In City 1001, Shen Mu, spear in hand, moved through the ruined streets.
All kinds of unknown weeds grew along both sides of the road, some even sprouting directly from cracks in the street.
Latin lettering could still be seen on the buildings lining the street, though Shen Mu could not recognize it.
"Roar!"
"Awoo!"
In the distance, beastly roars rose and fell. Shen Mu's eyes lit up. He stepped on his shield and shot into the air, looking toward the source of the roars.
About four hundred meters away stood a dilapidated park, where two groups of monsters were confronting one another.
One group consisted of Tiger Cat Beasts, the other Wolfhound Beasts. Both had evolved from pet cats and dogs from before the Great Nirvana. At a rough count, there were more than four hundred of them.
"Six low-level General-level Beasts, and the rest are all Soldier-level Beasts. Perfect for practicing my spearwork!"
Shen Mu turned into a streak of light and charged straight at the cat and dog beast packs.
"Die!"
His pitch-black spear thrust forward, piercing through a Soldier-level Tiger Cat Beast like a bolt of lightning. At the same time, a flying knife shot out and intercepted a giant black dog beast, instantly provoking both beast packs.
"Awoo!"
"Roar!"
The two beast packs were startled by Shen Mu's appearance. But when they saw that he was alone and gave off no particularly dangerous aura, they instantly erupted into chaos.
The ground of the entire ruined park seemed to tremble faintly as countless Soldier-level Beasts pounced toward Shen Mu.
His spear swept horizontally. Every cell in Shen Mu's body seemed to boil. His strength of 11,000 kilograms rose to 13,000 kilograms under amplification, nearing the standard of an intermediate Warlord. Against a group of Soldier-level Beasts, he naturally crushed them.
Among the beast pack, the few General-level Beasts did not charge in immediately. Instead, they watched Shen Mu cautiously.
"Awoo!"
The next moment, several Warlord-level giant dog beasts lunged at Shen Mu.
Shen Mu swept his spear, and the immense force sent one of the giant dogs flying. At the same time, Shen Mu himself staggered.
The instant they saw Shen Mu reveal an opening, countless monsters lunged at him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three golden streaks shot out in an instant. The sharp Series 9 Flying Knives broke the sound barrier without making much noise, piercing through the brows of one monster after another.
Five minutes later, Shen Mu sat atop the corpse of a Tiger Cat Beast in the park, where bodies littered the ground, drinking water.
"This won't do. I can withstand a siege by Soldier-level Beasts, but against a siege of General-level Beasts, I have to use my mental power."
Shen Mu pondered slightly. It seemed that if he wanted to temper his spearwork from now on, he could only seek out Soldier-level Beast packs or challenge relatively powerful intermediate General-level Beasts.
While resting, Shen Mu controlled his flying knives to dissect and store the valuable materials from several General-level Beast corpses, then headed deeper into the wilderness.
High in the air, Shen Mu stood on his shield and looked down over the city. More than a dozen flying knives danced around him, easily shredding a flock of General-level black bird beasts as he surveyed the entire city.
A moment later, Shen Mu locked onto an Ironthorn Dragon Lizard that was feeding.
It was a giant lizard over five meters long, covered in pitch-black scales, with a row of savage bone spurs along its spine. Five of those bone spurs marked it as an intermediate General-level Beast.
The Ironthorn Dragon Lizard was an exceptionally troublesome monster. Its defense was terrifyingly high, and those of the same level could barely break through its scales unless they possessed three or four times force amplification. It was perfect for Shen Mu right now.
Shen Mu raised his right hand, and a section of wall more than two meters long slowly floated into the air before smashing down at the Ironthorn Dragon Lizard.
Boom!
The crumbling wall fell, and the entire street seemed to rumble.
"Roar!"
The Ironthorn Dragon Lizard, interrupted while feeding, let out an angry roar and immediately locked its gaze onto Shen Mu, who had already approached it.
The giant lizard, over five meters long, charged at Shen Mu like a sports car launching at full speed.
"Good!"
Shen Mu raised his spear and met it head-on, thrusting out like lightning.
Clang!
The spear struck the Ironthorn Dragon Lizard's scales and produced a series of crisp metallic clinks. The tremendous force made Shen Mu's hands go numb.
"Awoo!"
The Ironthorn Dragon Lizard's eyes immediately reddened. Shen Mu might not have been able to break through its defense, but that did not mean the blow had not hurt.
With its ferocity stirred, the Ironthorn Dragon Lizard completely fixated on Shen Mu, and its speed surged again!
Boom!
Rumble!
The spear collided with its sharp giant claws, violently shaking the ground and leaving massive craters one after another.
Shen Mu could only barely fend off the Ironthorn Dragon Lizard's attacks. Whether in strength or defense, the creature was a whole level above him.
In less than half a minute, Shen Mu was nearly unable to hold on. His entire body ached and tingled.
The next moment, the giant lizard's long tail smashed toward him. Shen Mu raised his spear to block it and was immediately sent flying backward.
The giant lizard, its eyes bloodshot, was about to follow up with a fatal blow when it discovered that Shen Mu had flown into the air, instantly leaving its attack range.
Before the giant lizard could react, two streaks of light shot straight through its eyes.
"Excellent. This is exactly the kind of opponent I need!"
Shen Mu gasped heavily. His chest heaved violently from the exertion, and his heart pounded wildly.
Unfortunately, his mental power was too strong. If he wanted to hone his spearwork, he could not choose truly powerful opponents. Without real pressure, it still did not feel quite right.
"At least it's much better than sparring at the training camp. Keep going!"
By evening, before ending his training, Shen Mu went all out and hunted five high-level General-level Beasts. Returning to the training camp, he earned 500 achievement points.
Including the other intermediate and low-level General-level Beasts, Shen Mu earned a total of 684 achievement points on his first day.
After factoring in Shen Mu's terrifying sixty-twofold combat power amplification, his single-day score exceeded 42,000 points.
Since it was only the beginning of February and everyone's points had been reset, Shen Mu immediately rose to first place on the Black Dragon Rankings, more than 30,000 points ahead of Chu Qiang in second place, shocking the entire training camp.
As a result, Shen Mu's terrifying combat power amplification was also exposed, and the relevant intelligence spread through major forces across the globe at the first opportunity.
That very day, representatives from the major forces approached Shen Mu. None of them wasted words. They went straight to the point and offered him terms, all of them astonishingly generous, with room for negotiation if he was dissatisfied.
At nine thirty that night, in a small courtyard at the Forbidden Pavilion.
Beside the stone table beneath the great locust tree, Shen Mu stood and looked at Candice in front of him.
"Thank you for your goodwill, Senior Brother Candice, and for the HR Alliance's offer. I've already chosen to join the Limit Martial Hall."
Seeing Shen Mu refuse him directly, Candice did not get angry. He kept a friendly smile on his face. "All right. Let's have a meal together sometime."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shen Mu watched Candice leave.
"It's finally over." Shen Mu dropped onto a seat beside the stone table, picked up a teacup, and drained it in one gulp.
Chu Qiang walked over then and said with a smile, "It can't be helped. Who told you to be such a hot commodity, Junior Brother? You're already being called the future number one Mentalist in the world."
Shen Mu shook his head and changed the subject. "Senior Brother, if I challenge people to duels, do you think anyone will accept?"
Chu Qiang nodded slightly. "If you challenge them as a martial artist, definitely. After all, your force output, spearwork, and movement techniques are basically at the bottom among the training camp students."
"Then that's good. I can't head out into the wilderness tomorrow anyway, so I'll challenge people to duels. I have plenty of points."
The next day, Shen Mu's second day after joining the training camp, everyone witnessed just how crazy he was.
He kept challenging people to duels, sparring as a martial artist through the virtual space, then giving away points—1,000 points per match.
After losing one match, he lost another. Countless people eagerly hoped Shen Mu would challenge them, until Shen Mu had lost all the points he earned on his first day.
On the third day, Shen Mu continued heading into the wilderness to hunt monsters.
This time was different from before. Who knew how many people in the training camp were watching Shen Mu's movements.
Then they saw Shen Mu spend the entire day seeking intermediate and high-level General-level Beasts to temper his spearwork, getting beaten down again and again, only using his mental power to turn the tables at the brink of death.
That evening, Shen Mu once again climbed to the top of the Leaderboard, then lost all his points again the next day.
Shen Mu spent the rest of February in this manner. However, beginning in the latter half of the month, his duels changed from 1,000 points per match to 100 points per match.
He still had to compete for his position on the Black Dragon Rankings. He could not lose all his points every day.
Under such conditions, Shen Mu's attainments as a martial artist improved rapidly.
In just one month, his spearwork reached the peak of specialization, while his movement technique rose from the basic level to the subtle level and stabilized there.
The last day of February, the twenty-eighth.
Inside an alloy chamber at the Forbidden Pavilion.
Shen Mu sat cross-legged. Before him floated a green crystal shaped like an egg, suspended under the control of his mental power, with fine roots winding across its surface.
The entire crystal was translucent, and green essence liquid could vaguely be seen flowing within.
Sorry, sorry. I forgot to schedule the release. Please bear with me, brothers.
Before you continue