City 003

On January 12, 2057, in the main district of Jiangnan Base City, an 88-story skyscraper towered over the city. The dazzling letters "HR" were emblazoned on its walls. A beautiful plaza and the largest fountain in all of Jiangnan Base City surrounded the building's first floor. More than a thousand fully armed soldiers patrolled the area, barring outsiders from entering.

The floor of the HR Alliance's lobby gleamed like a mirror, and its decorations were exquisite. The handsome waiters and pretty waitresses greeted visitors with warm, welcoming smiles.

A young martial artist in a gray combat uniform entered, carrying a shield on his back and a bronze-colored spear in his hand. Beside him walked a tall young woman with short black hair, dressed in a black combat uniform and carrying a War Blade and a shield.

A few martial artists were resting in the lobby. They glanced at the pair, finding them unfamiliar.

"A man and a woman. Are they martial artists from somewhere else?" someone wondered, but no one felt inclined to approach them.

In the Wilderness Area, human martial artists hunted monsters, but conflicts also broke out for all kinds of reasons. Killing between martial artists was not uncommon. As long as it didn't happen in the open, the various factions generally didn't interfere.

Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan found a sofa and sat down. They ordered two cups of Pu'er tea, rested for a while, and looked around.

After staying at home for too long, Chen Daolin had grown restless. To hone his spear skills and improve himself, he planned to spend some time hunting monsters in the Wilderness Area. When Ji Xuan heard about his plan, she insisted on going with him. Her physical strength was only at the Intermediate Warlord Level, but her Spirit Reading Power let her fight at the Beginner War God level. As a Spirit Reader, she was even more formidable in battle than an ordinary Beginner War God. So Chen Daolin didn't refuse her request.

After resting for a while, the two left the HR Alliance building and took an HR Alliance car straight to the train station. They boarded a train and left the Base City for the Wilderness Area.

City 003 was one of the most dangerous regions in the Eurasian Region. It had one of the largest clusters of buildings in all of Asia, and an astonishing density of monsters. It was home to countless Lord-level Monsters, as well as terrifying creatures even stronger than them.

Countless martial artists came here to hunt monsters. Those who could make a living here were generally quite strong, and War Gods often showed up as well.

The Southeast Military Region Supply Base was there for martial artists passing through to rest and recuperate. Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan didn't even go inside; they headed straight for City 003.

They followed the highway for about a day before reaching the outskirts of City 003.

Because the city was close to the ocean, it teemed with land monsters, flying monsters, and sea monsters alike. It was practically a monster lair. Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan avoided large monster groups and slowly made their way deeper into the city.

Chen Daolin's physical strength was at the Beginner War God Level, while Ji Xuan's was at the Intermediate Warlord Level. Her Spirit Reading Power let her scan the area, providing them with valuable reconnaissance and warning. The two were in their element in City 003. After spending two days in the outskirts, they had hunted quite a few monsters, mostly Beast General Level. They had also killed an Intermediate Lord Level Golden-Thread Black Python and two Elementary Lord Level monsters: an Iron-Sword Giant Tiger and a Dragon Mastiff Beast. But unlike other martial artists, their main goal was to hone their abilities. Hunting monsters was merely a side benefit.

When Chen Daolin faced Elementary or Intermediate Lord Level Monsters, he didn't use King Kai Fist in advance. Instead, he fought them with his own strength, unleashing it only after they had battled for a while, then finishing them off.

Ji Xuan did the same, but her physical strength was only at the Intermediate Warlord Level. Without her Spirit Reading Power, she could only take on Intermediate or High-level Beast Generals. Against a Lord-level Monster one-on-one, she had to use her Spirit Reading Power, and even then, she could only handle Elementary Lord Level Monsters—or help Chen Daolin ambush an Intermediate Lord Level Monster. As for High-level Lord Level Monsters, they hadn't encountered any yet.

Even if they ran into a powerful Lord-level Monster, Chen Daolin didn't need to worry about Ji Xuan's safety. Spirit Readers could control objects to carry them through the air, and apart from flying monsters and King Level Monsters—those that surpassed Lord-level Monsters—ordinary land monsters couldn't fly. They posed no threat to a Spirit Reader in the sky.

However, someone flying through the air was an obvious target and could easily be spotted and mobbed by flying monsters. So unless necessary, it was best not to take to the sky.

"Here, have some water and rest a bit." Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan sat in a room in a shop facing the street, their backs against the wall. They rested as they ate compressed biscuits and drank from their canteens.

Ji Xuan sat quietly across from Chen Daolin. From time to time, she looked at the unremarkable young man, her eyes glinting with admiration. She knew how terrifying a power he concealed. Even an Intermediate Lord Level Monster couldn't withstand more than a few seconds of Chen Daolin fighting at full strength before he left it gravely wounded. Then Ji Xuan joined in, and together they killed it. The strength, speed, and force he had displayed still made her uneasy when she thought about them.

Chen Daolin told her that he had gained his current physical strength after receiving Dragon Blood as a reward from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, which made Ji Xuan a little envious.

But she didn't know that Chen Daolin's strength came from more than that. More importantly, King Kai Fist multiplied his power fivefold. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to grievously wound an Intermediate Lord Level Monster so quickly.

Even ordinary High-level Peak War God martial artists could easily defeat a Lord-level Monster, but killing one was much harder. They would flee, and countless monsters followed them. If a fight dragged on too long in the city, it could draw even more monsters. After all, the Wilderness Area was the monsters' home turf. Among the top martial artists, a secret was widely known: if too many High-level Lord Level Monsters were hunted in the same area, the King Level Monster there might come after the hunters.

"We've had a good haul these past few days. If we hunt for two more days, we can head back," Chen Daolin said, looking at the backpack of monster parts by his feet with a satisfied smile.

Ji Xuan smiled too.

Materials from an Elementary Lord Level Monster could usually fetch between fifty million and five hundred million at the HR Alliance. Materials from an Intermediate Lord Level Monster typically sold for between five hundred million and five billion. High-level Lord Level Monster materials generally went for over ten billion. Materials from a legendary King Level Monster might be worth anywhere from tens of billions to hundreds of billions.

War Gods could indeed make a lot of money hunting monsters. Of course, they also had their expenses, such as repairing and buying expensive weapons and combat suits, purchasing medicines, and training with manuals—all of which cost a fortune.

So although Beginner War God martial artists were said to earn around five billion a year, that was without spending anything, which was obviously impossible.

An Intermediate War God could earn over ten billion a year.

A High-level War God could easily make twenty billion in a year.

The stronger someone was, the easier it was to earn money—but their expenses were just as staggering. Most of a martial artist's wealth went into their weapons and equipment or was converted into strength. No one was foolish enough to keep a huge amount of cash lying around, unless they had some other use for it.

After resting for a while, Chen Daolin and Ji Xuan set out again to hunt monsters.