260: Chapter 260 The Race Begins_1 260: Chapter 260 The Race Begins_1 “Alright, next up we continue patrolling.

You, kid, get a good night’s rest tonight and aim for a good result tomorrow.”

“Is it ten o’clock already?”

“A few minutes shy.

We’ll reach the camp just in time.

Your Brother Zhao has carefully timed it.”

“No wonder you suddenly asked to change the patrol route.

Thanks a bunch~”

Brother Zhao waved his hand proudly and said

“If you really want to thank me, then win the championship and go on to thrash that guy Wu Feng at the national competition.”

“What’s up with Wu Feng?

He hasn’t bothered you guys, has he?”

Seeing Brother Zhao and the others looking indignant, Feng Yuan was puzzled and, glancing at Feng Yuan, Brother Zhao said somewhat dissatisfactorily

“It’s not him bothering us, but that guard team.

They’re always boasting about having a Divine Pact Maker.

If you can defeat Wu Feng, I’d like to see how they can still have the cheek to show off to us every day.”

“Why are you so sure I can beat Wu Feng?”

Feng Yuan, curious, looked at Brother Zhao, who thought for a moment and said

“Don’t you have the protection of Lorraine Tower?

As long as during the competition…

no, that’s not right, it won’t do.

After all, Lorraine Tower’s interventions must be limited; we can’t waste them on something like this…”

Seeing Brother Zhao struggling as he spoke, Feng Yuan scratched his head, uncertain of what to say.

“What’s this?”

The next day, after finishing the patrol, Feng Yuan brought Big Cat to find Elder Li, who looked at Feng Yuan’s Ritual Robe with some confusion, checked his own clothes, and found nothing amiss.

Feng Yuan was puzzled and asked

“What’s the matter?”

“Your clothes…

aren’t you wearing the Wolf God’s Robe?”

“The Life Ritual Robe is also nice.

This time, I’m planning to take it easy and be a support~”

“True enough, your strength is already well known to the academies.

There’s no need to show off in the competition.

Alright, I will do my best to take care of your Spirit Beasts during the match.”

After bidding farewell to Big Cat and the others, Feng Yuan, accompanied by Xiao Ji, headed towards the competitors’ area and took out his phone to call Qi Chen.

“Are you still planning not to take part?”

In the waiting area, seeing Feng Yuan in the Life Ritual Robe, Qi Chen understood Feng Yuan’s plan and nodded.

Feng Yuan said,

“Yes, after all, the competition doesn’t mean much to me.

With my current situation, I won’t have any problems getting into Maomu Academy.”

“But…

have you not considered Great Xia Academy?”

“Not interested.

Too far.”

At that moment, Zhong Liuyan and the others also gathered around, chatting and waiting for the competition to officially start.

After a while, the unkempt middle-aged man Feng Yuan had seen in the Data Domain incident came onto the stage looking tired, and under his direction, Ponogu opened up a Space Gate.

Standing on the stage, the man said in a languid voice,

“Now, one team at a time, come on up.

No cutting in line, no crowding!”

When it was Feng Yuan’s group’s turn, he curiously glanced at Ponogu and followed Dou Yanlan into the Space Gate.

As soon as the five of them passed through, the Space Gate behind them swiftly closed.

Pei Yu couldn’t wait to release Duomeng, and Zhong Liuyan looked at Feng Yuan and said,

“What should we do now?

Establish a camp, harass other competitors, or explore the ruins?”

“Let’s establish a camp first.

As for the rest, we’ll think about it later.

It’s a two-day competition, and bad rest will bring trouble later on.”

“Shall we build the camp in the cave again?”

Shaking his head, Feng Yuan looked at Xiao Ji and said,

“Borrow the power of Agunas and use Life Detection.”

Hearing Feng Yuan’s instructions, Xiao Ji looked at him with confusion.

Seeing no response, Feng Yuan poked Xiao Ji’s cheek and said,

“You didn’t forget how to use the energy for the Life Detection skill, did you?”

Seeing Xiao Ji’s face turn red, Feng Yuan sighed and said,

“Never mind, I’ll do it.”

Feng Yuan waved the Scepter in his hand, and a nearly transparent circle of light rapidly spread outwards.

After a while, he said,

“There are no large life forms around here.

How about we establish the camp right here?”

“The water source is indeed close, but…”

Glancing at the sparsely surrounding trees and feeling hesitant, Zhong Liuyan looked to Qi Chen, who said,

“Let Ah Mu use plant growth to make a treehouse.”

“Ah Mu can do that?”

“Of course, I’ve taught him, and Ah Mu picked it up quite fast.”

Ah Mu looked at Qi Chen, unsure whether to follow Feng Yuan’s instructions, but Qi Chen nodded and said,

“Then, shall we find a place to try it out?”

“Over there.”

Dou Yanlan pointed in a direction, and Ah Mu bent down, hands plunging into the ground.

Countless vines rapidly emerged from the earth, twisting and coiling as they gradually constructed a treehouse.

The massive tree trunk formed by the vines had a round arched door, and behind the door, a hollow tree trunk featured a spiraling staircase leading upward.

Above the trunk was a huge platform that obscured everyone’s view.

Below the intersection of the platform and the trunk there was a circular walkway winding around the trunk.

Feng Yuan took the lead and walked through the arched door, saying,

“Let’s go up and see how it is up there~”

Following the staircase behind the arch, everyone stepped onto the platform to find a building akin to a villa in front of them.

Pei Yu, somewhat surprised, said,

“Ah Mu can actually do this…”

“Ah Mu’s ability to control energy is very high.”

While Dou Yanlan spoke, glancing at Feng Yuan, the hemispherical dome made of vines above the villa was also completed.

Ah Mu stood upright, flashed a smile at Qi Chen, and reached out his hand to Qi Chen who stood beside him.

Qi Chen, puzzled, grasped Ah Mu’s hand.

Ah Mu rapidly pulled him in for a hug, the tree bark on his body lighting up with a cyan glow.

Ah Mu started running then suddenly leapt from the ground with a powerful force, landing directly on the platform.

Zhong Liuyan, hesitating, said,

“Isn’t it a bit too low?”

“No, any higher would be too conspicuous.

The vines alone aren’t enough for defense.”

Feng Yuan spoke as he touched the ground with his scepter, causing a rainbow light to flow between the vines, quickly solidifying into a rainbow crystal.

“Now we’re good.

Next, Qi Chen and I will be in charge of defending the camp.”

“I’ll go see where there are ruins.”

“Liu Yan and I will gather firewood and hunt.”

“Yanlan, can you manage by yourself?”

Dou Yanlan looked at Qi Chen, as Cotton in her arms flicked its tail.

Her figure twisted and vanished in front of everyone.

At that moment, Dou Yanlan’s calm voice came through,

“What do you think?”

“Uh…”

“Be careful.

Even though the stealth technique can hide your form, Cotton’s strength isn’t particularly strong after all.

Try not to get too close to those people.”

“Got it.”

“Then we’re off too.”

Perceiving that the invisible Dou Yanlan seemed to have already departed, Zhong Liuyan said, watching the two leave.

Feng Yuan, with Xiao Ji in his arms, not fully content, rubbed Xiao Ji and said,

“Don’t worry, there will be plenty of chances for you to fight later.”

Qi Chen looked at Feng Yuan and asked,

“Did you do this on purpose?”

Seeing Feng Yuan puzzled, Qi Chen laughed and said,

“If we’re talking about constructing a suspended camp, an ice structure would be much stronger than Ah Mu’s vines.

Not to mention, with your current Ritual Robe, you could use Nagna’s power to build an entire camp out of a Crystal Barrier, right?”

Glancing at Ah Mu, who was still constructing tables, chairs, and beds, Feng Yuan smiled and said,

“You’re overthinking it.

That would be too tiring, and I don’t want to do that.”

In the competition command center, a middle-aged man in the uniform of the high-level guard looked puzzled and said,

“Are they bringing in illegal tools?”

“Don’t know, check the recordings and see what’s going on.”

The middle-aged man flipped through the recordings while inspecting the data and said,

“This seems to be the high school contestants, but…”

“All high school students?

That can’t be right.

They won’t be able to win the fight for the ruins later on.”

“Maybe they just want to make an impression in front of those academies?”

“This…

such frightening energy control power…”

Watching Ah Mu build the camp, the middle-aged man marveled, while another person said in disbelief,

“This…

looks like Elite Level energy control power!”

“Pretty much.”

“But the Giant Tree Demon is just a Good Level Spirit Beast!”