Chapter 47: Return to Kagas

Jianchen and his five companions walked steadily towards the outer edge of the forest. Three days had already passed, and if they could successfully protect these magic cores and exit the forest, they would have completed their mission perfectly. Moreover, the magic cores would not be reclaimed by the academy; they would be entirely theirs.

On the way, Jianchen and his group were extremely cautious. This was the time when things were most likely to happen. After several battles last night, apart from him and Tietower, the other four—Changyang Hu and his companions—were all injured, their strength reduced to less than half of their usual. If they encountered a powerful opponent, another fierce battle would be inevitable, which Jianchen did not want to see.

Jianchen walked at the front, Tietower at the rear, forming a straight line as they moved forward. The faint white barrier in the sky occasionally rippled, spreading rapidly in one direction. When the sky first brightened, the barrier covering the entire forest had already changed, guiding the lost students to the exit.

Jianchen was highly alert, always on guard for any movement around him. The third area was not as peaceful as the second. Here, they had to be wary not only of the monsters that could appear at any time but also of the other students. There might be some people lying in wait in hidden patches of grass, ready to ambush them. The closer they got to the exit, the greater the danger, as the barrier in the sky had already pointed out the direction of the exit. All the students still in the forest were heading in the same direction, providing convenience for those lying in wait.

After several hours, Jianchen and his companions were getting closer to the exit of the third area. The journey had been relatively peaceful, but they encountered the bodies of monsters at various points along the way, sometimes even finding two or three bodies together.

After another few hours, Jianchen and his group finally reached the exit of the third area, smoothly passing through the barrier and entering the second area. At this point, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the magic cores they had collected were safe. Once they left the third area, regardless of whether they had collected two magic cores, the mission was considered complete. No one would dare to rob them here.

"Hehe, I didn't expect the journey to be so peaceful. It's really beyond my expectations," Changyang Hu said with a smile, his voice tinged with excitement.

Ouba also looked pleased and said, "Yes, I thought we would encounter attacks on the way out, but it turned out to be so peaceful. It's really beyond my expectations."

Dierya touched the spatial belt at his waist and smiled, "I guess the people who were trying to steal magic cores in the third area were all injured and didn't have the energy to ambush us on the way. Most of them are in the same condition as us, just trying to survive and get out of the third area. They have no intention of robbing others."

"Right, that makes sense," Tietower nodded in agreement.

Jianchen shook his head slightly and said, "It's not as simple as you think. There were still people lying in wait in hidden places along the way, but you didn't notice. They might have seen that we were in a large group and couldn't gauge our strength, so they didn't dare to attack us. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to leave the third area so smoothly."

Hearing this, everyone's faces changed slightly.

Changyang Hu let out a long sigh, "Fortunately, Fourth Brother made us act as if we were unharmed. Otherwise, if those people knew we were all injured, we wouldn't have been so lucky." Ouba and the others nodded in agreement, looking at Jianchen with admiration.

"Alright, let's hurry out. Once we return to the academy, you should all rest and recover."

The six of them continued towards the first area. As they got closer to the exit of the first area, they encountered more and more students. Although many had given up and abandoned the mission, over a thousand students had entered the forest, and even if half of them had given up, there were still several hundred left. It was rare to encounter anyone in such a vast forest, so they didn't meet many people.

Jianchen observed the students around him, most of whom were male and bare-chested, covered in wounds. They all looked disheveled, their upper bodies caked with mud, making it impossible to recognize their faces.

Only a few females were still wearing their school uniforms, but they were all dirty and torn, looking worse than beggars' clothes. Some parts of their bodies were covered with large leaves, looking extremely disheveled.

Among them, a few students with injured legs were being supported by their companions, slowly making their way out of the forest.

In this area, perhaps due to the large number of people, there were no monsters, and the journey was relatively safe.

Soon, Jianchen and his group followed the direction indicated by the barrier in the sky, passing through the first area and finally leaving the forest. Outside the barrier, Vice Dean Bai En stood in a white robe, his body straight. Behind him stood several academy teachers with calm expressions, and further back, a large group of Kagas Academy students, numbering nearly a thousand, were divided into two camps. The right camp had several times more people than the left, and although their school uniforms were dirty, they were mostly intact.

The left camp had only about two hundred people, all of whom looked disheveled. Most were wearing clothes made from tree bark or animal hides, and many were bare-chested. However, all the students who had come out of the forest were gathered in the left camp under the direction of a teacher.

Jianchen and his group sat on the grass, waiting. He realized that those in the left camp had all spent three days in the forest and had only just come out today, while those in the right camp had left within three days. According to the academy's rules, whether they had obtained two magic cores or not, they were considered to have failed the mission.

Looking around, Jianchen noticed that many of the people in his camp looked dejected, and some were glaring at others with deep anger, their eyes almost spitting fire.

At this moment, Jianchen felt something and turned his head. He saw a man covered in animal hides, his face black, being supported by two similarly dressed students. The man was looking at him with a venomous gaze, his eyes filled with intense anger and a strong desire to kill.

Jianchen sized up the man and then smiled coldly. He recognized him as Luo Jian. Although Jianchen knew that he had thoroughly offended Luo Jian after last night's incident, he was not concerned. In terms of strength, he was no less than Luo Jian. Once he condensed a holy weapon and advanced to the Saint realm, Luo Jian would pose even less of a threat. In terms of family power, although Jianchen was not very familiar with the Changyang Manor's strength, it was clearly not weak. Despite Luo Jian being the son of the head of the Luo family, one of the major forces in the Forbidden City, Jianchen did not believe that the Luo family would go out of their way to make things difficult for him over such a small matter. After all, Luo Jian had been injured during the academy's training mission, and he had initiated the attack on Jianchen's group first.

After all the students from the forest had come out, the number of people in Jianchen's camp had increased to about three or four hundred.

At this point, Vice Dean Bai En came to the front of the group, looked at the disheveled students in the left camp, and smiled, saying loudly, "Very good, you have not disappointed me. I didn't expect that so many students would spend three days in the forest this time. Now, everyone, maintain your current formation and head towards the academy."

The entire group, divided into two camps, quickly moved towards the academy. On the way, they passed a small river, and everyone washed their faces before continuing. Soon, when they reached the academy, they saw that a platform had been set up in the center of the playground.

The group stopped in front of the platform, and Vice Dean Bai En and several teachers walked up to it. The vice dean sat in the main seat and said calmly, "The three-yearly monster hunting competition is now over. According to the academy's rules, after the mission is completed, the prizes will be distributed immediately. Now, please step forward if you spent three days in the forest and have at least two magic cores."

As soon as the vice dean finished speaking, over a hundred people stepped forward from the crowd.

"Now, let's start with the first-level magic cores. Please come up to the platform to have them counted," the vice dean continued.

Subsequently, including Jianchen and Tietower, all the students who had hunted first-level magic cores went up to the platform, where a teacher was responsible for counting and recording the number of magic cores they had collected.