Li Yun ran through the forest at high speed, his expression tense.
'I hope I'm not too late.'
After running continuously in the same direction for some time, he finally heard the sounds of battle in the distance.
Not wanting to reveal his presence, he climbed a tree and continued along the branches until the forest gave way to a grassy plain.
At the far end of the grassland lay a cave entrance at the base of a mountain, where the fighting was taking place.
Li Yun carefully surveyed the surroundings before focusing on the battle ahead.
He saw that the fight was being led by two disciples, Wang Min and Mu Tai, with eight others attacking the Fourarmed Berserk Ape under their commands whenever an opportunity arose.
'It looks like they'll win against the Fourarmed Berserk Ape, but…'
Li Yun wasn't sure if the disciples, including Wang Min and Mu Tai, knew about the berserk ape's last-ditch effort before death.
As its name suggested, the Fourarmed Berserk Ape had the ability to go berserk, increasing its strength to the 5th level of Qi Training, but it would only do so when its life was in grave danger.
Li Yun waited for the battle to reach its climax. Intervening at that moment would yield him double the benefits with half the effort.
***
After about half an hour of patient waiting, the battle finally reached its climax.
Both the disciples and the ape were injured, but the ape was struggling to move, breathe, or even attack effectively.
In contrast, the disciples, though injured, only had superficial wounds and were still capable as long as the battle didn't drag on. However, they were also fatigued from the ongoing fight and were barely holding their ground.
As a result, at this point, only Wang Min and Mu Tai were still fighting against the Fourarmed Berserk Ape.
Li Yun closely observed the Fourarmed Berserk Ape and concluded that it would go berserk at any moment.
Unable to effectively attack or defend, the ape was doomed to die under the relentless assault of Wang Min and Mu Tai, leaving it with only one choice—to go berserk.
'It's time for me to act.'
He couldn't let those sweet points go to waste if the berserk ape ended up eliminating the disciples instead of him.
Jumping from the tree, he landed in front of a disciple and attacked with the 4th layer of the Thunderclap Dragon Sword.
The disciple, already exhausted and fatigued from the battle, was caught off guard and was immediately knocked out.
But this also alerted the other disciples, including Wang Min and Mu Tai.
"You!" Wang Min choked with anger when he saw someone taking advantage of their battle with the Fourarmed Berserk Ape to eliminate them, but he couldn't do anything. The ape was on its last breath, so he had to focus on it for the time being.
Mu Tai also noticed Li Yun, but unlike Wang Min, he immediately shouted to his fellow disciples.
"Deal with him! He's only at the 1st level of Qi Training, but don't eliminate him."
They nodded and prepared to attack Li Yun, but he didn't give them time to react.
After knocking out the first disciple and hearing Mu Tai's words, Li Yun's expression hardened with determination. He wasted no time, instantly channeling the 4th Layer of the Thunderclap Dragon Sword into his blade.
With a burst of speed, Li Yun dashed toward the second disciple. The disciple barely had a moment to react before Li Yun's sword struck with the force of a thunderclap. The blade connected with pinpoint accuracy, and a shockwave of attack exploded from the impact.
The disciple was launched off his feet, his body hurled through the air like a ragdoll. He crashed into a nearby tree with such force that the trunk splintered, leaving him unconscious and crumpled at its base.
Li Yun didn't pause for even a breath. The moment the second disciple was down, he turned his attention to the next target.
With a single, decisive strike, he unleashed the 4th Layer's power once more, the sword cleaving through the air with terrifying speed. The third disciple was overwhelmed instantly, knocked out cold before he even realized what had hit him.
However, the situation became more challenging as the remaining five disciples became alert to his presence.
"Surround him and attack simultaneously! He's just using our fatigue to knock us out."
One of the disciples shouted, and the others surrounded him and attacked him.
Li Yun smiled when he saw that and immediately used the 5th layer of the Thunderclap Dragon Sword.
Without hesitation, he thrust his blade five times in rapid succession, each strike brimming with rumbling of a thunder.
The air itself seemed to tremble with the force of his attacks, and a deafening rumble echoed across the battlefield. The disciples had no time to react; they were all blown away as if struck by a storm, their bodies sent flying through the air like leaves caught in a violent wind.
Moments later, the disciples Li Yun had attacked glowed with red light before disappearing from the scene.
Since they were already injured and fatigued from the battle with the Fourarmed Berserk Ape, it was easy for him to defeat them.
In truth, their combat strength in such a weakened state was barely at the 2nd level of Qi Training.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for him to handle 3rd level Qi Training disciples.
"Hehe, so many points!"
Li Yun exclaimed in joy when he saw the number of plus points on his palm.
+765
'It's good, but not enough.'
Li Yun understood that if he could accumulate points by eliminating disciples, then Lie Hua could do even better with her strength at the 4th level of the Qi Training Realm.
He knew that to secure the highest score in the assessment, he had to stick to his plan; otherwise, the chances were high that he would only place second, right after Lie Hua.
"You bastard!"
At that moment, Wang Min's enraged shout reached his ears.
Li Yun smiled and blew him a kiss.
"Thanks for all the points. I'll definitely remember your sacrifices."
"Ahhhh!"
Wang Min roared in anger, barely restraining himself from rushing over to beat up Li Yun.
"If you've got the guts, wait here until I'm done with the ape!"
Wang Min shouted.
Li Yun smiled and nodded.
"If that's what you want."
He sat down, took out some food from his storage ring, and began eating.
"Aaaah!" Wang Min nearly coughed up blood in anger when he saw that, but Mu Tai's shout quickly brought him back to reality.
"Watch out!"
Wang Min immediately turned his head at Mu Tai's warning and saw the Fourarmed Berserk Ape suddenly pounding its chest with all its might, as if it were on steroids.
Its eyes turned blood-red, and its body color shifted to a deep crimson shade.
"ROAR!"
The Fourarmed Berserk Ape bellowed with all its strength, locking its gaze on Wang Min and Mu Tai.