"Our Centaur Clan may be individually weak, but we have survived in the Abyss without being eradicated thanks to our unity!" The Elder's voice was filled with firmness and determination. "Any fangs that dare to bite us will be shattered! Otherwise, more will come for us next time!"

"When provoked, we respond with blood for blood, an eye for an eye! Only then will no race dare to underestimate us!"

The Elder's words were powerful, as if he were declaring the Centaur Clan's resolve to the entire forest. "The weak are not fit to survive in this world!"

"Elder, I understand!" the Centaur Warrior solemnly nodded, a fierce fighting spirit igniting in his eyes.

"Good." The Elder nodded in satisfaction. "Go, follow our kin. This time, you must kill all the murderers who bear our clan's Priest's Vengeful Mark!"

...

At this moment, Fang Zhou was already deep within the dense forest, where towering trees blotted out the sky. Under the cover of the jungle, even Pearl Bird Gugu's aerial view wasn't as sharp as before. Naturally, Fang Zhou's movements became more cautious. He took each step with extreme care, afraid of missing even the slightest movement.

Suddenly, a message flashed across the personal terminals of all competing apprentices.

"The Recruit Tournament has been ongoing for three hours. Teleportation Nodes have been deployed, and the play area will now begin to shrink.

The only safe zone is the City Ruins Battleground; all other areas will be suffused with poison fog within three hours.

Please enter the City Ruins within three hours or be considered eliminated."

Fang Zhou was startled. He hadn't expected the next set of rules to be so straightforward and brutal. The Ten Great Military Academies had directly set the final battleground in the relatively confined City Ruins, requiring all participating apprentices to enter the specific map within three hours.

Clearly, time was of the essence.

If I can reach the City Ruins first, I can use Pearl Bird Gugu's aerial view to scout the map in advance and gain an initial advantage.

After clearing the battlefield, Fang Zhou was about to lead his skeletons to find a Teleportation Node when he noticed a large group of demons appearing at the edge of Pearl Bird Gugu's vision. Before he could even count them, he saw similar figures appearing from two other directions. At a glance, he estimated there were at least a hundred of them!

Fang Zhou's heart froze. Damn it! I'm surrounded!

He wasn't a brainless skeleton; he wouldn't be naive enough to think this was a coincidence. In this chaotic land filled with the unknown, being silently surrounded by a group of organized demons meant that the upcoming battle would be extremely difficult.

He glanced around, only to see the demons from the front, rear, and right approaching at an alarming speed, as if a giant hunting net were slowly closing in.

I can't let the enemy complete their encirclement. I have to pick a direction and break through!

A series of strategies quickly flashed through Fang Zhou's mind. He instinctively glanced to his left, where there appeared to be no demons for the time being.

Maybe I can break through from here...

But Fang Zhou decisively dismissed the idea as soon as it appeared. He snorted coldly. "Hmph!" Then, he made a surprising decision: lead the skeletons straight toward the group of demons on his right.

Fang Zhou understood that since the enemy could complete the encirclement so silently, they had to be fully aware of his location. In a situation like this, deliberately leaving an obvious opening could only be a trap.

Who do they think they're fooling?

Sure enough, after he had advanced just over twenty meters, a familiar group of Centaurs appeared in his line of sight. These Centaurs were clad in Battle Armor and wielded longbows, their eyes filled with a fierce aura.

Seeing these familiar enemies, Fang Zhou immediately realized this was no coincidence. During his previous battle with the Centaur Priest, the latter must have placed some kind of tracking mark on him before dying, allowing this group of Centaurs to find his position so accurately.

Furthermore, even Gugu hadn't detected their approach in advance. At this realization, the tension in Fang Zhou's mind, which had relaxed slightly during the brief calm, snapped taut again.

Pearl Bird Gugu's aerial warning ability was indeed powerful, but that didn't mean it could prevent all surprises. After all, this world was home to countless races, and powerful individuals were constantly emerging. There were always some bizarre skills or methods that could blind Gugu's eyes.

...

At that moment, Fang Zhou was leading his Skeleton Army in a desperate attempt to break out. Meanwhile, outside the battleground, all the apprentices watching Fang Zhou's first-person view on the livestreams realized he was completely surrounded.

Liu Diewu's brows furrowed, her expression solemn. She whispered, "This is bad. Fang Zhou looks like he's been surrounded by a horde of Centaurs. The small group he wiped out earlier was led by a Priest. The Centaurs who've come for revenge now are surely much stronger than that first group."

"That's right," Lu Renjia nodded beside her, his tone grave. "The first small group of Centaurs had one elite Upper-Rank Apprentice demon, three common Upper-Rank Apprentice demons, and over ten common Middle-Rank Apprentice demons. And the small group Fang Zhou is facing right now seems just as powerful as that entire previous group. If they manage to tie him down until the main force moves in to encircle him, Fang Zhou will be in grave danger."

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