Chapter 1106: Solo Hunting

Each hunt, two groups attack while one group stands guard. Ye Liuyun then uses the Vajra Divine Bow and a rain of spirit‑qi arrows to harass.

Some monsters can be killed directly by their combined attack, while others require Ye Liuyun to use a Spiritual Soul Attack.

After one day, they had already slain more than twenty Earth Sovereign Fourth Layer monsters.

"More than twenty Earth Sovereign Fourth Layer monsters—I never even dared imagine that before." A disciple, seeing such a haul, couldn't help but sigh.

"That's enough, let's fall back!"

Ye Liuyun, however, decided to call it quits and led them back.

"Aren't we going to kill Earth Sovereign Fifth Layer monsters?"

Feng Xiaoxiao asked curiously.

Ye Liuyun smiled and countered her: "Can you kill Earth Sovereign Fifth Layer monsters?"

"We can't, but you can!" Feng Xiaoxiao said innocently.

"Hmm!" Ye Liuyun nodded, didn't deny it, but then asked back: "What am I bringing you along for? Just to watch and cheer?"

That remark made the remaining few burst out laughing.

"This is a life‑and‑death battle, a fight to the death, not playing house! Earth Sovereign Fifth Layer monsters—you're useless even as lookouts. If I fight it and draw in other monsters, I can't guarantee your safety. Got it?"

The others kept nodding, only Feng Xiaoxiao pouted in dissatisfaction.

"Oh! Put bluntly, you just look down on our strength!"

"If you see it that way, I can't help it! If you don't want to be looked down on, work on improving yourself!"

Ye Liuyun wasn't swayed at all; he firmly sent them back to camp before returning himself.

As for those nine, after a brief rest they went out to hunt monsters again, though they didn't venture far, staying very cautious.

Ye Liuyun himself returned directly to the Earth Sovereign Fifth Layer monster zone and searched for targets alone.

Upon encountering a monster, he would directly use a Spiritual Soul Attack, silently taking them out one by one—far more efficient than when he led others.

Afterwards, he continued advancing toward the Earth Sovereign Sixth Layer monster area.

He also sent out a clone, wearing an Invisibility Cloak, to coordinate with him.

Each time, Ye Liuyun launched the Spiritual Soul Attack first; only when facing a monster with strong soul power did the clone intervene.

Thereafter, Ye Liuyun stopped advancing and, together with his clone, began to cultivate his Divine Soul Power in that area.

By continually absorbing the souls of Earth Sovereign Sixth Layer monsters, he strengthened his own soul.

Until both he and his clone could easily slay Earth Sovereign Sixth Layer monsters on their own, did he return to camp.

By then the mission's end was near, so Ye Liuyun recalled everyone and gathered all the squads' spoils into a single Storage Ring.

Then they maintained formation and returned to the Secret Realm's entrance.

Ye Liuyun's group had timed it well; they were the last to come out.

The team led by Feng Wanxing was the first to emerge, and also suffered the heaviest losses.

More than half of its members were lost, and many were wounded.

Feng Wanxing, seeking better results, ignored the group's average strength and pushed deeper. When danger struck, he couldn't organize an effective counterattack, and no concerted force formed.

As a result, within just two days of entering, over half of their personnel were casualties.

In the end, he could no longer command them; they retreated to the Secret Realm's entrance, where they simply hunted low‑level monsters and considered the task done.

Feng Wanxing, resigned, took only a few disciples he got along with on a side adventure, but they ran into a beast horde, lost several more lives, and were utterly driven back to the vicinity of the Secret Realm's entrance.

Feng Yuanhai's situation was similar to Feng Wanxing's—he also disregarded the group's strength and insisted on pushing deeper.

However, the members he brought didn't follow him; after just one day in the Secret Realm, most of them stopped moving.

When it came to matters of life and death, he couldn't command them either, so he abandoned them and took only his strong disciples deeper.

Yet both groups were attacked by monster hordes—strong versus strong, weak versus weak—resulting in casualties nearing half.

Moreover, when danger arose he actually fled first, abandoning his teammates; consequently, even the stronger disciples in his unit grew resentful and refused to follow him deeper into the Secret Realm.

However, the monsters they slew were far more numerous and of a higher rank than those taken by Feng Wanxing's group.

After they emerged, the members were quite dissatisfied with their performance; after complaining to Feng Changming, they kept their distance from them.

Feng Changming, however, wasn't surprised; the outcome was actually a bit better than he had expected.

This only shows that many members aren't foolish—they didn't blindly follow those two leaders into a dead‑end struggle.

After being isolated by the crowd, the two could only stick together.

But they not only failed to reflect on their own problems, they kept making excuses for themselves.

"Our Feng Clan disciples have just stayed too long in safe environments—they've gone soft, lacking any sense of adventure!" Feng Yuanhai and Feng Wanxing complained.

"Exactly! Plus they're all arrogant and disobedient—a scattered mess; even if they ran into the Cheng Clan, they'd probably just get beaten."

Feng Wanxing echoed the sentiment. Both thought the members' quality was too poor and their strength too weak.

After a while of mutual sympathy, they began mocking Ye Liuyun.

"I reckon that guy will probably end up worse than us—after all, he's only just arrived, and his prestige among these disciples is far below ours."

"Yeah! And his cultivation level is so low that nobody follows him deep into the Secret Realm, so he can't kill high‑rank monsters; when he comes out, it'll just be his moment of embarrassment!"

The two chatted back and forth, eventually laughing, waiting to see Ye Liuyun's joke.

Feng Changming released his Divine Sense, heard what they were saying, let out a long sigh, and was utterly disappointed in them as well.

Meanwhile, the members led by those two were gathered together, complaining that the leaders were selfish, disregarded others' lives, lacked organizational ability, and so on.

On the contrary, they regarded Ye Liuyun more favorably, believing he was not that sort of selfish person.

"I think Ye Liuyun's usual conduct is decent; he might even be stronger than those two."

"That's not certain, though—after all, his cultivation level is too low."

"What's there to fear about a low level? His combat ability isn't weaker than ours! Besides, this contest looks at team results—high cultivation isn't necessarily useful."

"Yeah! Those two guys have high cultivation, yet look at the result—and they even got a lot of our fellow disciples killed."

They were chattering and discussing, also waiting for Ye Liuyun's group to return.