Rising Sun
Within the mountain forest, where the warm morning light spilled over the trees, the panting and the rustling of branches sounded especially heavy.
"Haah... haah..."
"They haven't caught up again, have they?!"
Xuan Guang descended, and several Dao Students landed on a treetop, their chests heaving. Their eyes kept darting toward the radar map, as if on guard against something.
"Only four hours left. In another four hours, we'll have passed this round of the assessment."
The girl beside them, with talisman artifacts hovering around her, lowered her head to look at the leaderboard. Her pupils trembled slightly.
Over the course of the night, the number of people on the leaderboard had plummeted. In just ten short hours, the number eliminated had exceeded the combined total from the previous two days.
By now, only a little over twenty-eight thousand people remained on the entire list.
"What difference will passing this round make?"
"With our level, even if we pass this round, we're destined to fail the Ten Palaces Trial."
On the other side, a Dao Student with bulging muscles and a stout build spoke calmly. Over the past two days, he had come to understand that although they had all passed the Preliminary Trial, there was still a world of difference between them.
"Alas... Brother Lu is right. We've been chased all night."
"What does it matter that we ran from the eastern district all the way to the southern district? We're still being herded around like lambs."
"Fortunately, those guys are only chasing us and aren't taking the cultivation techniques and secret manuals. As we made our way here, we've exchanged what we had and gathered quite a few resources."
At these words, the surrounding Dao Students nodded in deep agreement.
Those people seemed to pursue them