gray-backed Wolves, then were exhausted, completely drained, without even the strength to speak. All took recovery pills from their storage bags, sitting on the ground regulating their breathing.

Not long after, Xie Yuxing recovered seventy or eighty percent of the spiritual power within his body. Looking at his team’s points already breaking a hundred, his face was full of satisfaction.

“Huh—though tiring, it’s worth it.”

“Continuing like this, first place in the Grand Competition shouldn’t be a problem, right…”

However—

Roar!

Two Thunderstorm Bears, their bodies crackling with lightning, charged recklessly, rushing over. The trio was forced to rise and meet them in battle.

After laboriously killing the Thunderstorm Bears, there came a group of Flame-spitting Apes, then Unicorn Salamanders, Giant-toothed Lizards, Silver Moon Leopards…

Various kinds of demon beasts seemed endless. Every short while, different types of demon beasts would appear, making the trio struggle to cope, exhausted from running until sunset when it finally ceased.

“So tired!”

Confirming no more demon beast traces were around, the trio, finally sweat-drenched, collapsed on the ground gasping heavily, panting.

“How many points now?”

“Probably over five hundred.”

“Hiss… how so many?”

“Probably almost wiped out all demon beasts within a ten-li radius. Why wouldn’t there be many?”

Suddenly, Xie Yuxing seemed to remember something. He hurriedly took off his storage bag, pulled out a jade bottle, and opened it, finding the inside completely empty, clean enough to see the bottom.

“Oh no, my recovery pills are finished. You guys have any?”

The other two hurriedly pulled out their storage bags, their faces instantly turning ugly.

“Mine are used up.”

“I’m out too.”

The three looked at each other, expressions full of frustration and gloom.

This Grand Competition lasted three days. Now without recovery pills, the situation going forward would become extremely difficult.

Right then—

Thud!

A light sound came before the trio saw a dusty storage bag descend from the sky, coincidentally landing on the ground less than one chi away in front of them.

“Who?”

Seeing this strange storage bag, the trio tensed warily, searched the surroundings, and found nothing unusual.

Confirming the storage bag was not poisoned, Xie Yuxing picked it up. Inside, he found three bottles fully packed with Revival Spring Pills!

????

“Could the Internal Affairs Pavilion, seeing my outstanding performance, have specially air-dropped supplies?”

Pinching one bright-colored, fragrant Revival Spring Pill, Xie Yuxing felt somewhat dazed…

Square above.

Currently, Falling Cloud Valley higher-ups exchanged glances, looking toward the magic mirror, their eyes full of strangeness.

After a prolonged silence, Internal Affairs Pavilion Elder Yang Xiude finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:

“This kid is not right!”

Bai Xirou slightly pursed her thin lips, murmuring:

“Junior Brother Qi, what are you trying to do?”