Chapter 131: The Unspoken Rules of the Training Camp

After spending the first day familiarizing himself with the environment, Lin Huang had breakfast the next morning and headed to the Trial Tower early.

For him, the points here were of little use; he lacked neither gear nor combat techniques, needing only a small amount of points to trade for food. His primary purpose for entering the Trial Tower to slay monsters was to accumulate life energy.

The Trial Tower was the massive spire located in the center of the small settlement. Aside from the top floor, which served as the office for the scarred man, the trial area below was divided into twelve levels. The first to third levels corresponded to Iron-tier ranks one through three; the fourth to sixth to Bronze-tier ranks one through three; the seventh to ninth to Silver-tier ranks one through three; and the tenth to twelfth to Gold-tier ranks one through three.

Lin Huang ascended the stairs to the sixth level and began searching for an unoccupied door. He chose to remain on the sixth level because the accumulation rate of life energy from killing Bronze monsters there was not significantly slower than that of Silver monsters, and it allowed him to conduct practical combat training himself. While Bai’s strength could indeed allow them to wreak havoc on the ninth or even the tenth level, those monsters were too strong for Lin Huang, leaving him with nothing to do but watch.

Each level of the Trial Tower had three hundred doors, each leading to a trial space. If a space was occupied, the indicator light above the door would be red; if it was vacant, it would be green, allowing him to scan his ID and enter directly. Lin Huang finally found a door with a green light, scanned his identity, and stepped inside.

Upon crossing the threshold, Lin Huang found himself in a wilderness. Before his eyes, groups of Bronze-tier rank three monsters in various forms roamed everywhere. Lin Huang was momentarily stunned. "Is this a virtual simulation or a real environment?" He couldn't tell at first, as he had never seen such a high density of monsters in any wild area within the safe zones.

However, as he summoned Bai and watched her Blood Spirit Wings decapitate the first monster, the life light began to surge from the creature's body, and he felt his own life energy rising. It was then that Lin Huang realized this was all real.

"What exactly is this place?" Driven by this confusion, Lin Huang and Bai entered a combat state and began to slaughter the monsters in the area.

Normally, one had to leave the trial space after two or three hours because high-intensity combat quickly exhausted one's life energy. But with Bai’s life wheel synchronized, Lin Huang could continuously replenish his energy from the monsters they killed, allowing him to stay for the full eight hours. It wasn't until after five in the afternoon that he finally exited. In just eight hours, he and Bai had killed over a thousand monsters. His own combat strength had surged from Bronze-tier rank one to rank three, and his life energy had accumulated to the sixth level of his life wheel, nearing its capacity.

Over the next few days, Lin Huang spent most of his time in the Trial Tower. After three consecutive days, all three of his life wheels had reached the full sixth-level state. Together, he and Bai had slain over four thousand Bronze-tier rank three monsters, which caused his points to skyrocket to over 160,000 in just three days.

Points in the training camp were cleared every hundred days. Since it had been over a month since the last clearing, Lin Huang’s total would have been enough to break into the top ten. Even so, he had climbed into the top three hundred, reaching rank 297. This rapid increase in points caught the attention of many. However, once his life energy was full, Lin Huang stopped going to the Trial Tower and instead stayed in his room, repeatedly circulating his life techniques to stabilize his energy.

Three days after he stopped visiting the tower, during his free time after breakfast, Lin Huang stepped out of the residential area to get some fresh air. He was immediately blocked by a young man with short yellow hair.

"You’re Lin Huang?"

"Do you need something?" Lin Huang didn't know who he was.

"I challenge you!" The yellow-haired youth’s statement left Lin Huang feeling perplexed.

"Not interested." Lin Huang could tell the man was only Bronze-tier rank two; fighting him would be a waste of time.

"Are you afraid?" the youth taunted.

"Think what you want." Lin Huang ignored him and turned to head back to his room.

"In that case, I have no choice but to apply for a death match!" the youth shouted loudly at him.

Just then, a notification box popped up on Lin Huang’s Emperor Heart Ring.

"What the hell?" Lin Huang was baffled.

"You forced my hand. If you had accepted my challenge, I could only have plundered half your points. But since you forced me to apply for a death match, I can kill you and take all your points!" The youth roared, his two armament rings instantly transforming into short blades.

Lin Huang finally understood what was happening. His expression darkened, and he produced a Bronze-tier saber. Their actions immediately drew a crowd of onlookers, all eager to see the spectacle.

As soon as the countdown ended, the yellow-haired youth lunged at Lin Huang. His footwork was decent, and he reached Lin Huang in an instant, aiming his blades at his throat and heart. His strikes were ruthless, drawing applause from the onlookers.

But Lin Huang merely shifted his feet, slipping past him. Before anyone could see how he moved his blade, a forty-centimeter-long gash appeared on the youth’s chest, running from his left waist up to his heart.

"You lost," Lin Huang said, standing two paces behind the youth.

The youth collapsed, blood gushing from his chest. He finally realized the massive gap in their strength, but it was too late. Lin Huang turned to leave, but a boy who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen emerged from the crowd. "Hey, you have to kill him for the challenge to end. That’s the rule of a death match."

"Rules are made by people," Lin Huang glanced at him and ignored him.

The boy stepped forward, brushed past Lin Huang, appeared beside the youth, and squeezed his head. The next instant, the youth’s head exploded, splattering blood and brain matter everywhere.

"I killed him for you; don't thank me. Also, you're a newcomer and don't know the rules. I'll let it slide this time, but I hate people who don't follow the rules. If there's a next time, I won't be so polite!" the boy shouted from a distance.

Lin Huang saw the notification that the death match had ended and that he had gained over 43,000 points. He cast one last glance at the boy and walked away through the crowd.

"He's courting death, actually provoking Gongsun Ying!" the crowd whispered.

Lin Huang didn't know who the boy was. He returned to his room, intending to continue his cultivation. Xiao Mo was already there and asked anxiously, "Did you provoke Gongsun Ying?"

"That boy is named Gongsun Ying?" Lin Huang was surprised. He had heard the name but never seen the person.

Gongsun Ying was the second-ranked powerhouse on the leaderboard, a Silver-tier rank three, and one of the strongest in the camp.

"He's not a boy; his growth was stunted for some reason. He's actually twenty-one," Xiao Mo explained. "How did you provoke him?"

"Just a random encounter. You guys get news fast," Lin Huang said, feeling speechless.

"I just saw it on the forum," Xiao Mo replied.

While the Emperor Heart Network was blocked, there was a local forum where people shared gossip. News about Gongsun Ying, a top-tier expert, spread instantly.

"What's the deal with challenges and death matches? I didn't see that in the rules," Lin Huang asked.

"Challenges aren't official rules; they started automatically among the participants. Originally, they were just gambling matches where the monitors would adjudicate the winner. Later, it developed into challenges where the winner could take up to 50% of the loser's points. Then came the death match rule: the winner must kill the loser to end the challenge, allowing them to take all the points. These are unspoken rules, but the monitors allow them because they help with the selection process."

After Xiao Mo’s explanation, Lin Huang finally understood the hidden reality of the camp.

"How are your points?" Lin Huang asked.

"A bit better, but still struggling," Xiao Mo sighed. "I've been killing monsters until my energy runs out, then replenishing with life crystals. I've been spending eight hours in the trial space, but my actual monster-killing time is only about two and a half hours."

"Take it slow. At this rate, you should be able to get out of the bottom three. Do you need more life crystals?"

"Not for now, tomorrow should be covered," Xiao Mo nodded. "Thank you. I'll pay you back triple—no, tenfold!"

"Don't worry about the money; just focus on killing monsters," Lin Huang said, patting Xiao Mo on the shoulder.