Time ticked by, and Qin Long and the others gradually adapted to the environment. In silent meditation, they continuously strengthened their senses, pushing beyond their limits.
Twenty-four hours passed, and only five of the remaining twenty-eight people were eliminated. After forty-eight hours, eighteen people remained.
These eighteen individuals had undergone two days and two nights of silent meditation. While their senses were greatly enhanced, they had also mastered the technique of combining projectile skills with mental focus.
Now, even with their eyes closed, they could accurately hit targets with the glass marbles in their hands, striking precisely where they aimed.
As Qin Long and the others removed their eye masks, the eighteen felt as though they had been reborn, their faces beaming with joy.
"Brother Shen, I have completely grasped the realm of effortless control. I feel more than a little stronger now," Qin Long said to Shen Lang, his face full of delight.
Being able to significantly enhance their senses and achieve the unity of mind and skill was a massive boost to Qin Long and the others' strength.
In the future, whether wielding cold weapons or firearms, they would be invincible.
"I'm quite surprised so many of you persevered. You are truly the elites of the Martial Guard Department," Shen Lang said with a smile, looking at the eighteen who had endured. "When my master put me through this training method, I almost went mad. After all, I was only ten years old then. You are all much stronger than I was."
"You..."
Hearing Shen Lang compare them to his ten-year-old self, Qin Long and the others all rolled their eyes. They were all elites of the Martial Guard Department, and adults at that. How could they be compared?
"Brother Shen, what is the next training plan?" Qin Long asked Shen Lang curiously after silently grumbling.
"Next is teamwork," Shen Lang said with a smile. "This training method is relatively simple. Within the next ten hours, the eighteen of you will team up to hunt me down. You can use any means necessary. In short, this is an unrestricted kill-or-be-killed scenario."
"However, you must be careful, because as you hunt me, I will also relentlessly eliminate you."
Saying this, Shen Lang took out a training dagger stained with red ink from his backpack. "No matter who it is, if I stab or slash them with this dagger, they are immediately out. Of course, if I am cut or stabbed by your daggers, or even hit by your training rounds, I lose."
"Do you understand?" Shen Lang asked, smiling at everyone.
"Team Leader Shen, I have a question. If, after ten hours, neither we manage to eliminate you, nor you eliminate us, what happens then?" Xiong Zi asked with a grin.
"If that happens, you will also pass," Shen Lang replied with a smile.
"Really?" Xiong Zi exclaimed with great joy. "In that case, won't we just find a place to hide and lie low, and just wait out the ten hours?"
Xiong Zi's words made the others' eyes light up. They were not confident about confronting Shen Lang directly, but they were confident about hiding for ten hours without being discovered. After all, they were all survival experts in the primitive forest, and ten hours was entirely feasible for them.
"What you said is possible, but I won't give you that chance," Shen Lang said with a smile. "As I said, you are hunting me, and I am hunting you. Furthermore, to ensure the fairness of this game, I will lower my martial cultivation to the early stage of the Yellow Realm."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Long and the others became incredibly excited. They had previously felt uncertain about this hunt because of Shen Lang's high martial cultivation. But if Shen Lang lowered it to the early Yellow Realm, then there was nothing to discuss. The lowest among them was already at the mid-Yellow Realm.
"Begin." As Qin Long and the others felt a surge of pleasant surprise, Shen Lang calmly uttered the word and then charged forward rapidly.
"Chase!" Seeing Shen Lang run, Qin Long reacted and shouted to everyone, "Kill Team Leader Shen at all costs." With that, Qin Long was the first to rush forward with his weapon.
Seeing Qin Long charge, Xiong Zi and the others did not dare to delay, and rushed out following Qin Long.
In the vast primeval forest, Shen Lang fled ahead, with Qin Long and the others in hot pursuit, moving at extreme speed. With Shen Lang's martial cultivation lowered to the Yellow Realm, he was no match for Qin Long and the others in terms of absolute combat power, which was the basis of their confidence in hunting Shen Lang.
However, after chasing for five kilometers, Shen Lang disappeared into the primeval forest. No matter how much Qin Long and the others searched, they couldn't find where Shen Lang had hidden.
"Team Leader, not being able to find Team Leader Shen now is not a good sign," Xiong Zi said, his voice laced with a shiver as he lost track of Shen Lang. "I feel like the roles of hunter and prey have reversed. We are the prey now."
"Whoosh—"
As Xiong Zi finished speaking, he suddenly felt something was wrong. Turning around, Xiong Zi saw that Shen Lang had somehow appeared behind them. The heavy dagger moved swiftly and accurately, leaving a bloody gash on the neck of one of the team members.
"Ah—" The team member was caught completely off guard, not expecting Shen Lang to suddenly appear from behind them. He was instantly eliminated.
"Team Leader Shen, take this kick!" Seeing Shen Lang eliminate one person with his first move, Xiong Zi was furious. Like a massive bear, he leaped forward and kicked towards Shen Lang.
Facing Xiong Zi's incredibly powerful kick, Shen Lang, with his lowered martial cultivation, dared not meet it head-on and quickly dodged. But as Shen Lang evaded, Qin Long's wooden sword suddenly slashed towards him from the front.
Facing Qin Long's descending sword, Shen Lang raised his training dagger to block, but it was instantly knocked from his hand and flew three meters away. Seeing this, Shen Lang quickly rolled to the dagger, grabbed it, and continued to flee.
"Bang—"
"Bang—"
"Bang—"
Shen Lang fled forward, while the sounds of training rounds being fired echoed behind him, making Shen Lang's ears ring. However, Shen Lang soon couldn't see anyone and disappeared into the primeval forest once more.
"Team Leader Qin, what should we do?" Shen Lang's disappearance once again put immense psychological pressure on the remaining seventeen individuals. After all, they had barely eaten or drunk for the past forty-eight hours, and their physical strength and energy were severely depleted. Moreover, when Shen Lang led them up the mountain, he hadn't even let them bring water or biscuits. Their current predicament was extremely unfavorable.