Personal Score Rankings

"No way..."

Jie Yuanshao saw the scene, her fingers almost digging into the wall, yet she seemed oblivious to it, staring fixedly at the fallen little Ferocious Lizard Demon in the distance.

"How is this possible..."

As the little Ferocious Lizard Demons drew closer, the wooden crossbows began to show their might, firing continuously once every three seconds. By the time the little Ferocious Lizard Demons reached the wall, their numbers had already fallen by a third, and no reinforcements had appeared. Even as they attacked the wall, the six wooden crossbows continued steadily thinning their ranks.

"Demons killed by the wooden crossbows... don't revive?"

Shang Xin Lei murmured under her breath. She suddenly turned to Jiang Shi. "You knew this already?"

Jie Yuanshao looked over as well. The two most illustrious noblewomen of Liang simultaneously gazed fervently at Jiang Shi, the black-belt guard. Qian Gongyu noticed their expressions. This was clearly a perfect opportunity to draw closer to them, but for some reason, a deep... worry rose in her heart.

"I didn't know." Jiang Shi's expression remained calm. "This is my first time in the Wandering Star Forest too."

Jie Yuanshao opened her mouth. Clearly, she had countless questions to ask, but in the end, she held them back and continued watching the battle through the window. At that moment, Qian Gongyu secretly walked over to Jiang Shi's side. She bit her lower lip, her face full of worry, but she had no idea what she could do.

"Young Miss."

Jiang Shi reached out and ruffled Qian Gongyu's hair.

"Don't worry."

Woooah—!!!

With a world-shaking roar, the enormous Ferocious Lizard Demon in the distance began moving toward the Stone House! By now, half the wall had been destroyed. Even though the wooden crossbows were extremely efficient, dozens of little Ferocious Lizard Demons were still attacking the wall.

Jiang Shi suddenly said, "You'll have to help. If this continues, the wall will collapse. Then the Ferocious Lizard Demon will be able to enter the courtyard and destroy the wooden crossbows, and we'll never have another chance to kill it."

"But how can we help?" Shang Xin Lei asked. "The demons we kill will revive."

"How long does it take the demons to revive?" Jiang Shi asked.

"According to my family's records, about ten breaths," Jie Yuanshao immediately replied.

"Go outside and kill all the little Ferocious Lizard Demons attacking the wall. Don't let them attack it. Buy the wooden crossbows time to kill the Ferocious Lizard Demon," Jiang Shi said.

"You're not going?" Shang Xin Lei asked, somewhat surprised.

"I'm not a Messenger yet."

Not a Messenger yet.

What an imposing claim, as though she could become a Messenger soon enough as long as she wished to.

But strangely, none of the three present believed she was lying. Even stranger, although Jiang Shi was clearly the weakest person here, all three Messengers followed her arrangements.

After leaving the Stone House, the roars of the little Ferocious Lizard Demons became clearer and more violent, though they were still within a bearable range. Jie Yuanshao and the others were not surprised. According to the records left by their predecessors, the soul pressure caused by the demon tide increased gradually. It was bearable at first, but after an hour, even Second Turn Messengers found it difficult to endure.

Qian Gongyu nervously walked behind the wall and watched the little Ferocious Lizard Demons strike it again and again. Finding an opening, she flicked a finger, accurately blowing the demon's head apart.

But unlike when they were killed by the wooden crossbows, the little Ferocious Lizard Demon's shattered head did not spray any blood, and even its corpse immediately vanished. After ten breaths, a brand-new little Ferocious Lizard Demon appeared in the same spot and continued attacking the wall.

Compared to Qian Gongyu, Shang Xin Lei and Jie Yuanshao were far more efficient. Shang Xin Lei used a pair of flying rings, which tore back and forth among the little Ferocious Lizard Demons like boomerangs, killing three or four demons in a single breath. Jie Yuanshao used a longsword, leaping into the air and firing sword qi. Her killing speed was about the same as Shang Xin Lei's.

Under their fierce assault, the little Ferocious Lizard Demons outside the wall were wiped out. All six wooden crossbows aimed at the Ferocious Lizard Demon as it entered their range and fired simultaneously!

"Wow—!!"

The Ferocious Lizard Demon let out a miserable howl. Blood gushed from the wounds pierced through its body, clearly leaving it severely injured. But it also accelerated as a result. After the wooden crossbows' second volley, it slammed into the wall like a dump truck, sending a large section of the half-remaining wall flying apart!

"Keep the little Ferocious Lizard Demons suppressed." Jiang Shi commanded from the doorway. "The wall can still hold. It can't strike this hard every time."

Sure enough, although the Ferocious Lizard Demon's attacks remained fierce, none were as terrifying as its first. Even so, the wall continued collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Seeing that the wall was about to break, Jiang Shi stepped aside and waited for them to flee back into the Stone House for safety.

At that moment, the wooden crossbows fired their fourth volley, pinning the Ferocious Lizard Demon into a blood-soaked porcupine. The Ferocious Lizard Demon let out a wail, but this time it could no longer launch a savage charge. Instead, it collapsed to the ground and became a huge corpse.

Seeing this, Jiang Shi immediately blocked the doorway. "Go protect the wooden crossbows! Don't let the little Ferocious Lizard Demons destroy them!"

Even though they knew Jiang Shi was right, even Qian Gongyu could not help feeling a little resentful. Once all the demons had been wounded by the wooden crossbows, they stood in the courtyard strewn with demonic corpses and looked around. After a moment of silence, Jie Yuanshao asked uncertainly, "Is that... it?"

"It's over," Jiang Shi said. "The next wave will appear in two quarters of an hour."

"So everyone, it's time to go out and gather resources."

Luo Weijin stumbled and crawled out of the dense fog in terror. Only when he saw the elderly guards waiting outside the entrance did he finally breathe a sigh of relief. There were many scions of influential families who had exited the Wandering Star Forest like him. After all, many people came to the Wandering Star Forest merely to scrape together some points, and surviving the first wave of demons was the passing grade—enough to return home and answer to their families.

Once Luo Weijin calmed down, the first thing he did was search for the two members of the Qian Family. After looking around and finding no sign of them, he snorted. "Those two sure were lucky..."

"Come over here! Look, look!"

"What's going on? Why is the score so high?"

"Is there something wrong with the secret realm?"

"I know! The Shang Family and the Jie Family must have uncovered the secret of the Wandering Star Forest!"

"That must be it! That explains why those two Young Misses came to the Wandering Star Forest!"

"But why is Jie Young Miss's score so low...?"

A wave of discussion came from nearby. Curious, Luo Weijin walked over and discovered that they were looking at the score rankings.

Everyone who entered the Wandering Star Forest had their name appear on the "Personal Score Rankings," and members of the same team were listed together.

The first thing Luo Weijin saw was his own score: five points.

Most people were like Luo Weijin, having earned five points simply by surviving the first wave. In theory, the highest score on the rankings at this point could only be five, since increasing one's score required surviving the second wave of demons.

Yet amid the mass of fives, the four names at the very top of the rankings shone like suns, dazzling enough to make everyone squint. Luo Weijin rubbed his eyes several times and read the rankings over and over before finally losing control of his emotions. "How could their scores be this high?!"

"Jiang Shi: 256 points"

"Qian Gongyu: 190 points"

"Shang Xin Lei: 180 points"

"Jie Yuanshao: 50 points"