CH 70

Chapter 70: The Beginning of the Trial

"Xiaotian," Xiao Qingyang called out from below, trying to provide some comfort to Gu Xiaotian.

However, Gu Xiaotian had an inherent fear of heights. From the moment he jumped down, he dared not open his eyes, as the sight below would surely scare him to fainting.

The wind whistled in his ears, drowning out Xiao Qingyang's shouts. Gu Xiaotian remained immersed in his own fear, unable to control the landing suit at all.

Fortunately, the landing suit was self-controlled. Even without conscious manipulation, it would start decelerating after a certain distance, ensuring the safe arrival of the wearer.

Though Xiao Qingyang had been keeping an eye on Gu Xiaotian, he was not well-versed in the workings of the landing suit. He couldn't control his own descent to reach Gu Xiaotian or ensure that they landed in the same place. He could only watch as they grew farther apart and landed in different locations.

"I will go find Qingyang, and the three of you go find Xiaotian. We'll meet up at his landing spot and then go find Kaoyang and the others," Lin Weiran decisively assigned the tasks.

The descent distance seemed significant, but it actually only took a few dozen seconds. Lin Weiran quickly made the necessary judgments based on the landing positions of the previous teammates and promptly issued the orders.

Although Lin Weiran was a student at the Mecha Department, he specialized in command. His mind was calm enough to make the most accurate judgments in a short period of time.

The others trusted him and accepted his command without any objections.

Lin Weiran and Liu Jialiang controlled their landing suits to descend toward the location where Xiao Qingyang had landed, while the remaining three went to find Gu Xiaotian.

Xiao Qingyang successfully landed and set foot on solid ground, finally feeling a sense of security.

Indeed, only the lovely earth could provide such a sense of security.

As per their initial agreement, Xiao Qingyang stayed in place after landing, waiting for his teammates to come and join him.

However, he didn't just stand still and do nothing. Although his body didn't move, his eyes roamed around, taking in the surroundings.

Because this place was a forest with abundant trees and plants, Xiao Qingyang momentarily felt as if he had returned to the First Forest of Yalan Star, experiencing a sense of ease and comfort.

Since arriving at the Imperial Capital Star, Xiao Qingyang had rarely had the opportunity to connect with nature. This trial was like a fish being returned to water for him, providing a newfound sense of freedom.

Xiao Qingyang earnestly savored the comfort brought by nature. A few shimmering green dots surrounded him, continuously emanating from within him and dispersing onto the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees, making the already lush vegetation even more vibrant.

Lin Weiran and Liu Jialiang didn't keep Xiao Qingyang waiting for long. Soon, the two teammates landed not far from him.

Upon hearing the commotion, Xiao Qingyang awakened from his enjoyment and immediately saw the two familiar teammates.

"Xiaotian should be nearby as well. Let's go and meet up with them," Lin Weiran and Liu Jialiang, unaware of Xiao Qingyang's recent peculiar state, said this. 

"Okay," Xiao Qingyang retracted his natural power and nodded in agreement.

Although he wanted to bask in the comfort of nature a little longer, he understood that he was participating in a freshman trial and couldn't delay his teammates.

Although Gu Xiaotian and Xiao Qingyang's landing spots didn't appear far from the air, it became more challenging to find someone once they reached the ground, with flowers, grass, and trees obstructing the view and making direction identification less precise.

Lin Weiran carefully used a modified compass-like device to determine the direction and pointed to the left, saying, "Let's go this way."

This device was referred to as a simulated compass because it was based on a compass but had more functions and provided more accurate direction identification.

However, the simulated compass was an electronic device that lost its functionality without power or when encountering a strong magnetic field.

Fortunately, the magnetic field here was relatively stable, and direction identification posed no problem.

Lin Weiran had diligently noted the position of Gu Xiaotian, and after recognizing the current direction, they walked towards that direction.

However, even though the distance seemed short from the air, they had been walking for fifteen minutes and still hadn't found each other.

Although there were no other teams in the vicinity, it wasn't completely safe. They needed to find everyone and regroup quickly.

Xiao Qingyang didn't understand much about high-tech gadgets, nor did he possess any. However, he had spiritual perception.

After a month of cultivation, a thin layer of spiritual power had formed at the bottom of his spiritual spring, making it easy for him to use spiritual perception.

Therefore, Xiao Qingyang released his spiritual perception, and the situation within several kilometers became clear in his consciousness, including the locations of Gu Xiaotian and the other teammates.

Lin Weiran's indicated direction was incredibly accurate. The reason they hadn't found Gu Xiaotian was simply that they hadn't walked far enough. They only needed to walk a few more minutes, and they would have come across each other.

Xiao Qingyang didn't inform Lin Weiran of his findings. He didn't plan to reveal the existence of his spiritual perception and spiritual power unless absolutely necessary. Even if there were urgent situations later that required the use of spiritual perception or spiritual power, he would find a good excuse.

As expected, after advancing for approximately five more minutes, they finally heard the familiar voices of their other teammates.

"You finally came! We were almost unable to stay put any longer," Gao Lingqi said, visibly relieved to see the rest of the team.

Waiting in one place for others was torturous for them.

"Sorry, we landed a bit far away. Let's go find Kaiyang and the others," Lin Weiran suggested, immediately gaining everyone's agreement.

Xu Kaiyang and the others' location was much farther from Gu Xiaotian's position. After all, Gu Xiaotian and Xiao Qingyang hesitated for more than ten seconds before jumping from the spaceship.

Although ten seconds was brief, considering the speed of the spaceship's travel, it could cover hundreds of meters in a single second. Furthermore, several hundred meters in the air translated into several kilometers on the ground, magnifying the difference even more.

"I only have a rough idea of the general direction where Kaiyang and the others landed. It might take quite some time to meet up with them," Lin Weiran informed everyone.

Fortunately, Xu Kaiyang and Li Ying landed together, so they could provide mutual support before Lin Weiran and the others found them.

Due to the significant distance between the two parties, Lin Weiran and the others didn't rush to find Xu Kaiyang and his group at the fastest speed. Instead, they moved in the general direction while observing the surrounding environment, searching for advantageous resources to use.

The forest was a natural treasure trove, abundant with resources.

If a person without any supplies were thrown into a forest but had hands and feet and wasn't lazy, they would never starve.

The school allowed each student to carry a one-square-meter space button, which contained the daily necessities they would need for a month. The remaining space could be used to hold the resources they found in the forest.

Although the space button's area wasn't large, it greatly facilitated their actions.

This was the second forest Xiao Qingyang had encountered. Unlike Forest No. 1, this one had even richer resources. Almost everywhere he looked, he could find "treasures" that made him wish he could take them all away.

Unfortunately, Xiao Qingyang's space button was only one square meter in size and couldn't fit so many things. They still had to live here for over a month, so they had to be frugal with their resources.

Therefore, Xiao Qingyang reluctantly left behind those "treasures" despite his longing gaze. "Can we come to this forest normally?" Xiao Qingyang asked Lin Weiran.

"Yes, this place is originally a training ground for our school. Many students come here for training, but since it's not organized by the school, they're not responsible for safety issues," Lin Weiran replied.

In other words, when students come here for training, they are responsible for their own life and death.

However, under normal circumstances, everyone only exercises around the periphery, and safety is not under significant threat.

Only those with top-tier strength would think of going deeper inside to search for opportunities and train themselves.

With the answer he desired, Xiao Qingyang's pleasant mood elevated further. He would definitely find a way to come here in the future. This place had many spirit plants that Forest No. 1 didn't have, which would be perfect for studying other types of potions.

Although Xiao Qingyang had past-life experience, he didn't possess spiritual power. The method of refining potions differed from other classmates. When everyone started attending potion classes to learn the refining process, he would be left far behind if he didn't make an effort.

After all, while everyone could follow existing recipes to prepare potions, he had to first research and develop his own recipes before refining the potions. The difficulty was not merely one or two times greater than that of ordinary students.

However, the potions he prepared using the recipes he developed seemed to have much better effects than ordinary potions of the same level. This was also a consolation for him.

The group spent the morning walking in the forest. The sun had moved from the east to directly overhead, but they still hadn't met up with Xu Kaiyang and the others. Fortunately, they hadn't encountered any dangers either.

"Let's take a break and have lunch before continuing," Lin Weiran suggested. He had become the unofficial leader of the group, and everyone listened to and trusted him.

"I saw several things we can eat. I'll go find them and make lunch for everyone," Gu Xiaotian said excitedly, finally able to contribute. He informed the group.

Xiao Qingyang: "I'll go with you."

He had also seen several familiar ingredients, ones that couldn't be found in Forest No. 1. Just thinking about the delicious dishes he could make with those ingredients made his mouth water.

Lin Weiran didn't feel at ease letting Gu Xiaotian and Xiao Qingyang go alone as they were the weakest in the group. He stood up and prepared to accompany them in search of ingredients.

"Then I'll gather some firewood," Zheng Kainan volunteered.