The Plan

Starlight Forest was a gathering place for high-tier ferocious beasts, its environment perfectly suited for their survival.

Some particularly favorable areas had been seized by powerful magic beasts.

The Golden-Bearded Mastiffs had claimed patch after patch of fertile land. As a Tier 8 pack-dwelling ferocious beast, even Tier 9 ferocious beasts were reluctant to provoke them unless necessary.

From birth to reaching Tier 3 Combat Power took only a month—the Golden-Bearded Mastiff's growth rate was terrifying. However, after that, reaching adulthood required nearly several decades.

So within the Golden-Bearded Mastiff's territory, some immature mastiffs could be seen playing.

But that was relative. The sight of giant mastiffs over three meters tall at play was still deeply shocking. For adult Golden-Bearded Mastiffs, their standing height exceeded fifteen meters; standing on the ground, their heads could poke out from the treetops.

"What a pity—those immature Golden-Bearded Mastiffs don't have golden beards yet," Chen remarked as he observed, a note of regret in his voice.

The golden beard of a Golden-Bearded Mastiff was a symbol of strength. It gradually shifted from pale white to grayish-yellow, and once it turned golden yellow, that meant adulthood. At the same time, this golden beard was also a very precious material.

The proof required for this trial was fifteen strands of golden beard.

Each Golden-Bearded Mastiff had only six strands of beard, which meant that at minimum, one person had to kill three Golden-Bearded Mastiffs to gather enough.

"That's the leader of the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs—it's probably already reached Tier 9 strength," Guen said, his gaze fixed on an unusually massive mastiff in the distance. Every single hair on its body was golden yellow. Even lying down, it stood taller than other mastiffs that were standing. If it rose, it would likely be at least thirty meters tall.

"This Golden-Bearded Mastiff pack isn't one to mess with. Let's check out the others," Chen said, backing down.

"Mm." Guen nodded as well.

A warrior's creed was not to fear challenges, but that didn't mean charging to one's death.

The pack before them had a leader that had broken through to Tier 9, and the number of adult Golden-Bearded Mastiffs exceeded fifty. They simply couldn't afford to provoke it.

Guen and Chen immediately set off to look for other Golden-Bearded Mastiff packs.

At every Golden-Bearded Mastiff gathering point, there was never just one pack. Usually, there were three to seven. Any more than that, and the territory wouldn't be enough to go around.

Figures occasionally flickered through the trees.

Everyone's target was the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs. This was one of the gathering points marked on the map. Trial participants from over twenty towns and villages, plus Leiquan City, were spread across a few limited gathering points, meaning that around every Golden-Bearded Mastiff, many people lay in ambush.

Still, everyone held back. No one made a move.

"Owww!"

A Golden-Bearded Mastiff charged forward on its own, and the trial participants quickly dodged.

There was no sign of the trial participants attacking each other, but the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs could no longer hold back. The large number of humans gathering around made them uneasy, so they took the initiative to drive the humans away.

Everyone feared the power of the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs, so they gave way and moved away from the pack.

Guen and Chen also took the opportunity to leave, gathering intelligence on the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs while asking around for news of Uncle Jack and the others.

Only then did they learn that the pack before them was actually one of the smaller ones at this gathering point. The largest pack had five Tier 9 leaders, and the number of adult Golden-Bearded Mastiffs exceeded two hundred. Hardly anyone dared to approach it.

For two straight days, there was no news of Uncle Jack, and no one dared to make a move. Instead, the crowd kept growing.

Just as everyone was getting restless, a bald man approached Guen and Chen.

"You two—interested in something big?"

Guen and Chen exchanged a glance. Chen said coldly, "What kind of big?"

The bald man grinned. "Hunting Golden-Bearded Mastiffs, of course. We're planning to strike at the largest pack."

"What?" Chen was startled. "If you want to throw your life away, I'm not joining."

With that, he turned to leave.

That pack had Tier 9 leaders. Even Tier 9 ferocious beasts would go around them. How could anyone willingly pick a fight with them? Right now, most people's strategy was to wait for an opening and attack the mastiffs on the outskirts.

The bald man wasn't annoyed. He blocked Chen's path. "Everyone came here to complete the trial. To complete it, we have to fight the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs—that's true, isn't it?"

"That doesn't mean we have to go after the biggest pack. That's just suicide." Chen didn't mince words.

"Of course. But what if everyone here attacks together?" the bald man said seriously. "In this trial, there are over twenty towns and villages in Starlight Forest, plus Leiquan City—more than ten thousand trial participants in total. And there are only five Golden-Bearded Mastiff gathering points. Right here, we have over two thousand trial participants. If everyone strikes at once, even the mastiff pack will have a hard time holding out. Don't forget, the trial is for Tier 6 to Tier 8. We have at least a hundred Tier 8 warriors here. The Tier 9 leaders—they'll be handled by them. We'll only focus on the other adult mastiffs."

Guen and Chen both felt tempted.

In terms of average strength, the two thousand trial participants were slightly weaker than the mastiff pack, but not by much.

The difficulty lay in the fact that the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs were more united, were ferocious beasts with stronger physiques, and had five Tier 9 leaders.

But the trial participants weren't without advantages. At the very least, they had the numbers. Each adult Golden-Bearded Mastiff would likely have to face nearly ten trial participants at once—enough to close the gap in rank.

As long as the rank difference wasn't too extreme, a gap in level was only insurmountable in one-on-one fights. With enough numbers, lower-ranked warriors still had a chance at victory.

In this trial, the lowest rank was Tier 6, the highest Tier 8. But the most numerous were Tier 7 warriors, followed by Tier 8, and finally Tier 6.

A normal Tier 8 warrior, even through regular training, could become a senior member of an organization and obtain a Transcendence Method. They didn't necessarily need to participate in the trial—they just wouldn't be valued as highly as those who passed it. So the Tier 8 warriors who joined the trial were proud and ambitious. There weren't many of them, but there weren't few either.

As for Tier 6 warriors, their numbers were truly scarce.

A Tier 6 warrior was only a Mid-Tier Warrior. In a trial like this, they were at a serious disadvantage.

But on average, the trial participants were Tier 7, only one rank below the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs. Ten against one—there was a real chance of killing a mastiff.

Chen pondered for a moment. "Still, there's no need to go after the biggest pack. The risk is just too great."

The bald man shook his head. "That's not right. We're two thousand people. Each person needs to hunt at least three Golden-Bearded Mastiffs to gather enough beards. Even with the largest pack, in the best case, only seventy or eighty people would get enough beards. In reality, it'd probably be fewer. Only the largest pack, with over two hundred adult mastiffs, is barely worth two thousand people attacking together. The second-largest pack only has a hundred and fifty or so—nowhere near enough. Take out the strongest first. Those who still haven't gathered enough will go after the remaining packs. We're just starting things off."

Chen understood immediately.

In a single gathering point, the total number of Golden-Bearded Mastiffs was only around four to five hundred. That meant, at most, just over two hundred people could collect enough golden whiskers. The rest were destined to be eliminated.

"Although the rumors say the pass rate for the trial is twenty percent, that's just an average. Sometimes, thirty percent of this batch pass; sometimes, only ten percent. Clearly, our batch is tough—maybe even less than ten percent by the end. The opportunity is right in front of you. If you don't join, we'll have to ask you to leave. This trial is brutal, and we don't want anyone trying to pick up scraps while we're bleeding and fighting," the bald man said bluntly, but neither Guen nor Chen took offense.

Normally, High-Tier Ferocious Beasts rarely lived in packs. The strength of a Golden-Bearded Mastiff was such that even a Tier 9 Ferocious Beast would steer clear. It wasn't something a few people or even a dozen could handle.

"How many people have you gathered so far? If it's less than fifteen hundred, I'm not risking it," Guen cut in, his voice low.

The bald man replied confidently, "This time, it's led by Ganlan, the son of the Leiquan City Lord. You can trust his pull. You'll see by tonight."

Leiquan City was one of the seven cities of the Aoyu Empire. Its City Lord wasn't just a Super Tier powerhouse but also known for his warmth and kindness, deeply beloved. If it was the City Lord's son, gathering over two thousand people was plausible.

"We understand. As long as the numbers are enough, we'll join," Guen agreed.

The bald man nodded. "Good. I'll notify you again tonight."

Watching the bald man leave, Guen lowered his voice. "Today's the fifth day. According to the plan, Uncle Jack and the others should have arrived by now, but they haven't shown up yet. They might be held up by trouble... but we still need to finish the trial first."

Chen looked down. "I understand. I've already made up my mind and prepared for the trial."

Guen nodded.

Fighting two hundred Golden-Bearded Mastiffs—after tonight, how many of those two thousand would still be standing?