Despite being in the midst of quietly meditating to recover his strength, San Wanfan could not help but let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

Over the past few hours, he had been getting sporadic messages from the sect administrators, updating him on various potential treasure spots that had been discovered nearby.

Initially, he had still been pleasantly surprised by the attention, thinking that their group had managed to gain the attention of the sect administrators. However, he quickly realised what was truly going on.

The sect administrators must have heard from Teng Qi that he was planning to launch a counterattack on Quan Hui’s party, and were currently trying to divert his attention.

This could mean one of two things.

It was either that the sect administrators were advocating for peace, or that they had no confidence in their chances.

And judging from past experiences, it was most likely the latter.

That was nothing surprising as well, considering how even he himself had yet to come up with a plan that could lead to certain victory.

Despite his eagerness to get back at Quan Hui’s party, San Wanfan was not a fool.

He understood that even with the help of the Yin Yang Sword Sisters and the Tidal Fairy, they might not necessarily be able to win through direct combat.

In order to improve their chances, they had no choice but to resort to other measures as well.

All is fair in love and battle.

Sometimes, what sounded like petty tricks were absolutely necessary when dealing with a stronger opponent. Doing so was nothing to be ashamed about.

Unfortunately, San Wanfan did not know the four newcomers very well, making it difficult for him to consider their strengths when coming up with a plan. Asking them directly would be considered intrusive as well since nobody liked to expose their own strengths and weaknesses.

Therefore, his only option was to come up with a rough plan before asking if they were able to contribute.

That said, the problem was that he simply could not decide on a plan that would give them the greatest chances of victory.

After all, not only did he not fully understand the four newcomers in his group, but he also did not know enough about Quan Hui’s party members.

In addition, it definitely did not help that he had already lost two party members as well, which further limited the options at his disposal.

Not having enough information about both sides truly made it difficult to come up with a solid plan!

It was a troubling situation, but San Wanfan was certainly not going to give up just because of that.

Even if all else failed, they could just slog it out in a direct battle. After all, it was not as though they had absolutely no chance of winning!

“Let’s go,” San Wanfan stood up and said. “It’s time to show those Vermilion Bird Sect degenerates the consequences of messing with the Black Tortoise Sect!”

***

“Mere petty tricks,” Cheng Kai said, holding his sword steady with its tip stopping just millimetres away from his opponent’s neck.

With that, he pulled back his sword and stored it away with a flick of his wrist.

As for his opponent, it was a young man sitting against a cliff wall, though it was probably more apt to say that he was leaning on the wall just to be able to sit upright.

Multiple slashes could be seen all over his body, a result of the punishment that he had just gone through.

“Cough...! Tha-that’s easy for you to say...” he said weakly before tossing a pouch over to Cheng Kai. “Not everyone is a monster like you. In order to keep up, most of us have no choice but to rely on what you call petty tricks!”

Cheng Kai grabbed the pouch, stored away half the contents, then tossed it back to the young man.

“You don’t have a choice?” Cheng Kai scoffed. “This kind of mentality is exactly the thing stopping you from training hard enough to win through your own strength.”

Under the silent gazes of the crowds, he turned around and walked away, having claimed yet another victory under his belt.

Like clockwork, a message sounded in his head right at this moment.

[Approximately a hundred and fifty kilometres east, there is a group gathered to raid a monster nest. Do note that the battle has already been ongoing for at least two hours, so it might have already ended.]

Cheng Kai let out an amused grin before rushing off towards the east.

From the side, the crowds could not help but feel their spines tingle as they saw this grin suddenly appear on his face.

Indeed, there was no smoke without fire.

Crimson Sword Cheng Kai truly lived up to his name as a battle-crazed maniac!

***

The relentless snowstorm continued its assault on the Blacksnow Tundra as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon. Yet despite the gloomy weather, the members of the Wei Group were feeling better than ever.

Monster carcasses were littered all around them, most of them already half buried in snow. This was a result of the constant assault that they had been facing for at least the past ten hours.

But thanks to the warning from the sect administrators, the Wei Group had already prepared themselves for this.

In order to withstand the prolonged assault, they carefully rotated among themselves when facing new waves of monsters, making sure that each person got as much time to recover as possible.

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At the same time, they also abandoned any idea of collecting materials from the carcasses, deciding to leave that for later when everything was done and dusted.

Such an arrangement had worked wonders for them.

Looking at how the black ice had almost melted enough to reach the wooden sword within, they could not help but feel proud of how they had defended themselves in such a clean and efficient manner.

In fact, they had even managed to easily fend off one of the five monsters that the sect administrators had warned them about – the Rainbow Scythe Ants.

They had to admit that the appearance of the Rainbow Scythe Ants had been rather shocking. Just the sheer numbers were intimidating enough, not to mention the aura of death that they carried.

However, just by throwing out some scent bombs, these monsters immediately turned into headless chickens.

Come to think of it, despite their scary appearances, the Rainbow Scythe Ants were actually rather cute to even think that they stood a chance!

“Well done, everyone. Just a little more, and we can all leave this godforsaken place!” Nuo Qianling encouraged.

“Can we please go somewhere warm next? I’ve never liked the cold weather, so this environment is really getting on my nerves,” Zhuang Chan said while continuing to hold the flames against the black ice.

“Hahaha, sure! Let’s go somewhere warm next!” Nuo Qianling laughed. “When we do, I will persona...”

Her words trailed off as the faint sound of an elephant’s trumpet pierced through the loud howling of the snowstorm to reach their ears.

The sound was faint, yet it still managed to send chills down their spines.

It was almost as though their bodies had instinctively reacted to the source of the sound, understanding the danger behind it.

“Is that...?” Zhuang Chan asked timidly.

She did not complete her question, but everyone understood what she was asking. However, she did not receive any response.

At least, not immediately.

The Wei Group might not have done as much research as Zhao Yunxiao, but they certainly did not come here unprepared.

Having done their fair share of digging, all of them knew that there was only one creature in the Blacksnow Tundra that would make a sound like that – the Serpent Mammoth.

At this moment, all of them could not help but recall the last message from the sect administrators.

If you meet any of these three, abandon your plan and escape immediately. You cannot beat any of them.

And the Serpent Mammoth was listed among these three monsters.

The party members’ cheerful mood disappeared in an instant, replaced with a inexplicable sense of anxiety. They could not help but look over at Nuo Qianling, waiting to hear her decision on what to do next.

Upon hearing the sound of trumpeting, Nuo Qianling was initially just as shocked as the rest.

However, she quickly regained her nerves.

Not just that, but a smile of excitement even appeared on her face.

“Looks like the heavens are on our side,” Nuo Qianling said. “The sect administrators have written us off as a party that was incapable of dealing with the Serpent Mammoth. But once we manage to do so, we would effectively be exceeding their expectations, forcing them to regard us as a party of greater potential. Things cannot get any better than this!”

Her excitement immediately rubbed off on the rest of her party, all of whom had complete trust in her.

After all, despite her language being rather crude at times, she had almost never let them down in the past!

“Sounds like the heavens are on our side indeed!”

“That’s right. All those monsters from before have been completely helpless before our strength, so what is one more going to change? Let’s take it down in grand fashion!”

“Right, what’s the plan? Just say the word, Senior Martial Sister Nuo. I will do anything you say!”

“Plan? What need is there for a plan?” Nuo Qianling smirked. “The Serpent Mammoth is nothing like the Red-Eyed Skeletal Ghouls, so there is no need for any petty tricks. We just have to do the usual, and the Serpent Mammoth would not stand a chance!”

Her confidence was truly inspiring.

It was obvious that she truly believed in what she said – in the strength of her party.

With just a few words, she had completely wiped away all the fear and uncertainty that had been lingering in their minds. It was as though she had given her party members a new source of strength, creating a powerful wave of energy that coursed through their veins.

In their eyes, victory was already in the bag!

***

Zhao Yunxiao looked at the jade tablets in front of him and nodded to himself, satisfied at what he was seeing.

The Four Symbols Mystic Realm would remain opened for a total of three days, and they were already nearing the end of the second.

Yet out of the twenty participants under his watch, there were still seventeen remaining.

Yes, three of them had been eliminated, but they had also received the necessary treatment and were no longer in any sort of danger.

As for those who remained in the mystic realm, everyone was currently in a stable condition.

This might not be the perfect outcome, but it was definitely good enough.

Since night time was fast approaching, most participants would be starting to seek shelter and avoid the dangers of the night, so activity should reduce to a minimum.

This should be another lull period for him to rest a little, with only the Wei Group that he might have to keep an eye on.

As for trying to dissuade the Mo Group, he had already done all that he could.

Nevertheless, he had still secretly locked onto the jade tablets for the participants from the Flying Swords Hall and Origin Lake Sect.

Be it the Mo Group, the Yin Yang Sword Sisters, Chen Pingxi or Zhou Qin, all of them had recovered and were back on the move.

They were moving at a slow and steady pace – a clear indicator that they were not in any sort of rush.

Zhao Yunxiao nodded to himself in satisfaction.

Slow and steady was good.

Unfortunately, there was no way to find out where they were headed, so there was still a chance that they were currently heading straight back to confront Quan Hui’s party.

He earnestly hoped not. Otherwise, he might need to think of a way to help them out a little.

Thinking up to here, Zhao Yunxiao’s gaze subconsciously fell upon the seven jade tablets of the Ying Group.

As expected of a party led by the famous Huo Bubai. They had not given him any problems since the very beginning.

While they had entered battle multiple times, their conditions had always remained stable, showing absolutely no signs of being in trouble whatsoever.

Members of Elder Ying’s faction truly did not disappoint!

It would definitely be nice if he could have only participants like that under his watch in the future, but that was clearly wishful thinking.

Zhao Yunxiao was not nearly naive enough to believe in such slim probabilities.

Instead, he could only hope that on the upcoming final day, things would go smoothly for the current participants under his watch!