Midnight Hunt

Shu Hongjing froze, then said with a strange expression, "If he's Gilded Blade's son, then there's no mistake. That kid didn't lie to you. He really is a genius. I heard his Movement Technique has even reached the Micro-level."

Shu Yi asked with concern, "What happened to him some time ago?"

"There was some trouble a while back. It was an old generation's grudge, nothing to do with you young people. Gilded Blade has already dealt with it."

As if he had thought of something, Shu Hongjing asked eagerly, "What Secret Manual is that kid cultivating?"

Shu Yi answered directly, "He cultivates Gale Sword Master." She knew about this. Back at Thunderclap Martial Arts School, someone had guessed what Secret Manual Ning Ze had been cultivating.

"Gale Sword Master? Are you sure he said he mastered the First Layer?" Shu Hongjing leaned forward excitedly, as though he were about to lie across the table.

Shu Yi did not understand why her grandfather was so excited. Non-warriors could not even log into the Warrior Forum, but she still answered seriously, "It's definitely Gale Sword Master."

"Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

Shu Hongjing laughed heartily.

"Grandpa, what's wrong? Is he really that impressive?" Shu Yi asked curiously.

"Impressive?" Shu Hongjing shook his head with a smile. "He's far more than impressive. Being able to master the First Layer of a top-tier Secret Manual makes one a rarity among ten thousand. If the time limit is reduced to two months, I'd estimate that Yangzhou District—or even Jiangnan Base City—would only produce one or two such people a year!"

"If what he said is true..."

"What?" Shu Yi widened her large, adorable eyes as she waited for him to continue.

Shu Hongjing teased, "If what he said is true, then hurry up and marry him!"

"Grandpa!" Shu Yi cried coyly, twisting shyly. She was still in school. Though many of her classmates were already married and she often fantasized about marriage herself, she had never considered getting married so early.

Shu Hongjing said with a serious expression, "Grandpa isn't forcing you. I'm just reminding you. If he truly has that kind of talent, you need to hold on tight. It's fine while he hasn't displayed it yet, but once people discover his talent, every rich young lady will flock to him. By then, that young man might not be able to resist temptation... If you regret it then, it'll be too late. Crying to Grandpa won't help."

"How dare he!" Shu Yi snapped anxiously, biting her crimson lip. Her eyes held a thoughtful look, along with a strong trace of jealousy.

Shu Hongjing smiled without speaking. He did not know how much Ning Ze liked Shu Yi, but he could tell that his granddaughter truly liked that kid.

The room fell silent.

After fantasizing alone about marriage for a while, Shu Yi came back to her senses.

When she looked up, she saw a face full of amusement.

Shu Yi's face, which had just returned to normal, flushed crimson again. She said softly, "Grandpa, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Grandpa was wondering whether you would kick me out if this weren't my room," Shu Hongjing joked.

"Why would I kick you out?" Shu Yi stubbornly refused to admit it, though she looked utterly restless.

Shu Hongjing said with a smile, "If you want to contact him, then contact him. In the Wilderness Area, communicators are kept on silent mode anyway. You don't have to wait for that exact time. If he has time, he'll reply."

After what had happened at home, Shu Yi truly wanted to seek some comfort from Ning Ze. But after considering the time, she said disappointedly, "He always replies to my messages after waking up early in the morning."

Shu Hongjing was slightly puzzled. "Early in the morning, after waking up? Shouldn't that be when they're preparing to hunt monsters? Isn't it at night?"

Shu Yi frowned slightly. "They did contact each other at night before, but this time, when he went to the Wilderness Area, he said he had to hunt monsters at night."

Shu Hongjing's expression changed drastically. Seeing his granddaughter about to raise her head, he quickly controlled his expression and returned to calmness. Pretending to ponder, he said, "It may be related to the monsters they're hunting. Some teams hunt monsters at night too."

As he said this, he silently added in his heart, Warrior squads made entirely of Warlord-level experts all like hunting monsters at night. The predators among Beast Warlord-level monsters are active then, and any monster daring to come out at night is valuable. Of course, that's only if you have the strength to kill them.

Shu Yi still sent Ning Ze a message in the end. Then grandfather and granddaughter chatted idly, a sentence here and there.

Tonight.

The Wilderness Area was especially quiet.

Through the shattered window frame, the moon peeked into the room. Under the silvery moonlight, five vague figures could barely be seen. Some sat cross-legged, while others lay flat on the ground. What they had in common was the dark red bloodstains smeared across their faces and bodies.

The roars of nearby monsters had disappeared. There was not even the chirping of insects. Only faint, intermittent wails could be heard in the distance—some strange, some shrill, some low.

"Creak—"

The slanted broken window frame swayed constantly, and a figure darted inside while it was not paying attention.

"You're back?"

At the greeting, everyone sleeping in the room woke up.

Under the moonlight, pairs of black-and-white eyes were especially clear as they all looked toward the center of the room.

A young man stood there, about 1.8 meters tall. Because his back was to the moonlight, his face could not be seen clearly. Behind him, illuminated by the moonlight, was a field of vivid red. Liquid seemed to be faintly flowing through it like throbbing blood vessels.

He stood proudly, with a silver-white longsword full of chips planted at his side. The grim aura around him made even the air in the room seem heavy.

"Drip!"

"Drip!"

As the terrifying sound rang out, a foul stench spread through the room.

"Uncle Zuo, I think we should change locations tomorrow. There are fewer monsters around here."

"If we stay any longer, a Lord-level monster may discover us. Once it notices that its subordinates are growing fewer, it will definitely hunt us down."

Zuo Xingyuan sat up helplessly, moving as though someone had dragged him upright.

The corner of his mouth twitched violently. He did not want to change locations. He wanted to return to Base City!

But how could he admit defeat in front of a junior?

He could only reason with them. "We've been out for half a month, and everyone is tired. Your Uncle Yang is probably running low on bullets too."

Yang Chao hurriedly said, "Right, right, right! I'm almost out of bullets. At most, I can fight one more battle before reaching the danger line. Once we run out of ammunition, it'll be dangerous."

The past few days had nearly killed them. During the day, they seemed to transform into demons, their eyes turning red whenever they saw Beast Warlord-level monsters.

Killing monsters itself was not a big deal, but the frequency was too high. They had followed Ning Ze and charged forward nonstop!

All day long, they were either fighting or on their way to fight. No one could endure such a life for more than ten days straight! It was simply too grueling!

"Thud!"

Something heavy hit the ground.

In the moonlight, Zhang Chen and the others watched a bulging backpack fall onto the floor. Two long fangs protruded from the zipper, their white surfaces reflecting a faint glow beneath the moonlight.

Setting aside the strange lighting, the fangs alone were astonishingly long. The entire backpack was over forty centimeters tall, yet the fangs extended another twenty centimeters beyond it. That meant the fangs alone were over sixty centimeters long—more than half a meter.

These were clearly the fangs of a ferocious beast. Combined with their dangerous curve, they did not seem to belong to a long-toothed monster, but rather a tiger-type monster. A monster with such long fangs had to possess an enormous body.

Everyone knew that the larger a monster was, the stronger it would be. Therefore, this monster was at least an Advanced monster.

Xu Liang looked over blankly. Was Ning Ze showing off the monster he had hunted?

That could not be right. Hadn't this kid brought back this kind of haul every day?

On the first day, he had brought back fresh materials from an Advanced Beast Warlord-level monster. Otherwise, why would they have followed this kid into madness?

Ning Ze said with a hint of apology, "I'll have to trouble all of you uncles to endure for another two days. I can go out on my own. Tonight's harvest was decent: two Advanced Beast Warlord-level monsters, a Netherworld White Tiger and a Cloud Patterned Black Panther, along with two Intermediate Beast General-level monsters, a Blazing Red Fox and a Heavy Armor Violent Bear. I don't need eighty percent. Sixty percent will be enough. The other twenty percent can count as compensation for all your hard work."

According to Warrior Squad rules, a monster killed entirely by one person allowed that person to claim eighty percent of the value of its materials.

Those who served as the main force in killing a monster could claim sixty percent of the material value.

The prices of Beginner Beast General-level to Advanced Beast General-level monsters ranged from 10 million Huaxia Coin to 50 million Huaxia Coin.

Advanced Beast General-level monsters were worth between 50 million and 500 million Huaxia Coin.

Because monsters active at night were fiercer and stronger, they were also more valuable. The materials from these four monsters were worth at least as much as those from ten Intermediate Beast General-level monsters, totaling 300 million!

Twenty percent was equivalent to the average value of two Intermediate Beast General-level monsters, at least more than 60 million.

Even the Warfire Squad did not have such high hunting efficiency. Let alone receiving it for free.

Perhaps only Zuo Xingyuan and Ma Yu, who had originally been Warlords, were losing out slightly. They usually contributed more, so they received more.

"Kid, what do you mean by this? Since it's the rule, we follow it! Do you think us uncles would take your money for nothing?"

Zuo Xingyuan felt that he could not save face. Taking money without contributing anything, and taking it from a junior at that—if word got out, how could he show his face again?

Of course, he was even more exhausted.

He faintly—no, very clearly—felt that he could no longer keep up with Ning Ze.

Ning Ze could run around on his own over there. Instead, they were the ones holding him back.

Now, he somewhat missed the early days with Ning Ze. Back then, the brothers could put on an act together, and he could still assume the posture of an elder and lecture him. How nice that had been~

"Don't misunderstand. I didn't mean that."

Ning Ze quickly explained, "I just saw that all of you uncles were working hard waiting for me, so I wanted to show some filial respect. If you don't want it, then forget it. We'll follow the rules."

After all, other warriors could not fight continuously like him. They generally needed to rest after an intense battle, then they had to search for Beast Warlord-level monsters again. Since it was daytime, their monster-killing efficiency was very low.

He was different.

Even if he was surrounded by a monster horde, it did not matter. Only a few monsters around him could actually fight him.

And those subordinate monsters only had Warrior Level strength. They could not threaten him at all. He could fight if he wanted to, flee if he wanted to, cut through ten thousand monsters, and take a Beast Warlord's head with ease.

Many monsters active at night were solitary, and some even delivered themselves to his door. That was why his gains were so high.

"I think you're more like a monster. You don't even seem to get tired."

Xu Liang muttered. Sourly, he said, "Only four today? Your efficiency's slipping. You had eight yesterday!"

"I also killed five Beginner Beast General-level monsters on the way. Just some cat monsters and dog monsters, not worth much," Ning Ze said casually.

Xu Liang opened his mouth but could not say anything.

Five Beginner Beast General-level monsters would still be worth 60 million Huaxia Coin even at low prices. They were not even worthy of being counted? Then again, hadn't Ning Ze just been planning to give them 60 million?

Ma Yu said calmly, "Since you're back, get some rest. We'll change locations tomorrow."

It was not that he was naturally calm. Over the past few days, they had been shocked numb.

The first time Ning Ze wanted to act alone, everyone had been worried. But they could not persuade him otherwise, so they could only let him hunt nearby, at least so they could provide support.

But later, the sounds around them gradually disappeared. They could only use the communicator to confirm that he was still alive. Ning Ze even kept the line connected during battle, making their hearts pound with fear.

As for now, who knew where that kid went to hunt monsters in the middle of the night?

He brought back materials from Advanced Beast Warlords every day. Perhaps Ma Yu would only be surprised if Ning Ze one day returned with materials from a Lord-level monster.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

The floor creaked.

Ning Ze walked over and sat beside Xu Liang.

"Kid, cultivation cannot be rushed. Your Combat Suit may not be damaged, but your longsword can no longer support prolonged combat," Ma Yu advised earnestly.

Ning Ze's Combat Suit and Light Swan Sword were both D5-grade. By the standard ranking, their toughness corresponded to a warrior's fifth level: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Warrior; then Beginner and Intermediate Warlord.

Now, all his prey were Advanced Beast Warlords. It was perfectly normal for the longsword to be damaged or even broken.

Ning Ze fell silent for a moment before replying, "Don't worry. There's no problem with my cultivation. I've just encountered a hurdle. I may need another two days of cultivation to get past it. Once I return, cultivation will slow down, which may affect my progress."

"Good. As long as you know what you're doing." Ma Yu did not say more. The other party was a genius with such formidable strength. There was no longer anything he needed to teach him.

Ning Ze nodded and said nothing more.

He silently opened the System Panel.

Host: Ning Ze

Realm: Beginner Warlord 8139kg; Mental Power Master 2782kg

Cultivation Skills: Gene Energy Cultivation Method "Five Hearts Facing Heaven Style"; Guidance Technique "Seven Spiritual Wind Arts"; Meditation Technique "One Sword Sealing Heaven"

Combat Skills: "Swift Steps" Micro-level 9683/10000; "Gale Sword Master" Perfection Realm 1832/100000

After half a month of cultivation, his physical fitness had improved as though flying, successfully reaching the Warlord standard.

His Gale Sword Master had now reached the Perfection Realm, allowing him to generate force five times over.

At full burst, that meant 40,000 kilograms of power, already reaching the threshold of a High-level Warlord.

The consequence of such terrifying strength was that his Movement Technique progress had become extremely slow, even a third slower than before. It was only slightly faster than training at home.

As for the reason...

Ning Ze had his own speculation. Perhaps it was because of the System's logic.

Just like the changes to cultivation skills, the replacement of combat skills, and even the Meditation Technique he had created. The System Panel only changed after he had made subjective changes.

The increase in strength, or rather the perfection of his genes and the increase in Gene Energy, were all related to his body.

He was indeed very strong after generating force, but his body's ability to withstand it had not improved much.

For every action, there was an equal reaction. When fighting monsters intensely, the pressure on his body was always there, stimulating his life potential.

Moreover, the stronger the monster he fought and the greater the force multiplier he used, the stronger the stimulation. The faster his strength would improve.

But his Movement Technique...

When fighting Beginner Beast Generals and Intermediate Beast Generals—

In his subconscious, as long as he generated force, his speed could rise to the High-level Warlord level. With the assistance of Mental Power, he could easily dodge monster attacks.

Such evasions were normal dodges in his mind. They provided little stimulation to his perception, did not create much mental pressure, and did not awaken a strong latent desire to evade. The growth rate of his proficiency was only a little more than half that of his Sword Art proficiency.

However, fighting High-level Beast Generals was extremely dangerous, so he had to kill them quickly.

After all, he only had the body of a Beginner Warlord, and his Combat Suit was only D5-grade, capable of defending against Intermediate Beast General attacks. If he took a hit from an Advanced Beast General, he would definitely be severely injured. At such times, his improvement speed was much faster—roughly twice what it was at home.

This was the reason he had guessed, as well as a speculation about the System's rules.

Now, his Micro-level Swift Steps stood at 9683/10000. He only needed 317 more proficiency points to advance.

When his Movement Technique had reached the Micro-level before, his perception and body control had undergone a marvelous change.

He wanted to cultivate his Movement Technique to the Perfect Level, then experience it in battle in the Wilderness Area.

At his current cultivation speed, he would probably level up in two days.