Beneath Dripping Rain Rock
After the allocation was completed, Bai Xiaowen and the other three had a brief discussion.
"Before we set off, Teacher Yan mentioned that the most valuable thing in the Great Rift Valley Treasure Space is the Dragonblood Tea Tree at Dragonbreak Cliff, located in the central area. Do you know what the benefits of the Dragonblood Tea Tree are?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
They all shook their heads.
Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "Before I left, I looked up information about the Dragonblood Tea Tree, but I didn't find anything."
Han Xu hesitated for a moment before saying, "When the Great Rift Valley Treasure Space opened before, someone obtained Treasure Leaf from the Dragonblood Tea Tree. The school teacher and that student had a secret talk, and it seems they offered a rather high price to buy it."
"The school's acquisition should be worth several thousand or even tens of thousands of Psionic Points. Wow, that's much more valuable than treasures like the Green Lotus Seed," Ding Cheng said.
"I think it's more than that. However, I definitely need to go to Dragonbreak Cliff..."
Bai Xiaowen slowly said, "Dragonbreak Cliff is quite dangerous. It's inhabited by a group of Golden-Crowned White Eagle, which are flying beasts and quite difficult to deal with. Especially the Golden-Crowned White Eagle King, who is one of the strongest beings in the entire Great Rift, Lord Tier raptor. You should consider whether you want to come to Dragonbreak Cliff with me, or try your luck in other areas?"
Han Xu didn't hesitate and said, "I'll join."
Ding Cheng looked hesitant and troubled. Bai Xiaowen knew what he was thinking and said, "Don't worry about it. It's perfectly normal to act within your means."
A look of relief flashed across Ding Cheng's face. He let out a sigh and said with a wry smile, "I still don't dare to go to the central district. With my strength, I'll just stick to operating in the outer and central areas and trying my luck."
Bai Xiaowen nodded.
Li Shuyi smiled slightly and exchanged a glance with Bai Xiaowen. Without a doubt, she was definitely going to join.
The three separated from Ding Cheng and continued deeper into the Great Rift Valley Treasure Space.
"Xiao Wen, do you have a way to deal with the Lord Tier Golden-Crowned White Eagle King?" Li Shuyi asked.
"No," Bai Xiaowen shook his head readily. "Lord Tier powerhouses, especially flying beasts, have too much of an advantage. They are almost invincible from the start. I estimate that only the top experts among Advanced Awakened can defeat them."
In the Beast Wilderness, Bai Xiaowen encountered a Lord Tier Mammoth Elephant. Although he hadn't activated his Insight Talent, Bai Xiaowen could still sense the mammoth's terrifying power and knew it was absolutely not to be trifled with.
The Golden-Crowned White Eagle King is undoubtedly more difficult to deal with than the Mammoth Elephant. Mammoths live on the ground and can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, but the Golden-Crowned White Eagle King, seeing the situation is not good, can flap its wings and fly into the sky, making the sheer number of people a joke.
Li Shuyi remained silent, smiling as she looked at Bai Xiaowen, waiting for him to continue.
Bai Xiaowen didn't keep us in suspense. "In the future, we won't directly confront the Golden-Crowned White Eagle King. Our main goal is to figure out its daily routine. No matter how powerful the eagle king is, it still needs to eat and will eventually have time to go out and forage... We'll climb Dragonbreak Cliff while it's away from its nest."
Han Xu nodded. "The last time the Great Rift opened, all the University Team used this method."
The third day after entering the Great Rift Valley Treasure Space.
Bai Xiaowen and his two companions arrived at the central area of Great Rift Valley Treasure Land, near the Dragonbreak Cliff.
On the way, we could already see awakened members from other major University Team heading towards the direction of Dragonbreak Cliff.
The awakened individuals from other schools, much like Bai Xiaowen and his two companions, formed groups of three to five people after meeting each other.
Both teams they encountered scrutinized Bai Xiaowen and his group, seemingly assessing the trio's strength.
While they may not possess Insight- based skills, their extensive experience allows them to discern an opponent's approximate level and class profile by carefully sensing the strength of their Psychic Field. Those with strong perceptive abilities and Mental Specialist are particularly adept at this.
Bai Xiaowen ignored these people's scrutiny. He didn't want to use his Insight skill casually unless he encountered an opponent worthy of his attention. Otherwise, no amount of Psionic Points would be enough to waste.
"Look, isn't that Dragonbreak Cliff over there?" Li Shuyi pointed into the distance.
Bai Xiaowen looked up and saw a reddish-brown cliff in front of him, almost level with the ground, towering into the clouds. At the top of the cliff, there were huge bird nests, and occasionally one could see a raptor with pure white fur and a tuft of golden feathers on its head flying around the cliff, its cries piercing the clouds and splitting the rocks.
"There should be no mistake. Be careful, these birds of prey have excellent eyesight. If we can see them, it means we've entered their line of sight. Let's find a sheltered hollow with a roof, hide there, and observe the Golden-Crowned White Eagle King's movements."
Bai Xiaowen and his two companions did not approach, but instead moved around the Dragonbreak Cliff from a distance.
Soon, Bai Xiaowen and his two companions found an excellent hiding spot. The mountain below was recessed, while the mountain above jutted out five or six feet. It would be an excellent place to take shelter from the rain and also avoid the view of the Golden-Crowned White Eagle from above.
Such a good place is rare, and members from other universities shared the same Hero Tier, all finding this place to take refuge temporarily.
Although the area was not small, with so many people, the safe distance between the teams was shortened considerably. Some team leaders began to tentatively communicate with the leaders of other teams to see if there was any possibility of cooperation.
A tall, burly Awakened boy, similar in build to Han Xu, walked towards Bai Xiaowen.
"Hello, which university are you from?"
"Jinghai University," Bai Xiaowen said.
"Oh, I'm Wang Jin from Xuhuai University," the tall young man smiled. "You look familiar. Haven't you appeared on TV before? You're the top scorer in the National Exam Top Scholar, right?"
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "Just a little bit of empty fame. I've heard of Senior Wang Jin before; he's the captain of the Xuhuai University team, right?"
"Hehe, I didn't expect even a freshman like you to know me. Looks like you've been preparing well for the CUAA league. However, our Xuhuai University is also going all out to fight for a spot in the next round this year, so you'd better watch out," Wang Jin said with considerable bravado.
Perhaps it was Wang Jin's loud voice that attracted the attention of another group of people.
"So it's you, loudmouth," a tall, muscular boy walked over. "Wang Jin, last year your Xuhuai University lost to our Suhang University. Want to compete for a spot in the next round? Not so easy, is it?"
The tall, slender young man then smiled at Bai Xiaowen, "Hello, I'm Geng Chen from Suhang University."
"Another captain of the University Team." Bai Xiaowen knew perfectly well.
Geng Chen scrutinized Wang Jin for a moment, then suddenly said, "No wonder you're so confident. You've made great progress this year, actually reaching level 6."
Wang Jin grinned, "Last year's defeat was a lesson learned, and I'm determined to improve. This year, I'm not only aiming for qualification, but I'm also going to fight for first place and see just how good Qi Ruifeng really is."
Suddenly, a voice came from not far away. "You guys should just go for second place... With Boss Qi around, the first place in the Jianghai Division will always belong to Jiangnan University!"
The group looked in the direction of the voice and saw two people walking down to the foot of Dripping Rain Rock. The speaker was walking in front; Bai Xiaowen recognized him. He was one of the four who had attacked Li Shuyi and Han Xu in the Dragonbone Wasteland and tried to steal the items dropped by the Bloodmarked Earthwalker Dragon Leader. He was also the only one left, a spellcaster named Ruan Chong.
Although Ruan Chong was smug and arrogant, he didn't attract much attention from Wang Jin and the others. However, when they saw the young man behind Ruan Chong, Wang Jin and Geng Chen's expressions became somewhat serious.