One of the men, close to being caught by the green corpse, desperately grabbed a skinny man next to him and threw him backward.
"You...!"
The one thrown out was also surprised, not expecting this turn of events.
Seeing the green corpse approach, he was forced to use his true essence to be teleported away.
Xin Ci had anticipated such a situation; others could not be trusted.
During the retreat, many were eliminated one after another, either stuck in the swamp or having inhaled too much poisonous gas, forcing them to use their true essence.
Soon, Xin Ci's trouble arrived.
The green corpses had surrounded him, leaving no room for escape.
Xin Ci dared not hesitate and quickly retrieved the Sixteen-Star Moon Chain from his spatial ring.
Those fleeing ahead thought Xin Ci was giving up on the assessment and sneered, "Looks like another competitor is out."
However, their smugness didn't last long. Xin Ci suddenly swung a chain, wrapping it around a tree in front of him, and used it to leap upward.
He soared over a large group of assessers ahead.
Everyone else was stunned. Some exclaimed in frustration, "Damn it, that guy's true artifact is a chain!"
Most of the true artifacts present were weapons like swords. Without injecting true essence to unleash their power, swords had significant limitations, serving only as decent close-combat weapons.
But Xin Ci's chain was different. Even without its full power, it offered him great maneuverability.
Thus, with the advantage of his chain, Xin Ci quickly broke through the obstruction of the green corpses, gaining an early lead and charging into the mountain forest on the outskirts of the swamp.
Seeing this, a few others attempted to imitate Xin Ci's method.
A woman, holding a long whip and clad in a revealing soft armor, with a fiery red mane that danced in the wind, appeared valiant and heroic.
Ye Xinran also used her long whip to escape the green corpse's encirclement and pursued Xin Ci.
The others were more helpless, as their weapons lacked such an advantage, forcing them to flee desperately on the ground.
On the very first day, nearly a third of the over seven hundred assessers were forced to teleport out of the Shadow Realm.
On the outskirts of the swamp,
"Strange, where did that little brat go?"
Ye Xinran, who had been following Xin Ci, stopped. She looked around but couldn't find any trace of him, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Weird, I was clearly following him, how did he disappear in an instant?"
While Ye Xinran was contemplating, she failed to notice Xin Ci observing her from about ten meters above her head.
Suddenly, the ground began to vibrate abnormally.
The next moment, successive dark red ants emerged from the earth, startling Ye Xinran.
Bloodthirsty Ants!
Each ant was about the size of a finger. Encountering so many, one feared they'd be gnawed down to the bone.
Ye Xinran quickly swung her long whip, scattering the approaching bloodthirsty ants.
However, unable to use her true essence, she couldn't effectively eliminate them quickly. Instead, she only enraged the ant swarm.
"Rumble!"
More and more bloodthirsty ants broke through the soil, forming a mound nearly two meters high in front of Ye Xinran.
"Hiss hiss hiss!"
Tens of thousands of bloodthirsty ants spat out peculiar black smoke from their mouths and continuously lunged at her.
In her panic, Ye Xinran inadvertently looked up and saw Xin Ci above her.
What angered her even more was that the guy had used his chain to suspend a swing between two nearby trees, leisurely swaying in mid-air, looking as if it were none of his business.
"Hey, you little brat, can you be any more excessive? I'm in danger down here, and you're just watching from the trees?"
Ye Xinran leaped onto a tree using her long whip, glaring angrily at Xin Ci.
Upon hearing this, Xin Ci jumped onto the tree, silently retracted his chain, and turned to leave.
The bloodthirsty ants seemed to have targeted Ye Xinran, madly climbing up the tree trunk. Frantically, she yelled, "Hey, little brat, don't go!"
"Didn't you not want me to watch? Why are you asking me to stop?"
"Of course, I want you to help me!"
"Why should I help you?"
Ye Xinran was furious at Xin Ci's indifferent attitude. The ungrateful wretch! At least help her deal with these bloodthirsty ants.
Xin Ci didn't want to get involved in unnecessary trouble and had no intention of helping.
Seeing that Xin Ci was ignoring her, Ye Xinran stomped her foot in anger, and then a sudden idea struck her.
She immediately used her long whip to entangle a tree and caught up to Xin Ci.
The bloodthirsty ants also pursued them relentlessly, and wherever they went, trees were gnawed down and collapsed.
Xin Ci also realized that this woman intended to bring the trouble of the bloodthirsty ants to him.
He immediately sped up, moving forward regardless, and arrived at a rocky cliff face.
He embedded his chain into the wall, jumped onto the cliff, and climbed upwards along the rock face, leaving Ye Xinran behind.
"Damn it, your weapon is too unfair!"
Ye Xinran's long whip couldn't pierce walls like Xin Ci's chain, and in anger, she headed in a different direction.
Finally, he had shaken off this woman.
Xin Ci breathed a sigh of relief, but did not retract his chain.
This area was filled with poisonous insects and demonic beasts, likely an obstacle intentionally set up by the Killing Heart Holy Court for the assessment.
Without the ability to use true essence and soul power, they were like ordinary people. Surviving in this swampy region teeming with demonic beasts and poisonous insects for three days would be extremely difficult.
However, Mu Qingqing had already made preparations for this situation.
She transmitted a message to Xin Ci, "Xin Ci, take out the mechanical raven that Luo Fei gave you."
Xin Ci nodded and took out a small raven puppet from his spatial ring.
This was a puppet manufactured by Luo Fei and the Twelve Luo Yue, essentially a miniature raven network.
More importantly, this raven puppet was powered by spirit stones, requiring no consumption of his true essence.
When Xin Ci left the Holy City, Luo Fei had only produced four raven puppets.
However, for him now, they were sufficient. The raven puppets' visual feeds would be displayed on his small array plate, allowing him to scout ahead and avoid the dangers of the swamp.
Having read the original plot, Mu Qingqing naturally knew the contents of the Killing Heart Holy Court's assessment and had made preparations in the Holy City.
For the next three days, others narrowly escaped death from attacks by various poisons and demonic beasts.
Only Xin Ci, with the help of these four raven puppets, managed to avoid danger and safely pass the three days.
Three days later, everyone was teleported back to the Shadow Hall.
Out of the original over seven hundred assessers, fewer than two hundred remained.