At 10am, after the first 24 hours of competition, Hoang Sa – Truong Sa team, thanks to their superior physical condition, took the lead with 3 flags, followed by Nu Than team, Co Do team still holding 2 flags, Quoc Tu Giam team still holding 1 flag. There were only 2 flags left.
Except for Duong who had Google help, all the other contestants did not know the number of flags of the teams.
The Hoang Sa – Truong Sa team was resting by a stream, all of them had returned to human form and changed into new clothes. Although their dragon bodies were strong, given their age, they could only maintain it for about 10 minutes to open a path to escape. After that, they completely relied on their spiritual power to defend. Although they were less struggling than the other teams, they were still almost exhausted. Luckily, on the way to escape, they found another flag.
“I wonder how the other teams are doing…” Member Hoang Thuy Loan pondered.
“At most, each team will only have 2 flags. We searched so quickly and we’re lucky to only get 3!” said Team Leader Ly Dai Long.
“The last leaves will definitely be very difficult to find, yesterday’s spirit beasts probably lost all traces,” Nguyen Hai Duong said.
Ly Dai Long pondered: “With 3 flags, we will definitely get points. Either we find a place to hide and preserve our points, or we continue to look for the flags. Long Ngao, Chuc Bang, what do you think?”
Chuc Bang indifferently said: “Up to you.”
Long Ngao resolutely said: “It’s better to hunt and rob other teams than to find the flag, to show them the power of the Dragon!”
…
The Imperial Academy team was also exhausted and lay on a lawn.
“Damn, how unlucky, after a whole day we only got one flag!” Team member Tran Minh of Quoc Tu Giam cursed angrily.
Sung Hao still kept a calm face, his silver white hair on his young face made him look very strange: “There are still 2 days left, no need to rush…”
“But the less flags there are, the harder it is to find…”
Sung Hao’s face was cold: “No need to find the flag, we find people!”
…
At 12 noon, the Goddess team set off to find the last two flags.
Duong gave directions to his teammates while carefully observing the other teams. He himself knew that when the number of flags decreased, the teams would start hunting each other to capture the flags and compete for the top spot.
The last two flags are both located near the central forest area, while the remaining three teams are also heading towards this area from different directions.
An hour later, the Goddess team easily obtained the third flag, nine flags were found, with only one remaining, located right in the center of the forest.
The entire Goddess team happily left with the third flag, only Duong was worried because he knew the teams were very close to each other, he had to quickly run away if he didn’t want to clash.
“Google! How’s it going?”
The map appeared in Duong’s mind, the two teams Co Do and Quoc Tu Giam were heading towards the center, they would meet soon, but what shocked Duong was that the Hoang Sa – Truong Sa team was heading straight towards them.
“They found my trail!” Duong thought in shock. He didn’t want to let anyone know about Google, so he thought of a way to lead his teammates to escape.
But the Hoang Sa – Truong Sa team was chasing behind, if they wanted to run, they had to run towards the center of the forest, where the other two teams were heading.
“I have it!” An idea flashed through Duong’s mind, making him shout with joy.
“What?” Van Hai asked.
“I know where the next flag is! Follow me!” Duong said, leading the whole team through the forest towards the two teams of Co Do and Quoc Tu Giam. He thought of a way to lure the Dragon Clan team towards the other two teams. Only he knew the exact location of each team so he could avoid them. As for the Dragon Clan team, if they saw the other two teams, they would definitely stop and watch.
Without any doubt, Van Hai and his group followed Duong into the center of the forest.
…
The final flag was placed on a small island floating in the middle of a lake about twice the size of a stadium.
This time, the two teams Co Do and Quoc Tu Giam walked out to the lake shore and discovered each other.
“This time, don’t even think about taking the flag!” Sung Hao gritted his teeth, not bothering to argue, raised his hand and signaled to his teammates: “Attack!”
The Ancient Capital team knew this battle was inevitable, so they formed up and charged forward.
Meanwhile, Duong led the team to the lake shore, right at the location where the two teams Co Do and Quoc Tu Giam were fighting.
Van Hai, who was at the forefront, quickly discovered the battle: “There is a fight ahead, between the Ancient Capital team and the Imperial Academy team!”
“Let’s just hide here and see what happens!” Chau Doc suggested.
Duong immediately objected: “No, we left traces on the way, it is very possible that the Dragon Clan team is following us, it is best to erase the traces and move far away to avoid confrontation!”
Hearing Duong’s words made sense, the group erased their traces and moved to a big tree, climbing up to watch the battle by the lake.
The captain of the Ancient Capital team, Nguyen Hoai Lam, and the member of the Imperial Academy team, Trieu Tu Lang, are evenly matched one on one. Le Van Luyen, Tang Bich Ha, and Vo Hoai Lang of the Ancient Capital team are competing 3 on 3 with Vu Van Tien, Tran Minh, and Trieu Van of the Imperial Academy team. The two new students, Nguyen Hoai Bao and Sung Hao, are competing individually.
The Goddess Team split up and sat on the tall tree branches, enjoying the cool breeze while watching the fight. Duong paid special attention to the two new students, both of whom had reached the Spirit Commander realm.
“The two freshmen are so young but they fight quite well!”
Duong exclaimed, making everyone look at him strangely: “They are the same age as you!”
Duong grinned, suddenly remembered the Dragon Clan team so tried to search Google, sure enough the Dragon Clan team had followed and was hiding somewhere watching the situation.
At the Dragon Clan team’s place, Long Ao was observing the battle. At the Spirit Captain level, there were no earth-shattering battles. There were only competitions in martial arts and some low-level spiritual arts. Although both teams used quite powerful spiritual treasures, Long Ao didn’t even pay attention to them.
“It seems like there is a flag in the middle of the lake!” A member of the Dragon Clan team who had discovered the flag said softly.
“Let’s go around there and see!”
The Dragon Clan team quietly went around to another corner of the lake, avoiding the eyes of the two teams. Member Nguyen Hai Duong was tasked with diving into the pool to capture the flag.
“Fuck! Those stinking Dragon Clan bastards!” Duong muttered angrily. He knew that the Dragon Clan team also had 3 flags. If they captured the last flag, the Dragon Clan would have a high chance of winning the first round.
Hoai Bao struggled to avoid Chong Hao’s brilliant sword strikes. Occasionally, he counterattacked, but Chong Hao blocked them all with difficulty. Both of them used swords.
“This silver-haired kid is quite good at fighting, but why does his face look familiar to me…” The old man’s soul inside Hoai Bao spoke.
“Master, don’t give me any pointers. I want to defeat him myself!” Hoai Bao whispered. He didn’t expect that a 13 year old kid could be on par with him. After all, he had an extremely knowledgeable master.
“Yeah… whatever you want! But I won’t tell you that there’s a gang coming over from the other side of the lake to steal!” The old man laughed.
“Huh!” Hoai Bao quickly signaled to Sung Hao: “Wait! Another team is capturing the flag!”
Sung Hao was half-believing and half-doubting, he glanced at the lake and sure enough, he saw a group of people standing on the other side of the lake.
“Damn you scavengers! I suggest we rush in and deal with them first!”
“Okay!”
If you steal, you have to bury it first. Both teams immediately let go of their hatred and charged forward to attack the Dragon Clan team.
“Yeah, that’s right! Kill them! I hate those scavenging kids the most!” Duong cheered happily.
“What do we do now?” Hong Dao asked.
“Just sit and wait for them to fight until they are defeated, then rush in and capture all the flags?” Duong raised his eyebrows.
Fire Lotus growled: “People only stole one flag, but you stole a bunch and talk like you’re so righteous!”
“It’s different! They are the scavengers, we are the fishermen who profit!”
“What’s the difference?”
“Stop arguing, Hai Duong captured the flag!” Van Hai interrupted.
Nguyen Hai Duong quickly swam to the middle of the lake, stepped onto the small island, bent down and pulled up the flag.
The moment the last flag was raised, audiences across the country watched intently. Was this the moment to determine the winner, when the competition was only halfway through? Or was it the moment of changing seasons, entering the stage where teams would fight directly to take the flag from the opponent?
Not!
The moment Nguyen Hai Duong excitedly raised the flag high, all the contestants and the audience looked at him with bewildered eyes, making Hai Duong not understand why, but immediately Hai Duong realized he was falling!
The entire surface of the lake collapsed, forming a giant well, Hai Duong’s terrified screams echoed, making all the contestants and audiences turn pale.
The sound of Hai Duong echoed further and further, then suddenly grew louder. Hai Duong was like a pebble thrown back up, falling in an arc right at the base of the tree where the Goddess team was hiding.
Not yet shocked enough, the ground shook violently, boom, a giant rough hand full of sharp claws grabbed the edge of the pit, scaring all three teams.
“RUN!” Someone shouted loudly, but it was useless, because everyone turned around and ran straight ahead. The lowest level of giant spirit beasts was at least at the level of Spirit Assistant, how could they possibly resist?
Despite the kids running away, the giant monster climbed out of the hole, revealing itself as a giant frog with rough skin, a wide open mouth full of fangs, two red eyes, and sharp claws on its limbs.
The frog was nearly 10 meters tall, looking like a towering rock. It did not chase after them, but instead raised its head and roared to the sky. After the frog’s long howl, the entire forest suddenly stirred, trees fell one after another as if a great flood was rising, the ground shook violently.
Standing on the top of a tall tree, Duong’s group could see the whole scene quite clearly. Spirit beasts from all over were rushing in to form a beast wall, surrounding the teams. Even though they were scared to the point of peeing their pants, Duong’s group couldn’t help but laugh when they saw members of other teams running out, then quickly running back in, being chased by the ferocious beasts.
But Duong’s smile immediately disappeared, his two bloodshot frog eyes glared at them…