Being feared

Lu Heng turned around decisively and withdrew completely from the barrier range of the sixth day's trial.

With one step, the Trial Domain shrouded in wind and snow behind him seemed to instantly separate into two worlds.

The Wasteland Giant Plume Eagle, perched atop the withered tree of the trial, remained motionless throughout.

It is merely a mirror projection generated by the trial, existing solely by the barrier. It can only guard the trial checkpoints, unable to leave the domain, and even less able to sense or observe the beings outside the barrier.

The moment they stepped out of the barrier, the suffocating aura of a predator vanished without a trace.

Lu Heng was perfectly clear-headed.

There's no need to gamble with your life, and it's completely not worth it.

He has already secured a record of passing four rounds of trials. The core assessment of the Seven-Day Trial is to survive the extreme cold and live for seven days, not to forcibly pass all the ferocious beast levels.

Even when the temperature plummeted to minus forty degrees Celsius in the last few days, he felt no anxiety or confidence.

His body was covered in layers of animal hides: wolf hide for wind protection, deer hide for heat retention, and the most crucial outer layer of armor was the pure Yang fur of Forest Rock Tiger.

Tigers are rare, pure yang beasts in the wilderness; their flesh, blood, and fur all contain extreme yang energy, which is specifically designed to counter extreme yin and cold.

If someone wearing this overlord-level pure yang fur can't even withstand a cold snap of minus forty degrees Celsius, then the title of the Forest Rock Tiger, the overlord of this wasteland, is simply meaningless.

With his mind completely at ease, Lu Heng strode confidently into the middle layer of the Frost Forest.

With his current physical strength, which is nearly 20 in all three dimensions, plus a full set of high-level animal hide armor, most of the exotic beasts in the outer and middle layers of the Frost Forest can hardly pose a threat to him. He is not greedy for battle or reckless, but only wants to explore steadily and use wild beasts to hone his newly broken physical condition.

A cold wind swept through the forest, and the accumulated snow pattered against the Withered Branch.

Before long, the soft, dense sound of footsteps on the snow quietly came from the depths of the dense forest on both sides.

A rustling sound... clearly indicated that a pack of wild beasts was closing in.

Lu Heng stopped in his tracks, tightened his grip on the Bronze Hunting Blade, and swept his cold gaze toward the source of the sound.

Several lithe, gray-black figures broke through the ice one after another, their eerie green pupils gleaming with a cold, fierce light against the snow, their sharp gray fangs exposed, their bodies lean and menacing.

The moment Lu Heng could clearly see the fangs and fur, he instantly identified the species.

Grayfang Wolf.

The same Wolf Pack he killed in the trial.

In the blink of an eye, a bold and terrifying guess took root in his mind.

"It turns out that all the ferocious beasts in the trial were mirror replicas... not monsters created by the system at all."

He had vaguely sensed something was off before. The Giant-Horned Deer, Grayfang Wolf, and Forest Rock Tiger that appeared in the trial were exactly the same as the native beasts of the Frost Forest in terms of habits, physique, and fighting style.

Now that we've seen a wild Grayfang Wolf with our own eyes, all the clues have finally connected.

The trial grounds were merely a mirrored barrier reflecting the Frost Forest.

Every ferocious beast inside is a projection of a real species that exists in the forest.

At that moment, Lu Heng felt a slight chill run down his spine.

The sixth trial is guarded by Bronze Tier mirror image of Wasteland Giant Plume Eagle...

Does this mean that the true form of that terrifying aerial predator is hidden deep within the most forbidden area of Frost Forest?

The mirror image was already so unsolvable that it forced him to admit defeat; the combat power of the original body was simply unimaginable.

This is a huge problem.

Lu Heng frowned inwardly, but quickly suppressed his thoughts.

Thinking about these things now is too far ahead and pointless.

These living, breathing native Grayfang Wolf before him were just the right amount of people for him to try out.

After the Tiger Core tempering, just how much did his true combat strength increase?

Lu Heng lowered his stance, gripped his blade, and waited for the Wolf Pack to pounce.

But the next second, an outrageous scene unfolded.

The largest of the pack, the Grayfang Wolf King, stepped out slowly, its black nose twitching rapidly as it warily sniffed the air.

It stared at Lu Heng, at the Hunting Blade in his hand, and a deep sense of dread surfaced in the depths of its pupils.

There was no charging, no roaring protests.

The Wolf King lowered its neck and let out two muffled growls from deep in its throat, a very cautious warning and a way of dissuading the wolf from retreating.

Immediately afterwards!

The entire pack of Grayfang Wolf, which had already completed their encirclement and were poised to attack, turned around with their tails between their legs without hesitation and darted into the dense snow-covered forest, disappearing completely in the blink of an eye.

The forest suddenly became empty, with only the sound of wind and snow remaining.

Lu Heng, gripping the Bronze Hunting Blade, froze on the spot, his face filled with astonishment.

"Not... so cautious??"

Wolf Pack are inherently bloodthirsty and ravenous social predators. Why would they all flee at the sight of a single human?

He looked down at the Hunting Blade in his hand.

The blade appears clean, but the crevices of the blade and the patterns in the metal still retain the bloody, menacing aura of the Forest Rock Tiger.

That was the fierce tiger's aura lingering on the weapons from yesterday's fierce battle against the overlord of the wilderness.

Lu Heng instantly understood.

The fear ingrained in their genes makes them submit to and dread the bloodthirsty instincts of apex predators like tigers.

They weren't afraid of Lu Heng.

What they fear is the lingering ferocity of the tiger on this knife!

Feeling both amused and exasperated, Lu Heng immediately squatted down.

He pressed his hands against the Hunting Blade and rubbed and polished it vigorously again and again on the thick, clean snow.

Swish, swish, swish--

The cold snow continuously washed over the blade, gradually fading and stripping away the remaining scent of the beast's blood and its menacing aura.

He wiped it with exceptional care.

It must be thoroughly cleaned.

With that domineering aura, low-level beasts would run away at the sight of him, leaving him with absolutely no opportunity to practice in the wild or integrate new combat forces.

After repeatedly wiping the Bronze Hunting Blade clean, the last trace of fierce tiger aura remaining on the blade was completely wiped away by the accumulated snow, and there was no longer any ferocious smell in the air that could intimidate low-level beasts.

Lu Heng stood up and glanced around at the empty Snowfield Forest.

The Wolf Pack had already disappeared into the depths, and even the sound of their footsteps had completely vanished.

He didn't chase after them.

The purpose is different now.

Previously, he had been trapped in a vicious cycle of the Seven-Day Trial, fighting day and night, barely surviving. His only concerns were clearing levels, staying alive, and gathering supplies. He was like a puppeteer confined to his small world, never truly seeing this desolate wasteland.

Now that he has temporarily escaped the deadlock of the trial, he feels more relaxed.

Lu Heng raised his hand and took out a small piece of sharp gravel. He walked to the thick, withered tree trunk next to him and deftly slid his wrist to carve a deep, straight cross mark deep into the bark.

This is his boundary marker.

To prevent further exploration from going too deep and getting lost in the blizzard, it also allows for a clear delineation of safe activity areas.

After marking the spot, he brushed the snow off his hands and continued walking deeper into the Frost Forest.

Fine, fluffy snowflakes drifted down from the gaps in the tree canopy, landing on his hair, shoulders, and tiger fur, accumulating a thin layer of white frost.

The chill enveloped my body, yet it couldn't penetrate my skin or flesh even a fraction.

The outer layer of pure Yang tiger skin is warm, stable, and thick, while the inner layers of wolf and deer skin lock in warmth. The physique, tempered by the core of a fierce tiger, has a cold resistance far exceeding that of ordinary people.

The snow stopped falling as soon as it touched him; it was slightly cool but not cold, and it didn't affect his condition at all.

Lu Heng let the snow fall on his shoulders without patting it off, and walked slowly forward, his gaze sweeping across the entire forest.

Tranquil, desolate, and vast.

An endless Snowfield Forest, with bare trees standing tall, wind and snow whistling through the trees, the only sounds in the world are the wind and the falling snow.

This was the first time in his life, not out of a desire to escape, hunt, or avoid disaster, that he had truly calmed down and seriously examined this cruel yet real world.

Those who remain huddled in Shelter, trapped within Trial Barrier, and work in isolation will forever be left only to passively endure attacks.

To become stronger and truly establish oneself, one must venture out and understand the rules, terrain, distribution of exotic beasts, and resource locations of this land.

Lu Heng's gaze grew increasingly calm and composed.

He wasn't in a hurry to fight or grind monsters.

They simply traversed steadily through the middle layer of the forest, silently memorizing the path, the terrain, and the distribution of trees. They noted where the vegetation was dense enough to ambush, where the open terrain was likely to encounter pack animals, and where the sheltered spots could be temporarily set up for refuge.

As you go deeper into the area, the surrounding environment subtly changes.

The sparse, withered forest on the outskirts gradually became denser, the tree trunks became thicker, the snow became thicker, and in the deathly silence of the forest, faint sounds of life began to emerge.

Occasionally, the sounds of small, strange beasts fleeing could be heard flashing through the grass and snowdrifts, all of them being highly perceptive and taking precautions, not daring to approach his range at all.

After the ferocious tiger's aura was cleared away, the beast no longer fled blindly, but it also cautiously avoided the presence of humans.

Lu Heng didn't care at all.

He continued his unhurried pace, enjoying the peaceful exploration amidst the carnage.

After walking several miles through the woods, the view suddenly opened up in the forest ahead.

A narrow valley, swept flat by wind and snow, suddenly appears deep within the middle layer of the Frost Forest.