Chapter 158: Venue

Eight people were already waiting aboard the aircraft by the time Li Pin, Su Feiyu, Zhao Xingge, and Tuo Bahai boarded. After a few more minutes of waiting, all sixteen participants had arrived. None of the seeded contestants were assigned to this aircraft.

With a slight tremor, the aircraft smoothly took off, ascending into the sky before accelerating toward the competition zone. The sealed windows and doors, along with the aircraft's finely tuned design, kept the noise to a minimum.

The organizing committee's staff used the time to demonstrate to the sixteen competitors how to use the devices strapped to their wrists.

"This wristwatch is a multifunctional detector, made using astral equipment refining technology. It's quite sturdy and can withstand blade cuts, but I advise against testing its limits.

"If the watch is damaged, you'll need to return to the village for a replacement. If you're close, that's manageable, but if you're far, a round trip could take you several days. Besides basic functions like location tracking, timing, and alerting nearby participants, the watch has three important features.

"First, the distress signal. See the button on the side of the watch? Press it three times to send a rescue signal. Help will be dispatched, but this process takes time. You'll need to hold on until help arrives. Using the rescue button means you forfeit the competition."

Li Pin glanced at the wristwatch. It did indeed look quite high-tech.

"Additionally, the device can monitor your pulse. If you fall unconscious, it will trigger a discretionary rescue. However, this usually means you've lost all combat capability and can no longer continue competing.

"Unlike the active rescue request, your score will still be recorded if you're rescued at this stage. In other words, if you've accumulated a lot of points and are ranked in the top ten at that moment, your ranking will be valid."

The competitors nodded in acknowledgment. They weren't allowed to end the competition voluntarily, but if their physical condition prevented them from continuing, they could exit early. The round was designed this way to simulate the conditions of an in-depth scouting mission in a perilous region.

"The third function is to record and calculate the points you earn for defeating ferocious beasts and demonic creatures. You've already seen the point values for various beasts and creatures. I assume your factions have given you detailed information, so I won't go over it again."

Having explained everything, the staff member looked at the group. "Any questions?"

One competitor spoke up. "I've heard that the Shadow Forest is home to more recorded ferocious beasts and demonic creatures, such as Orc Fighters, Venomous Spiders, Crimson-Tooth Tigers, Demonic Trees, and more. None of these are marked here..."

"I don't think these need to be marked," the staff member replied indifferently. "Take the Orc Fighter, the weakest among the monsters you mentioned, for example. It has a qi and blood level of a hundred points. Even an Astral Cultivator fully equipped with genuine astral equipment might not be confident in defeating it.

"If you encounter such creatures, calculating their point value will be the least of your concerns."

Hearing this, the competitor who asked the question felt a bit embarrassed. He had clearly misjudged his own strength.

In the perilous region, the true role of a martial artist was to scout, not engage in direct confrontation against the ferocious beasts and demonic creatures. Even top-tier, Extreme Martial Saints would be easily decimated by the marginally more powerful ferocious beasts and demonic creatures in a direct confrontation, not to mention Quasi-Martial Saints or great grandmasters.

The staff continued to explain the precautions to the sixteen participants.

Time passed, and they soon reached the outskirts of the Shadow Forest.

"While we do not target any specific ferocious beast or demonic beast during our expeditions into the Shadow Forest, we enter it to hunt them nonetheless. To avoid any potential mishaps due to malfunctions with the aircraft, we'll only be flying around the perimeter. Now, it's time for you all to choose your parachute jump locations," the staff urged.

"Hahaha, I'll go from here," a man with peak grandmaster-level cultivation announced as he stepped forward. With his parachute pack on, he headed straight for the door. "After all, we have half a month. It doesn't matter where we jump from."

The staff nodded, and soon the hatch opened.

A fierce wind rushed in.

The pilots were all at the Core Formation realm, so they were unaffected by the gusts of wind.

In no time, the grandmaster had leaped out.

As he descended, the other competitors also began to jump without hesitation. Since they had come to compete, they were mentally prepared and determined. They weren't planning on backing out at the last moment.

As each contestant jumped, fewer remained in the aircraft. When Tuo Bahai and Zhao Xingge jumped out, Su Feiyu turned to Li Pin and asked, "Aren't you going to jump yet?"

"Not in a hurry," Li Pin replied calmly.

Su Feiyu stood up. "Then I'll go first."

Dressed in tactical gear with a high ponytail and parachute pack, she exuded a heroic and confident aura.

"See you at the venue," she smiled.

Li Pin nodded. "See you at the venue."

Battling ferocious beasts and demonic creatures was all about making it into the top ten. Those who didn't make the top ten would be eliminated and wouldn't have another chance to return to the World's Top Martial Competition Venue.

In this context, "see you at the venue" meant breaking into the top ten! That was the goal for everyone entering this area.

The aircraft continued to fly.

Soon, all competitors had jumped out, leaving only Li Pin aboard. The staff looked at the youngest competitor with a peculiar expression.

After another ten minutes, the staff couldn't help but say, "Grandmaster Li, are you still not jumping? We'll need to turn back soon. We're almost out of the competition zone."

Li Pin checked his phone and looked at the map. The competition area covered ten thousand square kilometers, not a perfect rectangle but an arc-shaped region about 240 kilometers wide and over 440 kilometers long. At this point, Li Pin was at the end of the arc. He had just about twenty kilometers left before exiting the competition zone.

"I'll jump from here," Li Pin said.

He checked his gear, though there wasn't much to inspect. He had some basic food, supplies, and a sword. He didn't carry any astral equipment to enhance his combat power like the other competitors, including Su Feiyu.

Su Feiyu wore a ring crafted from Black Crystal; it boosted combat power by two percent to ten percent. Additionally, she wore a necklace made from Demon Soul Stone and a piece of astral equipment refined from Soul-Tempering Crystal. These items were among the best in ordinary astral equipment.

Naturally, Su Feiyu could have worn higher-grade astral equipment, as she had the means to obtain them, but those were banned.

Unlike Astral Cultivators, astral equipment was less detectable by ferocious beasts and demonic creatures. However, the higher the astral equipment's grade, the greater the chance of being noticed. To maintain secrecy during the scouting missions, grandmasters and Martial Saints often avoided wearing any astral equipment to reduce the risk of exposure.

Given the safety considerations for competitors, allowing them to carry ordinary astral equipment was already above standard. Higher-grade astral equipment was therefore prohibited.

"Well then, Grandmaster Li, good luck to you," the staff member said with a smile.

Unlike other competitors, Li Pin was destined to become a regular at the World's Top Martial Competition in the future, so the staff was a lot warmer and more accommodating toward him.

Li Pin nodded in response. He approached the door of the aircraft, observed for a moment, and then leaped down.

During these past few days, they had undergone parachute training. Additionally, grandmasters, being on the verge of the extraordinary realm, possessed physiques, perception, reflexes, and eyesight far beyond those of ordinary people. Mastering this skill was therefore quite easy for them.

Li Pin plummeted swiftly. When he was close enough to the ground, he deployed his parachute and began to control his descent mid-air. He landed smoothly after a short while.

The Shadow Forest, with decades of minimal human activity, had become densely overgrown with thick foliage. However, since the Tianyuan Federation heavily developed this area, signs of human activity were evident, making it unlikely to get lost here.

After walking through the forest for a while, Li Pin understood why it was called the "Shadow" Forest. The thick tree canopy obscured the sky, casting deep shadows on the forest floor, making it feel like walking in perpetual darkness.

In such conditions, visibility was severely impaired, and there was no signal. However, this was a temporary concern, as Li Pin's phone soon shut down abruptly due to the humid environment.

"Truly... amazing," Li Pin muttered.

Without experiencing it himself, it was hard to imagine how quickly a brand-new phone could spoil under these conditions. It defied any logical explanation.

He discarded the phone and took hold of his sword. This sword was longer and slimmer compared to the previous heavy sword he had used. Including the hilt, its total length was nearly 1.5 meters. But this did not mean the sword was fragile. When it came to hunting ferocious beasts, it would perform just as well as the heavy sword.

"Next, I'll search for the beasts."

Li Pin chose a direction and listened quietly. At the same time, he minimized the sound of his movements.

In just half an hour, Li Pin seemingly sensed something. After searching, he arrived at an area where the trees became sparse, revealing a creature in his line of sight. The creature stood upright, about 1.6 meters tall, with a muscular upper body and a head resembling that of a cat.

It was a familiar sight, if not a familiar beast. A Demonic Cat! The same type Li Pin had slain outside Liuchuan County! However, this Demonic Cat was larger and more robust than the previous one and wielded metal weapons resembling sharp claws.

Ferocious beasts and demonic creatures possessing intelligence was no mere saying! This Demonic Cat, with its weapon-forging behavior, was clearly one of the older and stronger ones among its kind.

Fortunately, Li Pin, too, was a far cry from his former self.

A smile played on Li Pin's lips as he strode forward confidently. "Fate."

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

This time, he no longer needed to dodge or hide when facing the ferocious beast.