After about half an hour, Gus Bullard and Sterling Yates’s teams arrived, both wearing slightly disgruntled expressions. It was obvious Evan Chu hadn’t gone to the places they’d discovered.
"Boss, I’m sure there’s treasure in that cave we found. We’re not the only ones here, you know! If someone else snatches it first, we’re totally screwed." Gus Bullard said, a little agitated.
"Gus, don’t be so naive. Treasure caves usually have nasty traps or monster beasts guarding them. Those other guys rushing in are just cannon fodder. We’re actually the ones reaping the benefits." Evan Chu chuckled.
Gus Bullard trusted Evan Chu completely; even if he was a little unconvinced, he didn’t dare argue.
Evan Chu then turned to Sterling Yates and said, "I know you’re probably annoyed I didn’t go to your spot either. But come on, we’re all students—why fight for a piece of the pie? If there’s danger, they’ll run. No need for us to bail anyone out."
Right now, our top priority is to gather more Magic Crystals. Running into a pack of over a hundred monster beasts is seriously rare—and even better, these ones aren’t that tough. You guys get what I mean, right?"
Evan Chu spoke with calm confidence. The two couldn’t find any reason to argue and just nodded automatically.
"Everyone, spread out and close in on those monster beasts bit by bit. Today we’re going for a massive haul!" With that, Evan Chu charged out first.
A few breaths later, Evan Chu had advanced more than a hundred meters. Now he could see the monster beasts more clearly—they were just as he’d imagined: wolf-like creatures, except their bodies were covered in thick scales instead of fur.
It was obvious these were beasts with solid defense—ordinary attacks probably wouldn’t work at all. Evan Chu stayed perfectly calm, moving forward without hurry, Frostbane Sword at the ready in his right hand.
"Awooo!"
Just then, a deep growl rang out, and a gray figure suddenly leapt from the weeds, lunging straight at Evan Chu.
Evan Chu didn’t even glance at it. As the gray shadow closed in, his arm flicked slightly—Frostbane Sword flashed with a blade-light. At the same time, he swiftly executed Wave-Skimming Steps, dodging the monster beast’s attack with ease.
The monster beast lunged but missed and crashed to the ground. Only then did Evan Chu get a clear look: it was a Wolf-Headed Tiger. Right now, blood was gushing from a hole in its neck—Frostbane had stabbed straight through, leaving a bloody wound.
Just as the beast winced in pain and prepared to attack again, several more Wolf-Headed Tigers leapt from the weeds, pouncing at Evan Chu. Their gaping, bloody maws stank so badly Evan nearly gagged.
"Damn! What kind of monster beast is this—why does it reek so bad?" Evan Chu yelled, pinching his nose. He unleashed the Windchaser Sword Codex, and countless sword-flowers slashed at the charging beasts. In no time, several were left bleeding—Frostbane’s cuts-iron-like-mud edge made their tough defense useless.
Gus Bullard, Sterling Yates, and the others caught up, secretly impressed by how Evan Chu wounded so many beasts in an instant. They jumped in to join the hunt, and the showdown between humans and monster beasts officially began.
Rhea Yang and Lily Tang focused on picking off stragglers—not because they were weak, but because the guys insisted on ‘protecting the Boss’s women.’ Everyone knew these two were Evan Chu’s girls, so the men kept trying to shield the ‘sisters-in-law’ and wouldn’t let them join the main fight. The two women felt awkward about it.
For a while, the air was filled with killing cries, beastly roars, and human shouts—a wild, thrilling chaos. Everyone fought desperately, hoping to show off in front of Evan Chu.
These monster beasts were called Wolf-Headed Tigers, third-rank beasts that weren’t too hard to kill. In under five minutes, Evan Chu had already slain more than ten of them.
Of course, this was mainly thanks to Evan Chu’s Frostbane Sword and his own strength—killing was easy for him.
The others were much slower—Gus Bullard killed three, Sterling Yates killed three, and Blake Murong only got two. All three were left panting hard from exhaustion.
"These beasts have insane defense. My sword’s already chipped, and my arm’s numb from the impact. Damn, they’re tough to kill!" Sterling Yates grumbled between swings.
"Same here—their scale armor is way too thick. But look at the Boss, he’s making it look easy. Takes him two or three moves to finish one off, no wonder he’s our leader!" Blake Murong chimed in, not forgetting to flatter Evan.
Evan Chu turned around and smiled at everyone. "Let’s give it our all—running into a pack like this is a rare chance. They’re not that dangerous, and we can collect Magic Crystals. Let’s see who kills the most—the more you get, the bigger your share!"
Evan’s words fired everyone up. Weapons swung as they attacked the Wolf-Headed Tigers with renewed energy.
Lily Tang and Rhea Yang exchanged smiles. "He’s got a divine weapon, of course it’s easy for him. If he had a regular blade, let’s see him brag then," Lily said after slashing down a beast.
"He’s a total freak—his talent and speed leave everyone in the dust, and there’s stuff about him no one can figure out!" Rhea Yang added, finishing off a beast herself.
"You’re just drawn to his mystery! Not just anyone catches the eye of the Yang clan’s genius Miss."
"Like you’re any different—the Tang Sect’s not beneath us! Don’t think I don’t know you’ve had a crush on him forever!"
The two women’s jealous banter made everyone envious, while Evan Chu’s face flushed slightly. Too many women really were a hassle—he’d need to get things in order soon.
There were a lot of beasts, but Evan Chu’s crew were all skilled fighters. After half an hour, they’d killed most of the Wolf-Headed Tigers. The survivors started to flee, making them much harder to finish off.
Everyone’s stellar force was running low, and many were drenched in sweat. Seeing this, Evan Chu called out, "Stop chasing them! Get the Magic Crystals out and let’s divide them up in a bit."
In under five minutes, all the Magic Crystals were harvested from the slain Wolf-Headed Tigers. Everyone handed their haul to Evan Chu—there were at least fifty or sixty crystals.
"Linfeng, don’t waste the beast corpses. Your little Shadow is starving—let it eat its fill. These Wolf-Headed Tigers may not have much energy, but there’s a lot of them; Shadow should be able to make some progress." Luna, the Sword Spirit, reminded him.
If Luna hadn’t mentioned it, Evan Chu would’ve totally forgotten about Shadow, his Bloodshadow Berserker Lion. With a thought, Shadow appeared before the group.