Knights descend upon Douluo Continent; death awaits if they do not fight.

Hu Yanzhan's face darkened.

"So what do you mean?"

"Get stronger," Tang Ying said. "The rules say that killing opponents grants abilities. Yesterday we killed twelve and gained a bunch of random abilities. If we kill more today, we'll gain even more. If we keep killing—"

"That's how you survive to the end," Wuming replied.

The five people looked at each other in bewilderment.

"So you mean," Yu Cheng said slowly, "to actively seek them out?"

Tang Ying didn't speak, but simply gripped the Haotian Hammer tighter.

Hu Yanzhan remained silent for a long time.

Then he laughed.

"Damn it," he said, "I've been a soldier for fifteen years and I've never done anything to deliberately die. But you're right—waiting to die is even dumber than throwing your life away."

He stood up and slung his sword over his shoulder.

"Let's go. Let's find those sons of bitches."

The five people walked in the direction where the horned demon had disappeared.

In the distance, on the throne atop a mountain of corpses.

Huang Fei watched the backs of the five people, watched them rise from their fear, and watched them make the first proactive choice.

A very faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Actively seeking death.

Or actively seek survival.

In this world, these two things are often the same thing.

He has seen far too many people make the same choice.

Most of them died.

But there are a few—

He looked down at his hands.

He survived.

"Let's go," he said softly. "Let's see how far you can go."

Under the dark red sky, the figures of the five people grew farther and farther away.

In the distance, the roar of the horned demon could be heard.

The second day had only just begun.

......

Day 2, noon.

Under a dark red sky, five people walked through the ruins.

They had been walking for two hours and had discovered many traces of horned demons along the way.

Claw marks, feces, and the remains of prey that had been eaten.

The remains were unrecognizable, consisting only of broken bones and dried blood.

But strangely, they didn't encounter a single horned demon.

"Something's not right." Hu Yanzhan stopped, his brow furrowed. "They're deliberately avoiding us."

Wuming crouched down and rubbed the claw marks on the ground with his fingers: "Fresh. It was here half an hour ago."

"Then why don't you see us?"

No one could answer.

Tang Ying stood on a broken stone pillar, her gaze sweeping over her surroundings.

His fighting instincts stirred slightly, as if something was lurking in the shadows.

But he couldn't explain what it was; he just felt instinctively uneasy.

"Let's change direction," he said.

Huyan Zhan nodded: "Head north."

The five people changed direction and headed north.

But what they didn't know was...

Every inch of land they traversed was under the watchful eye of the Horned Demon.

Within the dark red mist, pairs of scarlet eyes moved.

Not three or five, not a dozen or so.

There are hundreds of them.

They gathered where the twelve horned demons had fallen, sniffing and growling around the corpses, then followed the scent left by the five people.

They are not hungry.

They are waiting.

Wait for the prey to go further, wait for the prey to become more tired, wait for the prey to enter the trap.

[Day Two, Afternoon]

The five people walked to the entrance of a canyon.

There are steep rock walls on both sides, and only a narrow path in the middle, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

"Don't go in." The nameless voice suddenly became sharp.

Huyan Zhan stopped in his tracks: "What's wrong?"

"Inside." The nameless man's eyes were fixed on the depths of the canyon. "There's something there."

Tang Ying's fighting instincts were also frantically issuing warnings.

His heart was racing, his muscles were tense, and every cell in his body was telling him—back off.

"Retreat," he said.

But it was too late.

From the mist behind them, countless scarlet eyes lit up simultaneously.

One head, five heads, ten heads, thirty heads—

Countless horned demons emerged from the mist, blocking their escape route.

They didn't charge; they just stood there, their scarlet eyes fixed on the five men, as if they were looking at prey in a cage.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the depths of the canyon.

It's not a horned demon.

Bigger, heavier, slower.

Each step felt like a hammer pounding on the ground, sending boulders tumbling down the rock face.

Then, it appeared.

It was a colossal beast, over five meters tall, covered in dark golden scales.

It has no horns on its head; instead, it has a huge face.

No, that wasn't a face; it was a hideous human face growing on the chest.

The face's eyes were closed, but everyone could feel it—it was watching them.

【Descent Monster - Rock Armor Demon Mask】

[Level: Intermediate]

[Huang Fei's kill count: 312]

Three hundred and twelve heads.

Huang Fei alone killed 312 monsters of this level.

And now, this monster is blocking their only path.

"Damn it." Hu Yanzhan's voice was hoarse.

This was the last word he uttered.

[Day Two, Afternoon, Battle Begins]

The Rock Armor Demon Mask moved.

Its speed is completely disproportionate to its size.

The behemoth, five meters tall, charged like a moving mountain.

The ground trembled, gravel leaped, and the air whistled.

"spread!!!"

Before Hu Yanzhan's roar had even landed, the giant hand of the Rock Armor Ghost Face had already slammed down.

boom--!

Debris flew everywhere, and a crater two meters wide was blasted open in the ground.

Hu Yanzhan barely managed to dodge, but the shockwave sent him flying, crashing into the rock wall.

He heard the sound of bones cracking in his back and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Old man!"

Yu Cheng roared, his body crackling with lightning, and charged toward the Rock Armor Ghost Face.

Blue arcs of electricity struck the behemoth, leaving only a few shallow white marks.

Rock Armor Demon Face turned its head, and the demon face on its chest suddenly opened its eyes.

An invisible force held Yu Cheng in place.

Then, the giant hand slammed down.

Yu Cheng's body flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing into a pile of stones ten meters away.

His right leg was twisted at an impossible angle, bone piercing through flesh, blood gushing out.

"Aaaaaah—!!!"

His screams echoed through the canyon.

Ning Ruyu rushed towards him, placing her hands on his wounds, moved by the healing sensation.

The bleeding stopped, but the broken bones and torn muscles remained, and the pain almost made Yu Cheng faint.

"Don't move! Don't move!" Ning Ruyu's voice trembled. "I can heal—I can—"

A horned demon pounced from the side.

The nameless creature clung to it like a ghost, covering its eyes with its hands and clamping its neck with its legs.

The horned demon struggled frantically, his body being tossed around, but he just wouldn't let go.

Three seconds later, the horned demon collapsed.

But more horned demons pounced.

Five heads.

Ten heads.

Twenty heads.

Wuming jumped off one of the horned demons and then stuck to the other one.

His movements became slower and slower, and his breathing became heavier and heavier.

He had three more wounds on his body, and blood was flowing down his clothes.

"Too much..." he murmured, "Too much..."

Tang Ying stood at the very front, wielding the Haotian Hammer like the wind.

The head of a horned demon exploded.

The second one fell.

The third head was smashed away by him.

But the fourth one bit his left arm.

.....