At River City's southern gate, Lin Mo and the others stood in line, taking out their martial artist credentials one after another for verification before leaving the city.
"Lin Mo, eighteen?"
When the guard saw Lin Mo's information, he froze. He looked back and forth between the photo and Lin Mo, his face full of shock.
In River City, other than during the college entrance examinations, he had never seen anyone who had become a certified martial artist and could leave the city at eighteen.
Lin Mo felt extremely awkward under their stares.
The key was, fine, one person being curious enough to take a look was one thing—but why had they dragged several guards over to stare at him together?
Was he some kind of monkey on display?
"Brother, is there something wrong with my credentials?"
Unable to bear their scrutiny any longer, Lin Mo could not help asking.
"Ah? No, no problem. Hehe, here, these are your credentials."
The guard smiled awkwardly and handed Lin Mo his papers.
After putting them away, Lin Mo hurried outside.
"Hehe, did they crowd around to look at you? See? I told you."
Outside the gate, Wang Ling grinned and nudged Zhang Junjie with her elbow.
"That's normal. Little Brother Lin Mo is a rare specimen. Certified as a martial artist at eighteen—forget other places, in our River City, he's probably one of a kind."
Zhang Junjie said with a chuckle.
The reason Zhang Junjie had chosen Lin Mo for the team was that he had a few private calculations of his own.
If he got familiar with such a genius, perhaps Lin Mo might look after him in the future.
"Hehe, Little Brother Lin Mo, come over here."
Wang Ling waved to Lin Mo without a care in the world.
"Tch, what's so great about that?"
Seeing this, Guo Hong looked disdainful.
If he had not suffered from a rare illness and missed the college entrance examinations, he would not be in this state now.
Over two years, now twenty years old, he had relied entirely on his own perseverance to keep breaking through, reaching 200 units of Qi and Blood.
In all fairness, he counted as a minor genius himself.
But after missing the college entrance examinations, the ugly faces of his relatives, friends, and former classmates had gradually twisted something inside him.
He despised these so-called geniuses even more.
"Xiaohong."
His older sister, Guo Li, shot him a look, signaling him to keep quiet.
She knew her younger brother's temper, and she also knew that someone like Lin Mo would not have low achievements in the future.
She did not want her brother to provoke such a genius.
"I understand."
The moment he looked at his sister, Guo Hong showed a trace of gentleness.
Back then, only his sister had stayed by his side while he was seriously ill, begging people everywhere to treat him. Otherwise, he might have gone to see the King of Hell long ago.
Because of that, his sister, who was the same age as him, had missed the college entrance examinations too.
Guo Hong had always remembered that debt of gratitude.
It was also the greatest reason he wanted to grow stronger.
He wanted to give his sister a good life.
After making some preparations, the group headed toward their destination.
Once outside the city, Lin Mo raised his head and took a deep breath, his face filled with enjoyment.
"I never thought the air outside the city would be this good."
Lin Mo was somewhat surprised.
Ever since childhood, everything he had learned from the people around him, including what the school taught, had been about how dangerous it was outside the city and how terrifying Mutant Beasts were.
In everyone's minds, outside the city was hell.
Yet now that he had left the city, what he saw was a scene brimming with life.
Emerald grasslands, azure skies— even the clouds seemed far larger than those he saw inside the city.
"Get in!"
Zhang Junjie called to everyone, and the six of them boarded a large modified off-road vehicle.
The outside of the vehicle was reinforced with protective railings made from special metals.
Once they got on the road, Lin Mo noticed that there was a checkpoint roughly every ten kilometers.
Only after they were a hundred kilometers away did the checkpoints disappear.
The sight before them changed in an instant, as if they had entered a primeval forest.
The towering ancient trees pierced the clouds, packed densely together like a horizontal wall of scenery that stretched beyond sight.
However, at the edge of the forest, many people could be seen gathered in groups, setting up stalls.
"There are actually people setting up stalls here?"
Lin Mo asked in surprise.
"Hehe, little brother, is this your first time coming out?" Wang Ling leaned closer, smiling at him.
"Let me tell you, many of the people setting up stalls here aren't good people."
"Wang Ling is right. Out in the wilderness, without the rules of the Base City keeping things in check, it's very chaotic," Zhang Junjie said as well.
"You mean..."
Their words instantly made Lin Mo understand.
"That's right. Murdering people and stealing their goods is the fastest way to make money." Even Qin Bufan rarely added a comment.
This immediately startled Lin Mo.
Before he transmigrated, he had read plenty of fantasy and high-martial novels, so he was no stranger to plots about killing people and taking their treasures.
But now that he was personally standing in such an environment, it felt entirely different.
"What? Scared already? The wilderness isn't as safe as the Base City. This isn't children playing house."
Seeing Lin Mo's startled expression, Guo Hong suddenly spat out a cold remark.
But under his sister's warning gaze, he did not say anything more.
"Hehe, Guo Hong is right. This place is nothing like the Base City.
There are no rules or laws here. In fact, there are no bottom lines here at all!
Of course, these people generally will not act casually unless they discover something extremely precious.
So, if—just if—someone in our team happens to be lucky enough to obtain something particularly valuable,
and we run into them, don't resist. Hand it over directly. Keeping your life is what matters!
Lin Mo, especially you. This is your first time out here, and at your age, you should still be a senior in high school.
I believe the teachers at school must have told you that martial artists have to fight for everything, right?"
Zhang Junjie looked at Lin Mo and spoke slowly.
Lin Mo was taken aback, then nodded.
"Hehe, that's true. Martial artists must fight—for resources, for opportunities, for everything.
But the premise is that you have a chance to fight your opponent.
If you encounter an opponent you clearly cannot contend with, knowing the times is the proper course of action.
First, preserve your life!
If your life is gone, then everything is gone. Understand?"
For the first time, Zhang Junjie stared at Lin Mo with a serious expression.
Lin Mo was indeed a genius, but he was still only a student. Zhang Junjie also worried that he might be some hotheaded fool who stubbornly fought someone to the death, and that would end in tragedy.
"I understand."
Lin Mo naturally understood what Zhang Junjie meant and nodded.
"Haha, of course, in the outer C-zone, it's practically impossible to obtain any supreme treasure. Those people probably aren't interested in us either."
Seeing Lin Mo nod, Zhang Junjie immediately laughed it off.
"The vehicle can't go any farther ahead. Let's get out and proceed on foot."
By then, Zhang Junjie had driven the vehicle to an open patch outside the forest.
Dozens of off-road vehicles were parked there as well, clearly belonging to other teams.
The group got out, checked their supplies, and headed into the dense forest.
"We'll go this way."
After entering the forest, Zhang Junjie checked the GPS map and selected a direction.
"This time, our main hunting target is the Level One Exotic Beast, the Mandala Beast, in the C-zone. Lin Mo, you'll hold the rear. Don't rush to the front."
"Okay."
Lin Mo nodded obediently.
It was his first time participating in a Mutant Beast hunt. Beyond his excitement, he felt thrilled and somewhat nervous.
After all, this was real combat in the truest sense!
After winding left and right for half an hour, Zhang Junjie's voice rang out again.
"Our destination is on the left!"
Lin Mo followed his gaze. There was a relatively open grassland there.
Several enormous purple Mutant Beasts were slowly wandering about, and astonishingly, each one had a brilliantly colored flower growing atop its head?
"So these are Mandala Beasts?"
Before you continue