Tailing Dong Fangyi

Once they opened, Dong Fangyi practically vanished up the cliff stairs. The three of us quickly got among those at the front of the mob that rushed to follow him. Getting up the stairs was easy enough, but there were quite a few stronger contenders around us, including some on par with my or Du Wuhan's strength. 

Not all of them were, but enough were interested in starting fights as soon as they passed the checkpoint that it took real effort for the three of us to disengage before we got embroiled with them. Even then, we ended up fighting dozens of magical beasts over the course of several hours, though we definitely had an easier time with them than we would have with the other competitors. I even scored a second core for Gao Rong, causing Du Wuhan to comment that I really hadn't been kidding when I'd said I was lucky when it came to monster core drops.