At this time, on the high platform outside the trial grounds, an elder looked at the remaining Lu Xuerou and Li Taixing, remarking, "Only these two disciples are left in the trial area. How should we handle the ranking?"
Zhao Wentian and the other elders fell silent for a moment. Could it be that there would only be a first and second place?
"Maybe we should cancel it?" Lin Feiyi asked cautiously.
"Cancel it? The trial has already begun—how could we treat it as a joke?" Wang Xuanwu immediately objected. He had finally gotten a chance to show off; how could they cancel it just like that?
"You can criticize my disciple, but don't dare imply that he's incompetent."
"Your disciple has been either eating or sightseeing the whole time without even fighting a single ferocious beast. Do you really call that competence?" another elder retorted.
"Look at Lu Xuerou—she's working hard while watching over your disciple, worried that something might happen."
"What nonsense! My disciple is keeping an eye on the surroundings for safety. Otherwise, how could Lu Xuerou focus on gathering spiritual herbs?" Wang Xuanwu countered defensively.
"Alright," Zhao Wentian interrupted, clearly a bit overwhelmed. "As the Fifth Elder pointed out, the trial grounds are already open, so we can't turn back now. Since these two are still in there, let's wait and see."
Zhao Wentian felt troubled, but there wasn't a better solution at hand. He didn't know whether he should hope they came out quickly or that they managed to complete the challenge successfully.
"According to the plan, they need to remain inside for seven days," he said, glancing up at the sky. "It's only the first day, and barely half of it has passed, yet only two disciples are left."
He even began to wonder if they had perhaps rushed into opening the trial grounds too soon this time. With the Sect Leader having spoken, everyone fell silent.
Meanwhile, inside the trial grounds, Li Taixing and Lu Xuerou continued to wander around. Lu Xuerou grew increasingly puzzled; she had noticed many traces of battle, even the corpses of ferocious beasts, yet hadn't encountered a single one alive.
"Junior Brother Li, where did all the ferocious beasts go?" she asked, looking around warily.
They were now within the activity area of the Foundation Building stage beasts, and she felt a bit more at ease here.
"Who knows," Li Taixing replied with a shrug, pretending to be just as confused.
Lu Xuerou didn't think much of it.
"Junior Sister Lu, why not take this opportunity to gather more herbs? Otherwise, it'll be difficult to pass the next seven days just wandering around."
"Hmm, you're right."
So, Lu Xuerou resumed her search for herbs. After all, as Li Taixing pointed out, they hadn't encountered any ferocious beasts, so they might as well gather resources.
Now feeling much more relaxed, Lu Xuerou smiled. "Junior Brother Li, since we can't find any beasts, let's focus on collecting spiritual herbs."
"Alright." Li Taixing thought to himself, 'Maybe this is my chance. Otherwise, how can I complete my master's orders?'
With that, he too started searching for spiritual herbs, collecting them as soon as he found any.
Watching his skilled technique, Lu Xuerou couldn't help but feel surprised. "Junior Brother Li, how did you get so good at this? Have you practiced before?"
"Well, I've spent time in the Fantasy Beast Forest before, and after watching you collect herbs so many times, I picked up a few tricks," Li Taixing answered humbly.
Not pausing for a moment, he carefully dug out a spiritual herb with his shovel, holding it up in his hand with satisfaction. Having collected this type of herb already, he stored it directly in his ring.
Seeing his efficiency, Lu Xuerou quickly joined in. Outside, the elders and disciples watching from the square felt a sense of disappointment.
"Why haven't they encountered a single ferocious beast since the beginning?"
"Right! Don't you think it's odd? These beasts keep showing up for us but seem to ignore them completely."
"Impossible. Besides, how would they even manage to bring that many ferocious beasts into the trial? You don't believe that yourself, do you?"
After a moment of thought, the disciple who had raised the suspicion shook his head. "I guess not." Still, a sense of unease spread among the crowd.
On the high platform, Zhao Wentian and the elders were equally perplexed.
"Have those two managed to avoid every ferocious beast by sheer luck?"
"That seems to be the case. But still, it's strange—all those ferocious beasts seem to have disappeared without a trace."
To see inside the trial area, they could only rely on the images provided by the disciples' trial tokens. Unfortunately, the tokens only transmitted visuals within a limited range and without sound, so the elders could only make assumptions.
"Fifth Elder, what do you make of this?" Zhao Wentian finally asked, turning to Wang Xuanwu, who was lounging nearby, sipping a drink.
"I'm just here to watch," Wang Xuanwu replied nonchalantly.
Zhao Wentian frowned, suppressing his irritation. "Could you be a little more serious?"
"Be serious? Alright, then… I think it's fine. Let them continue," Wang Xuanwu said with a smirk.
"Pfft!" Zhao Wentian almost spat out blood, too frustrated to respond further.
Wang Xuanwu looked at him, confused by the reaction, then refocused on the scene within the trial grounds. A sly smile crept onto her face.
'Go on, my disciple, gather every last herb. Then I'll have a perfect excuse for the spiritual herb supply on Chifeng Mountain.'
It turned out that Wang Xuanwu had specifically instructed Li Taixing to collect everything in the trial grounds to explain the surplus of spiritual herbs back at Chifeng Mountain. Li Taixing was carrying out her orders with dedication. Everywhere he passed, not a single spiritual herb was left, making the other elders shake their heads in disbelief.
"Is he really not leaving even a single seed behind?" one elder muttered, looking pained.
At this rate, they figured it might take years, if not decades, for any herbs to grow back.
"Junior Brother Li, shouldn't we leave some behind?" Lu Xuerou finally suggested, feeling a bit embarrassed at the scale of their harvesting.
"If we keep going like this, there might not be any herbs left for future trials."
Realizing he had thoroughly swept the area, leaving the entire mountain bare, Li Taixing felt a hint of remorse.
"Alright, then let's leave a few seeds."
He stopped picking all the herbs, leaving behind the weaker and less mature plants.
Lu Xuerou, relieved, smiled at the thought that they had gathered enough herbs for now. After nearly a full day, she was surprised they hadn't encountered a single ferocious beast. She didn't know why, but it was a welcome relief.
Just as they thought things were progressing smoothly, a deep, thunderous beast roar echoed from the center of the trial grounds.