Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

"It's still early. What are you doing, just standing there and smiling like a goof?" Vivian's voice sounded. She had come out from one of the bamboo houses and caught Zachary with a leery smile as he held onto something.

Zachary turned around and saw Vivian. He immediately put the brassiere in his hand into the system and replied, "Oh, nothing."

"What was in your hand just now?" Vivian asked curiously.

"That's a secret," Zachary answered cheekily, raising his brows.

"Don't be so stingy. Just tell me. Oh, by the way, I could have sworn someone was here. Who was it?" Vivian asked. She had sensed another aura beside Zachary's before coming out. Something told her that the aura belonged to someone strong.

"Oh, yes. An Imperial Level warrior passed by, but he has already left," Zachary replied casually giving her a random excuse.

"Really?" Vivian narrowed her eyes, clearly having a hard time believing him.

As they talked, Tracy, Nola, Kemp, and their companion walked out of their bamboo houses one after the other. Jay was the last to come out.

"Did you all rest well last night?" Jay looked around at them and asked.

"Not good at all! Those bastards were crying and screaming all night outside. I wasn't able to cultivate at all!" Kemp cursed angrily.

"Same here. There were several martial beasts nearby last night. They were so annoying. I sent my beast out to drive them away," Tracy echoed with a nod. This was not a good environment for warriors to cultivate.

"Jay, I think Crane College brought us here to give us a head-on blow without giving us a chance. It's highly possible that they want to make us return to the Devil Kingdom as soon as possible," Kemp surmised snidely.

"That's not true. Every year, before the Imperial Level Warrior Contest, warriors from each kingdom would go to other colleges for further study. This has been an ongoing tradition for years. I don't think Crane College is maliciously trying to drive us back home. Moreover, I have led more teams to Crane College than you can imagine. From experience, I know that's not their intent. It's possible there's something else going on this time around, though. To be fair, Barnes, who's in charge of arranging everything for us, has always been unreasonable. It's actually my first time working with him. I've heard about his

training today," the guide explained at once.

"Training?" Jay was perplexed.

And he wasn't the only one. Zachary and the rest looked at one another, equally curious.

"That's right. If you want to learn how to control a treasure beast, you have to study different kinds of beasts. This is a very important and basic requirement to qualify as a beast tamer. As such, your task today is to bring the treasure beasts that were released earlier back to the beast barn," the guide said.

"Bring them back in? But how do we know if they are from this beast barn? Isn't there more than one beast barn in Crane College?" Vivian asked hesitantly.

"Each treasure beast in this barn has its own plate with the Earth sign engraved on it. You can easily identify the beasts as they're all at the lowest Earth Level. Don't forget, some treasure beasts are ill-tempered and won't want to come back with you. So, it may take you some time and effort to bring them back in," the guide added sternly.

"Did Barnes also arrange this?" Jay asked, his face darkening. While it wasn't the first time for him to lead a team to Crane College, none of the previous ones had had to go through this. He was questioning the college's true intentions now.

"Yes. He said that if you weren't able to bring all the treasure beasts back before dark, you wouldn't be able to see him today," the guide explained patiently.

Barnes' true intentions were unmistakable. He had given them this task to avoid meeting them today. He was deliberately making things difficult for them.