"But do you know what the price is?"
"It's human lives! You have to fill it with human lives to open the final iron gate."
"This is why, even though people outside know the general rules of the Iron Forest, they are always called rookies after entering. Because of this, the victors never speak of it."
Yilong's words seemed to hold a deeper meaning, and Li Chonglou immediately grasped his point.
"You mean there's only one person who passes the Iron Forest each time?"
"Clever."
Li Chonglou's expression instantly changed. According to Yilong, this meant that there would likely be only one survivor in the Iron Forest competition!
At that moment, he thought of Henry and the others, but he quickly felt something was amiss. If that were truly the case, the survival rate of the Iron Forest competition would be astronomically low, which contradicted the information he had obtained.
When he voiced this question, Yilong explained.
"There is only one victor, but if you give up midway, there is still a chance to survive. However, that chance is in our hands."
Li Chonglou's brows immediately shot up. "In your hands?"
"Yes, this can also be considered a perk for possessing a sacred beast. Ordinary people wouldn't know this information. And you cannot reveal this point after you leave, or you will lose your future benefits."
"Future benefits?"
Yilong suddenly stood up and walked to the wall behind him. As he pressed somewhere, a secret compartment suddenly appeared in front of him.
Yilong took out a document from it and brought it to Li Chonglou before continuing.
"This is a new rule starting from this session, and you are one of the first to benefit."
Yilong said with a smile, and as Li Chonglou took the document, he saw four large characters written at the top.
Sacred Beast Agreement.
His brows immediately shot up, as he had already guessed what it was.
As expected, when Li Chonglou read the contents, it was exactly as he had predicted.
This so-called benefit was that as long as a sacred beast holder maintained secrecy, they could take the sacred beast out of the Iron Forest. Conversely, if the agreement was violated, the organizers would send people to reclaim the sacred beast.
"I think you need to clarify one thing first. These organizers are not a single country. If you truly want to play tricks, you must first consider yourself."
Yilong stated this openly, but there was not much worry on his face. This so-called secrecy was just a small favor, and he believed that anyone who witnessed the strength of a sacred beast would not be foolish enough to offend the organizers for it.
However, he did not expect that Li Chonglou was indifferent to all of this and silently put down the document in his hand.
"What is your mission, and what about points?"
Yilong was stunned and looked at Li Chonglou doubtfully. "You don't seem interested in sacred beasts?"
Then, Yilong glanced at小白 (Xiao Bai) in Li Chonglou's arms and seemed to realize something, chuckling, "Although yours is a defective product, it is still in its early stages. Sacred beasts have six stages."
Yilong added, "As long as you temporarily entrust your sacred beast to us, I can guarantee that your sacred beast will at least reach the fourth stage when the mission is completed. Then you will know how lucky you are now."
Li Chonglou nodded. "So, what is your mission, and what are the points?"
Damn it, can this kid understand human language?
At this moment, Yilong's previous good impression of Li Chonglou completely vanished, and he felt a sense of confusion.
Where did this blockhead come from? Did this guy cultivate for eight lifetimes to obtain a sacred beast?
In his imagination, everyone should focus on the sacred beast after hearing his words, yet Li Chonglou was only thinking about completing the competition from beginning to end.
Yilong sat down with a dejected expression and said unhappily, "Don't you understand? Starting from this session, the real prize in the Iron Forest competition is the sacred beast. The sacred beast, do you understand?"
"Oh, so?"
Yilong was instantly defeated and sighed, "Our mission is to occupy a stronghold and defend it for three days. As for points, you can use them to exchange for the right to open the gate at the final iron gate."
At this point, he completely understood Li Chonglou's intention and no longer mentioned the sacred beast.
"In other words, acting with us is all benefit and no harm. You might reach the final iron gate later, but it's not about who arrives first to open the gate. Do you understand what I'm saying now?"
It would have been better if you had said this earlier. Li Chonglou rolled his eyes slightly and immediately said, "Okay, then I promise you."
After speaking, Li Chonglou directly handed小白 (Xiao Bai) to Yilong. "If you need it, take it."
小白 (Xiao Bai) immediately looked wronged, its large eyes teary as it looked at Li Chonglou, full of resentment.
Master, you're selling me again...
This action also stunned Yilong.
"Holy cow, you're not even taking the sacred beast anymore and giving it directly to us?"
"Uh, who said I don't want it? Didn't you say you wanted to borrow it first? Then take it,"
Li Chonglou frowned, thinking this person was truly strange.
Yilong suddenly felt embarrassed but couldn't explain it clearly for a moment, so he could only swallow this bitter pill.
"You really are..."
Yilong, with a face full of helplessness, took the pitiful小白 (Xiao Bai) and looked at its innocent big eyes, feeling a sense of melancholy.
Little one, it's your bad luck to have followed such a blockhead.
"Alright, can we set off now?"
Yilong seemed to have gotten used to being speechless and directly said, "Tomorrow. You rest tonight, and I'll arrange for someone to take you to rest now."
Li Chonglou immediately nodded and then stood up.
Yilong called out towards the outside while holding小白 (Xiao Bai), and soon a man entered and led him away.
Li Chonglou followed the man and arrived at a simple house. There was only one bed inside, and not even a quilt.
"Make do with it. We'll be setting off early tomorrow morning," the man said and left directly.
Li Chonglou didn't care about this and lay down. Outside the window, the sky was already full of stars. Li Chonglou looked at the twinkling stars, and his thoughts were in a whirlwind.
He thought of her in Taizhou, and of Zhou Tong in Shangjing, and of Yalili and the others.
However, in the end, the figures that appeared in his mind were his master and his father.
If it weren't for Lin Qianqian's senior brother's interference, he would probably have stabilized his progress in Shangjing by now.
Everything was almost cleared up, but it was because of Lin Qianqian's senior brother that he ended up here.