Misunderstanding? It Didn't Matter

By the time Lin Yun arrived at the central Giant Platform, several people were already standing on it.

Among them, Lin Yun only recognized one—Wu Yun of Mad Blade Martial Hall.

At that moment, Wu Yun was chatting enthusiastically with a young girl.

Seeing Lin Yun step onto the Giant Platform, he immediately came over with a grin and said, "Yo, what took you so long?"

He had been the first to obtain ten Identity Tokens and rush to the central Giant Platform.

"The woods are big, and there were a lot of Demon Beasts. I got delayed a little," Lin Yun said calmly.

"This is Lin Yun from the Lin Family, the one I told you about—the man who fought Xie Yingying to a draw with one palm," Wu Yun introduced him to the girl beside him.

He wore a wicked grin, deliberately emphasizing that palm strike Lin Yun had given Xie Yingying.

"Hello, Lin Yun. My name is Mu Lingsha, from Mu Village." The girl smiled at Lin Yun and teased, "If I accidentally offend you in the future, don't hit me like that, okay?"

"Don't listen to Wu Yun's nonsense. That was an honest mistake, pure coincidence," Lin Yun hurriedly explained.

His gaze naturally swept over Mu Lingsha a few times. The girl wore a black, tight-fitting leather battle skirt, her delicate body wrapped in close-fitting clothes that outlined graceful, alluring curves. Her skin was distinctive too, not the fair and tender complexion of an ordinary girl, but a healthier bronze tone.

She held a Greenwood Bow in her hand, and her whole bearing was valiant and spirited, with a touch of the lithe, agile vigor of a young leopardess.

The three of them chatted like this while waiting for the others to arrive.

Lin Yun deliberately blended himself into the crowd so he would not stand out.

"Strange. Lei Li and Xie Yingying still haven't arrived. With their strength, this stage shouldn't be difficult at all, right?" Wu Yun said doubtfully as he watched figures arriving from the forest one after another.

He bumped Lin Yun's shoulder and asked, "Did you run into them?"

"No. I ran into a few Demon Beasts and got tangled up for quite a while. After that, I robbed a few people of their Identity Tokens and came over," Lin Yun said, his expression still calm.

"Lei Li is a difficult guy to deal with, and he always gets revenge over the smallest slight. I heard he has already broken through to the Earthly Yuan Realm. You made him lose so much face before, so if you end up facing him later, I'm afraid he won't let you off easily. Why don't you just admit defeat when the time comes?" Wu Yun kindly advised. He had dealt with Lei Li for a long time and knew what kind of person he was.

"You have a point. If I face him, I'm afraid I can only admit defeat." Lin Yun nodded in agreement, but inwardly he laughed. If I can run into Lei Li, that really would be seeing a ghost. He wouldn't even have time to run, let alone fight.

Just then, an uproar broke out in the forest below the Giant Platform. Many people were running toward them, shouting something as they ran.

"Bad news! Bad news!"

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"

"Sister Yingying is gone!"

"Brother Lei Li is gone!"

"Family Head, save them!"

"Fire Python Tiger! There's a Fire Python Tiger..."

The participating juniors of the Lei Family, Xie Family, and Lin Family were sprinting over like mad, their expressions panicked.

On the Giant Platform, the match referee who had been standing there waiting to verify Identity Tokens was somewhat stunned as he watched these juniors charge over with all their might. He barked, "All of you, stop! What happened? Speak slowly."

The blocked juniors gasped for breath, not daring to force their way through. This referee was an Earthly Yuan Realm expert.

"A... Fire Python Tiger killed Lei Li, killed Xie Yingying..."

"Hurry and move! The Fire Python Tiger will come killing its way over soon."

At this moment, Wu Yun, Mu Lingsha, and the others on the Giant Platform all looked over curiously. For a moment, they had yet to process what these people were saying.

In the spectator stands around the Giant Platform, the four major forces—the Lei and Xie Families, Mad Blade Martial Hall, and the Lin Family—were all alarmed.

Especially Lei Bao and Xie Qian, who heard the words "Lei Li is gone" and "Xie Yingying is gone." The two of them could no longer remain seated. In a few steps, they leaped onto the Giant Platform and arrived in front of those juniors.

"What did you say? Say it again, clearly," Lei Bao said loudly, pointing at one of the Lei Family juniors.

"Fire Python Tiger! It was a Fire Python Tiger..."

That Lei Family junior panted heavily, quickly summarizing the whole sequence of events.

"A Fire Python Tiger actually appeared!"

Lei Bao and Xie Qian's expressions turned extremely ugly. "Where? Take us there, now."

The juniors of the Lei and Xie Families who had just escaped for their lives were already exhausted, but now that their family heads had demanded it, they did not dare refuse. Forcing their overdrawn bodies to keep going, they turned and ran back into the forest. "Follow me. It's over there."

Lei Bao and Xie Qian did not hesitate and charged straight into the forest.

Lei Li and Xie Yingying were the precious geniuses of their two families, the hope of their future.

"What's going on?" Lin Yun came over at just the right time and pretended to ask Lin Xia and the others in shock.

Important figures from the various forces, including Lin Zhentian, Lin Xiao, and Luo Cheng, also gathered around.

Lin Xia immediately repeated the entire sequence of events.

"As soon as the Fire Python Tiger charged out, all of us scattered and fled. When we were escaping the valley, I looked back and saw the Fire Python Tiger kill Xie Yingying and Lei Li."

Lin Zhentian quickly asked, "Did everyone from our Lin Family make it out?"

"They're all here. No one got separated," Lin Xia said, still shaken.

After that, Mad Blade Martial Hall, Mu Village, and the other major forces all counted the participating juniors from their own sides.

Only after finding that everyone was unharmed did they finally let out a breath of relief.

Luo Cheng frowned. "Strange. Before the competition began, didn't we already inspect this stretch of forest? There shouldn't have been any Heavenly Yuan Realm Demon Beasts here."

"This forest connects to the deep mountains behind it, and no one is patrolling it at all times. It's possible for powerful Demon Beasts to wander out now and then. Besides, that Fire Python Tiger was clearly drawn here by the Void Spirit Grass. They merely happened to run into it." Lin Zhentian added calmly, "All one can say is that their luck was poor."

Lei Li and Xie Yingying had tried to snatch the Fifth Grade Spirit Herb the Lin Family had discovered, so Lin Zhentian naturally had no sympathy for their deaths.

With such a major incident having occurred, the competition was temporarily set aside.

Everyone waited for Lei Bao and Xie Qian to return.

No one suspected Lin Yun. That had been a Heavenly Yuan Realm Demon Beast. In everyone's eyes, Lin Yun was only a junior at the Body Tempering Realm—how could he possibly be connected to a Demon Beast of that level?

As for Lin Yun entering the forest early, aside from Lin Xia and the others, no one paid it any attention. Once the competition began, everyone had rushed into the woods as fast as they could. Once inside, nothing could be seen.

"Lin Yun, why did you run so fast? You didn't even wait for us. If you'd been there, Qing Tan wouldn't have been bullied by that bi—by Xie Yingying." Lin Xia blamed him in a low voice.

Thinking that Xie Yingying was already dead, she swallowed back the word "bitch."

In Lin Xia's view, a clan ought to stay united so they wouldn't be bullied. The Lei Family and Xie Family members had all stuck together, which was why the Lin Family had nearly suffered a loss.

As the number one among the Lin Family's younger generation, Lin Yun shouldn't only think of himself.

"I..." Lin Yun was just about to find an excuse to explain.

"Sister Lin Xia, it's a good thing Brother Lin Yun wasn't there. Otherwise, Xie Yingying and the others wouldn't have been able to snatch the spirit herb from me. In that case, the ones the Fire Python Tiger chased might have been us, and we probably would have..." Qing Tan suddenly stepped forward and said, a trace of relief in her voice.

She did not dare go on, but everyone understood what she meant.

Lin Xia and the others swallowed, a wave of lingering fear instantly washing over them.

"That's right. We should be glad Brother Lin Yun wasn't there!" Lin Dong said, drawing in a deep breath.

They could have withstood Lei Li and Xie Yingying's group, but the powerful Fire Python Tiger was impossible.

Lin Yun no longer bothered to explain. It didn't matter. When they saw the Fire Python Tiger one day, they would naturally understand.

He also wanted to see what expressions Qing Tan and the others would have when they discovered that the Fire Python Tiger was actually his Pet Beast.