"You figured it out?!"
Smith clasped his hands together, wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes as he entered Sage Mode.
With the power of Sage Mode enhancing his strength, his combat capabilities now matched that of a beginner-level Tier Three cultivator—and even approached intermediate-level Tier Three!
Bang!
Smith stomped hard on the ground, leapt into the air, and landed squarely on the back of the male Corrupted Snake King. His arm morphed as a sharp wooden spike grew from it, stabbing fiercely into the serpent's body.
Puff!
The hardened spike pierced deep into the snake's thick, scaly flesh.
"Wood Release: Grafting Technique!"
Puff!
Another spike buried itself into the beast. Spiritual energy surged violently from Smith's body, flooding into the snake's internals. The wooden spike inside suddenly began to multiply, branching wildly and forming a tangle of thorny growths.
They burst outward.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
A dozen sharp wooden spikes erupted from within the Corrupted Snake King, shooting out through its body like a deadly ball of thorns. The massive snake let out one final hiss before falling completely still.
It was dead.
On the other side, Xi Congqing was still locked in battle with the female Corrupted Snake King, a more powerful Tier Three intermediate beast.
"Divine Wind Blade!"
She raised her snow-white hand, and dark green wind blades materialized before her, sharp and gleaming. They surged forward, forming a wall of slicing wind aimed directly at the snake.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The barrage of blades struck the snake's body, but its tough scales deflected most of the attacks. The sound of metal on metal rang out as the blades left only shallow marks on the thick armor-like hide.
"Careful!" someone yelled.
With a mighty sweep of its tail, the Corrupted Snake King knocked down several large trees, uprooting them like weeds. It twirled its body, lifting the trees, and hurled them toward Xi Congqing like massive spears.
Xi reacted instantly. A pair of jade-green wind wings spread from her back, allowing her to dodge with incredible speed and agility.
The monster didn't stop. It tore more trees from the ground and launched them in succession, turning the battlefield into a storm of flying debris.
Using her speed, Xi Congqing dodged one projectile after another.
"Flower of the Fallen Water!"
Without hesitation, she summoned two massive serpentine water constructs that rose from behind her and lunged toward the Corrupted Snake King. The water snakes wrapped tightly around the beast, baring their fangs and attempting to crush it.
Boom!
The Corrupted Snake King thrashed wildly, trying to shake off the water serpents with its tremendous strength.
At that moment, Smith arrived on the scene to assist.
"Wood Release: Tree Binding and Eternal Burial!"
He formed the hand seals with a sharp clap.
Thick vines and roots burst from the earth beneath the Corrupted Snake King, lashing out and entwining its limbs and body.
With the Water Release from Xi Congqing's technique and Wood Release from Smith's, the snake was finally immobilized. Its struggles slowed.
"Heave!"
Smith roared, channeling all of his Sage Mode spiritual energy into the bindings. The vines glowed with power and tightened their grip, dragging the massive serpent slowly into the earth.
Only its triangular skull remained above ground.
"Sky-Splitting Wind!" Xi Congqing shouted.
Two gigantic wind blades descended from above, slicing through the air like guillotines.
Crack!
This time, the blades struck true, piercing directly through the snake's skull and ending its life instantly.
"Beautiful teamwork!" Xi Congqing gave Smith a big thumbs-up.
She wasn't surprised that Smith had killed the male Corrupted Snake King on his own. She had long recognized his hidden strength—far beyond what he normally displayed. That was precisely why she had the confidence to take on this many high-level corrupted beasts.
With both Snake Kings eliminated, Smith and Xi Congqing returned to help the rest of the team clear the remaining corrupted snakes.
After nearly thirty minutes of coordinated battle, the entire snake group was finally wiped out.
Some team members suffered minor injuries, but they were quickly treated by Xi Congqing and Zhao Mei, the two water-element healers in their group.
While healers usually avoided direct combat to conserve energy, Xi Congqing—being the strongest among them—often had no choice but to step in during difficult encounters.
"Seems like we're stronger than those snobs from Haiyun College," Wei Lin said, his eyes sparkling as he looked over the piles of snake corpses.
The battle had yielded a large number of second-level beasts. Their points were definitely going to rise sharply.
"Let's not celebrate just yet—start collecting the monster cores!" Smith called out.
Everyone got to work, carving open the fallen beasts and retrieving their monster cores. The haul was impressive.
They handed the cores to Smith and Xi Congqing, the team's point holders.
After a short break to recover their strength and spiritual energy, the group resumed their advance, setting out in search of their next prey.
---
Over the Next Three Days...
Their journey remained smooth. Smith and his group encountered over a dozen different kinds of monsters, mostly second and third tier, and they managed to defeat them all without major issues.
Their points continued to climb steadily.
They did run into other student groups from various academies, but those encounters remained cordial. There were no conflicts—just greetings and mutual respect.
After all, not every academy was as petty as Haiyun College.
---
Day 5 – Final Day of Phase One
As evening approached, the end of the first phase drew near. The moment they reached sunset, all remaining teams would be teleported out of the Monster Forest.
"I wonder where we rank now," Smith said, holding up one of the many monster cores they'd collected. The team was camped on a grassy hilltop, waiting to see if any more monsters would appear.
Just then, their Space Stones lit up with a soft glow, and a message was broadcast to all remaining participants:
> "Twelve hours remain in the first phase."
"The current overall rankings are as follows:
34th: Shenshui College – 510 points
33rd: Shenfeng College – 520 points
32nd: Tianhuo College – 550 points...
10th: Platinum College – 710 points
9th: Huaihai College – 720 points"
Hearing their academy's name, everyone perked up.
"Ninth place with 720 points? Not bad at all," Xi Congqing said with a pleased smile.
The Space Stones weren't just for emergency teleportation. They also functioned as communication devices and point trackers.
Smith listened closely as the rankings continued.
> 8th: Tianming College – 730 points
7th: Blue Ocean College – 750 points
6th: Qingshan Academy – 760 points
5th: Azure Phoenix Academy – 770 points
4th: Scarlet Lotus College – 780 points
3rd: Thunderstorm Institute – 790 points
2nd: Wind God Academy – 799 points
1st: Jinghai College – 800 points
A long silence followed the announcement.
"Jinghai College is something else," Wei Lin said quietly. "They're way ahead. Just one point away from 800…"
"Well, they are the strongest academy in the southeastern regions. It makes sense," Zhao Mei added.
Smith clicked his tongue in annoyance. "So what? It's only 80 points more than us. We just need to find another group of high-tier monsters, and we'll catch up easily."
His annoyance stemmed more from personal bias than logic—he still held a grudge against Lin Yun from Jinghai College, and by extension, the whole academy.
"Oh? Then we'll leave it to you," Xi Congqing said playfully. "Lead us to victory and surpass Jinghai on the last day!"
"Let's go! Surpass them!"
The rest of the team chimed in with excitement.
Smith raised his fist high. "Alright! Follow me!"
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