115: Chapter 115 Why Can't We Hunt Them Down Instead?

The countdown reached zero.

The ten of them, all members of the Nether Soul Clan, walked toward the wall of light simultaneously, their figures sinking into the pale blue ripples as if submerging into deep water.

In the next instant.

Above the pitch-black city, ten pale white halos bloomed without warning, their blinding light instantly tearing through the dense night.

Hundreds of Eclipse Clan members scattered throughout the city looked up at once, their four eyes all staring at the sky, reflecting the centers of the halos in their pupils.

Ten dark, translucent silhouettes were slowly emerging.

In the next second, those ten figures suddenly plummeted.

Like ten black meteors crashing down from the sky, they carried a heart-stopping sound of rushing wind, rapidly closing in on the ground.

The air was compressed and torn, letting out a dull howl.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!!"

Ten consecutive loud bangs, almost simultaneous, slammed into different areas of the city.

Like ten heavy hammer blows, they sounded the opening bell of this hunt.

"Can't we just make a normal entrance?" Gu Changming grumbled in his heart, thinking it was just to scare them.

The moment he touched the ground, Gu Changming instantly bent his knees to steady himself, and then the "Spiritual Perception" belonging to the Nether Soul Clan unfurled instinctively.

Everything within a twenty-meter diameter was instantly reflected in his consciousness with clear outlines and energy colors.

To the left, in a three-story stone building, behind a second-floor window, were two curled-up figures, their energy fluctuations weak and tense.

At the corner of the alley to the front right, a person pressed their back against the wall, their breathing rapid.

Gu Changming slowly stood straight, his grayish-white claws hanging naturally at his sides.

Although he detected the presence of those Eclipse Clan members, Gu Changming was in no hurry to act; instead, he drifted leisurely toward the nearest stone building as if taking a stroll.

On his way forward, Gu Changming glanced at the edge of his vision again.

A gray progress bar floated quietly.

[intrusion progress: 2.0%...]

The speed was almost stagnant.

Looking at the nearly stalled progress, Gu Changming sighed in his heart.

At this rate, the Assessment might end before this progress bar even finishes.

Gu Changming shook the misty outline of his Nether Soul Clan head, his thoughts turning.

The first stage of the Assessment lasted seventy-two hours, but if more than half of the Trial Takers were hunted down early, the Assessment would also end prematurely.

Maybe... he should slack off for a bit?

Stall for some time?

At least, don't let it end too quickly.

While thinking, Gu Changming also pulled up the brief racial description of the "Eclipse Clan" that the system automatically displayed.

[Eclipse Clan: Their home planet is an extreme light-dark alternating planet with extremely long day-night cycles. The four-eyed structure is a product of adaptive evolution, allowing them to maintain excellent vision in both eternal night and extreme day environments.]

[Racial talents lean toward Spiritual Perception and neural reflexes; their forms are light and agile. Individuals can manipulate self-illuminating hair for binding or interference.]

Reading the introduction of the Eclipse Clan, Gu Changming understood the situation.

While it seemed they, as the Nether Soul Clan, could master everything within twenty meters through Spiritual Perception, this range itself was a limitation. Beyond twenty meters was a void-like "blind spot."

The Eclipse Clan, however, maintained excellent vision in both polar night and extreme day, which meant they were likely better at observation and kiting from medium to long distances.

Therefore... he couldn't let them widen the distance.

Choosing to conduct the Assessment in this complexly structured city was likely a mechanism intentionally favoring their side as the "Examiners."

Having figured this out, Gu Changming quickened his pace and successfully drifted into the stone building in front of him.

For the next three days, he would just wander around inside these buildings.

If any blind or unlucky Eclipse Clan member happened to stumble into his perception range, he would deal with them in passing.

This would prevent the hunting progress from being too fast while still giving him some "sense of participation."

As for the sluggish intrusion progress... he could only take it one step at a time.

...

After Gu Changming and the other "Examiners" descended, the city was like stagnant water hit by a stone; after a brief silence, violent ripples suddenly spread from every corner.

Combat, or rather, hunting, erupted in different districts almost simultaneously.

"Boom!"

Screams, the muffled sounds of energy bursts, the roar of collapsing buildings...

These sounds were scattered at first, but they soon intertwined into one, echoing above the pitch-black city, with various colored energy lights flashing between the buildings from time to time.

The situation was one-sided from the very beginning.

Although these Eclipse Clan Trial Takers weren't exactly rookies who hadn't seen battle, and their strength was at D-rank...

But facing hunting Examiners who were originally B-rank ability users and only suppressed to C-rank, any resistance was of little effect in the face of the absolute gap in strength and experience.

Before the first day had even fully passed, over a hundred Eclipse Clan members had already died at the hands of Gu Changming and the others.

...

At the top of the clock tower, by the stone railing.

Four or five Eclipse Clan members pressed themselves against the inner wall, hiding themselves completely in the shadows and the cover of the building's structure.

They cautiously peered through the gaps in the stone railing, looking down at the ghostly shadows and energy afterglows that flashed in the streets below.

The sounds of battle drifted over faintly, interspersed with short screams.

"Those Nether Soul Clan members' perception method... should be some kind of spiritual detection. Its range is limited, probably centered around themselves, about twenty meters. As long as we don't enter that range, they can't 'see' us," a female Eclipse Clan member guessed.

Hearing her words, the tense nerves of the others relaxed slightly.

The top of the clock tower where they were currently located was dozens of meters above the ground. Those Nether Soul Clan members on the ground wouldn't be able to find them at all, while they could see the opponents' every move.

So if they just hid, relying on the height difference and the opponent's perception blind spot, they should be able to spend the next two days peacefully...

Maybe they could pass this trial safely.

This thought eased the atmosphere a bit.

However, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

A male Eclipse Clan member nearby, who was exceptionally handsome and had been silently observing the movements below, slowly spoke.

"Do you plan to just hide up here like this until the Assessment ends?"

The other four were stunned, all four eyes of each person staring fixedly at him.

"Then... what do you want to do?" the female Eclipse Clan member, Ella, asked tentatively.

Luo An did not answer immediately, still casting his gaze downward, watching a Nether Soul Clan member pass beneath their feet.

A golden light flashed through his four eyes, and then the basic information of the "Nether Soul Clan" appeared in his vision: [Semi-energy phantom body, can penetrate physical obstacles to a limited extent... Significant weaknesses: Healing Energy, Holy Light Energy...]

Scanning the information obtained by his "True Sight Eye" skill, Luo An spoke slowly:

"Now that we know their weaknesses, why can't we... hunt them instead?"