Song Yuqing!

As they hurried toward the Guardian Land, Wu Yingying hesitated for a moment before finally reminding him:

"This Ge Hai is probably one of the preselected candidates of the Saint Spiritual Academy, one of the Five Great Academies."

"Once you reach the end of the Spirit Road, you can receive a Spiritual Energy Empowerment and smoothly enter one of the Five Great Academies as an inner disciple."

"Spirit beasts, spirit herbs, and such within the Spirit Road may reappear each time it opens. Those with past experience would naturally know about them directly."

"I'm afraid Ge Hai came to the mountain where the Lion-bodied Snake-dancing Beast was because of that."

Zhao Chen snorted when he heard this.

As someone without any powerful backing or sufficient resources, he had no favorable impression of people like that.

For people like him, entering the Five Great Academies was incredibly difficult.

Yet some people had already been preselected by the Five Great Academies and were guaranteed to become inner disciples. It was rather unfair.

What a cruel world. Truly cruel.

Zhao Chen shook his head and did not dwell on it any longer.

For the time being, there was nothing he could do about matters outside the Spirit Road.

But within the Spirit Road, no matter what background someone had, as long as they offended him...

Heh, sorry, but fists would do the talking.

After traveling for some time, Zhao Chen and Wu Yingying finally caught sight of the so-called Guardian Land.

The Crimson Token contained some records concerning the Guardian Land.

Private fighting was forbidden within it.

No one could stay longer than three days. They would basically be expelled or killed unless they had enough points.

At the same time, three instructors from the Five Great Academies were stationed in the Guardian Land. They issued new tasks every day, and completing the corresponding tasks earned a certain number of points.

Points determined how long one could remain in the Guardian Land.

Before Zhao Chen and the others stood an enormous structure, resembling a town.

Except towering walls dozens of zhang high stood around it.

Rows of automatic crossbows were mounted atop them, ready to fire at any time.

"This is it—the Guardian Land!"

Wu Yingying was extremely excited. At last, she could relax for a few days.

Within the Spirit Road Trial Space, only the Guardian Land was truly safe!

"Let's go in. Maybe my brother is waiting for me inside!"

Before entering the Spirit Road, they had made an agreement.

They just did not know which Guardian Land they were supposed to meet at.

There were five Guardian Lands in total. Wu Yingying did not know where to gather either, so they could only rely on luck.

"Stop!"

"Anyone wishing to enter the Guardian Land must hand over one spirit beast essence soul!"

Just as Zhao Chen and Wu Yingying prepared to enter the Guardian Land, a furious shout rang out.

The two looked toward the sound and saw a delicate-looking youth holding a slightly yellowed piece of silk cloth, blocking their path.

"Wait, since when did entering the Guardian Land require a spirit beast essence soul?"

Wu Yingying's eyes widened. With her hands on her hips, she said indignantly:

"You're deliberately trying to scam people, aren't you!"

The refined-looking youth flew into a rage at those words and shouted:

"I, Qin Yusong, am warning you not to spout nonsense! I have an order from an instructor here. Anyone entering the Guardian Land must hand over a spirit beast essence soul!"

At the same time, he spread out the silk cloth so Zhao Chen and Wu Yingying could see the writing on it, along with the stamped red seal.

Wu Yingying was somewhat doubtful. According to past circumstances, there had never been such a rule.

Could it have been newly added this time?

"Big Brother, do you think it's real?"

Unable to decide, Wu Yingying hurriedly asked Zhao Chen.

If it was real, they would have to hand over a spirit beast essence soul to enter.

But if it was fake, then they had a serious problem.

Not only would they lose a spirit beast essence soul, they would also have been tricked.

"Then don't go in. You don't have a Crimson Token anyway."

Zhao Chen smiled and replied casually.

If he remembered correctly, there was a stone stele inside the Guardian Land.

Before it, the Crimson Token would automatically fly out and register the time one entered the Guardian Land, then calculate how long they could stay according to their points.

Once their points were used up, anyone who failed to leave by the deadline would be mercilessly killed.

If they really went in, wouldn't Wu Yingying's Crimson Token be exposed?

If Wu Yingying found out, she would hate him to death.

Even if he intended to return the Crimson Token, this was not the way to do it.

The Crimson Token was mainly used to accumulate points.

Zhao Chen had already obtained those points.

He only needed to figure out how to return the Crimson Token without arousing her suspicion.

And without a Crimson Token, Wu Yingying could not enter the Guardian Land.

This rule existed to ensure that those without Crimson Tokens could enter the Guardian Land.

Of course, anyone who wanted to be killed could simply ignore it and walk straight in.

"Ah?"

Wu Yingying was directly stunned by Zhao Chen's answer.

What did he mean?

"Did you forget? Without a Crimson Token, how are you supposed to get in? Unless you want to die."

Zhao Chen rolled his eyes. Had she actually forgotten something so important?

"..."

Wu Yingying immediately became agitated.

"That damned Little Thief! If I catch him, I'll definitely tear out his tendons and strip off his skin! I'll inflict every kind of cruel torture upon him!"

Zhao Chen's lips twitched as he listened.

At this rate, he might as well pretend he had never considered returning the Crimson Token.

He was no longer the ignorant person who had just entered the Spirit Road.

If he truly wanted to believe it had nothing to do with him, then he had to forget that he had swiped her Crimson Token.

An expanse of snowy white suddenly surfaced in Zhao Chen's mind.

He touched the tip of his nose, then looked toward the city gate and said:

"Aren't you waiting for your brother? Then just wait at the gate. There should be an answer within three days at most."

Wu Yingying froze when she heard that.

That was true. If she wanted to find someone, waiting at the city gate was certainly the best option.

She had no Crimson Token and could not enter the Guardian Land.

It could be said that for this journey through the Spirit Road, surviving until the end and leaving safely would already be quite good.

Wanting more... dream on!

Safety was now the main thing she needed to consider.

"Wait, you two aren't going in!?"

The refined-looking youth stared at Zhao Chen and Wu Yingying in shock. Was there really a need to forgo entering the Guardian Land just to save one Low-Level Spirit Beast essence soul? It astonished him.

"It's fine. I'll wait until someone comes along who can expose your scam before entering the Guardian Land."

Zhao Chen would definitely enter the Guardian Land, but he was in no hurry.

The tasks inside had to be accepted first, after which one would leave the Guardian Land to complete them.

In theory, people entered and left the Guardian Land quite frequently.

What Zhao Chen valued was the check-in task, not the so-called Guardian Land tasks. Those were merely something to do along the way.

Since he was killing spirit beasts anyway, he might as well do both.

At present, he only needed to kill three more Level Three spirit beasts to complete the check-in task.

If he accepted a task from the Guardian Land to hunt three Level Three spirit beasts, he could simply go find and kill them.

"What scam!"

Like a fox whose tail had been stepped on, the refined-looking youth shouted:

"I am a proper gate guard appointed by an instructor! Are you questioning the instructor?"

The corners of Zhao Chen's lips rose slightly as he commented:

"Your scam is rather clumsy. There are three instructors stationed at the Guardian Land, yet your piece of silk bears only one seal."

"Don't tell me the other two instructors are neglecting their duties?"

"As for you, a young lady, instead of killing spirit beasts to obtain essence souls, you learned to disguise yourself as a man and cheat people here, reaping the benefits without lifting a finger. Isn't that a little improper!?"