The two of them bought four vials of nutrient solution each, then quietly left the safe zone.
"Come to think of it, Li Tongfu had it coming. He seemed so warmhearted at the time that I thought he was a good person. Who knew he'd show his true colors as soon as the joint exam started? Good thing you were on your guard." Only after leaving the safe zone did Wei Zixuan dare to talk about Li Tongfu.
Xu Jintang said flatly, "When someone's overly friendly, they're either selling you something or trying to scam you."
Wei Zixuan nodded in wholehearted agreement. "That makes sense. I'll have to stay alert from now on, too, and watch out for scams."
After leaving the safe zone, Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan began hunting demonic beasts everywhere.
First-tier demonic beasts were everywhere, but second-tier ones were far fewer.
[Points +10] [Points +10] ... [Total points: 620]
Watching her points creep up, Xu Jintang stopped and turned to Wei Zixuan. "Killing them one at a time like this earns points too slowly."
Wei Zixuan paused. "Then should we..."
"Find some second-tier demonic beasts. Working together, we should be able to handle them."
After absorbing the flood dragon's blood essence, Xu Jintang's strength had doubled. Wei Zixuan's ability could at least summon first-tier demonic beasts to fight, so their combined strength was by no means weak.
After thinking it over, Wei Zixuan nodded. "True. We spent all morning killing first-tier demonic beasts and didn't even earn a hundred points. Second-tier beasts would be more efficient."
Having made their decision, the two immediately set off deeper into the forest.
The farther they went, the quieter their surroundings became.
With her Domain Detection effect active, Xu Jintang led the way into the woods. The fallen leaves underfoot crunched crisply as she stepped on them.
"Sis, we should already be in second-tier demonic beast territory," Wei Zixuan reminded her quietly.
Xu Jintang stopped. "We've walked this long without encountering a single second-tier beast. We might have wandered into some leader beast's territory."
Demonic beasts were territorial. Some stronger beasts would claim an area and leave scent markings to warn unfamiliar beasts away.
When weaker beasts caught the scent of those markings, they would also try to avoid entering that territory.
A hint of nervousness entered Wei Zixuan's voice. "A beast with its own territory has to be at least at the Peak Second Tier. If it's a little stronger, it'll be third-tier. Can the two of us handle that?"
Xu Jintang considered for a moment, then took the second-tier teleportation inscription she had previously saved up to buy from her spatial bracelet and handed it to Wei Zixuan. "Let's test its strength first. If we really can't beat it, we'll run."
"A teleportation inscription?" Recognizing the inscription talisman in his hand, Wei Zixuan's eyes lit up. "Right, we can use inscriptions. But they get used up so easily that I didn't stockpile many."
Even a first-tier inscription could sell for three or four hundred star coins, and they were all single-use items, gone after one use. Apart from the wealthy, no one could afford to keep using them.
Most people bought inscriptions to enhance their magical treasures and weapons.
"It's fine. Use mine. I stockpiled plenty." With that, Xu Jintang kept her domain ability active and scouted ahead.
Wei Zixuan hesitated for a moment before accepting the inscription. "Thanks, sis. Once the joint exam is over and we're out, I'll transfer you the money."
They continued onward. Before long, Xu Jintang stopped. "It should be a Peak Second Tier beast. My ability doesn't work on it, so I can't detect its exact location or aura."
"No problem. Let me." Wei Zixuan immediately stepped forward, raised his hands in a profound gesture, and grew serious.
"Stone gate, open!"
As his words fell, a two-meter-tall stone gate slowly materialized before him.
Then the stone gate opened, revealing a swirling black hole within. It seemed to lead to the ends of the world, exuding an air of mystery.
A second-tier Silver-Glowing Black-Feathered Bear slowly emerged from it.
Its fur was sleek and glossy, giving off a faint silver glow in the sunlight. Each step sent a slight tremor through the nearby ground and stirred up a cloud of dust.
"Great, it's a second-tier beast!" Wei Zixuan exclaimed in relief.
Xu Jintang knew the tier of the beast his ability summoned varied each time.
Fortunately, they had gotten lucky.
"Come on. Let's find that lord beast." Several attack inscriptions instantly appeared in Xu Jintang's palm.
Before this joint exam, she had stockpiled over a hundred inscription talismans in total, including attack inscriptions, teleportation inscriptions, and mental power amplification inscriptions. They would last her a long time.
A few minutes later, Xu Jintang charged into the lord beast's cave alone.
The lord beast was a Peak Second Tier Poison-Scaled Fox.
Its eyes shone green, revealing a shrewdness somewhat like a human's. Its sharp claws gleamed coldly, and every attack was so swift it left afterimages.
After exchanging a few blows, Xu Jintang decisively broke off and turned to sprint outside.
The Poison-Scaled Fox let out a shrill cry and chased angrily after her.
Xu Jintang reached the cave entrance first.
She skidded to a halt, turned, and gripped dozens of attack inscriptions. The instant the Poison-Scaled Fox chased her out, she crushed all the inscription talismans.
Dozens of air blades formed instantly and shot toward the Poison-Scaled Fox together.
Wei Zixuan and the Silver-Glowing Black-Feathered Bear, who had been waiting outside, also advanced at the same time.
The dozens of air blades surrounded the Poison-Scaled Fox, trapping it within layer upon layer.
One or two air blades could not hurt the Poison-Scaled Fox, but under the relentless attacks of dozens, even its thick hide could not hold out.
Every time it dodged, an air blade from the other side struck it. Within seconds, wounds covered its body.
"Black-Feathered Bear, attack the Poison-Scaled Fox!"
At his command, the Black-Feathered Bear lunged forward in a few bounds and slammed its heavy paw at the Poison-Scaled Fox.
The Poison-Scaled Fox had no time to react and was knocked to the ground.
It let out a whimper, its tail drooping onto the ground.
Bright red blood seeped from its wounds, staining patches of its grayish-white fur red.
Seeing that it could no longer attack, Xu Jintang stepped forward to give it a quick end.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
A huge axe flew in from the distance and embedded itself at an angle directly in front of the Poison-Scaled Fox.
Xu Jintang swiftly dodged sideways and turned, her expression turning cold as she looked behind her.
At that moment, the time limit on Wei Zixuan's summoned Black-Feathered Bear ran out, and its form slowly vanished.
He hurried over to Xu Jintang's side. "What's going on?"
A group of figures slowly appeared in the direction the huge axe had come from.
At their head was a tall, burly boy. His exposed arms were thick with muscle, his build broad and powerful, and a beard grew around his jaw.
Compared with the other fresh-faced teenage examinees, he looked far too mature.
"You two, our team searched for ages before finding this Peak Second Tier Poison-Scaled Fox. As the saying goes, everyone who sees it gets a share. Why don't we split the points for this Poison-Scaled Fox evenly?"
Yang Tuo strode over, a hint of menace in his voice.
Xu Jintang raised her eyes and glanced at the group opposite her.
There were six of them in total. The boy in front wore a relaxed smile, while the others had all taken fighting stances. Clearly, they intended to use their numbers to seize a share of the Poison-Scaled Fox's points.
"Hey, we were obviously the ones who found this Poison-Scaled Fox first. We put a lot of effort into wounding it this badly, and you haven't lifted a finger. What gives you the right to split the points with us?" Wei Zixuan's face turned green with anger as he stared at Yang Tuo and demanded an answer.
Yang Tuo sneered and raised his hand, summoning the huge axe embedded in the ground back into his grasp. "The fact that I'm Yang Tuo, a second-tier ability user and number eight on the joint exam's honor roll!"
Wei Zixuan froze for a moment, then hurried to argue, "So what if you're eighth? We..."
"Tieniu." Xu Jintang raised a hand to stop him and shook her head.
Wei Zixuan hesitated before closing his mouth and retreating behind Xu Jintang.
A cold glint flashed in Xu Jintang's eyes, but by the time she raised her head, only a smile remained on her face. "So you're the famous Brother Yang. I've heard so much about you. My younger brother was rude just now. Let me apologize on his behalf."
"The older sister knows better, after all." Yang Tuo curled his lips as he sized Xu Jintang up. "Fine. You didn't know any better, so I'll let it slide. Let's pretend that never happened."
With that, Yang Tuo waved a hand. Only then did the five people behind him drop their fighting stances.
"Then let's do as Brother Yang suggested and split the Poison-Scaled Fox's points evenly." Xu Jintang was the first to yield.
After the Poison-Scaled Fox was killed, an orb of light slowly rose from its body.
Xu Jintang stepped forward and collected the points.
[Points +200]
Xu Jintang considered for a moment. "This Poison-Scaled Fox was worth two hundred points. Including the six of you, Brother Yang, there are eight of us altogether. We'll divide it at twenty points per person and give the remaining forty to Brother Yang alone. How does that sound?"
The expressions of the people behind Yang Tuo darkened.
One of them leaned toward Yang Tuo's ear and whispered:
"Brother Yang, there are more of us, and only two of them. Why don't we just eliminate them and split all the points among the six of us? Wouldn't that be better?"
Clearly, none of them wanted to share any points with Xu Jintang and Wei Zixuan.
Yang Tuo raised a hand to stop him from continuing. Looking intrigued, he studied Xu Jintang. "Sure, we'll split it that way. But you siblings are still getting the better end of this deal. For the next few days, you'll have to come with me."
Because Yang Tuo had matured early and looked so fierce, he had never been particularly popular with girls his age. Some girls were even frightened to tears when they saw him.
Of the two siblings before him, the older sister was fairly good-looking and knew how to handle things.
Wouldn't it be a good thing if he could take her in as his little girlfriend in one fell swoop?
His teammates saw what Yang Tuo had in mind. After exchanging glances, they all stepped back and said no more.