Chapter 881
Under their encouragement, the candidates surged with renewed determination, their attacks growing fiercer, their hesitation fading as they pushed forward with reckless resolve.
Even those who had wavered earlier, those who had considered retreating, clenched their teeth and chose to stay.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Attacks rained down continuously, striking the massive body of the fire scorpion giant frog, flashes of energy bursting against its thick hide, each impact accompanied by thunderous noise and bursts of flame.
"Quaaa!"
The monster roared, its enormous eyes blazing with fury, and in the next moment, it unleashed another torrent of fire.
"Woooosh...!"
The flames swept outward, engulfing the battlefield once more, turning everything into a sea of fire.
Several candidates who failed to react in time were caught directly in the blast, their bodies consumed instantly, reduced to ash before even a scream could fully escape.
Nearly twenty candidates...
Gone in an instant.
Those who survived stared in horror, their faces pale, their hearts trembling at the sheer destructive power of the creature before them.
And yet...
Their attacks continued.
But despite the relentless assault, the results were minimal.
The fire scorpion giant frog's body was simply too durable, its defenses far beyond what ordinary candidates could break, and their attacks, no matter how numerous, felt like nothing more than tiny bites, leaving only shallow wounds that barely affected it.
After such a long battle, all they had managed to do was leave countless small injuries across its body, weakening it slightly, but nowhere near enough to bring it down.
If this continued...
Killing it would not happen anytime soon.
At this moment, the fire scorpion giant frog had been completely surrounded, its massive body trapped within a circle of nearly three hundred candidates, all gathered under the instigation and coordination of Shao Yushan and Jiao Zhiming, forming a chaotic yet relentless siege that drew participants from every district, even including those from the North District who had long been targeted, suppressed, and looked down upon by the others, yet were now forced to stand shoulder to shoulder in this desperate battle.
Among these nearly three hundred candidates, there were more than twenty from the North District, and if Ryan were present, he would immediately recognize that among them stood two familiar figures he had been searching for tirelessly...Li Wujie and Li Baijie...both still alive, yet trapped in a situation that grew more dangerous with every passing moment.
"Sister Bai, although this monster has more and more wounds on its body and looks like it's weakening little by little, its attacks are becoming increasingly violent and frequent, and if this continues, our situation will only get worse," Li Wujie said while launching another attack, her voice tense as she glanced toward Li Baijie, clearly aware that something was very wrong beneath the surface of this so-called advantage.
Before Li Baijie could respond, another voice cut in sharply.
"The candidates from the three districts are clearly using us as bait," the speaker said, his tone filled with suppressed anger, "each district is responsible for one side, but they have far more people than we do, while we in the North District are the weakest group here, so naturally, when the monster chooses a target, it will attack our side first!"
He paused briefly, his eyes darkening.
"We originally had over thirty people, but now we've been reduced to just over twenty, and if this continues, before this monster even dies, all of us from the North District will be wiped out first!"
"Bai Jie, we cannot continue like this!"
The one who spoke was none other than Fan Wei.
Once a proud genius of Fengyue City, once a rival who had clashed with Ryan, Fan Wei had changed significantly after his defeats, shedding his arrogance and becoming quieter, more restrained, devoting himself almost entirely to cultivation, rarely appearing in public, until many had nearly forgotten his name.
Yet behind that silence was growth.
In less than a month since the qualification examination, he had advanced from a three-star Upper Elite to a five-star Upper Elite, leaping two entire ranks in an incredibly short time, a pace that, while incomparable to Ryan's monstrous system-driven progress, was still astonishing among ordinary cultivators.
Hearing both Li Wujie and Fan Wei, Li Baijie let out a long sigh, her expression heavy with frustration and helplessness.
"Do you think I don't understand this situation?" she said, her gaze drifting toward the candidates from the other districts, her tone tinged with bitterness. "When they approached us, saying they wanted to unite and kill a fifth-rank monster, claiming it would be easy and that the rewards would be immense, I already knew it was a trap."
She clenched her fists slightly.
"Once we stepped into it, we would be stuck like sinking into mud, unable to pull ourselves out."
"I rejected them at first. I told them we didn't want to participate."
She gave a faint, bitter smile.
"But sometimes… no matter what you want, reality doesn't allow you to choose."
She lowered her gaze.
"If we refused, they would simply turn against us and kill us first. We were only around thirty people, while they had hundreds, and the difference in strength was too great. There was no way we could resist. In the end… we had no choice but to agree."
Her voice grew colder.
"And now, they've pushed us into the most dangerous position, making us the bait for this monster."
She paused, then asked quietly, almost rhetorically,
"What choice do we have? Can we withdraw? Can we run?"
She shook her head.
"If we retreat, if we try to escape, even if the monster doesn't kill us, the candidates from the three districts will not let us go. There is no escape."
As she spoke, her expression darkened further, a mixture of unwillingness and despair settling across her face.
All of this was because they were too weak.
Too weak to refuse.
Too weak to resist.
Reduced to cannon fodder.
Used as stepping stones for others to climb higher.
If only...
They were strong enough.
Then no one would dare threaten them.
No one would dare force them into such a position.
No one would dare use them as bait.
"If Brother Li Wei were here…"
Li Wujie murmured softly, her voice filled with longing.
"If he were here, who would dare threaten us?"
"Who would dare treat us like this?"
"Yes…"
Fan Wei nodded, his tone helpless.
"If Li Wei were here, he could easily resolve this crisis. But the Holy Land is too vast… There's no way he will find us."
As time dragged on, the pressure on the North District candidates increased steadily, like an invisible weight pressing down on their shoulders, suffocating them, draining their strength and morale, until every face was clouded with gloom.
They were still fighting.
Still resisting.
But what sustained them now was not confidence.
Only the instinct to survive.
If not for the fact that they had already experienced a near-death ordeal during the attack of the Reaper Bandits, strengthening their will to live beyond ordinary limits… they might have already collapsed
"Quaaak!"
At that moment, the fire scorpion giant frog let out a familiar cry, one that sent a chill through those who recognized it.
Because this sound was the prelude to death.
"Be careful!"
Fan Wei shouted immediately, his voice sharp as he warned everyone.
But it was already too late.
"Woooosh...!"
The giant frog opened its massive mouth, and a blazing torrent of fire erupted outward, streaking through the air like lightning, sweeping toward the battlefield with terrifying speed.
And its target was once again...
The North District.
"Ah!"
"Not good!"
"Dodge!"
"Hurry!"
Panic erupted instantly among the North District candidates, voices overlapping in frantic shouts as Li Baijie, Li Wujie, and Fan Wei all tried to warn and react at once.
But...
This time, the attack was too wide.
Too fast.
Too overwhelming.
The flames engulfed the entire area where the North District candidates stood, leaving no room to escape.
Even though they saw it coming...
Even though they tried to react...
Their strength was not enough.
"Waaah...!"
In an instant, three or four candidates were caught directly in the flames, their bodies igniting as if turned into living torches, their forms dissolving into ash before their screams could fully fade.
"Bai Jie, move!"
Fan Wei rushed forward without hesitation, grabbing Li Baijie's hand and pulling her away at full speed, his movements urgent and decisive.
Li Wujie did not hesitate either.
She turned and fled immediately, her instincts overriding everything else.
"Woooosh...!"
A terrifying tongue of fire swept violently toward the direction where the North District candidates were gathered, roaring through the air like a blazing tide that devoured everything in its path without leaving even the slightest chance for survival.
Although many of the North District candidates had already been warned by Fan Wei and the others, and their minds had reacted in time, their bodies simply could not keep up with such a sudden and overwhelming attack, and before they could even complete a proper evasive movement, the flames had already engulfed them entirely, reducing them to nothingness in an instant.