CH 475

475: Desert Wasteland

The battle actually caused seven or eight of the contestants to get booted out. The strong and the lucky survived. There were also those who survived by chance, but the numbers of those who did could be counted on one hand.

The leaderboard stabilized after one last refresh.

1st place was Tian Ya with 780pts.

2nd place was Ming Xi with 775pts.

3rd place was a seventh-year with 670pts . . .

5th place was Feng Wu with 620pts . . .

10th place was xxx with 560pts

Each monster was worth 5pts. Even the person who had the most points couldn’t kill two hundred monsters.

The top ten was finalized. And as was mentioned earlier, they were allowed to draw in a special lottery drawing. Those who didn’t make it to the top ten felt variations of envy, hate, and regret.

Interestingly enough, three of the girls who made it to the top ten of the challenge were second-year top ten rankers in the second years themselves – Feng Wu was first in her class; Zi Cheng was sixth in her class; and Ai Lin was seventh in her class.

Their scores were very close and it was a tight match between them.

That three second-year girls could get into the top ten of a challenge would have been inconceivable in the past. It was amazing to see one dark horse, but to see three dark horses?

Moreover, two of the dark horses were from the Magic division. The thin-skinned and brittle magicians were at a severe disadvantage in the beginning. Who would have thought two such girls would make it to the top ten? Those in the Magic division were so proud. It was unfortunate Jier didn’t join the challenge, otherwise they would have surely had three from the Magic division in the top ten.

The students in Feng Wu’s grade also expressed their surprise. None of them suspected their little second-year would be a black horse.

All the ground cover was returned to their original positions after that segment of the challenge ended.

Feng Wu and her group found a shaded spot to nap. They slept for several hours, and instead of using the daytime to travel, decided to rest.

Feng Wu squinted happily now that she could finally eat roasted fish and drink fish soup.

By the time Ink finally woke up and started eating, it was already dark. He’d slept all day. He was thinking about what to do when Feng Wu tossed somethings at his feet.

“This. . . where did all this come from?!” He nearly spat out the fish soup he was drinking.

He stared at the bodies of the wolves in front of him. Weren’t these the wolves they’d killed earlier? Weren’t they taken away by the god here? Where did they come from? Ink was dumbfounded.

“Collected them.” Feng Wu looked expressionlessly as she answered.

“Collected. . . them. . . ”Yes, yes. The question was when did she pick them up and how had he missed it?!

“What are your expectations in giving these to me?” Forgive him for not being smart, but he could not for the life of him figure out what Feng Wu wanted.

“Barbeque.” Feng Wu’s eyes were sparkling and there was a suspicious glistening of water at the corners of her mouth when she answered.

Ink was speechless. Had he been starving her?

“I’ll roast it.” Melis covered the smile on her lips and took the meat from Feng Wu.

Melis came from a family of hunters, so she was great at barbequing. The wolf meat, which wasn’t delicious to start with, became mouthwatering after she roasted it.

It was a lot of meat though, and Ink felt bad having her do all of it alone, so he went over and helped. The entire night, all they did was roast meat.

All the dead bodies disappeared after the end of the battle, so how did Feng Wu get these? Ink didn’t understand so he asked.

Feng Wu tilted her head and answered. “You can pick them up after you kill them. There were too many to fit.”

Wait. Did she go and pick up and all the monsters so she could eat them later?! Ink tilted his head 45 degrees and looked at the sky.

Early the next morning, they left with space bags filled with wolf meat.

...

In a distant country, a young man walked through the entrance gate and went inside a magnificent, old mansion.

“Master Zo,[notes] you’ve returned!”

“Greetings Master Zo.”

“Greetings Master Zo!”

As soon as the young man entered, many people moved to greet him.

“That’s Master Zo! He looks so powerful! Just looking at him, it’s like he’s almost caught up to Master Caesar!” said a young man admiringly.

“Master Zo is young still. He became an ice magician and a peerless genius after returning from the sea god’s tomb![notes] Master Zo is the second most powerful next to Master Caesar!”

“I wonder if Master Zo needs any more servants. I want to sign up.”

“Me too!”

Zo had no interest in the goings-on of the front yard. He nodded cursorily then walked alone toward his own courtyard. Inside, Plum was directing the new maid on how to clean. Originally when Zo didn’t have any cultivation talent, none of the maids wanted to serve him, but now that his cultivation had improved, his courtyard was lively and full of people.

Who knew how many maids wanted to climb up the ladder by serving Zo. But though they wanted to, few were selected.

How could the butler let people with bad intentions serve Zo?

“Master Zo, you’re back!” Plum ran over happily when she saw him enter.

“Yes, I’m going to my room first so bring my lunch there,” said Zo as he rubbed her head.

Once in his room, Zo walked to the window and looked toward a specific direction as he muttered to himself. “It’s almost time for the Heart of Wood to form. I must prepare. . . ”

...

There were no plants in the water scarce desert. People didn’t normally go there, but recently people had been venturing into the wasteland.

All entrances to the wasteland, except for one, were hazardous with layers upon layers of poisonous miasma filling the air. Anyone caught inside it would surely catch their death.

The only safe way in was through an inconspicuous town with a population of 20,000-30,000 called Anle. It stood before the wasteland, so if anyone wanted to enter, they had to go through there.