Loud scratching noises filled the air as thousands of eyes appeared in the murky darkness.

"Here they come!" Van shouted.

Immediately the battalions around him rearranged themselves so that Van's battalion was the tip of a spearpoint, with Van acting as the penetration point. This was the formation that they had trialed to success in the first round. 

Giant rats suddenly leaped from the darkness.

 Like a tsunami, they poured into the light-filled s.p.a.ce. The rats were black and hairy; their incisors long and sharp. The rat horde consisted of rats in the 1st and 2nd rank. They had fewer numbers that the demonic bats but made up for it with their intelligence and sheer ferocity.

Screams filled the air as unsuspecting disciples were targeted and pulled from their battalions by the strongest rats. The instant they were separated from the safety of their battalion, the disciples were submerged by the rat horde and mauled to death.

Flashes of light went off as disciples were eliminated from the mausoleum.

Even the stronger disciples were frightened – who wanted to go through the experience of getting mauled to death by rats, even if they didn't die for real?

Van dealt death as if he were the grim reaper himself. Occasionally strengthening his body with copper light, he moved decisively and mercilessly. He acted as the spearpoint and kept the front of the formation stable. This lightened the load on the battalions at the back.

At that moment, a giant rat leaped through the air with its incisors bared. As it was somewhere to Van's right, he lowered his guard, expecting that his battalion would be able to take care of it.

Suddenly, another rat joined in.

Van realized something was wrong – he turned his head just in time to see that there were now three giant rats trying to tear Samuel away from the battalion.

The red-haired youth didn't hesitate. Using the fastest and crudest method possible - he grabbed the giant rat's top and bottom jaws with one hand each. Muscles flexing, he violently tore the rat in half.

Its b.l.o.o.d.y guts fell to the ground in a steaming heap.

The Cedar Sect's battalions gulped.

[S-Scary!]

Van surveyed the battalions. They looked pale and peaky from being under significant mental strain. It was understandable - for many of them, this was their first time in such an exhausting and terrifying situation. In no other time in their life had these sheltered disciples battled countless waves of demonic beasts with no rest, for ten hours and counting. They weren't like Van, who had purposely ventured out into the wild and lived there for weeks and weeks on oftentimes scarce rations.

"Keep each other close and protect each other!" Van said loudly, "The rats only attack when they sense a gap in the formation. If we stay calm and collected, they will not be able to pick us off. If things start to go south; just yell my name, I will take care of it!"

I will take care of it!

Just hearing this phrase settled the queasiness in the Cedar Sect's battalions. Subconsciously, they already treated Van as their rock. They couldn't help but feel that if Van was here, everything would be fine. Such was their confidence in him!

As the swarm of rats reached them, Van leaped out and fired off a warning punch. The giant rats squealed as six were killed in one shot. Behind him, the battalions grit their teeth and bore down on the demonic rats in front of them. Slowly and surely, they thinned the crowd of bloodthirsty rats around them.

As the battle wore on, Van began to understand that the second round was an extension of the first. It was a one-two punch designed to pick off the partic.i.p.ants with low mental fort.i.tude and those who could not effectively conserve their energy for long fights. The first wave was designed to wear them out and drain them of spiritual energy, the second wave was the killing blow.

Copper light burst forth from Van's fists as he tore through the giant rats.

It was a situation where partic.i.p.ants like Van had the greatest advantage – their real-world battle experience.

Weng! Weng! Weng!

Bright flashes of light amidst the fierce fighting showed that partic.i.p.ants were being eliminated faster than ever.

The hours wore on.

Despite himself, Van felt his heart rate was high and his palms sweaty. They had been fighting for nearly twenty hours straight now. Although he was pretty much fine, the disciples in the battalion behind him were starting to weaken. Samuel's little face was starting to grey and his movements became more sluggish. Van was worried on the inside, but he didn't show it on his face.

It was lucky that the ghostly voice spoke soon after.

 "The second round has ended. The third round will begin in one hour."

After the ghostly announcer spoke, the remaining rats drew back into the inky darkness.

Relief spread across the faces of all the partic.i.p.ants. One hour wasn't much, but it wasn't nothing. It was enough for some meditation to recover some of their energy.

The remaining people on the battlefield had their first opportunity to take stock of the situation. Unsurprisingly, the big sects still retained over 90% of their members. The battalions formed of rogue cultivators and cultivators from small sects were in the worst shape as they lacked team coordination skills and decisive leaders. Overall, around 30% of partic.i.p.ants had been eliminated in just the 1st and 2nd rounds.

The battalions from the Star-Cutting Sword Sect were slightly worse off than the Zephyr Sect but doing better than the Boulder Sect, who had suffered severely in the first two rounds. Although the Star-Cutting Sword Sects battalions were strong, this battlefield contains any of their notable disciples and so they could not compare to the twin geniuses from the Zephyr Sect. However, they still contained the arrogant pride of being a disciple of the Star-Cutting Sword Sect! When they saw how Cedar Sect's battalions had yet to lose a single disciple, they felt as if they had swallowed a giant fly. They wanted to rush over and slap the smug smile off their faces!

Van saw their sour glances and grinned.

"If any of you want to fight me, come on over!"

His shout rang loudly over the battlefield.

The silence in response to Van's daring shout was so thick you could hear a pin drop.

The people who heard him shook their heads.

Was this guy crazy? Who wanted to waste their energy on a pointless fight? They had only pa.s.sed the first two rounds of the Mausoleum of Monsters, and so far, the theme had been endurance and willpower. Fighting here was the last thing they should do! Besides, how shameful would it be if they got eliminated during a pointless brawl?

Despite their silence, Van could see that there were some disciples in the Star-Cutting Sword Sect that wanted to take him up on his offer. Their faces were dark with anger. When they saw Van looking at them, they clenched their fists.

Van smiled and made an 'L' shape with his thumb and forefinger.

You!!

The Star-Cutting Sword Sect's disciple's faces swelled with anger. They wanted to rush over and beat him up, even if they would waste their energy. Their pride was on the line! Just as they tried to rush forth, their sect mates pulled them back.

Van felt slightly disappointed.

The Star-Cutting Sword Sect was a bit of a villain in his eyes. Don't think he forgot about that jerkwad who called himself 'Cyrus the Great' when he was only in the 5th rank.

[Just another brat relying on his father's rank and status,] Van thought darkly.

He just wanted to bash a few of their faces in to vent, alright?

[Ah, if they had rushed here to fight me, I would have a good excuse to send them out of here early. If I just go over there and attack, I might be vilified by the other sects when we exit the mausoleum.]]

[They're bound to snap at some point. Later!] Van comforted himself.

At that moment, Van felt a sharp gaze on the back of his neck.

When he turned to look, he saw two familiar faces sending him icy looks from a distance.

Ah, it could only be the twin girls from the Zephyr Sect, Cordelia and Daphne. Their expression was somewhat unpleasant; as if they couldn't believe that Van's battalion was still alive and kicking.

Van's expression was carefully calm. Out of all the disciples here, the only ones he was wary of were these two girls from the Zephyr Sect. He had heard that Cordelia, the older one, was strong enough to hold her own against Yun Hai. With her twin, they might even have the force to topple the undisputed Yun Hai, the strongest of the top outer disciples from the Four Great Sects. Van was incredibly curious about Yun Hai.

How strong am I in comparison to him? Could I win?

…Maybe these twins would be a good measuring stick!

Van at the two glaring twins with a sly expression on his face. He began counting the number of disciples in one of the twins' battalions with great drama; mouthing the numbers with exaggerated and large movements.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… Oops! Lost one already!?

Tsk!

How about you?

Oh, one little piggy is missing from your battalion too. What a shame!

It was a credit to Van's dramatic skills that his message could not be missed.

Cordelia was practically apoplectic with rage. There was no one in the Four Sects who dared to make fun of her like this! She had only ever been treated like a jewel in a priceless crown by her aunt. This kid…!

 At her side, Daphne was trying to calm her down. She leaned into her Cordelia's ear and whispered something. Whatever she said, it proved effective for her sister's face returned to a normal color.

They shot poisonous glances at him before turning away.

Van dusted his palms on his robes.

A timid voice piped up from behind him, "I-Is it wise to provoke those guys? I heard that they look like angels but are as vicious as demons on the battlefield…"

Van turned to Samuel and affectionally ruffled his hair. With a patient tone of voice, he explained, "Young Samuel, mental attacks are just as effective as physical ones, remember that!"

Samuel scratched his head before nodding quietly, "You want to make them angry so that… so that they go crazy?"

Van chuckled, "Something like that, yes."

Then Van closed his eyes and quietly meditated on the spot. He opened his meridians and sucked in the spiritual qi in the area to boost his reserves. The spiritual energy here was strangely thin, but it was better than nothing.

 The rest of the Cedar Sect followed suit.

Sometime later, the crowd hushed.

One hour had pa.s.sed.

"The third wave begins now." the ghostly voice announced.

Van opened his eyes and his expression turned solemn. He scanned the area around him. The other partic.i.p.ants were doing the same.

Their surroundings… had changed!