The Jackal Squad

Time passed.

Although Chu He had joined the Jackal Squad, Uncle Hu had only just returned, and the squad was still on leave. Chu He took the opportunity to study his family's Seven Star Blade Technique.

The Seven Star Blade Technique had been created by Chu He's grandfather, one of the Chu family's ancestors and a fallen War God. He had based it on the family's Ancient Martial Arts.

As a result, the Seven Star Blade Technique included blade techniques, movement techniques, and a Guidance Technique.

By the martial arts halls' rating system, it might not qualify as ultimate, but it would still be considered S-rank.

That was more than enough for Chu He.

When Chu Tianxiong was young, at least while Chu He's grandfather was still alive, he had been ambitious. He hadn't joined either of the Two Great Martial Arts Halls, the HR Alliance, or the Military.

So after Chu He passed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment, he hadn't joined any faction either.

During this time at home, Chu Tianxiong had been the one guiding his cultivation.

Of all of it, practicing the Guidance Technique alongside Genetic Origin Energy cultivation had produced the most obvious results.

Over the past twenty-odd days, Chu He's physical strength had improved at a noticeably faster rate.

Tian-Shu, Tian-Xuan, Tian-Ji, Tian-Quan, Yu-Heng, Kai-Yang, Yao-Guang.

Each of the seven names corresponded to a set of footwork, also known as a movement technique.

At present, Chu He had only reached the Micro Realm in these seven movement techniques.

Even that was thanks to his Spiritual Force.

As for the Seven Star Blade Technique, its forms followed a different naming system from the movement techniques.

From the first star to the seventh, they were Greedy Wolf, Giant Gate, Lu-Cun, Wen-Qu, Lian-Zhen, Wu-Qu, and Broken Army.

The Seven Kill Star belonged to the Southern Dipper Six Stars, not the Northern Dipper Seven Stars.

These seven blade forms could be combined in any order, giving a total of 5,040 sequences.

For every 720 sequences mastered, his force exertion would increase by 0.5 times.

Once he had mastered them all, his force exertion would reach 4.5 times.

After all, practicing each of the 5,040 sequences just once would take an enormous amount of time.

And to perform them skillfully, he would also need to adjust the flow of force, the way he exerted it, and much more.

It was precisely these entirely different, even completely opposite, ways of exerting force that gradually trained the deeper layers of muscle and developed multidirectional methods of channeling power.

So even with Chu Tianxiong personally teaching him, Chu He had only mastered a little over a thousand sequences by now, and his force exertion had barely reached 2.1 times.

Now, Chu He's movement was more agile, and he had much finer control over the force of his blade techniques.

"Today is October 28, the day I leave the Base City for the first time and officially begin my Knives Out operation." Chu He took a deep breath.

That was right!

Today was the day the Jackal Squad set out!

In the Martial Arts Hall, Chu He quietly began putting on his Combat Suit.

He strapped on his wrist guards and Communication Watch, then fastened five Flying Daggers and a canteen to his waist.

He pulled on his Alloy Combat Boots.

He slung on his Martial Artist Backpack, Hexagonal Shield, and Jueying Battle Blade.

"Chu He!" Uncle Hu called from outside.

"Coming!" Chu He answered, then hurried downstairs.

As soon as he reached the bottom, he saw his father, Chu Tianxiong, and his mother, Xu Qingqing, standing in the living room. His younger sister, Chu Xi, stood on the sofa, quietly looking at him too.

They knew that today Chu He was leaving the Base City and officially heading into the Wilderness Zone.

"Big brother, be careful," Xu Qingqing said, unable to hold back.

Chu Tianxiong had an arm around Xu Qingqing, lost in thought.

"Don't worry, Mom." Chu He grinned, nodded to Old Chu, then turned to look at his sister, Chu Xi.

"Big brother, you have to promise not to drink chili water when you come back this time." The little girl looked utterly serious.

"Okay, okay. No chili water!" Chu He laughed.

"And you're not allowed to make any either!" She bit her lower lip.

She didn't know why their parents were so solemn about her big brother going away this time, but instinct told her something was wrong.

Still, she didn't know what else to say.

"Fine. When I get back, I'll eat your White Rabbit Creamy Candy. Remember to save plenty for me." Chu He chuckled and ruffled his sister's hair.

"All right, Mom, Dad, I'm off. I'll be back in a few days." With that, Chu He didn't linger. He ran straight outside to meet Hu Yonghua at the villa entrance.

"Come on, Chu He. The two of us will head to the HR Alliance Mall in the city center first. After we meet up with the others, we'll set out together for the Wilderness Zone."

"Yes, Uncle Hu."

Northeast Base City was one of Huaxia Country's Six Great Base Cities. Naturally, the main urban district had an HR Alliance skyscraper of its own.

Chu He and Hu Yonghua reached Central Plaza in just a short drive.

Central Plaza lay at the foot of the skyscraper. It had the biggest and most beautiful fountain in all of Northeast Base City.

Nearly a thousand fully armed soldiers patrolled the area around the plaza, barring all outsiders from entering.

Passersby looked up as they walked by, their eyes filled with curiosity and envy.

"Beep!"

An electronic voice sounded.

At once, the soldiers on guard and on patrol stepped aside.

A military off-road vehicle marked with [HR] drove in and stopped at the entrance to the skyscraper's lobby.

Whoosh!

The doors opened, and four fully armed Warriors stepped out and headed toward the skyscraper.

"Please come in, sir." The attendants at the entrance bowed respectfully.

The four Warriors nodded in acknowledgment and walked into the skyscraper.

The lobby floor gleamed like a mirror. A huge red carpet stretched from the entrance to the far end, neatly dividing the entire lobby in two.

"Captain!" A man carrying a steel rifle hurried over to Hu Yonghua.

Behind him came a woman carrying two blades, while two other men each carried a huge metal case.

"Chu He, this is Chu Yunpeng, the Meteor Spear. You might even be related," Hu Yonghua said with a smile, pointing to the man carrying the steel rifle.

He then introduced the woman and the two burly men carrying metal cases.

The woman was named Wei Xiaoping, and she was skilled with twin blades.

The two burly men with the metal cases carried a Sniper Rifle and a heavy machine gun, respectively.

The one carrying the Sniper Rifle was named Yang Yi.

The one carrying the heavy machine gun was named Pang Song.

Heavy industry was highly developed in Northeast Base City, so heavy weapons were common.

The city was especially close to the Changbai Mountain Range, where fierce beasts were plentiful. Naturally, heavy weapons were used more often there.

Yang Yi's metal case even held a drone for scouting the surrounding area.

"Take a break and get your gear in order. We'll set off shortly."

Once everyone had introduced themselves, Hu Yonghua spoke up.

"Yes, Captain."

The five of them, Chu He included, nodded and began sorting through their gear.

A few minutes later, all six members of the Jackal Squad boarded an HR Alliance vehicle and headed straight for the train station. They took a train out of the Base City and toward the Wilderness Zone.