The next day, outside the north gate of Yun Yuan City, at Qing Feng Pavilion.
Even though it was still a stick of incense before the start of the hour of the snake, the Ling family disciples had already arrived, except for Ling Luo Yi.
"Since you've come, you must be prepared to fight to the death. Don't chicken out when the time comes."
"Third Young Master, since we are here, we are prepared to die," Ling Luo Ze said.
They had all seen their parents before the Eldest Miss gave them the pills. Their parents were older than their peers, their bodies had deteriorated, and some were already critically ill or on the verge of death.
Even though their parents were slowly recovering now because of the Eldest Miss, they should also grow up and build a safe home for them.
"You don't have to be like this. Luo'er asked you to come for training. Although there's no protection, she wouldn't just watch you die," Ling Luo Yu said with a smile.
"Don't talk about being prepared to die. How many of you have experienced death?"
The crowd was stunned. This was the Eldest Miss's voice, but she hadn't arrived yet.
Everyone looked towards the source of the sound and saw Ling Luo Yi sitting on a tree branch, propping her head and looking at them.
"It seems everyone has arrived. Since you're here, you should be prepared. Now, let's divide into teams!"
"Divide into teams?"
"There are 399 of you in total. Twenty people per team, making twenty teams. Each team leader is responsible for looking after their members. Since your ages and cultivation levels are different, each team's overall strength should be the same. Next, find your teammates. After forming teams, stand in order of Team One, Team Two, and so on."
The Ling family disciples quickly formed their teams and stood in order as Ling Luo Yi had instructed.
After watching them stand in formation, Ling Luo Yi took out a pile of storage rings and said, "Everyone take one storage ring. Inside are the things I've prepared for you. Each one is the same, so there's no need to pick and choose."
After they had taken their rings, Ling Luo Yi said, "Have you all received them? Now take out this item and tie it to your legs."
Ling Luo Yi took out an item and demonstrated by tying it to her own leg.
"Those who are younger tie one, and those who are older tie two."
The disciples took out the items and tied them to their legs like Ling Luo Yi.
After they had tied them, they felt the weight on their legs and couldn't help but use their spiritual power.
"No spiritual power! Let your bodies adapt to it and get used to it."
The disciples withdrew their spiritual power and tried to walk on their own. However, none of them could take more than two steps.
"This is too heavy!"
"We can't even walk with this on, how are we supposed to train!"
Ling Luo Yi looked at their grumbling, jumped down, and walked in front of them.
The items on Ling Luo Yi's legs were not removed; she had tied two on, just like them, but she walked with ease.
"Is it too heavy already? I've been quite lenient with you. Originally, you should have tied them to your arms as well, but I didn't let you wear them yet. Once you can walk freely, you can wear those. Everything has been prepared for you."
"Ah?!"
"What 'ah'? I'm not intentionally tormenting you. Adapt as quickly as possible, time is running out."
"Luo'er, let's go quickly. Otherwise, at this speed, we won't reach Luoxia Forest by nightfall," Ling Luo Chen said.
"Luoxia Forest! Will we even make it back alive?" someone shouted, but no one had the thought of giving up.
"Stop your whining. Didn't you all prepare for death?" Ling Luo Yi took out a talisman and said, "Little sprouts, feel the sensation of your heart beating."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Ling family disciples vanished from their spots.
When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in the forest.
"Where is this?" someone asked, not knowing.
"This is the outskirts of Luoxia Forest," someone who had been here before explained.
"How did we get here so quickly? I only blinked my eyes."
They didn't know either, so they could only look at Ling Luo Yi.
Ling Luo Yi waved the talisman in her hand and said, "A thousand-mile teleportation talisman. Alright, let me explain your mission for this training. We have to return to the manor by the afternoon of the eighteenth, so your mission is to travel from here to the middle of Luoxia Forest before we return. Furthermore, each team must obtain ten first-tier demonic beast cores every day."
"First-tier demonic beasts? How is that possible!"
"We are all in the Innate and Acquired realms, how can we be opponents of first-tier demonic beasts?"
"You might not be an opponent individually, but there are nearly four hundred of you. You can wear it down to death. Besides, first-tier demonic beasts are not that strong."
"This..."
"You are all disciples of the same family. The first thing you need to learn is unity and cooperation. Stop the nonsense. I've detected a beast approaching this area, and it will arrive within half a stick of incense at the latest. You have time to bicker here, might as well use it to adapt quickly."
"What!"
Someone wanted to escape.
"Don't think about escaping. You are cultivators. It's just a mere beast, just defeat it."
The beast had undeveloped intelligence and no spiritual power.
"Besides, you don't seem to be able to escape," Ling Luo Yi said with a smile, pointing out a problem. "Alright, from now on, the Eldest Young Master will lead you. Unless absolutely necessary, I will not intervene."
With that, Ling Luo Yi quickly disappeared from their sight.
Just a few breaths after Ling Luo Yi vanished, a tiger appeared in their field of vision.
The tiger had a ferocious appearance and a massive build. Its fur was thick, its physique strong and robust, and its thick, powerful tail swished with a crackling sound.
The Ling family disciples couldn't help but feel scared, and the timid ones had already started crying silently.
"Don't panic," Ling Luo Chen comforted them. "Luo'er gave us weapons before. Take them out and use them now."
Under Ling Luo Chen's comfort, everyone calmed their minds, took out their weapons, and assumed a fighting stance.
Upon seeing the Ling family members, the tiger roared and charged at them.
"This time, Luo Fan and I will be the main attackers. Those in the Acquired realm will provide support, and the Innate realm disciples will lend their spiritual power to the Acquired realm. If you don't put in the effort, you'll only have yourselves to blame."
"Okay."
The Ling family disciples reacted quickly and followed Ling Luo Chen's instructions.
The tiger was also very fast. In an instant, it was in front of them.
Just as the tiger opened its bloody maw to bite Ling Luo Chen, Ling Luo Chen made his move, thrusting a long sword towards the tiger's head.
The tiger's reaction was not slow. It leaped to the right, dodging Ling Luo Chen's long sword.
Due to the close proximity, a shallow bloody gash was cut across the tiger's face.
The tiger was enraged. It roared again and attacked Ling Luo Chen.
Ling Luo Chen leaped up, ignoring the weight on his legs. He only managed to jump half the usual height before falling. He lost his balance and landed on the ground.
The tiger's front paw stepped on Ling Luo Chen's leg, and everyone was shocked.
The tiger bit towards Ling Luo Chen, but Ling Luo Chen blocked it with his long sword.
"Second brother, its eyes!"
"Got it!"
As he spoke, Ling Luo Fan's spear pierced the tiger's left eye, and blood flowed out.
The tiger cried out in pain and instinctively retreated.
Ling Luo Chen seized the opportunity to stand up.
Although Ling Luo Fan had saved Ling Luo Chen, he had also angered the tiger.
The tiger attacked both of them.
At this moment, Ling Luo Yi watched the Ling family disciples fight the tiger from the side, unable to help but sigh.
They were still too accustomed to comfort.
Fifty percent of these disciples were in the Acquired realm, forty percent were in the Innate realm, and less than ten percent were in the Spirit Apprentice realm.
This tiger would be able to advance to a first-tier demonic beast in some time.
Logically speaking, it should have been easy for these disciples to deal with this tiger, but they were struggling like this.
What made Ling Luo Yi somewhat relieved was that although these people were afraid, they did not retreat. Every single one of them was trying their best, even though their cooperation was clumsy.
Two quarters of an hour later, Ling Luo Chen's long sword pierced the tiger's heart.
The tiger fell with a loud thud.
Seeing the tiger fall and not get up for a long time, everyone excitedly shouted, "We won!"
"The tiger is dead!"
"That's great!"