A large crowd of people gathered in front of a translucent barrier. Within the barrier lies a forest; the designated location for the event. The atmosphere was somewhat lively, as the parents happily chatted among themselves. On the other hand, the children were fidgeting around, clearly nervous.
Pacing back and forth, Yang Bin was also stressed. He rummaged through his small bag, making sure he had everything he needed: bandages, water, talismans, and more.
Li Jing saw this and frowned slightly. "Son, this is the fourth time you've checked your bag. Your things won't mysteriously disappear. You can stop looking at it."
"Mom, I'm just really nervous." Yang Bin sheepishly replied. He stopped and closed his bag.
"Look at how calm your sister is. Why can't you be like her?" Yang Gang asked.
Yang Bin glanced at Yang Mengyao. Compared to Yang Bin, she was indeed much calmer. She had taken an interest in the barrier and was intently studying it.
Hearing her name being mentioned, Yang Mengyao turned her attention to them. "Mom, I see things on the barrier." She pointed.
Li Jing smiled. "Yaoyao, the marks you see are runes. Without it, the barrier would just be a light film and wouldn't hold any strength."
"Oh, I see." Yang Mengyao returned to staring at it.
Yang Bin also turned to look, but aside from the white light, he didn't see anything else.
Suddenly, three people at the front of the crowd flew up into the sky and faced the crowd: two males and a female.
Wearing golden armor with a complex design, the man in the middle stood in the air and stared down at the crowd with his arms crossed. His thick, unruly, red hair looked like a lion's mane, and the scar on his left cheek further increased his imposing aura.
On his right was a woman garbed in a beautiful purple dress. The women excluded an elegant and graceful aura, as she stood on top of a floating lotus flower. A smile was adorn on her flawless face, and all who looked at her had their breaths taken away.
In contrast to the others, the man on the left neither had a majestic aura or eye-catching looks. In fact, even his clothes looked ordinary. Dressed in a simple brown robe, he looked the least remarkable out of the three. He sat down on a cloud and lazily stared down at the crowd, seemingly uninterested.
"Heavenly qi stage cultivators!" Even though the three had yet to do anything, the crowd immediately knew who they were.
Being able to fly tends to signify the heavenly qi stage. For only when a cultivator reaches the heavenly qi stage, will they be strong enough to levitate in the air just by their qi manipulation. Flight during the earlier stages isn't impossible, but it requires extremely rare movement techniques, which also tends to be unaffordable by those under the heavenly qi stage.
The crowd became silent as they looked at the three with reverence. For the common people, the heavenly qi stage was the highest tier of cultivation they knew; it was their goal and dream. As long as one was able to enter the heavenly qi stage, they would be treated with respect no matter where they went. Sadly, this goal is impossible to achieve for many, even the mighty Yang Clan only had no more than six heavenly qi stage cultivators.
The man in the middle cleared his throat and began to speak.
"My name is Yang Yugang, and I'll be conducting this year's Hunt. I'm sure all of you understand what the Hunt is and what to do, but I'll repeat it again. Your objective is to collect herbs and hunt demon beasts for their beast cores during the event. At the end of the event you turn in everything you got and receive points. The more points you receive, the greater the rewards."
"The further you go into the forest, the denser the qi. Meaning, there are stronger demon beasts and more abundant herbs the deeper you adventure. Of course, you can also just use that space to cultivate, and not hunt or gather. In the deepest parts of the forest, there is an advanced rank 1 demon beast."
"None of you need to be worried about getting severely injured as we and some earthly qi cultivators will be supervising you guys. If any of you get into a dire predicament, these supervisors will take action and save you. Though if you need to be saved by these guardians, you will be disqualified."
"For point distribution, we marked every demon beast and herb. A 10 - 40 year herb is worth one point and has a silver halo; 50 - 90 year herbs is worth three points and has a gold hallow, and a hundred year herb is worth nine points with a violet halo. Hunting an initial stage demon beast would get you five points; an intermediate stage beast is worth ten, and for the final advance stage demon beast: 30 points. They are marked by a white, yellow, and purple halo respectively."
Then he paused and scanned the crowd. "There are a lot of you here, but we only have prizes for the top 10. I won't go into detail for all the rewards, but I will tell you the prize for being first: 2 rank 1 pills and 30 gold coins."
Silence, then hushed whispers erupted all over the crowd. Yang Bin clenched his fist as his eyes blazed with determination and fighting spirit. First place, I must get first place. He chanted in his mind.
Yang Mengyao looked around in confusion. "Is that a lot?" She asked out loud.
Yang Bin looked at her with fire in his eyes. "Yes! That's enough to buy all the dresses that you wanted and still have leftover money."
"Ah?" Yang Mengyao blinked a couple times. Then her eyes blazed with determination as well. "Brother, we must get first place!"
Standing on the side, Yang Gang became speechless, as he watched Yang Gang convert Yang Mengyao. Meanwhile, Li Jing covered her mouth and softly laughed.
"May all the contestants step forward." The man said.
Hearing that, Yang Bin and all the youth in the crowd stepped out. Yang Bin looked around and did a head count.
There seems to be about 30 people. Yang Bin thought. Most of the youths were about as strong as him, fifth rank body tempering stage, but there were some that were stronger. As he scanned, he noticed two people that stood out among the crowd, as if the people were afraid of them: Yang Chen and a girl he had never seen before.
Yang Chen! He is participating as well. Yang Bin was alarmed. Not only that, it seems like his strength has increased since the last time we've met.
Yang Chen had indeed gotten stronger. One month ago, he was only a step away from the eighth rank of body tempering. After buying some elixirs and training a bit more, he managed to break through.
Then, Yang Bin looked at the girl. She was a bit taller than him with a small doll-like face and tied up black hair. Dressed in a casual shirt and pant, She stood with her arms crossed. Judging by the way people were avoiding her, Yang Bin could tell that she wasn't any bit weaker than Yang Chen, perhaps even stronger than him. Yang Bin searched his memory and a name came up: Yang Bai, the strongest of the younger generation.
Yang Bai was a granddaughter of one of the elders of the Yang clan. Despite being a few months older than yang Bin, she was much stronger than him. About a month ago, she had already reached the eight rank of body tempering, and was now steadily advancing to the ninth rank. Many people had made predictions that she would reach the initial rank of qi condensing when the academy entrance exam began.
As if sensing something, Yang Bai turned and glanced at Yang Bin. The two maintained eye contact for a few seconds, before she turned away.
First there is Yang Chen, now there is Yang Bai. Seems like I won't be able to take home the grand prize. Yang Bin bitterly cried in his heart. Forget it, third place probably isn't that bad.
"You guys have until the sunsets to turn in your spoils. I wish all of you the best of luck. You may begin." Yang Yugang declared.
Immediately, the youths surged towards the barrier.
"Let's go." Yang Bin took Yang Mengyao's hand and strided forward.
As they approached, the barrier seemed to get brighter and brighter. Gently touching it, Yang Bin saw the white light from the barrier engulf him. He felt himself being pulled in, and he tightened his grip on Yang Mengyao's hand.
Feeling his head spinning, Yang Bin shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he was lying on the ground. All around him were trees.
The Hunt officially begins.