After Alex and Lucas followed Ed's instructions, Ed turned his head.

"Thomas, do you have a bottle?"

"Yeah, yeah." Thomas quickly pulled out an empty glass bottle.

As they were collecting the blood, none of Ed's four companions noticed that someone was watching them from the shadows.

Besides Brown and Brian, who were hiding about ten meters away and observing them, there were also thousands of pairs of eyes watching from the spectator stands!

In the VIP seats, only a few veteran Hunters nodded in recognition:

"Taking tongue blood to deal with ghost spirits—this technique isn't something just anyone would know. At least, a super experienced Hunter must have taught him!"

"This is strange though. How can someone as young as Ed seem so seasoned?"

From the start of the competition until now, Ed had been behaving like an experienced, battle-hardened Hunter.

But besides a few remarks from these veteran Hunters, everyone else in the VIP seats remained silent!

Since Brown and Brian had appeared, all the important figures had been holding their breath, focusing intently.

They were waiting, waiting to see if the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association would make a move to seize the advanced spiritual treasure that should rightfully belong to Ed!

However, after watching the images on the screen for a while, Brown and Brian still hadn't made a move!

They were just hiding in the shadows, seemingly hesitant about something.

The group of important figures quickly became puzzled, and one person realized, "No way, could these two kids actually be intimidated by the ghost spirit's aura?!"

"It must be! After all, they don't know whether the ghost spirit is still there, so it's normal for them to hesitate!"

"If that's the case, then this golden opportunity will still belong to Ed?!"

A wave of realization swept over the group of association leaders.

Clearly, if the two members from Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association didn't act soon, they would inevitably lose the opportunity.

At that moment, the leaders collectively sighed in relief.

They'd rather let Ed take the advanced spiritual treasure than let Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association get it.

After all, if Ed got it, there would still be many uncertainties.

But if Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association got it, this group of associations would only continue to be overshadowed in the future!

Meanwhile, on the other side, Reve, sitting in his seat, couldn't remain calm any longer.

He hadn't expected this competition to get his nerves so tightly wound.

After all, an advanced spiritual treasure had appeared on the field!

An assistant beside Reve whispered, his face looking grim:

"Vice-Captain, these two kids don't know that the ghost spirit has left the house. They're too scared to make a move!"

Reve frowned, "Where did the one-eyed captain go? Why isn't he here? At this rate, will the advanced spiritual treasure be taken by Ed?"

The assistant smiled bitterly and nodded. "Most likely."

Reve immediately slammed his hand onto the chair beside him, his face filled with frustration.

The assistant spoke again, "If Ed manages to get the advanced spiritual treasure, with the strength he's shown, if he wants to leave, Brown and Brian probably won't be able to stop him."

"Also, this is under the recording stone. According to the rules, no contestant can kill another contestant."

Reve sneered coldly. "Leave? Ed isn't even my subordinate. If he thinks he can get his hands on the advanced spiritual treasure, he's dreaming. Don't worry, I have a plan."

He looked at the assistant and, using a special method of transmitting sound, ensured that only the assistant could hear his voice.

"If I'm not mistaken, all our contestants have a remote sound transmission stone on them, and Brian and Brown both have one, right?"

The assistant froze for a moment. "Vice-Captain, are you suggesting we secretly inform them?"

Reve nodded. "Exactly."

In the spectator stands, it was strictly forbidden to communicate with the participants using a god's-eye view during the competition.

But other associations had no idea that the contestants from Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association had sound transmission stones on them.

For the advanced spiritual treasure, Reve didn't care about the rules at all!

He told the assistant, "Go ahead, but remember, don't let anyone find out."

The assistant nodded and quietly left.

Meanwhile, in the footage, Ed had finished collecting the tongue blood. He carefully used his steel sword to make a small cut on Alex and Lucas's tongues.

"It's done," Ed said, carefully sealing the glass bottle and putting it away.

The two of them, now able to relax, endured the pain and said, "That's great, Ed, brother. It's all on you now! We wish you a safe return!"

If he really killed the ghost spirit and earned the points, they couldn't even imagine how much they would gain!

Just by offering a bit of blood, they would get ten percent—such a huge profit!

At that moment, on the other side of the wooden house, Brown and Brian had been carefully lying in wait.

Suddenly, Brian's expression changed sharply as the magic sound transmission stone on him activated. At the same time, he heard a voice in his ear that only he could hear.

"Brian, don't move, don't show anything. I need to inform you of some intelligence!"

The voice was that of the assistant.

Brian immediately controlled his expression, surprised at what was happening.

He knew very well that transmitting information during the competition was a serious violation of the rules, one that could get them disqualified from the event.

But even so, the Vice-Captain still wanted to share something. Clearly, the information was extremely important!

Brian listened attentively.

The assistant's message was simple: The ghost spirit was most likely not in the wooden house!

Reve encouraged them not to miss this opportunity!

The process of transmitting the information was extremely brief. After just a few seconds, the conversation was over.

In the spectator stands, the assistant quietly returned to Reve's side.

After receiving the information, Brian was visibly unsettled, unable to help glancing at Brown.

Brown, too, had a look of subtle shock in his eyes. He exchanged a look with Brian, signaling that he, too, had a sound transmission stone.

Having received the intelligence, neither of them hesitated any longer. They quickly moved to the wall, ready to make their move.

Meanwhile, ahead of them, Ed had just finished preparing the tongue blood and was even still facing away from them.

Brian said, "Let's charge directly. We'll grab the advanced spiritual treasure first!"

Brown replied, "Alright, I'll follow your lead."

As they readied themselves, Ed, still with his back to them, suddenly heard rapid footsteps from behind him. At the same time, Thomas and the other two were left stunned and frozen in shock.

"Huh?" Ed furrowed his brow.

Thomas shouted loudly, "Damn, Ed, there are others coming!"

Alex exclaimed, "Shit, they're charging straight into the wooden house!"

Lucas added, "If I'm not mistaken, they look like Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association members!"

Ed quickly turned around, and sure enough, he saw two figures. His pupils contracted in that instant.

The two of them were his classmates—none other than Brown and Brian.

Brian and Brown were running straight toward the wooden house!

This scene didn't just shock Thomas and his group; it also stunned the leaders of other associations watching from the VIP seats.

"What's going on? Didn't they just hesitate a moment ago? Why are they suddenly charging forward?!"

"What happened? It's like they've figured out that the ghost spirit isn't in the house anymore!"

"What was supposed to be Ed's lucky break—are they trying to take it from him?!"

Everyone in the spectator stands was completely confused.

In the footage, Ed was filled with uncertainty as he watched Brown and Brian—two former classmates—run straight into the wooden house.

Their sudden appearance didn't surprise Ed that much.

After all, it was possible that the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association had come here, and he had already mentally prepared for that.

But what puzzled him was that the first thing they did wasn't to try to kill him?

Instead, they were running straight into the wooden house. What the hell was going on?

As Ed tried to make sense of it, Brian and Brown had already reached the door.

They threw a cold glance at Ed.

Especially Brown. The grudge he held from before had never been forgotten. If it weren't for the more pressing matter at hand, he would have rushed over to exact his revenge right then and there!

Brian's cold demeanor was tinged with a sense of satisfaction—an almost gleeful feeling of taking something that belonged to someone else!

It was incredibly refreshing!

"Ed, the advanced spiritual treasure is going to belong to us!"

Brian thought to himself, and the next moment, the two of them entered the wooden house, disappearing from view!

Thomas and his group exchanged puzzled looks.

Alex asked, "Ed, what's going on with those two?"

Ed took a moment to think calmly. "The only explanation I can come up with is that they're after the advanced spiritual treasure."

Thomas's expression changed drastically. "But... there's still a ghost spirit inside!"

For a moment, Ed stood still, understanding clearly that the two of them rushing in could only end in disaster.

Inside the wooden house, Brown and Brian charged in, heading straight for the advanced spiritual treasure. They quickly followed the aura, making their way to the innermost room.

They were both overjoyed. Brown couldn't believe it. "There's really no ghost spirit!"

Brian responded, "The Vice-Captain wouldn't deceive us. Since that's the case, let's grab the treasure!"

They then saw the chest placed on the ground. Spotting the lock on it, they didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately lifted it to carry away.

"Alright! The advanced spiritual treasure is now ours! Once this competition ends and we return, the two of us will soar!"

Brian and Brown were beaming with joy, completely ecstatic.

"You're right! Let's get out of here!"

As they spoke, they turned to look at the door to the wooden house. To their surprise, they found it completely empty.

"What's going on? Aren't those guys outside going to stop us? Are they just going to let us have the advanced spiritual treasure?"

Brown furrowed his brow. If Ed had really come in, maybe they could've taken the treasure and killed him at the same time.

Neither of them noticed that as they picked up the chest, there was a hidden cellar entrance beneath it.

Before, the wooden door to the entrance had been blocked by the chest. But now that the chest was gone, the aura inside began to stir. The next moment, the wooden door began to shake violently!

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