"I've taken the sharp claws from this wild boar king; I'll leave the rest for you!"
Ye Ningze's storage bag had limited space, so he intended to give some materials to the Wind Wolf team members.
He expected the Wind Wolf team members to be delighted and rush to divide the materials.
However, to Ye Ningze's surprise, no one from the Wind Wolf team dared to move.
Moreover, their attitude was extremely respectful.
"Lord Ye Ningze!" Feng Lang cupped his fists and bowed to Ye Ningze.
"Lord Ye!"
The other team members followed Feng Lang's example, cupping their fists and bowing to Ye Ningze with utmost respect.
Ye Ningze waved his hand, saying carelessly, "Captain Feng Lang, there's no need to be so formal. Let's still call each other brothers!"
He paused for a moment, then added a reminder.
"However, I hope you can all keep my being a peak elite martial artist a secret!"
Upon hearing this, Feng Lang's tense expression finally relaxed, and he chuckled, "If that's the case, then I'll boldly call you Brother Ye!"
"Rest assured, Brother Ye, I will definitely keep your secret and not reveal your true cultivation level!" Feng Lang lowered his cupped hands and promised Ye Ningze.
Feng Lang could vaguely guess the reason Ye Ningze wanted to hide his cultivation.
It might be due to his wariness of the major families in Qingcheng Base.
If the base's major families learned of Ye Ningze's true cultivation level, they might try to recruit him.
But it was also possible they would become jealous.
To protect their own interests, they might resort to underhanded tactics.
They might even dispatch a Grandmaster to kill Ye Ningze.
Although this possibility was slim, it was worth guarding against if there was even a sliver of a chance.
Just then, a scream echoed from the distance.
"Is that Sun Wu?"
Feng Lang frowned.
Sun Wu was the team member who had used his hidden talent to flee earlier.
It seemed Sun Wu had encountered other ferocious beasts after escaping.
Feng Lang began to ponder, showing a desire to rescue him.
After all, they were brothers in the same team.
But Ye Ningze raised a hand, stopping him. "Captain Feng, let's not save this person. You might not leak my cultivation, but he might not be so trustworthy."
Feng Lang's expression froze, and he looked at the other team members.
Out of their past camaraderie, they had managed to refrain from kicking him while he was down.
Now, asking them to rescue him was simply wishful thinking.
"What's the difference between someone who flees when in danger and a traitor?" someone muttered softly.
Although the voice was low, the fact that it was spoken at this moment without anyone refuting it indicated it represented everyone's sentiment.
Seeing this, Feng Lang had no choice but to abandon the rescue plan.
The screams from the distance quickly faded, signifying Sun Wu's demise.
"Feng Lang, let's continue!" Ye Ningze urged Feng Lang. "Let's clear out the ferocious beasts as soon as possible and leave Sunset Forest!"
Feng Lang nodded and immediately said, "Alright, let's set off now!"
At this time, Feng Lang and his team members were in high spirits, and they moved with great vigor.
After all, having a peak elite martial artist like Ye Ningze in their team was a strong guarantee for their lives.
As long as they didn't encounter Grandmaster-level ferocious beasts or a beast tide, they could practically walk sideways through Sunset Forest!
As they were traveling, Feng Lang, who had been leading the team, now walked half a step behind Ye Ningze.
Ye Ningze had subtly become the team's leader.
It couldn't be helped; although Feng Lang was a veteran elite martial artist and the captain of the Wind Wolf team, he was still far behind Ye Ningze.
And so it went.
After Ye Ningze led them for a while, they discovered Sun Wu's dead body by the roadside.
Judging by the impact marks on his body, he had likely been killed by a wild boar.
Feng Lang and the others were too lazy to bother with such a treacherous individual.
After a brief observation at the scene, they proceeded towards another location.
As they ventured deeper, they indeed encountered many ferocious beasts. Most of these wild boars were at the level of ordinary martial artists.
When they encountered elite martial artist-level ferocious beasts or higher-level wild boars that the team couldn't handle, Ye Ningze decisively intervened to resolve the situation.
Only when encountering isolated, lower-level ferocious beasts would Ye Ningze allow the Wind Wolf team to gain some practice.
The journey of eliminating ferocious beasts and collecting materials went relatively smoothly for Ye Ningze's team.
"Haha, we're really grateful to Lord Ye this time; we don't have to worry about anything!"
"Yes, we can make a fortune just by following along and picking up materials!"
"It's said that Lord Ye not only has high cultivation talent but also powerful combat techniques!"
"..."
The members of the Wind Wolf team chatted amongst themselves, their words filled with respect for Ye Ningze.
If they continued like this, their Wind Wolf team would undoubtedly be the first to exit Sunset Forest.
By then, in addition to the materials they collected from the ferocious beasts, the Sun family and the Yang family would also reward them.
Before entering Sunset Forest, all the teams had agreed beforehand.
The first team to break out of Sunset Forest would receive rewards from the two major families.
Initially, these rewards were very likely to be taken by Yang Chenfeng's team.
After all, Yang Chenfeng was the son of the Yang family patriarch. Not only was he an elite martial artist himself, but his status alone meant he would surely be accompanied by many elite martial artists from the Yang family.
"They say Yang Chenfeng is petty. If he finds out later that the Wind Wolf team snatched his glory, I wonder if he'll be so angry he dies?"
Some dissatisfied members of the Wind Wolf team began to fantasize about this.
It wasn't just him; most of the dozen or so Wind Wolf team members were thinking along the same lines.
After all, their journey had been both swift and smooth, and they hadn't paid much attention to the progress of other teams.
As long as they maintained this pace, their chances of taking the lead were quite high.
"I wonder what rewards the two major families will offer?"
"It's hard to say normally, but this time it's to open up trade routes for Qingcheng Base, so the two major families will definitely not be stingy!"
The members of the Wind Wolf team felt confident, believing the first place was within their grasp, and began to speculate about the rewards.
However, as they were speculating, a scene that suddenly appeared before them caused their expressions to change drastically.
On a mountain ahead, dozens of ferocious beasts were densely clustered!
These dozens of ferocious beasts were all wild boars, with cultivation levels around that of intermediate martial artists, and many possessed the strength of high-level martial artists.
And the leader, rarely seen, exuded the power of a peak elite martial artist.
Moreover, its robust bones clearly indicated it was more than a full circle larger than the mutated wild boar king they had encountered earlier.
"This is bad, it actually has intermediate offensive talent!" Feng Lang exclaimed in shock, his voice trembling.
Only with intermediate offensive talent could this boar leader's exoskeleton be so massive!