Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

This is not modesty.

The inner courtyard is full of hidden talents, and as Randall said, many people are not interested in rankings.

Even someone like Hector, who secluded himself for five years and defeated the ninth-ranked member of the Inner Court in one fell swoop, wasn't very famous before the Hunting Day began.

Xilun is now strong enough to be in the top twenty.

How much of a gap is there between them and the real top ten? We'll only know after we play them.

Not to mention Allah, the First in the Inner Court, and Aldrich, who defeated Allah.

The road ahead is still long.

Elena was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Six months ago, your name was ranked forty-seventh."

"Rankings are just a thing of the past."

Xilun gripped the Thunder Spear, feeling the increasingly harmonious power within his body.

The black crystal further enhanced his foundation.

The Golden Thunder Vortex is imbued with a powerful burst of energy after its third transformation.

The Thunder Dragon Heart, the Dragon-like Tendons, the Thunder Spirit, the Breath of the Styx River, and the remnants of the Evil God grant him abilities far exceeding those of his peers.

If you can't even get into the top twenty in the inner courtyard, then all these opportunities will have been wasted.

The two crossed a patch of bare rock.

From the depths of the gray fog, several clusters of black shadows gradually emerged.

That's coral.

Dark branches grow from the ground, their surfaces covered with tiny water droplets, resembling twisted hands reaching towards the sky.

The wind blew through the coral.

There was no sound of collision.

But a faint whisper slowly sounded close to their ears.

"Silon..."

The sound was very soft.

It sounded as if it were coming from a very distant place.

It was as if someone was standing behind him, calling out in his ear.

Xilun stopped in his tracks.

Deep within his brow, the third lightning pattern slowly heated up.

Xilun did not turn back.

The gray fog flowed slowly along the bare rocky ground. Several clusters of black coral stood not far away, their branches long and twisted. Water droplets rolled down the dark surface but did not fall to the ground for a long time.

"Silon..."

The sound rang out again.

Closer than before.

Xilun gripped the Thunder Spear tightly, his Thunder Eye between his brows slightly warm, his senses spreading outwards like a tidal wave.

There was no breathing within thirty paces.

There were no footsteps.

""

There were no fluctuations of Qi and blood belonging to humans.

Elena turned her head to the side, a hint of wariness appearing in her silver-gray eyes.

"You heard that too?"

"Someone called my name."

Xilun spoke calmly, his gaze still fixed on the black coral.

Elena took out the silver-gray disc and gently ran her thumb along the edge.

A hazy glow spread across the surface of the disc, but it quickly dimmed as if swallowed by something invisible, just as it had spread ten steps away.

Her expression hardened slightly.

"The pollution is even worse than along the riverbank."

"Stay away."

Xilun took two steps to the right, bypassing the black coral in front of him.

They didn't have time to investigate every anomaly in the wonderland.

Besides, Angel had already warned us to avoid black coral immediately upon seeing it.

Something that would warrant a special warning from the Elder of the Inner Court could not possibly be something that merely appears strange.

The two walked along the edge of the rocky ground.

The whispers behind me did not disappear.

It sometimes transformed into Lund's hoarse laughter, sometimes into his mother's cold commands, and finally into a calm and authoritative male voice.

"return."

"My blood flows in your veins."

Xilun's expression remained unchanged.

The Moon Memory Meditation Technique was activated, and the cool moonlight illuminated the spiritual world, stripping away those thoughts that did not belong to him one by one.

It's just an illusion.

Even if the black coral can glimpse memories, it cannot change the fact that it can only whisper in the shadows.

What we really need to be wary of are the Black Soul Beasts roaming in the gray fog.

Elena suddenly quickened her pace and walked alongside him.

"What sound is it making when it calls you?"

"a lot of."

"Do you know anyone here?"

"have."

Siron's answer was brief.

Elena didn't press the matter further. She glanced at Siron's calm profile, then looked at the coral behind her, which was gradually being obscured by the gray mist.

Just as the last cluster of black branches was about to disappear, she vaguely saw those branches bend forward at the same time, like countless hands, silently pointing at Xilun's back.

Elena gripped the hilt of her sword and looked away.

According to the map left by Allah, they were approaching the second gathering point of the Black Soul Beasts.

Unlike the previous unnamed canyon, this place is located halfway up a fractured mountain range.

The mountain looked as if it had been cleaved in two by a giant axe, revealing layers of dark purple mineral veins.

Scattered at the foot of the mountain are numerous sea beast bones, and the wind blowing through the hollow skulls makes a wailing sound.

Xilun stopped behind a huge rock.

Lei Ling's senses climbed upwards along the mountain wall.

A chilling aura gradually seeped into his senses.

Twelve heads.

Seventeen heads.

Twenty-three heads...

Until their senses touched a deep, recessed cave halfway up the mountain, a sense of oppression, far surpassing that of the other Black Soul Beasts, suddenly emanated from within.

The aura was heavy and violent, mixed with subtle thunder.

Xilun slowly opened his eyes.

"Third-tier extreme realm".

Elena squatted down beside her and spread out the map.

On the parchment, Allah drew a circle with dark red ink around the second gathering point, with a short mark next to it.

"The first two gathering points usually have only one beast king at the third-tier extreme level, while the outer perimeter has twenty to thirty ordinary black soul beasts."

She moved her fingertip deeper into the map.

"The real trouble is the third location, which is quite famous in the inner courtyard. Five years ago, someone discovered more than one Tier 3 Extreme Realm Black Soul Beast. With the recent anomaly in this strange realm, the number is probably even greater."

"Moreover, in the Blackwater Abyss."

Xilun looks down at the foot of the mountain.

In the gray fog, several semi-transparent silhouettes wandered back and forth.

They resemble lizards, with curved bony spurs covering their backs. Their claws make no sound when they land, and only the black crystals in their chests and abdomens occasionally flash with a faint light.

The surrounding herds of beasts are not weak.

If it were just him, with his affinity for water, his Thunder Eye, and his Canglang Step, he might not be unable to force his way through.

But Elena was still by his side.

She excels at binding and sensing, and can easily deal with several ordinary Tier 3 Black Soul Beasts on her own. However, if she is surrounded by more than twenty at the same time, her silver-gray rope and dual swords will hardly be able to block all directions.

The Beast King wouldn't just stand there waiting to be killed.

If the entanglement continues for too long, the surrounding beast horde will return to reinforce, and the two will find themselves in a situation where they are attacked from both sides.

Xilun pondered for a moment, then withdrew his senses from reaching towards the mountainside.

"Waiting for someone."

Elena looked at him with a hint of surprise.

"I thought you would just barge in."

"That's not bravery, that's wasting your identity card."

Xilun sat down in a sheltered spot, placing the Thunder Spear horizontally on his lap.

"The Beast King's aura is stronger than the Spider Black Soul Beast we encountered before. We can win, but the price we'll have to pay is hard to say. There are still a few days until the Hunting Day; there's no need to waste our energy here."

Elena's lips curled slightly.

"It seems you haven't been blinded by the Perfect Black Crystal yet."

"To have the chance to take it is a matter of fate."

Xiren closed his eyes.

The three exchanges with Herbert just now didn't take much to spare, but the injury to his shoulder from being pierced by the Abyss Finger Talisman has not yet fully healed.

The continuous refining of black crystals, traveling, and fighting also caused a slight fluctuation in one's energy.

Waiting is just the right time to get back to peak condition.

Elena did not disturb him.

She laid down two thin silver-gray threads about ten paces away, then took out a small bottle of colorless liquid and dripped a few drops along the nearby rock crevices to mask the scent of the two people.

After doing all this, she sat down against the stone wall, placing her two swords within easy reach.

The fog grew thicker and thicker.

Occasionally, a black soul beast would pass by from a hundred paces away, its empty eye sockets turning towards the place where the two were hiding, but it would not find anything unusual and would soon disappear among the rubble, dragging its tail.

Half an hour passed.

An hour passed.

Xilun's internal energy circulation became increasingly smooth, and his breathing became long and steady.

The Thunder Dragon Heart pulsated slowly with the Great Thunder Sound Breathing Technique, and with each contraction, it sent pale golden thunder power into its limbs and bones.

The previously absorbed perfect black crystal is still taking effect.

Those tiny obstructions hidden between the skin, tendons, and bones are like stones on a riverbed, being washed and polished again and again.

We are not far from reaching the third-tier extreme realm.

When Xilun opened his eyes, the sky was still dark.

There is no real sun or moon in the Blackwater Abyss; it is always shrouded in lead-gray clouds, and one can only judge the approximate time by the light shining through the clouds.

Elena was standing beside the crevice in the rock, gazing into the distance.

"No one has come yet."

Her tone was somewhat urgent.

Information about the gathering point is not solely known to Allah. Based on past experience, the second day of the hunting day is when most teams begin to venture deeper into the area, so this place should not be so deserted.

Unless someone cleared out the nearby queues beforehand.

Or perhaps the appearance of black coral altered the original route, causing others to choose to detour.

Xilun got up and stretched his shoulders.

A slight pulling sensation came from the wound on my left shoulder, but it no longer affected my ability to draw my gun.

"Back to camp."

"Should we ask Senior Brother Randall for help?"

"He has already obtained a perfect black crystal, so he may not be willing to take the risk."

"There will always be someone else."

Elena put away the silver-gray thread.

The two men's venturing into the herd of beasts was ultimately too reckless.

Even if we have to part with some black crystals, it would be better to ask a few reliable senior brothers and sisters for help than to get injured here and delay our subsequent journey.

Just as Xilun shouldered his pack, he suddenly heard the sound of gravel rolling down.

Someone is coming.

At the same moment, Elena turned around, her longsword sliding half an inch out of its sheath.

Behind the gray fog, a tall figure first appeared.

The newcomer wore dark blue short armor, had broad shoulders, black hair tied back, and a nearly four-foot-long broadsword hanging at his waist.

A layer of white frost had formed on the surface of the scabbard, and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees wherever it passed.

Behind him were a man and a woman.

The woman was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, wearing close-fitting leather armor, holding two short blades with barbs, and had sharp eyes.

The young man's features bore a five or six-point resemblance to the leader, though his aura was slightly weaker, and he carried a round shield on his back.

The three of them emerged from the gray fog and were taken aback when they saw Siren and Elena.

The leading man glanced at the mountains behind the two men, then smiled.

"I didn't expect there were others like us who had obtained information about this gathering point."

Elena recognized the person and whispered, "Lancelot, the twenty-second in the Inner Court."

Xilun nodded slightly.

He had seen this name on the Linglong Tower list.

Lancelot has been in the inner academy for eight years. He comes from an icefield family on the North Coast and his Xuanbing Tiger Soul Blade is quite famous among third-tier disciples.

He rarely participated in the internal court struggles, yet his ranking remained consistently around twentieth.

As for the other two, Xiren didn't have much of an impression of them.

Lancelot introduced them, "This is Fuya, my wife, and this is my brother, Ronan."

Fuya nodded to the two of them.

Ronan's gaze lingered on Xilen for a moment, clearly recognizing this recently rising star.

"Silon".

Xilun announced his name and then turned to look at Elena.

"Elena".

Elena took over the conversation herself, her tone neither warm nor cold.

Lancelot smiled.

"Since everyone is coming to the same meeting point, it saves me the trouble of looking for people again."

He placed his hand on the hilt of the knife and looked toward the cave halfway up the mountain.

"How about the collaboration?"

Xilun did not answer immediately.

Lancelot and his two companions were all in good health, but their clothes were stained with black marks that had not yet dried, indicating that they had just hunted a Black Soul Beast.

Both Fuya and Ronan have the strength to be among the top 100 in the inner court.

Lancelot is a veteran powerhouse.

With five people working together, clearing this gathering point was more than enough.

"Can."

Xilun calmly said, "Let's talk about the allocation first."

Lancelot seemed to have anticipated that he would say that.

"nature."

"How do you want to divide it?"

"Elena and I will take care of the Beast King."

Xilun looked up at the mountainside, his tone completely calm.

"The perfect black crystal left behind by the Beast King is mine, the outer black soul beasts are yours, and you will take 60% of the harvest."

The wind in the gray fog suddenly stopped.

Ronan frowned.

Fuya didn't speak, but narrowed her eyes and carefully examined Xilun.

Lancelot paused for a moment, then, as if he had heard something interesting, the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

"The two of us will go and slay the Beast King, while the other three will clear the surrounding area."

"The most precious and perfect black crystal is yours, but we can only get 60% of the remaining ordinary black crystals?"

Xilun nodded.

"good."

Lancelot's smile deepened.

But there was little warmth left in those eyes.

"Sirlen, you're being far too arrogant."

"There are three of us, and only two of you. Just because you arrived an hour earlier than us, does that mean we should give you the Perfect Black Crystal?"

"It's not because we arrived early."

Xilun gripped the Thunder Spear, his expression remaining calm.

"It's because we're stronger."

Ronan's face darkened.

But Fuya reached out and stopped him.

Lancelot chuckled softly, slowly pushing open the hilt with his thumb. A chilling white aura seeped from the gaps in the scabbard, forming fine ice crystals on the ground.

"That makes things simple."

"Let's have a fight."

"Whoever loses must voluntarily relinquish the Perfect Black Crystal."

The mountain wind swept through the broken mountain range, carrying the unique chill of the Blackwater.

Not far away, a wandering black soul beast seemed to sense something, stopped in its tracks, and looked in this direction with its empty eye sockets.

Elena flicked her fingers.

A thin, silvery-gray thread swept across the gravel, silently entangled a piece of animal bone in the distance, and dragged it into the gray mist on the other side.

The bone hit the ground with a crisp sound.

The black soul beast immediately turned around and left following the sound.

Lancelot, observing this, chuckled, "Well done."

Elena withdrew the silver thread without responding.

She stepped back thirty paces, giving the two enough space.

Fuya and Ronan also moved to the other side.

If interests cannot be determined by words, then strength shall prevail.

Such rules are not uncommon in the inner court, especially in the Blackwater Abyss, where fairness is never about adding up the number of people, but about whose fist is stronger.

Lancelot unsheathed his sword and slowly drew it.

The blade is thick and wide, with a light blue color throughout, but the edge is dazzlingly white.

As the blade was completely sheathed, a thin layer of frost quickly formed on the surrounding ground, and even the drifting gray mist slowed down.

"Frost Tide Blade, a top-tier Tier 3 weapon."

Lancelot held his sword horizontally in front of him.

"It was once tempered with the spine of a third-tier extreme ice tiger. The sword spirit has not yet been formed, but it has already nurtured some tiger soul."

This is a reminder, but also a sign of confidence.

He disdained to conceal the details of the weapons.

Xilun drew his Thunder Spear.

The black gun barrel slid across his palm, a flash of bluish-white lightning streaking along the blade.

The spirit gold that had been melted into the spear shaft gave the originally fierce spear a more fluid and supple feel, and the spear tip trembled slightly, emitting a deep hum.

A hint of surprise flashed in Lancelot's eyes.

"Spirit Transformation Gold?"

"Um."

"That's quite rare."

Lancelot's gaze moved along the gun barrel, finally settling on the sharp tip.

"Among the top ten in the inner courtyard, not everyone can have such a weapon. In terms of weapon alone, I am inferior."

Ronan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

He knew his brother's personality very well.

Lancelot may seem generous, but he is actually extremely proud. There are not many things that would make him admit his inferiority before a fight.

However, weapons are ultimately only one part of strength.

Ultimately, the one who wields the weapons determines the outcome.

Xilun held the gun in one hand, with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

"start?"

"start."

The last word fell.

The permafrost beneath Lancelot's feet suddenly cracked open.

The burly figure tore through the gray mist, and the broad-bladed longsword brought with it a chilling white wave as it slashed down fiercely from above!

There was no probing.

There were no complicated changes.

This slash was powerful and sweeping, like an avalanche roaring across an ice field. Before the blade even landed, the heavy air pressure caused the rubble around Xilun to sink downwards.

Xilun's eyes were calm as he strode forward.

The Thunder Spear attacked head-on from below!

clang!

Swords and spears clashed.

A deafening roar echoed across the foot of the mountain, and nearby rock walls began to crumble and shatter.

A shockwave emanated from the two people and spread outwards in all directions, instantly tearing apart the gray fog and revealing an open space of several dozen steps in radius.

Xilun's arm sank half an inch, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the rocks beneath his feet.

Lancelot, however, was unable to continue suppressing the blade.

His eyes quickly turned serious.

Such a strong physique.

The news that Xilun had defeated Herbert with three punches had already spread throughout the temporary camp.

But rumors are just rumors. Only after facing them in person did he understand the power contained in those three punches.

Lancelot twisted his wrist, and the longsword slid past the gun barrel, its blade aimed straight for Siron's neck.

Xilun leaned back slightly, the cold blade grazing his throat.

He shook the gun with both hands, and the suppleness that the Spirit Transformation Gold had given to the gun instantly became apparent.

The straight spear curved into a slight arc, bypassing the Cold Tide Blade, and suddenly pointed at Lancelot's brow.

Lancelot turned his head to avoid it.

The spearhead, crackling with lightning, passed by his ear, the scorching air snapping off a few strands of his black hair.

The next moment, the two of them made progress simultaneously.

The knife and the gun collided repeatedly within a narrow distance.

clang!clang!clang!

Each collision was like a hammer striking a giant bell.

Sparks and ice shards flew everywhere, and flashes of blue-white lightning appeared and disappeared intermittently.

Lancelot's sword strikes were extremely heavy, each slash mobilizing his entire body's muscles and bones, combined with a powerful breathing technique, his strength rising wave after wave.

Xilun also did not back down.

In his hands, the Thunder Spear was sometimes as fierce as a dragon crashing into a mountain, and sometimes as supple as water flowing around a rock. The spearhead, shaft, and even the butt of the spear could all injure a person, leaving almost no obvious openings.

Ten moves.

Twenty moves.

The open ground beneath their feet was already a scene of devastation.

Fuya stared intently at the center of the fight, her expression gradually becoming serious.

"He didn't use that golden lightning pattern."

Ronan gripped the edge of the round shield and whispered, "My brother didn't use the Tiger Soul Blade Technique either."

"But he was only twenty-three years old."