Ice Mountain's Shock

The captain of Miracle Squad specialized in the spear and possessed the strength of an Intermediate Wargod.

The team had originally also included a veteran martial artist at the Beginner Wargod level, but he had died during this expedition.

Zhang Lei had now reached the Advanced Warrior level. He had originally ranked third in strength within the team, surpassed only by the two Wargod-level martial artists. Now, he had become the second strongest, behind only the captain.

In his plans for the future, he would next become vice-captain and receive a larger share of the squad's spoils, gaining more resources and naturally improving his strength even faster. Once he entered the Wargod level, he would be qualified to form his own martial artist squad.

Everything had been going wonderfully, but this suddenly appearing pack of Tiger Cat monsters had shattered all his dreams for the future.

Tiger Cats were a type of tiger monster.

They possessed the savage strength of tiger monsters as well as the agility and speed of feline monsters, making them an exceptionally troublesome kind of monster.

Not to mention that the monster leader was a Four-tailed Tiger Cat, a High-level Beast General monster!

The strongest member of their squad, their spear-wielding captain, was only an Intermediate Wargod.

City No. 012 had been in constant turmoil recently, and many martial artists had already left. Although they had sent out a distress signal,

looking at this Tiger Cat pack numbering several hundred,

Zhang Lei knew perfectly well that unless a miracle happened—unless an absolute expert happened to pass by, or several elite Wargod squads arrived—

one or two ordinary martial artist squads would only come to share their fate of total annihilation.

"Ah! Captain, save me!"

A thin martial artist wielding two curved blades was pounced on by a Three-tailed Tiger Cat and let out a miserable scream.

"Monkey!"

Their captain was more than ten meters away, surrounded and attacked by two Three-tailed Tiger Cats.

Hearing the cry for help, he could only shout in anguish, powerless to do anything.

"Splat!"

Suddenly, it was as though a light breeze had swept past.

The Three-tailed Tiger Cat pouncing on Monkey suddenly spurted a cloud of bloody mist from its neck, and its body fell to the ground beside him.

Then, a saber-wielding figure abruptly appeared beside the Tiger Cat's corpse. Xia Zhi had arrived.

He glanced at the martial artist on the ground. His throat had already been bitten through, and he was no longer breathing, so Xia Zhi did not bother with him further.

Seeing Xia Zhi suddenly appear, Miracle Squad's captain shouted in wild delight, "Brothers, reinforcements are here! We're saved!"

When Zhang Lei and the others heard that a martial artist had come to rescue them, they were overjoyed.

But when they realized there was only one person, despair filled them once more!

This Tiger Cat pack numbered over five hundred, and its leader even possessed the strength of a High-level Beast General. Even an elite martial artist squad made entirely of Wargods would have to carefully avoid it.

"Just one person?"

"And he's so young. Does he think he's a War God?"

"Or does he think there aren't enough Tiger Cats to feed them, so he's delivering himself to their door!?"

Zhang Lei and the others cursed inwardly. Still, the man had come to save them. Just as Miracle Squad's captain was about to call out to him, he witnessed an astonishing sight.

Blood splattered as one Tiger Cat monster's head after another flew into the air. The massive corpses crashed down, quickly clogging the streets of this abandoned residential complex.

Most of these Tiger Cat monsters are Beast Soldier level. Only a small portion are Two-tailed Tiger Cats, and very few are Three-tailed Tiger Cats. There is only one Four-tailed Tiger Cat!

Xia Zhi thought to himself, The threat isn't great. I don't need throwing knives. My movement technique and saber technique alone are enough to deal with them.

Like a butterfly, he drifted effortlessly through the Tiger Cat pack's encirclement.

The charge of a monster pack was terrifying. Once knocked down by a single monster, one could easily be trampled to death by countless others!

But Xia Zhi's movement technique was exquisite to the Microscopic level. He even used the Tiger Cat corpses on the ground and the bodies of nearby running monsters to block attacks directed at him.

This kept him from being rammed while ensuring that he only had to face a small number of monsters at once.

"Roar—"

Seeing this suddenly appeared human rapidly slaughtering its subordinates, the Four-tailed Tiger Cat leader roared furiously.

The remaining Tiger Cat monsters all closed in on Xia Zhi.

The members of Miracle Squad saw that Xia Zhi was killing monsters with astonishing ease and that the movement technique he displayed was incomparably exquisite. By himself, he had drawn the attention of the vast majority of the Tiger Cats.

Just as they were marveling at this, they saw the Tiger Cat leader lead the monsters to besiege him. The captain grew anxious and raised his spear, preparing to help.

"No need to help. Leave this place first. I'll hold these beasts back for you."

Seeing the captain about to charge forward with his spear, Xia Zhi hurriedly called out to stop him.

At that moment, Xia Zhi remained completely at ease despite being besieged by monsters. From time to time, he swung his saber and cleaved a Tiger Cat to death. The Four-tailed leader attacked him several times, but each attack was evaded with exquisite footwork. It roared in mounting frustration, yet could do nothing.

The captain shouted back, "Thank you, brother! Miracle Squad will never forget this life-saving favor! Leave us your name!"

"Limitless Martial Arts School—Xia Zhi!"

As he swung his saber to kill two Beast Soldier-level Tiger Cats that leaped before him, Xia Zhi replied, "Get moving. There's no time for nonsense!"

"Brother Xia Zhi, be careful! When we return to the Base city, we'll treat you to drinks!"

Seeing that the situation of his teammates was truly critical,

the captain no longer hesitated. After rushing over to help his team kill the monsters around them, he protected them as they darted swiftly in the opposite direction from where Xia Zhi was holding back the Tiger Cats.

After the four members of Miracle Squad fled, Xia Zhi stood directly in the middle of the road and began a slaughter!

Every Tiger Cat that tried to pass him and give chase was swiftly cut down by his saber light.

The four members of Miracle Squad sprinted at top speed and soon reached the residential complex's perimeter wall.

This was already on the outskirts of City No. 012.

Once they climbed over this wall and ran a little farther, they would leave the city and enter the Wilderness Zone.

"Captain, can that badass make it out?" one team member asked as they ran.

"He should be fine. That young brother named Xia Zhi can toy with the Four-tailed Tiger Cat with his speed and strength. Even among High-level Wargods, he must be a top expert."

"Besides, his movement technique is definitely at the Microscopic level. Even if he can't kill the entire Tiger Cat pack, he can definitely escape."

"He's incredible. Holding off hundreds of Tiger Cats alone—and he doesn't even look that old. He must be a super genius at the Limitless Martial Arts School," another martial artist said.

"Yeah, a super genius..." Zhang Lei muttered.

He recalled how he and Xia Zhi had taken the martial artist practical examination together. The first time he heard the hall master say that he was inferior to Xia Zhi, he had been deeply unconvinced, thinking that he would definitely find a chance to compete with him someday.

Yet in such a short time, just as he was about to reach the Wargod level and had begun to feel somewhat proud of himself,

the person he had once regarded as a rival had already surpassed him by far, reaching a height he could not even see no matter how hard he looked up.

As he climbed over the wall, Zhang Lei could not help looking back once more.

That young martial artist held a Hexagonal Shield in one hand and a Blood Shadow Battle Saber in the other.

Like a phantom, he continuously dodged and weaved through the monster pack. His figure was graceful and unrestrained, yet terrifyingly fast.

Inside the conference room at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall Headquarters in Jiangnan Base City,

Zhuge Tao held his phone with a puzzled expression and said to President Zhou Zhengyong beside him, "The call won't go through? No one answered, and he hasn't called back either."

"Where is he now?" Zhou Zhengyong asked.

After checking the display on his phone, Zhuge Tao replied, "Inside City No. 012."

Based on a phone signal, it was easy to determine someone's location. Even ordinary phones had this function.

"I'll go directly." Ice Mountain, wearing a Golden Mask, rose and left the conference room. Returning to the rooftop landing pad, he entered his purplish-red Triangular fighter jet.

The fighter jet quickly took off, flew beyond the city's defense system, and headed outside the Base city. At supersonic speed, the several-hundred-li distance was crossed almost in an instant.

Seated inside the fighter jet, Ice Mountain looked at the bird's-eye map of City No. 012 displayed on the screen before him.

He coldly ordered, "Scan for martial artists within twenty li below. Find Xia Zhi's location."

"Scanning now. A martial artist is engaged in battle eight kilometers to the northeast. Confirmed to be Xia Zhi." An Electronic Synthesized Voice sounded.

"Go there. Project the battle footage." Ice Mountain gave another order.

"Yes."

As the light and shadows on the screen flickered, footage of the battle below appeared on the display.

"Awoo—"

The enraged Tiger Cat pack was madly charging Xia Zhi. Their sharp claws swung frantically, and many monsters even leaped directly at him, like a tide threatening to swallow him whole!

Yet no matter how crazily the monsters besieged him,

his movement technique had reached a level that could only be described as that of an artist. Every step was incomparably exquisite, and every turn and sideways shift of his body was a delight to behold.

There was also an indescribable rhythm to it.

Gradually, Xia Zhi felt that each of his movements seemed to merge with the wind in the air.

The gusts stirred up by every monster's attack allowed his body to drift with the wind.

When Ice Mountain saw Xia Zhi even close his eyes, relying solely on his senses to execute his movement technique,

and saw how the monster pack's seemingly terrifying, frenzied siege was clumsy and laughable before his footwork,

the face beneath the Golden Mask, which had always been utterly cold and indifferent, abruptly changed.

"Perfect level movement technique?"

"Oneness of Heaven and Man—the Grandmaster realm?!"

Third chapter today, haha! It's my first time posting an extra chapter. Really exhausting. These chapters are a transition, so I need to explain the causes and consequences properly. If you like the book, don't forget to save it. If you have votes, give me some encouragement; and if you can send a reward, then I'd be truly grateful, haha!