The three-day trial ended.
The hundred participants emerged from the secret realm in groups.
Some were elated. They had killed plenty of demonic beasts and reaped rich rewards.
Some were dejected, having nearly died inside or gained next to nothing.
Others were injured and came out supported by their teammates.
Tang Zhou's Seventh Squad was among the last to emerge.
His wounds had been treated, but his face was still a little pale. His teammates all bore injuries of varying severity, too.
"Young Master Tang," one teammate asked, "will our kill count put us in the top three?"
"I don't know," Tang Zhou said. "But we made it out alive."
His teammates fell silent for a moment.
Someone said quietly, "Young Master Tang, you've changed."
"How?"
"You never would've said something like 'we made it out alive' before."
Tang Zhou smiled.
He offered no explanation.
He looked up just as Chen Siyao and Yang Wanqing emerged from the base's office building.
Chen Siyao nodded to him.
Tang Zhou hurriedly returned the greeting.
Only after Chen Siyao had walked away did he withdraw his gaze.
"Young Master Tang," another teammate said, leaning closer, "was Miss Chen looking at you just now?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
"I'm not. You're blushing."
"Get lost."
Chen Siyao and Yang Wanqing went to the base office to hand in their kill records.
The recording device was a Wristband. Whenever its wearer killed a demonic beast, the Wristband automatically recorded the kill count and the beast's rank.
Chen Siyao handed her Wristband to the base's liaison officer, a man surnamed Lin.
"Miss Chen," Liaison Officer Lin said, taking the Jade Plaque and glancing at its data, "the kill count for you and Miss Yang is..."
He counted it up.
"One thousand three hundred and twenty-seven?"
"Yes."
"How many