In the forest, the three closest people met again.

Hu Qian had already grown into a slender and elegant lady. Her beautiful hair was casually draped over her shoulders. A breeze blew past, and her soft clothes stuck to her body, outlining her graceful curves.

Yang Tianqi pursed his lips, not knowing what to say.

“You were too impulsive. You had a chance to escape just now. There’s no need to fight them head-on.”

Liu Wen exhaled softly. The injuries in his body had recovered by eighty to ninety percent.

“If I don’t fight them, these people will think that I’m easy to bully.”

“You should think more about it. Master said that the most important goal of fighting is to protect yourself. You can’t always fight without a thought of your life.”

Liu Wen frowned and revealed a dissatisfied expression. He stood up and nodded at Yang Tianqi. “Thank you for this time, but I owe you a favor. If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first. I won’t waste your time.”

“Liu Wen.”

“Is there anything else?”

“We’ve encountered many people. They’ve all formed teams. There’s nothing to be gained by walking alone like this.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to being alone after so many years. Anyway, the two of you are so strong. Nothing will happen. You don’t need an extra person like me.”

“Liu Wen, what are you saying? We’re all fellow disciples.”

“I know you’re my senior brother, so there’s no need to keep reminding me. I’m still in a hurry to complete my mission. If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”

After Liu Wen finished speaking, he leaped lightly and flew hundreds of feet away. Soon, he disappeared into the forest, leaving only Yang Tianqi and Hu Qian.

“He hasn’t changed at all.”

Hu Qian’s eyes silently stared in the direction Liu Wen left. Her pupils were a very rare diamond.

“It’s fine. We’re just a little unfamiliar after he was away for a year. We’ll get together after this competition.”

Hu Qian glanced at Yang Tianqi and did not say anything else about this question. She turned to look at the two lit pillars of light in front of her.

Each of them had a mission point, which was the pale yellow pillar of light that could appear in their vision. However, the missions between the two sides were not conflicting. They could help each other complete it.

Liu Wen ran forward silently. After an unknown period of time, he arrived directly below the yellow pillar of light.

The yellow pillar of light was surrounded by three towering trees. The pillar of light above went straight to the top of the sky. Looking down, it was a semicircle with a diameter of ten feet.

The semicircular light screen flashed with ripples, as if it was silently calling out to Liu Wen. He did not expect to meet Yang Tianqi in such a way.

A year ago, they left Ping City in two opposite directions. A year later, they came together to participate in the largest array master gathering on the entire continent.

He was caught red-handed and needed Yang Tianqi to save the day.

He did have a chance to escape just now. Although it would be a waste of some methods and he might be at a disadvantage in the competition later, he would not be trapped by those two if he wanted to escape.

He could only blame himself for being too greedy. After breaking his array formation immediately and escaping with all his might, nothing happened.

However, this setback also gave him some understanding of this place.

This forest was said to be a gathering point, but it was actually part of the test. This included the checkpoints and the array masters who schemed against each other. The enemies they had to face were not only the layers of checkpoints here, but also their peers.

The light yellow barrier in front of him flickered. He did not know what was inside the second level.

On a wide platform in the center of Ping City, a huge light screen stood in midair. Countless small images were divided on it, and figures landed among them.

On a small scene at the edge, Liu Wen slowly walked into the light barrier.

In a very secret small private room among the many observation platforms below, Li Yuanqing sat in the middle of everyone and watched the scene on it silently.

“Master, I haven’t seen that little guy for a year. His growth speed is quite fast. His attainments in array formations have deepened a lot. I think he will be able to take over my position sooner or later.”

The two light screens in front of Hu Jiujiu and the others showed Liu Wen, Yang Tianqi, and Hu Qian’s teams.

Sitting beside Li Yuanqing were Hu Jiujiu, Little Man, and two half-grown boys.

The two little dolls sat at the back in boredom. Each of them had a storage bag hanging around their necks. The two of them were bored, so they took out a piece of spiritual grass from the storage bag and stuffed it into their mouths, chewing it.

The two boys looked at the things they took out very casually. If they were outside, each of them would be a priceless treasure. However, the two of them ate them very casually like snacks.

“The three of them have quite high comprehension abilities to begin with. They’re also diligent and studious. In time, they will definitely become very powerful array masters.”

Little Man was also very happy as she looked at the young people below. She had nurtured these little fellows single-handedly. She was also gratified to have such achievements now.

Li Yuanqing looked at it for a while and turned to ask Little Man behind him, “How’s the inspection of those checkpoints going? This is the first time you’re holding such a large-scale competition. It’s best not to make any mistakes.”

“Master, don’t worry. They have experimented for a very long time for this competition. The seven stages this time are definitely foolproof.”

“Are the prizes for the competition ready?”

“In addition to winning first place, we also prepared a special gift for every array master who came to participate in the competition. It’s a set of blank array flags specially refined by the masters of the Weapon Refinement Pavilion.”

“That’s good too. I don’t think many array masters who came to participate in the competition have a formation that truly belongs to them. This way, no matter what the outcome is, they will be able to gain something.”

Little Man smiled and sat beside Li Yuanqing. “Master, didn’t you tell us very clearly that we must let every array master who comes to participate in the competition gain something? Therefore, we’ve always taken it to heart and won’t disappoint everyone.”

“Sounds good.”

Li Yuanqing looked at Hu Jiujiu at the side and said, “Since Ping City wants to hold these large-scale competitions, we still have to pay some costs. In the beginning, Ping City will pay a higher price as a contribution.”

Hu Jiujiu smiled and leaned against Li Yuanqing’s side. “Master, you don’t have to worry about this. You have already spent so many resources on Ping City. It’s nothing for Ping City to contribute so little to other humans. Even if we continue to sponsor it in the future, Ping City can still do it.”

“There’s no need for that. If we want these array masters to improve, we have to give them more pressure.”

As Li Yuanqing spoke, he continued to look at the huge light screen in front of him.

In one of the light screens, an array master stepped into the yellow light.

However, after this array master entered, he suddenly realized that the situation was not right. He was actually in a sea of fire. His feet were empty and his body quickly fell. He barely managed to send out a lotus leaf in midair and stabilize himself, but the intense flames still kept burning him.

Although he had condensed a layer of spiritual energy barrier around him, the barrier was useless. It was quickly worn down by the fire-attributed spiritual energy and quickly exhausted the spiritual energy in his body.

The array master was shocked. He had just taken out an array flag and was about to use his divine power when a pillar of fire flew over from afar. It was a huge bird that was hundreds of feet long.

The big bird stretched out its claws and took away the array flags in his hand.

The array master was shocked. The spiritual energy on his body was unstable and he was seized by a few flame ropes that suddenly appeared from below. They went up and wrapped around his body.

It was useless for him to struggle when he was bound tightly by the flames.

The thick flames at the side gradually faded, revealing the figures of three people.

The three of them were holding large flags in their hands and looking proudly at the person tied up like a dumpling in the middle.

“Kid, do you know how powerful we are?”

One of them smiled proudly and walked up to him. He squatted down and pinched his face hard.

The array master who was captured roared at them angrily, “Who are you? Why are you fighting here? Aren’t you afraid of the State Preceptor?”

“State Preceptor?” The few of them were even more amused when they heard that. The three of them squatted down and laid their pitiful companion flat. All of them stared at his flustered face arrogantly.

“What are you thinking? Everything here was arranged by the State Preceptor. We can capture you now because we follow the rules here. I think the State Preceptor might be somewhere watching us now.”

After saying that, he looked around. His eyes froze for a moment, as if he had seen everyone outside the light screen.

Little Man examined these guys and said worriedly, “These three can be considered old acquaintances. The three of them graduated from the academy, but after graduation, they never studied array formations seriously. Instead, they often gathered together to cause trouble. Now, they’re thugs in a Dharma artifact shop.”

Little Man was more or less dissatisfied with these graduating students.

Back then, Li Yuanqing had painstakingly built the academy not to let them be worms in Ping City. Instead, he wanted them to constantly improve and work hard to become even more powerful array masters to build such a huge world of the human race together.

However, these guys did not care about this at all. After they succeeded in their studies, they immediately relied on their abilities to form a small team of three. They threatened everyone once they had some reputation. Now, they were being treated like their ancestors in a middle-grade shop.

Moreover, they knew Little Man’s style very well. They knew that as long as they were in Little Man’s domain, anything they could do was in line with the rules. Therefore, they immediately formed a gang. Now, they had caught such an unlucky person.

Li Yuanqing did not say anything about this. Since they had set such a rule, they had to allow such a method to appear.

The array master on the ground was an outsider. He did not know the situation here. When he heard this, he felt that it made sense and immediately panicked.

“What do you want? Let me tell you, I’m here to participate in the competition. You can’t do anything to me!”

“Of course we can’t do anything to you.”

The three brothers smiled very cruelly. Each of them took out a small array flag and released a very weak power that wandered around this person’s body.

This very weak touch made the nerves in his body become sharp. It was an itchy and torturous feeling that kept destroying him.

This array master was lying on the ground, tied up tightly and unable to move. He could only forcefully feel that very painful feeling, making him want to die.

“Stop! The organizing committee will definitely not let you off!”

The person who had spoken to the light screen just now grinned with white teeth and said, “Brother, don’t think about that now. Think about whether the three of us will let you off.”

“What exactly do you want?”

“What do we want? Hand over your token and scram. This is not a place for you!”

“I’m not handing it over!”

“Not handing it over?”

The three brothers immediately flew into a rage out of humiliation and increased their movements.

This time, even an immortal could not tolerate it anymore. The array master who was struggling to hold on finally surrendered and obediently handed over his token. Moreover, he was expelled by the array formation not long after. There were still special personnel waiting outside to take him away.

On the street, the array masters who had been eliminated just now stood by the side of the road dejectedly, looking at the huge light screen above their heads.

They were really angry. There were even many people who were muttering that Little Man had specially taken care of the fellows around them.

He said that Ping City’s array masters had the home ground advantage here and knew the rules clearly.

Ping City had the most array masters among all the groups.

The light screen on it was divided into categories according to the registration area. Ping City occupied nearly half of it.

Sea City, Rong City, and the wanderers in the wilderness formed the other half.

At this moment, a man and a woman jumped out of a light yellow screen in the inconspicuous wanderer column.

At the periphery of the forest where they belonged, three ghostly figures had already taken their seats. They were quietly waiting for the egg to ripen before jumping out.