White-Clad Rider on a Qilin

Fifth Defense Line, amid the battlefield.

Large numbers of soldiers had begun digging trenches, setting traps, and laying mines.

Martial Artists were likewise locked in battle with ferocious beasts. In fact, the A-rank Beast Tide had already begun.

Ferocious beasts were continually breaking through the Fourth Defense Line and entering the Fifth Defense Line.

"Old Zhang, it's almost done for!"

At that moment, a three-man squad was surrounding and killing an eighth-grade Sea Demon Lizard.

Under the trio's flawless coordination, the Sea Demon Lizard was about to fall.

Splat!

Old Zhang seized an opening, lunged above the Sea Demon Lizard, and brought his blade down in a savage slash.

He panted heavily. Eighth-grade ferocious beasts not only possessed formidable defenses, but their flesh and blood were also incredibly dense.

If he did not put his full strength into that strike, his blade would sink in and leave him in danger.

But just then, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.

Old Zhang and the other two felt every hair on their bodies stand on end, and they sharply turned to look.

Only then did they discover that, at some point, two ferocious beasts had appeared amid the city ruins, one before them and one behind them.

They were beasts with steel-like scales, tiger stripes, beastly claws, and fishlike bodies.

"Tiger Sharks!"

One of the Eighth-grade Martial Artists spoke in a trembling voice. Tiger Sharks were ferocious beasts whose lowest grade was seventh-grade.

Two seventh-grade Tiger Sharks were no different from a death sentence for them.

"Run! Find a way to run!"

Old Zhang's face was deathly pale, despair filling him to the brim.

Yet the two seventh-grade Tiger Sharks had already leaped into the air.

Seventh-grade ferocious beasts were simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, they had appeared above and before and behind the three men.

Their serrated fangs and blade-like claws seemed capable of chopping the three of them into countless pieces in an instant.

At that moment, the three were so consumed by despair that they had even forgotten how to resist.

Splurt! Splurt!

Yet just then, the three seemed to hear the sound of air being torn apart beside their ears.

The next instant, the two seventh-grade Tiger Sharks were forcibly cleaved in two, their blood spraying across the surroundings.

At the same time, a youth dressed in black battle attire, tall and straight, landed not far away.

The loose strands over the youth's forehead stirred in the wind as he sheathed the horizontal saber in his right hand.

"What a coincidence!"

Jiang Li turned his head. His handsome, jade-like face held deep eyes, killing intent concealed within them.

Old Zhang and the other two only barely came back to their senses. When they saw Jiang Li, it was as though they had been struck by lightning.

"Beihe City, Seventeenth High School, Class 3, Grade 3, Jiang Li."

"Remember this name, because before long, it will resound like thunder in everyone's ears."

Back then, they had thought it was merely a joke. Who could have imagined that now, on the Fifth Defense Line, there was no one who did not know Jiang Li?

With one man and one blade, he tirelessly traversed the entire battlefield, madly slaughtering ferocious beasts.

Rumor had it that in these brief three days, no fewer than a hundred ferocious beasts had died by Jiang Li's hand.

Among them were quite a few seventh-grade ferocious beasts.

Now that they had personally witnessed Jiang Li kill two seventh-grade Tiger Sharks with a single slash, they finally understood that it was no rumor.

"What a coincidence, little brother... no, Officer Jiang."

One of them gave an awkward laugh. Back on the bus, he too had not thought much of Jiang Li.

Old Zhang was even more embarrassed, but before long, an earthshaking beast roar came from afar.

Jiang Li turned and looked into the depths of the ruins. "I'm off!"

With a slight movement, he transformed into a black shadow and vanished into the ruins in the blink of an eye.

"Who would've thought that the immature boy from back then would be this terrifying? Good thing he didn't lower himself to our level back then," one man said with a bitter smile.

"He's in his final year of high school, yet he hasn't even taken the martial arts exam. Looks like Great Xia is about to produce another monster." Old Zhang's expression was complicated. He knew his intuition back then had been right.

Deep within the ruins, an enormous Tiger Shark was growling low.

In its mouth were the remains of an Eighth-grade Martial Artist. In just a few bites, it crushed them, bones and all.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, the Tiger Shark abruptly rose to its feet.

In its gaze, a figure stood silently atop the collapsed staircase, watching it.

"A sixth-grade exotic beast!?"

Jiang Li sensed the extraordinary aura within the beast, and his eyes lit up slightly.

The sixth-grade Tiger Shark let out a piercing cry, the scales on its body clattering loudly.

Its bloodthirsty eyes had already marked Jiang Li as its next meal.

Whoosh!

The sixth-grade Tiger Shark suddenly sprang forward. It was so fast that it reached Jiang Li in the blink of an eye.

Its sharp claws swept out, tearing through the air with ease.

Jiang Li stood firm. With only a ringing clang, the Black Horizontal Saber fell into his hand.

He slashed out with a single strike—the Swift Wind Thunderous Charge Saber!

Jiang Li's slash collided with the Tiger Shark, erupting in dazzling sparks and an ear-piercing screech of metal grinding against scale.

The terrifying force made even Jiang Li's arm tremble slightly.

This was the first time Jiang Li had felt pressure since entering the Donghai Battlefield.

"Worthy of a sixth-grade exotic beast!"

Yet Jiang Li revealed a faint smile, then began circulating the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art.

In an instant, Blood Qi surged forth from all six Heavenly Apertures. Jiang Li could clearly feel six streams of strength pouring into his arm.

He fiercely slashed out again, sending the sixth-grade Tiger Shark flying through the air before it crashed onto the ground in the distance.

"Perfect. You'll make fish head soup tonight!"

At that moment, endless strength surged from within Jiang Li's body. Every step he took left a clear footprint in the ground.

At the same time, atop a half-collapsed high-rise five hundred meters away.

Several figures slowly appeared. The leader was around twenty-eight or twenty-nine, with a sword at his waist. Beneath him was an exotic beast covered in scales, black as ink and shaped like a qilin.

"Commander, at such a young age, he actually managed to drive back a sixth-grade Tiger Shark. Truly unbelievable."

Someone beside him held a massive axe and grinned. "Should we take in a master like that?"

They had come after hearing the roar of an exotic beast, only to discover that someone was already fighting the sixth-grade Tiger Shark.

The white-clad youth watched Jiang Li indifferently and said, "He is indeed a genius. With merely seventh-grade strength, his power already rivals that of a Sixth-grade Martial Arts Master."

"Still, killing this sixth-grade Tiger Shark will not be so easy."

At that moment, Jiang Li had already raised his saber and was locked in battle with the sixth-grade Tiger Shark.

The sixth-grade Tiger Shark's reaction speed was astonishing. It was on an entirely different level from a seventh-grade Tiger Shark.

But Jiang Li only grew fiercer as the battle continued. Since breaking through to the seventh grade, no exotic beast had ever forced him to use his full strength.

This sixth-grade Tiger Shark before him was the perfect whetstone.

As he grew increasingly adept at wielding the strength within his body, the sixth-grade Tiger Shark was completely suppressed, left without the slightest ability to resist.

"That should be enough. Time to end this!"

Jiang Li let out a faint laugh. The next instant, a Great Sun Silhouette emerged behind him.

At that instant, his body moved like a startled swan, dancing through the ruins as the Black Horizontal Saber in his hand came down like a bolt of lightning.

Pfft!

This strike directly severed the Tiger Shark's sharp claws, then continued on to forcibly cut off its head.

After landing, Jiang Li wore a faint smile.

"I didn't even need to use my Talent Ability. It seems ordinary sixth-grade opponents are no longer a match for me."

"If I open all twelve Heavenly Apertures of the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art, perhaps I can challenge a Fifth-grade Grandmaster!"

A sharp light flickered in Jiang Li's eyes. At eighteen, possessing strength comparable to a Grandmaster—this was an unattainable miracle for any martial artist in this world.

Suddenly, Jiang Li's expression shifted. He sharply turned his head, a trace of killing intent appearing in his eyes.

"An exotic beast? No!"

Jiang Li looked over and saw the group of young men descending steadily from above.

A white-robed man riding a qilin—controlling an exotic beast!?

Jiang Li was stunned. The sight before him had clearly taken him by surprise as well.

Could it be related to a Talent Ability?

Jiang Li pondered this as the others drew near.

"What is your name?" The youth sat atop the qilin, looking down at Jiang Li from above.

Jiang Li looked at the youth, the hairs on his body faintly rising. It was because he could sense that the other party's Blood Qi Value was unfathomably deep.

Clearly, the other party was far stronger than him.

Seeing that Jiang Li did not answer, the young man did not mind. He merely raised a hand and flicked out a business card.

Jiang Li caught it and looked at the name printed on it.

"Qingyuan Mercenary Group, commander, Yang Xiansheng?" Jiang Li said mildly.

"If you want to join the mercenary group, you can contact me."

Leaving those words behind, the young man rode his qilin away.