Su Yu looked at Hu Liena beside him, leaned close to her ear, and whispered:
"Nana, get ready to move!"
A gleam flashed through Hu Liena's eyes, and she nodded firmly. The two quickly slipped into the stream of people heading toward the mountain behind the grounds.
In the stands, Holy Dragon Douluo swept his gaze across the competition grounds, tapping his fingertips lightly against his armrest as he asked Golden Crocodile Douluo beside him:
"Second Brother, which pair among this year's freshmen do you favor?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo raised his eyelids slightly, a sharp glint flashing through his aged eyes:
"Su Yu, the Pope's disciple, is certainly a talent worth cultivating."
"Though his Wood Release Martial Soul is unheard of, anyone who catches the Pope's eye must possess considerable strength."
"He and Hu Liena should secure a good placing in this first assessment. Finishing in the top three of the Freshman Competition should pose little difficulty for him."
He paused, then looked at Holy Dragon Douluo. "That junior of yours has a top-quality Martial Soul, high Innate Soul Power, and a solid foundation. He should also have a place among the top three in the Freshman Competition."
"As for that girl Hu Liena..." Golden Crocodile Douluo mused.
"Her Demon Fox Martial Soul leans toward control and is better suited to teamwork. Her individual offensive drive is a little weaker, but with her abilities, making the top ten in the Freshman Competition should be no problem."
Holy Dragon Douluo stroked his beard and added, "There's also the pair of Xie Yue and Yan."
"The Moon Blade provides agility-based offense, while the Flame Earth Lord provides power-based offense. One is swift, the other forceful, and their coordination is fairly good."
"They could probably contend for the top three in this first round, and they're certain to have places among the top ten in the Freshman Competition."
Several red-robed bishops nearby joined the discussion.
On the raised platform, Bibi Dong remained silent throughout, her gaze resting calmly in the direction of the mountain behind the grounds.
Her slender fingertips unconsciously rubbed the jewel on the Pope's Scepter. No one could tell what she was thinking at that moment.
In the mountain's dense forest, branches and leaves intertwined like a net, with dappled sunlight falling through the gaps onto the ground.
Most of the other students advanced cautiously in groups, sometimes scanning their surroundings warily, sometimes quietly discussing their route. Only Su Yu and Hu Liena walked at an unhurried pace.
"Brother Su Yu, which way should we go?"
Hu Liena's bright eyes roamed over the lush vegetation around them.
Su Yu tilted his head to listen to the sounds in the forest, then pointed toward a tangle of vines on the right:
"The Soul Power fluctuations are denser over there. There should be quite a few Soul Beasts."
"That's what I thought too!"
Hu Liena's smile blossomed like a flower as she walked deeper into the forest beside him.
The two worked in harmony. Su Yu's Wood Release Martial Soul could easily sense unusual movements in the surrounding plants, allowing him to anticipate the locations of Soul Beasts;
Hu Liena's Demon Fox Martial Soul released a faint alluring aura that interfered with the judgment of low-level Soul Beasts.
Whenever they encountered a Soul Beast carrying a Command Token, Su Yu simply dispatched it with the Cutting Technique.
When they occasionally encountered other teams, those teams merely kept their distance after sensing the pair's Soul Power, focusing on their search rather than wasting time getting entangled with them.
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. The sunset's lingering glow filtered through the canopy, gilding the two in warm hues.
Su Yu counted the Command Tokens at his waist, his eyes lighting up when he reached the end:
"Thirty-three already!"
On the raised platform, Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at the number displayed in the crystal ball. A trace of surprise appeared on his aged face before he sighed softly:
"It seems we underestimated them."
In just two hours, Su Yu and Hu Liena had collected more than thirty Command Tokens, far surpassing the other teams.
The pair currently in second place had only eleven in hand. The gap was enormous.
Holy Dragon Douluo nodded in agreement beside him, approval in his eyes:
"The Pope's disciple truly is extraordinary."
"We thought only that his Wood Release Martial Soul was unusual. We never expected his coordination in actual combat to be so outstanding as well. We misjudged him."
Bibi Dong sat upright in the seat of honor, her fingertips still resting lightly against her scepter, but the faintest curve lifted the corners of her lips.
Inside the crystal ball, Su Yu was brushing fallen leaves from Hu Liena's hair.
Liena smiled and handed him a Command Token she had just taken from an Ironhide Boar, its metal arrowhead gleaming coldly in the sunset.
Su Yu took it and put it away. Looking at the thirty-odd Command Tokens hanging at his waist, he suddenly frowned:
"Searching like this is too slow. It's too inefficient."
A sly gleam flashed through his eyes as he leaned closer to Hu Liena:
"Nana, how could searching be faster than taking them? Tomorrow, we're going to 'rob' people!"
Hu Liena froze for a moment before understanding dawned, a mischievous smile rippling through her eyes:
"Sure! The rules never said we couldn't take them, anyway."
Su Yu carefully gathered the Command Tokens and secured them at his waist, his movements light and brisk.
Su Yu led her to a relatively open clearing in the forest, where soft fallen leaves carpeted the ground.
He rubbed his hands together, excitement in his voice:
"Nana, let me show you a new technique-Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique!"
Before his words had faded, he rapidly formed hand seals and slammed his hands against the ground.
Countless thick wooden pillars instantly shot out of the soil, intertwining and rising at an astonishing speed.
In just a few breaths, a wooden house more than three meters tall rose from the ground.
Overlapping layers of wooden shingles covered the roof, the walls fitted together seamlessly, and there were even openings for two small windows.
"Wow!"
Hu Liena's eyes widened in surprise. She stepped forward and touched the wooden house's wall. The wood was hard and smooth, as though it had been painstakingly polished.
"This technique is amazing! Now we won't have to sleep out in the wilderness tonight!"
Su Yu smiled and pushed open the wooden door. "Come in and rest. It's fairly spacious inside."
Dry hay covered the floor of the wooden house, and a wooden table had even formed naturally in one corner. A faint fragrance of grass and wood filled the room.
Hu Liena sat by the window, looking out at the darkening forest, the corners of her lips curving gently upward:
"With you around, Brother Su Yu, it feels like there's nothing to worry about."
Leaning against the doorway, Su Yu looked at her profile and smiled:
"Once we've rested up, we'll have the other teams 'deliver' their Command Tokens to our door tomorrow."
In the stands, Golden Crocodile Douluo had just raised his teacup when he caught sight of the wooden house that had appeared out of nowhere inside the crystal ball. His hand trembled.
He did not even notice the scalding tea splashing onto his cuff as the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably:
"This..."
Holy Dragon Douluo's hand paused halfway through stroking his beard, his eyes full of an expression caught between laughter and tears:
"That boy certainly knows how to enjoy himself."
"If I weren't looking at the numbers on the scoreboard, I'd really think those two had come to the mountain for a vacation."
A red-robed bishop muttered under his breath, his tone carrying a measure of helplessness along with a little admiration.
"A Wood Release Martial Soul can even be used like this? Never mind combining offense and defense-he can even build his own lodging. That certainly saves a lot of trouble."
Golden Crocodile Douluo set down his teacup and shook his head. "He certainly has a nimble mind."
"But this also shows that they have enough confidence in their own strength to dare take things so calmly."
On the raised platform, Bibi Dong watched the wooden house in the crystal ball. The faintest hint of a smile passed through her eyes, vanishing in an instant.
She tapped her fingertips lightly against her armrest, her voice calm and even:
"That does save them the trouble of finding a cave."
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