Li Juefeng Had Arrived in Qingmu Town

"Ding."

At the same time, every student's Recording Ring in Field No. 8 gave a slight tremble. Jiang Qiu slowly raised his left wrist, and a virtual display popped up.

[System loading new student information.]

[Field No. 1: Li Juefeng]

"Li Juefeng came to Qingmu Town?"

The movement of Jiang Qiu's cheeks slowed slightly. His eyes were like black moons beneath water, a single spark of starlight flickering within.

Li Juefeng.

During the first Outstanding Student selection in their first year of high school, Jiang Qiu had not even ranked among the last 120, while Li Juefeng had beaten Wang Guanjia—who had a shot at second place—into the ground within three rounds.

While Jiang Qiu had still been laying his foundations in the Training Hall, Li Juefeng, as one of No.8 Middle School's biggest stars, had repeatedly exchanged blows with students from other Outer Cities and high-ranking cities. Among the Outstanding Students of the eight fields, he was undoubtedly the leader.

What a huge gap.

If he had heard that name during the previous two years, perhaps he would have simply heard it and moved on. It had nothing to do with him, after all. A frog in a well could gaze at the moon, but it would not chase it.

But now...

Now, he had to surpass Li Juefeng and claim "Best Performance." That rare Spear Spirit Incense had to be his.

At that thought, Jiang Qiu's lips curled up slightly before falling again, and his cheeks began moving once more.

Slaughter Practice was more than five times as efficient as those ordinary drills. And how could Qingmu Town have only ten or twenty Demon Beasts?

My Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique might even break through to the proficient level. Killing Demon Beasts will only get faster.

So what if Li Juefeng had come?

"Holy crap, Li Juefeng got to Qingmu Town this fast? We've only been ahead for one day!"

"He's always been a lone wolf. He probably won't travel with the other students from Field No. 1. Who knows if his dad secretly told him where the Demon Beast nests are? Without anyone holding him back, his kill count will definitely soar if he hunts alone!"

For a moment, the ruined restaurant buzzed with discussion. Several Outstanding Students chattered over one another. "You're underestimating his dad. Forget Demon Beast nests—he probably even knows where all the Demon Plants are."

"That's true. If he can take out Spear Spirit Incense as a reward, he'll probably quietly reveal the locations of Demon Plants too."

"You can't put it that way. Other than the Principal's grandson, isn't he openly acknowledged as the school's number one genius? If resources that good aren't given to him, who should they be given to? His dad isn't wrong for doing that. It's just that the rewards are richer than before—"

As the words grew more animated, Zhang Shan froze for a moment. He gave Jiang Qiu an awkward glance and lowered his voice. "Now that we have Brother Jiang, I don't think Li Juefeng will necessarily get the reward his dad prepared for him."

"Mm."

Jiang Qiu answered casually, wiped the greasy corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, then rose with his spear in hand. "Finish eating. This afternoon, we'll search further down that street and see if any Iron-Armored Lizards have moved their nests."

"Alright, alright, alright."

Everyone answered in unison. They quickly finished the large chunks of Beast Meat in their hands, then followed Jiang Qiu onto the road and pushed forward.

They had barely taken a few steps when a buzzing, clattering rush of footsteps crossed several streets and floors, reaching them from several hundred meters away.

It was faint, but urgent, occasionally accompanied by several muffled roars.

"Students from another field?"

Zhang Shan's thick brows twitched as he turned to look toward the end of the road.

Where broken concrete and exposed steel bars lay covered by vines and green leaves, a corner of a crossroads was revealed. Several sesame-seed-sized figures sprang into view.

"That's strange. It's only the second day. Why have students from another field run several kilometers to get here already?"

As Jiang Qiu looked over, his spear tip had already lowered to the ground. In the blink of an eye, the distance between them closed by another hundred meters. Sure enough, more than ten students dressed in black were sprinting for their lives.

Several pitch-black Black-Armored Lizards suddenly darted out from the buildings on both sides. Their tails whipped as they leaped across rubble and broken stone, then slipped back into the buildings, crawled out through windows, and raced along the walls.

Though their path was more rugged, they kept pace with the fleeing students. If the students slowed by even a few steps, the lizards would surely pounce down from the walls on both sides.

Shadowy figures filled the area—at least a dozen of them, forming a pincer attack.

Bzzzt, scratch, scratch~ Bzzzt, scratch, scratch~

The strange sound of claws scraping and biting into concrete became clearer as well.

The instant Jiang Qiu grasped the situation, his left wrist responded as if a fish drawing in water.

"Ding."

"Brother Jiang, that distress signal came from Field No. 5. The coordinates have already been locked. Should we help them?"

Zhang Shan narrowed his eyes at the Iron-Armored Lizards weaving in from both sides, his spear planted against the ground.

"Help them."

The instant those words landed, dust exploded from the road with a boom. Jiang Qiu sprang forward with his spear held diagonally, its shaft skimming the ground. His hair and the hem of his clothes flew backward, like a shark swimming upstream into a school of sardines.

There were so many Iron-Armored Lizards. They might not encounter this many even after searching all day. This was a rare opportunity.

Now that Li Juefeng had arrived in Qingmu Town, he had to work even harder to kill Demon Beasts and improve his Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique!

Tap, tap, tap.

The footsteps drew closer and closer, as did the shouts of the dozen or so students. "Brothers, help us kill a few Iron-Armored Lizards first and ease the pressure! Once the Red-Armored Great Lizard catches up, the people from our two fields can join forces and fight it together!"

"Hey! Brother, you're running too fast! Your fieldmates haven't caught up yet!"

"Fuck, it caught up—damn it!"

With a startled cry, the fleeing students braked hard and turned around. They suddenly saw one student at the rear get pounced on by an Iron-Armored Lizard. He had barely managed to roll back onto his feet when more than ten Iron-Armored Lizards leaped down from the walls on both sides, forcing them to fight.

At that moment, the bald student leading them gritted his teeth, turned around, and sent an Iron-Armored Lizard flying with an upward thrust. He threw back his head and shouted, "Take out some of them before we run to another area! These damn Iron-Armored Lizards are sticking too close!"

Before he could finish, a sudden gust swept over his bare head. His bloodstained collar pressed against his neck. In his vision, a spearhead with twin-curved blades tore through the air, and a youth in fluttering black clothes arrived on the wind.

There had been several hundred meters between them just now!

How did he leap over here?!

The bald youth's eyes widened. He suddenly felt that the young man looked familiar, as though they had met before. But with a crack, the spearhead pierced armor and shattered his train of thought.

An Iron-Armored Lizard that had pounced through the air but had not yet landed was pierced through the body and casually flung away. Then came another sweeping strike, cutting down an Iron-Armored Lizard that had chased to another student's heels.

Whoosh, thrust, crack—

He moved like a tiger and landed like a mountain. Cracks burst across the road wherever his toes touched down. With a flick of his spear tip, another Iron-Armored Lizard was separated from its head.

Within two or three breaths, he wheeled like a bolt of lightning, gripping his cold gleaming spear as he charged through the crowd. He left behind a ground full of Iron-Armored Lizard corpses and blood, as well as a group of people standing frozen in place with wide, boiling eyes. "Huh?"

Then they saw the youth gather strength at his toes and leap. The concrete road exploded beneath him, smoke and dust booming up as his black figure shot against the flow like a meteor. With a bang, he slammed into an Iron-Armored Lizard climbing a wall, and two halves of its corpse fell down.

Bang, bang, bang!

The black figure bounced back and forth between the buildings on both sides of the road. Even Iron-Armored Lizards preparing to slip into the buildings were flung back out, their heads severed from their bodies.

Ah.

The crowd standing on the road with spears in hand like wooden stakes looked up, watching that figure jerk left and right like a rooster. Their jaws dropped, and their eyes nearly popped out.

"Holy crap, Brother Jiang has almost killed them all already?"

"His leg explosive power is that strong? Could it be that making us capture them alive all this time was just training for us? He kills them so fast on his own."

The bald leader of Field No. 5 turned and saw that they were students from Field No. 8. His eyelids twitched violently as he swallowed. "Is he the chosen candidate replacing Li Juefeng this year?"

That terrifying explosive power was likely already comparable to Li Juefeng's among the eight fields!

And his spear technique was so clean and decisive. His Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique was probably already proficient!

A genius comparable to Li Juefeng!

No wonder he was the one who had made Teacher Wu Shan slam the table and rise...

Zhang Shan puffed out his chest, his thick brows lifting. "That's right. Jiang Qiu, Brother Jiang!"

Tap!

As they spoke, Jiang Qiu bent his knees and landed on the road. His puffed cheeks slowly relaxed, and he let out a long breath of hot air. "Twenty-one."

Penetrating Force worked extremely well when used on his legs too. The only issue was that continuous use made his blood boil too quickly, and his heart felt a little hot.

Transferring the method of using force from the spear to his body really did have a good effect.

Crack, crack, crack—

A harsh sound suddenly interrupted his thoughts. He turned his head to see a Red-Armored Great Lizard leap out from a narrow street ahead. Its body was like a giant crocodile, crushing several concrete bricks beneath it, while cold light flashed over its two rows of sharp teeth.

At that moment, the bald youth flicked his spear, his gaze sharpening as he blurted out, "Fuck, this Red-Armored Great Lizard knows how to circle around and cut us off. It won't let us go unless we kill it. Brother Jiang Qiu, let's join forces with both our fields. Its armor is tough. We'll hold it down, and you—"

Before he could finish, Jiang Qiu had only taken half a step when a short black shadow shot through the Red-Armored Great Lizard's ferocious head, blasting out brain matter like an Amaryllis blooming from a bullet through the skull.

As the several-hundred-pound mid-tier Demon Beast crashed to the ground, the entire scene fell silent. Only the wind blew dead leaves through the air, scattering yellow dust like snow.

Tap, tap, tap.

Unhurried footsteps drew closer from the far end of the street.