Nicely Done!

Thirteen figures in green swiftly gathered in a clearing at the forest's edge. Yu Ling'er raised a hand in signal, and everyone immediately crowded around, their eyes blazing.

"Follow yesterday's plan. Move in groups." Yu Ling'er lowered her voice and spoke quickly. "Jin Duoduo and Zhou Mo, you are the first group. Set off along the planned route."

"Understood!" A sly grin appeared on Jin Duoduo's plump face as he nodded vigorously.

"Wu Yu and Cheng Zhao, you are the second group. Follow behind the first group from the flank, keep your distance, and act according to the situation."

"Yes."

The two answered in unison.

"Shen Lian and Chu Yunhe, you are the third group. Circle around from the left. You can make more noise and draw their attention."

Shen Lian nodded expressionlessly, while Chu Yunhe lazily yawned. "Got it. We're the bait."

"Li Yuan, you and I will take the rest and advance slowly from the right. Keep watch and be ready to provide support at any time." Yu Ling'er looked at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan nodded, his expression calm. "All right."

"Remember, our primary goal is to reach the central safe zone, not to fight them head-on. Use every means available to weaken them while preserving ourselves. Move out!"

Yu Ling'er clenched her fist and shouted in a low voice.

"Yes!" everyone answered quietly in unison.

The next moment, the thirteen scattered like birds startled from the brush, swiftly splitting into four groups and vanishing into different directions behind the shadowy trees.

Not long after they disappeared, several heads poked out from behind a large tree nearby. They were Human Realm Class students who had entered the forest early to lie in ambush.

Looking at the empty woods, they wore puzzled expressions.

"What's going on?"

"Weren't they supposed to huddle together for warmth? These rookies have some nerve."

"Should we split up and chase them, or concentrate our forces to block one route?"

"Something feels off... They seem to have a plan?"

"What are you afraid of? It's even better that they split up. We can pick them off one by one!"

"Come on, chase the group with the strongest combat power!"

One student who seemed to be the leader pointed in a direction.

The ambushers exchanged glances. Two remained behind to keep watch, while the rest swiftly chased after Shen Lian and Chu Yunhe.

On a forest path, Jin Duoduo and Zhou Mo ran one behind the other in apparent panic.

As Jin Duoduo ran, he kept looking back. "Brother Zhou, hurry up! Do you think they'll catch up?"

Zhou Mo leaned against a tree, gasping for breath. "Brother Jin, I... I can't run anymore..."

The two looked exactly like soft persimmons that had fallen behind during the assessment.

Sure enough, just as they stopped to rest, two figures leaped out from behind a large tree ahead and blocked their path.

They were two Human Realm Class students, one tall and thin, the other short and stocky. Both wore teasing smiles like cats toying with mice.

"Well, if it isn't this batch's little geniuses. Why are you all alone? Can't run anymore?" The tall, thin student folded his arms and mocked them.

"Hand over your nameplates and admit defeat. Save us the trouble of doing it ourselves, and save yourselves some suffering." The short, stocky student cracked his knuckles, his smile malicious.

Jin Duoduo shuddered in fright and hurriedly waved his hands, piling a fawning smile onto his face. "Senior brothers, don't—don't attack. We can talk this out, we can talk this out."

As he spoke, he fumbled around inside his clothes and actually pulled out a stack of silver notes.

He drew out the two largest denominations and handed them over with trembling hands, a servile smile on his face.

"Senior brothers, please make things convenient for us. Just a little token of appreciation... Pretend we were never here and let us pass, all right? It's only an assessment. Why take it so seriously?"

The two students were stunned at first, then burst into sneers.

"Hahaha... Silver notes? Kid, where do you think this is? A marketplace?"

"Exactly. This is an academy assessment. Do you think money can buy us off? How naive!"

Jin Duoduo grew anxious. He pulled out another two silver notes and held them out together with the first ones, his face mournful.

"Senior brothers, please be flexible. Th-this is everything we own. Look at the denominations... It's enough for the two of you to live comfortably for quite a while."

The tall, thin student casually glanced at the denomination on the silver notes. His smile froze, and his eyes suddenly widened. Seeing this, the short, stocky student leaned over for a look and could not help sucking in a cold breath.

One thousand taels!

One thousand taels per note—four notes made four thousand taels!

Who was this fat kid? He could casually pull out four thousand taels just to buy passage?

The two stared at each other in shock, each seeing... greed in the other's eyes.

Their families were ordinary, and cultivation resources at the academy were scarce. Four thousand taels were enough to exchange for plenty of cultivation supplies, even to buy several decent low-grade magical artifacts.

The temptation... was simply too great.

"Ahem..." The tall, thin student coughed twice, his expression somewhat unnatural, but his eyes remained fixed on the stack of silver notes. "Well... the academy rules..."

"Rules are dead, but people are alive." Jin Duoduo hurriedly cut in, gritting his teeth as he took out the final two notes. "Senior brothers, this is the last of what we have. It's all—all yours."

"We only ask that you show mercy."

Six notes! Six thousand taels!

The two men's breathing grew heavy. Their eyes struggled for a moment before greed finally gained the upper hand.

The tall, thin student snatched the silver notes and quickly stuffed them into his clothes. "At least you know what's good for you! Get lost! Don't let us see you again!"

"Thank you, Senior Brothers! Thank you, Senior Brothers!" Jin Duoduo acted as though he had been granted a pardon. He grabbed Zhou Mo and, bowing and scraping, prepared to slip past the two.

The short, stocky student even waved his fist fiercely. "Get lost!"

Jin Duoduo and Zhou Mo scrambled past them in a panic.

Suddenly, Jin Duoduo tripped. He staggered forward and fell, letting out a short cry of alarm.

The two Human Realm Class students were immediately drawn in and turned to look over.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two faint sounds cut through the air.

The two only felt a slight numbness at the backs of their necks, as though they had been bitten by mosquitoes. Then an intense paralysis instantly spread through their entire bodies.

They did not even have time to react before their vision went dark. Their legs gave out, and with two thuds, they fell stiffly to the ground and lost consciousness.

Even then, surprise still lingered on their faces. They had no idea what had happened.

Two figures sprang out from the bushes nearby. They were Wu Yu and Cheng Zhao, who had long been lying in ambush there.

After confirming that the two were merely unconscious, Wu Yu nodded to Cheng Zhao.

Cheng Zhao immediately removed the ropes they had prepared from his back. The two worked in perfect coordination, swiftly tying the men up like rice dumplings and taking their nameplates along the way.

"Nicely done!"

Wu Yu gave Jin Duoduo, who was climbing up from the ground, a thumbs-up. He had not expected the plan to go so smoothly.

Jin Duoduo patted the dirt from his clothes and grinned smugly. "Easy, easy."

As he spoke, he walked over, retrieved the silver notes from the tall man's clothes, flicked them twice in his hand with a slap-slap, then smilingly tucked them back into his own clothes.

"The next ambush point is seventy zhang northeast, at the bend in the stream. Based on yesterday's observations, there's likely another two-man group there." Zhou Mo spoke calmly.

"Move!"

Wu Yu waved a hand. The four quickly cleared away the traces at the scene, then raced in the direction Zhou Mo had indicated.

The same act played out again and again throughout the outer regions of the forest over the next half hour.

With his masterful acting and the power of money, Jin Duoduo successfully dealt with another three groups of Human Realm Class students.

Most of those students were in the early stage of the Essence Induction realm. They came from ordinary backgrounds, and their resolve was not particularly firm. Faced with such enormous wealth, they all fell for it.

At this moment, the Human Realm Class had already lost eight people, leaving only twelve. In terms of numbers, they had lost their former overwhelming advantage.