As Tianlan continued searching for his next prey, a familiar surge of magic suddenly rippled from nearby.
—Kuang Yan.
At this moment, Kuang Yan was swinging his pitch-black claws, brutally hunting down an unfortunate contestant. The greatsword user was forced back step after step, barely holding up his weapon in defense.
"W-what the hell?!" the greatsword user roared. "Aren't we supposed to hunt monsters? Why are you attacking me?!"
Kuang Yan only grinned cruelly.
"If I eliminate all of you first, I can take my time hunting, can't I? Should any one of you worms get through the third stage before me… that would be troublesome. I don't have time to waste on you—so, goodbye."
Before the man could react, Kuang Yan flooded his claws with magic. One claw seized the greatsword; the other pierced straight through the man's heart, crushing his chest cavity in an instant.
After the barrier opened, every other contestant followed the rules and hunted monsters—except Kuang Yan. He wasn't hunting beasts; he was hunting contestants.
Of course, he had only one true target—Tianlan.
The rest were merely appetizers.
Hongjin frowned at Kuang Chen.
"This isn't monster hunting. What the hell is he doing?"
Kuang Chen didn't respond. He simply shot her a sideways glance and kept watching the screen.
Tianlan Escapes
The moment Tianlan sensed Kuang Yan's magic, he turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, all direct-line descendants were searching for their designated targets—the Brown Iron Grizzly.
The Brown Iron Grizzly existed solely for the direct-line heirs. Ordinary contestants rarely challenged it; while defeating one granted immediate advancement, the risk was enormous.
But to the direct line, not hunting one meant admitting they were afraid, incompetent, and unworthy.
They had no choice—avoiding the fight would disgrace their family.
Jianchen, Jin Hao, Tingshi, and Yanlie hunted other monsters while searching for their respective grizzlies. Tingshi encountered a Stone-Arm Colossus during his search.
Shadow Thorn and Cang Yu made use of their exceptional tracking abilities.
Xuan Ye and Lie Lian relied on their superior magic sense and located their targets almost instantly.
But just as Xuan Ye expanded his magic detection, he sensed the distance between Tianlan and Kuang Yan shrinking rapidly.
He frowned.
"Those two again? And… his aura has completely changed. What did he go through these past two weeks?"
Luckily, he soon sensed Tianlan veer sharply away from Kuang Yan's direction.
"So you noticed the danger too… You've changed far more than I expected."
He exhaled, then turned toward his grizzly.
"Alright, I need to finish my task too. Otherwise Grandpa will nag me again."
Kuang Yan's Hunt
Not long after, Kuang Yan had already killed several contestants, but still failed to locate Tianlan.
"Where is that little worm?" Kuang Yan growled. "Is he hiding? You can't pass this stage by hiding… Where is he?!"
Then he spotted an exceptionally tall tree, and a vicious idea flashed through his eyes.
He shot forward, leaping and climbing like a beast. Reaching the upper branches, he infused magic into his head and eyes.
His face twisted, morphing into that of a black panther with sharp fangs.
His vision expanded dramatically.
He scanned the entire barrier—
And finally locked onto Tianlan.
Cang Song and Zhen Yue stiffened at the same time.
—"Damn it! Tianlan, run!"
Kuang Yan's lips stretched into a predatory grin.
"Finally… found you, little worm."
The Hunt Begins
His legs sprouted black scales and hooked claws, shifting into a panther-like sprinting posture. His gaze never left Tianlan.
At that moment, Tianlan was fighting a Rampaging Horn Bull. A chilling killing intent suddenly swept toward him.
He turned—and met Kuang Yan's eyes.
His face paled.
"Not good—!"
He immediately bolted, not even stopping to finish off the bull. The wounded monster was promptly smashed to pulp by Kuang Yan as he passed.
Kuang Yan closed in rapidly and slashed at Tianlan's back—
Tianlan dove forward, barely dodging.
Kuang Yan struck again and again, his claws tearing the air itself. Tianlan blocked every blow with his bracers, barely holding on.
Kuang Yan sneered between attacks:
"Oh? You've gotten stronger. And you even got yourself some high-grade bracers. What did you do these past two weeks? If not for those bracers, your arms would've been shredded already!"
Tianlan didn't answer—he seized every opening to escape.
Kuang Yan, however, chased relentlessly with overwhelming speed.
Along the way, Tianlan passed several contestants, all of whom Kuang Yan instantly killed as "obstructions."
Kuang Yan laughed darkly:
"See those worms just now? They died because of you. Even if you run into the finals, so what? After the competition I can still kill you. And that won't be a fake death inside a barrier—it'll be real."
"And after that… your family, your friends… I'll send them all to join you."
At those words, Tianlan suddenly stopped.
His fists clenched.
A burning fury swelled inside him as he glared at Kuang Yan.
Reactions From the Viewing Hall
Cang Song shouted in alarm:
"Kid, don't listen to him! RUN! Shake him off and keep hunting! With your strength, you can definitely enter the finals! Don't worry about him—just go!"
Yao Feng slammed the table.
"Since when has our Ninth Clan fallen so far that we're threatening ordinary contestants?!"
Zhen Yue growled at Kuang Chen:
"I plan to recruit this kid after the trials. Your people better not touch him."
But Kuang Chen remained silent, eyes locked on the screen.
Tianlan's Choice
Tianlan did not run.
Instead, he slowly—step by step—walked straight toward Kuang Yan.
(To be continued)