An hour and a half later, two large tour buses arrived at the foot of Nanshan Mountain in Nanling City. Led by Shen Lang, the group of over forty people entered the primeval forest.
In the primeval forest, poisonous snakes and fierce beasts were common. As soon as the group entered, they felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave, their hair standing on end.
They had every reason to believe that if their numbers hadn't been so large, the poisonous snakes and fierce beasts in the forest would have already begun to attack them.
"Team Leader Shen, aren't we here for training? Why are we in a primeval forest?"
Xiong Zi touched his buzz cut and said, "You're not planning to test our survival skills in the primeval forest, are you? Let me tell you, we've all been through this before, so this won't be difficult for us."
"Is that so?"
Shen Lang smiled upon hearing this and said, "This won't be difficult for you?"
After speaking, Shen Lang stopped talking and led the group forward. Two hours later, Shen Lang brought Qin Long, Xiong Zi, Long Zi, and the rest of the group to the heart of the primeval forest.
This place was not only terrifyingly cold but also covered in crawling poisonous snakes and insects. Even Qin Long and the others felt a sense of dread.
"Everyone, I haven't told you about my training plan before, but now I can share it with you."
Shen Lang turned to look at Qin Long and the others and said, "My training program has three items in total. The first item is meditation. For the next 48 hours, your eyes will be blindfolded, and all you will face is darkness, fear, and attacks from poisonous snakes and fierce beasts."
"Ah..."
Upon hearing this, Xiong Zi and the others' faces changed drastically. They said, "Blindfolding our eyes and meditating in silence, isn't that tantamount to waiting for death?"
"Of course not, which is why I've prepared self-defense weapons for you."
Shen Lang smiled and took out a bag from a backpack he was carrying. The bag was full of glass marbles.
Shen Lang smiled and said, "Each of you forty people will receive thirty glass marbles. For these 48 hours, this will be your only weapon, so you must use it wisely."
"Of course, you don't need to worry too much. While I won't intervene when poisonous snakes and fierce beasts attack you, I will definitely step in to save you if you are poisoned or your life is in danger."
"However, anyone who is saved will be considered to have failed this training session and will not participate in the grand competition three days from now."
Shen Lang smiled and said, "I've looked into the rules of the grand competition. There are two events: the first is individual combat, and the second is team combat. However, for team combat, each side will send out ten people."
"I can guarantee that I will secure full marks for us in the individual combat. But for the team combat, it will depend on you. Therefore, thirty of you will be eliminated. As for who gets eliminated, that will depend on your luck."
After speaking, Shen Lang took out a bag filled with black eye masks.
Shen Lang beckoned to Xiong Zi and said, "Distribute the eye masks and glass marbles to everyone. After receiving them, you can each choose a spot that you think is advantageous to sit and meditate."
"I repeat, voluntarily taking off the eye mask will be considered forfeiture and will also result in elimination. So, everyone, take care of yourselves."
Hearing Shen Lang's words, Xiong Zi sighed and then jogged to Shen Lang, distributing all the black eye masks and glass marbles to the forty people.
Then, all forty people chose their preferred spots and sat down, putting on their eye masks.
The moment the eye masks were on, fear slowly crept into their hearts. Not only could everyone hear the rustling sounds of poisonous snakes and insects crawling, but they could also hear their own rapid breathing and heartbeats.
Within two seconds, everyone's forehead was covered in sweat, and their brows were furrowed.
Seeing this, Shen Lang leaped onto a towering ancient tree hundreds of meters tall and surveyed all the movements below.
To win the championship in three days, Shen Lang had only one way: to take risks and achieve victory through surprise.
As for how many of these forty people would survive in the end, Shen Lang was actually unsure. After all, besides the threat of poisonous snakes and insects, the most important thing for these people at this moment was their inner fear and unease.
As the forty people began their meditation, the poisonous snakes, insects, and fierce beasts in the forest all began to stir. Poisonous snakes, scorpions, venomous ants, and many creatures whose names they couldn't recall began to approach the forty people inch by inch.
"Ah, this is a venomous viper!"
A member of the special operations team was meditating when he suddenly felt a cool sensation on his neck. He reached back with his right hand and suddenly grabbed something slippery. In a moment of panic, he reflexively removed his eye mask and saw that in his hand was a viper whose bite was instantly fatal.
In an instant, the special operations team member's face turned pale with fright, and he threw the viper in his hand away.
However, even though he was unharmed, he had violated the rules. Shen Lang looked at him and smiled, "You are eliminated."
"Team Leader Shen... can I have another chance? That was just a reflex."
Upon hearing Shen Lang's words, the special operations team member's face looked grim. He said, "I haven't experienced this kind of training before, and I wasn't able to adapt immediately."
"Heh..."
Shen Lang smiled and said, "I can give you this chance, but your opponents won't. Victory or defeat can be decided in an instant. The reason you were eliminated is that your mind was unsettled. Otherwise, with your Huang Realm martial cultivation, a poisonous snake wouldn't have crawled onto your neck before you noticed."
"Alright, don't say any more. Pack your belongings and go down the mountain."
Shen Lang waved his hand and said, "Don't regret it. Prepare well, and perhaps next time, you'll be the one to last until the end."
"Alas, what a disgrace."
Hearing Shen Lang's words, the martial guard looked desperate and uttered a sentence before shouldering his training bag and heading down the mountain.
However, before he could leave, three female team members screamed in unison and jumped up, quickly removing their eye masks and shaking their bodies vigorously.
The reason for such a commotion was that each of them was covered in dozens of venomous centipedes and scorpions.
After quickly clearing the venomous centipedes and scorpions from their bodies, Shen Lang uttered two words to them: "Eliminated."
"Team Leader Shen..."
Looking at Shen Lang, the three female martial guards wanted to say something, but upon seeing Shen Lang's cold gaze, they could only lower their heads in despair.
With four people eliminated in less than five minutes, this was undoubtedly the training program with the highest elimination rate in the Martial Guard Department.
After the elimination of four people, the others were clearly affected and became somewhat restless.
Seeing this, Shen Lang spoke, "Now that your eyes cannot see, you must turn your minds into eyes. No, you must become more formidable than your eyes, because eyes can deceive you, but the mind will not."
Shen Lang added eight words: "Follow your heart and be indomitable."