A wild boar as huge as an elephant rested in a mud pit. It had its eyes closed, half-kneeling and half-lying down. A pair of tusks, unsullied by mud, gleamed as bright as blades.
The twilight light fell upon its jet-black hide. Its massive belly, however, was white, rising and falling, making grunting sounds with every breath.
Wild Boar King! Fang Yuan was several hundred meters away from it, but he still walked cautiously downwind.
"Even though I can kill wild boars now, facing this Wild Boar King, I can only flee. Even an ordinary Rank 2 Gu Master can't kill it. If I can't figure out the Gu on it, I might make a fatal miscalculation."
Beast kings like this usually have Gu insects living on them. On the Wild Boar King, Swine Gu are most common. Pink Swine Gu and Spotted Swine Gu are the majority. Besides Swine Gu, there might also be Beast Skin Gu or Spike Worms.
In this world, there are all kinds of Gu insects. Some Gu insects live on strong beasts, forming a symbiotic relationship with them.
When a beast is attacked, the Gu insects on it will also sense the danger and help the beast fight against powerful enemies.
This Wild Boar King was massive in size, with strength far surpassing ordinary boars. Fang Yuan alone was no match for it, not to mention the one or more mysterious Gu insects on its body.
However, the main reason Fang Yuan risked coming here was not to hunt this Wild Boar King. It was to avoid Wang Da's revenge as much as possible.
Wang Da knew that Fang Yuan had the beast skin map. Fang Yuan, putting himself in Wang Da's shoes, decided to play along. He didn't go anywhere else but straight to the red cross marking the Wild Boar King's location.
Although the Wild Boar King was dangerous, it was still a beast without human intelligence. Old Man Wang, a mere mortal, was able to explore this area and retreat safely, so why couldn't Fang Yuan?
Going against expectations like this seemed risky, but was actually hiding a chance of survival.
Gradually walking further away, the Wild Boar King was already left behind by Fang Yuan. On the map, his route was a large circle, bypassing the red cross in a smooth arc, finally reaching the hillside where several clan elders were stationed, where the mid-year assessment would be held on the spot.
An hour later, a young man covered in grass clippings, his coarse clothes cut in strips by thorns, and his feet caked with mud, trudged up this hillside carrying a bag on his back.
This disheveled young man was none other than Fang Yuan.
"I finally made it back safely. With the clan elders stationed here, my safety is greatly guaranteed. But I mustn't let my guard down." Fang Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief in his heart and slowly walked up the slope.
A simple shed was set up on the hillside, and dozens of students gathered around it. The academy's guards were counting the number of boar tusks in the students' bags. Of the several clan elders who had been stationed here, only the academy elder remained; the others were nowhere to be seen.
"Why does the atmosphere feel so off?" Fang Yuan frowned slightly, acutely sensing that something major seemed to have happened.
As he approached the shed, he heard the surrounding students talking.
"Did you hear? There was an assassination just now, and several Rank 2 Gu Masters died in one go."
"Really?"
"Really. I arrived early and saw Gu Yue Fang Zheng being carried away by several clan elders in a hurry."
"Gu Yue Fang Zheng is so unlucky to run into something like this during the assessment."
"Hehe, you don't get it. The target was Gu Yue Fang Zheng. He's Grade A talent."
"I wonder if he'll die?"
"Even if he doesn't die, he'll be skinned alive. Maybe his talent will drop after getting hurt."
...
Fang Yuan's pace slowed. He was as clear as a mirror in his heart, immediately deducing the general truth of the matter.
"Wang Da wants to strike at me to avenge his murdered family. But after I discovered the treehouse, I immediately changed my route and charged straight for the Wild Boar King. Wang Da didn't expect this, missed me, and found Fang Zheng by accident. His information sources are only those few hunters, and he doesn't know I have a twin brother. He mistook Fang Zheng for me and wanted to kill him, but was stopped by the Gu Masters protecting him. The question now is—did Wang Da die?"
Fang Yuan frowned deeply. Wang Da's successful escape, capture, or death would all significantly impact his subsequent plans and arrangements.
After thinking for a moment, Fang Yuan decided to proceed with his original plan.
The academy elder's face was very grim. Fang Zheng had actually been assassinated! Without any leads, he would never suspect that Fang Zheng had taken the bullet for Fang Yuan; instead, he directly linked it to Bai Zhai Village and Xiong Zhai Village!
Fang Zheng was the only Grade A genius in Gu Yue Village in three years. The Bai Zhai and Xiong Zhai Villages naturally wouldn't sit idly by and watch him grow. Sending Gu Masters to assassinate him and nip him in the bud was perfectly normal.
Even Gu Yue Village was doing the same thing, secretly dispatching Gu Masters to hunt and kill genius students from the other two villages.
"The assassin has been killed on the spot. I wonder about Fang Zheng's injuries?" The academy elder was worried. Just then, an attendant presented a sheet of paper.
The academy elder took the paper and read it absent-mindedly: "The results of this mid-year assessment are as follows... Gu Yue Chicheng, sixteen boar tusks. Gu Yue Mobei, fourteen boar tusks..."
The attention of the surrounding students was finally drawn over.
The results were clear at a glance.