Cruel Competition

 In the center of the platform, the ancient, weathered stone patterns suddenly lit up, forming a circular design roughly ten meters in diameter.

As the pattern's light flickered, three stone statues—entirely composed of dark yellow rock, each wielding a massive axe and standing over three meters tall—slowly rose from the glow.

Red flames danced in the statues' eye sockets, emanating spiritual energy fluctuations at the late Foundation Establishment level, locking onto every living thing on the platform!

"It's a guardian trial!" Margaret's pupils contracted. "We must defeat them to continue forward, or perhaps earn the right to stay here!"

The stone statues emitted deep rumbles, striding forward with heavy steps, swinging their giant axes toward the group.

Before the axes arrived, the sharp gale force was already stinging their faces.

"Form up! Engage!" Margaret drew her sword and charged toward one of the statues first.

She knew there was no retreat now—only battle!

Dustin was protected at the rear of the formation. He stared intently at the battlefield, his mind racing.

These three stone statues appeared clumsy, but their attacks were devastatingly powerful, their defense astonishing, and they seemed to have simple coordination between them.

A head-on battle of attrition would be extremely disadvantageous for a team that had just escaped chaos and was entirely wounded.

His gaze swept over the statues' movements, their footwork, and the faintly glowing stone patterns beneath their feet.

Suddenly, he noticed that each time the three statues moved, when their feet touched certain nodes on the ground pattern, the flames in their eyes flickered slightly.

"Margaret! Attack the points where their feet contact the ground pattern! Those are energy nodes—and balance points!" Dustin shouted.

Hearing this, Margaret didn't hesitate. Her sword technique shifted—no longer clashing head-on with the statues, but transforming into cunning, swift streaks of sword light, specifically targeting the statues' ankles where they met the ground.

The other team members followed suit.

Sure enough, when attacks precisely struck those flickering nodes, the statues' movements showed obvious hesitation and stumbling, and their rocky defenses seemed to weaken somewhat.

"It works!" Margaret's spirits lifted, her swordwork growing faster.

Combined with the others' attacks, one statue soon had its ankle nodes struck repeatedly. It crashed to its knees, then was destroyed by concentrated fire shattering its head, collapsing into a pile of rubble.

Using the same method, the other two statues were defeated in succession.

When the last statue crumbled, the pattern at the platform's center blazed brilliantly, then projected three soft halos of light. Within them were a bottle of pills, a gleaming short sword, and a jade slip containing some kind of earth-element defensive technique.

"Basic guardian trial passed. Rewards granted. You may rest on this platform for twelve hours. After that time, you must continue upward or accept a higher trial." The grand voice resonated in everyone's minds once more. Simultaneously, a faint golden barrier rose around the platform's edge, temporarily isolating it from the outside and providing a precious moment to catch their breath.

Everyone relaxed, nearly collapsing to the ground. Margaret sheathed her sword and walked to Dustin's side, handing him the pills and jade slip: "Dustin, thanks to you for spotting the weakness. Keep these pills and jade slip for protection."

Dustin shook his head: "Share the pills among everyone—healing is the priority. This jade slip... is of no use to me right now. Give it to someone who needs it. Keep the short sword for yourself."

Margaret knew his nature and didn't press the matter. She distributed the pills among the wounded and kept the short sword herself.

She walked to the platform's edge, gazing at the distant sounds of battle cries and spiritual explosions still faintly echoing from below, then looked up at the mountain path above that seemed to stretch on forever. Her expression was deeply grave.

"This is only the beginning. I wonder how Scarlet and Adam are doing, and all those ordinary people who were teleported to more dangerous areas." She murmured to herself.

Dustin came to stand beside her and said calmly: "Now, everyone has been pulled to the same starting line—or rather, the same arena. The law of the jungle will be amplified infinitely. All we can do is try to survive and keep moving up."

Margaret nodded, understanding clearly.

Buzhou Mountain's forced trial was like an inescapable net, drawing everyone into its grasp.

Original plans were disrupted, order had completely collapsed. Only strength, wisdom, and luck could earn a chance at survival on this path to heaven that had suddenly become crowded and bloody.

And those like Qin Hao, Qin Xue, Mark Montgomary, Yu Zhenting, and the Bai siblings—the original "pioneers" or "observers from behind"—were now equally swept into deeper, more unpredictable whirlpools by this sudden upheaval.

The truly cruel competition had finally begun.

– Marinien