Duoniya's first battle ended quickly. Although the Iron-furred Wild Boar had managed to put her in a rather sorry state, she had ultimately succeeded in killing it.
The group continued on their way. As they walked, Xing Huaiguo offered his assessment:
"Your fundamentals are fairly solid, but you're too slow at killing monsters. You should aim your sword at a monster's weak points instead of stabbing wildly."
"B-but I can't reach its weak points!" Duoniya said, feeling a little aggrieved.
"If there's no opportunity, create one," Xing Huaiguo said gravely. "There's an F-class One-horned Wild Boar up ahead. I'll match its physical abilities with those of an Advanced Warrior. Watch closely and pay attention to how I kill it."
Xing Huaiguo ran toward the One-horned Wild Boar at a speed that was only about that of an Intermediate Warrior.
The One-horned Wild Boar let out a series of roars, its eyes sweeping over its surroundings. The moment it spotted Xing Huaiguo, it charged straight at him.
Xing Huaiguo maintained his Intermediate Warrior speed. When the One-horned Wild Boar was only about four meters away, he suddenly stamped his foot, and his speed instantly shot up to that of an Advanced Warrior.
With an effortless sidestep, he dodged the One-horned Wild Boar's charge. At the same time, as they passed each other, Xing Huaiguo's sword flashed out, piercing the vital point in the boar's neck before he pulled it free in an instant.
Xing Huaiguo ran a few steps forward with the momentum, while the One-horned Wild Boar continued charging for more than ten meters before crashing to the ground.
Su You and the others were all a little stunned. Compared to how Duoniya had struggled to kill the Iron-furred Wild Boar, Xing Huaiguo's kill had seemed far too easy.
Sidestep, thrust, withdraw. Three simple moves, and the kill was done.
Xing Huaiguo came back and said gravely:
"In a fight to the death, physical ability isn't all that matters. You also have to use your brains. Make use of your strengths, and kill monsters in the most effective, straightforward way. All of you should think about that."
"Yes," Su You and the other five answered in unison.
For the rest of the journey, Xing Huaiguo no longer fought personally. Instead, he had Su You and the others take turns.
After every battle, Xing Huaiguo gave them an assessment, pointing out their shortcomings and offering advice on how to improve.
Under these conditions, the six of them made astonishing progress. In just two days, each of them could easily handle being attacked by two monsters of the same level.
As for Su You, his best performance had been taking on five F-class Tiger Mastiff Beasts at once. But that hadn't been his limit. They had been near a highway in the wilderness, and those five F-class Tiger Mastiff Beasts had simply been the largest group they'd encountered.
After more than two days on the road, Su You and the others finally reached the outskirts of City 0125.
The distribution of monsters in cities differed greatly from that in the wilderness. The reason was humanity.
Monsters in the wilderness were generally scattered, because if they gathered in one place, they could easily be attacked from a distance with human heavy weapons.
In cities, however, monsters hid in densely built-up areas. Some even made their lairs in the basements of buildings that had once belonged to humans. As a result, their numbers were much denser than in the wilderness.
Su You and the others crept carefully through a narrow alley. Xing Huaiguo, walking beside them, was more relaxed. He smiled at the group and said:
"We've entered the city. Next, I'm going to teach you how to hunt monsters here. The first thing we need to do is choose a place to rest."
Following Xing Huaiguo's instructions, the group arrived at a thirty-story apartment building. According to Xing Huaiguo, being high up let them see more monsters and keep track of their movements, so they could react in time.
"Let's start climbing. We'll go straight to the top floor. Don't make too much noise; there are usually monsters in apartment buildings too."
Xing Huaiguo gave them a reminder. The other six nodded and started climbing the stairs.
"Meow—" Just as Su You and the others reached the fifth floor, they heard a cat's cry.
Su You was in the lead. He listened carefully, then lowered his voice. "Be careful. It's upstairs. I'll go first; follow me."
With that, Su You quietly crept up the stairs. The others followed just as silently.
As he rounded the stairwell, Su You immediately spotted a monster about two meters tall, its fur mottled all over. It had its back to them.
A Spotted Cat. Judging by its size, it should be an F-class monster. Su You kept moving, cautiously approaching it.
But the Spotted Cat's hearing was excellent too. When Su You was still more than ten meters away, it seemed to sense something.
Not good. Su You changed his steps and used Lingbo Microsteps. Each step seemed to carry him diagonally, yet his speed only increased. In almost an instant, he was behind the Spotted Cat. Secret Technique—Thousand Years of Death!
Before the Spotted Cat could turn around, a burst of intense pain shot through it from behind.
The four greatest weaknesses of quadruped monsters were their eyes, throat, mouth, and... their rear end.
The Spotted Cat seemed to lose all its strength in that instant. It didn't even manage to roar before a flash of sword light sliced across its neck.
After the Spotted Cat fell, Su You cut off its tail and pulled a tendon from inside it. He put the tendon in his backpack; it could fetch about ten thousand yuan if he sold it to the dojo.
The others came over, but whether it was Su You's imagination or not, he felt that the other five trainees were looking at him quite differently now.
"Not bad. I thought you might not be able to get over that kind of hesitation!" Xing Huaiguo looked at Su You with great approval.
A bolt of lightning suddenly seemed to strike through Su You's mind. Only then did he understand why the others were looking at him differently.
On the way here, they had generally killed monsters by aiming for their eyes, mouths, or throats. Su You was the first to sneak up and stab one in the rear.
Ah, no, that's not what happened! Just hear me out! Su You roared inwardly.
During the climb, Su You's team encountered five monsters in total. Since they were all on higher floors, Su You dealt with every one of them himself.
When they reached the thirtieth floor, Xing Huaiguo gave Su You and the others more pointers. First, they cleared the monsters from that floor and the rooftop. Then they blocked off the stairwell leading up to the thirtieth floor.
Everyone sat down and took high-energy food and water out of their backpacks.
After they had eaten, Xing Huaiguo divided the six of them into three groups and arranged for them to take turns standing guard. Then he said:
"Your combat experience is adequate now. The next thing you need to learn is how to work together. A single person's strength is limited. You haven't forgotten your assessment task, have you?"
Before you continue