Beast God
Chapter 15: The Fifteenth of July

After nearly two days, when Chen Guan reached level five in the Peacock Forest, the Blood Palm finally broke through to level two, with the primordial energy consumption for one use dropping to 3.2. Rouge had advanced to level six, and Warring States’ level also increased to seven, making it the fastest to level up.  

Unfortunately, Warring States’ growth rate was too low, and it didn’t have any skills. Its talent was also unrelated to combat power. Without the boost from the Cheerleader's Soul, its combat power wouldn't even match that of the Spirit-Eyed Peacock.  

However, with the Cheerleader's Soul enhancing it, killing Spirit-Eyed Peacocks of the same level was effortless.  

“The Peacock Forest is no longer suitable for me; I need to find a more fitting place,” Chen Guan thought. In the past two days, he had killed quite a few Spirit-Eyed Peacocks. Except for the previous iridescent Spirit-Eyed Peacock, no other valuable items had dropped. The drop rate was truly pitifully low.  

Leaving the Peacock Forest, he arrived at Valley Creek Jia. Chen Guan gathered a pile of firewood, boiled water, plucked and gutted a dead white peacock, cleaned it, and set it over the fire to roast.  

Chen Guan had been filling his stomach by eating peacock meat these past two days. The taste wasn’t great, just barely enough to keep him from starving.  

Not long after finishing the meal, he followed the valley creek to explore other places. Suddenly, he saw a shadow running along the mountain path toward him. From afar, it was a man.  

Chen Guan immediately became alert and recalled Rouge, leaving only Warring States outside. If it was truly an enemy, releasing Rouge unexpectedly would be more effective and might catch the opponent off guard.  

“Qin Ziyu?” As the man drew closer, Chen Guan recognized his face and was slightly stunned.  

The man also saw Chen Guan clearly and was somewhat taken aback. He said in surprise, “Chen Guan, how did you also get teleported here?”  

Qin Ziyu and Chen Guan were students of the same academy, in the same grade and class. However, Qin Ziyu was the academy’s rising star, universally recognized as a martial arts prodigy with exceptional comprehension and learning ability—a dazzling top student like a celebrity.  

Chen Guan was not a poor student but ranked around the middle, the type who neither caused trouble nor attracted much attention—basically invisible.  

“I chose to enter the Blessed Land of Mount Pingdu, and then I was teleported here,” Chen Guan replied, looking at Qin Ziyu. “Why are you also in the Blessed Land of Mount Pingdu?”  

Qin Ziyu came from a good background. The Qin family had their own Blessed Land territory. In theory, since it was Qin Ziyu’s first time entering a secret realm, he should not have come to a place like the Blessed Land of Mount Pingdu.  

“I originally wanted to venture out on my own to see what I was capable of, but unexpectedly I got teleported to such a lousy place,” Qin Ziyu smiled and said. “A few other classmates were also teleported here. We’re now working together. You should join us.”  

“Other classmates were teleported here too?” Chen Guan was a bit surprised.  

“Yes, including you and me, there are seven classmates now,” Qin Ziyu said.  

“Seven classmates? Besides our classmates, have you encountered anyone else?” Chen Guan seemed to have an idea and stared at Qin Ziyu while asking.  

“No, they’re all our classmates. We also find it strange—there’s no one else here, just our classmates,” Qin Ziyu said.  

“Did you all enter the Blessed Land of Mount Pingdu on July 15th?” Chen Guan had suspected this when Old Bird mentioned it before, and now he was even more certain.  

“Probably. I came in on July 15th anyway. Is there a problem?” Qin Ziyu asked with some confusion.  

“This is an island. A year ago, on the same day, some beginners entering secret realms were teleported here. Since then, no one else has been teleported to this island until we arrived on July 15th this year. This doesn’t seem to be a coincidence,” Chen Guan explained his theory.  

Qin Ziyu nodded slightly. “Most people around the area near the Blessed Land of Mount Pingdu who reached adulthood are training at our academy. So, it’s very likely that those entering the Blessed Land for the first time on July 15th are our classmates. Your hypothesis makes a lot of sense. It seems we have discovered a hidden rule of the Blessed Land of Mount Pingdu. But why July 15th?”  

“July 15th is the old Ghost Festival,” Chen Guan said.  

“The Ghost Festival!” Qin Ziyu suddenly realized and pondered. “Teleporting new practitioners here on the Ghost Festival day—what does that mean?”  

“Who knows?” Chen Guan shrugged.  

“By the way, you said there were practitioners teleported here a year ago. How are they doing? Have they found a way to teleport out?” Qin Ziyu recalled what Chen Guan had said and asked.  

Chen Guan told Qin Ziyu everything he had learned from Old Bird. After listening, Qin Ziyu shook his head slightly. “Those earlier practitioners are so pragmatic; they probably won’t help us, and they might even be hostile. For now, it’s best not to interact with them.”  

Chen Guan agreed. Just as he was about to say something, someone shouted Qin Ziyu’s name from a distance. Soon, five similarly aged people walked upstream along the valley creek.  

“I was wondering why you didn’t respond. So, you found new people. Is this one also our classmate?” Lu Teng came over and sized up Chen Guan.  

He was not in the same class as Chen Guan, and since Chen Guan had little presence in the academy, Lu Teng didn’t know him.  

“This is Chen Guan from our class,” Qin Ziyu said, then pointed to introduce Lu Teng and the others: “Lu Teng, Hua Yun, Hua Cai, Wang Lian, Gongsun Zhuo.”  

Chen Guan nodded in acknowledgment. These people weren’t from his class, but he had seen them before and heard their names. They were all prominent students with excellent grades, especially the twin sisters Hua Yun and Hua Cai, well-known throughout the academy.  

Twins were rare, and they were particularly beautiful—hard not to attract attention.  

“All our classmates. It’s best to help each other. The usual rule: report your talents and specialties first, so we can coordinate teamwork,” Lu Teng said while observing Chen Guan.  

Lu Teng knew most of the outstanding students in the academy. Chen Guan was unfamiliar to him, probably not one of the strong fighters. Besides teaching academic subjects, the academy also taught various secret realm knowledge and a significant portion of combat techniques. Those good at fighting usually became famous, so Lu Teng could tell Chen Guan wasn’t very skilled in combat.  

“Ordinary talent: energy recovery, which can increase my own primordial energy regeneration speed,” Chen Guan said. He didn’t want to team up with them. With Rouge, he could solo easily. Also, he didn’t want to reveal his true talent, so he deliberately claimed a weak talent.  

Ordinary talent was the worst, and energy recovery only helped himself, with almost no use for the team. If Lu Teng and the others found Chen Guan useless, it would be easy for him to leave on his own.  

“You’re really unlucky, randomly getting such a talent and getting teleported to a place like this. You must have had a rough time these days,” Lu Teng said with a smile, patting Chen Guan’s shoulder as he glanced at Warring States beside him. “But don’t worry, we can help you.”