As the two were talking, the first round had ended, leaving 50 people in each of the five arenas, totaling 250 people, or half the group.
"The second round will be a bit harder because it will be a competition with your life on the line. I know that some of you have never witnessed a life-or-death battle before, but such battles are what forge a man capable of navigating life."
"This round will be dangerous and different from the competitions of past years. The competition will involve killing monsters in the family's back forest."
The moment the elder finished speaking, the noise became deafening and fear took over everyone's face. They were like flowers in a greenhouse, having never faced real battles. Not everyone, of course, as many people's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Silence!"
The elder shouted angrily, then continued:
"Do you think life is peaceful and beautiful? Hmph. To live in safety, you rely on strong shoulders that bear the danger for you, and these shoulders will always be there. But what if these shoulders fall? Will you end your life yourself, or will you wait for the enemy to kill you?"
Everyone fell silent, and Raed was shocked as he remembered his mother telling him that his father, Khalid the Judge, had left him here to grow slowly away from his enemies.
"It seems the sky is more dangerous than I thought."
Raed looked up at the sky and sighed, but his eyes suddenly became steely as he remembered something."
Damn, my mother might be in danger... No, I need to become stronger quickly."
Raed thought to himself, and a powerful light flashed from his eyes, which the elder noticed and smiled. The elder continued:"
At some stage, these shoulders will be your family, and at another stage, they will be stronger people. Wherever you go, there will be shoulders bearing the danger for you. But in every stage, if these shoulders fail to support you, not only will you die, but your family will be affected as well."
"Let me tell you that our family is now in danger. What will you do—flee or fight?"
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
The battle cries rose in the field until Raed's blood was boiling, and he was really waiting for those who would challenge the family.
"Haha, very good. You deserve to be the children of our family. The competition will involve killing monsters and bringing back their cores. Each level has specific points, and the top ten will advance to the third round."
"Points will be counted as follows: Level 1 monsters get 10 points, Intermediate ones get 50 points, Advanced ones get 100 points, and Half-Step to Level 2 gets 200 points. You will continue until the morning of the next day... Start!"
The elder shouted loudly, and everyone rushed to the back mountains with high spirits and some fear in their eyes. Many formed teams, but Raed and a few others went alone.
"Good, I need many corpses for the Celestial Sacrifice Pills; it's really time for them."
Raed entered the family's back mountains and went straight into the depths. The first monster he encountered was the Green Demon Serpent.
A Level 1 Final Demon Beast about to enter the Blood Refinement Realm. Demons are different from humans because they absorb energy and strengthen their bodies naturally, unlike humans who have weak bodies unless they use special techniques.
The lineage of demons definitely plays a role in their strength and physical power, and this applies to humans in terms of lineage and innate physical build.
"Good, this monster is suitable for testing my full combat strength."
Raed looked at the massive green snake in front of him, which was about 50 meters long.
The two stared at each other for a while, both wary of one another. Then, a strong killing intent erupted from both at the same time.
Raed and the serpent pounced on each other at a very high speed. Raed launched a Mountain Crushing Fist that collided with the serpent's head, causing both to stagger two steps backward.
"Damn, its head is so hard. I didn't have time to use the Heavy Sword Technique, so I can't use weapons here."
Raed felt numbness in his arms and complained, but he knew that if his physical strength weren't so great, his arms would have been shattered immediately, thanks to the Tyrannical Celestial Emperor Technique.
"Haha, good. If that's the case, I'll use what distinguishes humans to break your notable hardness."
Raed laughed and then attacked the serpent again. The serpent rushed towards him, but Raed used Shadow Steps to appear beside it and landed a punch to its unscaled underbelly.
"Hiss"
The serpent emitted a sound of pain from its mouth, and Raed laughed loudly.
"What distinguishes humans the most is intelligence and cunning. You are just a bunch of dumb beasts."
Raed said with a laugh, then moved quickly again and appeared beside the serpent once more. But the serpent had learned from the lesson and attacked with its head.
"Haha, foolish. I was waiting for this."
Raed laughed and used Shadow Steps to appear at the serpent's neck, delivering a punch with all his physical strength and energy.
"Hiss"
The serpent spewed blood from its mouth and let out a sharp cry, looking at Raed with hatred. It attacked again, and Raed repeated the same trick, but this time struck it in the same spot, causing the serpent to fall with its mouth full of blood.
"Don't hate me. This is how life is. If I don't kill you, you'll kill me. You can die now."
Raed approached the fallen green serpent, which was spewing blood from its mouth and lying on the ground, and said with a somewhat faint smile.
The serpent closed its eyes and died.
Raed sat on the ground, exhausted and panting. His strength was almost depleted. After catching his breath, he went to extract the serpent's core and took its corpse to create the Celestial Sacrifice Pills.
"This corpse belongs to us. We've been waiting for it for some time. Leave now or lie beside it."
Before Raed could extract the core from the serpent, an irritating voice was heard, and a group of five appeared. Their leader was at Level 9 of Qi Refinement, and the rest were at Level 7.
Raed looked at them coolly and said:
"Are you an idiot? It seems your mother has half a brain."
"How dare you mock me! Do you want to die?"
The leader said through gritted teeth, with killing intent overflowing, while the rest of the team stifled their laughter.
Raed was shocked.
"Could your mother really be like that?"
"Damn, you still dare to mock me... die."
The leader said angrily, drawing his sword and rushing at Raed with great speed and killing intent in his eyes. He struck with his sword, but was then hit by shock and fear.
He found that Raed had extended his fingers and held the sword between them, then looked at the young man coldly and said:
"I would have let you go if you only wanted to steal, but now you want to kill me. I have vowed not to kill except those who seek to kill me, and I don't provoke those who don't provoke me. So go and die."
Raed twisted the blade with his hands and broke it, then threw the blade tip and pierced the leader's head. The leader fell with his eyes wide open, not understanding how a Level 1 trash could kill him.
"You've killed the leader. We'll definitely report to the elder, and you will be executed."
Said the remaining four members of the group, trying to flee, but Raed appeared beside one of them and slapped him hard, smashing his head immediately. He said coolly:
"Sorry, but you won't reach the elder because you'll be buried here."
"Run in different directions quickly."
The three of them used their special movement techniques and flew in different directions quickly. When people are scared, unexpected strength comes to them. They were stunned by their own escape speed.
"Hmph... fools"
.Raed smiled with disdain and took out the bow and arrows he had taken from a member of the Poisonous Serpent Mercenaries.
Raed fired three arrows with lightning speed. Although he hadn't practiced archery much, his grandfather had taught him since he was young.
The arrows hit the three people, and then Raed went to their corpses and extracted a core of Level 8 from each. He then kept their bodies for the Celestial Sacrifice Pills.
"These pills are really wicked, but I look forward to the power in the First Celestial Palace."