Hidden Force

Late at night, battles between Monsters and Quasi-Warriors continued throughout Monster Town. Beast roars and the sounds of combat kept the entire town alive with noise.

Qin Hao walked through the town, constantly searching for his targets. From the eastern side of town to the west, he had already killed more than fifty Monsters. His Backpack was filled with Monster left ears. Yet there was not a trace of blood on him; instead, the saber in his hand had been dyed red with blood.

Along the way, Monsters such as Shadow Cats, Iron-Haired Wild Boars, and Tiger Mastiffs had all fallen to Qin Hao's hunt. Most of them were Beginner Warrior level, with only a few at the Intermediate Warrior level. Qin Hao had encountered only one or two of those, and they had been sent on their way with a single slash.

"This is getting a little boring." After Qin Hao had adapted to the bloodiness of killing, these effortless battles began to feel dull. After all, only real combat could bring excitement and the drive to grow stronger. Hunting weaklings like this was nothing more than meaningless slaughter.

Reaching the edge of Monster Town, Qin Hao sheathed his saber with a clang. He no longer intended to keep hunting and prepared to finish the assessment early.

"What immature methods."

"Watching them reminds me of when we were young."

"Yeah. Most of them are in their twenties, at their most inexperienced stage."

Inside a large building beside Monster Town, countless screens displayed everything happening in different areas of the town. In one room, two middle-aged men chatted continuously.

"Old Wang, in the blink of an eye, we brothers have grown old. Back then, we were rising stars in Jiangnan City too. Now you're already a supervisor at the Lightning Martial Arts Center."

"Iron Monkey, haven't you made it to major general too?"

"Mm, Old Wang, look. There's something unusual at the edge of Monster Town."

"Lock onto Camera 36. Adjust the angle."

"That's a Four-Tailed Cat Demon. Why is it here? How did the people below handle the cleanup?"

"Notify the Garrison Army to move immediately and intercept the Four-Tailed Cat Demon. We must stop it before it enters the town." The major general surnamed Wang rapidly issued orders upon seeing the Four-Tailed Cat Demon.

A Beginner War General level Four-Tailed Cat Demon could easily crush even a Beginner War General. If it entered Monster Town, it would be a massacre for the Quasi-Warriors. Of the more than sixteen hundred Quasi-Warriors in the entire town, only a handful would survive.

At the same time, the figure of a youth appeared on the camera at the Four-Tailed Cat Demon's location. He had run into it.

"This is bad, Old Wang. A Quasi-Warrior has encountered the Four-Tailed Cat Demon. It's that Quasi-Warrior specially recruited by the Limitless Martial Arts Center."

"Get the car ready. We're going to support him. I hope he can hold out a little longer."

Just as the two prepared to provide support, the youth on the screen had already begun fighting the Four-Tailed Cat Demon. That youth was Qin Hao.

He had originally planned to end the tedious slaughter and wait for dawn, when the Combat Assessment would be over. Yet just as he reached the edge of town and was about to return, he spotted a Monster figure in the distance rapidly charging toward him.

With his sharp senses, Qin Hao quickly determined that the creature approaching him was a Four-Tailed Cat Demon.

"Four-Tailed Cat Demon, Beginner War General level. Extremely resilient, incredibly fast, a natural assassin among Monsters. Even an Intermediate War General might be killed by it in the darkness of night." The information on the Four-Tailed Cat Demon swiftly surfaced in Qin Hao's mind. At the same time, he steadied himself and drew his saber once more.

"This assessment is finally getting interesting." With a slight curl of his lips, Qin Hao vanished from where he stood and charged straight at the Four-Tailed Cat Demon. This was Qin Hao's first battle against an evenly matched opponent, and from the very beginning, he held nothing back.

"Die, beast!" Qin Hao growled.

His body flashed like lightning as he collided with the Four-Tailed Cat Demon. His saber turned into a streak of white light and slashed toward its neck.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Before Qin Hao's saber could touch the Four-Tailed Cat Demon, four black shadows shot toward his head.

So fast! Qin Hao was startled, but his feet did not hesitate in the slightest. He exerted force and rapidly shifted his body, dodging the four black shadows. Only then did Qin Hao see clearly that they were the Four-Tailed Cat Demon's four tails.

Each of the four tails was like a steel whip. After Qin Hao dodged them, they smashed into the ground, shattering the surrounding concrete slabs into pieces.

"Damn, this Four-Tailed Cat Demon is a real freak. Its strength and speed are both this powerful." Though Qin Hao was shocked after dodging its attack, he quickly adjusted himself. His entire body grew excited.

The saber in his hand became fiercer, and his body moved faster. For a time, he and the Four-Tailed Cat Demon became locked in fierce combat. One possessed immense strength and speed; the other had mastered the Microscopic Movement Technique and Saber Technique. Neither side gained the slightest advantage.

"Old Wang, it looks like we won't need to go after all." In the command room, the tense atmosphere quickly eased as they watched Qin Hao fight the Four-Tailed Cat Demon on the screen.

"The Limitless Martial Arts Center has gotten another bargain. Why do all the geniuses end up there?"

"It's too early to say he belongs to them. Even if he joined them first, we still have a chance. Isn't it just money and resources? We're not lacking either." With that, he left the command room.

As Qin Hao fought the Four-Tailed Cat Demon, he gradually became more relaxed. His Movement Technique became more natural in actual combat. Each evasive motion grew simpler, his control more precise. The saber in his hand became faster, and his entire body grew increasingly excited. Since beginning his extreme training in April, Qin Hao had constantly pushed his potential to the limit, continuously increasing the pressure on himself so that he could grow faster.

However, no matter how great the pressure was, a safe environment could not meet Qin Hao's needs. Since breaking through his limits for the first time, even three months of intense training had been unable to bring him back to that state of surpassing his limits.

Now, his battle with the Four-Tailed Cat Demon allowed him to feel that state again. His mind was intensely focused, his strength intensely concentrated. Qin Hao felt his entire body becoming exhilarated, his thoughts racing faster. In this moment, his understanding of Internal Martial Arts and National Martial Arts from the past two months continuously converged, and the strength throughout his body became more concentrated.

"Manifest Force is the gathering of one's entire strength. It is Hard Force, but hardness cannot last. Hidden Force is turning that Hard Force into something soft and flexible, striking out while remaining gathered and unscattered, penetrating through the body." As Qin Hao pondered, the saber in his hand became increasingly unpredictable. Its force constantly shifted—sometimes powerful, sometimes soft, elusive and uncertain.

"Pfft."

Suddenly, a faint sound of something breaking rang out. The saber in Qin Hao's hand abruptly accelerated, becoming erratic and elusive. Before the Four-Tailed Cat Demon's incredulous eyes, it traced a bizarre path in an instant and sliced open its throat.

"This is the power of Hidden Force?"