Form teams!
Fight for resources!
Rewards and punishments!
Inside the hall, the air suddenly grew taut, and every student's breathing grew heavier.
This was not merely a contest of strength, but a golden opportunity to seize precious resources!
"Form your own teams. We leave in half an hour."
Qin Zhen's voice was quiet. Once he had finished, he closed his eyes and said no more.
With a buzz, the hall erupted into an uproar.
Students who were close immediately gathered together, while the strongest found themselves surrounded in an instant, sought after by everyone.
Over by Luo Bing, four top students at or above the Fifth Level of the Martial Master Realm gathered around him in the blink of an eye.
A formidable team had taken shape, plainly aiming for first place.
The other teams formed just as quickly. Everyone wanted to cling to someone strong, hoping to scrape together a decent ranking and avoid punishment.
Only Xiao Han stood alone in a corner, with no one paying him any attention.
The Sixth Level of the Warrior Realm?
In a mission like this, what was he if not a burden?
Who would be foolish enough to bring along dead weight?
Several undisguised snickers came from nearby. Those people were only too happy to watch the commotion, and seemed to have already envisioned the miserable sight of his points being wiped out and his punishment administered.
Time slipped quietly by. Everyone had found a team, except Xiao Han, who still stood alone.
Luo Bing seemed to notice the commotion over there, and his lips curled into a mocking smile.
The meaning could not have been clearer: Trash, nobody even wants you on their team.
Just then, Qin Zhen opened his eyes and looked toward the corner. "Xiao Han, you don't have a team?"
"No, instructor."
Xiao Han's voice was flat as he answered.
Qin Zhen's face remained expressionless. "The mission must be completed in teams. Since no one chose you, you'll..."
Before he could finish, a somewhat clear, slightly hesitant female voice interrupted. "Instructor, our team... is still short one person."
Everyone turned to look at once.
A petite, delicate-looking girl with twin ponytails raised her hand.
Three teammates stood beside her, all at the First or Second Level of the Martial Master Realm, placing them in the lower-middle ranks of Zero Class.
Reluctance was written all over their faces. Clearly, the girl had dragged them over against their will.
The girl's name was Xia Yubing. She was at the Second Level of the Martial Master Realm and possessed the S-rank support-type Martial Soul "Moonlight Sprite." She seemed somewhat softhearted.
Qin Zhen glanced at Xia Yubing's team, then at Xiao Han, and nodded. "Fine. Xiao Han, join Xia Yubing's team."
"Thank you, instructor."
Xia Yubing breathed a sigh of relief and gave Xiao Han a friendly, slightly apologetic smile.
The faces of her three teammates, however, fell even further. Their disdain was practically spilling out.
Xiao Han did not care. He nodded to Xia Yubing in greeting, then walked over and took his place beside the team.
Being shoved into a team that did not welcome him was still better than being disqualified from the mission.
He accepted the arrangement calmly, but secretly took note of the auras and Martial Soul fluctuations of the other teams, especially Luo Bing's.
Zero Class really was fiercely competitive. Everyone had a drive bottled up inside.
The Dark Gloom Forest?
Perfect. It's time to open the eyes of this bunch of so-called "geniuses."
He quietly circulated the Creation-Heaven-Penetrating Art, feeling the mighty power within him and the faint trembling of his two divine-grade Martial Souls. His lips curved almost imperceptibly.
This battle for resources might be a little more interesting than I thought.
Half an hour later, all of Zero Class's teams had assembled.
Instructor Qin Zhen wasted no more words and announced the warm-up mission before the battle for resources in the Dark Gloom Forest: go to the West Mountain Hunting Ground on the west side of the academy and hunt ten heart crystal cores from Ironback Gray Wolves, exotic beasts at the Second Level of the Martial Master Realm.
The team that finished in the shortest time and showed the best coordination would get first choice of its starting area in the subsequent Dark Gloom Forest mission.
The West Mountain Hunting Ground was called a hunting ground, but it was actually a small mountain range enclosed by the academy's formations.
Many low-level exotic beasts roamed freely inside, solely for the students' practical combat training.
Although Ironback Gray Wolves were only at the Second Level of the Martial Master Realm, they usually traveled in packs and coordinated well. Their hides were tough and their flesh thick, making them a considerable nuisance to students in the early levels of the Martial Master Realm.
"Tch, Ironback Gray Wolves? A piece of cake!"
As soon as they stepped into the hunting ground, Gao Zhuang, the tall, heavily built member of Xiao Han's temporary team with a rough, forceful aura, curled his lip in disdain.
He was at the Second Level of the Martial Master Realm and handled a Mountain-Splitting Axe well enough. He reckoned a few gray wolves would be no problem.
"Big Brother Gao is awesome!"
A small, skinny teammate with a sharp, monkey-like face, Shouhou, immediately fawned over him. "But wolf packs are crafty, so we should still be careful. If you ask me, why don't we let... our fellow student Xiao Han here scout ahead? His cultivation is 'high,' and his movement technique is 'good,' after all."
Shouhou was at the First Level of the Martial Master Realm. His Martial Soul seemed to be some kind of sensory-type rodent. He was quick-witted, but timid.
He stressed the words "high" and "good," his voice dripping with mockery. He plainly wanted Xiao Han, a "burden" at the Sixth Level of the Warrior Realm, to scout ahead as cannon fodder.
The team's other female member was named Leng Yue. She was coldly beautiful, with an equally cold demeanor, and was at the Second Level of the Martial Master Realm. She wielded an ice-blue longsword.
After hearing Shouhou, she merely cast a cold glance at Xiao Han without saying a word, clearly giving her tacit consent.
In her view, what could someone at the Sixth Level of the Warrior Realm do besides act as bait?
"This..."
The captain, Xia Yubing, was troubled. She was softhearted and felt it was wrong to treat their new teammate this way. "Why don't we go together? That way, we can look out for one another."
"Yubing, you're just too softhearted!"
Gao Zhuang interrupted her bluntly. "How are we going to get a good result if we keep dawdling? It's settled! Kid, go check that pile of rocks up ahead for wolf dens. We'll wait here for your report!"
He ordered Xiao Han about as if Xiao Han were his family's servant.
Xiao Han remained expressionless the entire time, as if he had not heard the mockery and malice in their words.
He merely cast a faint glance at these "teammates" of his, finding it somewhat amusing.
These are Zero Class's geniuses?
Scheming against one another, noses in the air, and their strength is nothing special.
He had no interest in arguing with them and nodded. "Fine."
With that, without waiting for a response, his figure flickered, and he glided silently toward the pile of rocks ahead like a ghost.
"Heh, at least he knows what's good for him."
Seeing this, Shouhou snickered under his breath.
Gao Zhuang and Leng Yue also looked as though they took it for granted.
Xia Yubing watched Xiao Han's retreating figure disappear and sighed softly, somewhat worried.
Xiao Han used A Step to the Ends of the Earth, moving at an astonishing speed without making a sound.
The affinity for shadows granted by the Eternal Night King Martial Soul let him blend almost completely into his surroundings.
For him, this so-called "scouting" was nothing more than a stroll.
Deep among the rocks, the rank stench of wolves assaulted his nose.
Hidden from sight, Xiao Han saw twenty or thirty Ironback Gray Wolves.
Two were especially large and robust. Their ferocity was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe even from a distance—the Third Level of the Martial Master Realm!
Without disturbing them, he quietly withdrew. He needed to hurry back and tell the others.
He had not retreated far when a stronger stench of blood and wolves drifted to him on the wind, accompanied by faint sounds of a disturbance.