"Uh, Brother Wu Sheng, you don't have to be so ruthless! I did put in some effort, too. I was the one who killed Tuo Meng!"
Jin An's smile froze, but he quickly recovered and said with a grin,
"After Tuo Meng escaped, he didn't have much Primal Force left. What, are you expecting a perfect attendance bonus? How about this: since this is our first time working together, I'll just give you those two million Cosmic Crystals."
"You take one million Cosmic Crystals, and the other million can be split among Man Gu and the others."
Wu Sheng couldn't bring himself to be too blunt. After all, he had a trillion Cosmic Crystals to make up, and he wished he could pour every last one into the Time-Space Shop.
But Blood Sun City was clearly his client for now. It was only natural to take their money and solve their problems, but keeping things friendly and making money together was the way to go.
"Fine, we'll do it your way. But we have to get half the battle suits on their bodies. There are only three of you, even counting Man Gu. You've got to leave us some way to survive!"
Jin An gritted his teeth and said it outright.
As he saw it, what good were a pile of Cosmic Crystals? Without enough battle suits, even if they survived to the end, they would be executed. As for the Cosmic Crystals, if they couldn't break through their bottleneck in the Trial Ground, the most they could do with them was restore their energy.
"Sounds good. You can have the battle suits, but the Cosmic Crystals in their Space Rings are mine!"
Wu Sheng finally smiled. It wasn't every day he landed such a big deal, and since both sides got what they wanted, everyone was happy.
As for the Wolf Beast Pack, the Trial Takers from Thunder Star Mountain had been slaughtered to the last. Any who had escaped wouldn't dare linger. As the wolves returned, Wu Sheng directed Man Gu and Bai Yu's group to carefully loot the Space Rings, battle suits, and other belongings of the Trial Takers.
Before long, the two groups joined up. Once they had agreed on a route, they set off for the Blood River Squad's gathering point, as Jin An had suggested.
Before leaving, Wu Sheng also used his Innate Secret Art, "Soul Devour," to collect the remaining soul power from the Trial Takers. He planned to find some time to refine it properly.
However, because the battle with the wolves had gone on for so long, the soul power he collected, though plentiful, was very weak.
Less than ten minutes after Wu Sheng and the others left, Yu Yan led five Elite Trial Takers here at full speed. But all they found were bodies strewn across the ground.
"Who? Who did this? You despicable bastards! I'll tear you apart! I'll—!"
Yu Yan's eyes bulged with fury. His enormous pincers thrashed wildly, smashing dozens of trees around him, but even that did nothing to ease his rage.
"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"
The Green-clad Prison Clan Member who had appeared on the screen earlier emerged from inside one of the trees. When he reached Yu Yan, he pleaded pitifully,
"They're all dead. It was Jin An of the Blood River Squad. I saw the wolves leave not long ago, and then the Blood River Squad came here to loot the battle suits. It was as if they'd planned it together."
"Nonsense! I wiped out the Blood River Squad's main force. How could any of them dare come here?"
Yu Yan clearly didn't believe him. He clamped his pincers around the man's head and lifted him into the air. If the man said one wrong thing, Yu Yan would kill him on the spot.
"I'm not making it up! They were chatting and laughing, completely at ease. Oh, right, there was a Wu Gang Clan member among them who seemed to have a lot of influence. Even Jin An often deferred to him. But we don't have any information on him. He must be a new Elite Trial Taker who just joined them."
"Hmph, then that explains it. Good. Very good! Blood Sun City doesn't even have a single Special Elite, yet some fool still joined them without fear of death! Don't worry. We'll meet one day. Then I'll find out exactly who this newcomer is."
A resentful look flashed in Yu Yan's eyes. Then he remembered something and hurriedly asked,
"What about Tuo Meng? Why isn't he here?"
"Senior Brother, Tuo Meng and the others were killed too, in a forest dozens of kilometers away. When I went there, I saw the Wu Gang Clan member and Jin An standing together in the distance."
The Green-clad Prison Clan Member looked close to tears. He was the only surviving Prison Clan Member, and like Bai Yu, he had handled scouting and ambushes. But he was clearly much stronger than Bai Yu, and quick-witted, too, which had helped him save his own life.
But he couldn't change what had happened. All he could do was watch as the wolves, Jin An, and the others slaughtered his comrades!
"Blood River Squad! Roar!"
Yu Yan could no longer hold back his furious roar.
They had suffered terrible losses. Their gathering point had held over a hundred people, and now only the seven of them remained. Even the battle spoils on their comrades' bodies had been taken. They were ruthless!
Once Yu Yan had vented his rage, one of the Elite Trial Takers spoke up angrily. "Senior Brother, should we go back and kill them?"
"No. Not yet. Di Fei is sure to be alive, and He Na is a direct descendant of the Imperial Clan. She has plenty of treasures on her. If we fight them head-on, even if we win, we'll suffer a crushing victory."
"That would put us at a serious disadvantage! So first we need to gather some allies. Then, if trouble comes, we can face it together. Our minimum goal is to get out of the Trial Ground safely. We have to make sure we survive before we can think about anything else. Otherwise, it's all pointless."
"If I remember right, Xuan Tong of Cangming Valley in the Eastern Domain is nearby. We'll find him first, then work out how to take down the Blood River Squad. Hmph, not even half a year has passed out of these nine years. We've still got plenty of time!"
Yu Yan had been through three Blood Trials, and he had plenty of confidence, even if this start wasn't as smooth as the last one.
As soon as he finished speaking, a sly glint flashed in Yu Yan's eyes. Then he led the remaining six away in a particular direction.
Meanwhile, at another gathering point, Wu Sheng eyed Jin An suspiciously and pointed at the blood-red ground.
"This is the Blood River Squad you were talking about?"
"Th-this... Which bastard did this?" Jin An was just as baffled. He'd only gone out to gather some information on the other side. How had things ended up like this by the time he got back?
"Di Fei, He Na..."
He tried to contact his comrades through his simple Optical Computer, but neither call went through.
People like He Na, Di Fei, and Yu Yan were often given Auxiliary Optical Computers or even intelligent computers by various factions because of their strength or special status, and could bring them into the Trial Ground.
But it was almost impossible for other Trial Takers to contact them. Otherwise, if someone harbored ill intentions and used the simple Optical Computers issued to Blood Sun City's Trial Takers to locate them and plot against them, the consequences would be dire.
"Hm, it actually connected?"
Jin An suddenly saw He Na's beautiful face appear on his screen, and he was thrilled.
"Sister He, what happened to you? Why is the gathering point covered in blood, with not a single person around?"
Jin An hurriedly asked.
"Hmph, Yu Yan set us up. That bastard wanted to lure a herd of Earth Rock Rhinos into wiping out the Blood River Squad. I led a few Elite Trial Takers to escape, while Di Fei stayed behind to cover us and bring back the battle suits from our dead comrades. If I hadn't seen you frantically calling me in that special way, I would've thought you were dead, too!" He Na said angrily.
"Ah, so that's what happened! I was wondering why we hadn't run into Yu Yan. Turns out he dared to come here and set us up. That bastard! Let's hope we don't run into him next time!"
Seeing the fury on his face, He Na grew even more annoyed. "Are you out of your mind? We've suffered terrible losses. We should be thinking about how to rebuild our strength, but you..."
Jin An realized He Na had misunderstood and hurriedly explained, "Sister He, we just won a huge battle. We wiped out Yu Yan's gathering point..."
As Jin An told her what had happened, He Na's eyes grew brighter and brighter, until she burst out laughing.
What a thrill! No wonder Yu Yan had left looking as if his parents were dead, his face twisted in fury. Once he was gone, the Earth Rock Rhinos gradually calmed down, allowing He Na and the others to escape.
It turned out all of this was the work of an Elite Trial Taker Wu Sheng had casually brought along!
"Sister He, Wu Sheng is chasing me for money right now. You'd better send me the new location so I can take him there to collect it." Jin An looked close to tears. "If this drags on, he might think I'm a scammer and kill me first!"
"Come on, it's only money. I've got plenty. Bring him over quickly. I'll give him those twenty million Cosmic Crystals first, then we can discuss what comes next."
"We need to rebuild the Blood River Squad, and what we lack is a powerhouse with talent like his!"
He Na said, full of confidence.