Night had fallen, and the moon peeked out from behind the clouds, casting its gentle light upon the tranquil forest.

...Peaceful my foot! Cheng Huaijin sat on the tree, quietly watching the passing contestants shouting and yelling, feeling that this world was a makeshift operation.

Wasn't everyone who came supposed to be an elite? What were those guys who screamed in terror after being scared by the old lady mushroom? They didn't even recognize their pets. It's so embarrassing.

Speaking of which, Cheng Huaijin really admired Yunfei. This guy had kept watch for the first half of the night, and even after hearing such a loud noise in the second half, he didn't wake up. His sleep quality was really good.

Midnight has passed, and the first day's contestant progress rankings are now displayed on various platform sections.

[First place, Blazing Inferno, progress 20%]

[Second place, Leah, progress 18%]

[Third place, Wang Mingyang, progress 17%]

[Fourth place, Vigilance, progress 16.8%]

...

[Rank 498, Sui Xin, progress 8.1%]

[Rank 499, Yunfei, progress 8%]

[Rank 500, Momo, progress 7.9%]

...

The contestant progress leaderboard will be updated in real time starting on the second day.

Cheng Huaijin was completely unaware of this, but she and Yunfei were really unlucky. They found several checkpoints that day, and two of them only had one supply pack and one checkpoint left.

The resources and opportunities to check in at each checkpoint are one-time only, and the number is uncertain. Because Flying Wolf was faster than Thunder Elf both times, Cheng Huaijin was too embarrassed to ask for more check-in opportunities. This resulted in him being far behind Yunfei in progress, even though he was traveling with Yunfei.

Cheng Huaijin is currently only 6.3% complete. This won't do; Cheng Huaijin still remembers the trade Coach Guan mentioned before.

This opportunity to participate in the Misty Cup was obtained through the Middle School Beast Taming League. If I cannot achieve a good ranking to prove my worth, I fear the resources the school will allocate to me will decrease.

As Zhao Yu mentioned before, dragon eggs need dragon blood to hatch, and dragon blood is very likely to be found in the Misty Forest.

In short, the primary task in the Misty Forest is to find dragon blood, and the secondary task is to achieve a good ranking. Ideally, you should obtain both to make the trip worthwhile.

Cheng Huaijin spent the whole day with Yunfei getting familiar with the environment of the Misty Forest. He decided to walk the rest of the way on his own, as it would be inconvenient to have someone with him.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, as dawn was breaking and Cheng Huaijin and Yunfei went to the river to wash their faces, something happened.

First, the ground trembled slightly, and then a large number of birds were startled and flew away from the nearby forest, their flight so loud that it seemed as if the sky had darkened in an instant.

Yunfei frowned and looked over. He tried to communicate with the birds by whistling, but the flock was in a panic and no one paid any attention to him.

Cheng Huaijin twitched his fingers, sensing the chaotic elements around him: "Can you feel the elemental upheaval?"

Yunfei shook his head: "The animals are very panicked."

Cheng Huaijin's eyes sharpened: "I remember there's a kind of pet in the Misty Forest called the Four-Horned Bull. It likes to live in groups and goes berserk during its mating season."

Yunfei frowned: "It's not time yet."

Cheng Huaijin grabbed him and ran: "I don't know if it's time or not, the herd of cattle is almost here, let's go!!"

Yunfei turned his head and saw the flying dust as well.

The rampaging herd of cattle was truly terrifying. They charged wildly, their massive horns acting like bulldozers, flattening everything in their path. Meanwhile, due to the elemental upheaval, some of the pets began to lose control. Seeing that the Flying Wolf was somewhat weakened, Cheng Huaijin quickly pushed Yunfei onto its back: "While the Flying Wolf can still hold on, let's go! See you at the finish line!" With that, she summoned the Little Ironclad Tiger, sat on its back, and ran in another direction.

Yunfei waved to her and immediately rode away on the Flying Wolf.

Cheng Huaijin sat on the back of the little armored tiger. The little armored tiger was special; it was unaffected by the elements of the riot and everything was normal.

Lei Jingling, on the other hand, was currently nestled in Cheng Huaijin's arms with her eyes half-closed, looking like she was about to fall asleep.

Seeing that they had left the cattle's area and were safe, Cheng Huaijin said to Little Ironclad Tiger, "Let's go around to the back of the cattle and see if there are any treasures we can find."

Cheng Huaijin now suspects that the elemental riots are related to dragon blood.

Otherwise, why would there be a riot? It's still a clue, so there's no harm in going to check it out.

The little armored tiger sniffed the cattle, circled around to the back of the herd, and ran alongside them.

As Cheng Huaijin expected, there were indeed some rare herbs and materials.

“That one, that one, looks like the Thunderheart Grass mentioned in the book. Let’s pick it and give it to the Thunder Spirit.” Cheng Huaijin said, pointing to a purple plant not far ahead.

The little armored tiger let out a soft "Awooo~" and ran over quickly.

"Crunch—" The ground, trampled and messed up by the cattle, shifted slightly.

A large hole appeared in the ground, and Little Iron Tiger and Cheng Huaijin fell into it together.

"Thunder Spirit!" Cheng Huaijin instantly retracted the little armored tiger and shouted sharply.

The Thunder Sprite awoke with a start, and was about to take off when it was suppressed by an inexplicable force: "Electric!"

Cheng Huaijin was shocked; the Jolteon couldn't fly! She put the Jolteon into her wrist tag, tensed her muscles, and tried her best to land in the correct posture to minimize damage.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but in the darkness, Cheng Huaijin saw a faint light coming from below. She relaxed all her muscles, first landing on the balls of her feet, then bending her knees, crouching, and finally rolling forward in a ball to mitigate the enormous impact of the fall.

Fortunately, thanks to previous special training and the boost from his pet's power, Cheng Huaijin's physical condition had basically reached the threshold of a level five beast tamer; otherwise, falling from such a height would have certainly killed him.

Cheng Huaijin looked up but couldn't see the sky at all, and had no idea what the cave was made of. Cheng Huaijin felt like he was falling vertically, but perhaps it was just his imagination?

There's no point in thinking about it anymore; the priority now is to get out of this strange place.

The elemental energies here are strange; they stick together, making Cheng Huaijin feel extremely uncomfortable, with a sticky, suffocating sensation.

Thunder Spirit is out of the question, as it might be restrictive. Cheng Huaijin wanted to summon the little Ironclad Tiger. There was a passageway ahead, but he didn't know where it led, and it didn't look very safe. It would be more reassuring to have a pet with him.

However, Cheng Huaijin tried several times but was unable to summon the little armored tiger.

Undeterred, she tried to summon the Thunder Spirit again, but to no avail.

Finally, on a whim, she summoned the dragon egg.

Then an egg the size of her face appeared in her hand.

Cheng Huaijin tapped the dragon egg, feeling that it was quite sturdy; it could be used as a brick in case of danger. "That's good," he thought, "I can just throw it and summon it back, saving me the trouble of retrieving it."

After a moment's thought, Cheng Huaijin, trying to find a bit of humor in his predicament, resigned himself to his fate and pulled a dagger from his boot. He had found it in a supply pack and had hidden it in his boot just in case; he hadn't expected to use it so soon.

From now on, I can only rely on myself and a "iron" egg!