Chapter 228: Chapter 174: Seems to Have Been Dumbed Down (Part 2)

"Quite a few people have already passed through here. Remember that old saying? ’The world didn’t start with roads. They’re made when enough people walk the same path.’"

Fang Xiu gave a slight smile.

"Huh? Is that a real saying?"

Luo Xing froze. ’I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.’

He instinctively looked toward Chu Qingxue.

She shook her head as well.

Fang Xiu was at a loss for words.

’Right. This world really is different in some ways.’

"Anyway, take a look. A lot of the grass here has been trampled, and it’s all bent in the same direction. What does that tell you?"

Fang Xiu asked.

"It means people have walked this way, and a lot of them!"

Luo Xing wasn’t a complete idiot.

After Fang Xiu had spelled it out for him, he’d have to be a real idiot not to get it.

"Right, let’s go. We’ll head in this direction."

Fang Xiu pointed in a different direction.

At this, Luo Xing froze again.

"Didn’t you just say that following a path people have already walked would mean we run into fewer Demon Beasts?"

Luo Xing asked, confused.

’This isn’t what we agreed on at all, is it?’

"What kind of place is this?"

Fang Xiu countered with a question.

Luo Xing thought for a moment before replying, "A Level 20 Gate World!"

"This is a competition. If you just follow in other people’s footsteps and don’t encounter any Demon Beasts, how are you supposed to show what you can do? How are the teachers supposed to grade you?"

Chu Qingxue, who was standing nearby, added coolly.

This wasn’t a real Demon Beast Battlefield. Everything they did here would be evaluated for a score.

If they just blindly followed everyone else, their score would probably be very low.

While it might show they were smart enough to pass, their combat abilities would be impossible to assess.

"Besides, even on a real Demon Beast Battlefield, you have to be careful when following others. You can’t just trail them indefinitely. What if they get killed by a Demon Beast? You’d basically be a home delivery meal for it,"

Fang Xiu added.

Luo Xing was speechless.

"My tutors always said I had a really high IQ. How come I feel like a total moron next to you two?"

Luo Xing felt like crying, but no tears would come.

Back in his tutoring classes, his teachers had unanimously praised him for both his Cultivation speed and his intelligence.

So why did he feel like such an idiot now that he was here?

"I’m starting to suspect the plot is nerfing my intelligence just to make you two look smarter!"

Luo Xing muttered to himself but followed Fang Xiu and Chu Qingxue anyway.

"What, you think this is a novel? ’Nerfing intelligence,’ really?"

Fang Xiu shot back.

"Well, I just read a pretty good novel recently."

"What novel?"

"The author’s name had ’Watermelon’ in it or something..."

"..."

From deep within the forest, all sorts of sounds echoed from time to time.

The roars of Demon Beasts mingled with the sounds of battle.

Although everyone had started on one of three paths, they had all eventually split off into their own groups to advance.

"Fatty, how’s your aim with a bow these days?"

Fang Xiu asked, glancing at Luo Xing.

"You bet! After all my training, I could probably hit a target with my eyes closed now,"

Luo Xing said with great confidence.

"You’ve got a passive auto-aim skill, don’t you?"

Fang Xiu blurted out.

"Huh? Brother Fang, how did you know that?"

Luo Xing froze. ’That... That’s my biggest secret!’

’How could Fang Xiu possibly know?’

"You really have auto-aim? Does that mean you have perfect accuracy?"

Fang Xiu was also a little surprised.

’This guy actually has auto-aim. Isn’t that basically a cheat code?’

"For a normal shot, yeah, it’s about ninety percent accurate. The passive doesn’t always trigger, you know? And it doesn’t work at all when I use a Skill!"

Luo Xing decided to share some of his secrets with Fang Xiu.

"It’s fine. Then shooting that thing up there shouldn’t be a problem."

Fang Xiu pointed to a Demon Beast circling in the sky.

"Oh? A Level 5 Demon Beast? Easy!"

Luo Xing nodded.

He mimed the motion of drawing a bowstring.

Instantly, a bow and arrow materialized in his hands.

He didn’t use a Skill, just a normal Attack.

WHOOSH!

An arrow shot forth.

It struck the Level 5 Demon Beast.

Faced with an arrow from the Level 16 Luo Xing, the Level 5 Demon Beast had no chance to escape before it was hit and came plummeting down.

After the arrow left his bow, the weapon vanished from Luo Xing’s hands.

’The special effects are pretty cool.’

THUD!

The Demon Beast crashed down from the sky.

It slammed heavily onto the ground.

"Huh? Why is there a camera on this Demon Beast?"

Luo Xing hurried over to inspect the Demon Beast, only to find a camera attached to it.

"Because it’s a Demon Beast used by the competition to film our progress," Fang Xiu explained. "Didn’t you notice how stiffly it tried to dodge when you shot it? The Beast Tamer controlling it probably didn’t have time to react."

"What? Then why did you tell me to shoot it? Brother Fang, you’ve gotten me into trouble!"

Luo Xing started to panic.

He never would have guessed it was one of the Demon Beasts for the competition.

"We’ve been walking for a while, and I’m getting hungry. Since we haven’t run into any other Demon Beasts, might as well shoot one down for a meal."

As he spoke, Fang Xiu pulled out a dagger and began to butcher the Demon Beast.

Luo Xing was speechless.

Elsewhere, the Beast Tamer and the observing teachers were also speechless.

They watched as the camera was removed, their view going black. All they could hear were sounds.

That Demon Beast was probably a goner.

After a moment’s hesitation, the teachers silently wrote a few large words in their notebooks: *Luo Xing: Poor observation skills.*

...

After a hearty barbecue...

Fang Xiu and the others had eaten their fill.

"But, Brother Fang... what am I going to do about this?"

It was only after finishing the last drumstick that Luo Xing suddenly remembered the predicament he was in.

He had just shot down and eaten a Beast Tamer’s Guardian Beast.

One that was being used to monitor them during the competition.

"Now that you’ve finished eating, you’re starting to worry?"

Fang Xiu chuckled. "It wasn’t dead when it fell, you know."

The Demon Beast was Level 5, after all.

Even though Luo Xing was now Level 16, killing a Level 5 Demon Beast with a single normal Attack was still quite difficult.

"Well, I saw you were hungry, Brother Fang..."

Luo Xing gave an embarrassed laugh.

In truth, he had been hungry too.

After all, there really wasn’t anything else to eat in the area.

The rules of this competition required them to find their own food.

They weren’t allowed to bring any provisions with them.

The implication was clear: eat Demon Beasts.

That, or wild fruits and berries.

"As long as your performance is good enough from here on out, I’m sure the teachers will still give you bonus points."

Fang Xiu pulled out the camera and said into it, "Right, esteemed teachers?"

With that, he stuffed the camera back into his pocket.

"Okay, then I’ll have to really give it my all!"

Luo Xing nodded eagerly.

He was full of motivation.

"ROAR!"

At that exact moment, as if in response to them...

...the roar of a Demon Beast rang out.

"Here’s your chance to shine!"

Fang Xiu said to Luo Xing.

"I’m going to take care of this Demon Beast right now!"

Luo Xing’s face lit up with excitement.

He charged directly toward the source of the roar.

He was surprisingly fast.

"Demon Beast, face my arrow!"

Luo Xing’s voice echoed from ahead.

"Thousand Arrows Fired Simultaneously!"

’That must be his Skill.’

BANG!

The next moment, Fatty came flying backward.

If Fang Xiu hadn’t been quick enough to catch him, he would have slammed into a nearby Rock.

"Brother Fang... It’s a Level 20 Demon Beast! A Monkey-faced Ice Snake!"

Luo Xing wailed, his face a mask of despair.

He never imagined the Demon Beast he’d run into would be Level 20.

There was no way a Level 16 like him could handle that.

"Didn’t you even bother to look first?"

Fang Xiu shook his head in exasperation.

"HROOAR!"

Another low roar echoed.

A creature with a monkey’s face and a serpentine body appeared before them. Frost patterns blossomed in the air wherever it moved.

This was the Monkey-faced Ice Snake.

"I’ll go,"

Chu Qingxue said.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she charged toward the Demon Beast.

"Brother Fang, can she handle it?"

Luo Xing asked curiously.

It was a Level 20 Demon Beast, after all.

"Just watch and you’ll see."

Although this Monkey-faced Ice Snake was a Level 20 Demon Beast, making its power comparable to Chu Qingxue’s...

...Chu Qingxue’s own strength was certainly nothing to scoff at.

Fang Xiu knew that well.

’This should be a good chance for Chu Qingxue to show her skills.’

’I had Kajimi chase this Monkey-faced Ice Snake over here for a reason.’

’And I had Luo Xing shoot down that camera-carrying Demon Beast on purpose.’

’That way, the teachers wouldn’t notice anything strange about this Monkey-faced Ice Snake’s sudden appearance.’

’After all, a Demon Beast that’s been herded somewhere looks very different from one that appears naturally.’

At that moment, Fang Xiu took out the camera again, aiming it squarely at Chu Qingxue and the Monkey-faced Ice Snake.

’This is definitely worth some bonus points!’

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