"Each team will be called up one at a time to enter the gate," said the Headmaster, "it will take you all to different locations in the Crimson Valley. Once there, you have ten days to gather as much treasure as you can. Your stones will collect information on what you gather and our esteemed guests from the Onyx Pavilion will help to give estimates on total prices for your score.
"The top three will receive extra prizes, but of course, you may keep anything you gain within the Crimson Valley. Provided you have the strength to hold onto it! And, as always, the memorial plaques for our great founder will provide three trials to unlock and enter the dungeon where the greatest treasures reside.
"This is a test of wits, speed, and patience, but also wisdom. Always remember, greed is a wonderful thing... until it betrays you. Be cautious. There are many powerful beasts and exotic challenges within the Crimson Valley. Know yourself and know your enemies, and you will avoid disaster. Such is the way of the skillful cultivator.
"As this is a friendly contest between members of our esteemed school, killing other students is strictly forbidden. As is crippling anyone's dantian. Make no mistake. There will be elders watching. Though, they will not intervene if you are to be killed by magical beasts. This is still a competition after all. Now then, our first team will be... The Dominators with the young geniuses of the esteemed Chen family!"
The crowd applauded.
Chen Huo stepped forward with Chen Ai behind him and two others Jie didn't recognize. One of the two was a boy that looked slightly younger than Chen Huo but with more muscular arms. He carried a bow that shimmered with starlight.
The other was a girl that looked around the same age as Chen Ai with elegant white and blue robes and a slender crown of dark blue metal on her snow-white hair.
Both of the two had light purple skin, pointed ears, and white hair. All features Jie had learned to associate with the Chen family.
The weakest of the four, the one with the bow, was at the fourth star of the Expert rank. Stronger than everyone in Jie's party except for Jie herself. Chen Ai and the girl with the white and blue robes were both at the fifth star of the Expert rank. While Chen Huo was at the sixth star of the Expert rank.
Why do they get a head start? Jie wondered as Chen Huo climbed the stairs with a smug smile on his face and three of his family at heels.
Chen Huo and his family faltered mid-step and turned to look right at Jie. The smug smile vanished from Chen Huo's lips as he caught her eyes and visibly paled. Jie then noticed that half the crowd was staring at her.
"Easy, Jie. Your killing intent is giving me chills," Pan Tian whispered.
"What killing intent?" Jie asked, "I'm just slightly annoyed."
"This one must agree with friend Pan Tian. There is a frightening, cold killing intent coming from you," Ithilix said, "it feels like ice."
Jie took in deep breaths and thought of Ming in an effort to calm herself. Of how much she owed him for taking her to this world. A world filled with limitless possibility, beautiful fireworks, and now a floating island for her to explore!
The crowd shivered.
"What now?" Jie asked.
"It's... your killing intent abruptly stopped and now you feel all warm and friendly from your aura... it's... terrifying how quickly you can change between them," Pan Tian whispered.
First, I'm too cold and domineering. Now I'm too light and fluffy and somehow that's more horrifying. Is there no winning? Jie thought.
Chen Huo and his followers continued their way up the stairs and gradually the crowd's attention drifted from Jie. She tried not to roll her eyes.
"Who are the other two with Chen Huo and Chen Ai?" Jie asked.
"Another pair of Chen Liang's spawn. The girl is Chen Lisha. She's a manipulative, conniving bitch. She uses water serpent qi and her fighting style is almost as insufferable as she is," Pan Tian said, "The boy with the bow is Chen Yi. He uses starlight qi and focuses on devastating ranged attacks. He's quiet though and I don't know much about him. Nobody does."
Blood started running down from the eyes of the statues on the pillars of the archway. It flowed unnaturally, moving sideways and into the archway itself where it reached out from either side, and two strands of blood connected in the center of the enormous archway. It formed a shimmering red ball which grew and sent out more strands to the rest of the archway. Blood flowed faster and it accelerated until the archway was filled with a swirling whirlpool of dark red blood.
Chen Huo ran into the wall of blood together with those in his group and they all vanished.
"They walk into some kind of blood portal formed from the bleeding tears of that terrifying woman and I'm the one they call scary?" Jie muttered under her breath.
"Unbreakable Shell," Headmaster Siluvius called out.
Duthungr, the earth man that Jie had fought in the tournament strode up the stairs with three others Jie didn't recognize and stepped through the swirling pool of blood.
The Headmaster called one group after another. Jie watched and grew irritated as she saw The Dominators' score jump to three hundred and then continue to climb. Those who entered after them also began increasing their score.
"Frost Queens," the Headmaster said.
"That's us," Pan Tian said.
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She strode forward and Jie followed her with Xue and Ithilix at her side.
"Frost Queens? Really?" Jie whispered, "you know Xue is a guy, right?"
"He was a last-minute addition. You can't blame me for this," Pan Tian said.
The wall of blood loomed ahead of them. Jie's stomach flip-flopped as she approached.
"Good luck. You're all geniuses of the younger generation. Remember to exercise caution and stay alert in there," Headmaster Siluvius whispered.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Pan Tian said and stepped into the swirling blood.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Jie said and followed her friend.
The second she stepped into the wall of blood Jie felt as though she were being sucked upwards and her body was being sloshed around unnaturally. Like pieces of her were no longer connected. Her stomach did somersaults as red energy swirled all around her like a river of blood. Then, it spat her out onto white tiles. Jie caught herself on her hands and knees and heard two thuds nearby.
"This one thinks that was most unpleasant," Ithilix said.
"Yeah... I should've warned you guys about that," Pan Tian said.
"Ugh..." Jie said as she rose to her feet and took in their surroundings which were bathed in silver moonlight.
Behind them was a similar archway to the one they'd entered with a portal of swirling blood. The red statues and portal looked even more out of place here amid white marble tiles and sculpted columns like something out of ancient Greece.
Although, the pillars were broken as though the ceiling, which wasn't there, had been ripped off by some massive beast.
By the look of it, they were on the outermost edge of one of the lower islands. Clouds drifted by and brushed the edge of the island like water lapping against a beach.
Every breath was rich, filled with the intense, dense fragrances of countless otherworldly cultivating herbs, trees, and treasures. A dense forest surrounded them with thick, alien trees. Each of which radiated power, as everything did within this strange world of cultivation.
Ahead and far above them, a waterfall ran down the side of one of the islands above, the spray glittering like jewels in the silver moonlight. Although Jie couldn't see where it ended as it was obscured by the trees surrounding them. Birds and other creatures chirped and roared from deep inside the forest.
It was intoxicating and beautiful with a heady undercurrent of danger.
Xue gave a low growl at the portal and turned his back to it with an angry flick of his tail.
"It looks like Xue agrees with us," Jie said, "so now what?"
"Now we look for the three plaques that give us our trials to access the dungeon," Pan Tian said, "they move every year, so I'm not sure where they are. We'll just have to look. Here, I brought us all elixirs. These will make it harder for magical beasts with a higher cultivation to detect us."
"You truly do think of everything. This one is impressed," Ithilix said, "thank you."
"I agree, thanks, Tian. You're amazing at this stuff," Jie said as she accepted a vial of blue liquid that pulsed with a white glow. It tasted like cherry ice cream and batteries.
"It's nothing," Pan Tian said, "now, I'll take the lead. I know these islands the best, and I have some ideas of where they might've put the plaques. Jie, I want you to be behind and a little to the side of me as we move. I'm going to be looking for signs of magical beasts and other students as well as treasures and trying to figure out where the plaques might be.
"So, I want you alert and ready to respond to danger. You're the strongest of us, so you'll be who we rely on most in fights. That means if you think you can't handle something you tell us and we get out of there or avoid the fight entirely.
"I want everyone scanning our surroundings with their spirit sense. But remember that some creatures can hide from our senses and turn invisible, so don't just watch for obvious things. Also try to look for any tracks, disturbed plants, or anything like that."
"Where should this one be in our formation?" Ithilix asked.
"I want you as our rear guard. You'll check behind us. Especially any time we stop to investigate something and don't forget our flanks. Jie can you get Xue to follow behind and slightly opposite you? Not far in front of Ithilix?" Pan Tian asked.
Xue meowed and took up that exact position.
"Well, I suppose that answers that question. You never told me you were so skilled with magical beast companions," Pan Tian said.
"I didn't know I was," Jie said.
"The only cultivators I know of with such responsive magical beast companions are the Gsthi Wanderers," Pan Tian said, "anyway, does anyone have an issue with the roles I've assigned?"
"Not at all," Jie said. Ithilix echoed her and Xue scanned their surroundings.
"Alright then. There should be a tower somewhere ahead and to the east of us, the Crimson Valley loves to put a plaque near there, so we'll move to it first and check it," Pan Tian said. She took off at a run, though her pace was easy enough for all of them to follow and they kept their formation as they moved.
Thankfully, enough moonlight filtered through the trees for them to see by, though not as well as Jie would've liked as she stared hard into the gloom surrounding them. It would be all too easy for something to sneak up on them, she thought.
"What are these plaques?" Jie asked, making sure to scan the area around them with her spirit sense. She detected some weak cultivation and medicinal herbs, but Pan Tian didn't even slow down.
"They're monuments to the founder of our school. Things she left behind as part of this test she designed. The Crimson Valley has a mind of its own, so I can't say what they'll be. Sometimes the plaques have combat trials. Sometimes they have riddles. It all depends. Ithilix, do you sense anything worthwhile?" Pan Tian asked.
"Nothing nearby," Ithilix said.
"That makes sense. This is just a portal area, so it's one of the safest places. Let me know if it changes. We don't have your Hive senses, remember?" Pan Tian said, "and you, Jie?"
"I... well I sense some stuff? Some... of the... grass? Seems like it's about the third star of the Disciple rank? The trees are stronger, but I don't see how we could gather them quickly," Jie said.
"You must mean the sky grass," Pan Tian said, "it's not worth picking up until it's at a much higher rank. It has some value, but not enough to justify disrupting our formation. This is just the portal area, but sometimes bigger magical beasts wander in. And we're one of the last groups in, so we need to be careful of other students as well."
They moved swiftly through the dense forest. They sensed some weak magical beasts nearby and when they did, Pan Tian picked up the pace even more.
"If there was something stronger to watch out for, many of them would likely be hiding. We need to be careful, but this is still a race," Pan Tian said.
***
They came out of the forest onto a grassy area, dotted with ruined towers that punched up into the air like jagged teeth. Six-legged bird-looking creatures the size of elephants with grass and ferns growing from their backs and long, green feathery tails like peacocks grazed on the tall grass. The weakest of them was at the eighth star of the Disciple rank with the strongest at the sixth star of the Expert rank.
Far ahead was a massive tower capped with a spire surrounded by floating rings slowly rotating around it, some of which looked worn and broken. With her cultivator's eyes, Jie spotted Chen Huo and his group at its base, they seemed to see her group too, and took off to the west.
Jie gritted her teeth.
"Alright, I think it's safe to pick up the pace even more and we can loosen our formation a bit. Jie, you're faster than all of us, so you take out these vruthka and collect them in your storage ring. Bodies and all. But make sure you're never more than a second away from us, and if possible try to clear the ones ahead of us. The ones at the Expert rank could kill us, so focus on them especially," Pan Tian said.