Chapter 152: The Trials of Xyl (Part-17)

Lin Fang chuckled under his breath. “Can’t argue with that. The last batch was the best one I have killed. With those five undead Commandeith thos five undead Commander Tier Elephants, it becomes easier.”

He sat cross-legged and tapped on his smartwatch again, the holographic display lighting up faintly in front of his tired face. The glowing map of the trial zones appeared — rough sector outlines, color-coded for safe zones, danger zones, and safe houses.

There was no GPS, blips, or positioning. Just terrain data and labels like an offline map.

He zoomed in and compared the shapes of mountains and rivers around him. After a few seconds, he nodded to himself. “Based on the terrain, I should be in Sector 47.”

He pinched the hologram, rotating it slowly. “According to Liu’er’s map, Sector 19 is southeast, and Sector 35’s northwest…”

His finger traced the glowing paths on the display. “To reach the nearest danger zone, Sector 77… I’d have to pass through 53, 86, 12, 60, 29, 67 — that’s a safe zone where I should return to submit the materials after the trial is over— then 59, 22, and finally 77.”

He leaned back against the tree, sighing. “That’s a lot of walking. Damn, it’s far.”

The cool wind brushed through the forest canopy above. Fireflies drifted lazily through the air, blinking in and out of sight.

Lin Fang rubbed his chin. “Maybe I should just fly over the forests and cut through… faster that way.” He looked up at the dark sky through the leaves. “But the air’s too open, filled with the possibilities of drones and hunters with flying mounts. I’ll unnecessarily stand out. I can only stand out during the final day, not before. That’s the only way where hunters wouldn’t think of targeting me…”

He sighed again and muttered under his breath, “And after using Xuan Hei’s skill earlier, I already died once. I’m not risking that again. Not even by mistake.”

Alpha’s voice hummed again in his head, patient as ever. “Just use a disguise.”

Lin Fang blinked. “Disguise?”

“Yeah, you don’t have a drone on you at the moment. You can just wear a disguise. The best they will think that you are one of the veteran hunters…”

Lin Fang’s eyes lit up in realization, “That’s actually great. You are the best…”

“You’re welcome,” Alpha said dryly.

Lin Fang chuckled quietly. “Alright. Tomorrow, I’ll test that combo and start heading south.”

He leaned his head back against the tree again, the exhaustion finally catching up to him. He slowly slipped into dreams.

*

Two days later;

Sector 59;

In the rainforest of Sector 59, a teenage girl stumbled onto a wooden log with her breath ragged and her clothes torn from cuts of daggers. Blood ran down her arm where the blade had grazed her.

“Damn these pests…” she hissed, vaulting over a fallen log. “They just won’t stop.”

The sound of pursuit came from behind in the form of precise footsteps with minimal sounds.

There were around 7 pursuers, all wearing assassin outfits with their faces covered by shinigami masks based on Nippon Island culture, and based on their body structure, they all seemed to be adult women. These assassins, carrying swords on their backs but throwing kunai and shurikens, a type of specialized throwing weapons of Nippon Island, at the girl.

The teenager managed to evade them by a hair’s breadth, but her heart hammered as she could feel she was getting slow and her legs becoming heavier. “I can’t keep this up…”

She gritted her teeth, glancing down at her wrist. A golden bracelet, etched with strange markings, glimmered faintly in the dark. In the center sat a dark gem, pulsing faintly — almost like it was breathing.

Her fingers hovered over it. “Should I use it?” she whispered to herself, stumbling again. “But Mother said never to use it unless I was in grave threat…”

Suddenly, a kunai flew past her cheek, slicing a strand of hair. She gasped, widening her eyes

Behind her, the lead assassin was finally drawing the sword from her back and pouring mana into it, sprinting closer.

“Shit—”

No more hesitation.

She pressed her index finger against the black gem, pushing what little mana she had left into it.

The gem flared, swallowing her in a pulse of energy. For a heartbeat, her body locked up in the spot, and then a burst of black-and-gold light emitted from her.

One of the assassins cursed aloud. “Damn it, she’s using the artifact! Stop her.”

Just then, Dark chains shot outward from nowhere like a storm of serpents. They wrapped around the assassins, one after another, snapping tight around arms and torsos.

Five of the seven pursuers froze where they stood with their eyes wide and bodies paralyzed.

The sixth and the seventh assassin barely managed to dodge. One of them looked around and shouted. “Who is it? Show yourself.”

And then…

A figure dropped silently from above.

He landed lightly on the forest floor with a black cloak fluttering around him. He wore a typical black outfit, a black shirt, and black pants, but wore a wolf mask that covered his face.

The girl, who still had her consciousness left, stopped channeling her bracelet, panting hard as the energy faded from around her. She looked up in confusion and wariness.

Lin Fang didn’t speak. He just turned his head slowly, scanning the surroundings. “You missed two, Alpha.” He complained inwardly.

Alpha’s voice spoke inside his mind, steady and precise. “it’s alright. Your mission isn’t to capture them anyway.”

Lin Fang’s gaze sharpened behind the mask, but as he stared ahead at the holographic screen, it showed…

Emergency Quest: Save the Damsel in Distress.

Reward: Skill point +1

“I guess you are right…” Lin Fang dismissed the screen and immediately raised his hand, not intending to waste the ten seconds of time he had to suppress the targets.

Without any speech, he poured the rest of his mana into the astral chains. Electric current surged through the chains before striking all of them at the same time.

For three seconds, the five assassins screamed aloud, already dropped to their knees. “he is out of mana.” The remaining two glanced at each other before deciding to charge forward to take down the mysterious stranger.

However, just a step forward, they sensed Lin Fang’s mana restored to full again. As they paused involuntarily, Lin Fang poured another half of his reserves into the chains, and Alpha converted it into Lightning energy. The electric current struck the trapped assassins, this time, giving them first and second-degree burns, leaving them on the ground, spasming.

Ten seconds are up, and the astral chains then freed their targets. Lin Fang didn’t end there and instead raised his hand again, staring at the remaining two.

“Rise of the Undead.”

Five Commander Tier undead Stonehide Elephants materialized from thin air. Their towering figures and sudden summons startled the two assassins. They took a step back, fully prepared to attack.

Lin Fang then finally spoke to them, through his mask. “A trial is going on here, and I don’t allow any shenanigans to disturb my hunt. Take your friends and leave when you get the chance.”

The two assassins trembled, exchanging glances with each other. The teenage girl almost dropped her jaw, widening her eyes as she stared at this mysterious savior.

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