After their thirty minutes were up, everyone scrambled to their feet as the Absolute began to speak.

"The second round is even simpler than the first. This here," the Absolute gestured at the towering volcano, "we call Huoshan. It's smothered by rare and valuable vegetation growing out of the strange ash that covers the volcano. The only thing is, ferocious beasts guard these little weeds. That's not the point of your task, though - that would be too easy. Your job is easy - get to the top of this little hill and retrieve the eggs dangling over the lava. Oh yeah, the eggs - one of the reigning species here is the Ardent Spider, a pretty special creature that nests at the top of the volcano. The eggs are kept in webbing dangling over the edge and hovering over the lava of Huoshan, absorbing the heat. If you want to move on, I expect to see three eggs in your arms when you come down. No more, no less - no benefits this time for exceeding expectations! I think I'll give you... three days. That seems about right.

"And, since you're technically the greatest talents of the kingdom - though you certainly don't look like it - I'll give you a little reward for passing the first round. Catch!" He said, throwing out small, purple stones. Yi Qiang caught his deftly, turning it over in his hands to find it was perfectly smooth. "These things are a little contraption the Absolute before me came up with. I won't go into how they work because it's impossible to understand at your experience level, but suffice to say that one, they're ridiculously expensive. Two, if you crush a stone, you will be teleported right..." The Absolute waved his pointer finger, a silver light emerging from it and slicing into the ground. The movements were far from random, though, as, within seconds, an intricate magic circle appeared on the black rock floor, shining with a dull white glow. "Here. Of course, if you do that, I will know - duh - and you will be disqualified - also duh. So, unless your life is in some serious danger, I wouldn't advise using that little present of mine.

"Oh, one last thing. I figured I'd let you all know the privilege this little archer gets." The Absolute winked at Yi Qiang. "He's starting at the midway point on the volcano. You're welcome! So, the rest of you, shoo! I have to get this pipsqueak one of his prizes. Yeah, don't worry, there's more to come."

With that, the eight talents remaining scattered, Taren heading the pack by a significant margin. The Absolute watched them run for a few seconds before turning back to Yi Qiang.

"You like your prize?" He smirked.

Yi Qiang shrugged emotionlessly in response.

"I'll decide that after I'm done with the round. For now, I'm not sure just how it benefits me. For all I know, you're making things harder on me."

"You're a smart one. I like that. Well, shall we?"

The jovial man bowed mockingly. Confused, Yi Qiang looked around for any indication of what he was supposed to do, but his question was answered by the invisible force that swept him off his feet - literally.

Forced into a seating position, Yi Qiang quickly rose into the air, his ascent slowing down until the marksman was around 150 meters high.

The Absolute clearly had no trouble joining him, casually floating up next to him.

"How often is it you get to fly? A little more grateful now, kid?"

I wonder how he would react if he knew that soon enough, I'll be able to fly just as effortlessly on Shenyu's back.

Of course, Yi Qiang was not so much of a robot that flying provided no joy in him.

"Overwhelmingly. This is just getting better and better." Yi Qiang said dryly, his gaze on the ground below him.

"Well, hold on. We haven't even gotten to the fun part yet!"

The "fun part" the Absolute was alluding to, evidently, was flying forwards at an incredible speed, quickly reaching the halfway point.

Casually, the powerhouse squinted, scanning the floor from above before shaking his head. Bringing Yi Qiang with him, the Absolute began to circle the volcano, sweeping his gaze across the entire space and making judgments at a remarkable pace.

After around a minute, the Absolute finally seemed satisfied. So, without further delay, Yi Qiang was sent hurtling down.

How does he expect me to survive this? Yi Qiang thought offhandedly as he plummeted, descending rapidly - too quickly for him to make out anything about his landing site. This did not bode well - even the sharp-eyed marksman found it hard to observe anything on the ground from that distance, especially since the floor seemed slightly shrouded by ash this far up the volcano. As such, there weren't many inferences he could make about precisely what the Absolute was looking for, and no preparations he could make as a result.

The best Yi Qiang could do as he fell was summon armor around his lower body with his Qi, trusting that the seemingly-irresponsible Absolute would mitigate his fall enough for it not to be fatal.

The marksman's doubts only grew as, in a matter of seconds, he got close enough to the ground to feel the sweltering heat of the volcano. He was only around ten meters from the ground when a mysterious force broke his fall gently, decelerating him in a matter of a few tenths of a second and resulting in a bumpy, yet otherwise manageable fall.

The only consequence of his fall was the few points shaved off of his health, as well as the vast amounts of loose ash kicked up by the impact and the resounding boom.

That probably won't bode well for me staying here. Any monster within a mile-long radius is now out for my blood.

As he crouched, however, muscles tensed up and ready to leap away, he paused.

Is that... a growl?

From both his left and right, Yi Qiang's ears picked up on distinct growling.

How did any beasts get here already? Unless... they were already here. That Absolute! He most certainly did this on purpose!

Prize? As if.

Yi Qiang quickly dismissed his lower body armor and summoned a bow with 1200 points of Qi. If the Absolute wanted to challenge him, Yi Qiang did not doubt that these two beasts would push him to his limits.

He couldn't escape, either - any beast here would have long since adapted to the rocky terrain of the side of the volcano. Yi Qiang, on the other hand, had human feet and human legs, which were significantly worse suited to sprinting on the bumpy and uneven volcano floor.

No, his only way out was to fight and win.

Yi Qiang strained his eyes to see if he could penetrate the dense curtain of ash still hanging in the air, but soon gave up - the black soot was far too thick for his eyes to see through.

Instead, Yi Qiang pushed his hearing to the limit, tracing the origin of the growls and ascertaining that their sources were remaining still.

As he stood there, waiting for the dust to settle back on the ground again, Yi Qiang remained on high alert to make sure that the provoked beasts wouldn't try to charge through the airborne curtain to assault him.

Thankfully, they were seemingly content to wait until the dust cleared completely, revealing two monstrous beasts on either side of him.

Both were already covered in scratches, leading Yi Qiang to believe that not only had the Absolute dropped him in the middle of two powerful monsters, but that he had dropped him in the middle of two powerful, bloodthirsty monsters.

He supposed the only thing to do was make the best use of the situation he could.

The python to his left was quicker to act, springing towards him the instant it felt its slanted eyes could see clearly enough.

Yi Qiang had long been ready, though, springing backward and coldly watching the beast's large fangs cut through the space his neck just occupied.

Its crazed lunge left the beast wide open, however, to Yi Qiang's assault. Firing as quickly as he could, the marksman sent four arrows at varying spots along the python's neck, each arrow formed with 5 points of Qi.

The projectiles, projected at speed even Yi Qiang would be hard-pressed to react to by his expensive bow, shattered on the snake's scales.

What? That was one of the most potent attacks I've ever landed! Do I need more Qi in my arrows?

Five apiece was already expensive enough. This'll be tough, especially considering I have another opponent to worry about. Speaking of -

Yi Qiang ducked, narrowly dodging a swipe from a paw almost as large as he was - it seemed the sounds of battle had agitated the lion that was on his right.

That made it official - he was surrounded by two monsters rearing to tear him to shreds, with each very capable of doing so.

Yi Qiang glanced around, taking stock of his surroundings and the location of the monsters. The lion stood to his right still, and the python was slithering at an incredible rate to his front.

I'll leave the python for later - its attacks are easier to dodge, and it'll take time for me to penetrate those scales. Instead, the lion should have softer fur as well as stronger offensive capabilities.

The marksman dove and rolled to his right, darting under the lion's belly to emerge behind it too quickly for it to react. Of course, while he moved under the exposed underside, he tossed a few conjured knives upwards, though he was unable to confirm whether the attack was successful.

Judging from the furious roar and lion ripping around to face him, it was.

It was shut up in very short order, however, by two 10-point arrows empowered by Dragon Marksman's Judgement sent directly into its mouth. Unfortunately, the attack was only slightly successful, the arrows broken partially in half by the golden beast's maw snapping shut.

By then, the snake had slithered close enough to Yi Qiang to shoot towards him again; this time, however, it aimed for his ankles, seeking to impair his mobility by sinking its wickedly shaped fangs into his tendons.

A single leap upwards solved that issue.

Or, it would have, had the python, that was previously as long as he was, not exploded in size, catching him off-guard and allowing its attack to succeed.

Ah, right. Magic beasts. Of course.

Though Yi Qiang initially resisted the urge to jerk his leg away, his judgment immediately changed due to the distinct sensation of venom being pumped into his ankle.

His eyes widening, Yi Qiang ruthlessly summoned a huge handaxe in his free hand and slashed down, cleanly slicing off his right foot.

That'll make winning a lot harder.

Paying no heed to the burning pain coming from the stump on the end of his right leg, Yi Qiang pumped 100 points of Qi into a single arrow and nocked it. Adrenaline fueled his muscles and sharpened his eyes as he aimed even while mid-jump. In less than a second, it was as if a needle punctured the very air.

Faster than the marksman's eyes could track, the brilliant golden arrow drove directly through the still-enlarged python's neck. His experience on Earth fighting more mundane animals resulted in the marksman's thorough knowledge of most predators' weak points, including the snake.

As such, his carefully-aimed and expensive arrow had no trouble piercing the python as if it were air, resulting in a second of flailing in the air before the snake collapsed, dead.

Yi Qiang still had other things to worry about, however, as he hastily erected any defense he could to mitigate the damage of the ferocious claw swipe aimed directly at him.

His effort was all but useless, unsurprisingly, and the impact sent him crashing into the ground with so much force he left furrows in the volcanic rock that composed the floor. The similarly-oversized claws of the paw that struck him also had no trouble tearing into his comparatively soft flesh, resulting in four large gashes in his right arm, reaching to the bone.

A glance told Yi Qiang his health was at around 1/3rd, which was especially alarming.

The challenge of this situation finally sinking in, the marksman's eyes sharpened, a light almost glaring off of them like cold steel.

The lion charging toward him suddenly became an array of possibilities, weaknesses, and danger areas. In the ultimate manifestation of his bountiful experience putting his life on the line, Yi Qiang became almost mechanical.

Ignoring the pulsating agony coming from both his arm and leg, Yi Qiang leaped up by using Qi as a prosthetic limb, spiraling through the air over the lion and sending five carefully-aimed arrows from his flight.

They pierced through the colossal beast's fur like it was paper, driving into its spine before dissipating.

Having just taken five significant wounds, the lion's knees buckled, falling to the ground. However, it still had some fight left in it, as, with a ferocious roar, the beast struggled to its feet and pounced at him.

Two more powerful shots insured it died quickly, each penetrating into one of the lion's eyes. However, Yi Qiang was still defenseless against the gargantuan body flying in the air toward him, carried by its own momentum.

This shouldn't kill me.

His stamina almost utterly depleted, the marksman could only manage a feeble roll, getting him out of the way of most of the impact. However, Yi Qiang still found himself trapped under the lion's corpse, too drained to get out.

While his initial reaction was to crawl out from under its body as quickly as possible, Yi Qiang realized something.

There's no doubt there's a horde of beasts rushing over here. I'm too tired to run or fight them off, so anything I can do is futile. My best option is to hide, but on this barren landscape, there are no obstacles to shield me.

Under these circumstances, the best I can do is to stay here and try to conceal my presence as much as possible. Hopefully, the beasts won't look too closely at the two carcasses. If they try to eat my cover, though...

Focusing entirely on recovering both his mental and physical stamina, Yi Qiang lay there, his ears perked up to listen to the sounds of approaching animals.