The six of them nodded in unison. The Basic Training Camp had arranged a month of practical training for them, but it had also set them a final practical assessment.
If they failed to complete the assessment, they would have to continue practical training the following month. If they still hadn't passed after three months, they would have no choice but to leave the Basic Training Camp.
Under normal circumstances, the assessments set by the Basic Training Camp weren't very difficult. Unless someone was completely afraid of fighting, most people could pass on their first try, as long as nothing unexpected happened.
Su You and his team's mission this time was to work together to kill an Elementary Beast General-level monster. Among the assessments given to new trainees over the years, this was already considered a fairly difficult one.
However, as long as they worked well together, the mission shouldn't be too difficult for their team.
City 0125 was similar to one of Huaxia Country's former prefecture-level cities. Even its outskirts held quite a few Beast General-level monsters, and they were easier to hunt here than in a small county town.
In a small county town, Beast General-level monsters were scarce, so they usually led a hundred or more Beast Soldier-level monsters.
But here in City 0125, a Beast General-level monster usually had only a dozen or so Beast Soldier-level monsters nearby.
Some Beast General-level monsters that preferred solitude had only two or three Beast Soldiers with them. Those were the ideal targets for Su You's team.
"Take turns keeping watch tonight. Starting tomorrow, I'll pick out some small monster groups for you to fight. With your current abilities, you'll need to learn to work together if you want to kill a Beast General-level monster."
After speaking, Xing Huaiguo went to rest against a wall. The others lay down or leaned back as well, settling in for the night.
Starting the next day, Su You and the other five followed Xing Huaiguo's instructions and began fighting small groups of monsters.
At first, Xing Huaiguo chose small groups with only a dozen or so Beast Soldiers, but even those gave the five people besides Su You plenty of trouble.
Their teamwork didn't make them stronger; instead, they got in each other's way.
As for Su You, with his Micro-level movement technique mastered, not even a hundred monsters could threaten him—unless they were small creatures like rats or ants.
Still, with each fight and Xing Huaiguo's guidance, the team gradually grew more in sync.
They were still far from the level of teams that had spent years fighting in the Wilderness Zone, but at least they had reached the standard of an ordinary team.
More than ten days later, a fierce battle broke out on a street not far from the apartment building where Su You and the others were staying.
On one side were six humans; on the other was a herd of Mangniu, numbering around seventy or eighty. The strongest one looked close to reaching Intermediate Beast General level.
But the Beast General-level Mangniu was already lying dead on the ground. Nearby stood a middle-aged man, watching the six fight the Beast Soldier-level Mangniu. It was Su You's team.
The six charged through the herd in a triangular formation. Su You led the way at the front, his steps shifting unpredictably as he thrust with his two swords in quick succession. Each strike sent a Mangniu crashing to the ground.
Behind him, on either side, were Duoniya and Elena. They were both still Intermediate Warriors, but Su You had already dealt with the monsters charging from the front, so each woman only had to cover one side. The pressure on them wasn't too great.
Behind them were Dai Xueyang, Colin, and Garava. Dai Xueyang and Garava, both Advanced Warriors, covered the two flanks, while Colin only had to guard one side.
"Shhk!"
Elena raised her shield in her left hand and struck twice from the side, driving back two Mangniu. At the same time, she thrust with her sword in her right hand and killed another. But then three more Mangniu charged at her at once.
Elena had just spent her strength and hadn't yet recovered. How could she possibly defend herself in time? The three Mangniu were about to charge straight into her.
Xing Huaiguo, who was nearby, was about to intervene when Su You's figure suddenly drifted backward. His right-hand sword came down in a slash, striking the neck of the Mangniu on the far left,
Then he flipped in midair, and the Baihong Sword in his left hand slashed down at the neck of the middle Mangniu.
But no one was there to stop the Mangniu on the far right. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of Elena, the two horns on its head gleaming with a chilling light.
Xing Huaiguo hurriedly rushed over. But Su You used the force of his previous slash to flip in midair again. After releasing one burst of power from his waist and hips, his body instantly unleashed a second.
His right-hand sword carried his body with it, striking at the third Mangniu with speed and force far beyond what he could normally manage.
"Pfft!"
The Mangniu's head was severed and fell to the ground. Its body lost much of its momentum as it charged. It still crashed into Elena, but only sent her staggering back a few steps without hurting her.
At some point, Xing Huaiguo had returned to where he'd been standing. He watched Su You with a look of satisfaction. With his trained eye, he could tell that Su You's ability to exert force had improved. Given the sword technique Su You practiced, Xing Huaiguo also knew exactly what level his force output had reached.
Seeing Elena look dazed after being knocked back a few steps, Su You called out, "Don't get distracted."
He followed with a swift thrust that struck a Mangniu in the eye, then darted to the front to keep fending off the herd.
Elena flushed and hurried forward to shore up the formation.
A few minutes later, only a handful of the seventy or eighty Mangniu remained. They let out low growls, but didn't attack again. Instead, they turned and fled.
Su You and the others didn't chase them. They didn't even collect the materials from the Mangniu carcasses. They hurried away from the street; if they stayed any longer, other monster groups drawn by the noise might surround them.
Besides, the most valuable materials on a Mangniu were its horns. They were difficult to remove and took up a lot of space. The materials from seventy or eighty Beast Soldiers of varying strengths were worth only five or six hundred thousand in total, and divided among six people, each share would be meager.
As for the horns from the Beast General-level Mangniu, they were worth more than ten million altogether. But those were Xing Huaiguo's spoils, so they had nothing to do with them.
In the days that followed, Su You and the others fought in City 0125 during the day. When they returned each night, Xing Huaiguo taught them how to handle unexpected situations.
After all, some situations couldn't be rehearsed during practical training and could only arise in real combat, such as attacks by other teams of warriors or encountering a monster tide.
Although the practical training kept him busy, Su You still made time every night for video calls with Tang Yongqing and He Yourong. He even used the dangers of the Wilderness Zone to win more of He Yourong's concern, bringing the two of them closer.
Time passed, and soon it was September 28—the day Su You and the others faced their assessment.
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