When system cheat becomes rampant!

So they set up a very powerful Teleportation Array on the inevitable path through the thunder sea. This kind of array wouldn't be noticed by those at the Meridian Opening stage, but it would be discovered by individuals at the God Refining stage.

There were God Refining judges patrolling that area, and powerful martial artists were all nearby. A moment's inattention could easily lead to the judges detecting something amiss and then ending the contest, at which point their plan would fall through completely.

Thus, the Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage didn't directly target any particular student team but instead sought to lure more students to the withered forest before making a move.

After all seven teams entered the withered forest, the Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage was about to go after the student teams from Xuzhou University and Yuzhou University. However, it discovered that both student teams were already engaged in a fierce battle over a Black Fish-Lion listed in their task, which led them to call upon the judges for help.

The location of their conflict was near the teleportation site and just happened to alert the judges to the withered forest. The God Refining judges could perceive the teleportation points and prepared to investigate in the withered forest.

The Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage made a snap decision, abandoning both teams, and immediately erased the teleportation point, initiating a monster tide to cover those traces.

The eruption of the monster tide finally clued in the alliance that something was amiss. They grappled with the tide while immediately dispatching personnel to search in all directions.

The rest of the events probably are also clear.

——

"What we still can't understand," Xiang Beifei said, "is why those Ghost Mustaches of Remnant Visage wanted to capture us. Logically speaking, if they were looking for bodies to parasitize, they shouldn't have taken such a massive risk."

This was something everyone found puzzling.

The Ghost Mustaches of Remnant Visage were so cautious and rarely confronted powerful humans directly. They didn't need to take such risks to find bodies to parasitize.

To put it bluntly, countless martial artists entered the otherworldly wilderness every day. Since they could appear in the City of the Old Days, finding these people would be an easy task for them.

But this time, they made the strange choice to act under the watchful eyes of so many experts, which was highly abnormal.

"Some have speculated that they can only parasitize higher-level martial artists, which is why they targeted SR and SSR students, but I have refuted that," Ye Changfeng said.

Back in the City of the Old Days, they could even parasitize an infant.

Moreover, regarding the pioneer "Shi Renmei," the alliance had also gleaned some information: he had only been an S-level Awakener, not the so-called SR.

"Could it be that SR and SSR Awakeners are more suitable for parasitism? After all, their systems are more advanced, they cultivate quickly, and their physical condition is much stronger than that of ordinary people," Xiang Beifei asked.

Ye Changfeng nodded slightly: "That is also a possibility."

Elder Luo, munching on melon seeds, gazed into the distance at the rustling tree leaves and after a long pause, slowly said, "Whatever the reason, it seems we'll have to increase our vigilance."

There are many types of desolate beasts, and almost every year a new species is discovered, which is then cataloged to enrich the archives of Jiuzhou. But most newly discovered desolate beasts aren't too powerful and are relatively manageable.

However, the Ghostly Visage can be considered the most mysterious and intelligent type of desolate beast encountered in many years; prior records of them were but few and far between.

Ye Changfeng asked, "By the way, do those Tree People have a name? The alliance has asked me to write another paper, because I supplemented the last paper on Ghostly Visage. This time, with the appearance of both Ghostly Visage and the Tree People together, they think there might be some connection and have specifically requested an article from me."

About the Tree People, they are also a newly discovered species of desolate beast from this event, vaguely described by those students. However, their understanding is limited, as the whole time was spent escaping for their lives. Take a step too slow, and you are gone. So far, all that is known about the Tree People is that they can absorb Spiritual Power.

Ye Changfeng then looked at Xiang Beifei and said, "Since you've directly confronted the Tree People, what do you propose to name them?"

Since it was Xiang Beifei who casually named the Ghostly Visage last time, and this incident involved him once again, Ye Changfeng decided to give Xiang Beifei another chance to name them.

"Isn't 'Tree People' quite appropriate?" Xiang Beifei said.

"The name 'Tree People' has already been taken by another desolate beast," Ye Changfeng said.

"Oh right, I almost forgot that," Xiang Beifei remembered.

The Jiuzhou alliance often conducts official naming of various desolate beasts in their archive, and anyone who can provide compelling information gets to officially name the beast.

The 'Tree People', in a strict sense, are a common type of desolate beast. They are similar to primitive monkeys with the strength of the Meridian Opening stage. They usually live on trees, deriving power from them, and possess formidable combat capabilities within the forest.

But they can only operate on trees. If they depart from the trees even for a short period, they die, which also constitutes their weakness.

This desolate beast originally was to be called "Tree Ape," but since "Tree Ape" had been assigned to another kind of desolate beast, this ape-like desolate beast was named "Tree Person," which has become a consensus.

Experienced pioneers, as soon as they hear "Tree Person," naturally think of this kind of ape and understand how to deal with it. However, it's clear that the Tree Person encountered in the Withered Forest this time is entirely different from the ape-like Tree Person.

Since Ye Changfeng was asked to write a paper on this kind of desolate beast, he naturally couldn't name it "Tree Person" again, otherwise, it would mislead the pioneers.

"I remember their voices, my first impression, they emitted a 'You' sound, and also a 'Meng,' and they only have these two syllables, so let's temporarily call them 'Youmeng'," Xiang Beifei said.

Xiang Beifei recalled the situation at that time, considering that most of the beast-naming is based on the characteristics of the desolate beast, as this makes it easier to identify.

For example, Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage was initially described as "Screaming Monster," "Crybaby," "SOS Beast," and so on, but that was because the Ghost Mustache mimics people's appearance before death, so different people have different names for it, and in the end, Xiang Beifei unified the name to "Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage," which is quite apt.

Before they can learn more about the Tree Person of the Withered Forest, they will use the vocal characteristics as a stand-in so that the pioneers can immediately recognize the desolate beast by its voice.

As for the future, if more special abilities are discovered, the name can be changed then.

Ye Changfeng then asked, "You're determining the name of the desolate beast based on its calls, have you considered which two characters to use for it?"

Which two characters?

Xiang Beifei was still contemplating. Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

Because "Youmeng" was just a phonetic placeholder for the Tree Person, determined by the sound they made, he hadn't yet really thought about how to write the term "Youmeng."

To write it as "Again Cute," "Again Fierce," or "Sleepwalking," "Cute Friend"... all seem possible, surely he couldn't fix their name as "Oil Braised," or "Throttle," right?

But he still casually chose a word that seemed appropriate.

Xiang Beifei extended his index finger, and a flame burst from his fingertip, then he wrote two characters in the air.

"Just this 'Youmeng' then!"

These two characters were the first ones he thought of, or perhaps one could say they popped out from his subconscious, so he just directly used them.

Ye Changfeng nodded slightly and said, "This name is not bad, what does Elder Luo think?"

However, at this moment, Elder Luo suddenly froze.

"Youmeng?"

He looked at the two burning characters in the air in surprise.

Elder Luo stopped cracking his sunflower seeds and looked at Xiang Beifei in shock, saying, "You didn't tell me the Tree Person of the Withered Forest sounded like this!"

Xiang Beifei said, "Others mentioned it, so I didn't say anything."

When the Tree Persons were chasing them, they were blindly shouting "Meng" and "You"; others also heard it.

At that time, Ma Ziqian imitated the calls of these desolate beasts for everyone to hear, when he imitated, he started with the "Meng" sound, then the "You" sound. The Tree Persons spoke only these two monosyllables; the order didn't make much difference, so Xiang Beifei didn't say much.

"Youmeng, how can it be such a coincidence? Both using this term..."

Elder Luo looked at Xiang Beifei as if recalling something, murmuring to himself.

"Have you heard of Youmeng before, Elder?" Xiang Beifei asked, puzzled.

Elder Luo didn't answer, but muttered to himself, "Last time only a few of you left the Withered Forest, the others all got lost, if it's like this, doesn't that mean..."

He looked quite astonished.

Xiang Beifei was still pondering why Elder Luo had such a big reaction to the term "Youmeng," but then Elder Luo carefully asked, "At that time, were you headed... towards the north, Beifei?"