Han Luo’s arrival went unnoticed, just the way he liked it.

  Weaving his way through the crowd, he made his way to the center of the camp, right next to Li Jun’s tent.

  Based on his earlier observations, Li Jun was the strongest here—Qi Refining Stage Two. There were also a few other capable individuals nearby.

  That meant camping in the middle of this group was 78.6% safer than staying on the outskirts. If there were a night attack, he wouldn’t be the first one targeted.

  And knowing Li Jun’s overprotective nature, if he yelled for help, the guy would most likely step in. Successfully setting up his camp right next to Li Jun, he finished just as noon approached.

  Han Luo had a simple lunch. But instead of socializing or making new friends, he stayed inside his tent and rested.

  At midnight, long before dawn, when everyone else was still deep asleep, he woke up.

  Quietly packing his things, he slipped away from the camp.

  Fight the demonic wolves head-on? What kind of international joke was that?

  Demonic beasts were favored by heaven, born far stronger than humans—especially in terms of physical strength.

  Their bodies outclassed humans by dozens of times, no contest. Humans, on the other hand, had brains.

  So why in the world would you fight them head-on? That was not a cautious strategy.

  Sure, Li Jun and a few strong cultivators could hold their ground, but the rest were just ordinary mortals—their combat ability was basically zero.

  These kids weren’t even enough to fill the gaps between the wolves’ teeth. Han Luo was not like Li Jun, a prodigy at Qi Refining Stage Two.

  He was just an ordinary person. And yet, they expected him to charge in like cannon fodder?

  Was their brain broken, or was his brain broken? That’s why, from the start, he had already decided on an alternative approach—flanking maneuver.

  The plan was simple:

  Sneak around the battlefield and take a side path up the mountain.

  Once the fight started, all the demonic wolves would be focused on the battle, leaving other routes to the top completely unguarded.

  With that in mind, he spent two hours scouting and marked seven possible paths leading up the mountain.

  Then, he hid in a safehouse, waiting for the battle to start. As dawn broke, signaling the start of the day, the camp stirred to life.

  After breakfast, everyone made their final preparations. Then, they marched toward Luo Ri Mountain.

  The battle began as expected.

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  But to his surprise, it wasn’t a direct melee fight.

  A genius in formations had brought out a formation disk, setting up a protective barrier for the group.

  With weapons in hand, they stayed inside the defensive formation, fighting off the demonic wolves from behind a shield.

  Watching from afar, Han Luo nodded in approval.

  This. This was how humans should fight.

  Cultivators relied on wisdom, not just brute force. The gift of intelligence was what made the human race prosper. And yet some people insisted on charging in like fools—

  That’s a crime against common sense.

  He couldn’t help but mentally ridicule those who treated cultivation like a barbarian brawl. With the formation in place, the battle turned into a stalemate.

  The clash attracted attention from all sides. Individually, demonic wolves weren’t all that strong—their alpha was probably just second-rank.

  But their strength lay in their sheer numbers.

  They swarmed the human cultivators, surrounding them completely, forcing them to struggle for every step forward.

  Han Luo raised his magnifying glass, carefully watching the battlefield.

  "Not bad..."

  In his view—

  Li Jun, standing at the front with his silver sword, was cutting down wolves like paper.

  A stunning display of combat prowess.

  Behind him, a few other strong fighters fought with equal intensity. Unleashing their full strength, they dominated the battlefield.

  "Keep going, keep going," Han Luo cheered them on in his head.

  But he still didn’t move. Better to wait and observe.

  His caution paid off.

  More demonic wolves arrived, flooding in from all directions, turning the battle into pure chaos.

  And it wasn’t just the wolves. Several human cultivators, trying to sneak up the mountain, were caught by passing wolves. A brutal hand-to-hand slaughter ensued.

  Han Luo watched it all unfold from the shadows.

  "Pathetic. They didn’t even get the basics right."

  He shook his head in disappointment. Who starts climbing the mountain right when the battle begins?

  At least wait.

  Apparently, he wasn’t the only one with this idea—many people had received information that the first person to reach the top would get a special reward.

  That was why they were rushing up recklessly, desperate for the prize. Han Luo smirked.

  "Go ahead. Just make sure to clear the path for me while you're at it."

  He was never one to take the initiative. He preferred to let others go first.

  Two hours into the battle—

  Once he was certain that there were no other sneaky climbers left, he finally moved out. Following the pre-marked path, he took a side route up to Luo Ri Mountain’s midsection.

  The entire process was smooth and uneventful.

  After all, other people had already scouted the route before him—some even paid for it with their lives.

  Ahead, just a thousand meters away, was his final destination—the mountain’s platform. Stepping onto that platform meant passing the entrance exam and officially joining Luo Xian Sect.

  This was it. The first major goal he had spent ten years preparing for was right in front of him.

  But—

  He stopped.

  Even though all he had to do was walk forward to finish the exam, his instincts told him otherwise. There’s an old saying: "A journey of a hundred miles is only half finished at ninety."

  Who knew what traps might be lying in wait? Luo Xian Sect was not an insignificant sect. Their entrance exam couldn’t be this simple. What if a final boss suddenly jumped out at the last minute? With his weak little body, a single normal attack would be enough to send him straight to the afterlife.

  No way. Not taking that risk.

  Better to stay put and wait for Li Jun and his group to arrive.

  Let them test the waters first. As for the special reward for the first to reach the top—he had zero interest. It was probably just some fancy pills.

  And who knew how clean they were? What if the alchemist forgot to wash their hands? What if there were mystery ingredients mixed in? Even if he got it, he wouldn’t eat it, so why bother risking his life for it?

  He calmly set up a new safehouse, carefully laying explosive talismans around the area. If Li Jun’s team failed, and the wolves returned, he couldn’t exactly live next to them, could he?

  A backup plan was always good to have. As he set up the traps, he couldn’t help but feel—

  He was weirdly good at this. Like it was something he was born to do.

  Then—

  "Huh?"

  From a distance, a faint light flickered. At the same time, the spiritual detection talisman on his waist began shaking violently. It was reacting to a massive surge of spiritual energy.

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