Chapter 177 - The Scum Is Foolish

How can Cheng Sheng not know what they're thinking? The corner of his lips raised and he lowered his hands that's keeping up the array. "Score." He called Shu Mu.

"…" my name is not 'score'. It's 'Shu Mu'! Shu Mu thought and rolled his eyes. Nonetheless, he walked towards Cheng Sheng, back to wearing the Alliance's disciple's clothes to not interfere with the third stage's arrangement.

"Good." Cheng Sheng said, feeling satisfied when he saw his team's scores. "Everyone! That's enough!" he called.

"Ugh… thank goodness… I'm too tired!" they all said as they collapsed on the ground.

Cheng Sheng smiled. "You've worked hard!" he told them and also rested.

Outside the secret realm, everyone was puzzled by their behavior. "Huh? What are they doing? Why did they stop?" they asked in puzzlement.

Even the Alliance's elders and the sect leaders were confused. "Did they exhausted themselves?" someone said.

"Could be. After all, they really pushed themselves to their limit to increase the score." Somebody said.

"This is foolish. The other teams will increase their scores while they rest. They're wasting time!" a sect leader can't help but say.

"But, they also need to rest to regain their strength. It's already a great feat to create a large gap. They must have estimated the time they rest proportional to the gap the other teams would be chasing." Someone explained.

Fei Huang and Qian Shan nodded in agreement. Jing Rui just lowered his gaze in silence. Tang Teng sighed in relief while

Li Nanzi grinned in satisfaction. Good. Kang Ce will chase the score back! He thought as he looked at Kang Ce killing the walking corpses like he's chopping off the vegetables.

Meanwhile, Wu Yuan and Xie Lan looked at each other. There's no tension nor panic in their face. After all, they trust Cheng Sheng and his team.

Inside the secret realm, everyone saw the exhausted Cheng Sheng's team sprawled on the ground and were barely moving.

"Fools!" Tang Yun said and laughed when they saw Cheng Sheng and his teammates weakly fought against the walking corpses that arrived again. "Do they think widening the gap will secure their rank?" he asked as he looked at Xiao Le almost was bitten by the walking corpse. Shu Mu was about to move when Cheng Sheng interrupted him.

Kang Ce saw it and he clicked his tongue. Xiao Le, you're too weak. He thought and then glared at Shu Mu who almost broke his role when he saw that Xiao Le was in danger.

When they saw that the Zunjingde Sect and the Shanliangde Sect's scores rose, they immediately caught up.

Outside the realm, the rising and falling of the contestants' name in the ranking list is like their heart inside their chest that also rose and fell for being nervous and worried for the contestants they cheer on.

"Cheng-shixiong and the others wouldn't lose, right?" You Rou asked.

"No…" Lei Qing answered, but her tone is uncertain. "Let's trust them." she said.

"Yes." Lei Ling nodded and they resumed watching.

However, contrary to the worried Xinfaxian Sect disciples, Zuo Zhe's face is puzzled. That Yu Sheng… he thought as he looked at Yu Sheng trying hard to fight against the corpse. … is playing around. He thought and his face darkened when he saw Yu Sheng's eyes that are narrowed in mirth. He's trying so hard, to actually act! Damn him… what the hell are they planning this time?! He thought and looked at Cheng Sheng who ran away after he was chased by the walking corpses. You're acting too much! He thought.

Unlike the people, he knows Yu Sheng very well. The power Yu Sheng displayed earlier isn't even a fraction of his real power. If Yu Sheng would unleash his power, the whole secret realm will be destroyed. Yet… He thought and watched Cheng Sheng's team finally killed all the walking corpses and catch their breath. Cheng Sheng… what is it you're planning? He thought and watched them left the area to rest for tonight.

Inside the secret realm, Cheng Sheng fell on the spring with his clothes still on.

"Ah Sheng/Cheng-shidi/Cheng-shixiong!" they called as they watched Cheng Sheng's body sank to the bottom of the spring.

The water in the spring is clear thus they took out their bamboo tubes to refill it. "How's the score now?" Chen Han asked after he drank.

"Jing Cheng is leading. Xi Ming is close behind him, and Tang Zhe and Kang Ce were following them." Shu Mu answered. "It's about to be dusk. They're also at their limit." He added as he looked at the Zunjingde Sect, the Shanliangde Sect and the Huakai Sect in the Cleansing Stone before he hid it to minimize the monitoring on their group.

Yu Sheng's lips curved up as he looked at the others who were also smiling. Their eyes are talking. Suddenly, an array appeared beneath their feet. It's the Telepathic Array.

"When the moon reached its peak, we'll start." They heard Cheng Sheng – who's on the bottom of the spring sleeping, spoke in their mind.

"Yes!" they answered.

"For now… let's eat dinner. I'm starving." Cheng Sheng added.

"…" in the end, food is all in his mind, right? They thought as they took out the rabbits, boars and pheasants they hunted on their way.

As if reading their mind, Cheng Sheng spoke. "We have to conserve our strength for later." He said. "Food is converted to energy. The more food we eat, the more energy we'll receive." He explained.

Yes, yes, gluttony ghost. They thought as they helped Fei Yin clean the ingredients and start the fire.

Meanwhile, the other groups were finally exhausted and lie down the ground to rest. They felt their stomach and heard it growled in hunger. They somewhat regret they didn't leave any strength for them to cook. However, seeing the scores they had and comparing it to others, they felt satisfied.

Jing Cheng is the first, followed by Xi Ming who was only one point behind. Tang Zhe is two points behind Xi Ming. Kang Ce is the fourth, Jing Bai and Gong Xian are the fifth, followed by Shan Lu, Jing Hei and Tang Yun in the seventh place, Jing Kang and Qian Lin in the eighth place, Xi Xing and Guo Cheng in the ninth place, and Chen Han and Sun Yi in the tenth place. Yu Sheng and Wu Xi are in the eleventh place. Fei Yin is in the twelfth place. Cheng Sheng is in the thirteenth place, Xiong Si is in the fourteenth place, Feng Mo, Li Tian, Fu An, Xiao Le and the rest of the Huakai Sect disciples are in the fifteenth place and below.

Cheng Sheng's group has barely managed to get into the top ten. Chen Han and Sun Yi are from the Youxiwang Sect, so the Xinfaxian Sect disciples were pushed out of the top ten.

Outside the secret realm, everyone was worried. "How the tables turned!" they exclaimed and shook their head in disappointment.

"Everyone…" Lei Ling and You Rou cried as they clasped their hands. Lei Qing took a deep breath to calm her emotions due to fear. Meanwhile, Zuo Zhe was observing Yu Sheng through his system's screen, so he looked like he was deep in thought.

The Alliance elders and the sect leaders were shocked. They all worriedly looked at Xie Lan, whose face is expressionless, in fear he'll suddenly snap.

Jing Rui remained silent as he contemplated. Tang Teng is relieved in spite his disciples are now starving in hunger. Qian Shan was stroking his mustache, waiting to see what happens next. Meanwhile, Fei Huang chuckled while Li Nanzi smugly smiled.

"Junior Xie. Among the contestants, all of your disciples were kicked out of the top ten." Fei Huang said.

"…" the sect leaders whose face suddenly darkened. Sect leader Fei, please stop picking on him like a child! They thought. However, they knew Fei Huang meant no harm and was just teasing Xie Lan.

The expected anger on Xie Lan wasn't seen. Instead, they saw him suddenly smiled as he relaxed on his seat while his gaze is on the Cleansing Stone, watching his disciples. "We still have one day left." He said as he crossed his legs and arms and raised his chin at Fei Huang. "You don't know what will happen next." He told them and grinned when he looked at the Cleansing Stone. "Don't underestimate the Xinfaxian Sect, most especially – " he said as he rested his elbow on his armrest while he lazily placed his cheek on his knuckle. He brightly smiled at them and motioned the Cleansing Stone with a tilt of his head. " – Xiao Sheng." He said, his voice filled with pride and everyone looked at the Cleansing Stone.

Suddenly, their face became dark when they saw that the Xinfaxian Sect was cooking their dinner. Not only that, but all the other contestants are heading their way! They were lured in by the aroma of the food!

Fools! They thought as they looked at their disciples who were starving like a beast as they flew to the Xinfaxian Sect's direction at their fastest speed. That is clearly a trap!