Chapter 16: Another Advancement, Closing In Step by Step!
The people from District 346 were cheering excitedly in the chat channel, causing District 118 to start feeling anxious.
Kun Cai: “Damn it, that blasted Sakura Nation has items that increase drop rates. How are we supposed to compete now?”
Li Huang: “Does anyone in District 118 have any items that boost drop rates? It’s pointless to hide them now.”
Gang Wang: “Everyone, no matter what, we cannot just sit and wait to be defeated. We must hurry and hunt the ferocious beasts.”
Sosuke Kitahara: “Hahaha, I say you might as well give up. Do you know what a 20% increase in drop rates means? You’re doomed to lose this challenge!”
Liang Zhuang: “You idiot upstairs, shut up quickly!”
Yun Wang: “Forget those idiots from Sakura Nation. We have to act now. Those capable should hunt the beasts immediately, and those who aren’t can help search for them.”
Daqiang Liu: “Exactly! Until the very last moment, we must not give up. Mark my words, we will win this time!”
Kun Cai: “Damn it, it’s all or nothing! Let’s move out now!”
The crowd in the plaza was fired up with passion.
Half an hour later, the challenge began!
[Notice: Countdown complete, challenge started!]
[Notice: The entire map of the Trial Grounds is now accessible!]
Finally, the challenge was underway!
Two progress bars appeared before everyone.
District 346: 0 Challenge Tokens
District 118: 0 Challenge Tokens
The appearance of the progress bars reignited everyone’s competitive spirit.
Shuichi Itou: “No way, now there’s a map. Finding the beasts will be much easier!”
Eiji Yoshino: “Wow, I’ve never been to that area before. There might be ferocious beasts there. I’m heading over to scout.”
Motoharu Kudou: “Heh, this is our moment to shine, riding the dragon’s back. How can we lose? Sakura Nation will definitely win!”
...
Meanwhile, Gang Wang and over ten others had formed the strongest team in District 118 and began hunting beasts according to the map.
They anxiously navigated through the Poisonous Swamp, having cleared almost all beasts in the outer areas.
Finally, they encountered a Level 1 Stone Ape Beast, which they quickly dispatched, but it only dropped two Divine Demon Coins.
No sign of any Challenge Tokens!
Gang Wang frowned upon seeing this: “This pace won’t do, the efficiency is too low.”
“All the Level 1 beasts around the outskirts have been wiped out. Looks like we have no choice but to move into the Level 2 zones to hunt.”
Others nodded in agreement.
Liang Zhuang said, “Others are helping to search for beasts too. If they find any, they’ll message you privately. Keep an eye out.”
Gang Wang’s eyes lit up: “Good, good. Seems like we Dragon Nation people are quite united after all.”
Just as Gang Wang finished speaking, Yun Wang suddenly widened his eyes.
The progress bar for District 346 flickered and began to change.
District 346: 1 Challenge Token
District 118: 0 Challenge Tokens
Chen Lei: “Damn, just a few minutes in and they’ve already dropped a Challenge Token?”
Kun Cai: “Hiss, those drop rate potions are terrifying.”
Gang Wang was also starting to get tense, whispering urgently, “We have to hurry, let’s go!”
...
At the same time, Chuyun Ye was wearing night vision goggles, moving stealthily through the darkness.
He couldn’t afford to waste time either. He needed to hunt ferocious beasts quickly to gather enough Challenge Tokens.
With that in mind, Ye Chuyun used all four skill stones in his inventory to upgrade his [Identification] skill.
[Identification Level 4: Active skill that reveals information about monsters and items, terrain, monster distribution, special herbs, and ores.]
Now, not only could his Identification skill display the map, but it also showed monster distributions within a hundred meters around him.
After a dozen minutes, Ye Chuyun reached the Level 2 zone and found his first Level 2 beast, the Blue Poison Frog, with a combat power of 400.
The Blue Poison Frog was entirely blue, its large eyes giving it an impression of cunning intelligence.
Without hesitation, Ye Chuyun sliced the frog cleanly in two.
It was practically an instant kill!
[Defeated Level 2 Blue Poison Frog, gained +40 energy points.]
[100% drop rate triggered, item has been automatically placed in your inventory. Please check.]
Ye Chuyun opened his inventory.
A Challenge Token appeared inside.
“Awesome, this feels great!” Ye Chuyun chuckled softly.
[Essence of Blue Poison Frog: Consuming it increases Agility by 4.]
Besides the Challenge Token, he also obtained the essence, which boosted his agility by 4 points upon consumption.
During this time, Ye Chuyun also gathered about ten sprigs of spiritual herbs and refined a Body Tempering Pill.
[Notice: Due to frequent consumption of Body Tempering Pills, resistance has developed, reducing its effect. Constitution +9.]
Ye Chuyun wasn’t surprised by this.
If the pills had no diminishing returns, that would be strange.
After these preparations, Ye Chuyun proceeded to the next location of a ferocious beast.
...
An hour later, Ye Chuyun leveled up.
[Congratulations, you have reached Level 4.]
[Your Strength has increased by 10 points.]
[Your Agility has increased by 10 points.]
[Your Constitution has increased by 10 points.]
[Your Spirit has increased by 10 points.]
[You have gained 5 free attribute points.]
After slaying the tenth beast, Ye Chuyun finally reached Level 4.
However, at this point, everyone’s focus was on the Challenge Tokens, with few paying attention to the level rankings.
Ye Chuyun allocated the 5 free attribute points to Spirit and opened his status panel to take a look.
Name: Ye Chuyun
Level: 4 (30/1200)
Reputation: 30
Strength: 154
Agility: 124
Constitution: 120
Spirit: 79
Combat Power: 1008 (958 + 50)
Skills: Identification Lv4, Stealth Lv1, Vision Enhancement Lv1, Strength Amplification Lv1, Speed Amplification Lv1.
Divine Demon Coins: 2050
Having consumed essences from 5 Stone Ape Beasts and 5 Blue Poison Frogs, plus the level-up, his combat power had surpassed 1000!
He also possessed ten Challenge Tokens!
Ye Chuyun nodded with satisfaction.
He glanced at the challenge progress of both sides.
District 346: 4 Challenge Tokens
District 118: 0 Challenge Tokens
He hadn’t expected the opposing side to have already obtained 4 Challenge Tokens in just half an hour!
In contrast, aside from the ten Challenge Tokens in Ye Chuyun’s possession, hardly anyone in District 118 had acquired any.
Although Gang Wang and the others were also fiercely hunting beasts and others were assisting in searching, in an hour they had only slain three Level 2 beasts and two Level 1 beasts.
Their efficiency lagged far behind Ye Chuyun’s.
Combined with the awful drop rates, it was indeed a tough situation.
But thankfully, everyone remained united, with no complaints and all striving not to hold the team back.
Meanwhile, the chat channel was already exploding with excitement.