"Hey, hey, hey! Comrade soldier, aren't you abusing your authority for personal gain? Why can he leave the city while we can't?"
"Exactly! He doesn't even look as old as us. Look, he isn't even wearing combat gear. He's obviously a beginner. Why aren't you worried about him encountering danger outside the city?"
"Exactly! Why didn't you ask him for his Martial Artist Badge?"
The squad leader gave the clamoring boys and girls before him a strange look, but did not argue.
He silently took out his phone, unlocked it, opened the photo album, pulled up a picture, and held it out to them before saying:
"See for yourselves."
The group gathered around curiously. The instant they saw the photo, their eyes widened, and they cried out in shock:
"Gasp! A Shadow Cat? A mid-grade Level 1 fierce beast, a Shadow Cat? Are those Shadow Cats he's dragging behind him? Ten Shadow Cat corpses in total!!!?"
"Holy crap!! Don't tell me that handsome guy from just now killed all of them? He hunted ten Shadow Cats by himself?!"
"How is that possible? What level is he? Even those prodigies who have a chance of becoming the Xujiang City Martial Arts Exam Champion couldn't do that, right?!"
Looking at the group standing there dumbstruck and swallowing hard, the squad leader couldn't help feeling secretly delighted:
"Now you understand why I let him through, right?
"As long as any one of you can reach his level, I'll let you through unconditionally, even without a Level 1 Martial Artist Badge!"
It was still a city in ruins. Broken walls and rubble covered in moss could be seen everywhere, with the plaques of humanity's former civilization faintly visible among them.
Inside a high-rise building.
A black-haired youth with a straight posture and blade-like brows stood facing a Shadow Cat from afar. Its fur was pitch-black, and its body was larger than a Northeast tiger's.
Faced with such a huge and ferocious beast, one that radiated a terrifying aura from every inch of its body—
An ordinary person would have been scared shitless long ago.
Yet the youth remained calm.
Not only was he calm, he even took the initiative to attack. His right hand dragged the long blade across the hard floor, sending sparks flying as his entire body transformed into a swift afterimage.
He shot forward.
Clang!
In the somewhat dim light, a black blade shadow flashed past, like lightning being born in the void.
Splurt.
Amid a spray of blood, a black head with a fierce glint still shining in its eye flew into the air.
Ding! Killed a Level 1 Intermediate Fierce Beast, Shadow Cat. Vitality +0.005. Name: Li Ziyu Realm: Advanced Level 1 Combat Skills: Basic Gale Blade Technique, Basic Rampaging Bull Body Tempering Skill, Intermediate Blade Technique, Basic Movement Technique. System: Martial God System. Function: Can absorb all things to increase vitality. The remaining functions await the host's own discovery.
During his Martial Arts Association test, his vitality had already reached 5.99. After entering the city and casually killing a fierce beast, he had directly raised his realm to Advanced Level 1.
"As my level rises, the vitality gained from killing fierce beasts below my level is getting lower and lower."
"I used to gain 0.01 vitality from killing a Shadow Cat, but now it's been cut in half."
"Looks like I'll have to go deeper, farther from the city wall, and hunt higher-level fierce beasts!"
Li Ziyu packed up the Shadow Cat's corpse skillfully while frowning in thought.
He had already been in the Wilderness Area for who knew how long, and he had lost count of how many Shadow Cats he had killed.
He only knew that by the end, he could no longer carry the Shadow Cat corpses.
For the ones he had killed nearby, he had gathered all their corpses in one place, planning to hire people to transport them after he finished hunting and returned to the city.
As for the ones scattered farther away, he could only abandon them as a last resort.
Li Ziyu's heart bled at the thought. These Shadow Cat corpses were all money!
Each one was worth tens of thousands.
Still, he had gained a great deal from this trip to the Wilderness Area.
The Level 2 Rampaging Bull Body Tempering Skill he had received from the Martial Arts Association had already reached the entry level!
After reaching the entry level, the only thing he felt was that his body had become sturdier than before!
The vitality in his body seemed to have been tempered once over, becoming denser and more substantial than before!
Li Ziyu had tested it.
After completing the body-tempering method, the quality of the vitality in his body had increased by at least twenty percent!
In other words, his defense, endurance, and strength had all increased by twenty percent across the board!
Before, when facing a Shadow Cat, even while using Gale Slash, he needed two strikes to kill it.
But now, he could kill it with one strike!
Terrifying. It was truly terrifying!
No wonder combat skills were so expensive. Their effects were actually this great.
Li Ziyu thought to himself.
After resting in place for a while, Li Ziyu glanced at the sky.
The sunlight was still glaring. He took out his phone and checked the time. Although there was no signal in the Wilderness Area, the time could still be displayed.
16:00
"It's still early before I need to head down the mountain. I brought enough rations anyway, so I'll continue deeper and hunt higher-level fierce beasts!"
After choosing a direction, Li Ziyu gripped his War Blade with both hands and cautiously followed the buildings toward the depths of the wilderness.
Xujiang City, Hongsu Martial Arts Hall.
"You said you have a classmate whose vitality was only 0.8 during the test a few days ago, but whose vitality test rose directly to 5.99 today?"
In a spacious training room, Wang Dali looked in astonishment at Bai Haoran, who was hacking wildly at a target.
The last time he had encountered Bai Haoran, Bai Haoran had brought a female companion there to undergo a vitality test.
Wang Dali had merely mentioned in passing whether Bai Haoran wanted to sign up for his sprint training class.
After hearing nothing for two days, Wang Dali had nearly forgotten about it.
He had not expected Bai Haoran to suddenly come looking for him at Hongsu Martial Arts Hall today, specifically asking to enroll in his fast-track class.
This delighted him tremendously. After all, it cost one hundred thousand yuan. Even for a Peak Level 1 Martial Artist like him, that was no small sum.
Besides, there was no such thing as a fast-track class. He was merely fooling the other party for a few days, then giving him a pill that could forcibly increase vitality for a short period.
It was practically free money.
"Could you tell me more about your friend's situation in detail?"
Wang Dali spoke with a flicker in his eyes.
Whenever Bai Haoran mentioned Li Ziyu now, he became irritated, so he casually told Wang Dali everything he knew about Li Ziyu.
After Wang Dali finished listening,
he lowered his head.
His eyes flickered even faster, as if he were rapidly calculating something.
If Bai Haoran had stopped hacking, he might have been able to hear Wang Dali muttering:
"His vitality rose this much in three days. Even someone with awakened vitality talent shouldn't be able to improve so quickly."
"That kid called Li Ziyu must have encountered some fortuitous opportunity!"
After a moment, a sharp glint flashed in Wang Dali's eyes. He raised his head and said to Bai Haoran:
"I just remembered that I have something to take care of. Let's end today's training here!"
With that, he left Bai Haoran standing there in confusion, grabbed his blade, and pushed open the door before walking out of the training room.
Before you continue