Rebuilding the Blood River Squad

"Hey, Brother Wu Sheng, don't be so ruthless! I did put in some effort too—that Tuo Meng was killed by me!"

Jin An's smile froze for a moment, then he laughed again.

"After Tuo Meng escaped, he didn't have much primal force left. What, you want a perfect attendance award? How about this—since it's our first time working together, I'll treat those two million Cosmic Crystals as a gift from me."

"You take one million Cosmic Crystals, and let Man Gu and the others split the remaining million."

Wu Sheng saw this and didn't want to push things too far. He had a massive shortfall of one trillion Cosmic Crystals and wanted to funnel every last one into the Time-Space Shop.

But for now, Blood Sun City was clearly his client. Though taking money and solving problems was only natural, harmony brought wealth—that was the real way.

"Fine, let's do it your way. But the battle suits on them—we have to split them half and half. You've only got three people including Man Gu; you've got to leave us a way to survive!"

Jin An gritted his teeth and said directly.

In his view, what use was hoarding Cosmic Crystals? Without enough battle suits, even if he made it to the end, he'd still be executed. As for Cosmic Crystals, if he couldn't break through his bottleneck in the trial grounds, at best they'd just be used to restore internal energy.

"Fair enough. The battle suits are yours, but the Cosmic Crystals in their spatial rings have to go to me!"

Wu Sheng finally cracked a smile. It was rare to make such a big deal, and both sides got what they needed—everyone was happy.

As for the wolf beast pack, the Thunder Star Mountain trial takers had already been slaughtered to the last. Even if some had escaped, they wouldn't dare linger. As the wolf beasts returned, Man Gu, under Wu Sheng's command, was carefully looting the trial takers' spatial rings, battle suits, and other items alongside Bai Yu and the others.

Before long, the two groups converged. After settling on a route, they set off toward the Blood River Squad's gathering point that Jin An had mentioned.

Of course, before leaving, Wu Sheng used his innate secret technique "Soul Devour" to collect the remaining soul force from the dead trial takers, planning to refine it thoroughly when he found the time.

But because the wolf beasts had fought for so long, the soul force he gathered, though plentiful in quantity, was very faint.

Less than ten minutes after Wu Sheng and the others left, Yu Yan led five Elite Trial Takers rushing to the scene. All they found were corpses littering the ground.

"Who? Who did this? Despicable, shameless bastards! I'll fucking—I want to skin you alive! I #@￥%#..."

Yu Yan's eyes were bloodshot. His massive pincers flailed wildly, smashing dozens of giant trees around him, but it couldn't vent the rage in his heart.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

The Green-clad Prison Clan Member who had appeared on the screen earlier ran out from behind one of the giant trees. Reaching Yu Yan, he said pitifully:

"They're all dead. It was Jin An from the Blood River Squad. Not long ago, I saw the wolf beasts leave, and then the Blood River Squad came to loot the battle suits—like they'd planned it all along."

"Nonsense. I already wiped out the main force of the Blood River Squad. How could anyone from them dare to come here?"

Yu Yan clearly didn't believe the Green-clad Prison Clan Member. He clamped his pincers around the man's head and lifted him into the air. If he said one wrong word, Yu Yan would kill him without mercy.

"I'm not lying! They were laughing and chatting, acting very relaxed. Oh, right—there was a Wu Gang Clan member who seemed to have a lot of status among them. Even Jin An kept deferring to him. But we don't have any data on him. He must be a new Elite Trial Taker who just joined."

"Hmph, that checks out. Good. Very good! Blood Sun City doesn't even have a single Special Elite, and yet someone reckless enough to join them still exists! Don't worry—we'll definitely meet them one day. Then I'll see just what kind of big shot this newcomer is." Yu Yan's eyes burned with hatred. Then, remembering something, he asked urgently:

"What about Tuo Meng? Why haven't I seen them?"

"Senior Brother, Tuo Meng and the others were killed too, in a forest dozens of kilometers away. When I went there, I saw that Wu Gang Clan member and Jin An standing together from a distance."

The Green-clad Prison Clan Member's face was twisted with grief. He was the only survivor among these Prison Clan members, doing the same work as Bai Yu—scouting, ambushing, and the like. But he was clearly much stronger than Bai Yu and had a sharper mind, which was why he'd managed to save himself in time.

Still, he couldn't change the facts. He could only watch helplessly as his companions were slaughtered by the wolf beasts and Jin An's group!

"Blood River Squad, roar!"

Yu Yan couldn't hold back his howl any longer.

The losses were devastating. Out of a gathering point of over a hundred people, only the seven of them were left. Even the spoils from their comrades had been stolen. Ruthless!

After he finished venting, one of the Elite Trial Takers spoke angrily: "Senior Brother, should we fight back?"

"No, not yet. Di Fei definitely isn't dead, and He Na, as a direct descendant of the royal clan, carries plenty of treasures. If we go head-to-head with them, even if we win, it'll be a pyrrhic victory."

"That would be very bad for us! So first, we need to gather some allies, so we can share the burden if trouble comes. Our minimum goal is to get out of the trial grounds alive. Only by ensuring our own survival can we think about anything else—otherwise, it's all empty talk."

"If I remember correctly, Xuan Tong from Cangming Valley in the Eastern Domain is nearby. We'll find him first, then figure out how to take down the Blood River Squad. Hmph, nine years and less than half a year has passed—we've still got time to play!"

Yu Yan was no stranger to the Blood Trial, having been through it three times. Though this start wasn't as perfect as before, he still had enough confidence.

As soon as he finished speaking, a glint of cunning flashed in Yu Yan's eyes. He then led the remaining six and headed off in a certain direction.

Meanwhile, at another gathering point, Wu Sheng looked at Jin An with a grim expression, pointing at the blood-red ground.

"Is this what you call the Blood River Squad?"

"This, this, this... which bastard did this?" Jin An was equally dumbfounded. He'd only stepped out briefly to scout for information—how could it look like this when he got back?

"Di Fei, He Na..."

He tried to contact his companions through his simple optical brain, but failed every time.

People like He Na, Di Fei, and Yu Yan, due to their strength or special status, were often gifted auxiliary optical brains or even smart optical brains by their factions and brought them into the trial grounds.

But for other trial takers to contact them was nearly impossible. If someone with ill intent used the Blood Sun City trial takers' simple optical brains to reverse-locate and harm them, the consequences would be catastrophic.

"Oh? It actually connected?"

Jin An suddenly saw He Na's beautiful avatar appear on his screen, and he was visibly excited.

"Sister He, what happened? Why is the gathering point covered in blood, and no one's here?"

Jin An asked hurriedly.

"Hmph, we were set up by Yu Yan. That damned bastard tried to lure the Earth Rock Rhino herd into wiping out our Blood River Squad. I led a few Elite Trial Takers to escape, while Di Fei stayed behind to cover the retreat and take the battle suits from our fallen comrades. If I hadn't seen you frantically calling me through that specific method, I'd have thought you were dead too!" He Na said angrily.

"Ah, so that's how it is! No wonder we never ran into Yu Yan—he dared to come here and scheme against us. That cursed bastard, next time we won't let him off easy!"

He Na watched his indignant expression and grew even more irritated: "Kid, are you still asleep? Our side took heavy losses. First thing, we need to think about how to recover our strength, but you..."

Seeing that He Na had misunderstood, Jin An quickly said, "Sister He, we just won a huge victory. We wiped out Yu Yan's stronghold in one fell swoop..."

As Jin An recounted the story, He Na's eyes grew brighter and brighter, until finally she burst into laughter.

What a thrill! No wonder Yu Yan had left with a face like he'd lost his parents, full of bitter resentment. The moment he left, those Earth Rock Rhinos gradually calmed down, letting He Na and the others escape with their lives.

It turned out all of this was the work of an Elite Trial Taker Jin An had casually recruited!

"Sister He, Brother Wu Sheng is hounding me for the money right now. Hurry and send me your new location so I can bring him to you to collect the payment." Jin An put on a miserable face and said, "If I drag this out any longer, I'm afraid he'll think I'm a scammer and just off me first!"

"Tch, it's just money. Your big sister here has plenty. Bring him over quickly. I'll give him the 20 million Cosmic Crystal first, then we'll talk about what comes next."

"We're rebuilding the Blood River Squad, and what we need is exactly this kind of monstrous talent!"

He Na said with soaring spirits.