The orangutan furiously smashed the trees and stones beside it.
For a moment, the entire forest was filled with flying sand and rocks, shaking violently.
The surrounding demon beasts were so scared that they dared not even breathe, and they all fled their positions, moving away from this area.
Zhang Er Gou's face grew increasingly grim. Judging by the current situation, the orangutan had become completely enraged.
He was currently carrying a burden, making it extremely difficult to retreat safely.
Zhang Er Gou subtly shifted his body. The orangutan, still smashing wildly, immediately turned its head and looked in his direction.
He immediately held his breath and clung tightly to the tree trunk. Fortunately, the leaves provided cover, otherwise, he would have been discovered by the orangutan.
"What should I do? This can't go on like this,"
Zhang Er Gou muttered to himself. It was then that he lowered his head to observe who the person he had rescued was.
Li Xun's face was unrecognizable. Zhang Er Gou took a long time to identify him, and finally recognized him as Li Xun by the long sword he tightly gripped.
What surprised Zhang Er Gou was that despite such brutal treatment, Li Xun had managed to hold onto that long sword tightly.
"If only there was something that could lure this thing away."
Zhang Er Gou gazed into the distance, pondering a solution.
Although he now knew Li Xun's identity, he couldn't possibly abandon him.
After all, both of them were members of the alliance, and they didn't have any significant grudges. Saving a life was also a way to preserve a fighting force for the alliance.
"Ah, it hurts..."
While Zhang Er Gou was desperately trying to figure out a way, he suddenly heard Li Xun cry out in pain beside him.
"Hush..."
Zhang Er Gou quickly tried to stop him, but it was too late.
"It's over." Zhang Er Gou's eyes widened, meeting the orangutan's gaze directly.
He had been discovered. Zhang Er Gou felt a splitting headache.
He had hidden for so long, only to be ruined by this guy Li Xun. If he had known earlier, he shouldn't have given him the pill; he should have kept him unconscious. Then he might have had a chance to escape.
Now, to leave, he would likely have to defeat the enraged orangutan before him.
The orangutan glared with its two enormous eyes, fixedly staring at the large tree where Zhang Er Gou was located.
Its smashing motion also stopped.
"Don't come over."
Zhang Er Gou whispered inwardly, praying that the orangutan wouldn't approach.
However, things often turned out contrary to one's wishes. The orangutan seemed to have not heard Zhang Er Gou's thoughts at all.
It slowly walked towards Zhang Er Gou.
"Thump... thump... thump..."
Each of the orangutan's steps felt like a blow to Zhang Er Gou's heart, making him so nervous that he could barely breathe.
The closer it got, the more he felt the intense pressure emanating from it.
This was the demon beast that exerted the most pressure on him that he had ever encountered.
"Now!"
Seeing that the orangutan was about to reach within ten feet of his tree, and the next step would be to step onto this giant tree.
Zhang Er Gou leaped from the tree, holding his spear, its tip aimed directly at the orangutan's two large eyes...
"Look, Zhang Er Gou's points seem to have stopped increasing. It's been over an hour. Could he have encountered some danger?"
Those outside who had been closely watching the point leaderboard now frowned.
"Not only have Zhang Er Gou's points stopped, but Li Xun's points also haven't moved for a long time, and his points stopped increasing even earlier than Zhang Er Gou's."
If the points of other disciples participating in the assessment weren't still changing, the peak masters would have assumed something had gone wrong in the secret realm.
At first, people didn't pay much attention, thinking that Zhang Er Gou and Li Xun were just traveling or dealing with other matters.
But when half a day passed, and neither Zhang Er Gou's nor Li Xun's points continued to increase, everyone's hearts became agitated.
"There are still six hours left until the secret realm assessment ends. Everyone will be ejected then, so there's no need to worry too much."
Jian Ying, the peak master of Sword Peak, spoke slowly. Although he was also very worried about Li Xun's situation at the moment.
However, the situation was unclear, and in the absence of the Alliance Leader, they, as peak masters, had to maintain control of the overall situation.
Everyone was also puzzled as to why the old man hadn't come to watch the disciples' assessment today.
The old man might not care about others, but he had promised Zhang Er Gou that if he passed the trial, he would take him as his disciple.
Was he not concerned at all about the performance of his last disciple?
Although questions filled their minds, they dared not voice them.
...
"Li Zhan, there's some movement over there. Let's go take a look."
"Where?"
Li Zhan was still scanning the surroundings, checking if there were any demon beasts nearby. The strange thing was that the closer they got to this forest, the fewer demon beasts they encountered.
This puzzled the two of them, and their gains were naturally meager.
Apart from the demon beasts they had killed at the beginning, they had rarely encountered any since.
At this moment, upon hearing Qu Yao say there was movement ahead, Li Zhan's eyes lit up.
It had been two and a half days since the assessment began. In another half day, the secret realm would close completely, and their scores would be finalized.
As an alchemist, Qu Yao did not have a strict requirement for the number of demon beasts killed.
But it was different for Li Zhan. Although he had been accepted as a disciple by the main peak responsible for information gathering, he sometimes encountered more dangerous situations while investigating.
If his score in this assessment fell too far behind, not only would he feel ashamed,
but he would also be looked down upon by his fellow disciples.
"Let's go, let's go take a look."
Following the direction Qu Yao pointed, Li Zhan immediately spotted the area where the movement was coming from.
"Why don't we skirt around that area? I have a feeling that the commotion there is beyond our current capabilities."
Qu Yao was still maintaining a clear head.
"Let's go to the vicinity first. Maybe we can benefit from someone else's struggle."
However, Li Zhan was already blinded by the prospect of points. His eyes were fixed only on the points that were not increasing.
Danger had long been cast aside.
With a few swift movements, the two arrived at the forest with the great commotion. Even before they got close, they saw several disciples participating in the assessment squatting on the surrounding trees.
Clearly, they had also been drawn by the commotion.
When Li Zhan and Qu Yao arrived, the others even nodded in greeting.
Qu Yao glanced at Li Zhan, his gaze seeming to say, "This is what you call benefiting from someone else's struggle."
It seemed there were a bit too many "fishermen"...
Li Zhan's face also turned grim. He hadn't expected others to arrive earlier than him, and there were quite a few who intended to "mantis stalk the cicada."
"Let's go take a look first."
Li Zhan and Qu Yao leaped onto a large tree and looked towards the center of the commotion.
"Is that Zhang Er Gou?"
Qu Yao exclaimed in surprise.
As soon as the two stood on the branch, they were stunned by the scene before them.