Saving System: Calm Down, My Fleeing Host!

Chapter 420 - 412: The Hunt Begins

Therefore, the usual routine was changed. In the second round of the beast hunting assessment, an important step was added, allowing the direct inheritance of the Sect Leader position by skipping the third round of assessment.

So what was she doing with this group of people?

She neither competed for the Sect Leader position nor wanted to hunt any Fierce Beasts.

After Cheng Xiaoxiao understood all the situations, she wanted to find an opportunity to slip away.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t find a suitable opportunity. As the team continued forward, they were about to enter the chasm, and she grew more anxious.

Cheng Xiaoxiao used the excuse of a personal urgency, but the big guy also said he wanted to relieve himself, insisting on accompanying her, which made her very frustrated.

Seeing the chasm’s critical point close at hand, Cheng Xiaoxiao said she was hungry and needed some food, urging the team to move forward. The big guy immediately took out some pancakes his mother had made and righteously stuffed them into her hands.

He told her to eat freely and not to be polite with him.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was so frustrated that she gritted her teeth.

Even the few disciples accompanying them along the way had become familiar with her and teased her, saying that the Sixteenth Senior Brother had a kind heart and took good care of the junior brothers and sisters.

With such a large group, and their position in the middle of the group, it was really difficult to break away from the team.

Looking at the chasm ahead, below was a cliff of ten thousand feet, and in the middle was a single thick iron chain. Disciples leapt across, using Inner Strength, lightly touching the chain with their toes to easily leap over it.

Special people were left behind to look after their horses.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was now like a duck driven onto a perch, looking at the rocky peaks on both sides, full of jagged rocks in disarray. The whole place was empty and barren, with nothing to hide behind apart from rubble, not a single tall tree, providing no shelter or cover.

What else could she do? If she didn’t blend in, she would surely be suspected.

She could only muddle along, crossing the chasm and entering the area outside the border.

The forest here was very lush, and the severe cold had not entirely withered or killed the trees; many towering ancient trees were still draped in lush green leaves.

In actuality, the temperature here was somewhat better than in Tianqi; they entered the cold timeline a bit earlier.

The temperature stabilized at around minus twenty degrees for nearly a month. With abundant resources here, many martial arts practitioners exhibited excellent cold resistance; only the city’s inhabitants had a high initial mortality rate, which was controlled after the sect’s intervention.

To their surprise, an epidemic suddenly broke out, catching them off guard.

Amidst multiple calamities, they had to find another path.

At this time, as the team gradually approached the forest, Cheng Xiaoxiao felt her own insignificance, as if stepping into a truly primordial forest.

Before her eyes was a sea of ancient trees, each with a history of over a hundred years.

Gigantic trees reached into the clouds, entwined with vines, thorns proliferated, dappled light and shadow interweaving a sense of time accumulation.

Once they reached this place, the team dispersed.

There were several paths into the forest, clearly formed by years of trampling. Each team, led by their respective leaders, chose the paths they favored and entered slowly.

Upon entering, they discovered a maze of connections, with tall grasses and vines winding around the trees ascending endlessly. Looking up, only a mottled sky could be seen, sprinkling shimmering light down.

The team had a dedicated vanguard, whose role was to scout ahead and detect possible predatory birds or Fierce Beasts early.

If they observed any threats, they wouldn’t engage but would launch different sound arrows to warn while retreating immediately, so that the main team could prepare in advance.

There were also two stronger disciples guarding the rear, to prevent fierce beasts or enemies from attacking from behind.

They usually stayed on the tree branches, maintaining a wide view and vigilance around them.

If manpower were ample, they could even arrange side guards, and so on.

However, with limited manpower and a smaller team than others, this was omitted.

Cheng Xiaoxiao learned from the big guy that after catching a Fierce Beast, they marked it and sent a signal flare; there were designated people to handle the carcass.

There were dedicated vine baskets for transporting Fierce Beasts at the downstream of the chasm.

Of course, many specialized carts for carrying Fierce Beasts were also hidden in supply points here.

Various supply points were scattered around the periphery.

Items like spare weapons and equipment, common expendable nets, tents, ropes, quilts, clothing, water, dry food, charcoal, and even various Elixirs.

No wonder these people were all lightly equipped, carrying only small bundles; it turned out they were well prepared.

The whole hunt typically lasted from a month to about three months.

Therefore, the disciples’ consumption figures were enormous, and various supplies were inevitable.

But these could only be set up on the periphery; once they enter the inner area, survival was no longer assured, and everything depended on the team and themselves.

Thus, entering the interior was a very dangerous matter; a slight mistake could cost them their lives.

Disciples with experience in outside-the-border hunting were very cautious, aware that entering this area posed a constant life risk, requiring maximum vigilance.

Newcomers like the big guy were particularly excited, as if believing that outside the border, the ground was covered with monsters to fight, and they were eagerly preparing for a big fight.

Regrettably, they overestimated the situation.

How vast was the hell outside the border? If full of Fierce Beasts, how could humans possibly survive?

Let alone Fierce Beasts, even ordinary carnivorous beasts occupied large territories, and this place, as the outer periphery, had already been scoured countless times by humans. It wasn’t easy to find even a pack of jackals.

The novice disciples trudged along dejectedly throughout the morning, without encountering anything.

Watching these heedless fellows, the veteran disciples would remind them that outside the border, anything could happen. Perhaps while walking, a Fierce Beast might suddenly appear.

So, everyone was told to stay vigilant and proceed with caution.

However, upon hearing that a Fierce Beast might suddenly appear, everyone’s excitement began to stir again, only to find nothing happened as the team proceeded. By the time it was restated, the new disciples had lost all interest.

Indeed, it proved that saying: newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.

The team walked continuously from morning until four or five in the afternoon, reaching a campsite.

Here, several ancient trees surrounded a cleared area.

Between branches seven or eight meters up, there were makeshift wooden houses.

They looked quite shabby and old.

Inside were stored numerous emergency supplies.

Their team needed to rest here for the night, then proceed at dawn the next morning.

Everyone settled down while it was still light; otherwise, if the camp wasn’t set up and traps arranged by nightfall, unknown Fierce Beasts might intrude.

These things were already in place.

Predecessors would carve out a simple campsite based on the terrain here, and these bases gradually gained some defense ability after generations of operation and reinforcement.

Rows of large wooden stakes formed a simple enclosure outside, with no obstructions around, offering a wide view. In the distance, a clear stream supplemented the water supply.