Rapid Growth

"You did pretty well just now." In the off-road vehicle, Hu Yonghua praised Chu He once again. "But there are still a few things you need to pay attention to."

"Still?" Chu He was taken aback.

He hadn't gotten bogged down in a fight, and he'd killed it with one strike. Wasn't that enough?

Hu Yonghua seemed to see his confusion and asked, "What, do you think you handled that as perfectly as you possibly could?"

"Exactly!" Chu He nodded. Then, without boasting, he asked directly, "Uncle Hu, what exactly did I do wrong?"

He had joined the Jackal Squad in the Wilderness Zone to make up for his lack of combat experience.

So Chu He didn't dwell on what he'd done well. Instead, he straightforwardly asked what was bothering him.

Looking at Chu He, who was so eager to learn, Hu Yonghua felt even more pleased.

"Old Chu really did a good job raising this kid! With such a clear understanding of himself... Chu He might even reach Elder Chu's level one day!"

Hu Yonghua was already an Advanced War General, but stepping into the War God realm would open up an entirely different world.

Even the unexplained death of a single War God-level expert would shake the entire Base City. The country might even take notice.

Hu Yonghua had always longed to break through and become a War God.

And now, he actually thought Chu He had a chance of reaching that level...

That was proof enough of how highly he thought of Chu He!

It also made him all the more eager to guide the young man.

"If you plan to join the Jackal Squad, then what you did just now would be good enough."

"But you're not going to."

"From what Old Chu said, you plan to become a Lone Ranger."

Hu Yonghua's expression turned serious, and his tone grew more solemn.

"In that case, your approach just now was completely wrong from the very start."

"Killing in one strike is important. But when you're alone in the wilderness, conserving your strength is even more important."

"You only swung your blade once, but think about it honestly—how much extra energy did you use?"

Hearing that, Chu He felt as if a bell had rung in his ears.

He was right!

Chu He had only struck once, but in his excitement, he'd put too much force into everything, from dodging to his final attack.

If he were a Lone Ranger, he'd probably run out of strength after killing just a few monsters.

"The best way to kill a monster is to target its weak points! You did that well."

Seeing that Chu He understood, Hu Yonghua continued explaining.

"Most beast-type monsters have weak points around the eyes, neck, and mouth, as well as their softer bellies and, uh... their hindquarters."

Chu He nodded. He knew that.

But monsters weren't stupid. They wouldn't just stand there and let him kill them.

They would protect their weak points and dodge, too. They were so fast that just hitting a vital spot was difficult enough. And now he had to conserve his strength as well...

"What are you thinking about?" Hearing Chu He's doubts, Hu Yonghua couldn't help laughing. "What you just did was pretty good, wasn't it?"

"If you don't have an opening, you can make one!"

"Like just now—you used the moment the One-horned Iron Rhino crashed into the car and lost sight of you. You aimed for its vital spot and killed it with one strike. That was well done."

"Of course, you could take it a step further and use your Movement Technique or your shield... Anything that briefly hinders a monster's movement will do—blinding it, stunning it, knocking it into the air, pinning it down, and so on."

"But that's not what I wanted to talk about. There's something more important."

"Tell me, where was your Spiritual Force?"

"Huh?" Chu He was completely baffled.

Wait!

Wasn't this supposed to be a test?

Hold on! A test?

Chu He looked at Hu Yonghua and blinked.

"Figured it out?" Hu Yonghua smiled faintly.

You brat, if you don't use your Spiritual Force, how am I supposed to explain it to them?

To be honest, when he first sent Chu He out, Hu Yonghua had expected him to simply crush the monster with his Spiritual Force.

But who could've guessed the kid would be so stubborn?

He'd just drawn his blade and gone straight for it!

That was an Advanced Beast Soldier, on the verge of breaking through to Beast General Rank.

With Chu He's current strength as an Intermediate Warrior, there was no way Hu Yonghua had been testing his close-combat skills.

So when Chu He drew his blade, Hu Yonghua's expression had immediately turned cold.

Luckily, the kid really was capable.

"Remember, learn to use your strengths," Hu Yonghua said at last. "Be as effective and efficient as possible!"

"Your Movement Technique is good, and your blade skills are good, too. But you have the huge advantage of Spiritual Force, so why keep it hidden?"

"The goal of everything you do when fighting monsters is to kill them as effectively as possible!"

"Understood." Chu He nodded.

The Jackal Squad—or rather, Hu Yonghua—was clearly serious about training Chu He.

Along the way, Hu Yonghua and Chu Yunpeng took turns stepping in.

Sometimes they let Chu He handle things on his own; other times, they took the lead and taught him through their words and actions.

They let Chu He see their combat experience for himself.

And Chu He certainly lived up to their expectations. He improved at an astonishing pace.

His ability to grasp things quickly and understand them at the slightest hint soon caught the interest of Sister Dual-Blade, Wei Xiaoping. She personally stepped in a few times to teach him.

Aside from the two who used firearms, the other three members of the Jackal Squad had all developed a teacher-student bond with Chu He.

Three days wasn't a long time, but it wasn't short, either.

During that time, Chu He gradually came to understand that fighting monsters meant making every attack and every ounce of strength count.

As a result, his attacks became more direct and efficient!

He applied the same principle to his Spiritual Force.

Simple, sharp, and decisive!

Now, when Chu He thought back to his first battle...

Even if his physical strength and speed hadn't improved at all, he could probably have taken down his former self in a single move, thanks to everything he'd learned.

Three days later.

At dawn, the six members of the Jackal Squad were making their way along a rundown section of the Ring Road.

"There are two E-Rank Golden-Eyed Jackals up ahead. Chu He, you're up," Hu Yonghua ordered.

"Yes, Captain."

Chu He grinned and ran toward the Golden-Eyed Jackals, not moving particularly fast.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

The two Golden-Eyed Jackals spotted Chu He approaching and charged with a roar.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two sharp sounds cut through the air from either side!

The fur on both Golden-Eyed Jackals stood on end.

The two Flying Daggers, moving at top speed, flashed like silver streaks through the air and appeared before the jackals' eyes in an instant.

Thwack! Thwack!

Both daggers plunged straight into their eyes.

"Kh... kh..."

The two Golden-Eyed Jackals crumpled to the ground, their claws kicking feebly a couple of times and scattering a few grains of sand.

Even as they died, their eyes still held a bloodthirsty, frenzied gleam.

At first, they hadn't taken the human before them seriously.

But in the end... they'd died in the blink of an eye.

Hu Yonghua, Chu Yunpeng, and the other members of the Jackal Squad all smiled at the sight.

Using himself as bait and setting an ambush in advance with daggers controlled by his Spiritual Force...

At least for this trip, Chu He had learned enough.

Although Chu He was only an Intermediate Warrior in terms of strength and speed, his Spiritual Force gave him a level of killing power that was no less than that of Yang Yi and Pang Song, who used firearms.

That meant the Jackal Squad had gained a few more chances of success in their bid to obtain that item.

"Not bad, Chu He! But we should head into the county town now. Golden-Eyed Jackals live in packs. The calls from those two will soon bring a whole pack of them over."

Hu Yonghua watched Chu He jog back with a smile.

After three days on the road, the six members of the Jackal Squad had finally reached their destination: County-level City 0316.