The sun barely touched the horizon when Shrek's special class stood at the edge of the Forest of Fangs—a brutal region of spirit beast territory notorious for shifting terrain, deadly illusions, and cunning predators. It wasn't the Star Dou Great Forest, but in many ways, it was worse.
Grandmaster's words still rang in their ears.
"No interference. No shortcuts. You will be watched—but not saved. Your goal: survive for five days and return with a spirit beast crystal each. Only then will you pass."
Tang San stepped forward, eyes scanning the trees. The wind whispered promises of danger. He felt the subtle pulse of his spirit power, resonating with the Blue Silver Grass vines in the distance.
Behind him, Xiao Wu adjusted her hair ribbon, unusually silent.
Oscar offered everyone one of his newly refined recovery sausages, shaped into thin ropes for easier carrying.
"Don't say I never take care of you lot," he joked—but the tension in his voice was clear.
Ma Hongjun rolled his shoulders, his flames briefly flaring around his arms before he suppressed them. "Let's make it through this in one piece."
Dai Mubai cracked his knuckles. "Stick together unless absolutely necessary. Tang San, we follow your lead."
Tang San gave a short nod. He wasn't interested in orders or status, but in survival—and ensuring his teammates survived as well.
—
Day 1.
The forest welcomed them with silence. No birds. No beasts. Only the crunch of their boots on dead leaves. The team moved in a tight diamond formation, with Tang San and Dai Mubai flanking the front, Xiao Wu and Rongrong in the center, Oscar and Ma Hongjun covering the rear.
They encountered nothing until dusk.
Then the trees shifted.
Illusion-type spirit beasts attacked under cover of fog—strange, antlered foxes with glowing red eyes. They leapt with phantom bodies, illusions disorienting the group.
But Tang San's second spirit ability, enhanced by the Fox Emperor Bone, countered illusion types. His perception pierced the veil of confusion.
"Strike right!" he yelled.
A snap! of Blue Silver Grass shot from his hands and wrapped around the hidden fox. Mubai followed with a crushing palm, sending the beast flying.
Ma Hongjun lit the clearing with phoenix fire, clearing the fog. In less than five minutes, the illusion ambush was over.
They had survived their first assault.
—
Day 2.
They found no safe place to rest.
Every flat patch held hidden snake nests. Every tree had eyes. That night, they alternated sleep in pairs, keeping watch. Tang San didn't rest—he meditated quietly, refining a few drops of spirit beast blood he had gathered with the Blood Refinement technique.
His body pulsed subtly with strength—his muscles denser, bones more flexible. Not visibly stronger, but more refined, inch by inch.
Only Xiao Wu noticed. She sat beside him, her head on his shoulder again.
"You're burning yourself out," she whispered.
"I can't afford not to," he replied. "Not yet."
She looked away, but stayed beside him until dawn.
—
Day 3.
The terrain changed into bogs.
Oscar nearly sank into a hidden pit, and Rongrong barely caught him with her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile's agility boost. They had to split briefly to scout two potential paths.
Tang San led one group with Xiao Wu and Oscar. Dai Mubai took Rongrong and Ma Hongjun.
Halfway through the muck, Tang San's group was ambushed by Mudscale Lizards—semi-aquatic spirit beasts with corrosive saliva.
Tang San, already expecting trouble, used the environment. He dug vines through the mud and detonated them in a rapid chain, dragging the lizards into a trap, and Xiao Wu finished the lead beast with a ferocious backflip kick.
Oscar, for the first time, landed a decisive strike with a defensive shield sausage, deflecting a claw strike and bashing the lizard's skull in.
"We're not dead!" he cried, laughing in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Dai Mubai's group faced a Crystal-Tailed Scorpion, a beast with reflective armor. Rongrong supported perfectly, shifting buffs every second. Ma Hongjun unleashed phoenix fire in a continuous torrent until Mubai's brute force shattered the beast's defense.
When the two groups reunited, battered but victorious, they shared brief smiles.
They were learning. Adapting.
Becoming more than a group of prodigies.
—
Day 4.
Fatigue set in. They had used too much spirit power. Oscar's sausages were running low.
They encountered a spirit beast nest.
Not just one—but a group of adolescent Ironclaw Apes, each stronger than an average adult spirit master.
They could have fled.
But Tang San stepped forward.
"We fight. We take control. We rest in their cave."
The battle was brutal.
Xiao Wu took a deep blow protecting Rongrong. Oscar pulled her to safety, nearly getting killed himself. Ma Hongjun almost collapsed from overuse of fire. Mubai and Tang San fought back-to-back, holding off five apes alone.
Finally, Tang San launched a coordinated attack using his third ability: Hidden Needles Web, a technique made with his newly crafted weapon prototype. Dozens of tiny spirit-infused wires exploded in a net, slicing tendons and disarming the beasts long enough for the team to finish them.
They took the cave.
They survived.
That night, Xiao Wu tended to Tang San's wounds, her hands trembling as she bandaged his chest. "You can't keep doing this alone."
"I'm not alone," he replied quietly.
—
Day 5.
Silence returned.
The forest seemed to accept their presence, for no beast came that morning.
They walked carefully, back toward the marked trail. Their bags were heavier—each now held a spirit beast core. All of them had earned it.
At the forest's edge, Grandmaster stood waiting.
He looked at them—bruised, muddy, exhausted—but alive.
Oscar grinned. "So? Did we pass?"
Grandmaster gave a rare smile. "You did more than that."
And Tang San—for the first time—smiled too.
End of Chapter 50