Two days of the three-day exam had already passed. Regardless of whether the supervising teachers had overlooked anything, the Divine Artifact Celestial Gaze Mirror was meticulously recording every student’s performance on the Broken Continent. Countless second-year students were striving and searching everywhere, just to find a few more Treasure Chests.

On the leaderboard connected to the Divine Artifact Celestial Gaze Mirror, Zhang Yi’s name was far in the lead. Behind his name, his score was listed: three Silver Treasure Chests and eight Black Iron Treasure Chests.

The second-place student was Wan Hua, with three Silver Treasure Chests and six Black Iron Treasure Chests. Surprisingly, the student in third place was Hong Tianyi, who had found the exact same number of chests: three Silver and six Black Iron. His performance was just slightly worse than Wan Hua’s, so he was ranked behind him, settling for third.

The fourth and fifth-place students weren’t far behind either, with the gap only being a matter of a few Black Iron Treasure Chests. In fact, a difference in the number of Silver Treasure Chests didn’t even appear until the twentieth-ranked student.

In other words, although Zhang Yi was currently in first place, it wasn’t impossible for the students in second or third to overtake him if they discovered several Silver Treasure Chests today.

However, Zhang Yi wasn’t worried about this, because his Wood Elf Scouts had already submitted a report. About 50 kilometers downstream from the swamp, there was a Chaotic Stone Beach. To the left of the Chaotic Stone Beach was a creek and to the right was a forest, making the area naturally cool and shaded. The surface of the beach itself also had a distinctive color, with reddish-black ore exposed. If Zhang Yi’s Mountain Dwarves were to see it, they would immediately recognize it as a top-grade raw material for forging heavy defensive weapons: Red Copper Ore.

Of course, if it had only been a discovery of Iron Ore, it wouldn’t have been considered important by the Wood Elf Scouts. But deep within this Chaotic Stone Beach, amidst a group of Red Water Copper Pythons, lay a Golden Treasure Chest. This was the same situation reported by several teams of Wood Elf Scouts who had been sent out for reconnaissance.

Thus, Elf Legion Commander Feiyana made a decisive call, abandoning the investigation of other areas and heading directly for the Chaotic Stone Beach downstream from the original Poisonous Gas Swamp. She vowed to seize this Golden Treasure Chest and offer it to the great God of Nature.

Along the way, they passed through the lands of two small tribes and discovered two Black Iron Treasure Chests. Without delaying their journey much, Elf Legion Commander Feiyana dispatched the Elf Mage Corps to quickly seize both chests.

Zhang Yi opened the two Black Iron Treasure Chests. One contained a [Talent Crystal - Growth (0.01%)] and the other a [Talent Crystal - Land (0.01%)]. He also noticed that of all the Black Iron Treasure Chests he had opened, the item he received most often was the [Talent Crystal - Growth]. Three out of the ten he had found so far had contained it.

But Zhang Yi didn’t pay it too much mind. He had already obtained ten Black Iron Treasure Chests, two Silver Treasure Chests, and the Wood Elf-exclusive Elf Ancient Tree. His haul this time was already quite good.

Consider it a pre-final-exam war mobilization. If I can get this final Golden Treasure Chest today, that would be fantastic. It would be the perfect end to this mock exam! If I can’t get it, there’s no need to fret.

So, with this relaxed mindset, Zhang Yi left everything for Feiyana to handle.

An hour later, the Elf Corps and the Dwarf Corps arrived at the outskirts of the Chaotic Stone Beach, setting up their position on a small hill opposite the shore. As soon as Elf Legion Commander Feiyana arrived, the Wood Elf Scout who had remained behind came forward to report.

"Honorable Legion Commander Feiyana, per your orders, we have thoroughly surveyed the surrounding terrain. According to our investigation, the Red Water Copper Pythons primarily inhabit the Chaotic Stone Beach and a cave opening where the beach meets the river. This location is easy to defend and hard to attack. If we launch a frontal assault, I fear we will pay a heavy price."

Elf Legion Commander Feiyana stood on high ground, looking down at the Chaotic Stone Beach and its surroundings. The landscape was exactly as the Wood Elf Scouts’ reconnaissance had described. They were positioned upstream, looking down at the Chaotic Stone Beach. On the surface of the beach, several hundred Red Water Copper Pythons were sunbathing. This was only a fraction of their total number. Another portion was swimming in the water, and the ones living inside the cave had not yet revealed themselves. In other words, there were likely more pythons hidden from view than were currently visible.

The sight gave Legion Commander Feiyana pause.

The Red Water Copper Pythons were enormous, each over ten meters long, with sharp teeth that could easily crush ore. Their diet consisted of two main things: large animals and the Red Copper Ore itself. Moreover, Red Water Copper Pythons were placid by nature and disliked leaving their habitat. Often, a python would live its entire life in the same place, from birth to death, unaffected by the outside world.

It was precisely because of this habit and their diet that their scales were reddish-black, just like the ore. Due to their long-term consumption of Red Copper Ore, the scales weren’t just for show; they also possessed an extremely tough quality. Whether it was a Water Attribute or Fire Attribute attack, their scales would reduce the power of any Magic Attack by half. Furthermore, their scales could reduce the power of ordinary physical attacks by more than half. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

In short, the scales of the Red Water Copper Python granted it dual resistance to both physical and Magic Attacks, making it an opponent that could not be underestimated.

However, taking down this tribe of Red Water Copper Pythons would be of great benefit to Zhang Yi. The Red Water Copper Python Scales, which could effectively reduce the power of magical and physical attacks, were one of the best materials for crafting Armor and defensive Weapons. Furthermore, a Red Water Copper Python shed its skin several times in its life. Each time, it would leave behind a snakeskin over ten meters long and several meters wide. If this skin was combined with other ores and forged into armor, the hide from a single shed could be used to create nearly ten sets of Armor.

Moreover, while observing from his position upstream of the Chaotic Stone Beach, Zhang Yi had also spotted many Red Water Copper Python eggs. Red Water Copper Pythons have long lifespans, often living for a hundred years, but they only mate about once every ten years, laying just a few eggs each time. If he killed the large Red Water Copper Pythons but left a few small females to hatch the eggs, he could use a magical Slave Contract to cultivate an endless supply of them within his Divine Realm.

Once grown, the Red Water Copper Pythons would be of considerable value, whether they joined his troops in battle or were simply raised for production of materials. In other words, if Zhang Yi could conquer this tribe, he would gain not only the Golden Treasure Chest but also a loyal group of Magical Beasts.

The only problem now was how to maximize his gains.