Hunting Monsters

September 1 was the day Chen Daolin set out to hunt monsters. Ji Xuan even came over specially to see him off, leaving him terribly embarrassed under the meaningful looks of the other trainees.

Chen Daolin set off with the other 91 trainees for a city in the Wilderness Area, about 300 kilometers from the Training Camp: City 1001. The number had been personally chosen by Hong, the founder of Hongning Base City. All trainees had to hunt monsters in this city.

"Chen Daolin, this is your first time in City 1001. Want to come with us?" Several Huaxia trainees greeted him warmly.

"Sure." Chen Daolin thanked them.

The trainees weren't going to help Chen Daolin hunt monsters. The Training Camp had strict rules: trainees were forbidden to help one another hunt monsters, and had to hunt alone. Trading materials and killing fellow trainees were also prohibited. Anyone caught would be expelled at best and executed at worst. A satellite stationed directly overhead monitored the trainees' behavior in City 1001 around the clock.

But they could show Chen Daolin the way and tell him about City 1001, as well as the things to watch out for when hunting monsters, so he wouldn't be caught off guard when the time came. These trainees had all spent who knew how long in City 1001; they were veterans. It was clear that Chen Daolin hadn't seen much combat, and newcomers like him were prone to making all sorts of mistakes on their first outing.

"By the way, watch out for trainees from other places. Some of them might try to steal your monsters," one of the Huaxia trainees kindly warned him.

The Training Camp was no place of perfect harmony. There were conflicts not only between trainees, but also between factions.

Stealing monsters or deliberately causing trouble happened all the time.

Hunting monsters wasn't always smooth sailing, either. Every year, some trainees died by accident while hunting.

After parting ways with the other Huaxia trainees, Chen Daolin stood on the roof of a three-story house in the desolate, ruined City 1001. Dressed in a gray combat suit, he held a spear and shield, with a backpack slung over his shoulders. As he gazed out over the city, excitement filled his heart.

This was where he would take the first step on his path as a martial artist.

Martial artists were divided into Warrior, Warlord, and War God levels.

Monsters were likewise divided into Beast Soldier, Beast General, and Lord levels.

City 1001 was home not only to countless Beast General-level monsters, but also to a few Lord-level monsters deep in its core, all there for the Training Camp trainees to hunt.

As a newcomer who had just entered the Training Camp, Chen Daolin could only stay on the outskirts of the city and hunt ordinary Elementary Beast General-level monsters. Most of these monsters had groups of Beast Soldier-level underlings around them. If they realized they were losing, they would often order their underlings to hold off their pursuers while they escaped, making them difficult to hunt.

Beast General-level monsters already had some intelligence.

Lord-level monsters were almost as intelligent as ordinary people.

So they couldn't be underestimated.

Chen Daolin's physical strength currently let him exert a punch force of around 5,000 kilograms. With Kaio-ken x3, he could reach close to [missing figure] kilograms, just barely meeting the minimum punch force for the Intermediate Warlord Level.

So ordinary Elementary Beast General-level monsters weren't too difficult for him to deal with. The problem was how to kill them without giving them a chance to escape.

Martial artists in the Wilderness Area could form teams of five or six to hunt monsters together and improve their chances of killing them. But City 1001 was specifically meant to provide the Training Camp trainees with experience. There was no way they would be allowed to work together. Anyone caught would receive a warning at best, and be expelled for a serious offense.

"Baa, baa~"

Chen Daolin hid in a dense thicket, watching a herd of monsters slowly moving a few hundred meters away. At its head was a monster over three meters tall, its body pitch-black and its shape resembling a goat, except that two sharp black horns jutted from its forehead. Its blood-red eyes sent a chill through anyone who looked at them. It was an Elementary Beast General-level Blood-Eyed Goat. It ran fast and had powerful bursts of strength, though its defense was somewhat weak. The main thing to watch out for was the pair of horns on its head. Even though a D6 Series combat suit could withstand its attack, the terrifying force of the impact could easily injure a human martial artist's internal organs.

There was one Elementary Beast General-level Blood-Eyed Goat, along with around thirty or forty ordinary Beast Soldier-level Blood-Eyed Goats beside it. Chen Daolin did a quick mental calculation and decided he could take a chance.

City 1001 was teeming with monsters. He had to finish the fight quickly once he struck; otherwise, other monsters might spot him and surround him, leaving him nowhere to run.

"Five minutes. I've only got five minutes," Chen Daolin thought, his gaze icy as he steeled himself. "I refuse to believe that with strength close to the Intermediate Warlord Level, I can't take down one Blood-Eyed Goat!"

Chen Daolin lowered his body and crept toward the herd, using the surrounding obstacles like a hunter.

The Blood-Eyed Goat chief strolled leisurely with its herd. Its underlings were scattered around in every direction, keeping watch over the surroundings.

Suddenly, something drifted through the air on the breeze. The Blood-Eyed Goat's ears abruptly pricked up. It raised its head and sniffed suspiciously.

"Die!"

With a furious shout, a figure burst from behind a half-collapsed wall like a lightning-fast leopard and charged at the Blood-Eyed Goat chief. Before he even reached it, his spear was already sweeping through the air, its tip flashing like cold stars as it pierced several Beast Soldier-level Blood-Eyed Goats, spraying blood in all directions.

"Baa!!"

The Blood-Eyed Goat's eyes blazed with fury as it let out a strange roar. Its four hooves kicked off the ground, and its massive body leaped high into the air, hurtling toward Chen Daolin like a cannonball. It lowered its head, the menacing black horns gleaming in the sunlight with a soul-chilling glint.

Chen Daolin planted a foot on the ground and swayed aside, slipping past the Blood-Eyed Goat. At the same time, he thrust his spear toward its belly.

Thwack! The C6 Model spearhead was incredibly sharp and hard; it could even injure a high-level Beast General monster, let alone an Elementary Beast General-level Blood-Eyed Goat chief. The spearhead jabbed into the Blood-Eyed Goat in a flash and pulled back at once. Chen Daolin leaped away, and the next moment the Blood-Eyed Goat's ferocious attack slammed into the ground, leaving a huge crater.

The minimum strength for the Elementary Warlord Level was 8,000 kilograms, while the massive Blood-Eyed Goat chief before him probably had a strength of over ten tons. Combined with its tremendous momentum and enormous body, it was even more terrifying than a heavy tank. It could easily smash through an apartment building, and the ground it passed over looked as if it had been shelled and plowed, riddled with craters and left in ruins.

Chen Daolin nimbly darted around the Blood-Eyed Goat chief, dodging its attacks while looking for chances to leave wound after wound across its body. If the chief hadn't been so careful to protect its vital spots, Chen Daolin would probably have killed it already.

His strength, close to the Intermediate Warlord Level, had the Blood-Eyed Goat chief on the defensive.

"This Blood-Eyed Goat chief is such an idiot. Human martial artists are far better at using their strength," Chen Daolin thought with a sigh.

Monsters of the same level had far superior physical strength to human martial artists. But with weapons, blade techniques, Movement Technique, and their intelligence, human martial artists could easily beat monsters of the same level in one-on-one combat.

The Blood-Eyed Goat chief seemed to realize it couldn't defeat the human before it. It bleated anxiously, and all around them the Beast Soldier-level monsters seemed to go berserk, charging at Chen Daolin without regard for their lives.

"Just as I thought." Chen Daolin had already noticed the chief trying to escape. His gaze turned cold, and he put more strength into his movements. His spear became a blur as he attacked the Blood-Eyed Goat furiously. Relying on his superior strength and speed, he left wound after wound on its body until it was drenched in blood and horribly mangled.

But Chen Daolin had no intention of showing mercy. As the Blood-Eyed Goat chief's injuries worsened and it lay at death's door, he drove his spear into its throat and ended its life. The light faded from the chief's eyes. After twitching a few times, its massive body crashed to the ground. The Beast Soldier-level monsters surrounding them fell silent all at once. Seeing their chief down, they seemed to understand what had happened and stopped attacking Chen Daolin, scattering in every direction instead.

"I did it!" Chen Daolin stood panting beside the Blood-Eyed Goat's corpse, drenched in sweat, his face alight with genuine joy.

This was the first Beast General-level monster he had hunted through his own strength!

"I'd better hurry and harvest the materials." Chen Daolin didn't waste another moment. He took out the knife he used specifically for harvesting monster remains and quickly got to work.

Two minutes later, Chen Daolin left, leaving the Blood-Eyed Goat chief's corpse behind. The stench of blood soon attracted other monsters, turning the place into a feast.