When you're trying to find the area of a circle, knowing the formula and not knowing it are two completely different outcomes.
Even though the formula is super simple, if you don't know it, you just gotta stare wide-eyed at that 3-point question.
It was like Du Yu and Li Mengnan's brains went "ber" and suddenly everything made sense!
Where's the radius? Quick, square it!
π? Multiply! Multiply it like your life depends on it!
Thus, the two set off on a whirlwind journey of collecting Demon Crystals. Using the word "harvest" to describe it couldn't be more perfect.
Their "Demon Crystal Hunt Formula" was as simple and brutal as could be, and it worked like magic!
As long as you grab the Demon Crystal, the Guardian Beast really does stop attacking.
Du Yu learned this himself, just a few hours ago, when he'd desperately grabbed a Demon Crystal off the ground—Guardian Demon Pet·Wooden Stump's vine whip stopped mid-air above his head, instantly giving up its attack...
This kind of scene made both of them delighted! Thus began their harvesting spree!
Out of all the Teacher's Guardian Demon Pets, Du Yu was always the happiest to run into Little Orange Pig.
Why?
This chubby, lazy guy is slow as heck—always leaves a chance for Du Yu's squad to score!
For example, right now, Du Yu is "luring the pig out of the mountains"...
"Wake up!" Du Yu fired a Fire Arrow from his bow at lightning speed, landing smack dab on Little Orange Pig's squishy butt, "Time to get up!"
Too bad Little Orange Pig is at the Peak of Mortal Level—Du Yu's Fire Arrow can't actually pierce its chubby butt, so he has to rely on the Fire Demon Breath from the arrow to invade its body, making its inner Demon Breath shudder.
"Chii!" Little Orange Pig let out a pained squeal, pushed himself up with his stubby legs, and the Demon Crystal under his belly rolled into view.
It squealed angrily, then charged headlong toward Du Yu.
Heroic Bronze·Fierce Boar Charge!
Little Orange Pig's whole body ignited in flames, snout rooting forward—charging right at Du Yu!
Honestly, this little guy was only a bit higher than Du Yu's ankles. No telling what kind of scene would happen if it actually rammed his legs?
But Du Yu had experience—totally unfazed!
He sidestepped, drew his bow and nocked an arrow in a flash.
Whoosh~
Another Fire Arrow burst into flames, and at the exact same moment, Du Yu's eyes shone even brighter.
Eye of Burning Sun—the auto-aim eyes, the head-locking eyes!
"Twang!" The bowstring snapped tight—Fire Arrow shot out at full speed.
Shooting another arrow, Du Yu didn't say a word, just turned and ran.
While he and Piggy were racing, the Fire Arrow whooshed dozens of meters across the ground—smack hitting the Demon Crystal.
A crisp "ding" sounded.
The irregularly shaped Demon Crystal was knocked flying.
Hiding behind a big tree to the side, Li Mengnan peeked out sneakily, watching Little Orange Pig pass by. She seized her chance and darted out!
"Ha-ha-HA!"
With a wicked cackle, Li Mengnan—totally nailing Du Yu's style—swiped upward with her Black Wind Sword!
Right behind her, Wind Witch Doll squeezed her eyes shut—winds started howling instantly.
Heroic Bronze·Little Wind Blow!
Double wind combo, sweeping straight for the unsuspecting Little Orange Pig.
Whoosh~
After a gust of wind, Little Orange Pig got blown off balance.
As it turned its head, though, the one it noticed wasn't Sixth Brother Li, but a fiery red figure in the distance.
"Ying~" Xiaoyan leaped and snatched the flying Seal Demon Crystal, smacking the ground with her bushy tail.
Falling from the sky, Xiaoyan plopped right down on her tail, bounced a couple times, and landed firmly on all fours.
"Loo?" Little Orange Pig froze in place.
It took a while to process, then snuffled at the grass, built a quick little nest, and flopped back down.
That carefree look—honestly, kind of enviable…
"Naisi! Number nine!" Li Mengnan ran to Xiaoyan, grinning from ear to ear, Wind Witch Doll hot on her heels vying for attention.
Du Yu also stopped running away, doubled back, carefully skirting Little Orange Pig—afraid the piggy might suddenly go wild and send him flying.
But he was overthinking it. Little Orange Pig was totally unbothered.
Where it failed its mission, it just plopped down for a nap.
After all, it just ran a few whole meters—must be exhausted.
Actually, there were even slower Guardian Beasts out here—like the Wood-type Monster Pet·Wooden Stump.
That one's literally a tiny wooden stump—its little branchy legs crawl super slowly, but it knows its weakness and just hugs its Demon Crystal tight, never falling for any tricks.
Unlike Little Orange Pig—slow and loves to charge at people…
When Du Yu regrouped with his squad, Xiaoyan was happily wagging her furry head, her fox eyes sparkling up at Du Yu.
She flicked her tongue, showing off the Demon Crystal in her mouth, blatantly flaunting her loot to Du Yu.
Du Yu gave a big thumbs up at just the right moment.
He figured this was his style for sure now—positive reinforcement!
Li Mengnan turned and looked at Du Yu: "That's probably enough, right? We're almost at the western boundary."
"Hmm…" Du Yu looked up.
The scorching sun was high in the sky, beams of sunlight filtering through the leaves in shafts.
Bands of light dappled Du Yu's face in patches of light and shadow.
It was lunchtime already. He and Li Mengnan were starving and thirsty. With nine Demon Crystals in hand, this should be good enough, right?
Actually, Du Yu could have gotten even more Demon Crystals. On the way, he'd run into two other teams while searching big trees, but he and Li Mengnan didn't take advantage.
Du Yu hesitated a moment, then said, "Should we head to the finish line?"
"With how you've done these last three days, and the number of Demon Crystals we got, we're totally fine!" Li Mengnan was bursting with confidence, gesturing to the warning line not far away. "As long as we follow it, we'll definitely make it out of the forest."
"Alright!" Du Yu was determined. He and Li Mengnan had nabbed nearly a fifth of all the Demon Crystals. Might as well stop here—no point in risking anything extra.
The longer you stick around this forest, the more likely you are to run into bandits!
Du Yu owed his whole start to robbing others—the Demon Crystals he used to "guarantee a pass" were all from Wei Feng. How could he not understand the joys of a good robbery?
"Let's go, Xiaoyan! Time to submit our test and feast!" Li Mengnan licked her dry lips.
"Ying!"
Motivated by food and water, the two of them followed the boundary line, quickly heading north.
Du Yu absorbed as much Fire Demon Breath from the world as he could, all while staying alert and scanning their surroundings.
No choice—after all, he was carrying a bagful of Demon Crystals. If someone snatched his "exam paper" right before submitting it, now THAT would be a riot.
Thanks to this vigilance and sharp eyes, Du Yu totally justified his cautious attitude! The closer they got to the finish, the more he realized he'd spotted something crazy!
Wait… is that… hair?
Du Yu's eyebrows shot up—he quickly grabbed the back of Li Mengnan's collar.
"Ugh—" Li Mengnan had been jogging along, but when she got yanked by her collar, it immediately choked her a bit.
"Ying?" Actually, Li Mengnan was fine. The one whose neck really got choked was Xiaoyan, riding on her collar…
Li Mengnan felt super bad—she genuinely thought Xiaoyan's head was gonna get squished big!
She glared wide-eyed, whipping around with a fierce look at Du Yu.
"Shhh." Du Yu looked deadly serious, putting a finger to his lips for silence.
Li Mengnan was instantly alert. It was rare to see Du Yu this serious, and most of her pique melted away. She lowered her voice: "What's up?"
Du Yu pulled Li Mengnan behind a tree, only half his face peeking out as he studied the distant trees ahead.
Li Mengnan said nothing, quietly soothing Xiaoyan, telling her to chill.
To be honest, not only were Li Mengnan and Xiaoyan holding their breaths—back at the campus monitoring room, Gong Cheng's face was just as grim.
His main focus was Du Yu. Ever since Du Yu's team got closer to the finish line, Gong Cheng's expression hadn't really changed, but in his heart he was getting increasingly concerned.
The students' miniature cameras weren't just for video and calling for help—they also had trackers, to make sure teachers could step in immediately if something went wrong.
So, Gong Cheng knew exactly what Du Yu was about to face—an ambush!
The test area's four boundary lines formed a diamond shape, with the entrance at one tip and the exit at another.
If someone set up an ambush right before the finish line, they'd definitely catch all the students coming to submit their test.
And right now, just ahead and to Du Yu's right, there were a full seven people hiding!
There are plenty of ways to pass this exam—these folks had clearly gone full bandit mode.
"Something's off." Du Yu pulled his head back, pressed against the tree. "There's an ambush."
Li Mengnan's heart jumped: "They're waiting at the finish, robbing every student's Demon Crystals?"
Du Yu nodded slightly, "That's my guess. Otherwise, why bother waiting right before the finish line?"
Li Mengnan whispered, "Who the heck is that bold? That's just begging to get hated—aren't they afraid of getting ganged up on?"
Du Yu thought it over. "Maybe the enemy team is huge and super confident? Or maybe they're only ambushing solo players, who knows?
Anyway, I definitely saw a girl's ponytail—wind blew it out just now, behind one of the trees."
Li Mengnan nodded, looking troubled. "Teacher did say we couldn't leave the boundaries… If only we could go around."
Du Yu thought again. "Let's backtrack a bit and see if we can spot all the ambushers."
Li Mengnan's eyes lit up, "Or we could wait for the next team to show up—once the ambushers attack, we'll know exactly how many there are and where they're hiding!"
Hearing this, Du Yu nodded emphatically: "Then we can jump in to help, or turn around and ambush the ambushers—depends on what happens!"
"Yep, exactly!" Li Mengnan's voice was even trembly—totally obvious she was amped up again.
Being sneaky and tricking people like this—that's the MOST fun!
Say no more, big thanks to Sixth Brother Du for showing me a whole new world!