In the distance, deep growls and sharp cries could be heard intermittently. Those were the sounds of Demons from the depths of the Cave, like a terrifying symphony warning anyone who dared to step into this place.

Beside Fang Zhou, Meng Hongzhuang, Ye Fan, and the others all took a deep breath, their gazes fixed with tenacity on the darkness ahead. This would be their hunting ground for the next three days.

Ye Fan turned to face Fang Zhou and declared passionately, "Today marks the first step on my legendary journey. Fang Zhou, it is your honor to be its witness!"

With that, he didn't wait for Fang Zhou's reply and rushed into the Cave, muttering something about "The wind is howling, the water is cold."

Fang Zhou's expression remained calm; he was already used to such antics. Meng Hongzhuang, on the other hand, felt the corner of her mouth twitch, still not accustomed to Ye Fan's theatrical demeanor.

After a moment, she also waved at Fang Zhou and smiled. "Fang Zhou, I'm heading out too. See you in three days!"

Fang Zhou nodded. After Meng Hongzhuang's figure disappeared, he no longer hesitated and stepped into the Cave.

This small area outside the fortress was frequently cleared by guards, so it was naturally devoid of any Demons. Fang Zhou moved at full speed, quickly putting distance between himself and the fortress. By now, he couldn't see a single other trainee around him. Although one hundred and eighty people was a large number, they were like a drop of water in the vast ocean that was Cave No. 1, unable to make a splash.

The endless barren land seemed shrouded in layers of Death Qi. Although there were occasional specks of green plants, one couldn't feel a trace of vitality.

However, Fang Zhou adapted well. No matter how desolate the Cave's environment was, it was still far more vibrant than the Burial Wilderness where his Skeleton Clone resided.

Fang Zhou swung his Magic Staff, summoning ten Skeletons. Two stayed by his side for protection, while the other eight fanned out in a circle around him, searching for worthy prey.

This three-day Cave Hunt was undoubtedly a battle of endurance. Therefore, despite having Spiritual Power that far surpassed the other trainees, Fang Zhou meticulously controlled his consumption.

SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

Soon, the Skeletons to his front right detected the tracks of a Fierce Rat. To Fang Zhou's surprise, a massive mutant rat the size of a small dog darted out from a clump of wild grass. This creature was a ghastly green, with blood-red eyes and its body covered in gray-brown hard spikes, making it look just like a porcupine.

Fierce Rats typically appeared at night and were the most common type of Night Demon. He hadn't expected to encounter one during the Cave's "daylight" hours.

The Fierce Rat had just darted out from the grass when it ran right into an advancing Skeleton. As the lowest-level Mutant Beast, the Fierce Rat's strength was comparable to a Skeleton of the same rank, but it was far inferior to a Little Inferior Demon.

However, the Skeletons Fang Zhou had summoned were Middle-Rank Apprentices. Boosted by the [Domination Skeleton] skill, their Four-dimensional Attributes completely crushed this unlucky Fierce Rat. One of the Skeletons pounced, severing the Fierce Rat's head with a single swipe of its claw and killing it instantly.

"Hunting Points +0.5."

The recorder faithfully recorded Fang Zhou's battle process, quickly updating his stats. Fang Zhou, however, didn't focus on the recorder's changes, instead shifting his attention to the attribute panel.

"Soul Power +0.01."

Strictly speaking, this was the first kill for Fang Zhou's main body. This Fierce Rat was the first life his main body had taken. Unexpectedly, not only could his Clone gain Soul Power through slaughter in the Undead Realm, but his main body could also gain Soul Power by killing Demons.

However, the amount of Soul Power from this Lower-Rank Apprentice Fierce Rat was pitifully small.

Fang Zhou pursed his lips slightly. This might be related to my Black Iron-level Soul Strength.

Nevertheless, as long as he could earn Soul Power, Fang Zhou felt more motivated for the three-day Cave Hunt. He casually browsed the hunting leaderboard. Barely more than ten minutes had passed, yet some trainees had already earned 3 Hunting Points.

Fang Zhou shook his head slightly. I need to speed up.

「...」

Inside the fortress, a group of instructors was adjusting the live broadcast footage.

Lu Hu asked, "How is it? Is the signal still good?"

A technician replied, "The signal is currently good, and the live broadcast footage is clear."

Lu Hu nodded slightly, then sighed. "In a place like Cave No. 1 where the Energy level isn't high, communication devices that rely on traditional physics and technology can still barely be used. But on battlefields with many high-energy creatures, let alone these communication devices, even the power of firearms is greatly restricted."

"Yeah, if it weren't for such rules, we wouldn't have been beaten so badly by the Abyssal Demons decades ago."

Lu Hu glanced over the live combat feeds of some trainees and instructed, "As per the previous assignments, you must monitor the movements of these trainees in real time. If there's an emergency, immediately contact the instructors serving as safety officers inside the Cave."

"Yes, sir!"

「...」

Meanwhile, inside Cave No. 1.

With his skeleton minions rampaging ahead, Fang Zhou's combat speed was much faster than before. The low-level Demons in the Cave couldn't even withstand a single round of attacks from the Skeletons. Even when they occasionally encountered groups of two or three, the Skeleton Team could easily wipe them out.

The total number of Demons Fang Zhou had eliminated was approaching fifteen, and his Hunting Points had reached eight.

However, in this real combat environment, Fang Zhou discovered another one of his shortcomings. That is, he severely lacked the ability to scout his surroundings and detect enemies. Currently, Fang Zhou could only rely on his crude Spiritual Perception, the Soul Fire sense of his Skeletons, and the recorder's thermal imaging radar function, all of which had a very limited detection range.

It seems I need to find an opportunity to develop related skills and compensate for this shortcoming.

He opened his personal terminal, recorded this thought, and led the Skeleton Team deeper into the Cave.

After fighting for about another hour, Fang Zhou started to feel hungry. In a clearing up ahead, the ruins of a stone house appeared. He decided to rest there for a while.

After clearing a few Fierce Rats near the stone house, Fang Zhou walked inside but was quickly driven out by the stench of decay that filled the room. Fortunately, there were some stone stools under the eaves outside where he could rest briefly.

Sitting under the eaves, Fang Zhou first consumed a Military Ration Pill, and the hunger in his stomach quickly subsided. Then, he meditated for a while, restoring a small amount of his Spiritual Power.

Opening the map on his recorder, Fang Zhou planned his next route. This wasteland had numerous Demons, but they were all Fierce Species that were weak and gave few points. Hunting them was laborious, and it would be difficult to pull ahead of the other trainees this way.

He still wanted to find a hunting spot where he could better leverage his firepower advantage.

After studying the map for a moment, Fang Zhou quickly locked onto a location marked as 'Dangerous': the [Goblin Cave]. The intelligence reports indicated that the cave's environment was highly suitable for goblins, a type of Otherworld monster. Therefore, goblin tribes often settled here, numbering anywhere from a few dozen to nearly a hundred.

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