As, the core of the beasts and pills that the warriors need for their own cultivation is not enough.
Naturally, no one wanted to share this kind of secret. If the truth became public, countless warriors would lose their minds trying to obtain those resources.
Even in large families or sects, it was unrealistic to supply beast cores and pills in large quantities to all clan members.
"Hahaha! So much beast core spiritual energy... it's enough to practice me for ten days. If this keeps up, I might reach the peak of the Refinement Realm before the trial ends!"
Keep practicing!
Keep practicing!
Keep practicing!
While Lu Shen continued his cultivation, chaos be gain in the outside world.
Many students fought each other fiercely, all for more points and a higher ranking. But the weaker ones suffered. The materials they had painstakingly gathered were stolen one after another.
Ten days later…
Boom! Boom!!
"Hahaha! I've finally done it! I've reached the peak of the Refinement Realm!"
Warrior Realm: Refinement (Peak) – 90%
"Time to test my strength."
But when he looked over, the demon core he had been using crumbled into dust.
Later...
"A Spotted Snake."
Lu Shen narrowed his eyes at a giant, two-meter-long snake lying about five meters ahead. It wasn't particularly dangerous, any ordinary warrior could handle it.
Swish!
The snake rushed forward, striking at Lu Shen.
He didn't even bother to dodge. With his current speed, avoiding it would be child's play, as there was no need.
Boom!
A flash of light erupted as Lu Shen's fist struck out. The snake's body froze mid-air, crashed to the ground, it shake its body violently, before staying still.
Looking closely, the creature's head was completely smashed in.
"Too weak." Lu Shen shook his head in disappointment.
He extracted the snake's eyes, one of the few valuable parts and discarded the rest of the corpse. The body wasn't worth storing.
Then, he began hunting more low-rank demon beasts and normal creatures with reckless speed.
In the blink of an eye and with night about to fall.
"Not much harvest today."
Lu Shen counted his kills.
Today's total amounted to 100 points.
For most students, that would be a great achievement but for Lu Shen, it was nowhere near enough.
With his current position at the top of the leaderboard, he was already in top one position.
The night was dangerous. In darkness, it became nearly impossible to detect some beasts with the naked eye. Hunting at night meant risking being hunted in return.
There were basically only predatory snakes on the tree and some low level beasts, but as long as you were careful and paid attention to the surrounding environment, it was not easy to be attacked by the snakes.
And even if something did appear, Lu Shen's reaction time and speed were more than enough to deal with it.
Next morning...
Lu Shen roasted wolf meat, which he had hunted the previous day.
Just as he was about to leave for another round of hunting.
"Di di di!"
A beep from his wristwatch stopped him.
"Student, today is the final day of the academy trial. The leaderboard is now closed. Final results will be announced at the campsite."
"Additionally, students are now allowed to battle each other for points, but killing is strictly prohibited. Anyone who kills will face death."
Lu Shen clured lips up and shook his head.
"I knew it… they were going to do this. They just want to find powerful warriors to represent the academy in the graduation test."
"I need to be cautious now."
He wasn't afraid. But facing ten peak Refinement Realm warriors at once? Even someone at the Integration Realm would struggle.
He decided to head deeper into the Small Wilderness Area.
It was riskier.
But that also meant fewer students would dare enter and stronger beasts could be found.
----
Boom! Boom!
A distant explosion shook the trees.
"A battle in that direction?" Lu Shen narrowed his eyes and grew alert.
"Who's going to save you now?" a male voice sneered.
"I don't need anyone!" a cold female voice replied.
"That voice… sounds familiar."
Lu Shen's eyes sharpened.
"Who's attacking her? She doesn't sound like she's in good shape."
He had no real reason to interfere, but if it was who he thought it was, then perhaps… she was his first friend in this world.
After a short rushing, he reached a clearing ground.
About four students were ganging up on a lone figure. Several beast corpses lay scattered on the ground.
"Feng Yue."
Lu Shen's eyes locked onto the wounded girl. His guess had been right.
She was in terrible shape, blood dripping down her arms, her face was pale from exhaustion. She kept throwing punches and bloodline skill at the four attackers, obviously fighting with all she got.
Lu Shen remained calm.
He wasn't particularly emotional. Feng Yue was in second place on the leaderboard, it made sense others would want to steal her points.
If it were just average students, she might have held her own.
But among the attackers was Tangsu Ming with three other middle grade Refinement Realm warriors attacking together.
Name: Tangsu Ming
Age: 19
Race: Human
Bloodline: Earth Fox (Top Grade)
Warrior Realm: Refinement (Late) – 93%
Strength: 170
Endurance: 150
Agility: 100
Luck: 14
Skill: Earth Armor
Earth Armor: Summons a protective barrier made of solid earth to defend against attacks.
"Hmm… His bloodline gives him excellent defense. Looks like he's been using spiritual pills to boost his strength quickly. He's powerful, but his foundation is probably weaker than a real warrior at his current realm."
Lu Shen's eyes flickered, and he used his insight ability to scan the other three as well.
All of them had awakened middle-grade bloodlines and were roughly equal in strength.
So, Lu Shen chose his target, the strongest among the three and charged straight at Chu Chu, a member of Tangsu Ming's team.
With a burst of speed, Lu Shen blurred through the air, his fist glowing faintly with condensed energy.
"Puff!"
His punch landed cleanly at Chu Chu's gut.
The instant Lu Shen's punch made contact, Chu Chu felt as though he had been struck by a 10,000 kg bull.
Chu Chu flew back like a broken doll, crashing into the ground a few meters away. He didn't even have the chance to scream, as he was already unconscious before he hit the ground.
Chu Chu: "...."
Chu Chu only scream in his heart.
Who the hell hit me....
Tangsu Ming's team froze, his eyes wide open by the sudden attack out of nowhere and barely had time to react to Lu Shen's speed.
"What the hell?!"
Tangsu Ming's face twisted in disbelief.
"You...Lu Shen?! What are you doing here?!"
Lu Shen stepped forward, calm and cold.
"Well, well, what a disappointment... ganging up on a single girl? Shame on you" he said with a mocking smiling as he placed himself in front of Feng Yue.
Tangsu Ming felt that he was being looked down upon by Lu Shen.
"Well, well, if it isn't Lu Shen, always sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and playing hero saving damsels in distress."
"So what?" Lu Shen without shame said playfully.
Everyone: "..."
Feng Yue: "..."
A heavy silence settled. Even Feng Yue couldn't believe how shamelessly Lu Shen was.
Feng Yue face turn red from what Lu Shen did and said.
"Tangsu Ming, I should've known you'd be the snake behind this."
Lu Shen's gaze was sharp.
"Ganging up on Feng Yue for a few extra points? Pathetic."
Tangsu Ming howle with black face.
"Watch your tongue. You think you're righteous? You're just trash playing the savior."
"Maybe I'm not perfect" Lu Shen replied, stepping closer, "but at least I don't bully the weak just to look strong. You and your lackeys pick fights with weak people only and scared of the strong."
"Ha! We'll see about that. You think you're a match for us? You're dead, Lu Shen!"
Before Lu Shen could respond,
"Lu Shen, don't! This isn't your fight!" Feng Yue called out, worried.
He turned to her, and for a brief moment, his fierce expression softened.
"I can't just walk away… not when it's you who's in danger."
Her breath choked. No one, not even her own clan, had ever said something like that to her.
A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"But they're not ordinary students! They're at late stage of refinement realm."
"This girl… she's worried about me?" Lu Shen's heart warmed.
"Enough talk!"
"Let's finish this!" Tangsu Ming felt annoyed seeing Lu Shen and Feng Yue arguing like couple.
Lu Shen really wanted to kill them in a single blast with his punch, but he couldn't do that in this trial ground, since he always felt like someone was watching them or he might leave evidence that might bring trouble later.
Fine, I won't kill them… but Tangsu Ming will pay.
Tangsu Ming and his goons were strong, maybe even on par with peak refinement stage realm warriors.
A head-on attack would be reckless.
Lu Shen fully used his speed to his advantage. He moved so smoothly that his opponents could barely follow him.
He maintained twice the speed to deal with these members of Tangsu Ming's team. With swift skill, he could accurately grasp the timing and deliver a fatal blow at the moment.
"Puff!"
He punched one of Tangsu Ming's teammates and then the other one, who were standing side by side.
With Lu Shen's speed and strength, how could a student increase their strength with just pills, can withstand the attack of Lu Shen's refined strength from a life and death battle?
Lu Shen: "How weak."
Lan Wan: "..."
Wang Su: "..."
"Lu Shen, you coward! If you've got guts, face us head on and stop attacking from the shadows" Tangsu Ming roared, spitting in rage.
"As you wish."
Lu Shen concentrated, circulating every ounce of his spiritual energy, prepared for a single decisive strike against Tangsu Ming.
With a deep breath.
Lu Shen's energy surged. His spiritual energy flared up,
"Inferno Strike...!"
The power behind Lu Shen's attack was immense, far beyond what a normal warrior at late stage could endure. It was a blazing punch, he aimed directly at Tangsu Ming.
Tangsu Ming, seeing the fiery punch towards him, he felt fear grip his heart. With quick thinking, he channeled his own spiritual energy, he roared and he summoned his bloodline skill to defend himself.
"Earth Armor!"
Tangsu Ming's heart nearly stopped. Desperately, he raised his arms and shouted again,
"Earth Armor!"
Tangsu Ming's quick thinking paid off, thick layer of earth spiritual energy cover him, creating a shield just in time to deflect Lu Shen's fiery punch.
Boom....
Initially, it seemed as though the Earth Armor might withstand the impact, but as seconds passed, the sheer force behind Lu Shen's strike proved overwhelming.
Crack. Crack... CRASH!
The earth armor cracked and then shattered and Tangsu Ming felt the impact like a 10,000 kg boulder slamming into his body.
He was thrown back, crashing into the ground and wound all over his body. he even cough up blood.
"No...! How can he be this strong...?! I refuse to believe this!!"
He knelt there, trembling, blood dripping from his wounds, some of his bones clearly broken.
His eyes burned with a murderous glare as he stared up at Lu Shen,
As if he could eat Lu Shen alive.
However because of his spiritual energy being drain , he would only grale at Lu Shen.
On Lu Shen side, Lu Shen win the fight but his spiritual energy nearly drained. He could only had enough energy to use one more skill.
Tangsu Ming, still on his knees, glared up at Lu Shen with bloodshot eyes, his face twisted in rage.
"Just you wait...!" he spat, voice shaking with humiliation.
Lu Shen looked down at him, his expression turning cold.
"Oh, it's not over"