Under Lu Jun's gaze, Jiang Kai led the Fire God Squad back into the public area.
Not long after, the Wizard Season Squad and the Fishing Squad also appeared at the teleportation array.
When he saw these two teams, Jiang Kai slightly furrowed his brows.
The Wizard team had five people, but the Fishing Squad had only two.
Back in the finals zone, Weiss and Green were already just two people. At that time, Jiang Kai thought their teammates had died in earlier battles. But now, as the whole team enters the Lost Lands to explore, they are still only two people, which means they originally joined the competition as just two.
Only two people joined the competition, how confident were they in themselves?
Weiss also noticed Jiang Kai's gaze and walked over with a smile, "Yo, Jiang Kai, we meet again."
Jiang Kai slightly narrowed his eyes, "What exactly was written in the letter you gave me last time?"
Weiss smiled slightly, "That letter wasn't from me. I was just the postman, responsible for delivering it."
Jiang Kai frowned, "So you don't know how to open the wax seal?"
Weiss laughed heartily, "Of course I don't. But obviously, since you can't open it, that means you're not qualified to see the contents yet."
"Who asked you to give it to me?"
Weiss said, "You don't need to know the sender's identity. Strictly speaking, the recipient wasn't even supposed to be you, but rather the strongest individual in the tournament. It might be you, or it might be Kuramasuke."
"You earned this qualification only because of your battle with Kuramasuke."
At this point, Jiang Kai knew he probably wouldn't get any valuable information out of Weiss.
Just then, everyone present heard a system prompt.
[Welcome back to the Beginner Tournament Zone. There are a total of 500 Lost Lands in this competition zone. Use Lost Land keys to enter and explore the Lost Lands.]
[Treasure chests in the Lost Lands are divided into four tiers: bronze, silver, gold, and hidden purple chests. A few Lost Lands have a chance to contain glowing chests. Each Lost Land contains 100 scattered chests, with only one item in each chest.]
[Lost Lands come in many types. There are no beasts residing in them, but traps and mechanisms remain. Death will result in immediate logout.]
[Each squad has one hour to explore. After one hour, all personnel will be teleported back.]
[Rewards obtained by the three teams will be publicly displayed in real-time.]
Suddenly, a large screen projection appeared behind the three squads.
The screen displayed the names of the three squads. The "Treasure Obtained" column was currently empty.
[10 minutes until exploration countdown begins.]
A wizard sneered and said sourly, "Humph, now we're screwed. One hour isn't even enough to explore one Lost Land. What's the point of getting first place?"
His teammate pulled him, "Hurry up and find a Lost Land!"
Jiang Kai also led the Fire God Squad away immediately.
Finding the entrance to the Lost Lands wasn't difficult. A large number of light gates had appeared throughout the competition zone, which should be the teleportation gates to the Lost Lands.
Hu Yan performed a divination. The northeast direction was auspicious.
Following Hu Yan's suggestion, Jiang Kai and his team headed northeast quickly.
After a few minutes of running, they spotted several teleportation arrays in succession.
"Kai Captain, which one do we enter?"
Jiang Kai checked the time. Less than one minute remained before the countdown began.
Three teleportation arrays were nearby.
"Looks like we'll have to rely on luck," Jiang Kai told his teammates, "I was just thinking, with a hundred treasure chests scattered and traps included, the Lost Lands probably aren't small. One hour might not even be enough to explore a single one."
Yuan Zhu said angrily, "Yeah! Getting first place isn't even useful!"
Jiang Kai said, "Forget it for now. Since we got first place, we have to find a way to maximize our gains."
"I'm guessing the low-tier chests aren't that hard to obtain. The main issue is the tight time limit."
"There are no beasts in the Lost Lands, so it's relatively safe. So I want to split our squad into three smaller teams to explore simultaneously."
"Zhuzi and Nuannuan form one team, Hu Yan and Ruan Yu another," After speaking, Jiang Kai handed two keys to Hu Yan and Nuannuan, "Be careful of traps, especially after discovering a chest."
Hu Yan nodded, "Kai Captain, you be even more careful!"
The three squads immediately entered three adjacent teleportation arrays.
After a slight dizziness, Jiang Kai's vision returned to normal.
In front of him was a vast forest. Towering giant trees blocked his view.
[You have entered the Lost Land "Forest of Escape." Treasure chests cannot be taken out of the Lost Land directly. Exploration countdown begins.]
"Forest of Escape? From the name alone, this doesn't sound like a good place…", Jiang Kai shook his head, "Old Hu, is your divination accurate or not?"
In any case, since he was here, he had to hurry and search for treasure chests.
As Jiang Kai looked around, he immediately noticed a patch of dull yellow on the side of a large tree that didn't blend with the gray-brown bark.
"Hmm?", Jiang Kai immediately walked over.
Soon, he discovered the first chest, a bronze chest.
"That easy?", Jiang Kai tossed a few branches toward the chest. Seeing no trap was triggered, he walked up.
Carefully opening the chest, he saw a large chunk of ore inside.
Black ore with many spots revealing golden and pink crystals, sparkling and faintly glowing from within.
Jiang Kai had never seen this kind of ore before, but he was curious about the quality of rewards in this tournament, so he used an identification card to examine it.
[Supreme Sky Crystal Ore, 15 kilograms. Can upgrade supreme-grade equipment. Can be refined into Sky Crystal Jade.]
"Upgrade material for supreme equipment?", Jiang Kai's eyes widened. The rarity of this item even exceeded that of supreme equipment itself.
Most people's high-grade equipment remains unupgraded due to the scarcity of enhancement materials.
And this came from the lowest-tier bronze chest.
Jiang Kai quickly stored the ore away.
Just as he put away the treasure, he suddenly felt the ground shake violently beneath him.
Immediately afterward, massive portions of land behind him began to collapse, falling hundreds of meters into a pool of magma.
Seeing this, Jiang Kai gasped.
This Forest of Escape was actually built above a magma space. Once he took the treasure, the ground began to collapse and fall into the magma below.
The ground continued to collapse, and the direction of the collapse was headed right toward Jiang Kai.
"Damn!", Jiang Kai didn't have time to think. He turned and ran.
The collapse spread rapidly and relentlessly.
"Shit, now I know why it's called the Forest of Escape!", Jiang Kai cursed as he sprinted, "Old Hu, this is your so-called auspicious direction?"
At that moment, Jiang Kai spotted another bronze chest in the forest to his side.
He gritted his teeth, sped up, dashed to the chest, opened it without even looking, grabbed the treasure, and continued running.
Once he opened the chest, the collapse behind him sped up again.
Jiang Kai gasped. Could it be that opening a chest accelerates the collapse speed of the Forest of Escape?
Thinking of this, Jiang Kai's scalp went numb.
———
"Zhuzi, here's a chest! And it's a silver one," Nuannuan and Yuan Zhu walked along a sunny forest path. Birds chirped, flowers bloomed, and the scenery was beautiful.
The occasional treasure chest only improved their mood.
"Nuannuan, this flower is for you," Yuan Zhu picked a pure white flower and handed it to Nuannuan, "Let me put it on you, it really suits your vibe."
Hu Yan and Ruan Yu dragged a golden chest out from some rubble.
"It's the level six class advancement material for martial disciples," Ruan Yu's eyes widened, "Old Hu, our luck is amazing!"
Hu Yan smiled slightly, "Yeah. And they said there would be traps. We've found so many chests and haven't seen a single one."
"Old Hu, I want a drink…"
"Just hold it for now. Focus on the treasure chests. These are really important for Captain Kai," Hu Yan said, "One hour is still pretty tight."
Ruan Yu could only touch his wine gourd and resist the urge to drink.
"Sigh, for Captain Kai, I'll stay sober! Kai Captain, there's no such thing as peaceful years, you just don't know that I'm silently bearing the weight behind you."
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