The jungle welcomed Aryan with a familiar, primal embrace. The air, still settling after the momentary distortion from the portal, was a mixture of damp earth, decaying leaves, and the sweet scent of distant blossoms. Around him, a predictable symphony of chaos had begun, but to Aryan, it was all just background noise. His mind was already at work in the laboratory he understood best.
He spotted the massive, ancient ironwood tree at the edge of the clearing, its gnarled bark a silent invitation. While others were testing their luck on the ground, Aryan's strategy was always vertical. He circulated a light stream of Qi through his body, making his muscles light and supple. With a running start, he ascended the trunk, his hands and feet easily finding purchase in the cracks and bulges an average eye would miss. He moved not like a squirrel, but like a spider, his movements measured, calm, and with no wasted energy. Every grip was a calculation, every push a deliberate act.
Thirty meters up, he found a perfect perch on a thick, moss-covered branch, giving him a commanding view of the clearing below. From here, the jungle was no longer a chaotic mess, but a living, breathing map.
He became a ghostly observer of the world below, watching the ripples of chaos.
He saw Sameer Sharma's silver-clad group, like a glittering wound in the jungle. They were shouting, cutting down small trees, and chasing anything that moved, their inefficiency creating an unseen wave that pushed every sensible creature away from them. They weren't earning points; they were just sowing chaos. Aryan classified them as a minor annoyance, one that would make his job harder by scaring off the easy prey. He watched as their indiscriminate movements disturbed a nest of thorn-trap vines hidden on the ground, causing two of their party to cry out in pain as small, venomous thorns pierced their armor. It was a perfect display of amateurism.
He also noted the smaller, more professional groups that had silently disappeared into the shadows. They moved in tight formations, communicated with hand signals, and blended with the terrain. These were the real predators, the real threat. He noted their insignias, their weapons, and their estimated cultivation levels, filing every detail away in the vast database of his mind.
But his focus wasn't on the humans. It was on the jungle's breath. He could feel the subtle shifts of Qi on his skin the panicked energy generated by fleeing animals, the steady, heavy Qi around the lair of a territorial beast, and the light, purifying scent emanating from a hidden spiritual herb. He waited, his patience like a stone. He knew the initial chaos would subside. The jungle, like a disturbed sea, would eventually calm, and its deeper denizens would resume their rhythm.
An hour later, as he had predicted, the noise died down. The distant screams and crashes became less frequent. The jungle held its breath again. And in that new quiet, Aryan heard something. Not with his ears, but with his consciousness. A coordinated padding of paws on the leaves, a unified hunger.
He closed his eyes, focusing on the sensation. Southwest. Roughly a kilometer. A pack of Wind Wolves, disturbed by the merchant clan group that had gone in that direction earlier, but now cautiously circling back to the edge of their hunting grounds, their predatory instincts overpowering their nervousness.
Aryan smiled. This was perfect. He descended from his branch, but not to the ground. Using lessons learned from the Silverleaf Rangers, he moved through the canopy, flowing from one branch to another like a phantom, his feet barely making a sound. The world below became a blur as he traveled the highway of trees, his balance perfect, his speed silent and deadly.
It took him twenty minutes to find the pack. Four Wind Wolves, each sleek and gray, as fast as the wind their name suggested. Their bodies were low-slung, their muscles powerful, and their yellow eyes scanned every shadow. They were beasts of the 5th layer of the Qi Condensation Realm, a pack that would be a serious challenge for most teams.
Their leader was a larger male, with a few old scars on his fur and an undeniable authority in his aura. The alpha.
Aryan didn't intend to engage them directly. That would be inefficient. He watched them from the branches of a massive oak, slowing his breath until it was almost non-existent, and pulling his Qi deep within his core. He waited, his patience limitless.
His chance came when the alpha separated from the pack for a moment, sniffing an interesting scent in the air. It was just a five-meter separation, just a window of a few seconds.
But for a predator, a second is an eternity.
Aryan dropped. He didn't jump; he simply let himself fall from the branch. There was no rush of wind, no cry. He was a silent avatar of death descending from above. As he fell, two fingers on his right hand extended, the Iron-Core Finger technique hardening them like steel. Within him, the Supreme Immortal Scripture circulated, creating a tiny, deadly point of compressed Qi at his fingertips.
Void Piercer.
The alpha never knew what hit it. Aryan landed on top of it, his fingers striking precisely at the base of the beast's skull where the spine met it. There was a low, muffled crunch. No struggle. No whimper. The light in the alpha's yellow eyes simply went out, and it collapsed in a loose heap on the bed of leaves.
Mission Token Updated: Windwolf (5th Layer of Qi Condensation Realm) - 20 Points Acquired.
The other three wolves spun around, a mixture of confusion and sudden terror on their faces. Their leader, the center of their universe, had just ceased to exist.
In that moment of confusion, Aryan struck. His plain steel sword was out of its sheath, his movement fluid and economical. He targeted the tendon of one wolf's foreleg, crippling it. He opened a shallow but bleeding gash on another's throat. He created chaos, breaking their pack mentality and turning them into isolated individuals.
The fight was brutal, swift, and one-sided. They were fast, but Aryan's movements were more efficient. Their claws were sharp, but his sword was always there a second earlier, targeting the weakest points joints, eyes, throat. He used the Gale Palm to throw them off-balance, using the principles of Void Piercer to focus his Qi into his fists for quick, energy-efficient strikes.
In less than two minutes, it was over. The corpses of four powerful spiritual beasts lay around him, the jungle's silence returning once more.
Mission Token Updated: Total Points - 80
He was just extracting the spiritual core of the fourth wolf when he heard a panicked gasp, the snap of a twig.
He turned, his sword raised in a defensive posture, and saw the delicate girl he had helped on the stairs. She stumbled out from between the trees, her clothes torn, her face smeared with dirt and tears. Her token hung around her neck, displaying a glowing '0'.
And behind her, crashing through the trees, came a beast that was in a different league entirely.
It was an Iron-skinned Boar, but a monstrous version of the one he had killed earlier. It was as large as a bull, its tusks like rusted daggers, and a mindless rage burned in its small, red eyes. It was clearly a beast of the 7th layer of the Qi Condensation Realm, and it was wounded, blood pouring from a massive gash on its flank. Obviously, this was the work of another team that had provoked the beast and then fled.
The girl, Kavya Singh, stumbled and fell, her face white with terror as the boar charged at her.
Aryan's mind raced with icy speed.
Variable: Unexpected liability, Kavya Singh. High-level threat: Wounded 7th Layer Qi Condensation Realm Boar.
Analysis: Allowing the girl to die is the most efficient outcome. No energy expended, no noise made.
But then, another calculation surfaced.
Alternative Analysis: Girl owes a debt. A small investment could become a potential asset in the future. Girl is a high-value target. Intervention is risky, but the reward is significant.
He chose the second option.
"Here!" Aryan shouted, his voice cracking like a whip in the jungle.
The boar's massive head swung towards him, its red eyes locking onto a new target. It let out a deafening roar and charged, its hooves shaking the ground.
Aryan didn't run. He stood his ground, calm, his sword held low. He watched the beast's predictable, linear charge. He noted a huge, half-rotten log to his left.
Just as the boar was about to overwhelm him, Aryan didn't raise his sword. He thrust his left hand forward. He unleashed the Gale Palm, not at the boar, but at the base of the rotten log.
With a low woomph, a powerful gust of wind slammed into the wood. The log, already weakened by decay, broke with a terrible groaning sound. The massive trunk fell directly into the path of the charging boar.
The beast had no time to react. The log crashed onto its front legs and shoulders with a sickening crack. The boar's charge came to a violent, sudden halt, and it fell to the ground, screaming in pain and rage, pinned beneath the massive tree trunk. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was a perfect trap.
Before the beast could struggle free, Aryan was on it. He ran up the fallen trunk, and before the boar could even lift its massive head, Aryan's two fingers descended.
Void Piercer punched through the beast's thick hide as if it were paper, sinking deep into the soft spot just behind its eye. There was a concentrated blast of Qi.
The boar's scream was cut off in a gurgle. It shuddered, and then went still.
Mission Token Updated: Iron-Skinned Boar (7th Layer of Qi Condensation Realm) - 60 Points Acquired. Total Points: 140
Silence descended on the clearing, broken only by Kavya Singh's ragged, gasping breaths. She stared, her eyes wide, darting between the massive, dead body of the boar and the calm, young man who had killed it with such terrifying, calculated efficiency.
Aryan calmly wiped his fingers on the boar's hide and turned to her. His eyes were cold and analytical.
You are weak, he said, his voice flat. You will not survive alone. The jungle is a system. Individuals are liabilities. Small, efficient units are assets.
He walked over to her and looked down, his shadow covering her.
You will follow me. You will handle non-combat tasks: preparing the kills, keeping watch while I cultivate. In return, I will ensure you are not killed. Any beast I kill while you are in my party, you will receive half of the registered points on your token. Do you agree to these terms?"
Kavya Singh stared up at him, her mind reeling at his cold, business-like proposal. This wasn't an act of kindness; it was a transaction. Yet, she looked into his eyes and found no malice, only a profound, bottomless calm and a capability that seemed almost divine. She knew this was her only chance to survive, to pass the exam.
She nodded slowly, unable to speak.
Good, Aryan said. He turned and began to work on the massive corpse of the boar, harvesting its precious tusks and hide with the precision of a professional.
His one-man operation had now become a two-person unit. He had acquired his first, albeit reluctant, asset. His experiment in the jungle had just become more complex.