Chapter 104: Breaking into the Top Ten

Day five of the graduation assessment.

The dozens of remaining student squads on the wild island began to face various severe difficulties.

The unavoidable problem was food shortage.

Some of the stronger squads defeated other teams, seizing assessment tokens along with their food supplies. Their provisions were barely sufficient, though not exactly plentiful.

The slightly weaker teams, however, were already facing extreme scarcity, forced to expend considerable effort searching for food and water.

The shortage of food made their situation on the island even more precarious.

The beaches where sea fish were caught and the streams where fresh water flowed were the most susceptible spots for ambushes.

...

The three most powerful student factions on the wild island had nearly partitioned it among themselves, eliminating a large number of city lord students who were not part of their factions.

Lou Jiejun, Bai Xijun, and Ren Haiping, the three great city lord students, each held sway over one territory. Ever since entering the Qingyun Immortal Academy, the three had been locked in fierce competition for the top three spots on the city lord student potential rankings.

Lou Jiejun boasted the most formidable influence, with seven student squads under his command. The other two factions each fielded only six. In terms of numbers, the three camps managed to maintain a precarious balance.

In addition, a small number of "straggler" student squads had escaped their notice, scattered across various parts of the island, avoiding direct confrontation with the three strongest forces.

However, all the students knew this balance was fragile.

Only ten squads would ultimately survive.

...

Day seven.

Ye Mo often stood at the highest point of the cliff, observing the situation at the island's center.

The cliff where he was located happened to be on the higher side of the island's terrain, making it easy to survey the surroundings. When visibility was good, he could even see places fifty or sixty li away.

Though he could not discern the details of battles in the distance, the glowing radiance of various spells cast during large-scale magical duels, as well as the fires that broke out in camps and forest trees during combat, allowed him to deduce some clues about the intensity of the fighting.

What worried him most was when there was no fighting at all in the island's center.

If battles were underway, Ye Mo could sleep soundly at night. Because that meant the three major forces on the island were still locked in fierce mutual conflict, with no time to bother with "stragglers" like him.

If a whole day passed without any major clash on the island, Ye Mo would have to consider whether the three factions were preparing to call a truce and first deal with the remaining stragglers on the island.

Day ten.

The agonizing standoff continued.

Ye Mo's group of five had repelled two student squads that launched sneak attacks on the cliff at deep night and dawn. They had expended a considerable number of spirit wood javelins to drive them down the mountain.

The food, fresh water, and spirit wood javelins stored in the cliff cave had dwindled to almost nothing. It was only thanks to the little fire crow, which flew down to the sea behind the cliff at night to catch fish, that they managed to hold on.

Inside the stone cave on the cliff.

Ye Mo had been observing outside for a while. Seeing no activity on the island, he returned to the cave. He sent Mo Ling to take over the watch at the cliff's highest point, keeping an eye on distant movements.

"Brother Ye, it's already the tenth day. How many squads are actually left on this island?"

Wang Hu scratched his head in frustration.

"How would I know? But if we've made it to the tenth day, there should only be ten to twenty squads left. The final outcome should be decided within the next few days. We'll take turns keeping watch and pay attention to any movement on the island."

Ye Mo smiled wryly and leaned against the stone wall to rest, conserving his energy. "But at least Tang Dong'an, who's been lurking at the bottom of the cliff all these days, has finally left! I thought he planned to stay there forever, trying to outlast us!"

A few days earlier, he had sent the little fire crow down the cliff to search for potential enemy traces within several li of the base, and it had unexpectedly discovered Tang Dong'an's squad of cultivators.

But strangely enough, Tang Dong'an had been hiding at the foot of the cliff all this time without launching an attack.

When Ye Mo sent the little fire crow to scout again today, Tang Dong'an had already departed from the cliff base, his whereabouts unknown.

"Tang Dong'an ranks thirteenth on the potential rankings, and he's very strong. I estimate he should have forty to fifty assessment tokens in his hands. Either he's moved to a different location, or he's left the island entirely," Lin Zhi said, visibly relieved. He turned to Ye Mo and added, "Every person who leaves the island now means one less opponent. Perhaps we should consider taking the initiative to strike!"

"It was too chaotic in the early stages, so we focused on defense. Now that there are only a dozen or so squads left on the island, it might be worth considering taking out a few of the weaker ones!"

Ye Mo sank into thought for a moment.

"Who should we go after?"

Wang Hu immediately grew excited and sprang up from his resting spot. All this time spent guarding the cliff had made him restless.

...

Deep night.

The wild island was silent.

Within the spirit wood palisade camp of Lou Jiejun's faction, the campfire burned dimly, and several students on night watch leaned against wooden posts, drowsy. The rest were resting inside crude thatched shelters.

Suddenly, with thunderous roars, the eastern and western sides of the spirit wood palisade were simultaneously blasted apart by several fireballs.

"Kill!"

Forty to fifty student cultivators from the two factions, wielding spirit swords, charged into the Lou clan camp almost simultaneously.

They advanced unhindered, smashing through the spirit wood palisade and thatched shelters, and fought their way to the center of the camp—only to discover that the entire camp was completely empty. Even the "students" who had been leaning against the wooden posts on night watch were nothing more than scarecrows made of straw stuffed into cultivator robes.

"Damn it!"

"The camp is empty. Lou Jiejun already moved everyone out long ago."

"How did he know that our two factions were planning to join forces tonight for a surprise attack on him?"

"Could there be a mole among us?"

"Definitely! Among the dozen-plus city lord students and forty to fifty auxiliary students in our Bai and Ren factions, there must be a spy who tipped him off!"

"Damn it, it's those traitors who ruined everything! Find the spy! Could it be that traitor is on your Bai side?"

"Nonsense! How could there be a spy on our side? Clearly it's your Ren side that leaked the intelligence!"

After storming into the camp and finding nothing, the assembled city lord students erupted in fury, arguing amongst themselves.

On the wild island, it had originally been the Lou, Bai, and Ren factions—each with their own followers—engaged in a three-way chaotic war, fighting for the top spot in this year's academy assessment. This conflict had dragged on for over ten days.

Lou Jiejun held the advantage.

Bai Xijun and Ren Haiping gradually lost patience. After a round of negotiations and secret discussions, they decided to launch a joint attack on the Lou camp that night, crushing Lou Jiejun in one decisive blow.

Then the two of them would fight it out for the final victory.

But finding the camp empty, the students were filled with mounting suspicion.

"Haha, the Bai clan has fallen into the trap! Brothers, our Lou and Ren factions have already joined forces to crush the Bai faction! Everyone, kill them all!"

Suddenly, a harsh laugh rang out as Lou Jiejun led a large group of cultivators charging out from behind Bai Xijun's camp.

Pandemonium erupted within the camp.

"Bastard! The real traitor is Ren Haiping! He's been allied with the Lou clan all along. Brothers, attack!" someone among the crowd shouted in fury.

"Stop! Listen to me explain—the Ren clan hasn't allied with the Lou clan. The Lou clan is using a divisive scheme!"

"If your Ren clan isn't the traitor, then are you saying our Bai clan is the spy who leaked the intelligence? Who's going to listen to your explanation?" "You dare touch my people? Brothers, charge!"

The camp descended into utter chaos, flames leaping into the sky.

Blazing fireballs, icy water arrows, and shrill howling wind blades—various spells bombarded wildly, and one could even see several spirit beasts roaring and charging recklessly.

The cultivator students of the three factions could no longer distinguish friend from foe, slaughtering each other in a frenzy.

The Bai faction, caught in a pincer between the Lou and Ren forces, suffered devastating losses—six of their squads were shattered and routed. But the Bai faction's counterattack also left the Lou faction bloodied.

Even cultivators of the Ren faction were attacking the Lou faction's cultivators.

Who was friend and who was foe had become completely impossible to determine.

Within half an hour, seven or eight student squads were severely wounded and eliminated from the assessment, losing all combat capability.

Bai Xijun, with his sole surviving city lord student and a handful of student cultivators, furiously fought his way out of the encirclement and fled the Lou camp, racing deep into the distant jungle, using the terrain to evade pursuit.

"Kill! Crush the Ren faction!"

Lou Jiejun roared at his cultivators.

The Lou faction did not give chase to Bai Xijun, instead immediately turning to clash with the Ren faction.

The battle raged for a full hour. Both sides were nearly drained of spiritual power, utterly exhausted, before Ren Haiping finally retreated with the dozen or so cultivators remaining in his faction.

Lou Jiejun was too weary to pursue.

After the confused melee between the three factions, each side scattered to find places to recover.

"How strange!" a student remarked, puzzled.

"What's strange about it?"

"The Bai faction only had two city lord students escape, the Lou faction still has four city lord students, and the Ren faction has three. That's only nine squads left. Why hasn't Teacher Kuang Zhen announced the end of this graduation assessment?"

"Perhaps he'll announce it tomorrow morning! It's the middle of the night—not exactly the right time to declare results."

Another student said while applying medicine to his wounds.

The other students nodded in agreement.

The reason the Lou and Ren factions hadn't continued fighting was precisely because the remaining squads across the three camps now numbered only nine. By all rights, the assessment results should have been announced.

Naturally, no one wanted to keep fighting.

The few squads from the Bai and Ren factions were all thinking the same thing. They quickly separated and set up camp at a sufficiently distant location to rest.

...

The ferocious battle that suddenly erupted at the island's center had long since startled Ye Mo and his companions on the distant cliff.

Beneath the starry night sky, they could see a camp ablaze in a sea of fire on the island's plain, along with flashes of various spells and the rumble of explosions.

Ye Mo, Lin Zhi, and the other five gazed out from the cliff, utterly shocked.

"The fighting is that intense! This could very well be a decisive battle—it might actually produce a final outcome."

"Let's go check it out! A battle this fierce means there are bound to be many wounded."

A gleam of unexpected delight flashed through Ye Mo's eyes. He signaled to the others and, with the fire crow in tow, descended from the cliff.

An hour later.

Ye Mo led his team, with the little fire crow scouting ahead, approaching the burned-out Lou camp.

The sight of the numerous chaotic footprints and bloodstains on the ground was shocking.

However, there were no corpses.

Severely wounded student cultivators were too injured to continue fighting and had lost their assessment qualifications. They had long since been taken back aboard the great sea vessel of the Qingyun Immortal Academy. As long as they hadn't died on the spot, they could generally receive medical treatment.

"Three sets of footprints lead away from here, and the number of tracks isn't large. It looks like all three factions suffered heavy losses!"

Lin Zhi observed the footprints in the camp swiftly.

"Let's go, follow them and see!"

Ye Mo and the others followed the tracks on the ground, trailing one group of student cultivators whose footprints were fewest in number.

"This should be the faction that lost the worst. Just not sure who it is," Lin Zhi frowned.

Moments later, they tracked the trail to a dense forest but did not rashly enter.

The little fire crow flew up to the treetops and discovered a dozen or more student cultivators hidden deep within the jungle. It quickly flew back to Ye Mo and let out a series of soft caws.

"There are over a dozen people, but all of them are wounded, and their spiritual power is severely depleted. Even in a direct confrontation, we'd have the advantage. Most importantly, they just fought for an hour—they're completely exhausted! They're bound to be off their guard."

Ye Mo said.

"Then let's wait a bit longer! We'll move when they're at their most drowsy. I still have one smoke poison pill, and it has a powerful numbing effect!"

In the darkness, a smile crept across Lin Zhi's face.

"Looks like everything is going smoothly."

"If we defeat this group of cultivators, Brother Ye's chances of making the top ten are excellent. Then we'll be able to establish our own spirit village!"

Mo Ling, Wang Hu, and Yang You were all invigorated, brimming with joy.

They waited a little longer. The night deepened.

Ye Mo gently patted the little fire crow.

The crow took flight, leading the way.

"Move out!"

Ye Mo said in a low voice.

Deep in the jungle, two cultivators were keeping watch while the rest sat or lay on the ground. But the earlier battle had been so exhausting that even the two sentries were leaning against a tree, drowsy, with severely diminished vigilance.

Lin Zhi crushed the poison pill, and a puff of black smoke rose, drifting with the light breeze toward the dozen or so cultivators a few zhang away.

Under normal circumstances, such a smoke poison pill would rarely succeed. The poisonous smoke was easy to notice, and even if a cultivator inhaled it, they would immediately become alert, hold their breath, and use spiritual power to expel the toxins.

But the darkness within the jungle obscured visibility, and the group was already asleep from exhaustion, unable to raise the alarm in time.

"What's that smell?"

"Who's there?"

Bai Xijun suddenly snapped his eyes open, letting out a sharp shout. He grabbed the spirit sword at his side and rolled to his feet. He felt his limbs growing weak, and his sword-arm tingled and trembled—he could barely bring out two or three tenths of his full strength.

Instantly, the other surviving city lord student and the dozen-plus auxiliary students were startled awake, struggling to rise.

They had all inhaled the toxic smoke from Lin Zhi's poison pill, and its effects were striking them one after another.

"Bai Xijun!? Brother Bai, I'm sorry, but for the sake of a spot as a full-fledged city lord, I'm afraid I'll have to eliminate the two of you!"

Ye Mo stepped out from the jungle and was somewhat surprised to see that the leader of this group of cultivators was Bai Xijun, ranked second on the city lord student potential ranking.

Lin Zhi, Mo Ling, and the others all gripped spirit swords and sturdy spirit wood shields, following behind Ye Mo.

Ye Mo had confidence in Lin Zhi's poison. For Qi training stage cultivators without an antidote, there was no way to expel the inhaled toxins from their bodies in a short time. Moreover, they had little spiritual power left to purge the poison anyway.

A dozen or so Qi training stage cultivators who had nearly lost all combat capability posed no threat to him.

"Ye Mo? It's actually you! You haven't been eliminated yet?... Have you considered the consequences of offending me?! Even if you become a city lord and establish your own spirit village, you can't afford to offend the Bai clan of Qingyun Immortal City! Never mind you—even Lou and Ren wouldn't dare kill me outright in the examination grounds. They only routed my subordinates; they didn't hunt me down. Otherwise, the retaliation of my Bai family would make things very uncomfortable for them! Brother Ye wouldn't be so unwise, would he?"

Bai Xijun's expression shifted. He gripped his spirit sword and took a slow step back.

The dozen-plus auxiliary cultivators hurriedly positioned themselves in front of Bai Xijun, their expressions flustered, none daring to attack Ye Mo's group.

"Oh~!"

Ye Mo halted in his tracks, his expression shifting unpredictably.

This year at the Qingyun Immortal Academy, the most powerful factions—the Lou, Bai, and Ren clans—all possessed deep family foundations, with golden core cultivators in their ranks. Otherwise, they wouldn't have so many city lord students pledging allegiance to them.

Offending the Bai clan would bring too many future troubles.

"Very well. You may stay. But he must hand over his assessment token!"

Ye Mo looked at Bai Xijun, pointing at the other city lord student.

The Bai family was a second-rate clan in Qingyun Immortal City, second only to the top-tier families.

But the other city lord student came from only a third or fourth-rate minor clan, serving as Bai Xijun's lackey. This student with the surname Qi had always ranked in the thirties or forties at the academy, even lower than Ye Mo.

In comparison, a third or fourth-rate minor clan did not possess much substantial power.

"Brother Qi, I'm sorry for the trouble! I'll make sure the Bai family gives you some compensation afterward!"

Bai Xijun was also a man of decisiveness, knowing this was Ye Mo's bottom line. He took a deep breath and turned to address the city lord student.

That student with the surname Qi was stunned.

"Being able to help Brother Bai is my honor! I'll hand over the token!"

The Qi-surnamed student's face twitched, his heart full of reluctance, yet he was forced to muster a strained smile. Given the situation, he had no choice but to comply.

As he spoke, the Qi-surnamed student shot Ye Mo a vicious glare, then removed the assessment token from his waist, infused it with spiritual power, and notified the supervising Foundation Building stage cultivator to come pick him up.

Suddenly, the golden core cultivator Kuang Zhen's resounding, weathered voice rang out across the entire island: "The last ten city lord students remaining on the island have passed the assessment. This year's Qingyun Immortal Academy graduation assessment is hereby concluded! Everyone, stand down where you are and cease fighting. Board the ship at dawn!"

The Qi-surnamed student stood frozen, the token trembling in his hand. He had been the final city lord student eliminated from the assessment.