Cold Replay and True Hunt

As the voice filled with shock and self-doubt echoed softly on the silent, rocky slope, the twenty-eight members of Yellow Class Nine behind Shi Lei slowly recovered from the immense impact of the lightning-fast slaughter that could only be described as "art."

They looked at each other's faces, still young but already hardened and sharp as knives, stained by blood and killing intent. Then they looked at the seven Ironback Demonic Wolf corpses at their feet, brutally slain, unable even to let out a final cry of agony...

An indescribable complex emotion, a mixture of unfamiliarity, excitement, and fervor, instantly overwhelmed their defenses, which had been honed to the hardness of rock through over a month of hellish training, like a flood breaking through a dam!

"We... won?" "Seven Second-order Demonic Wolves... just like that... we killed them?" "I... I just personally snapped the neck of an Ironback Demonic Wolf! My god! I actually... did it!"

After a brief silence, a suppressed, overwhelming joy and excitement, like surviving a disaster, finally erupted from the hearts of these youths, whose average age was no more than sixteen or seventeen, like a volcano!

They clustered together in groups of three or five, tightly embracing each other, feeling their chests heave violently with excitement and hearing their heavy breaths, choked with emotion!

They desperately needed such a cathartic victory to prove themselves!

To prove that every drop of blood, every drop of sweat, every moment of pain and torment that would drive a normal person mad, which they had endured over the past month, was... worth it!

They were no longer the Yellow Class Nine of a month ago, the "trash" that people could bully and mock at will!

They were true warriors, capable of tearing apart their enemies' throats with their own hands!

However, just as everyone was immersed in this intoxicating joy that could overwhelm reason, a cold voice devoid of any emotion, like a basin of ice-chipped snow poured over their heads, instantly extinguished the blazing fire that had just ignited in their hearts.

"Are you happy?"

Lin Xiao's figure had appeared before them at some unknown time.

He calmly surveyed the companions in front of him, who were ecstatic over what he considered a trivial "victory." His eyes, deep as an ancient well, showed no ripples, only a bone-chilling disappointment.

"Are you proud of a 'battle' that only took ten breaths and killed seven Second-order Low-grade Demonic Beasts without a brain?"

"Is this the ridiculous, child's play attitude with which you face the hell I've prepared for you?"

Lin Xiao's voice was not loud, but every word struck the hearts of all the members of Yellow Class Nine like the heaviest war hammer!

Their faces, flushed red with joy, instantly turned as pale as paper!

Everyone froze. The smiles on their faces solidified.

An invisible chill, colder and more piercing than the frigid winds of the Black Wind Mountain Range, surged from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads!

Did... did they do something wrong? Shouldn't they be happy after winning a battle?

"It seems you still haven't clearly realized your own capabilities."

Seeing their bewildered and confused eyes, Lin Xiao slowly shook his head.

He pointed his finger at the seemingly impregnable wall of shields formed by the "Sharp Shield" squad led by Shi Lei.

"Shi Lei."

"Here!" Shi Lei's heart leaped, and he instinctively straightened his back.

"I ask you, after receiving my 'raise shield' command, how long did it take you and the four members behind you to raise your shields and form this shield wall?"

"Reporting!" Shi Lei blurted out without thinking, "It took one breath!"

A hint of pride, almost imperceptible, still lingered on his face. Forming a perfect shield wall capable of withstanding the full charge of seven Second-order Demonic Beasts within one breath! Such reaction speed and execution were probably unmatched by any other team in the entire outer court!

However, Lin Xiao's response shattered his pathetic pride!

"Wrong!"

Lin Xiao's voice suddenly rose, exploding like thunder in Shi Lei's ears!

"It took 1.2 breaths!"

"That extra 0.2 breaths is your first fatal mistake!"

"If it wasn't seven stupid Ironback Demonic Wolves charging at you today, but seven well-trained death warriors wielding armor-piercing cones! With your reaction speed, which was 0.2 breaths too slow, the ones lying on the ground now wouldn't be seven wolf corpses, but your five heads instantly pierced through!"

Boom!

Lin Xiao's words struck Shi Lei like a bolt from the blue, leaving him scorched inside and out, his mind a complete blank!

0.2 breaths... for this negligible difference in time, they... deserved to die?!

What kind of harsh, what kind of perverted requirement was this?!

However, Lin Xiao's ruthless "judgment" was far from over!

His gaze then turned to the "Fangs" and "Ghost Shadow" squads, led by Su Yue and Monkey respectively.

"Su Yue!"

"Yes!" Su Yue's heart also tightened to the point of her throat.

"Your 'Fangs' squad was responsible for assassination from the left flank. You launched a total of ten attacks, with eight successfully hitting vital points and killing in one blow."

Lin Xiao calmly stated a perfect combat record that would amaze any instructor.

However, his next words made Su Yue and the ten members behind her turn as pale as Shi Lei!

"But!"

"In those eight seemingly 'fatal' attacks, three of the blade entries had a deviation of half an inch from the most vulnerable point of the demonic wolf's throat!"

"And five of the members behind you made the same mistake!"

"Half an inch!" Lin Xiao held up a finger, his eyes as cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, "Because of this half-inch deviation, although your attacks still killed them, they were 0.5 breaths slower than the predetermined time!"

"On the battlefield, things change in an instant! That half-second is enough for a truly battle-hardened demonic beast to tear open your chest with its claws before it dies!"

"Fools! Ignorant!"

"Monkey!"

Before anyone could recover from the immense shock of his words, Lin Xiao's gaze locked onto Monkey, standing at the very back, like the sharpest falcon!

"You... your 'Ghost Shadow' squad is responsible for finishing off enemies and maintaining vigilance from the rear."

Lin Xiao's icy stare made Monkey's hair stand on end. His usually sharp face was now deathly pale, and he stammered, "We... we..."

"You performed the worst among everyone!"

Lin Xiao's voice, like a cold wind from the deepest abyss, sent a shiver through everyone present!

"As the 'Ghost Shadow,' tasked with vigilance and assassination, more than half of you failed to even perfect the most basic 'Turtle Breathing Technique' while lurking!"

"I could clearly hear your breathing, heavy and ragged with nervousness!"

"If there were a second or third wave of enemies ambushing us nearby! You useless lot would expose all our positions immediately! Sending us to a place of no return!"

The ruthless review, which could only be described as nitpicking, concluded.

The entire rocky slope fell into a deathly silence once more.

This time, there was no elation from victory, no excitement of surviving by the skin of their teeth.

There was only a chilling dread and lingering fear that penetrated their very souls!

A fine sheen of cold sweat broke out on everyone's foreheads.

Only now did they truly and clearly recognize how many potentially fatal flaws lay hidden within their seemingly "perfect" victory just moments ago!

And that man who saw all of this so clearly...

What kind of terrifying eyes did he possess?!

"Gulp."

Shi Lei swallowed hard, the first to step forward and kneel on one knee before the seven cold wolf corpses!

He slammed his heavy tower shield into the ground, his voice hoarse with shame and fear as he growled, "Chief... I... I was wrong!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

As if a domino had fallen, Su Yue, Monkey, and the remaining twenty-seven members of Yellow Class Nine, after a brief but immense soul-shaking experience, also stepped forward and knelt in unison on one knee!

"We... admit our mistakes!"

Twenty-nine hoarse cries filled with shame and lingering fear converged into a torrent of iron will and determination, echoing for a long time across the blood-stained rocky slope!

They finally understood.

Lin Xiao's requirement of them was never "victory," but... perfection!

Absolute perfection, where not even the slightest mistake was permissible!

Because only then could they, "useless" individuals who were already at a disadvantage in terms of talent, be worthy of surviving on this thorny path of strength filled with death!

Watching these "whelps" finally awakened by him, Lin Xiao's perpetually stern and cold face softened slightly.

He didn't tell them to rise. Instead, he turned and walked alone to the seven wolf corpses.

He squatted down, dipped a finger into the slightly congealed, warm wolf blood, and slowly smeared it onto his cheek.

Then, he looked up and spoke to his twenty-nine companions, still kneeling, in a tone so calm yet so intense it could drive anyone mad: "Remember the taste of failure."

"And then, completely discard your laughable 'mercy' and 'pride' that belong to the weak!"

"Because from now on..."

"Our true hunt..."

"Has only just begun!"

An hour later.

When Yellow Class Nine resumed their journey, their team's entire demeanor had undergone a seismic transformation!

If before they were like a sharp blade, still bearing traces of youth and immaturity, then now, after Lin Xiao's brutally cold soul-cleansing, they had become peerless, ferocious weapons born for slaughter!

Their gazes grew colder, their footsteps became stealthier, and their coordination became more precise and deadly!

There were no more superfluous words; only absolute obedience, like that of a perfectly calibrated machine!

Thus, like phantoms blending into the blood-red forest, they slowly advanced deeper into the Black Wind Mountain Range!

And their "prey" soon reappeared.

That was a larger patrol team composed of fifteen Ironback Demonic Wolves! Among them, there were even two elite demonic wolves that were noticeably larger than the others, their strength already reaching Middle-grade Second-order!

When this "tough nut," capable of giving any elite team from a Profound Class immense trouble, appeared before them, not only was there no fear in the eyes of all the members of Yellow Class Nine, but a hint of almost cruel bloodlust and excitement was revealed instead!

"Sharp Shield! Advance!" "Fangs! Infiltrate the left flank!" "Ghost Shadow! Encircle the right flank!"

Lin Xiao's cold and concise command was issued once more!

"Roar!"

This time, Shi Lei's reaction was more than just a little faster than last time! The moment Lin Xiao's voice fell, he and his four teammates had already roared and launched a death charge at the fifteen Ironback Demonic Wolves!

With the strength of merely five people, they stubbornly held back the frontal assault of the fifteen Ironback Demonic Wolves!

Meanwhile, the teams led by Su Yue and Monkey moved like two black scythes of death, long awaited, silently cutting into the weakest flanks of the demonic wolf pack!

"Slash!" "Slash!" "Slash!"

The battle erupted once more! And this time, the battle was even more brutal and more efficient than the last!

All the members of Yellow Class Nine had deeply imprinted Lin Xiao's cruel "teachings" from earlier into their souls!

Every block they made was executed with extreme precision! Every swing of their blades targeted only the enemy's most fatal weak points! Every stealth maneuver they performed concealed their presence to a terrifying degree, almost to the point of "nothingness"!

Finally, as the last member of the "Ghost Shadow" squad expressionlessly drew the blade in his hand from the eye socket of a Middle-grade Second-order elite demonic wolf, the encounter, which lasted only thirty breaths, concluded with Yellow Class Nine achieving a perfect record of zero casualties!

Looking at the sixteen wolf corpses littering the ground and his companions, each with faces as stern as ever, as if they had merely crushed sixteen ants, Lin Xiao's face, which had always been as cold as ten thousand years of profound ice, finally slowly curved into a smile filled with relief.

He knew. His pack, forged by his own hands from hell, had finally begun to take initial shape!

And just as they were quickly cleaning up the battlefield, on the blood-soaked rocky slope behind them, dozens of figures clad in uniform sky-blue tight-fitting clothes appeared like phantoms.

Leading them was Zhao Wuji, who had been thoroughly humiliated by Lin Xiao in the mission hall earlier! And beside him was the true number one of the outer court, whose aura was even more terrifying and domineering than his – Wu Tianxiong!

When they looked at the seven wolf corpses, all in gruesome states, even with their composure, their pupils couldn't help but shrink severely!

"Killed in one blow... all killed in one blow!"

An elite member of the "Heavenly Martial Society," after carefully examining all the wolf corpses, said with a trembling voice filled with shock and disbelief.

"And judging by the traces at the scene, the battle from start to finish definitely did not exceed twenty breaths!"

Hearing this conclusion, all the geniuses of Heaven Class present couldn't help but gasp for air!

Wiped out seven Second-order Demonic Beasts within twenty breaths?! This... even their elite team from the "Heavenly Martial Society" could absolutely not achieve such clean and swift results!

Zhao Wuji's expression became even more unsightly.

Only Wu Tianxiong slowly crouched down, dipped a finger in some dried blood, and sniffed it gently.

Immediately, a ferocious smile filled with cruelty and bloodlust appeared on his face.

"That's right..."

"It's this scent..."

"A group of cubs who, having just tasted blood, think they can challenge the majesty of a lion..."

"Ridiculous cubs!"

He slowly stood up, his sharp eyes like a falcon's gazing towards the deepest part of the Black Wind Mountain Range.

"Pass down my order!"

"All members abandon stealth!"

"It's time we let these arrogant prey feel the... "

"Fear... " from the 'hunters'!"