"Next, I shall exercise my prerogative as one of the Shanhai Ten Prodigies to add a few more rules to the trial~~~~~"Standing up, Xia Wanlong''s clear and pleasant voice echoed across the entire plaza.


    The freshmen, who had been eager and full of anticipation, just waiting for the Mystic Realm to open, were suddenly dumbfounded."Additional rules? Is that even allowed?"


    Xia Wanlong suppressed a smile at the corner of her lips and said, "Don''t you find the existing rules too rigid? Utterly devoid of fun!""As for me, I want to secure more benefits for the victors, and at the same time, add a little excitement to everyone''s trial journey.""Here''s the data I received—among this year''s 2578 freshmen, there are 1357 C-rank, 1072 B-rank, 146 A-rank, and 3 S-rank. How about this: starting from the sixth day of the trial, all students are permitted to hunt each other! Eliminating any student will grant extra Mystic Energy!"


    "Eliminating one C-rank student grants an extra 1 point of Mystic Energy;Eliminating one B-rank student grants an extra 3 points of Mystic Energy;Eliminating one A-rank student grants an extra 10 points of Mystic Energy;If anyone manages to eliminate an S-rank student, congratulations, you get an extra 100 points of Mystic Energy!"


    Xia Wanlong''s words caused a huge uproar among the crowd.


    Bai Wushang''s mouth twitched. This wasn''t adding ''a little'' excitement; this was threatening to overturn the entire trial grounds!Originally, persevering for fifteen days yielded only 10 Mystic Energy points. Now, hunting down a single A-rank student granted the same amount.Wouldn''t everyone start getting ideas?What was even more troublesome was his own 100-point Mystic Energy bounty. He would undoubtedly be the most sought-after prize in everyone''s eyes.Just taking him down would mean a massive profit!


    "Is it really... impossible... to kill?"The red-haired woman suddenly spoke, her expression blank.


    Xia Wanlong glanced at her, her smile unwavering. "Correct, you cannot.""Crippling someone is also not permitted."


    The frail-looking scholar frowned, puzzled."Adding rules like this, isn''t it excessively targeted towards the three of us?"


    "Hmm... Indeed!"Xia Wanlong nodded with keen interest, seemingly observing his expression, and stated frankly:"However, I believe you should first correct your attitude.""The most fundamental purpose of this Mystic Realm is to provide you with high-quality Pet Beast resources that are hard to find in the outside world, the kind you don''t need to spend money on.""Secondly, the competition is meant to be icing on the cake, further weeding out the excessively weak students and indirectly allowing the strong to gain more Mystic Energy.""And you three, as Independently Awakened Ones, are the cream of the crop among these two thousand plus students.""If you were allowed to bring your Bonded Beasts, this trial would be utterly meaningless for you, holding no value whatsoever.""Even so, can your physical constitution, or the quality and quantity of your Soul Power, truly be matched by ordinary students?""The Academy doing this is merely, with great difficulty, pulling you onto the same starting line. The rest requires you to explore, hone yourselves, and grow on your own.""To put it another way, with the distress talisman in hand, your lives have the most basic guarantee.""If you can''t even withstand this little bit of pressure and end up eliminated,""Then it only proves that you possess talent, but nothing else.""The Academy is never short of students like that. Understand my meaning?"


    "I understand," Luo Youyuan said thoughtfully, speaking no further.


    "Oh, right!"Xia Wanlong suddenly remembered something and added to the crowd:"...All extra rewards are contingent upon perfectly clearing the trial! If you fail midway, you''ll end up with nothing. Remember this~"


    A flicker passed through Bai Wushang''s eyes, and he let out a small sigh of relief.''That''s more reasonable. Otherwise, everyone would just focus on eliminating others, scoring kills whenever possible, with no need to persevere until the end...''


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Ten minutes later, numerous staff members appeared in the central plaza.One after another, teleportation formations lit up. Before long, a total of twenty-six gates of light encircled the central plaza.


    "The Mystic Realm ''Sea Island'' is about to open. Please prepare yourselves!"


    Shouldering the newly received dimensional backpack, Bai Wushang located the corresponding gate of light based on the number he had drawn by lot and waited quietly.Using this brief interval, Bai Wushang sent a faint telepathic message to Galaxy, trapped within the Book of Oaths, reassuring her not to worry about him.


    ...


    Mystic Realm "Sea Island".Trial Ground No. 9.


    Bai Wushang plummeted from a height of two meters, lost his balance, and landed sprawled on his back."What''s going on... why was I air-dropped... huh?"Bai Wushang''s mumbled complaints ceased abruptly. The expected pain didn''t come; instead, it felt like he had crashed into a thick, soft sponge, surprisingly comfortable.Subconsciously reaching behind him, Bai Wushang grabbed a handful of long, brown fur.


    "Ughh—"A muffled grunt of pain sounded from above the back of his head, followed by a concentrated blast of air that washed over Bai Wushang''s face, carrying a foul stench.In an instant, blood rushed to Bai Wushang''s scalp, his brain trembled, and his subconscious screamed warnings of immense danger behind him!


    Stiffly turning his head, his eyes met those of a giant brown bear.A massive body, thick dense fur, sharp fangs, covered in bulging, sinewy muscles...Compared to it, Bai Wushang looked as thin as a bamboo pole.Fortunately, the giant bear''s eyes were tightly shut, its mouth still half-open as it snored deeply. Even though Bai Wushang was lying right on its stomach, and had even yanked out a tuft of fur from its chest, it only哼 (hēng - grunted/hummed) slightly, showing no signs of waking up at all.


    An attribute panel materialized—


    【Name】: Slumbering Bear (Wild)【Race】: Beast Realm · Walking Beast Type · Sleeping Bear Clan【Life Level】: Early Mature Stage【Bloodline Quality】: Common Bone Rank ★9【State】: Deep Sleep【Wisdom】: Low【Characteristic】: Narcoleptic【Skills】: Giant Bear Slap, Mount Tai Crush, Meatball Impact, Death Toss【Gourmet Cells】: 45


    "What... What kind of rotten luck is this? This is too ridiculous!"Although he knew entering the trial ground would randomly teleport everyone, did it have to be this intense? Dropping him right into a bear''s den from the get-go?And it was chest-to-back, zero-distance, intimate contact with no blind spots...Bai Wushang felt choked up, utterly frustrated and wanting to cry but having no tears.This wasn''t just any bear; it was a Slumbering Bear! An Early Mature Stage Slumbering Bear!Looking at its bloodline quality, it surpassed the Iron Armored Zombie by two whole stars! Wouldn''t a casual slap send him vomiting blood?Two slaps, and wouldn''t he become meat paste?Senior Sister Xia, oh Senior Sister Xia, do you misunderstand the meaning of "extremely few"?You said there were only extremely few Mature Stage creatures in the Mystic Realm? How did I run into one the moment I arrived???


    ''Luckily, luckily this is a Slumbering Bear. It spends nine-tenths of its day asleep and generally isn''t easily woken. Otherwise, I might have become the fastest Independently Awakened One to be eliminated in history...''Bai Wushang was certain that if he had woken the Slumbering Bear, it would have gone berserk, furiously tearing him to shreds.Holding the scent pouch would be useless. The pouch only worked if you didn''t actively provoke the Transcendent Creature.The Slumbering Bear was one of the creatures that cherished its sweet dreams the most; anything disturbing its sleep quality was considered a mortal enemy in its eyes!


    Gingerly, carefully climbing off the Slumbering Bear, Bai Wushang''s wildly pounding heart calmed slightly.Only after fleeing madly for two or three kilometers did Bai Wushang dare to gradually slow his pace, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead."Whew... Finally safe..."


    After striving to calm himself, Bai Wushang began observing his surroundings.He seemed to be in a dense primeval forest. Ancient trees reached for the sky, dappled shadows danced on the ground, and the air was filled with the chirping of insects and the calls of birds – a scene brimming with vitality.


    "Before entering the Mystic Realm, I confirmed that Xiaoxiao, Ouyang Yuan, and Sha Bulu were all in other trial grounds... Even the other two Independently Awakened Ones, Zhu Qin and Luo Youyuan, weren''t heading to Portal No. 9 with me back then..."Bai Wushang paused, organizing his thoughts:"Which means, in this trial ground, I don''t need to specifically look for or take care of anyone, nor do I face excessive competitive pressure. I can just focus on developing steadily on my own."


    Carrying secrets like the Eye of Perception, the Transcendent Cookbook, and the Gourmet God Altar, Bai Wushang wasn''t planning on easily teaming up with unfamiliar students. His physical constitution and Soul Power level were top-notch among all students; he was fully capable of operating alone.


    "Anyway, let''s start with a preliminary exploration of the environment. On the first day, I should gather as many materials as possible. Besides making traps and auxiliary tools, I also need to start preparing the recipe for the ''Temptation Rat''..."