Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

"The student understands."

Li Yuan was solemn.

He knew that Instructor Liu was right; his victory this time was narrow, and it was an unrepeatable one.

"More importantly," Liu Hongyan said solemnly, "Leng Ning Shuang's strength lies not only in her personal cultivation, but also in the fact that her techniques are better suited for team combat."

"The second round is where she has the advantage. You don't have a clear advantage in this round, and you may even be at a disadvantage."

Li Yuan pondered for a moment before looking up and saying, "Teacher, rest assured, in jungle team battles, the students also have some advantages and are not entirely without support."

Seeing the confident light in his eyes, Liu Hongyan remained silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled gently and patted his shoulder.

"Okay, I believe you."

"Remember, you're the captain. Make good use of everyone's strengths. Let's go in, don't keep them waiting."

The two exchanged a smile and returned to the banquet. Yu Ling'er and the others immediately surrounded them, chattering amongst themselves.

"Brother Li, what did Instructor Liu whisper to you? Did he praise you?" Yu Ling'er blinked mysteriously and asked with a grin.

"What can I say? It's just analyzing the battle situation and planning the tactics for the next stage," Chu Yunhe said lazily.

Li Yuan smiled and said, "Instructor Liu reminded us to guard against arrogance and impetuosity; the next stage will be the real test."

"But don't worry, everyone, we have our advantages. Come on, let's raise a glass to our teacher to thank her for her daily guidance."

With a single sentence, the matter was easily dismissed.

"Respectfully yours, teacher!"

Everyone happily raised their glasses, creating a lively atmosphere.

……

Several days later, the rest was completed.

The teams from the four academies gathered at the back mountain of Shenwu Academy. The familiar misty forest before them had become extremely gloomy, and unsettling roars could be faintly heard in the wind.

"Today is the second stage of the Four Colleges League, the Test of the Mist!"

Dean Su, representing the organizers, announced the rules: "This challenge will simulate rescuing people who have been kidnapped by demons. The forest has been set up with a formation, with eight demon strongholds, each holding one hostage."

"Success is achieved by rescuing the hostage and returning safely with their token. Competition between teams is allowed, but intentionally causing serious injury or death is strictly prohibited and will be severely punished. If you encounter danger, you may choose to crush the signal talisman to withdraw from the competition."

"Within a three-hour time limit, the final ranking will be determined by the number of hostages successfully rescued."

"Now, each team will receive a simple map and a distress signal talisman. Enter the forest simultaneously in one incense stick's time!"

This level wasn't a secret; the teams already knew it beforehand, so their reactions were lukewarm.

Li Yuan took the map and quickly glanced at it. The map was indeed very simple, only marking four entrances and their approximate locations.

"Eight strongholds, four teams, each team needs to rescue an average of two hostages to break even..." Chu Yunhe analyzed, stroking his chin.

"But there are definitely differences in difficulty, and we need to determine the location of the hostages as soon as possible," Yu Ling'er said.

Li Yuan calmly put away the map: "Everyone just follows the pre-match arrangements, no need to overthink it."

"Let's go, let's get into the woods first."

"start!"

With a command given, the four teams each chose an entrance, quickly entered, and disappeared into the thick fog.

Upon entering the jungle, the group immediately realized that this was no longer the familiar forest they had been in before.

It seems that the academy has carried out a radical transformation of this jungle in order to ensure the fairness and impartiality of the competition.

The dense fog was very strange, with extremely low visibility and the effect of blocking sound. When everyone released their spiritual senses, they were even more surprised to find that their sensitivity was greatly reduced, and the range of their investigation was less than ten feet.

As soon as they entered the forest, Li Yuan raised his hand and made a gesture.

Chu Yunhe and the others behind them immediately understood and stopped in their tracks.

"Maps are useless here, spiritual awareness is limited, and our previous experience is even more useless, it will only mislead us."

Li Yuan calmly stated his discovery.

"What should we do then? We can't just search every inch of the place, can we?" Yu Ling'er cautiously held the short stick horizontally in front of her.

"It's too slow. There are only three hours in total. We not only have to rescue people, but also guard against other teams. There's simply not enough time." Chu Yunhe frowned slightly.

Ji Fanghua closed her eyes slightly, seemingly trying to sense things, but she quickly opened them and gently shook her head, clearly indicating that her spiritual senses had also failed here.

Li Yuan also closed his eyes and tried to immerse his mind in his sea of ​​consciousness, communicating with the bronze palace, hoping to see if he could use it to detect the characteristics of demonic energy.

The palace floated silently, its radiance flowing, and a wave that ignored all obstacles slowly spread outwards, inch by inch.

Soon, Li Yuan sensed a clear demonic aura in the southeast direction, which was actually very close to them, estimated to be only about a hundred feet away.

However, due to the interference of the formation, they almost missed it.

Li Yuan couldn't help but shake his head. This instructor in charge of the arrangements was too cunning. He actually hid the hostage near the entrance. According to conventional thinking, almost everyone subconsciously thought that the hostage must be deep in the woods.

Seeing him shake his head, Chu Yunhe and the others felt a sinking feeling in their hearts, thinking there was no hope.

Li Yuan focused his mind on this demonic aura, carefully sensing it. This aura was violent and direct, clearly belonging to a demon with very strong yang energy.

Although the exact reason is unclear, it is definitely the type with thick skin and immense strength. Most of these monsters are not very smart and do not set traps.

Most importantly, he discovered that as his connection with the bronze palace grew stronger, he could even discern the strength of the demonic energy.

There were probably two demonic auras, both deep and heavy, with roughly equal strength, around the mid-stage of a demon general. He vaguely sensed a faint demonic aura further south, but because of the distance, he couldn't perceive it very clearly.

Although he couldn't discern the intensity, he could detect the distance and direction. After a moment's thought, he came up with an idea.

"Found it."

Li Yuan opened his eyes, a flash of golden light appearing briefly before he pointed southeast. "There's a stronghold less than a mile from here, guarded by two powerful demonic beasts, their strength at the mid-stage of the Demon General realm."

Everyone was invigorated and amazed that he could not only pinpoint the exact location of the demons, but also know such detailed information.

Despite finding it incredibly unbelievable, no one questioned its authenticity out of trust in him.

"Walk!"

Li Yuan gave a low shout and darted forward, "Advance according to our pre-arranged formation, and be sure to arrive before the other teams."

He raised his spiritual sense to its limit, locked onto the direction of the demonic energy, and moved at an extremely fast speed, leading the way.

Chu Yunhe and Shen Lian followed closely behind, protecting Li Yuan on the left and right, constantly alert to any movement around them.

Yu Ling'er lagged behind a few people to keep watch at the rear, while Ji Fanghua concealed herself in the bushes, using her special senses to make up for any possible oversights.

Their figures tore through the thick fog and sped southward.

At the same time, in the center of the Heavenly Evolution Platform, four huge water mirrors rose up, projecting the images of the four teams in real time using the array.

The image was very clear, completely ignoring the thick fog.

When the Shenwu Academy team entered, they paused briefly before, led by Li Yuan, they moved at full speed in one direction without any hesitation, causing a collective gasp to rise from the stands.