Wait a moment, I'll stir-fry it for you

"Too bad. That's a lot of free points wasted."

In a certain mountain hollow, Ji Ruo said regretfully.

The spider queen's venom could corrode even stone. The smoke rising from the burning spider silk carried potent toxins. Whether the spider queen died or not, the surrounding forest would be steeped in lethal poison. Ji Ruo wasn't in the Qi Pulse Realm—he didn't have that kind of poison resistance.

Those wild points were out of reach now.

The others: "..."

Liang Shixian couldn't help but say, "Ji Ruo, can you stop being so impulsive from now on? How dangerous was that just now? If your Iron Sand Palm hadn't ignited the spider silk, going back there would've been suicide! That spider queen was badly injured, but she was still way beyond what you could handle!"

Ji Ruo grinned, unconcerned. "Aiyah, it's fine, isn't it? Don't worry, everything's under control!"

Had the boy been impulsive? Of course not.

Liang Shixian might be a good student, but in the end, he was just an ordinary high schooler.

All he could think about was lying motionless in the mud, waiting for the spider queen to leave with her prey, and then they'd be safe.

Ji Ruo had lived two lives. He saw deeper than Liang Shixian.

When a demon advanced, it had a period of weakness, but low-tier demons didn't take long to evolve.

The Martial Exam still had five days left. Ji Ruo and the others had to stay in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm for five more days.

That was plenty of time for the spider queen to devour the Six-Whiskered Catfish and complete her evolution.

By then, if the evolved spider queen wanted to hunt them down, they'd be facing a spider-type demon beyond the Qi Pulse Realm at full strength.

Sure, it was only a possibility. Even if it happened, the spider queen might not be able to find them.

But as long as there was a chance, Ji Ruo wasn't going to gamble.

Caution keeps the boat afloat for ten thousand years. In this mountain range, you couldn't be too careful.

"By the way, Teacher. You said earlier that something unknown happened to the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm. What did you mean?" Ji Ruo suddenly asked.

He'd noticed something was off for a while. Everything they'd encountered in the secret realm since they started didn't match what they'd been taught at school.

At the very least, the school teachers never said Goblins could speak human language or farm Blood Rice.

Even the Patrol Examiner had almost ended up as demon chow!

Li Nannan thought for a moment, then said, "I'm not entirely sure either. The originally designated zones suddenly became chaotic. The network connection cut out. And some demons and monster beasts that clearly exceeded the Martial Exam standards appeared in my jurisdiction."

"The designated exam zones are chaotic?" Ji Ruo blinked. "Then which zone are we in now?"

The parts of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm under human control were only at the 'foothills.' They were divided into sixty zones. The higher the zone number, the more dangerous it was—this was common knowledge from high school textbooks, no secret.

"I don't know." Li Nannan shook her head slightly. "My wristband was damaged during the fight with the spider queen earlier. I can't check the electronic map, so I have no idea which zone we're in now."

Ji Ruo frowned slightly. If they weren't in a designated exam zone, it was far too dangerous for him right now.

[Absolute Sense of Direction] could avoid danger to some extent, but it wasn't omnipotent. Its correction ratio was too low. One wrong step, and it was utter ruin.

The other three also knew what 'leaving the designated exam zone' meant. Deep worry showed on their faces.

Seeing this, Li Nannan realized she'd said the wrong thing—it was the truth, but sometimes, you couldn't tell the truth.

She tried to reassure them. "Don't worry. Teacher will protect you. Since the Martial Exam has gone wrong, we can't stick to the old rules anymore. Our top priority now is survival."

Hearing this, Liu Neng couldn't help but say, "But Teacher, you were captured by the Nine-Eyed Demon Spider yourself. Ji Ruo was the one who saved you. How are you going to protect—"

"Shut up!"

Ji Ruo snapped. "Do you know how to talk? Teacher said she'll protect us, so she will. What nonsense are you spouting?"

Liang Shixian also glared at Liu Neng.

This guy really didn't know how to talk!

Liu Neng opened his mouth, said nothing, and awkwardly sat back down beside Zhang Quan.

Li Nannan's expression was a bit awkward. She looked at Ji Ruo. "Student, you're Ji Ruo, right? That student wasn't wrong. This time, it really was thanks to you. I was about to—"

"Grrrrr~"

Before she could finish, her stomach suddenly growled loudly. Li Nannan's face flushed red with embarrassment.

Luckily, her face was still caked with thick mud, so it wasn't visible.

During the Martial Exam, Patrol Examiners had to enter the exam grounds a day early.

Not only to familiarize themselves with the environment, but also to re-screen the exam zones for any monster beasts or demons beyond the candidates' limits.

On the first day Li Nannan entered, everything was normal. But after she finished inspecting her assigned zone, she was attacked by the Nine-Eyed Demon Spider.

Nine-Eyed Demon Spiders always lived in groups. With a spider queen at the Qi Pulse Realm peak backing them up, and the Slow Demon Eye capable of affecting even Qi Pulse Realm martial artists, she lost after a prolonged struggle.

For the next few days, she was trapped in the Nine-Eyed Demon Spider's nest, constantly injected with venom by countless spiders. Her whole body went numb, and she drifted in and out of consciousness—until Ji Ruo saved her.

Counting it up, she hadn't eaten in almost three days. She'd been through a major battle, and after escaping, she'd been using her internal blood qi to dilute the toxins. She was utterly exhausted.

Seeing this, Ji Ruo stood up, unzipped the pocket on his school pants, and pulled out two handfuls of mud-stained Blood Rice—most of it had been lost during the escape. Only what was tucked behind the zipper remained.

"It's about time to eat. Let's have a meal. Teacher, you go first."

Ji Ruo handed the Blood Rice to Li Nannan, saying, "Conditions are limited. Please don't mind, teacher."

This time, Ji Ruo hadn't used Iron Sand Palm to fry the rice, because although he had stuffed his pants pockets full, pockets were only so big—even packed to the brim, they couldn't submerge his palm, failing to trigger the 'fry rice' effect.

"This is... Blood Rice?"

Li Nannan was taken aback. These grains of Blood Rice hadn't even been husked; they definitely hadn't been brought from outside the exam grounds, but were a 'fortuitous encounter' these students had found within the 'exam site'.

"You should eat it instead. Teacher isn't hungry," Li Nannan subconsciously tried to refuse.

"Teacher, please eat. You're a Patrol Examiner. Only when you're full can you have the strength to protect us, right?"

Liang Shixian chimed in, "That's right, teacher. You eating your fill is far more useful than us eating ours. Don't worry, eat up. If it's not enough, I still have some here."

As he spoke, Liang Shixian also unzipped his pants pocket and pulled out the Blood Rice inside.

Ji Ruo raised an eyebrow.

He hadn't expected this class monitor to have the same idea as him—not putting all the Blood Rice into the makeshift bundle made from their school uniform tops, leaving some left over.

Li Nannan hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. "Alright then, teacher will eat first. Afterwards, I'll take you to find other food."

But Ji Ruo suddenly said, "Hold on!"

Li Nannan had already opened her mouth to swallow it raw when Ji Ruo's call stopped her. She thought he had changed his mind.

Instead, she saw Ji Ruo take the Blood Rice from Liang Shixian and Li Nannan, mix it together, place it on the ground, and raise both palms, measuring something.

"Teacher, eating it raw is bad for digestion," Ji Ruo said seriously.

Li Nannan: "It's fine, I—"

Before she could finish, Li Nannan froze.

She watched as Ji Ruo plunged his palms into the Blood Rice. Both hands turned crimson red as he continuously stirred and flipped.

"Wait a moment, teacher. I'll cook it for you before you eat."

Li Nannan was dumbfounded.

"Iron Sand Palm... can be used like this?!"