James opened his eyes and found himself in a standing on a marshy piece of land.
He was standing on reeds, barefoot on the wet land. There was heavy fog around him limiting his visibility.
He could see trees around him with vines covering them while the land was covered in grasses and reeds.
He couldn't see any of his class mates with which he deduced that either this area was huge having enough place to have random ports of 100 people or maybe he was unlucky to have no one near him.
A pop up came in front of him suddenly
"Please choose a weapon. "
" At least we get a weapon to use" said James as he picked the sword after which the pop up disappeared.
He stood there and thought for a while. The headmaster had said to unearth the treasure from the Sunken Ship which if he went by direct meaning, meant that he must find the treasure located inside a ship.
A Sunken ship meant that there must be a water body nearby which also explained why this area was a wet land.
This meant that he must first find the water body. With his goal set in mind he started looking around him.
The jungle had various noises and from his past training experience back in Bursberg's jungle this meant that this jungle wasn't inhabited by him and his class mates alone.
And if he went by the headmaster's warning that this test is extremely difficult then the beasts here are powerful ones probably in the Azure realm.
James concentrated on the sounds and after a while found what he was looking for. Towards his North East came the sound of moving water.
James guessed that even if there wasn't a lake or a pond there, there must be at least a stream which leads to a water body.
He decided to move slowly towards the source of the sound, watching any and every movement he could see around him. The fog made it difficult for him as his senses were limited by it.
Gus believed that it was not his day today. He had arrived in a marshy land and after a few minutes of looking around he was able to find a classmate.
His name was Hank, he was tall for his age and had a sturdy look on his face. Gus had a good impression of him when they both talked to each other.
Seeing the current situation of lurking danger, heavy for and unknown territory, both of them decided to team up.
They had similarly deduced that they need to find a water body to find a sunken ship like James.
As luck would have it they couldn't hear the sound of flowing water nearby so they decided to look around together.
They moved towards South and while walking, Hank who was just a step behind him suddenly disappeared. A few muffled sounds made Gus turn to look back.
To his horror, he saw a Violet striped Anaconda wrapping itself around Hank, constricting his body to kill him.
A sound of cracking bones could be heard. The anaconda was able to crush his bones without much difficulty which made Gus think that it was an Azure realm beast and not the 3rd stage of Form realm version he fought in the entrance exam.
Sweat broke out from his forehead as he watched Hank in pain while the anaconda viciously stared at its prey.
A full fledged Violet striped Anaconda was over a 100 meters long and was either a mid stage or peak stage Azure realm beast.
In virtual reality, pain was a relative factor that could be adjusted. However, for cultivators, pain was set to its equivalent value in the real world.
A cultivator would feel pain just like in real life from getting hurt until he died, at which he would be sent out of the virtual world.
This meant that Hank had to suffer the pain until he died by either from the pain of getting his bones crushed and lack of breathing or getting himself eaten by the anaconda. Both options that didn't sound very pleasing.
He didn't have to wait long as the anaconda opened its mouth wide and engulfed Hank's head, slowly going down engulfing his shoulders.
Gus snapped back from his trance and quickly made a run towards the South hoping to not encounter such a beast.
He ran till he felt that he was far away from the anaconda and stopped to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Seeing the danger present in this forest he decided to lay low and move cautiously, finding a way out of this jungle.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
James reached towards the source of the sound. He saw a small stream flowing towards North. He guessed that a water body must be surely present and followed the stream.
As he walked slowly surveying around himself he saw a clearing a few meters to his left. He could hear the grunts of a wild animal which alerted him and after carefully looking through the fog, he finally met a classmate or rather a body of his classmate.
A striped tiger stood there chewing on the flesh of the body. The tiger seemed to be 1.5 meters in height while it's body could not be made out due to the fog.
It had black stripes covering it's entire body with blood on its mouth. It suddenly turned and faced James, its Azure eyes pierced through the fog as it looked at the new prey.
It was a Silver Tiger, a peak stage Azure realm beast. James cursed his luck as the tiger glared at him with its Azure eyes. Seeing a prey with a weaker cultivation irked its interest.
It walked slowly towards James, looking at him and observing his movements.
James was at a big disadvantage not only in cultivation levels but in camouflage as well. The tiger's movements would be tough to follow as due to it being silver it could camouflage itself in the dense fog.
The tiger stopped and stared at James intently. It was just about 10 meters away from him. It's mouth open bearing it's teeth covered in blood.
James knew he couldn't win. He looked at his surroundings and saw a small cliff not far behind the tiger. He knew he was weaker and could not contend against the beast for long.
The tiger was probably fast enough to kill him before he could stall for time or even think about it.
He decided to make it to the cliff somehow as it was the only way he could survive this ordeal, otherwise he would fail the test.
The tiger suddenly charged making its move. He reached James in the span of a second but James was ready for him.
James kicked the dirty marshy water towards the tiger as it charged towards him. The water hit the target as it landed on the tiger's face on its eyes affecting it's vision.
The Tiger gave a roar because of the hindrance and slashed at the spot James had stood but he had already moved away.
As the water made contact with the tiger's face James had knelt down and made a run for the cliff. He infused his limbs with qi increasing his acceleration with the Wind Enforcer.
Failing to catch it's target, the tiger glared as it looked at the fleeing figure of its prey and dashed at full speed towards it.
James had nearly reached the edge of the cliff, about to make the jump when he felt a sharp pain coming from his left arm.
The tiger being a peak Azure realm predator had caught up to James and had bitten on his left hand tearing it off.
The sudden enormous pain caused James to lose all focus. He looked back at the tiger, it's mouth carrying his left hand. His mind blanched with fear and went into a turmoil.
He no longer thought about the test, no longer thought about the prize, all he felt was enormous pain and regret of failing the test.
In that split second he lost control of his body as his mind was in a state of chaos and his legs slipped off the edge causing him to fall off the cliff.
His eyes closed as he fell, feeling pain from his numbed body while the tiger roared in fury at losing its prey.
----------------------
Notes- Here is today's chapter! The chapter came early instead of late as my movie plan got shifted giving me time to finish it. A real cliffhanger though xD I hope you all like it. Writing this novel sure made me research on stuff I never thought I'd do. Again if you guys find any mistakes or have any suggestions please do comment and inform me:) I will try my best to release another chapter today however, no promises. Enjoy!
----------------------------------------
The next chapter won't take long actually^^ I'll be posting it in a few hours! I have written a bit of it and will be able to complete it in a few hours.