Almost Got Solo Killed by a Low-Level Demonic Beast

The steel Great Wall sprawled across the wilderness like a crouching dragon, its sturdy body enclosing steel towers of varying heights and dense rows of buildings and alleyways packed together like ants in a line.

A convoy of armored vehicles, linked nose to tail, emerged through the narrow passageways of the layered checkpoints in the city wall and crawled like sesame seeds into the all-encompassing sands. Before long, they had vanished into the layers of yellow sky and barren earth.

Clatter-clatter.

The crunch of tires over sand and gravel seemed to break beside his ears. Jiang Qiu's head suddenly jolted again. Looking out through the glass window blurred yellow by sand, he saw rows of low brick buildings enter his sight. Houses crushed beneath fallen utility poles stretched along the cracked road toward the distant low-hanging clouds—Qingmu Town.

"Damn, this place looks pretty big. It used to be county-level, didn't it?"

Someone spoke up, and someone else rushed to answer, "Of course. I looked it up before coming here. Before the secret realm revival, this place had a booming economy—big shopping malls, amusement parks, even a 4A tourist attraction. The central street we're heading to was an especially prosperous area, with high-rises everywhere and commercial plazas!"

"What's there to talk about? It's still just ruins now."

Amid the noise, broken walls flashed past Jiang Qiu's eyes, leading into a long, shattered blue-gray street.

At the intersection, they watched the other armored vehicles turn and leave. After bouncing along for another ten-odd minutes, Jiang Qiu finally picked up his spear with a click and jumped out of the vehicle.

Before them, two-thirds of the buildings along the entire street had collapsed. Grass shoots pushed through chunks of concrete, evergreen vines climbed over exposed rebar and covered rooftops, while fallen leaves drifted down like yellow snow.

Rumble...

The armored vehicle left them behind. The roar of its engine faded from near to far after it rounded the corner.

"Hey, Brother Xie."

Someone suddenly called out. Jiang Qiu turned and saw Xie Kuang carrying a long spear as he strode alone into a small street piled with broken concrete. Helmet, bracers, light armor—he looked like a warrior who did as he pleased.

Several students instinctively glanced at Jiang Qiu. After hesitating for a moment, two of them said nothing, clenched their fists, and gritted their teeth as they ran after Xie Kuang.

They had insulted Jiang Qiu and Wang Guanjia quite a bit in front of Xie Kuang over the past few days. Now, just looking at them made their scalps tingle and their hearts race. Better to keep following Brother Xie.

The three vanished from sight, and the remaining fifteen all fixed their eyes on Jiang Qiu.

"The Recording Rings we were just issued before coming here should all be working properly, right? Check them now. You still have time to ask the teachers for a replacement before the operation begins." Ignoring the odd looks in their eyes, Jiang Qiu slowly raised his left hand. A touchscreen wristband was fastened around his wrist. "Can you swipe it? Does it have functions for calling for help, withdrawing, and tracking kill data?"

After feeling around for a while, everyone nodded in response.

"Remember this: calling for help sends your location to nearby students and broadcasts a distress signal. If you withdraw, a teacher will come pick you up. If you encounter a life-threatening situation, press that without hesitation. It also records the number of demonic beasts you kill. You can check that yourselves. They all support voice control."

After explaining the Recording Ring's basic functions as required, Jiang Qiu looked everyone over. Their gear varied greatly—some had light armor covering their heads and knees, while others only wore a breastplate over their chests.

"Don't split up on the first day. Stay behind me. We'll find a place to settle in temporarily."

With that, Jiang Qiu turned to leave. Just then, someone in the crowd spoke softly. "Brother Jiang... aren't we going to do anything about Xie Kuang and the others?"

"They're not under my command."

Without looking back, Jiang Qiu strode toward the distant plaza.

The scattered students were drawn along by his departing figure. The student who had spoken froze for a moment, then quickly hurried after them at the rear.

The sun gradually sank in the west. Dim rays passed through the high second-floor windows and fell across bent shelves and scattered cardboard boxes, blurring the boundary between light and shadow.

Click.

Jiang Qiu gently pushed open the rusted door, and dust rushed into his nostrils with the airflow.

"This little supermarket isn't bad. The warehouse walls can block the wind, so it won't be too cold at night."

Muttering to himself, Jiang Qiu was about to step inside when a crashing sound came from the warehouse on the other side. "A demonic beast?!"

His brows drew together. His cold spear touched the ground, and his figure flashed forward, his eyes gleaming—money had come knocking!

Bang!

"A demonic beast?!"

The moment Zhang Shan stepped into a warehouse, a black shadow the size of a tiger or leopard pounced on him and knocked him to the ground. At the critical moment, he held his spear across in front of his head, blocking the creature's bone-chilling fangs!

His pupils trembled as he finally saw what was pinning him down.

A pair of enormous black eyes. Cold gleams flashed from the scales on its smooth head. Its crocodile-like jaws seemed ready to snap in half the spear shaft in his hands, which was harder than iron!

Its hind claws had locked onto both his knees, leaving him unable to exert any strength!

At that moment, Li Si, who was closest, frowned deeply, his eyes wide with shock.

A low-level demonic beast—an Iron-Armored Lizard!

The size of a jackal or wolf, it clawed at Zhang Shan's chest armor like a rabid man-eating wolf. The piercing screech of metal scraping metal made his heart go numb, while their twisting, struggling bodies sent his spearpoint swaying wildly.

"Li Si, fucking stab it!"

The shout sent Li Si's heart racing. His teeth clenched, and he thrust with all his strength. With a dull bang, the spearpoint scraped across the Iron-Armored Lizard's back and slid away, sending up a shower of sparks.

"!!!"

The attacked Iron-Armored Lizard became even more frenzied, clawing and biting harder until Zhang Shan could barely breathe. Terror made his heart seem to stop.

The Iron-Armored Lizard really was just as they had learned in general studies class—its entire back was covered in scales like iron armor!

More and more students heard the commotion and ran over while looking in their direction, only to discover that Zhang Shan, whose overall strength was consistently among the top five, was being suppressed by an Iron-Armored Lizard—the lowest and most ordinary kind of demonic beast taught about in general studies class!

Even Wang Guanjia, who had approached with his spear raised, could not help holding his breath and furrowing his brows. A murky light shifted in his tiger-like eyes.

The Iron-Armored Lizard's back was actually the only hard part. As long as someone flipped it over and stabbed its heart, it would die. Every student present had the ability to do that.

And even against its iron-like back, anyone who had mastered thirty percent of Subtle Force could try to break through its defense directly!

But the Iron-Armored Lizard had Zhang Shan practically pinned down, clamped tightly onto the spear shaft without letting go. He couldn't shake it off either. If that full-force thrust went through, there was no telling how many would die or be injured!

"Grr—"

Zhang Shan's gums trembled as he glared furiously at the pair of pitch-black eyes pressing down on his face, his blood boiling like lava.

This beast was gripping too tightly, and its back was too hard. No one could help me now!

I have to push it away!

In that instant, the muscles in his arms erupted, rising like mountains from the earth as he shoved upward like a great wave lifting a boat, forcing away the fangs that had nearly pressed against the bridge of his nose!

Tap—

Suddenly, the creature's unexpected roll threw him off balance. His force scattered into chaos, and after being flipped several times, he still failed to push it away. His heart shook violently!

This was just the most common low-tier demon beast!

Just one fucking lizard!

Just one!

And I can't do anything to it?!

Roar after roar burst from Zhang Shan's heart, yet every surge of force was disrupted by the Iron-Armored Lizard's rolling body. He remained trapped in its rhythm from start to finish.

And only three breaths had passed since the ambush. His thigh had already been clawed bloody, scratches crisscrossed his shoulder armor, and even the spear shaft buzzed and trembled.

All the stifled fury in his chest finally had to burst from his mouth. "Back!"

Buzzz—rip! Crack!

A spear cry suddenly tore through the air. To his surprise, the force in his hands abruptly sank, then suddenly slackened. The Iron-Armored Lizard clutching him was lifted away by a single motion, and the spear shaft clenched in its jaws dropped back down.

When he blinked again, a black-clad, bright-eyed youth stood before him. The twin-curved spearhead had pierced clean through the Iron-Armored Lizard's belly. Though its body was as large as a wolf's, though it twisted like a mad beast and shrieked wildly, the upright spear remained as immovable as a mountain.

At that moment, Zhang Shan swallowed every sound in his throat and stared blankly up at Jiang Qiu, standing firm as a mountain peak. Then he heard a calm voice say, "Since it had already bitten onto the spear shaft, why didn't you just let go?"