Chapter 75: Encirclement

The rising red sun burst forth, bathing the entire Hundred Hunts Field in a crimson glow. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Yang Yan and his three companions slowly opened their eyes at that moment, emerging from their cultivation state.

Last night, fortunately, no other troublemakers had come knocking.

After absorbing the soul-hunting points from those two youths yesterday, both Liu Zhengqing and Yang Yan had advanced in the rankings. Liu Zhengqing now held third place with 930 points, while Yang Yan sat in fifth with 890. Between them, in fourth place, was a youth named Chu Feiyun. Yang Yan remembered him—he, too, had displayed a fifth-grade innate spirit during the earlier talent test.

“It seems this Qingxuan Sect disciple assessment truly is a gathering of hidden dragons and crouching tigers!” Yang Yan sighed inwardly.

“Let’s go!” Regaining his composure, Yang Yan and his companions set out once more on their slow journey to collect soul-hunting points.

With two top-five contenders from the Hundred Power Rankings—Yang Yan and Liu Zhengqing—leading the group, their movements were quickly noticed on the central light screen of the Hundred Hunts Field. Many competitors, upon spotting them, made haste to avoid their path, which left both Liu Zhengqing and Yang Yan rather frustrated.

In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed, yet the four had little to show for their efforts. On average, each had gained less than 150 soul-hunting points. This included 300 points from two unlucky contestants, 150 from slaying a first-rank spirit beast, the Black Wild Bull, and the rest from defeating various monsters.

“At this rate, it’s not going to work. Let alone competing for first place—Zhang Lin and Zhang Fei may not even make it into the top hundred!” Yang Yan’s face grew grave.

Though Zhang Lin and Zhang Fei had expressed that they didn’t need soul-hunting points, Yang Yan had insisted otherwise. The enduring strength of a family could not rest on one person’s shoulders alone; it required nurturing the younger generation and cultivating new talents without end.

While Zhang Lin and Zhang Fei’s talents didn’t quite rival Yang Yan’s, they were nonetheless promising. If they could enter Qingxuan Sect alongside Yang Yan, in time, the Zhang family’s overall strength would soar. They would no longer be just a minor power in Jinhua City—they could even be considered formidable within all of Jinzhou.

“Yang Yan, look over there!”

As Yang Yan fell into contemplation, Liu Zhengqing suddenly pointed at the enormous light screen, his tone rather peculiar.

Yang Yan looked up at once, gazing toward the center of the Hundred Hunts Field. To the northwest of their location, three golden points of light were rapidly converging from different directions, encircling a particularly bright golden point at the center—representing none other than Sun Zhixin!

And those three points of light were unmistakably Lei Fengxing, Ye Xiulan, and Long Aodi!

“These three aren’t from the same faction—how did they end up working together?!”

“Let’s go!”

Yang Yan felt a sudden jolt in his heart. With a wave of his hand, he dashed off toward the northwest without hesitation.

“Don’t be so hasty! Your little sweetheart is no pushover—she won’t be in trouble that quickly...” Liu Zhengqing called teasingly from behind, but Yang Yan had no time to respond.

On the one hand, he still felt guilty toward Sun Zhixin over the incident during the previous clan martial gathering. For a girl to endure such a thing in public would be mortifying for anyone. Coming to her aid was, in a way, an attempt to ease his own conscience.

More importantly, the Xu family had always been close to the Sun family. If he could obtain information about Xu Shaoguang from Sun Zhixin...

With this thought, Yang Yan accelerated even more.

“Little sister, hand over the soul-hunting points on your identity token, and we won’t make things difficult for you. But if we have to take them by force, your chance at becoming a Qingxuan Sect disciple will be gone...” In a clearing in the forest, a suave youth toyed with a folding fan, smiling at the cold-faced Sun Zhixin standing not far away.

To her rear left stood a tall, bronze-skinned youth, muscles bulging on arms as thick as an adult’s thigh, with a fierce expression and a massive splitting axe in hand. His unusual appearance made him easy to recognize—Lei Fengxing from the Lei family of Shengwu City.

On her right, a sallow, emaciated youth looked as if a strong wind could blow him down, holding a slender rod like a bamboo pole—Ye Xiulan of the Ye family from Wushuang City.

As for the scholarly-looking youth before her, he was none other than Long Aodi of Dragon Fortress.

“Never thought you three men would stoop so low—teaming up against a lone girl!” Sun Zhixin’s face was icy, her expression both angry and disdainful. She never expected these three, each from a different faction, to join forces against her. They had spread out and surrounded her from different directions; by the time she noticed, it was already too late.

“Well now, don’t be so modest. A proud daughter of destiny with a sixth-grade spirit—how could you be called weak...” Ye Xiulan’s voice, dripping with sarcasm, sounded from behind her.

“Girl or boy, I don’t care—just answer me: are you handing over your identity token or not?!” Lei Fengxing, growing impatient, bellowed, his voice booming like thunder and making ears ring.

“If you want my soul-hunting points, come and claim them yourself!” Sun Zhixin’s face grew even darker. Her slender fingers brushed across her storage pouch, and a crimson whip appeared in her hand.

“Now!” Long Aodi’s face darkened as he signaled to Lei Fengxing and Ye Xiulan. The three of them sprang into action, charging at Sun Zhixin.

They knew better than to let the moment drag on. Already, several other top contenders had arrived nearby—most ranked below the top fifty, but in the unpredictably dangerous Hundred Hunts Field, any carelessness could spell disaster.

“Once Sun Zhixin is dealt with, I’ll use these two to take out Yang Yan, Liu Zhengqing, Chu Feiyun, and Leng Yuetian, one after another. Then, when the time is right, I’ll get rid of these two as well... At that point, the top spot in the Hundred Hunts Field will be mine!”

Though his innate spirit was only fourth-grade, plenty of contestants ranked above him. However, he alone possessed a mutated spirit, giving Long Aodi a unique confidence and pride.

As for the pale blue spirit power that Yang Yan wielded, Long Aodi had heard of it. Given that Yang Yan’s spirit attribute was water, Long Aodi considered his spirit little more than an incomplete, unmutated product.