Hunting Begins

After the rules were announced, the five members of the team immediately sensed trouble. There was a good chance they would not be placed in the same batch and would be unable to hunt as a team.

Sure enough, in the drawing of lots that followed, Dong Lin drew the first batch. Tao Yan was the only one besides him who had also drawn the first batch.

Baili Tianming and Zhao Shuheng were assigned to the second batch, while their captain, Gu Chen, was placed in the third.

"I never expected the competition format for this grand tournament to be divided into batches. It must have been changed at the last minute.

"When I asked Master before, it seemed they were planning to arrange everyone together, with no intention of splitting us into batches. I have no idea why they suddenly changed it."

After gathering together, Gu Chen spoke with some regret.

"We really hadn't heard anything about the rules being changed, but there are simply too many Qi Refining Stage disciples participating in this grand tournament.

"My master said that the entire sect has over forty thousand Qi Refining disciples, and only a few thousand of them did not register.

"In other words, nearly forty thousand Qi Refining Stage disciples will be participating in the Dawnsource Secret Realm's Qi Refining competition.

"Even split into three batches, each batch will still have over ten thousand people.

"Over ten thousand cultivators gathered in a square area like this for a Hunting Tournament is still extremely crowded."

Zhao Shuheng said.

"Come on, it's only a small change to the rules. It's no big deal.

"Then Junior Brother Dong and Junior Sister Tao can form a team, Brother Zhao and I can form one, and Brother Chen, you can go alone.

"Everyone believes in your strength."

Baili Tianming laughed heartily.

"Alright. Then everyone, make your preparations. We'll meet again in a month."

Gu Chen nodded, helplessly accepting the reality.

In the Hunting Tournament, fighting alone and fighting as a team were worlds apart when it came to the grades and numbers of exotic beasts one could hunt.

There must be some lucky teams that weren't split apart. I only hope those monsters haven't joined forces.

Gu Chen thought.

Following the guidance of their jade plaques, Dong Lin and Tao Yan waited quietly outside the entrance to the Dawnsource Secret Realm.

This time, the secret realm's entrance was no longer fixed. Instead, the elders opened temporary spatial entrances and randomly transported the participating disciples into the competition area.

"Senior Sister Tao, I'll be relying on you during this Hunting Tournament." Dong Lin smiled.

"My experience in this area is also quite limited, Junior Brother Dong. Let's learn from each other and look after one another." Tao Yan said.

After a quarter of an hour, Tao Yan took the lead:

"Junior Brother Dong, I'll find a safe place to wait for you. Once we're inside, we'll use our jade plaques to contact each other."

"Alright, Senior Sister Tao."

About the time it took two incense sticks to burn, Dong Lin also stepped into the Dawnsource Secret Realm.

The area designated for this Hunting Tournament was basically within the Woodland Wilderness.

The dense thickets greatly obstructed their vision. Relying solely on the spiritual sense of Qi Refining Stage cultivators, they could not explore much territory.

Fortunately, the places where the two had been transported were not too far apart, only twenty li away.

After meeting up with Tao Yan inside the secret realm, the two set off toward the place where they had encountered the Earth-Element Armored Beast last time.

Since neither of them was very familiar with this secret realm and this was only their second visit,

rather than exploring those unknown areas, they might as well follow the route they had taken last time.

As it happened, the area they had explored last time was included within the boundaries of this hunt.

During their previous journey, they had already gained a rough understanding of the distribution of exotic beasts in the surrounding area.

Both of them had a certain degree of confidence.

However, while this competition prohibited participants from killing one another, it did not prohibit disciples from fighting each other.

The two did not dare advance with great fanfare and could only begin by probing ahead slowly.

Once they encountered other people, it would be easy to draw attention. If someone with ill intentions interfered from the side or stole their exotic beasts,

then this hunt would not be so easy, especially with so many participants this time.

Even with an average distribution, there would be others within a radius of ten li.

A range of ten li was truly nothing to cultivators whose divine sense could easily extend several hundred meters.

Along the way, Dong Lin and Tao Yan encountered several early first-rank exotic beasts and cautiously avoided nearly ten fellow disciples.

Tao Yan did not even need to make a move. Relying on his nimble, agile movement technique and Tiger Claw Strike,

Dong Lin pocketed the inner cores of several early first-rank exotic beasts:

one early first-rank Thick-Earth Tortoise inner core, two early first-rank Shadow Wolf inner cores, and three early first-rank Swiftwind Rabbit inner cores.

"Senior Sister, let's take three inner cores each."

"You took all of these down by yourself, Junior Brother. They should all be yours," Tao Yan said.

"Ah, Senior Sister, we should still be fair when dividing these small gains. Half each.

"Once we hunt higher-rank exotic beasts later, we can divide them according to contribution."

"Alright, then we'll do as you say, Junior Brother."

Tao Yan no longer stood on ceremony and accepted the three inner cores.

Although all six inner cores were early first-rank, the early first-rank category covered a broad range, and inner core quality was divided into several grades as well.

The three rabbits had barely reached early first-rank. Their combat strength was practically nonexistent, with only their speed being fairly impressive.

The two wolves, meanwhile, were nearly past the halfway point of the early stage. They had originally been carnivorous beasts,

and now carried a trace of shadow attributes as well, making them worth several times more than Swiftwind Rabbits.

It was like one had only just entered Qi Refining and possessed a pitiful single unit of spiritual power, while the other had fifty or sixty units.

The gap between the two was plain as day, as different as heaven and earth.

Other than the two Shadow Wolf inner cores, which could probably be exchanged for more points, the other four inner cores were not worth much.

That was why, when Dong Lin divided them, he specifically gave each of them one Shadow Wolf inner core,

ensuring the fairest possible distribution.

The greatest taboo in teamwork was unfair distribution.

Sometimes, unfair distribution was the main reason a team developed rifts or even fell apart.

Having lived two lives, Dong Lin understood this principle.

After half a day of travel, the two had reached a place quite far from the entrance.

They were still some distance from the location they had reached last time.

Although they had not moved at full speed last time, in two hours they had still covered more than one hundred and fifty li.

Dong Lin and Tao Yan had advanced carefully through the forest for half a day, yet they had only traveled about one hundred li.

There should only be a few dozen kilometers left to that sandy expanse from last time.

"Almost there, I think. Senior Sister Tao, let's settle down nearby and begin hunting."

"This place should not be far from that sandy expanse from last time either. I wonder whether the forest has assimilated part of the sandland."

"Not necessarily. The Earth-Element Armored Beasts we killed last time may have only been a small portion.

"With such a vast sandy expanse, I don't think just those five Earth-Element Armored Beasts could have eroded such a large area of forest. After all, there had been no shortage of demon plants and exotic beasts in the forest."

Tao Yan nodded in agreement.

After a brief rest, Dong Lin and Tao Yan each took responsibility for one area, exploring to see whether there were any higher-rank exotic beasts within it.