Good luck, you are saved!

Cao Xueyan grew increasingly certain that something was wrong with this place.

The cause of the situation was about an hour earlier, when night had fully fallen.

She happened to meet a fellow sect disciple.

Although she had already prepared herself to go without sleep for two or three days, a Qi Refinement cultivator still couldn’t truly avoid resting.

So Cao Xueyan suggested that the two of them travel together for now, so they could look after each other.

The other party clearly had the same thought.

They agreed that the other person would keep watch for the first half of the night, and Cao Xueyan would take over for the second half.

Originally, Cao Xueyan had already lain down to rest, her long-tense nerves finally loosening a bit.

But this realm seemed to have some strange problem—like a hand grabbing her by the collar and saying: Get up, your nap is over.

Cao Xueyan felt her heart drop.

She looked around her.

The disciple who had been sitting not far away had disappeared without a sound.

What was going on?

Cao Xueyan checked repeatedly to see if there was any trace of that disciple’s aura nearby.

Even if someone had abducted her, how high would their cultivation have to be to do it this silently?

Thinking back to the strange circumstances when they entered, Cao Xueyan began to form a guess.

Most likely, this year’s Demon Hunting Tournament was very different from past years.

It seemed that some additional effect was built into the grand formation guarding this realm—one that would forcefully separate disciples who traveled in pairs or groups, preventing them from working together.

After this ordeal, Cao Xueyan became even more alert.

Night had already deepened, the hour when demon beasts were most active.

The ones she encountered during the day were nothing in comparison—neither in strength nor in number.

Cao Xueyan took out a pill from her storage pouch and swallowed it.

The medicinal power spread through her body, and she hurried to refine it.

Though the spiritual power in her dantian slowly recovered, she still felt uneasy, unsettled and unable to relax.

Suddenly she remembered the congratulatory gift she had received during the grand ceremony.

She took out a heavy Iron-Armored Puppet from the corner of her storage space.

Her heart instantly steadied.

Good—this was the Iron-Armored Puppet.

She was saved.

With this puppet keeping watch, she could finally rest without worry.

After all, this puppet could even suppress a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

She also had the array plate for the Imperial Earth Guardian Formation in her storage pouch.

Placing it down with spirit stones could expand a defensive barrier to protect her.

But activating the formation burned spirit stones quickly.

Though she had brought plenty, she hesitated and ultimately decided not to use them yet.

The Iron-Armored Puppet dutifully stood guard at her side.

After waiting a moment, Cao Xueyan discovered that the grand formation did not recognize the puppet as a companion.

Meaning she had just slipped through a loophole—quite a convenient one.

The night was full of demon beasts.

Even second-rank beasts that could rival Foundation Establishment cultivators would appear.

Cao Xueyan could rely on the puppet to defeat them easily—but that would defeat the purpose of this being a training trial.

So she calmed herself and focused on circulating her spiritual power.

The night was not peaceful for many disciples in the Demon Hunting Tournament.

They too were unable to find companions.

With no one to keep watch, they dared not relax.

Even while meditating, they had to look around constantly.

Even without demon beasts attacking, just this fear alone was enough to mentally exhaust them.

Those with low cultivation or lacking in real combat experience—like Cao Xueyan once was—felt as though night had opened the gates of hell.

Many of them were being relentlessly chased by demon beasts at that very moment.

During the day, they could barely cope.

But at night, the demon beasts multiplied.

One wave after another.

The smell of blood drew more predators.

They were tormented endlessly—unable to fight, unable to flee.

Meanwhile, Cao Xueyan was quite comfortable.

It was not that demon beasts did not come.

In fact, the more relaxed and still she appeared, the more they targeted her.

Over several hours, many foolish demon beasts charged at her—only to be smashed into pulp by the puppet’s massive fists.

Cao Xueyan took one glance mid-night and almost panicked—not because anything was wrong with the puppet, but because it was too efficient.

Most of the beasts were killed instantly, bodies crushed into mangled paste, leaving almost nothing salvageable.

But after seeing this happen repeatedly, she relaxed again.

She had come to the Demon Hunting Tournament for what?

Experience.

Beasts killed by the puppet did not count as her kills.

So their materials did not belong to her either.

If she couldn’t use them, she simply couldn’t use them.

Cao Xueyan had a good mentality—she let it go.

When she looked up again, the sky was already becoming light.

She had recovered enough.

Time to move.

First, she found a cloth and wiped the blood and flesh off the puppet’s massive fists.

Then she stored it back in her pouch.

Holding the Frost Moon Sword, Cao Xueyan once again set off to hunt demon beasts.

“Gone again.”

Dan Yao stared blankly at the spot where someone had been standing just moments before.

Her luck hadn’t been bad—when she was fleeing in panic last night, she had run into another fellow disciple.

The two had traveled together and barely managed to last until dawn.

But the moment they spoke, that companion vanished again.

This grand formation was truly hateful.

Dan Yao might be Qi Refinement Ninth Layer, but numbers still mattered.

Against group-hunting demon beasts, she still had to retreat.

She carried only pills, and her weapons were ordinary, barely capable of slicing hide.

If things became dangerous, she could only hope to hide during the daylight when beast activity was lower and recover her spiritual energy.

But she had gained almost nothing the entire previous night.

If things continued like this, by the sunset of the third day, she would have nothing to submit.

She refused to accept that.

Dan Yao clenched her teeth, gripping her weapon, her body trembling slightly.

She hadn’t joined the Demon Hunting Tournament for fun.

She wanted to earn a ranking—to prove herself.

Especially to her father.

She could only refine Deficient-Heaven Pills.

No matter how high her alchemy talent was, in these times, such a pill meant being dismissed and ignored.

No one would gamble their fate on such uncertainty.

Cultivators believed most in such unseen, intangible luck.

“Junior Sister… where are you…?” Dan Yao thought tiredly.

After resting a moment, she gathered what hope she had left and chose a direction to walk.

No matter what, she had to use the daytime to hunt demon beasts.

She couldn’t come in last.