Volume One, Chapter 14: The Destiny Challenge Team Uses Others to Kill, and the Elite Monster Emerges!

He was just worried about not finding any monsters to kill.

Unexpectedly, there were such good people.

When the time came, he intended to personally “thank” them properly.

The next moment, he looked toward Pang Haoyu.

“There’s going to be a fierce battle ahead.”

Pang Haoyu was stunned.

A fierce battle?

Could it be that these people had accomplices?

But soon after, he realized he was mistaken.

Because on the opposite side of the Shannan River Bridge, a dense swarm of monsters appeared.

Of course, he wasn’t a fool.

He immediately sensed something was amiss.

He and Gu Xinian had walked all the way from Qinghe University campus to here without encountering many monsters.

But after the skirmish with those six individuals here, suddenly so many monsters appeared.

That left only two possibilities.

Either they had triggered some hidden mechanism of the trial realm,

Or someone had deliberately targeted them.

Yet this hopeful fourteen-or-fifteen-year-old boy preferred to believe in the former—that the world was not yet so dark.

The monsters gathered around the end of the Shannan River Bridge, instantly triggering the trial’s hidden mechanism, locking their hatred target on Gu Xinian, who had chosen the hell difficulty.

Pang Haoyu grew tense once again.

There were far more monsters than the ones he and Gu Xinian had killed or seen in the blood fog before. Anyone would feel uneasy.

He couldn’t help but glance at Gu Xinian and saw that the big shot remained calm as ever. For a moment, an indescribable sense of reassurance welled up inside him.

Following such a powerhouse, even if he served as a beast of burden for life, it would be a blessing.

This thought quietly took root in his mind.

The next moment, the monsters charged at Gu Xinian.

Gu Xinian immediately used the Strange Guard Order, summoning a level 12 Strange Guard to protect Pang Haoyu.

The priest must not be harmed.

“It will guard you. Stay behind me, and I’ll lead us out,” he said to Pang Haoyu.

Pang Haoyu nodded heavily.

Then Gu Xinian launched his charge.

Yes, in such dire circumstances, on the brink of despair, he still charged before the monsters arrived.

His movement was incredibly swift, like a cheetah sprinting across the grasslands, or the wind rushing over the wilderness.

Pang Haoyu struggled to keep up, gritting his teeth.

After all, he had allocated all his attributes to strength and intelligence, neglecting agility. The speed gap between him and Gu Xinian was significant.

The level 12 Strange Guard summoned by the Strange Guard Order easily kept pace beside Pang Haoyu, guarding him.

The first monster Gu Xinian encountered was the most agile among them.

With sufficient attack range, it launched its assault simultaneously with Gu Xinian.

Having endured countless trials in his past life, Gu Xinian’s combat skills had reached their peak, and his spear technique was nothing short of sublime.

Unfortunately, in his previous life, he only acquired an A-grade spear weapon after reaching level 50.

Now, at merely level 12, he already possessed the S-grade Corrupted Spear.

Having tasted bitterness in his past life, he cherished the sweetness of this life.

His eyes burned brightly; he fought with increasing courage and fierceness.

He slaughtered monsters like cutting grass!

One terrifying monster after another fell lifeless before being mercilessly devoured by the Corrupted Swamp.

In just minutes, he and Pang Haoyu had cut through hundreds of yards.

But as they neared the end of the Shannan River Bridge, the situation worsened.

For some unknown reason, even more monsters appeared at the bridge’s end.

And because Gu Xinian had chosen the hell difficulty’s aggro priority, all the monsters surged toward him, forming an almost impenetrable encirclement.

Pang Haoyu’s face turned pale; sweat drenched his body.

“Big shot Gu, maybe you should break out on your own. Don’t worry about me,” he said earnestly.

He truly meant it.

Though he hadn’t tossed Gu Xinian any healing skills since the fight with the six earlier, with so many monsters, no matter how terrifying Gu Xinian was, Pang Haoyu had lost confidence in breaking through.

It wasn’t a lack of faith in Gu Xinian himself, but in their ability to break out together.

Even if Gu Xinian wouldn’t abandon him, could he really guard Pang Haoyu against so many foes?

Even if he could, Pang Haoyu didn’t want that.

Hadn’t he seen how quickly the summoned Strange Guard had fallen?

Gu Xinian smiled.

“Afraid of holding me back again?”

“Don’t worry, no trial dilemma can defeat me.”

Though the situation had reached its worst, his face and eyes still radiated unwavering confidence.

For a moment, Pang Haoyu felt a strange illusion:

Could it be that Gu Xinian still had the situation firmly under control?

Just then, an unexpected development occurred.

At the tail end of the monster horde near the Shannan River Bridge, fierce battle sounds suddenly erupted.

Someone else?

Pang Haoyu felt a surge of hope but quickly grew anxious.

He didn’t know if they were friend or foe.

But now that someone was fighting the monsters over there, it was good news for them.

Gu Xinian’s reaction was much quicker.

As soon as the distant battle sounds rang out, a sharp gleam flickered in his eyes, and he began breaking out again.

On the other side, a sizable force fought hard, far larger than the previous group of six, led by a very professional commander who tore a path through the monsters like a sharp blade.

Gu Xinian and Pang Haoyu had also carved a path through the swarm.

The two parties met there.

Everyone on the other side was stunned.

“Damn, isn’t that Gu Xinian from the novice trial?”

“I thought he got the weakest talent skill? How is he still this strong?”

…

For a while, the large force coming up from the rear of the monster horde was bewildered.

They had split into eight combat squads, led by those two commanders, and had painstakingly hacked a blood path through the monsters.

Yet Gu Xinian and just one companion had also carved a path out. Was that reasonable?

Most importantly, they had just seen Pang Haoyu barely participate in combat, at most occasionally tossing a healing talent to Gu Xinian.

Damn, could one person really be this powerful?

At that moment, a righteous, robust voice rang out.

“Apologies, Mr. Gu. It was the Destiny Trial Group who proposed cooperating with us, luring all the monsters here to attack together. We led the monsters here but never expected this to be a conspiracy.”

Hearing this familiar voice, Gu Xinian looked toward it and saw the expected person.

Tall stature, strong build, sharp features, short cropped hair, wearing a military uniform.

It was Li Xuan, a soldier on leave in Qinghe City who had been swept into the Divine Trial.

As for the so-called Destiny Trial Group, Gu Xinian was well acquainted with them.

Because in his past life, this organization existed since the novice trial.

Led by Lin Qingxue and Han Tong.

Though this life’s novice trial had changed greatly due to him, the Destiny Trial Group still appeared, presumably formed by Lin Qingxue and Han Tong.

But Li Xuan, despite being a soldier, was not exceptionally intelligent.

It was because of Xiao Ran!

The Destiny Trial Group had actively sought cooperation with them.

They had led the monsters to the destination but saw no one from the Destiny Trial Group, only the ongoing battle on the Shannan River Bridge.

They assumed the Destiny Trial Group had taken action, waiting for all monsters to flood the bridge, then completing the planned encirclement from the rear.

After they began clearing some monsters and advanced a bit, they realized something was wrong.

There were too few people fighting monsters on the bridge.

Had some accident befallen the Destiny Trial Group, leaving only a handful still fighting?

Driven by curiosity to uncover the truth, Li Xuan and Xiao Ran led their entire force like a sharp knife, cutting into the bridge.

Thus, the ensuing scene unfolded.

As the first to advocate team formation among all trial participants in the Qinghe University campus zone of the Weiyang faction, they deeply understood how terrifying the monsters were.

Before witnessing Gu Xinian’s skill firsthand this trial, they even doubted whether he could solo these monsters.

One can imagine their shock when they saw Gu Xinian break through with just one spear and Pang Haoyu.

Li Xuan and Xiao Ran were equally stunned, feeling as if dreaming.

But both possessed extraordinary psychological resilience.

So Xiao Ran quickly regained composure, calmly analyzing the situation and sharply identifying the truth—concluding that the Destiny Trial Group’s actions aimed to kill Gu Xinian.

Though this conclusion was hard to believe, considering Gu Xinian’s suffocatingly terrifying strength, it was not strange.

If Xiao Ran herself bore a grudge against Gu Xinian, she would probably do the same as the Destiny Trial Group, even more ruthlessly and cunningly.

She immediately shared her thoughts with Li Xuan and advised him to apologize and explain to Gu Xinian proactively.

Li Xuan wholeheartedly agreed.

By nature, he despised the Destiny Trial Group’s schemes.

Moreover, he bore no grudge against Gu Xinian and resented being used as a tool for backstabbing.

Apologizing and explaining to Gu Xinian was only natural.

Besides, he greatly respected Gu Xinian’s strength.

Though his heroic chivalry clashed with Gu Xinian’s nature, he believed that someone like Gu Xinian surviving in this world was more beneficial than harmful.

For instance, without Gu Xinian’s furious slaughter of the Strange Guards during the novice trial, who knew how many would have perished?

Upon hearing Xiao Ran’s words, Li Xuan snapped back to reality and immediately stepped forward to apologize and explain to Gu Xinian.

Even if they couldn’t become allies, they could not be enemies.

The others in the large force did not know of this.

So when Li Xuan spoke and acted, they were shocked.

After all, their survival and progress to this point owed entirely to Xiao Ran and Li Xuan.

These two had gradually become towering, mythical figures in their eyes.

They believed no matter how strong Gu Xinian was, he couldn’t be their match.

They might explain things to Gu Xinian but saw no need to apologize.

Yet now, Li Xuan had taken the initiative to apologize.

And Xiao Ran behaved as if it were only right to do so, leaving many puzzled.

Fortunately, Xiao Ran spoke softly to Li Xuan, and their revered leadership kept others at a distance.

Otherwise, if the troops heard Xiao Ran urging Li Xuan to apologize, and Li Xuan actually doing it, they wouldn’t know how to feel.

Gu Xinian nodded.

“It’s fine. Your arrival just now helped me solve a little problem.”

The large force widened their eyes.

Damn, you’re so arrogant and still out of breath.

Though they had to admit Gu Xinian’s individual combat power was truly terrifying.

But under those circumstances, if not for their arrival clearing some monsters from the rear, they couldn’t fathom how Gu Xinian could have broken through.

Human strength can only go so far.

Even if Gu Xinian abandoned Pang Haoyu, his chances would be slim.

But Xiao Ran had a different perspective.

Not only was she extremely intelligent, but also meticulous.

From the moment she saw Gu Xinian, she had been observing the young man with refined features.

She noticed he remained calm throughout.

As if even without their intervention, he could have broken through.

Then she spoke.

“Mr. Gu, if you don’t mind, you can come with us.”

She extended an invitation to Gu Xinian.

Li Xuan’s eyes lit up; how had he not thought of this earlier?

After such fierce fighting, Gu Xinian must be exhausted.

Inviting him now would probably not be refused.

With Gu Xinian’s strength, their casualties would be greatly reduced in the coming battles.

The entire large force brightened at the prospect.

If Gu Xinian joined them, having such an overwhelmingly powerful warrior would fundamentally change their strength!

Besides, who wouldn’t want to latch onto such a mighty ally?

For a moment, even those who had thought Gu Xinian’s words arrogant now looked at him with eager anticipation.

If not for some dignity and pride, they might have already begged him to join.

Then, suddenly, a new event occurred.

Everyone’s vision flashed with a new panel:

[Elite monsters are about to arrive. You may proceed to kill them and receive rewards!

Coordinate map will generate in 5 minutes!]