Sudden Change

Chen Daolin walked alone through a secluded alleyway.

His footsteps kicked up a rustling sound as they scraped against the ground.

A shadow crawled silently out from a window in the building above, a pair of glowing green eyes staring coldly down at him.

Whoosh! The wind suddenly stirred as the shadow lunged downward, transforming into a black blur as it pounced toward the human below, the chilling glint of its sharp claws faintly visible.

Chen Daolin did not even look up; as if possessing premonition, the long spear in his hand instantly transformed into a streak of light. It carried a shrill, piercing force as it drove into the body of the black shadow descending from the sky, burying itself up to the hilt, with the spearhead protruding through the creature's skull.

The black shadow hung suspended on the spear, twitching, revealing the petite form of a gray-furred Shadow Cat. A hole had been punched through its eye by Chen Daolin's spearhead, blood seeping out and giving it a gruesome, terrifying appearance.

Duels between martial artists and monsters are sometimes drawn out, and sometimes life and death are decided in an instant; they are incredibly perilous.

"H-Level monster, Shadow Cat, skilled at lurking, extremely fast." Chen Daolin looked down at the corpse on the ground, murmuring to himself. He used the spear blade to cut off the Shadow Cat's ears and placed them into his backpack. Inside his bag, there were already three ears: one from an Iron-Haired Wild Boar and two from Tiger Mastiffs; this was his first Shadow Cat.

Chen Daolin had gained some experience in fighting monsters.

Creatures like the Shadow Cat loved to lurk in dark, remote corners, sneaking up on people to attack.

Their physical defenses were also the weakest; aim for the vitals, and one strike was all it took to kill.

Of course, for many prospective martial artists, these fast-moving Shadow Cats were a major headache.

With Chen Daolin's current strength, which was considered superior even among intermediate warriors, these weakest H-Level monsters posed little challenge. Perhaps only a swarm of H-Level monsters surrounding him at once could pose a threat.

"Next, I'll find a few more monsters to test myself; staying like this won't hone my strength." Chen Daolin was now incredibly confident. With his current power, even if he were truly surrounded by a pack of H-Level monsters, he could unleash the King Kai Fist to break out.

After cultivating Genetic Origin Energy and further strengthening his body, Chen Daolin could already attempt to activate the King Kai Fist at over three times its power. With his current strength, he could walk sideways through this small town.

Of course, when unleashing his full power, he would try to choose places with fewer surveillance cameras to avoid being spotted by those with ulterior motives.

Elsewhere, Ji Xuan was simultaneously entangled with several monsters. She slashed with her battle blade while wielding her shield, nimbly dodging between four or five monsters. Those monsters seemed like puppets on strings, led by her, with all their attacks landing just behind Ji Xuan.

Ji Xuan's eyes were calm, her mind calculating the monsters' next moves while her body constantly shifted, performing the most rational actions. Like a precision-engineered machine, every movement was as detailed and subtle as possible, exquisite and flawless.

Whenever her physical movements fell short, a mysterious force would timely emerge, slightly shifting her body and making her appear to be dodging the joint attacks of several monsters with ease in the eyes of outsiders.

If anyone saw this scene, they would surely doubt their own eyes. The difficulty of being besieged by several monsters far exceeded dealing with one alone; even intermediate warriors could easily suffer casualties when faced with a pack of H-Level monsters.

But Ji Xuan's performance at this moment made people question reality.

She was like a butterfly, dancing nimbly amidst a group of roaring, ferocious monsters, yet those monsters could do nothing to her.

This kind of terrifying footwork was beyond what ordinary martial artists could imagine.

Ji Xuan silently honed her footwork.

On the other side.

Chen Daolin passed by a supermarket and smelled a thick, pungent scent of blood. He turned his head to look toward a half-collapsed wall on the north side of the first floor, where the sounds of tearing and swallowing could be faintly heard. Chen Daolin paused for a moment, then turned and walked into the supermarket. As he approached the wall, the swallowing sounds suddenly stopped, and the surroundings fell into dead silence. Chen Daolin's face was cold, his footsteps steady. The next moment, a foul wind rushed toward him, and a massive black shadow lunged from behind the wall. It was a ferocious Tiger Mastiff. It opened its blood-red maw, its sharp teeth stained with remnants of flesh, and bit viciously toward Chen Daolin.

But Chen Daolin's movements were faster. His body leaped like a spring, and at the same time, the long spear in his hand pierced through the Tiger Mastiff's mouth like a venomous snake, passing through its throat and bringing out a spray of blood. The Tiger Mastiff's heavy claws swiped at Chen Daolin's shoulder, leaving clearly visible gouges on his combat suit. Chen Daolin let out a muffled grunt, his body swaying slightly. The Tiger Mastiff struggled a few times before drawing its last breath. Chen Daolin ignored it, his gaze falling on the corner where it had been. There lay the mangled, shattered corpse of a young girl. Her eyes, unable to close in death, stared blankly at the ceiling, and a severed arm lay more than ten meters away.

Seeing this, Chen Daolin's heart trembled, and he couldn't help but fall silent. This was the fate that martial artists had to face, and perhaps his own future fate as well.

In this slaughterhouse, a place where humans and monsters fought to the death, the roles of hunter and prey could be reversed at any moment. With a bit of bad luck, one could be buried here forever.

This was an incredibly real and cruel world. The war between humans and monsters had lasted for many years and would continue into the future. As a human martial artist, he would eventually head into the wilderness to face all kinds of ferocious monsters; only then, perhaps, would his strength truly be tested.

Chen Daolin took a deep breath, shaking off the distracting thoughts and emotions in his mind. He cut off the Tiger Mastiff's ears, then dragged the girl's body outside and pressed the distress button on her communicator watch. What a poor soul; she must have had her arm bitten when she first encountered the Tiger Mastiff, leaving her no chance to send a distress signal. Otherwise, she might not have died so miserably.

A blood-stained photograph fell from her chest. Chen Daolin glanced at it, picked it up, and placed it back into her embrace.

"May you rest in peace."

By the time Chen Daolin left, his expression had returned to calm, but his eyes were filled with cold killing intent.

At this moment, Chen Daolin deeply understood that in the fight between humans and monsters, it was either you or them.

Under the shroud of night, the slaughter in the town continued, and the performance of every prospective martial artist was transmitted through cameras to the observers outside.

"Sigh, this prospective martial artist is too pathetic. He didn't even land that strike."

"So stupid. This guy's awareness is too poor; he didn't even know the monster was coming from behind."

"He's dead, he's going to die... eh, forget it, switch to the next feed."

"This one is impressive, he's got potential."

"This seedling is also quite good."

The burly man from the Thunder Martial Arts Hall was watching the screen with great excitement. The scene showed a young girl being besieged by a group of H-Level monsters. The girl on the screen was none other than Ji Xuan. His eyes shone brightly. "Amazing, amazing! This is Micro-level footwork. She's only eighteen, right? Her footwork has already reached the Micro-level. I must, I absolutely must recruit her into our Thunder Martial Arts Hall." Even as a supervisor of the Jiangnan Thunder Martial Arts Hall, the well-traveled Wang Heng was stunned by the girl's astonishing talent in footwork.

He even made up his mind to recruit Ji Xuan at any cost, even if she were already a contracted martial artist with the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

Ji Xuan's physical fitness was strong, but that wasn't the main point; the fact that she had mastered Micro-level footwork at eighteen was terrifying.

One had to know that in real combat, physical fitness was only one aspect; footwork, blade technique, and awareness all occupied very important roles.

During combat, footwork was crucial. According to common knowledge, footwork was divided into three levels after training: Solid Foundation, Proficient, and Effortless!

These were the first three levels of footwork. Above these three levels... was the Micro-level!

The Micro-level represented the ability to have extremely fine control over one's power and body, using the smallest cost to make the most exquisite dodges. Every movement and evasion was as if calculated by a computer!

Many Warlord Level martial artists couldn't even achieve this!

That was why Ji Xuan being able to master Micro-level footwork at eighteen years old had shocked Wang Heng so much.

However, the director of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, Zhuge Tao, did not see any of this; his attention was currently entirely on his daughter, who was with Han Lei, and he was extremely dissatisfied. "Qingqing has gone too far. I must have a serious talk with her when she gets back."

As for Ji Xuan and Chen Daolin? They had long been cast to the back of his mind.

He even began to feel a bit of resentment; he had clearly instructed the two of them to look after his daughter well, yet in the end, they had let her leave to act alone with Han Lei.

The night slowly passed by...

Ji Xuan continued to hone herself, improving her footwork and combat awareness.

Chen Daolin continued to roam about, following the feeling in his heart as he swung his long spear.

The prospective martial artists continued to battle monsters everywhere.

Dawn was about to arrive.

In a desolate and remote underground parking lot within the Closed Town, a grayish head suddenly poked out. It was a giant rat the size of an ordinary German shepherd. It scanned its surroundings rapidly, a hint of human-like intelligence flickering in its eyes as it let out a squeaking sound.

If anyone who knew about these things were present, they would surely recognize this as a low-level Beast General Level monster among the rat species—the Gray Fur Rat King.

Following its cry, gray rats the size of house cats crawled out from the ground in an endless stream. Most of them were H-Level monsters—Gray Fur Rats—though there were also a small number of G-Level and F-Level monsters among them. They emitted chaotic and dense squeaking sounds, surging outward like a tide under the leadership of the Beast General Level monster at their head, the Gray Fur Rat King.

Outside the Closed Town, in sewers, various burrows, and basements... countless Gray Fur Rats emerged simultaneously, forming a gray tide that attacked any living creature nearby with madness.

The military camp outside immediately discovered this scene, and shrill alarm sirens rang out, piercing through the night.