"Hmph! He just got lucky," one sneered.

"Just you watch, the next time he goes for a treasure, he'll trigger a 9th rank beast and be wiped from the Mausoleum," another commented.

Ignoring the vicious glares of the people around him, Van cheerfully pulled a brightly-colored feather duster from an ancient treasure box.

A 5th level racc.o.o.n demon beast appeared. It's eyes were rimmed with inky black and filled with ferocity. However, it was more cowardly than the raven Van had drawn out before. Seeing that Van was in the 7th rank, it hesitated and decided to attack his battalion instead.

Van calmly stepped back.

A beast in the 5th rank was easy to deal with for a battalion with members in the 5th and 6th rank. It would be good training for them for the later rounds as well.

The onlooker's who had felt acid in their throats now choked with anger.

What was with this b.a.s.t.a.r.d's unholy luck?! Two fifth-ranks in a row?

…

So what if he got lucky twice?

The crowd couldn't wait to see this c.o.c.ky red-haired fellow bite off more than he could chew and doom him entire battalion!

Fifteen minutes later.

They watched with red eyes as Van casually picked a pearl necklace off a skeleton laying in amedium-sized coffin.

Surely this time!

The crowd was praying for his misfortune.

Please, can a 9th rank beast appear and smack him to death!?

The moment Van's finger touched the glistening surface of a pearl - 

SCREEECH!

A demon beast with the horns of a ram and the body of a snake appeared. With vigorous muscles and an ugly face; it's appearance alone struck fear. It hissed and summoned over fifty baby demon beasts. It was the largest horde that Van had triggered so far.

However, Van's face was taunting. He fired a smug look at his onlookers before leading the beast horde towards the Cedar Sect's battalions.

Despite the demon beast's hideous look, it was only in the 6th rank, and the minions it had summoned in the 3rd rank!

The onlookers were ticked off once more; which one of their battalions couldn't handle a 6th rank demon beast? That treasure could have easily been theirs....

Van dodged a vicious swipe from the ram-snake's horns. While a 6th rank beast could easily be taken down by Van, it would take the entire battalions concentrated efforts to deal with it. Van decided to let them gain the experience of dealing with a 6th rank beast and slayed the entire horde of 3rd rank minions with a casual tidal wave of qi. 

The pearl necklace went into his waist pouch.

The other sects stared at Van's waist pouch with red-eyes. They watched unblinkingly as countless treasures disappeared into his waist pouch.

They felt envious of the Cedar Sect, who was gaining treasures and acc.u.mulating points like crazy!

Seeing this provoking scenery, Cordelia and Daphne couldn't stand it any longer. They decided to take action. They ordered their sect mates to carefully investigate the other structures that had emerged during this round.

There must be some kind of clue that would reveal what type of monsters were cursed to protect which treasures!

The other groups couldn't stomach Van's provocation any longer either. They mobilized quickly. Staring at Van jauntily roving about, pinching treasures, they felt like the biggest idiots in the world. It turns out triggering 8th rank and above monsters were quite rare, and Richton had simply been an unlucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. The majority of demonic beasts were probably only in the 5-6th rank!

They had been scared of fighting a 5th rank monster and its ten or so lower-level cronies? Annoyed, the partic.i.p.ants immediately began scouring for treasures.

Not even ten minutes later, terrified screams filled the air. 

Van watched silently with a smirk on his face.

Idiots. Did they think he just got lucky?

Someone had triggered a 9th rank demon beast! 

In the distance, a giant 9th rank gorrilla with glowing red eyes and silver fur barrelled into a battalion of disciples. It's giant muscles bunched up as it swung its fists powerfully.

Weng! Weng! Weng!

A battalion composed of rogue cultivators was wiped out just like that.

The partic.i.p.ants in the room were scared.

Wasn't triggering a beast in the 8th rank and above meant to be rare?

Hadn't that red-haired kid stolen five treasures in a row, only triggerding beast hordes in the 6th rank and lower.

How come someone already stumbled into a 9th rank?

Were they just too unlucky?

Or…

Did that boy actually have some skill?

Pale-faced, the disciples from various sects sent each other worried looks. 

In the end, they continued to seek out treasures despite the ma.s.sacre caused by the 9th rank beast. They could not resist the temptation of the treasures. After all, evidence still showed that triggering such a high levelled beast was rare...

Over the next hour, quite a few battalions were able to gain treasures and points just due to good luck. This built the morale in the battlefield.

However, one more battalion were wiped out in the same amount of time due to triggering an 8th rank beast. Another battalion lost over half it's members to fend off a monster horde that contained two 7th rank beasts. 

At that moment, Cordelia and Daphne raided a tomb and pocketed a jade pendant with victorious looks in their eyes.

They had figured it out!

After carefully investing the areas that Van had looted already, they symbol near the treasures that seemed to repeat over the various locations. They copied these markings and consulted a battalion member with some skill in ancient languages. It turned out that these symbols indicated the type and rank of monster that were cursed to guard each treasure!

With this information, the Zephyr Sect gained wind under their sails. They aggressively targeted suitable treasures and took down the monster hordes quickly. Their high pride meant that they could not stomach Van's parading about. They needed to steal even more treasures and kill even more beasts than the Cedar Sect!

Van saw their movements in his peripheral vision.

Heh.

He continued at his own pace, pilfering treasures as he liked. His battalion were slightly worried, but when they saw their leader's calm demeanor they relaxed and continued on. The Cedar Sect's gains increased as steadily as a tortoise moving over land.

[Idiot. If you don't speed up, we'll catch up to you in no time!]

Cordelia's icy blue eyes pierced daggers into Van's back. She exchanged a glance with her twin sister and nodded.

Teng! Teng!

They circulated their spiritual power faster and blasted through the monster hordes they had triggered. Violent winds killed several 2nd rank beasts in an instant.

The Zephyr Sect's pace was rapid and violent. They grabbed treasures with one hand and fended off monsters with the other. Swirling wind qi sliced through the necks of the squirrel demon beasts around them, killing them swiftly.

At their speed, they would exceed the Cedar Sect's gains in no time!

Van smiled gently as he landed on top of what appeared to be a giant statue of a woman with three eyes on her head. Her stone ears were heavily decorated with beautiful gemstone earrings. Each earring gave off an aura of spirituality.

[That gem sure is a pretty azure color! If I turn it into a necklace, Finn will like it very much!]

Van put off grabbing the treasures for now. Instead, he opted to observe the battlefield around him from his higher viewpoint.

Gee, those twins from the Zephyr Sect sure are working hard!

Van sat casually atop the stone statue, legs swinging off the side. The Cedar Sect's battalions appeared around him shortly after, having just finished dispatching the last horde of monsters Van had triggered.

When Samuel saw the red-haired youth sitting casually on top of the stone bust he immediately became anxious. He turned his head to the side and saw the twin girl demons blasting monsters away with impunity. The monster's guts splattered over the ground as the gale-force winds threw them down.

Samuel's face went grey.

Those twins were the scariest girls he had ever seen!

"Sir Van! We should quickly get more treasures or the Zephyr Sect will catch up to us soon!" Samuel said with a panicky tone of voice.

Van just chuckled. He pulled his obsidian axe out and started using it's edge to cut his nails. Occasionally, he buffed them against his robes. 

It was a relaxed display designed specifically to annoy his compet.i.tors - while they were out there busting their a.s.ses, he was just relaxing with his treasures and five completely intact Cedar Sect battalions.

"Don't worry, Samuel," Van said simply, "They cannot catch up to us - unless they want to ensure their elimination."

Samuel blinked. The battalions had looks of confusion on their faces. 

Didn't this round still have 2 hours to go?

What was the battalion captain plotting?