“Killing high-scoring monsters will randomly drop magical treasures, which will belong to the new disciples who are going to the trial,” An Zhengzheng said. “This is a hidden condition and is not included in the scoring rules.”

"Found it, is it all ours?"

Song Juan was somewhat pleased, as her family wasn't a major cultivator's household and had very limited resources.

“In principle, yes.” An Zhengzheng nodded.

"Let's go here first." This is where the lowest-level demonic beasts gather, An Zhengzheng said, "It'll be a good opportunity to see everyone's strength."

The others naturally agreed, and since they were all in the same group, Zhou Xu had no choice but to go along.

After entering the forest, we hadn't walked far when we saw dark green figures appearing in front of us.

"Ah!" An Yirou exclaimed in fright, thinking she had encountered a snake.

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was just vines, and I immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

She was terrified; thankfully, it wasn't a snake.

"Can we kill them?" An Zhengzheng asked the crowd with a serious expression.

“We can use talismans.” An Yirou took out talismans from her bosom and scattered them outwards. The vines that came into contact with the talismans froze.

She pulled out a paper fan painted with crabapple blossoms and used it as a sword to cut the vines.

With this cut, the vines all fell off.

Song Juan and Su Ying, who were both talisman cultivators, also took out paper fans and hairpins in the same way.

An Zhengzheng and Zhou Xu of the Ruthless Path naturally did not use talismans but directly swung their swords.

These few vines were a trivial matter for the two of them.

Dan Xiuyu Er was somewhat at a loss. She ate a few pills, then pulled a hairpin from her hair and tried to cut the vines.

But the results weren't very good, which isn't her strong suit.

“Everyone, gather around and place Yu Er in the middle,” An Zhengzheng decided immediately.

The group acted quickly, escorting Yu'er through the first obstacle by circling around her.

Yu Er glanced at An Zhengzheng, somewhat flattered, and was about to express her gratitude, but the attacks from the vines became increasingly dense, and she didn't have a chance to speak for a moment.

After escaping the vines, everyone put away their weapons.

"I was entangled with those vines for a full fifteen minutes, it was really exhausting..." Song Juan's forehead was covered in sweat.

An Zhengzheng subconsciously looked around at everyone. Apart from herself and Zhou Xu, everyone else had more or less marks on their bodies from being whipped by vines.

An Yirou's clothes were torn in several places.

"Thank you all..." Yu Er took out several bottles of pills from her bosom and gave one to each person. "These are Qi-Boosting and Pain-Relieving Pills. They can replenish your strength and relieve pain, but to cure the problem, you still need to find a medicine cultivator."

"Oh, this...this is a bit embarrassing..."

"this……"

Song Juan and Su Ying were both a little embarrassed to accept the money.

"Yes, Yu'er, these aren't too difficult for us." Although An Yirou also had some injuries, she remained optimistic.

Yu Er said, "No, you all helped out just now. I only got here because of you."

After some hesitation, the group eventually gave in to Yu'er and accepted the gifts one by one.

When she got to An Zhengzheng, she said, "I'm not injured, so I don't need it yet. Let's not waste it."

Zhou Xu nodded: "Me too."

Yu'er took it back somewhat disappointedly.

Everyone walked together towards the location of the second checkpoint.

"Strange, wasn't it said that magical treasures would drop? Why didn't I get any?" Song Juan wondered.

An Zhengzheng explained, "It only fell after the monster was killed. We only cut the vines, not the vines themselves, which means the monster only lost its limbs and is not dead yet."

Song Juan felt it was a pity.

The second challenge is an attack by wild berries.

Countless wild fruits rained down on them, and they dodged left and right.

"Bang—" A huge wild apple crashed to the ground, creating a massive crater.

"Everyone be careful! The speed and force of these throws are increasing. Getting hit will definitely cause injury!"

While wielding her sword, An Zhengzheng did not forget to give instructions to everyone.

Zhou Xu subconsciously took out a magical artifact—a huge cloak—to cover himself.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should be able to pass the second stage unscathed.

After all, the wild fruits that fell on him were all bounced back by the cloak.

"You hide behind Zhou Xu!" An Zhengzheng swung her sword at the wild fruit.

She has never had any heavy magical artifacts to rely on since childhood, and now she relies entirely on her hand speed and strength.

With the correct sword-holding posture, she can chop a row of apples with one sword.

With even faster hand speed, one could even create a barrier using sword energy.

While the three female cultivators hid behind Zhou Xu, Zhou Xu looked at An Zhengzheng.

She... she didn't use any magical artifacts at all!

Even the other three female cultivators would take out paper fans or small shields to defend themselves.

Perhaps moved, Zhou Xu immediately took off his cloak, chanted an incantation to amplify it several times, and then draped it over An Yirou's shoulders behind him.

"Huh? Thank you..." After a moment of surprise, An Yirou immediately covered the other female cultivators with her cloak.

Zhou Xu followed An Zhengzheng, escorting the team from the left and right sides respectively.

But the wild fruit attacks were just too dense!

If it were just An Zhengzheng and Zhou Xu, they could naturally escape unscathed, but they would also have to protect the other female cultivators, making their actions somewhat strenuous.

“These wild fruits couldn’t have just fallen out of nowhere!” An Zhengzheng said. “You have high cultivation and good eyesight. Look at the source, and I’ll build a sword energy wall for you.”

Zhou Xu quickly responded: "Okay!"

With An Zhengzheng's efforts, Zhou Xu observed carefully and immediately noticed the clue.

"There are monkeys with many arms, each moving very fast, at least ten arms... It's a troop of monkeys hitting us!"

“That must be the hundred-armed monkey from the forum!” An Zhengzheng suddenly laughed after hearing this. “In that case… let’s kill the monkey!”

As soon as he finished speaking, An Zhengzheng stepped on the wild fruits that were rushing towards him and headed straight for one of the macaques.

With the macaque's terrified gaze in her eyes, she plunged the sword directly into the hundred-armed monkey's heart.

An Zhengzheng killed the first monster.

The score was one, and a long thread fell off, automatically sticking to An Zhengzheng's back.

Seeing this, Zhou Xu followed closely behind and began to kill the second hundred-armed monkey.

The two searched for their targets, and one by one, the monkeys died under their swords. After a shrill scream, they disappeared without a trace, turning into silk threads that wrapped around their backs.

The four female cultivators hiding under the cloak trembled.

Yu Er secretly lifted a corner of the screen and happened to see An Zhengzheng stabbing the hundred-armed monkey in the heart with a sword.

She was so frightened that she stopped breathing for a moment.

Women from noble families never venture out to gain experience, let alone personally slay demonic beasts. This An Zhengzheng is truly ruthless... she kills monkeys without blinking an eye.

He looks exactly like a man.

She was shocked.

An Yirou comforted Song Juan and Su Ying from under the cloak: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, my sister is very strong, we will definitely be alright..."

If you die in the trial array, you will be forced to leave the array, which means you have failed the challenge.

But people won't actually die inside the magic circle.

The female cultivators huddled together.

After a while, the sounds outside stopped.

The sounds of wild fruit being thrown and the screams of macaques had all disappeared, leaving only a few bird calls.

"It's alright, everyone come out now." An Zhengzheng sheathed her sword.