After leaving the Warrior Center, Xiao Han didn't linger in Beihai City.
Right now, he only wanted to familiarize himself with his newly acquired divine skill as soon as possible, then hurry to increase his strength.
He passed through the massive city gates, and the view suddenly opened up before him. The air immediately turned fresh.
A faint, almost imperceptible smell of blood swept toward him with it. This was the world outside the city, a dangerous zone where humans and exotic beasts fought for living space.
Not far away stood a huge alloy sign bearing a bright red inscription: "Wilderness Zone No. 1 (low risk)."
Below it was a line of slightly smaller text: "Primary exotic beasts: various Martial Apprentice Realm beasts. First- and second-level Martial Artist Realm beasts occasionally appear. Entry in Martial Artist squads is recommended. Stay safe."
A low-risk zone?
To Xiao Han as he was now, this place was no different from a newbie village.
He didn't venture deeper immediately. Instead, he cautiously found a relatively open clearing in the woods with a reasonably good field of view.
The scene of his public humiliation in the Martial Skills Pavilion was still vivid in his mind. Though the misfortune had turned out to be a blessing, earning him a divine skill, the feeling...
The corner of Xiao Han's mouth twitched. He hurriedly shook his head hard, forcibly driving the unbearably mortifying memory out of his mind.
"A Step to the Ends of the Earth." Xiao Han slowly closed his eyes, and a wealth of information about the special footwork flooded into his mind once more.
This footwork didn't simply pursue speed; it also involved a subtle application of the laws of space. With each step, it shrank the land to an inch; what lay a step away was the ends of the earth.
He began to try circulating the spiritual energy in his body slowly along the technique's prescribed route, carefully gathering it in the meridians of his legs.
The next moment, he moved his foot and stepped forward.
"Ugh!"
His body seemed to lose all coordination at once. He staggered and nearly fell flat on the ground, a world apart from the graceful, agile figure he had imagined.
The spiritual energy's circulation route was extremely complex, and the control it demanded over his body far exceeded that of his previous second-grade movement technique, 《Phantom Step》.
Xiao Han wasn't discouraged. The harder it was to master, the more it proved how extraordinary it was!
He quickly composed himself and tried again and again. From stumbling at first, he gradually managed to take a few barely connected steps.
Although his movements still looked somewhat awkward and occasionally stiff, his speed had genuinely increased by a large margin!
With every step, it was as if invisible stairs beneath his feet were constantly shortening the distance. He was at least thirty percent faster than when relying solely on his physical strength!
And this was only an initial attempt, far from grasping its essence.
"Good! It truly deserves its unknown grade!"
Xiao Han praised it inwardly.
Just as he was immersed in the joy of his initial success with the footwork, a low whimper suddenly came from the bushes nearby.
Xiao Han paused and looked toward the source of the sound.
Several pairs of eyes gleaming with a ghostly green light appeared in the shadows. Then five or six agile, wolf-shaped exotic beasts with blue-gray fur slowly emerged.
Slightly larger than ordinary wild wolves, they had long, powerful limbs and sharp claws and fangs. Faint streams of pale cyan air swirled around them. They were Wind Wolves, D-rank exotic beasts commonly found in Zone No. 1.
These Wind Wolves were generally around the seventh or eighth level of the Martial Apprentice Realm. Extremely fast and skilled at hunting in packs, they were troublesome opponents for ordinary newly advanced Martial Artists or lone martial apprentices.
"Awooo!"
The Wind Wolf at the front raised its head and let out a low howl, seemingly issuing an order to attack.
The other Wind Wolves immediately spread out into a semicircle, their green eyes fixed on Xiao Han as drool dripped from their jaws. They had clearly taken him for prey that had delivered itself to their door.
"Perfect. I'll test my new fist technique on you."
Rather than grow nervous, Xiao Han's lips curled into an interested smile.
Facing the Wind Wolves charging at him, Xiao Han neither dodged nor retreated.
He didn't summon the Chaos Green Lotus or the Eternal Night Monarch, nor did he even fully unleash the qi and blood power of the Fourth Level of the Martial Artist Realm.
He merely took a deep breath and slowly clenched his right fist as the mysteries of the incomplete Annihilation Divine Fist flowed through his mind.
It was a fist intent of destruction and ruin, one that crushed everything into nothingness!
Though it was only an incomplete technique, the intent it contained was incomparably domineering!
Xiao Han tried to infuse a faint trace of "annihilation" fist intent into the punch he threw.
He didn't deliberately strive for speed or power. The punch even looked somewhat slow and light, as if he were merely pushing his hand forward.
The Wind Wolf at the front was the fastest. Its foul-smelling jaws opened wide, its sharp fangs gleaming coldly as it lunged straight for Xiao Han's neck!
Yet just as its fangs were about to touch him, Xiao Han's seemingly slow fist struck first despite being thrown later, lightly landing on the side of the Wind Wolf's face.
There was no earthshaking sound, not even a dull impact.
Hiss...
It was as if something had been instantly annihilated and broken down by an invisible force.
The Wind Wolf's forward momentum abruptly halted. Where its cheek met the fist, fur, flesh, and even bone began to crumble and disperse at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into the finest dust!
In a mere instant, half the Wind Wolf's head vanished eerily, as though wiped away with an eraser!
It didn't even have time to let out a scream before all life left its massive body and it crashed to the ground.
"Hiss—!"
The Wind Wolves behind it came to an abrupt halt, frightened by the strange and terrifying sight. Their green eyes were filled with fear and incomprehension.
They couldn't understand why their companion had died in such a bizarre manner.
Xiao Han himself was also startled by the effect of that punch.
He had only drawn on a trace of nascent fist intent and infused it with very little spiritual power, yet it had produced such terrifying destructive power?
Injured by a brush, killed by a touch?
This Annihilation Divine Fist really is domineering!
While Xiao Han was momentarily dazed, the passive effect of the Eternal Night King Martial Soul quietly activated.
He felt as though the light around him had dimmed somewhat, while the shadow at his feet seemed to come alive, growing darker and deeper.
His senses also became unusually sharp. A faint gust of wind came from behind his head: another Wind Wolf was attempting to ambush him from behind!
Almost instinctively, Xiao Han's figure seemed to merge into the shadows as he slid a step diagonally backward. His movement was smooth and natural, as if he had been standing there all along.
"A Step to the Ends of the Earth!"
Though he was still unpracticed, the Eternal Night King Martial Soul's enhancement instantly raised his use of shadows and his compatibility with the footwork to another level!
The ambushing Wind Wolf lunged at empty air, while Xiao Han had already appeared at its side like a ghost.
It was the same seemingly powerless punch.
Pfft!
The Wind Wolf's body was severed at the waist by an invisible force, its organs spilling across the ground with its blood.
What followed was a completely one-sided slaughter.
Xiao Han moved swiftly among the remaining Wind Wolves.
His footwork grew smoother and smoother. From his initial stumbles, it gradually acquired the flavor of A Step to the Ends of the Earth's ability to shrink the land to an inch.
Every punch he threw carried an aura of annihilation, sometimes heavy, sometimes light.
Throughout the entire fight, Xiao Han didn't even draw a heavy breath.
In no more than half an hour, dozens of Wind Wolf corpses lay in the forest clearing.