Midnight had arrived. By the light of the fire, the disciples participating in the trial began to enter the mountain range to explore for treasures.

Each disciple was issued a Storage Ring.

The fierce beasts they defeated would be placed into the Storage Ring, and on this platform, everyone’s achievements would be displayed.

Besides this Storage Ring, there was also a Magical Artifact for seeking help.

In times of crisis, if one felt their life was in danger, they could use it to call for help.

Of course, using the Magical Artifact for help meant being disqualified from the trial.

Those who were disqualified early would only receive a small consolation prize.

The Storage Rings they carried could not be brought in.

After exchanging greetings with a few seniors, Shen Han entered the mountain range.

At this time, the entire mountain range was naturally very dark.

Although the eyesight of cultivators was far better than that of ordinary people, the night still concealed many things.

Under the cover of darkness, each disciple could search for their preferred base.

Following the map given by Fu Tianqi, Shen Han indeed prepared to take a look.

The entire treasure-hunting area of the mountain range was extremely vast.

Although there were over six hundred participants from the Divine Land.

Once they entered the treasure-hunting area, these six hundred people were like drops of water falling into the ocean.

It wasn’t easy to encounter each other.

In past mountain explorations, the main focus was on how many fierce beasts each disciple could hunt.

Disciples from each sect rarely encountered each other.

Unless they encountered a fierce beast of the Spiritual Relic Species level, causing a large commotion, it might attract those nearby.

After more than a two-hour session, Shen Han arrived at the marked location on the map.

To the left was a cliffside mountain for backing, guarding against ambushes from behind.

On the right side was a shallow riverbed.

After autumn, it was the dry season; the riverbed became shallow, and drying up was normal.

Fu Tianqi really found an excellent spot.

Backing against the mountain cliff, digging a cave could provide a hiding place.

The riverbed ahead was the drinking spot for fierce beasts.

Because it was the dry season, further down, the riverbed was completely dry.

Any fierce beast needing water would follow the riverbed upstream to this place.

Here, one could effectively lie in wait for prey.

Seeing this, Shen Han understood.

Fu Tianqi indeed did not deceive him; this location was a feng shui treasure land.

As long as they hid here, they could wait for the fierce beasts to come.

And they could also choose their target here.

If they felt the fierce beast was too powerful, they could choose to continue hiding and act when the target was suitable.

Not far away, at the mountain cliff, there was indeed a shallow cave.

The cave was a bit shallow and appeared messy.

Shen Han gathered some dry grass and branches to make it more comfortable.

Still deep in the night, Shen Han chose not to take action immediately.

Sitting in the cave, he began thinking about the upcoming treasure hunt.

According to the seniors, the most valuable things in this mountain range were the fierce beasts.

Their skin, flesh, and bones were very useful.

For instance, in the Golden Profound Pill previously refined, one of the ingredients was the bone of a fierce beast of the Spiritual Relic Species.

Grinding their bones into powder became a precious medicinal material.

It was already 3:00 AM, and outside was still pitch dark.

The sound of insects buzzing was still noisy, even more piercing than on summer days.

Probably because winter was approaching, these insects seemed to be having one last celebration.

Listening to the clamorous insects, Shen Han oddly felt a sense of calmness.

In his mind, he contemplated.

The book "Thousand Moon Mechanism Secret Skill" he read before had given him some inspiration.

In a place like this, setting up a trap mechanism was highly suitable.

The fierce beasts were likely more wary of humans than traps.

With this in mind, Shen Han had made up his mind.

At 6:15 AM, the sky was beginning to light up slightly.

With the faint morning glow, searching for materials became much easier.

Shen Han began searching for materials needed for trap mechanisms, according to what was written in the "Thousand Moon Mechanism Secret Skill."

Randomly found materials from this forest naturally couldn’t produce any good quality materials.

But for Shen Han, it didn’t matter.

He just needed to construct traps that looked about right.

After spending more than a two-hour session, he was roughly ready.

Shen Han began building the trap mechanisms.

The construction didn’t take long; after about half an hour, a mechanism of some form appeared before Shen Han.

Injecting his Spiritual Power into it enhanced the mechanism’s power.

This would give it the capability to deal with fierce beasts.

After everything was completed, Shen Han concentrated on inspecting the mechanism he built.

[Inferior Mechanism]

The gray tag was entirely within his expectations.

Shen Han knew that with just picking some materials, such a hastily made mechanism would turn out as expected.

It would surely have a gray tag.

Without much hesitation, he extracted the [inferior] entry.

A [meticulous] entry was thrown on.

The mechanism, which originally looked extremely poor, finally appeared somewhat extraordinary.

With the mechanism completed, Shen Han set it up by the riverbank.

Fierce beasts searching for water along the way could easily step on this mechanism.

With everything ready, Shen Han activated the delayed array he carried with him.

Hiding in the cave, if danger arose, he would have time to react.

At 7:00 AM, the sky started to brighten.

There are many kinds of fierce beasts; some are nocturnal, but most venture out during the day to hunt for food.

Sitting in the cave at times, distant and intense sounds could occasionally be heard.

These sounds, unsurprisingly, should be someone fighting with fierce beasts.

The reason these beasts are called fierce is because they aren’t ordinary animals.

Their skin and tendons can be used to forge weapons and armor.

This indirectly shows that the fierce beasts’ own bodies and strength are quite exceptional.

While waiting, Shen Han continued to enhance his Divine Soul’s power.

Under the guidance of Senior Yuyou, he underwent specialized training.

Currently, the Six Paths of the Divine Soul nurtured by Shen Han showed significant power improvements.

During those seven days of practice, Senior Yuyou acted as an excellent sparring partner.

He continuously fed moves to Shen Han, making his control over the Six Paths of the Divine Soul far more skillful than before.

In previous battles, Shen Han could only deploy four Paths at once.

Now, his control over the Six Paths is far more proficient than before with just four.

During this treasure hunt in the mountains, if he needed to fight fierce beasts, he might be able to utilize his Divine Soul.

This would be the perfect opportunity to test how strong his Divine Soul has become.

Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, the sounds of roar emerged from outside.

A sturdy wild bull had stepped on the mechanism with its right hind foot.

This kind of fierce wild bull was extremely large.

Shen Han had seen in the common knowledge book that the gluttonous wild bull was a fierce beast with an immense appetite.

Usually herbivorous, but if food was scarce, there were precedents of it devouring meat.

At this moment, the gluttonous wild bull’s right hind foot was already broken, yet it still had the ability to flee.

In terms of grade, this gluttonous wild bull could already be considered a Spirit Beast.

Unlike the ordinary wild beasts, it was not foolish; it already realized it had stepped into a trap.

Its priority was to escape for its life.

Shen Han did not hesitate in the slightest as his Six Paths of the Divine Soul charged toward the gluttonous wild bull.

Blocked by the Divine Soul, unable to escape,

this wild bull immediately turned around and charged towards Shen Han.

However, before it managed to take two steps, the Six Paths of the Divine Soul had already taken action.

For a fierce beast of the Spirit Beast level, it was not so easily dealt with, and it could even evade several attacks.

But facing the Six Paths of the Divine Soul, it was still in vain.

Shen Han could already feel that his control over the Divine Soul was indeed much stronger than before.

After dealing with it, the gluttonous wild bull was directly put into a dedicated storage ring.

This storage ring was specially prepared, and at the outer part of the mountain range, it was easy to quickly see how many prey each disciple participating in the treasure hunt had captured. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

After handling the gluttonous wild bull, Shen Han cleaned up a bit.

He then also disposed of the [damaged mechanism].

He extracted the [damaged] entry and re-applied a [meticulous] one.

With the help of this mechanism, dealing with things would become much easier for him.

The treasure hunt in the mountains would last for four days in total.

Besides encountering fierce beasts of the Spiritual Relic level, which would require cooperation,

typically, the disciples participating in the treasure hunt were solo adventurers.

They all journeyed alone.

There weren’t that many fierce beasts in here either.

Searching for fierce beasts took much more time than killing them.

For instance, if five people from the Star Tower advanced together and hunted five fierce beasts in a day, it equates to one person hunting one beast per day.

Unless luck serves them well and they encounter a fierce beast of the Spiritual Relic level.

But many believe this mountain range should have no more Spiritual Relic level fierce beasts.

The slightly smarter fierce beasts should have already left, due to the biennial treasure hunts.

After setting up the mechanism, Shen Han retreated back into the cave.

Around him, he could still occasionally hear the long cries of fierce beasts.

This beast hunting was not as simple as he imagined.

Fierce beasts have incredible defenses, and when entangled with people, they can often drag on for a long time.

Therefore, after hunting one fierce beast, finding the next one not only requires a lot of time to search,

but also a way to restore one’s physical strength and energy.

If the recovery speed is not fast enough, it would be extremely challenging.

However, for Shen Han, things became a bit easier.

Due to the presence of the mechanism, hunting each fierce beast didn’t consume much energy.

He might even only need to deliver the final blow.

After hiding in the cave for about a two-hour period, another fierce beast arrived.

It seemed to have smelled the scent of blood, thinking there was food here.

But little did it know, what awaited it was a mechanical trap.

On the first day, by nightfall, Shen Han had harvested a total of four fierce beasts.