Lacking Martial Virtue

Night fell, yet even within the forest, the unique structure of Starlight Forest kept it from being truly dark.

Moreover, with this group of warriors all at least Tier 6, even light as faint as a candle flame allowed them to see clearly for a hundred meters.

Everyone gathered together. Even the distant Golden-Bearded Mastiffs sensed something amiss and barked uneasily. They wanted to leave, but the weaker young among their pack would likely all be killed by these humans. In this forest, the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs were virtually invincible, which had led to an overabundance of juveniles—now a burden that kept the pack from daring to migrate freely, forcing them to wait where they were.

A trial held once every four years—how could the chosen target possibly flee at the critical moment?

"Everyone, tonight is not only a crucial moment for our trial, but more importantly, we will accomplish a feat!"

A sword-wielding youth in a special form-fitting armor stood at the center of the crowd, delivering a speech he had prepared for a long time.

Ganlan, son of the Leiquan City Lord.

"These are Golden-Bearded Mastiffs—even Tier 9 Ferocious Beasts give them a wide berth! Two hundred of them! Aside from Super Tier experts, any person or beast would have to take a detour. But I say, today, we will slaughter every last one of these Golden-Bearded Mastiffs!"

"Slaughter them all!"

The warriors roared in response.

"Good! I won't waste words. I'll lay out the rules we must follow. Anyone who disobeys will be executed. If not today, then I will mobilize the full force of Leiquan City to hunt them down forever!" Ganlan's expression was stern, clearly no joke.

"Leiquan City?"

The crowd gasped.

The Aoyu Empire had only seven cities. Aside from the capital, Lionheart City, there were just six others, and Leiquan City was one of them. Every city had Super Tier experts stationed within, often more than one. To be hunted by Leiquan City meant that, if necessary, even Super Tier experts would act to kill the fugitive.

Everyone had to weigh the weight of those words. After all, Ganlan was the son of the Leiquan City Lord.

"No need to panic. My rules are simple. First—look at those fellows in the distance. They refuse to leave and are still hiding here, clearly intending to snatch the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs from us, or loot our prey in the chaos. So the first rule is: unite against outsiders. If they dare approach, kill them on the spot." Ganlan pointed into the distance, where another hundred or two hundred people lurked in the woods, neither joining the hunt nor leaving—obviously waiting to plunder.

"Even if Young Master Ganlan hadn't said it, we wouldn't let them steal from us."

"Right. If they dare come... kill them on the spot."

"We do the work, and they want Golden Beards without lifting a finger? Hmph, I, Thunder Hand, didn't earn my name for nothing. I'll teach them a proper lesson."

Ganlan's words immediately struck a chord with everyone.

Ganlan nodded. "Second rule—we kill the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs together. Once the pack breaks, the Golden Beards... are up to each person's own skill. If I tried to dictate distribution, no one would agree. But anyone who starts grabbing before the pack collapses will be dealt with afterward."

Everyone nodded. Over two hundred Golden-Bearded Mastiffs, each adult having only six Golden Beards—relying on distribution? Not nearly enough. Letting each person rely on their own ability was what suited everyone's wishes.

"Alright, that's all the rules. I suggest forming groups of seven or eight—more is fine too—to take on one Golden-Bearded Mastiff together. Charging in recklessly will only end in disaster. As for mounts, unless they're high-tier intermediate mounts or powerful ones like Yellow Lion Tigers, don't bring them along. Golden-Bearded Mastiffs are Tier 8 Ferocious Beasts; just their aura can make mounts unaccustomed to battle wet themselves."

The crowd laughed heartily. "Rest assured, Young Master. Everyone here knows their limits."

"Give the order, Young Master. We can't wait any longer."

Ganlan nodded and shouted, "Tier 8 Warriors, form the vanguard! One hundred and eleven Tier 8 Warriors, take on the Tier 9 Golden-Bearded Mastiffs. Everyone else, follow!"

With that, Ganlan spurred his fierce mount and charged first toward the nearby Golden-Bearded Mastiffs.

Behind him, over a hundred Tier 8 Warriors immediately followed, each clad in a Diamond-Grade Battle Suit and carrying Life Potions at their waists to quickly heal injuries.

To organize such a vanguard, Ganlan had bled quite a bit of resources.

"Young Master, do you think they'll follow the rules?"

A Tier 8 Warrior drew close to Ganlan and asked.

Ganlan said coldly, "It's just to keep things smooth. As long as there are no hiccups early on, we'll get enough Golden Beards. As for the rules? With Golden Beards right in front of them, whoever honestly follows them is a fool! But that's none of our concern. As long as they charge with me once, that's enough. If everyone acted alone, no one would kill a Golden-Bearded Mastiff easily."

The Tier 8 Warrior nodded repeatedly and retreated to his position.

It seemed that after that blow, the Young Master had truly matured.

In the distance, among the crowd.

"Chen, let's go." Guen spurred his Yellow Lion Tiger and followed, the last and strongest of the three. As for the other two, rather than let someone else benefit, they had become corpses beneath Guen's blade.

"Mm." Chen nodded and followed.

Without further exchange, Guen and the six people around him naturally drew closer. The eight of them would now take on one Golden-Bearded Mastiff together, but they were also potential rivals. Once the beast died, this fragile alliance would shatter.

"Ooo!"

At the leader's call, the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs rose one by one. Around their gathering ground, all the trees had been knocked down. Once they charged into the encampment, there would be no obstacles left—only a direct assault from the mastiffs.

Nearly two thousand people charged. The sound of mounts galloping was like war drums, igniting the blood of everyone present.

"Kill!"

The five Tier 9 Golden-Bearded Mastiff leaders led their pack members forward, though about ten adults remained behind to protect the juveniles.

"Boom!"

The two vanguards collided. The sound of flesh and bone smashing together was just as shocking. If before it was war drums, now it was thunder crashing.

"Kill!"

Guen and Chen were in the second wave and instantly charged into the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs' formation.

There were too many people!

The mastiffs couldn't scatter the formation, nor could they coordinate with each other.

The humans and Golden-Bearded Mastiffs at the rear were dumbfounded. Though they had spread out in a fan formation, the crowding of people and beasts meant that those further back, both human and Mastiff, couldn't engage the enemy.

The Golden-Bearded Mastiffs roared in fury, but among the humans, things were far less orderly.

Those at the very front collided with the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs, erupting into the fiercest fighting. Though perilous, it also offered the greatest chance and likelihood of obtaining golden whiskers.

Guen and his group followed close behind, but due to the formation, the massive Golden-Bearded Mastiffs couldn't fully spread out. Sometimes a single Mastiff had to face a pincer attack from two teams of humans.

The Golden-Bearded Mastiff roared repeatedly, tearing and biting, each time forcing back several humans, but it couldn't hold out against so many. Guarding its head meant leaving its tail exposed.

"Oww!"

The Golden-Bearded Mastiff looked down. Guen was hammering punch after punch into its belly, sending its internal organs into a spasm.

Just as it lowered its head, another warrior's sword light swept across its eye, and blood sprayed out instantly.

"Oww!"

The Golden-Bearded Mastiff let out a frustrated roar. It could drive back several humans at once, but those from other directions took the chance to strike. In no time, its body was covered in wounds. Though none were severe individually, together they were astonishing.

The Golden-Bearded Mastiff went berserk. Its remaining single eye locked onto whoever it caught, and it would fight to the death.

"Fall back, this Golden-Bearded Mastiff has gone mad."

Guen retreated in time. His mount, the Yellow Lion Tiger, had long since vanished. It wasn't his beast to begin with, and with no one to restrain it and the danger so great, it had naturally fled.

Only Chen remained safe, attacking from midair on his Unicorn, striking from above.

Suddenly, a Flying Dagger shot out, instantly slicing off six of the Golden-Bearded Mastiff's golden whiskers and drawing them back into its owner's battle suit.

At the same time, several Flying Daggers flew in from elsewhere, also returning with golden whiskers in tow.

Because they had just pulled back a bit, several people saw the daggers fly into a scar-faced man who had appeared from somewhere unknown.

An Artifact User!

Guen was both shocked and enraged.

The Scar-faced Man's surface strength was only Tier 6, but an Artifact User's true strength, until reaching Tier 9, was generally two levels higher than their warrior rank.

That meant the Scar-faced Man was a Tier 8 Artifact User.

"An Artifact User, and at this level—what is he doing here? Any Artifact User, just by revealing their identity, can directly join an official organization as a high-ranking member. Compared to warriors who pass the trial, unless there's a huge gap in strength, they're always treated as equals or better. Why?" Guen stared hard at the Scar-faced Man. For the trial, you only needed to have your strength assessed within a year and submit an application through the relevant body, so unless someone revealed themselves, others wouldn't know.

But an Artifact User who wanted to keep their background hidden and had still trained to this level—that was truly rare.

What puzzled Guen even more was that the previous Artifact User had been the same, and now this one was too.

Both wanted to participate in the trial.

"That look is really annoying," the Scar-faced Man said, sweeping his gaze over the crowd. Seeing everyone glaring at him with hatred, he made no visible move, but a Flying Dagger shot toward the group.

Guen stepped forward to meet the dagger, which caught the Scar-faced Man off guard.

Since you want to die, I'll grant your wish.

The Scar-faced Man sneered inwardly. Just as the dagger was about to collide with Guen's fist, it suddenly veered, flying toward Guen's completely unprotected face.

Guen blinked. His crude clothes suddenly extended, covering his entire body, leaving nothing exposed but his eyes.

The dagger struck Guen's face, not even leaving a white mark. His head tilted back slightly, and he continued charging at the Scar-faced Man without pause.

"How is that possible!"

Aside from Guen, only Chen in the sky, using his Diamond-Grade Unicorn's Gem Shield, blocked the attack. Everyone else was killed in an instant.

An Artifact User's hidden weapons were not only devastatingly powerful but could also change trajectory at will, making them impossible to guard against. Yet this red-haired youth had not only managed it but seemed largely unaffected.

This stunned the Scar-faced Man.

"Die!"

The Scar-faced Man's moment of hesitation gave Guen his opening.

A Tier 7 Warrior's speed was immense. The two had been dealing with the same Golden-Bearded Mastiff, barely ten meters apart. That split-second lapse let Guen close the distance. He grabbed the Scar-faced Man with one hand and slammed a fist into his face.

In his fury, the power of that punch increased by another ten percent!

The Scar-faced Man grunted.

He wore a Diamond-Grade Battle Suit, but it mainly protected the body, with only a helmet for the head. Though it had a face shield, its defense was far inferior to the rest of the suit, offering only minimal protection. The Scar-faced Man, confident as an Artifact User, hadn't bothered to lower it.

But he was also puzzled. How had Guen's face shield covered his entire face in an instant, leaving only his eyes exposed, and taken a direct hit from a Flying Dagger without any effect?

Guen didn't care. He threw punch after punch—this was his most familiar rhythm. Frenzied strikes, giving the enemy no chance to breathe.

Fast!

Heavy!

Unstoppable!

As a Fighter, crushing the enemy with the most violent means was the best way to win a fight.

The Scar-faced Man fought back with all his might. Flying Dagger after Flying Dagger struck Guen's body. Each one, even if it hit a Golden-Bearded Mastiff, would tear flesh and crack bone. But every Golden-Bearded Mastiff pack had a Tier 9 Ferocious Beast as its leader.

Golden-Bearded Mastiffs were also pack animals, packed close together. Killing one under these conditions made it nearly impossible to escape the leader's pursuit. After trying three or four times and succeeding only once, the Scar-faced Man had heard the rumors and joined Ganlan's team.

Who knew he'd run into a freak like Guen?

Blow after blow shattered his nerves.

His once-invincible Flying Dagger seemed to have become a toy, not even enough to tickle Guen.

"Clatter, clatter."

The Flying Daggers fell all over the ground. The Scar-faced Man had no breath left in him, and his entire head had turned into a mushy pulp.

Guen lifted his head. Every person and beast around him was filled with fear.