Regardless of how bad their initial impression of Wang Teng was, it had improved significantly now.
Even if he possessed not weak talent, compared to other trialists, Wang Teng seemed to know no fear.
Every time he appeared on the livestream, he was either fighting demonic beasts or on his way to find them.
Furthermore, the combat style of a body refiner, with every blow landing squarely, possessed a violent aesthetic that sent adrenaline soaring.
Even the trialists within the [Demon Spirit Realm] held Wang Teng in high regard.
In the process of Wang Teng seeking out demonic beasts to fight, he had indirectly saved many trialists.
The rules of the immortal cultivation world were subtly influencing them: the strong would earn respect.
The duo Chu Yang worried about the most, Luo Xiaowei and Qin Xiaoxiao, had also grown considerably after a day and night of trials.
Luo Xiaowei's injuries had not fully recovered. He could only follow behind Qin Xiaoxiao, directing her, or occasionally controlling his flying sword to help deal damage.
"Master Qin! Aim for its center!"
"Oh no, what are you doing? Can't you dodge?"
"Get down!"
Holding her sniper rifle, which had turned into an ice pop, Qin Xiaoxiao hastily ducked to the ground.
Following that, with a "whoosh!"
A flying sword zipped past above her head, precisely piercing the skull of a thorn boar.
With a mournful cry, scalding blood splattered onto Qin Xiaoxiao's face.
Before she could even react, Luo Xiaowei's roar echoed, "Get up and deliver the final blow!"
Qin Xiaoxiao suddenly sprang up, her hands gripping the ice pop tightly, and gnashing her teeth, she fiercely smashed it towards the struggling wild boar before her!
Bang!
This strike shattered the sniper rifle in her hand, but as the cold energy invaded the thorn boar's body, the Rank 2 demonic beast instantly collapsed and died.
Luo Xiaowei breathed a sigh of relief, leaning tiredly against a tree trunk.
"That was truly difficult..."
Qin Xiaoxiao also panted, skillfully extracting a Rank 2 demon core from the demonic beast before her, and then retrieved Luo Xiaowei's flying sword.
She then approached Luo Xiaowei, lowering her head and saying guiltily, "I'm sorry, I was too nervous."
Luo Xiaowei waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "Ah, what's the big deal? You're already stronger than most of the trialists here, aren't you? Didn't we see someone pee their pants from fear of a demonic beast yesterday?"
These words didn't offer much comfort, and Qin Xiaoxiao's spirits remained low.
"Your injury..."
"It's fine, as long as we don't encounter a beast like that Earth Bear, we can pretty much slaughter them!"
Qin Xiaoxiao, however, looked up and said seriously, "We're not fighting today, let's rest first!"
"What? Not fighting? How can that be? If my sword cultivation ancestor doesn't get into the top ten, wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
But Qin Xiaoxiao stubbornly said, "Then I'll go alone, you stay here and rest!"
Luo Xiaowei was startled, "Holy cow! Miss Qin, who taught you that?"
Qin Xiaoxiao confiscated Luo Xiaowei's Azure Water Flying Sword, looking a little guilty yet defiant. "It's none of your business! Your injuries are too severe, and it's seriously affecting my efficiency in obtaining demon cores. So, we're not fighting today. We'll rest up and then head deeper into the forest together to find demonic beasts!"
"No, I'm not dying..."
"Listen to me this time, we'll play defensively and then strike. We'll definitely make it into the top ten!"
"..."
Luo Xiaowei could only agree helplessly. Although they had only teamed up for less than two days, they had already formed a bond of life and death.
If he were to let Qin Xiaoxiao go into the forest alone, Luo Xiaowei would certainly not be at ease.
Today, due to his unhealed injuries, fighting that Earth Bear had caused significant damage to his internal organs and bones. Therefore, today, he had mostly been directing from the rear, letting Qin Xiaoxiao fight on her own.
However, this girl's combat style was somewhat difficult to describe.
She currently only knew how to smash with an ice pop, without any strategy, and wouldn't dodge the demonic beasts' attacks.
Her damage output wasn't low, but she consistently failed to land effective hits.
If she encountered even a slightly stronger demonic beast inside, her chances would be slim.
"Alright, we'll exert ourselves tomorrow. Today, we'll just slack off..."
...
After a day and night of trials.
All the trialists who had entered the [Demon Spirit Realm] had profoundly realized the cruelty of this world.
It was a true law of the jungle: win and get demon cores, lose and become food.
Here, apart from their fellow trialists, there was no one else to rely on.
Indeed, when facing danger, even the seemingly strongest friendships could fracture, with instances of selling out teammates to survive not being uncommon.
Fortunately, with the sweep of the genius cultivators in the Pioneer group, other trialists also found the courage to attack the demonic beasts. The low-level demonic beasts on the periphery were either killed or had fled into the depths of the forest.
There were very few demonic beasts remaining in the outer areas, so to efficiently obtain demon cores, one had to venture into the deeper parts of the forest.
The outer areas were relatively safer. One could even choose to stay put and wait for the seven days to end if they didn't want to compete.
However, there were still many who aspired to secure a ranking, and there were also those who were reckless.
Zhang Xiaohu, armed with a dilapidated axe, stumbled his way into the forest.
He fought desperately but only managed to obtain five Rank 1 demon cores.
He didn't know if this quantity would be enough to secure a spot in the top five hundred, but he knew that if he failed, all his efforts would be in vain.
His family, and his father who had lost all hope in life, would remain trapped in eternal darkness!
However, the demonic beasts in the depths of the forest were simply too dangerous.
He encountered a Rank 2 Purple Lightning Mouse.
Upon seeing this demonic beast, Zhang Xiaohu charged forward recklessly. He thought that, just like the Rank 1 demonic beasts he had dealt with before, as long as he fought with all his might, he would surely succeed.
But the ferocious Purple Lightning Mouse let out a snarling roar, and a beam of purple lightning struck his body head-on.
In that moment, he only saw darkness. Every cell in his body felt numb, devoid of any sensation.
He thought he was probably going to die.
Just as his consciousness was about to fade, a pure life force surged into his body, and faint, chaotic voices reached him.
"It's okay, don't worry, you won't die!"
"Collect that Purple Lightning Mouse's demon core. There are many demonic beasts here, go hide over there!"
"..."
Zhang Xiaohu heard no more, as his consciousness sank into darkness.