The thought had barely crossed her mind when Han Jing's figure already arrived.
Her clothes were in tatters, her body covered in wounds.
Not far behind her, a Howling Sky Wolf was pursuing her with a limp.
If that Howling Sky Wolf hadn't been injured, Han Jing would likely have already become food in its jaws.
"Awoo..."
The Howling Sky Wolf's sudden roar startled Han Jing, making her stumble.
Taking advantage of this opening, the Howling Sky Wolf leaped into the air, heading straight for the top of Han Jing's head.
At that moment, Han Jing's mouth wide open, her eyes tightly shut...
The anticipated pain did not arrive. Instead, what reached her ears was a wolf's howl, followed by warm liquid splashing onto her face.
"Am I dead? Is this what it feels like to die?"
Han Jing couldn't help thinking.
"Keep your eyes closed."
"I can't guarantee the next demonic beast won't tear you into several pieces."
Su Yang disguised his voice.
Moreover, with his face covered at this moment, he wasn't afraid of Han Jing recognizing him.
"Are you dead too?"
Han Jing asked tremblingly.
Su Yang was somewhat speechless. So saving her life meant he had managed to get himself killed instead?
"Open your eyes and see for yourself."
Su Yang retorted flatly.
Han Jing moved her body slightly, and upon realizing everything was intact, she slowly opened her eyes.
The moment she opened them, she saw a bloody head beside her and let out another scream.
Su Yang felt a bit helpless. With this kind of guts, why even bother participating in the martial exams?
Han Jing seemed to realize she had lost her composure. She stood up and awkwardly explained, "Sorry to make a fool of you. Actually, I killed a Howling Sky Wolf just now myself."
"With your level, you should hurry back to the outer ring."
As soon as Su Yang finished speaking, his ears twitched.
"Your teammates are here. I'm leaving."
Without waiting for Han Jing's reply, Su Yang turned and walked straight in the opposite direction.
......
"Jingjing, are you alright?"
"Jingjing..."
Liu Xiaoxiao ran over, panting heavily, with Zhang Tai following closely behind.
Behind Zhang Tai, there were also four Martial Artists.
"Jingjing, are you alright?"
As soon as Liu Xiaoxiao ran up, she looked Han Jing up and down. Seeing that her condition was fine, she couldn't help patting her chest, causing a heave of motion.
"Hmph, and this is what you called absolute safety?"
Han Jing was very angry.
Zhang Tai chuckled sheepishly. "This was purely an accident. I thought those demonic beasts had no heart to fight and would make good sparring partners, who would have thought they'd dare to fight back."
Naturally, Han Jing didn't accept such an excuse and kept her face stern. Seeing this, Liu Xiaoxiao quickly pulled Zhang Tai's sleeve, signaling him to stop talking.
"Jingjing, who was that person just now? He looked so familiar."
Sure enough, as Liu Xiaoxiao shifted the topic, Han Jing's mood improved noticeably.
"You thought he looked familiar too? I had that feeling as well, but he covered his face, clearly not wanting to be recognized, and he didn't leave his name."
As Han Jing spoke, a trace of melancholy tinged her tone.
Although she hadn't seen how the other party had killed that Howling Sky Wolf, just in that brief flash, the Howling Sky Wolf's head was severed from its body. What kind of extraordinary young talent could pull that off?
"Ah..."
Just as Han Jing was daydreaming, she heard Liu Xiaoxiao suddenly cry out in surprise.
"I remember now, the back of that person just now looked just like Su Yang."
Hearing this, Han Jing froze abruptly, then glared at Liu Xiaoxiao with annoyance.
"Su Yang? What are you thinking?"
"He only beat Li Tianpao by relying on excessive doses of banned drugs, and you think he could kill a Tier 1 Grade 5 Howling Sky Wolf?"
Liu Xiaoxiao giggled upon hearing this.
"Jingjing, I was just teasing you. If you really want to know who he is, why don't we head out early?"
"I bet it won't be long before the Martial Artists here all evacuate. As long as we wait at the exit, won't we find him?"
Hearing this, Han Jing's eyes lit up.
That's right, with a Tier 3 giant beast appearing in the Core Area, the Martial Artists here would undoubtedly evacuate quickly. As long as her speed was fast enough to reach the exit ahead of time, could she really fail to lie in wait for him?
Furthermore, she had seen with her own eyes that the young man had headed down a short distance before turning back up the mountain.
Because of this, he definitely wouldn't get down the mountain before her.
Seeing the temptation on Han Jing's face, Liu Xiaoxiao winked at Zhang Tai.
Zhang Tai understood.
"Jingjing, shall we head down the mountain right now then?"
At this moment, Han Jing's mind was entirely set on finding that masked youth, and she nodded immediately.
Such a figure was her ideal Prince Charming.
......
At this moment, Su Yang was indeed heading deeper into the Core Area.
That was a Tier 3 demonic beast, after all; to let it go just like that was truly hard to reconcile with.
Along the way, he fought and advanced at the same time.
Against another Tier 1 Grade 5 Howling Sky Wolf—one that might have taken him a few seconds to deal with previously—he now resolved it with a single slash of his Chasing Wind Saber.
Soon, Su Yang stepped into the Core Area.
It was much quieter here than outside; even the chirping of insects was rarely heard.
Su Yang couldn't help but make his footsteps even lighter.
He knew very little about that Tier 3 giant beast, not even what kind of exotic beast it was.
......
Just as he was cautiously moving forward, right in the deepest part of the dense forest, a beam of light suddenly pierced the sky.
Seven-colored rosy clouds formed a massive funnel.
In the center of the funnel, countless phantoms of precious treasures flickered continuously before rapidly vanishing.
......
The group of Martial Artists who had retreated to the supply station were dumbfounded.
Han Jing and the others, mixed in the crowd, were equally dazed.
"What... is that?"
Han Jing felt her throat go dry, making it difficult to speak.
"Is that a ruin's phantom?"
"That's a ruin's phantom! Treasures, so many treasures, charge..."
The crowd instantly boiled over, surging like a tide back toward Trial Area 31.
In the martial arts world, truly formidable inheritances basically all came from these ruins or secret realms.
As for the origins of these ruins and secret realms, the most objective view was that they were leftover fragments from the previous epoch.
In the previous epoch, perhaps some irresistible cataclysm had occurred, and certain important nodes had been intercepted and preserved by mighty beings, floating in the world like grains of dust.
At some suitable node, they would open once again to benefit the world.
Some ruins and secret realms even evolved from certain treasures themselves.
It was said that the Northern Territory King's weapon came from a secret realm; the moment that weapon acknowledged its master, the secret realm automatically dissolved, and apart from the Northern Territory King, all the Martial Artists who entered became nourishment for that weapon.
......
Wealth and riches are what move human hearts the most, let alone treasures that could allow a Martial Artist to soar to greatness in a single bound.
Even the guarding soldiers had eyes full of envy; if not for their duties, they would have gone in to try their luck as well.
Are lords and nobles born with a special seed?
Who knew if he might be the next Northern Territory King?
Just as the crowd was going crazy, a figure abruptly appeared in the sky.
Following close behind was an axe so large it blotted out the sky, and pressure descended across the heavens.
Most of the people on the ground were Tier 1 and Tier 2 Martial Artists, with quite a few Quasi-Martial Artists among them. Under that pressure, they couldn't move even a fraction of an inch.
"I am Ling Tian. I have already scouted on behalf of you all: an ancient ruin has appeared in the Core Area of Trial Area 31. Time limit: 30 minutes. Anyone below Tier 2 Grade 5 may enter."
"What? Only thirty minutes? Heaven does not favor me!"
"I regret this! I was originally near the Core Area; if not for the demonic beast riot, why would I have turned back?"
......
Among the crowd, numerous Martial Artists beat their chests and stamped their feet.
From the supply station to the Core Area was a journey of about a hundred miles; even for Martial Artists, running a hundred miles in half an hour was impossible.
This single condition shattered the dreams of most people.
For a moment, many stopped in their tracks.
However, more people still refused to give up and continued running wildly after the pressure dissipated.
What if they could pick up leftovers?
Han Jing was also stirred with thoughts.
"Shall we go take a look too?"