Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Faint light brings up small words on the side:

"You have activated 'Heavenly Shadow', you are now hidden in the target's shadow."

Shen Ye stepped out of the shadow, flicked the blood off his short sword, and then sheathed it once again.

The large skeleton whistled, speaking rapidly:

"People are rapidly approaching from the southeast, southwest, and northwest."

"How many people in total?" Shen Ye asked.

"Eight!"

"Good."

Shen Ye took out a bottle of orange juice and began to drink.

"Hey, they're almost here!" the large skeleton reminded.

"That's why I am drinking some water first," Shen Ye said.

"Just a reminder, beverages can't replace water, water is the healthiest drink."

"You know about that?" Shen Ye was surprised.

"Of course, you have no idea how painful osteoporosis is..." the large skeleton murmured softly.

While they were talking, rustling sounds came from the surrounding jungle.

Two, three, three—

Scions of the Noble Families emerged from all around, staring at the scene before them.

Shen Ye.

He stood in front of two bodies, talking to himself.

Everyone was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized what was happening and exclaimed aloud:

"He's here!"

"Found him!"

"There are two that messed up."

"Great, he's ours, no one dare compete with me for him!"

Shen Ye's gaze swept across, and he suddenly saw a familiar face.

The young man in a white shirt.

The fourth-ranked newcomer, who fought with him at the party using the Law Realm Serpent as a Scion of the Noble Family.

Meeting an enemy, a surge of anger raced through his eyes.

The white-shirted youth stepped forward and pointed at Shen Ye, shouting loudly, "Everyone, this kid is very slippery, let's all take him on together!"

Shen Ye couldn't help but laugh:

"You're asking everyone to join in because you can't beat me yourself, are you not?"

The other Clan Young Masters were in no rush now.

Eight against one!

The prey was firmly in their grasp.

A Clan Young Master jeered:

"Aren't you the fourth on the ranking list? If it weren't for that snake your family gave you, do you think you'd be qualified to stand here and talk?"

The white-shirted youth stiffened but dared not say much.

—He had only one companion beside him, and it was a temporary alliance at that.

The opposite side had three people.

"Shen Ye, isn't it?" the previously jeering Scion of the Noble Family stepped forward, "To be honest, I admire your skills and courage, but if you're saying you're better than me, that I definitely cannot accept."

"What do you want?" Shen Ye asked.

"Let's all jump in together!" the Clan Young Master called out.

Shen Ye's mouth twitched.

Your words were beautiful, and I thought you were different from the white-shirted youth.

Turns out you're all the same!

"Hold on!"

A Clan Young Master holding a longbow suddenly spoke.

He seemed to command some respect, as once he spoke up, everyone immediately turned to look at him.

"How about this, the first person to injure him and the one to finally kill him get to take sixty percent of all the rewards! The rest will share the remaining forty percent!"

"Let's decide it this way—or rather, does anyone object?"

The bow-holding youth looked around.

The others met his gaze and subconsciously lowered their heads, daring not say anything more.

Even if someone wanted to propose a new idea, upon seeing the bow in his hand, they wisely shut their mouths.

And so, it was decided.

Shen Ye was speechless.

—I'm still alive, and you've already started deciding how to divide the spoils?

I'm not playing this game!

He turned and ran.

The youngsters immediately gave chase.

Thus, an uncommon spectacle unfurled in the jungle—

A young man fleeing with all his might, with eight others in relentless pursuit.

"I told you, you should have run faster, look! That guy just now took out his arrows and is about to shoot you," said the large skeleton, half-complaining and half-warning.

"Shoot me? He wishes!"

Shen Ye snorted.

—This moment was actually quite crucial.

He glanced back, gauging everyone's speed, pulled out his free attribute points, and for the moment did nothing.

That way, there was no need to fake or conceal anything—

The speed he displayed was the full extent of his sprinting ability.

It couldn't go higher.

It could only gradually decrease as time went on and his physical strength waned.

"Quick!"

"He can't hold out much longer!"

"Go for it!"

The people behind shouted loudly.

Shen Ye's figure suddenly flickered and dispersed into seven or eight water-like forms.

Whoosh—

An arrow grazed past, tracing an arc in the air and accelerating back toward its source.

A boomerang arrow?

Shen Ye was momentarily taken aback, his figure flashing again to create several afterimages.

That was close!

Fortunately, with his agility now boosted to 16.1 and using the Flowing Moon Movement Technique, he narrowly dodged the arrow.

In the moment the arrow misfired past him, Shen Ye struck out with his palm.

Thunder Shock!

The arrow was finally broken by his palm and fell to the ground.

"How dare you break the consecrated arrow of my family, you deserve to die!" the youth exclaimed in anger.

Shen Ye's expression remained calm as he again sped up, sprinting forward.

Eight Scions of the Noble Family.

One had a Law Realm Spirit Snake, another had a Tracking Arrow.

What about the remaining six?

...I need to come up with a plan to deal with them.

About half an hour later.

One chasing the other, neither slowing down.

Shen Ye was getting tired.

"Hey, save some energy for the fight," the large skeleton said worriedly.

"It's fine."

Shen Ye glanced back.

Eight people, not one less, tightly followed behind him.

The Clan Young Master holding a bow and arrow raised it several times but had to lower it again due to insufficient distance.

Physical Strength...

Everyone had depleted a considerable amount of physical strength.

Shen Ye's thoughts moved.

A faint light gathered, forming lines of small characters in the void:

"With the continuous running, the stored strength in the body has diminished significantly, currently only 1.1 remaining."

"You have invested 3 Attribute Points into Strength."

"The body's strength has recovered to 4.1."

"Remaining free attribute points: 7."

His body once again filled with strength, physical stamina became abundant, and his legs swung widely as he sprinted forward at high speed.

Another roughly ten minutes passed.

"Damn it, are you even human!"

Hysterical roars came from behind.

"Can't even catch up and you want to kill me? A bunch of trash!"

Shen Ye shouted loudly without looking back.

The people behind fell silent.

They chased with renewed vigor.

Keep chasing.

Keep running.

More than ten minutes later.

"Damn you Shen Ye, have the guts—have the guts—just stop!"

This time, the shouting voice carried a hint of desperation, like a long-neglected bellows creaking and groaning.

"Have the guts to keep up!"

Shen Ye yelled back, then suddenly lifted his head toward the sky.

Deep within the sky, a rumbling sound echoed, accompanied by a vast expanse of white objects twinkling with light as they plummeted toward the ground.

Snap.

An icy, oval-shaped object fell in front of Shen Ye.

—Hail!

A realization struck Shen Ye.

The so-called "wilderness survival" would never be that simple; various tests were to be expected.

Without hesitation, he invested two free Attribute Points into Agility.

After pondering, he threw two more into Strength.

As a result, with his stamina abundant and agility high, plus being in a dense forest where many hailstones were directly blocked by the trees, dodging became possible.

A line of faint light characters emerged:

"The free Attribute Points you've used will slowly recover to 10 points with adequate rest."

So what!

Free Attribute Points are meant to be spent!

Shen Ye exhaled deeply, wiped the sweat from his forehead, drank a few sips of mineral water, and felt elated.

This marathon run was quite satisfying.

He shed sweat, burned calories, not only incidentally slimming down but also took his enemies for a loop.

His feet didn't stop, he continued to sprint through the underbrush.

The eight Scions of the Noble Family chased after him with clenched teeth.

"Ouch!"

One of the Scions cried out suddenly.

No need to think about it, he must have been struck by a hailstone.

Rain.

It was getting heavier and heavier.

The whole world seemed to be under attack by the hail.

Shen Ye was also almost unable to evade.

Looking back, he saw those Scions gradually stopping to guard against the hail from the sky.

Even with the shelter of trees all around, they couldn't withstand the intensity of this hailstorm any longer.

Even large trees started to collapse.

It was like a terrifying natural disaster!

What to do?

"Retreat! Retreat first, find cover to avoid this!"

The young archer shouted aloud.

The others followed his command and retreated.

Shen Ye stopped.

What?

You're not chasing anymore?

How could that be acceptable!

"Hey, you wanted to kill me, and now you're giving up?"

Shen Ye shouted loudly.

The Scions buried their heads and fled, ignoring him.

"Are you stupid? They're running away; isn't this the perfect chance for you to escape?"

The skeleton couldn't refrain from yelling.

Shen Ye spat out:

"They want to kill me, they come; they want to hide from hail, they run; what about my dignity?"

"So what do you want?" the skeleton said incredulously.

"No life, no stop!"

Shen Ye turned and chased after the fleeing young men.

He suddenly allocated all his Attribute Points to Agility.

Three steps.

Two steps.

His figure flashed and crossed tens of meters, merging into the shadow of a young man.

The young man who had been the most aggressive in pursuit was now running in the opposite direction, which naturally left him at the back.

Puff.

Nightfall pierced through the chest.

The young man paused, his steps halted, and he looked down at the sword in his chest.

"I am a Scion of the Noble Family, you—you dare—"

He seemed to struggle with acceptance.

"Dare to kill you." Shen Ye finished his sentence for him, slapping out with a reversed hand.

The young man fell to the ground, motionless.

The first one!

No, wait!

These guys had many treasures on them when they came for the exam.

So was he really dead?

Don't walk off, only for him to get up and run away; wouldn't that be in vain?

"Hey, are you dead?"

Shen Ye asked uncertainly.

"I'm dead." the corpse answered.

"Well, that's good." Shen Ye was relieved and continued to chase forward.