"Hmph...!"

"Don't believe me, right? Fine then! Camping it is, but we're heading to the Forest of Confusion!"

The sly and vengeful smile on Yue Yun's face suddenly disappeared, revealing a stern and impartial expression for the first time.

"The terrain there is marshy, the habitat of Nine Hearts level spirit beasts! If we don't hunt down another Nine Hearts level spirit beast, no one should expect to come back!"

Facing Nine Hearts level spirit beasts, even warriors of the same level might feel fear.

But Juxi, Tianxin, and the others were a whole level below in strength.

Not to mention the two who had just reached the Junior Stone level, outsiders might just laugh at them for going to serve lunch to Nine Hearts level spirit beasts.

"Are you all fools? Allowing you to hunt beasts above your level is to foster teamwork and cooperation within your team, so that when you encounter enemies far more powerful than you in the future and seek to trap you, you can at least retreat unharmed!"

What the teacher said made sense, Juxi thought. If one day he met Wu Yan, perhaps the difference in levels could be resolved by a joint attack.

"True..."

Long Ling emerged from the Dragon Ball, floating comfortably cross-legged among the tree branches, full of confidence.

"The limit of strengthening the soul of a spirit stone enhancer is only fifty percent, but with a joint attack, the combat spirit technique can unleash up to thirty times one's original combat power when matched!"

"Thirty times? Only boundary level experts could possess such formidable spirit power, right?"

Juxi quickly lowered his voice and said, "Besides, how could one possibly achieve combat power thirty times beyond their own?"

"Pah, kid, shut up, I'm outta here. Linger too long and that guy called Yue Yun might notice me!"

Long Ling, mischievously, pinched Juxi's face before disappearing without a trace.

The Forest of Confusion was the hunting ground on which the students of Fengling Court relied for survival.

Having been to the Forest of Confusion in the West Province, Jiàn Tianxin and the others were very familiar with the place, but Yue Yun didn't seem ready to embark immediately: "Xiang'er! Where did that little girl go? Didn't see her at dinner last night."

Dinner was served in the cafeteria of Fengling Court.

The spacious dining hall resembled a square, with only a few students dining, almost two students at a large table, while Yue Yun sat with Juxi and five other children at another large table.

"Teacher, the fried chicken nuggets are delicious, what kind of chicken is it?"

Surprised to find that the chicken nuggets were different from regular chicken tenders, Juxi also noticed the uniqueness of the meat after a bite.

Yue Yun proudly boasted, "Our academy is well-funded, and to ensure the quality of life for our students, we hunt only top-grade Ink Feather chickens!"

Ink Feather chickens, an S-class ingredient!

The meat had great absorbability and could store spiritual power, making it ideal for Junior Stone level warriors.

"What's so surprising? This is a welcome party for newcomers."

Boom! A golden heavy armor dropped onto the last chair at the dining table, the golden lightning-like head giving Juxi and the others a sense of superiority.

The girl sealed inside the helmet didn’t rush to pay attention to the people around her but first shook her golden helmet and greeted, "Oh... so Ah Jian's going to the Forest of Confusion in the West Province to cultivate Qi tomorrow. Oh! What's good to cultivate there with just a few Ink Stone level spirit beasts?"

"Hey, don't call me Ah Jian, such a lame name, okay?"

Jiàn Tianxin was very displeased with this kind of address, but that... well, the armor spoke.

"The term ‘Golden Retriever mutt’ is actually a form of praise, so be content."

"You…!"

Jiantianxin displayed a stance ready for a fight, prepared to engage in a life-or-death battle with her.

"Content?" Jiantianxin had never been insulted like this in front of newcomers before, so he also provocatively challenged her.

"My punch is not that easy!!"

"Hah—!"

With that, Jiantianxin leaped from the dining table and instantly moved behind the golden armor, looking pleased.

"See that? My speed is…"

Jiantianxin’s speed as a senior student was so fast that he almost instantly turned into a golden arc, seemingly ready for a face-to-face battle with the girl inside the golden armor.

But...

"Too slow."

Although the girl was clad in heavy golden armor, her reaction was swift.

In the split second when the huge arm swung, Jiantianxin, who hadn't finished speaking, was sent flying backwards out of the dining hall!

"Tsk, useless."

"Senior!!"

Juxi and Yena almost simultaneously exclaimed, but Jiantianxin, who was about to struggle to his feet after falling, was stopped in his tracks by the senior with a smile on his face.

"Heh, the senior is indeed heavy-handed. It's my fault for misjudging... Ouch, that hurts!"

Surprisingly, despite being injured, he had no intention of picking a fight with the other party; instead, he mocked himself.

"Oh dear, underestimated, underestimated. I didn’t expect to still be so strong even in the armor!"

Apart from the two puzzled newcomers Juxi and Yena, Ren, who was sitting at the table, seemed unperturbed.

And as for the teacher Yeyun, he just raised his hands as if nothing had happened, criticizing the girl: "Superficial! Just a few rounds on the outskirts of the bewildering forest, and you think you're a hero?"

It seemed that Yeyun and the girl didn't get along well.

"We're going to the central zone!"

"Huh?"

Jiantianxin jumped up excitedly from the table.

However, this excitement couldn’t hide the grim atmosphere around Chiyori, who seemed on the brink of death.

"Ah... Going to that deserted and dark place again? In the central region this time?"

"Uh, can I ask something?"

Juxi cautiously raised her right hand to ask.

"Hmm?"

The girl took off the heavy helmet on her head, visibly letting out a sigh of relief.

Her eyes were as clear as the deep blue sea, and her lips seemed so inexperienced.

Especially her delicate skin gave Juxi a sense of astonishment!

"What do you want to ask? Hurry up!"

At this point, he seemed noticeably less confident compared to before.

"I...I..."

Moreover, this girl appeared much older than Juxi on the surface, probably even older than Jiantianxin?

Juxi felt a bit uneasy internally, and his words were stammering.

This made her visibly impatient: "Hey, are you still a man with your hesitations and ramblings?"

She was still merciless with newcomers, and Juxi could feel that she might be the strongest person in the academy.

"...No!" Juxi's tone was slightly shaky.

Even Long Ling secretly looked down on him in his heart.

"Never mind, let me explain."

Ye Yun couldn't help but laugh and cry. In the end, she took matters into her own hands and gave Juxi and the others who had just arrived here a private explanation.

The Bewildering Forest is divided into the Outer Two Circles and the Inner Three Circles, with the Bewildering Forest belonging at the intersection of the Inner Three Circles and the Outer Two Circles.

The inner circle spirit beasts have intelligence as sophisticated as humans, and spirit beasts above the Reverse Rank level possess some degree of spirituality at least.

The Initial Stone Rank is considered the beginning of the basic level, so the innate king-level talent that can be greatly enhanced starts from the late stages of the Initial Stone Rank, making the strength of children almost on par with the Reverse Rank level.

"Got it, it's just the Bewildering Forest. Are we afraid of failing even with a six-on-one advantage?"

Jian Tianxin's arrogance was well known in the Wind Pavilion. Even if spirit beasts two levels higher than himself were far superior in strength, in his eyes, without intelligence, no matter how strong they were, they were still rubbish!

His arrogance would always come to an end, followed by the endless taunting from the unnamed senior sister.

"Hmph, six-on-one? You guys won't even need to make a move. I can handle it myself."

Ye Yun leaned back with her legs crossed, supporting her head with her right hand as she turned to the other side and mused, "Heh heh... Really? Once we reach the Bewildering Wetlands, you will realize how wrong you are!"

Heh heh, is it really that terrifying?

Juxi couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy, as the two very arrogant individuals were calculating something.

The girl let out a contemptuous hum, slammed her hand on the table, and a golden long spear appeared on the dining table, revealing its full appearance to Ye Yun.

Although the dazzling golden spear was extremely luxurious, the pale blue spirit stone embedded in it greatly moved Ye Yun. "Sacred... Sacred Spirit Stone?"

"What spirit stone? It's not even worth as much as a brick!"

In Juxi's mind, Ye Yun's astonishment was simply boring to the core. Who would care about spirit stones, the kind of trash that was littered everywhere... Oh!

"You know nothing!"

Only the useless ancestor, Long Ling, would scold him like that, "Spirit stones are colorless and useless trash, but that's a crystal's Sacred Spirit Stone. In every ten thousand tons of spirit stones, less than a gram can be refined into a Sacred Spirit Stone, and the size of the spirit stone on that spear is probably several kilograms, right?"

In short, what she meant was that the blue Sacred Spirit Stone increases defense by fifty percent, right?

"Hmph, probably even more."

This gave Juxi a chance to seize Long Ling's handle and make a big deal out of it.

He frowned and mocked Long Ling earnestly, "Hmph, who said that the stone's amplification is only around fifty percent? Wasn't it you who told me that?"

"Of course, around fifty percent, but the effect of that spirit stone is extraordinary!"

Long Ling cryptically said, "That is a defensive Sacred Spirit Stone that provides a group defense boost.

"Ah? Does that mean as long as we keep attacking, we can achieve half of the defense even if we get hit?"

Juxi's head was finally spinning, and Long Ling nodded with some satisfaction, "Spirit beasts are most afraid of group battles. As creatures of the wild, they are no match for the human beings, the spirits of all things. In this battle, you already have the upper hand."

"Oh, it seems like this mission will be easy."

After hearing Long Ling's words, Juxi, who had been amazed just a moment ago, finally let go of the stone weighing on his heart.

"That's not necessarily true!"

Ye Yun touched his chin seriously and said, "The Nine Soul King Snake that resides there can simultaneously trap nine enemies!"

Oh no, Juxi's back suddenly felt cold, and everyone thought, they fell for this old fox's trick.

(Northern Region, Southern Border, Iron Ridge Pass)

At this moment, Juxi's mother, Qiu Xue, was already at her wits' end. The moment the reconnaissance team returned, she hurried forward to inquire, "How did it go? Have you found out the truth?"

"Reporting to General! A large number of heavily armored soldiers were found thirty miles west of Tieling Pass. According to Lord Zuo's estimation, there are around thirteen thousand of them!"