Where does that wicked woman get her conscience?

She was just asking casually; she had no intention of searching for crystal cores. When she stepped into the Illusion Forest again, her mind was entirely focused on digging out the beast cores of demonic beasts.

Although she is not particularly strong now, she can still move freely in the chaos of war, as long as she doesn't encounter someone a hundred times stronger than her...

As the thought flashed through his mind, the silver-haired figure appeared for a moment, and Guan Xun immediately shook his head.

People with such great strength are not as common as cabbages; the probability of encountering one is very small.

If Chi Rong could have a physical form soon, she could leave this hellish place as soon as possible. If she had the chance, she could also try to find the Celestial Realm, which she wondered if it still existed on the continent.

Historically, rulers in high positions have always passed the throne to their eldest sons. The feud between these sisters over the throne must eventually be settled.

Her divine soul survived millions of years of erosion beneath the Black Sea without being refined, so her sister certainly wouldn't perish so easily...

"Junior Sister Guan Xun, let's go!"

A loud shout interrupted Guan Xun's thoughts. She turned her head and saw that Ling Moyan and Qiu Tianchuan were already walking not far ahead.

Her eyes flickered slightly, and she took a step forward to follow him.

There are quite a few monsters living on the outskirts of the Illusionary Forest. They are of low rank and pose very little danger, and many students are wandering around looking for them.

Since the monster cores do not depend on their rank, they prefer to stay on the outer perimeter rather than the dangerous high-ranking monsters inside.

Even Ling Moyan and the others were the same; in just three days, each of them had three or four crystal cores in their hands.

However, everything has its limits. After several days of searching, they had found almost all the monsters in the vicinity.

"I wonder how far Lu Shenqu and the others are going in their search." Ling Moyan glanced around.

"Were they the champions in previous years?" Qiu Chuan, who was standing next to him, reached out and patted the giant ice flower bee that was perched on his shoulder, and curiously stretched his head over.

Ling Moyan glanced at him and curled his lip in disdain: "Are you looking down on me?"

Qiu Chuan was taken aback, then quickly smiled apologetically, "No way."

"Alright, stop arguing." Guan Xun lifted her skirt slightly, strode across the mud puddle in front of her, turned her head and scanned the two of them back and forth, then raised her chin slightly, gesturing for them to look into the forest.

"There aren't any monsters with crystal cores around here anymore, so we need to move into the middle area now."

Hearing this, Ling Moyan nodded in agreement.

Qiu Chuan hesitated for a moment: "Should we go in? It's... very dangerous inside."

Feeling the gazes cast upon him by the two people in front of him, he steeled himself and pointed to the left, saying, "We can walk around the outer perimeter; there might be many more monsters with crystal cores over there. There's no need to risk going in."

Guan Xun withdrew his gaze, turned and walked inside, his voice calm, indicating his agreement with his opinion: "You guys go over there, I'll go in and take a look."

If we don't go deeper, where will we find high-level demonic beasts? Since everyone has their own ideas, Guan Xun also thinks it's better to separate, so that it will be easier for her to move around.

Ling Moyan had been in and out of the forest before, so he wasn't afraid. Seeing the people ahead walking steadily into the forest, he raised his hand and waved to Qiu Chuan: "Let's go in first."

Having said that, he immediately hurried after them.

One by one they walked in, and Qiu Chuan could no longer stand still. He looked to his left, then at the backs of the two people, gritted his teeth, and followed their steps.

The further in you go, the more lush the trees become, and even the grass grows much taller than on the outer edges.

Several people led the demonic beast past, their faces showing signs of fatigue, and their robes were damp with water droplets, indicating that they had been lingering here for quite some time.

"Someone's already in the inner circle this early?" Qiu Chuan finally caught up with the two. Seeing the former stop in place, he turned his head to look and immediately said in surprise in a low voice.

The group of five, led by a man, had clearly seen them as well. His gaze swept over Guan Xun, and a flash of amazement crossed his dark eyes.

"Mu Qing." The only woman in the group frowned and called out softly.

Mu Qing snapped out of her daze, patted the water droplets off her blue robe, glanced at Ling Moyan standing next to Guan Xun, let out a soft snort, and led the group deeper into the area.

The behavior just now was undoubtedly contemptuous.

"It's them?" Ling Moyan narrowed his eyes and frowned.

"Have you had a grudge?" Guan Xun glanced sideways.

These people are not weak; almost all of them are at the same level as Ling Moyan.

“Yes, they are from Leiyin Academy.” Ling Moyan nodded and said slowly, “Last year, we had a dispute over a demon beast’s crystal core, and we almost came to blows.”

"Looks like he got the short end of the stick." Guan Xun nudged him with his elbow, somewhat gloating.

Although she wasn't considered short for a woman, she was still slightly shorter than a man; even when she stood on tiptoe, she didn't reach Ling Moyan's ear.

Guan Xun slammed his elbow upwards, striking the opponent's right abdomen.

Ling Moyan immediately stiffened, instinctively shrinking to the left and shifting his feet to the side: "...It itches."

Guan Xun chuckled, "Young Master Ling doesn't seem like someone who'll suffer a loss. How about we take this opportunity to get revenge and beat them up?"

revenge?

Ling Moyan touched his nose, and only after feeling the heat rising on the tip of his ear dissipate slightly did he move closer to Guan Xun.

"You should be able to tell their skill level, right? I'm not that good as to take on five people at once."

"Who said you could take on five at once?" Guan Xun turned to the side and pointed at Qiu Chuan behind him: "Two against five."

Autumn River: ...

Ling Moyan: ...

"That means... we only have a chance of winning in a five-on-five situation," Qiu Chuan muttered.

"Sigh." Ling Moyan curled the corners of his mouth, leaned down slightly, and raised an eyebrow at Guan Xun: "Unless junior sister lends a hand, there might really be a chance of winning."

"How good are they at finding crystal cores?" Guan Xun asked seriously when he met the other person's teasing gaze.

Not seeing the shy expression he expected, Ling Moyan was clearly stunned. He thought for a moment and said, "Um... Leiyin Academy is right after us. That guy named Mu Qing just now was their top student. Last year, he had more individual achievements than me."

"Oh……"

Guan Xun nodded thoughtfully, agreeing that what he said was indeed very impressive.

"Why do you ask?"

Ling Moyan was puzzled, and Qiu Tianchuan was even more puzzled.

Sensing two puzzled gazes fixed on him, Guan Xun smiled and said, "Finding crystal cores must have been hard work, right?"

That's natural," they both nodded in unison.

"The rules the teacher mentioned a few days ago didn't seem to say that the source of crystal cores must be monsters. If that's the case, can't we also get them from humans?"

"Human? Where would a human get crystal cores?" Ling Moyan's mouth moved faster than his brain; he immediately understood the meaning behind the words as soon as he finished speaking.

"You mean..."

"Stealing someone else's?!" Ling Moyan and Qiu Tianchuan exclaimed in unison.