First Battle with Monsters

After walking for half an hour, Qin Heng and the others had entered the outer mountains of the Wuping Mountain Range.

The long howls of Monsters drifted over from afar, while the surrounding forest was utterly quiet. It did not seem particularly dangerous.

But the wilderness was still the wilderness; Monsters could appear at any moment. The seven members of the team remained alert, each watching a different direction as they advanced slowly, not daring to let their guard down in the slightest.

"Brother Huang, you said earlier that you had a way to find prey. Why not show us what you can do?" Zhao Dongxing said to Huang Jiancheng.

Huang Jiancheng chuckled. "Easy, easy. An elder from the MS Group taught me this method. He said that as long as we imitate the mating calls of female beasts, plenty of male beasts will take the initiative to show themselves."

"Uh... can you actually imitate them?" Everyone wore strange expressions.

Everyone understood the natural rules of animal mating, but animal sounds were not something one could learn merely by wanting to.

Huang Jiancheng puffed out his chest and declared proudly, "This is my special skill. Watch closely!"

Then he nimbly climbed a tree, cleared his throat, raised his head, opened his mouth, and let out a series of animal cries.

"Awooo~ woof woof~"

When Qin Heng and the others heard it, strange expressions appeared on their faces.

Wasn't that just barking?

"Brother Huang, are you sure this can attract wilderness Monsters?" Zhao Dongxing was skeptical.

Huang Jiancheng did not answer. He continued making the mating calls of a canine, howling away at the top of his lungs.

Jin Wenxin explained for him. "Several decades ago, the Wuping Mountain Range was still a human settlement, with countless poultry, livestock, and pets. After the New Era arrived, humanity suffered disaster and migrated away. Those livestock and pets were left behind in the wilderness and gradually turned into Monsters. Dogs were once among the pets people loved raising most. Their numbers were huge, and their original combat strength was not bad either. After several decades of reproduction, they have now become one of the most common Monster species in the wilderness."

"So that was it." Only then did Qin Heng and the others understand the value of barking like a dog.

The Blade Tooth Hounds they had encountered on the road earlier were one kind of canine Monster.

As Huang Jiancheng's imitation spread through the forest, canine Monster cries soon rose from the distance.

"They responded!"

Overjoyed, Huang Jiancheng increased his efforts and howled at the top of his lungs.

Woof, woof!

The nearest sound seemed to be less than two hundred meters away!

"Prepare for battle!"

Jin Wenxin gripped his sword hilt.

Qin Heng and the others also became alert, slowly drawing their combat blades while trying not to make a sound.

Rustle~

The sound of feet crushing fallen leaves rapidly drew closer, accompanied by the urgent howls of a canine Monster in heat.

"It's here!"

The first Monster burst into everyone's view. It was an enormous jet-black dog, around 1.3 meters at the shoulder, with an incredibly muscular body. It rushed over in a frenzy, smashing into a tree as thick as a thigh and shattering the trunk into pieces.

"Take it down!"

Clang!

Zhao Dongxing and Qin Heng attacked almost simultaneously, each wielding a Wind Severing Blade as they slashed down at the Black Dog from opposite sides.

Jin Wenxin warned, "Be careful! It's a Giant Black Hound. Its bite force exceeds 1,500 kilograms. It's extremely dangerous!"

Before his words had even faded, Qin Heng and Zhao Dongxing had already collided with the Giant Black Hound.

The Giant Black Hound had come in search of a mate, and its actions were rushed and irrational. It had ignored the possible dangers around it.

Whoosh!

Two flashes of blade light descended, instantly leaving deep cuts across the Giant Black Hound's body.

"Awooo~"

The huge Black Dog let out a pained howl. Blood gushed out as it rolled miserably across the ground.

Instead of rejoicing, Qin Heng was startled. I used at least a thousand kilograms of force in that strike. With the sharpness of an A-Grade Alloy Wind Severing Blade, I still couldn't cut it in two?

The wounds he and Zhao Dongxing had inflicted were almost equally deep, over half a meter long and roughly seven centimeters deep.

For a Giant Black Hound of such enormous size, wounds of that depth were still not fatal.

The two swung their blades again, intending to finish it off.

However, the Giant Black Hound reacted quickly as well. After rolling twice, it immediately scrambled to its feet and lunged at Qin Heng.

"Qin Heng, watch out! This beast's muscle layer is extremely thick. It won't die that quickly!" Jin Wenxin warned again, approaching with his blade to help.

The Giant Black Hound's muscles were as hard as stone. Even its most vulnerable neck was not something an ordinary person could easily injure.

As it pounced and bit, it happened to crash into Qin Heng's descending blade.

Splat!

The Wind Severing Blade chopped down from the giant dog's snout, splitting its head vertically and sinking half a foot deep.

At the same time, that powerful pounce brought Qin Heng an immense impact. The Giant Black Hound's body knocked him to the ground.

This Monster is physically stronger than I am, Qin Heng judged inwardly.

His blade had split open the Giant Black Hound's head and become lodged in its bones, impossible to pull free.

Close-quarters combat with a Monster was extremely dangerous. Qin Heng did not want to be injured, so he decisively abandoned his blade and rolled sideways to widen the distance.

Using the momentum of rising, he drew the alloy dagger at his waist.

At that moment, Zhao Dongxing spotted an opening and rushed forward, thrusting his blade fiercely. The edge stabbed hard through the Giant Black Hound's soft abdomen.

"Whimper!"

The giant dog gave a pained whine. Its mouth was pinned by the combat blade, leaving it unable even to cry out loudly.

Zhao Dongxing's blade had pierced the Giant Black Hound's heart, severing its life force in one stroke.

The huge dog rolled about the ground in agony, its struggles visibly weakening. Blood soaked the dead branches and fallen leaves, and it soon stopped moving.

"Good coordination."

Jin Wenxin gave the two a thumbs-up in praise.

To swiftly kill an Elementary Monster with decent strength in their first battle, without either of them getting hurt, was already considered outstanding among Quasi-Martial Warriors.

Qin Heng pulled out his combat blade, cut off the Giant Black Hound's left Beast Ear, and tossed it to Zhao Dongxing. "Senior Brother Zhao, you delivered the fatal blow. This belongs to you."

Zhao Dongxing tossed it back. "You created the chance for the killing blow. It should belong to you."

"Heh? You two are getting polite now?"

Huang Jiancheng teased from the tree, "Just don't give it to me. I still want to finish my assessment mission quickly."

With victory in their first battle, everyone was in quite a good mood.

Qin Heng smiled. "Sure. We're teammates anyway. In the end, we have to complete it together."

Jin Wenxin said, "Enough, enough. Put it away first. It sounds like more Monsters are coming."

The sounds of Monsters running came from afar once more. The battle was not over yet.

"Mm." Qin Heng's expression turned serious again. He opened his backpack, took out a sealable bag, and packed away the bloodstained Beast Ear.

Just as he put the Beast Ear into his backpack, his companions caught sight of the second beast.

No, to be precise, there was more than one!

Wu Ruijie, another Heavenly Dao Martial Hall student whose strength was about equal to Zhao Dongxing's, pointed toward a nearby hollow. "There's one over there, another beneath the bushes behind it, and one below the slope too! These numbers aren't right!"

Huang Jiancheng, perched in the tree with a better view, also spotted the Monsters' traces. "There are three on the southern slope, two in the bushes on the East Side, plus the north... at least seven or eight in total!"

There were more Monsters than they had expected. Perhaps because canine Monsters possessed keen senses of smell, the bloody scent here had already put them on alert. They were no longer rushing over in search of a female dog, but advancing slowly and warily instead.

This formation clearly meant they had figured out what Qin Heng's team was here for and wanted to join forces to avenge the Giant Black Hound!