Extra Gains

Besides the Military Rations issued for this practical assessment, the backpacks might also contain the spoils Wang Peng's team had collected from earlier hunts.

Seeing that the War God Martial Hall students left on their own without taking Wang Peng and Qian Feilong's backpacks, Qin Heng thought, These guys are pretty sensible.

As expected, the two backpacks definitely contained Beast Ears.

Now that their owners were dead, the spoils belonged to Qin Heng's team. The War God Martial Hall students feared Qin Heng might make things difficult for them, so they did not dare take anything from inside.

Qin Heng stepped forward and opened one of the backpacks.

Sure enough, aside from food, there were three Beast Ears inside, sealed in a bag and still stained with blood.

"An unexpected delight."

Qin Heng smiled and waved to his teammates. "Come over and split the loot."

Then he opened the other bag. There were three Beast Ears inside as well.

"These guys hunted pretty fast."

Qian Feilong was genuinely formidable. The moment he entered the Wilderness Area, he had begun hunting Monsters everywhere, prioritizing the completion of two core members' quotas.

Zhao Dongxing and the others came over to Qin Heng's side. Seeing the six Beast Ears, they said happily, "This saves us a lot of trouble. As long as each of us kills one more Monster, we can all pass the assessment."

The team had originally possessed nine Beast Ears—three from Qin Heng, and one from each of the others.

Now, with the six Beast Ears divided evenly among them, they were not far from completing the mission.

And there was still plenty of time left for the assessment.

"Does anyone want these Military Rations?" Qin Heng asked, dumping everything from the backpacks out in one go.

Jin Wenxin was the first to act, taking a box of Military Rations. "It's all food. We can't waste it. I don't mind eating a little extra."

Huang Jiancheng said, "I'm injured, so I'll eat a little extra too."

Everyone treasured food, and soon everything was divided up. Even if they could not finish it all in the end, they could take it back and return it to the Martial Warrior Alliance. That was better than leaving it here.

Qin Heng searched through both backpacks once more. Only after confirming that nothing had been overlooked did he set them down.

He felt somewhat regretful. "Why aren't there any phones..."

The wilderness practical assessment only prohibited students from bringing their own weapons; it did not restrict them from carrying phones.

Although ordinary phones had no signal in the Wilderness Area, their basic functions still worked. For example, the "Short-Range Transfer" function allowed teammates to communicate and send one another text and photos, useful for ambushing Monsters.

There were no phones in Wang Peng and Qian Feilong's backpacks. It seemed they had carried them on their persons and dropped them near the Blood-Sucking Vine.

Given the Blood-Sucking Vine's ability to bind and crush its prey, the phones had most likely already been pulverized beyond recognition, with no information recoverable from them.

What a pity... Qin Heng thought.

He had originally wanted to see whether Wang Peng's phone contained anything related to him, so he could learn a little more.

But... it did not matter. The man was dead anyway.

What he needed to deal with next was Grandmaster Wang Jianming's retaliation, which no longer had much to do with Wang Peng himself.

"Let's go. Find somewhere to rest."

After all that commotion, it was getting late.

There were still quite a few buildings in the Abandoned Town. Qin Heng and the others wandered around for a while before finding a six-story building to use as a temporary resting place.

The reason they sought out a tall building was mainly for safety.

There were Monsters in this town. Their numbers were not large, but sneak attacks could still be dangerous.

Up in a tall building, as long as they took turns guarding the stairway, they could block the Monsters and cultivate or sleep in peace.

The group went upstairs, ate, and rested.

When they opened the Military Ration boxes, they found individually wrapped packets inside.

Different meal sets contained different kinds of food.

Qin Heng opened a fried rice and braised pork set. It also contained a packet of lime powder that could react with water to generate heat.

Some of his companions opened the same meal set as his, while others got different flavors such as biscuits and eight-treasure porridge.

It was nowhere near as good as hot food at home, but it was enough to fill their stomachs.

After dinner, everyone began quietly cultivating and tending to their bodies.

Qin Heng volunteered for the first sentry shift. He paired up with Jin Wenxin and would stand guard from after dinner until ten at night.

Once night fell, the atmosphere in the Wilderness Area became somewhat frightening.

Monster cries were more frequent than during the day. At least a dozen Monsters were moving about within the town.

A little after eight in the evening, the two sat by the stairway entrance and heard what seemed to be footsteps downstairs.

Jin Wenxin whispered, "It sounds like a Monster came in. I wonder if it'll come upstairs."

Qin Heng said, "If it comes, we kill it. As long as it isn't an Intermediate Monster, the two of us can handle it easily."

"Mm. With you here, I'm at ease!"

After the two battles during the day, Jin Wenxin had become completely convinced of Qin Heng's strength.

The two remained fully alert, listening for movement from the Monster downstairs.

The footsteps lingered below for a while, then soon departed without coming upstairs.

Qin Heng said, "Looks like Monsters really don't like climbing stairs."

Jin Wenxin shook his head. "That might not be the reason."

Qin Heng said, "Oh? Then what is?"

Jin Wenxin said, "Different Monsters perceive things differently. Some have extremely powerful eyesight and night vision. Some rely on temperature to sense the location of prey, while others use hearing, smell, and so on... There are seven of us here. That Monster might have heard seven people breathing, realized there was danger, and retreated on its own."

Qin Heng nodded slightly. "I understand. Monsters are afraid of death too."

"Mm. When you travel through the wilderness in the future, remember never to act alone. Only with another person beside you can you rest peacefully, unless you're a Grandmaster capable of splitting your attention—sleeping while remaining alert," Jin Wenxin cautioned him.

Qin Heng remembered those words.

But...

Who would accompany him when he went into the wilderness in the future?

That was a problem!

The people in this team all had less talent than he did. Before long, the gap between them would widen, and they would be unable to remain his long-term teammates.

The same went for Chen Yuan, Su Kuang, and the others. They were suited to be friends in everyday life, but not to fight shoulder to shoulder with him in the wilderness.

Perhaps once he entered the Heavenly Dao Martial Hall's Elite Class, he would meet some people with talent comparable to his own. Then he could make three or five close friends and become lifelong battle companions with them.

Thinking of Qian Feilong's strength, then recalling the "youngest Martial Master" Chen Yu mentioned by Liang Yunkai, Qin Heng could not help feeling full of anticipation for the Elite Class.

At ten that night, Liang Yunkai and Pang Jun came over on time to take over the shift.

"You two get some proper rest. Only by restoring your energy can you keep fighting tomorrow," Pang Jun said.

"Mm. We'll leave the rest to you," Qin Heng and Jin Wenxin said as they gave up their positions.

Those two would stand guard until two in the morning, after which Wu Ruijie and Zhao Dongxing would keep watch until dawn.

Huang Jiancheng was the most seriously injured, so no one made him take a shift.

Qin Heng returned to the room on the sixth floor where they were resting.

Jin Wenxin lay down immediately, ready to sleep.

Qin Heng said, "Aren't you going to cultivate for a while? The energy in the Wilderness Area is abundant. Cultivating here is more effective than in the Base City."

Jin Wenxin shook his head. "Cultivation drains too much mental energy. I'm a little tired. I'll talk about it after I wake up."

Qin Heng fell silent.

Cultivation was tiring...

He had heard Su Kuang and Chen Yuan mention that before.

It seemed everyone felt that cultivating the Innate Fetal Breathing Art was a difficult ordeal. During cultivation, there would be a faint yet long-lasting stabbing pain inside the body, which was quite unpleasant.

Coach Yang had said that pain came from absorbing Cosmic Energy and using it to wash through one's meridians.

As long as one gritted one's teeth and persevered day after day, year after year, the pain would grow weaker and weaker. Eventually, all the meridians would be opened, and one could cultivate "qi."

But Qin Heng's meridians had been unobstructed since birth. Cultivating caused him no pain whatsoever; instead, he enjoyed it immensely.

That was why he could persist through an entire night every time he cultivated, even continuing to circulate the Innate Fetal Breathing Art while asleep.

In terms of cultivation, although Qin Heng appeared to have learned the Innate Fetal Breathing Art only a week ago, the total time he had actually spent "cultivating" might already exceed that of other beginners in an entire month.

Jin Wenxin lay flat and closed his eyes, preparing to sleep.

Qin Heng sat silently in meditation, adjusted his breathing, and entered a state of cultivation.

Seeing him like this, Jin Wenxin could not help sighing inwardly. Geniuses truly aren't born from thin air. Even after a day of exhaustion, he can grit his teeth and keep cultivating. I can't compare to Qin Heng—I'm completely convinced.

Little did he know that Qin Heng did not need to grit his teeth at all. He was enjoying himself immensely!