Killing the Enemy

"This is Hope City, our city of hope!

Hope City is a small city paved with countless gallons of blood. It covers more than twenty square kilometers, about the same size as Magic Martial Academy. Its standing force numbers fifty thousand, rising to over a hundred thousand in wartime.

The main gate faces north. Eighty kilometers straight ahead lies Heaven's Gate City. Our military garrisons are confined to a radius of ten kilometers, though we sometimes conduct regular sweeps of Underground Cave Humans and creatures within thirty kilometers.

Beyond thirty kilometers is Heaven's Gate City's territory."

Listening to Wu Kuishan's introduction, Su Yi looked down at the ground beneath his feet. It was blackish-red.

After decades of slaughter, this land had long been soaked through with blood.

As Wu Kuishan led Su Yi toward the hotel, he said, "It's your first time here, so I'll familiarize you with Hope City first. We'll get your accommodation arranged, then this afternoon I'll take you around the terrain and surroundings within ten kilometers.

You'll need to know the Military Department strongholds and martial artist supply points within that range."

After arranging his lodging, the two headed out onto the streets. Hope City was not large, but it still had plenty of shops.

Hotels, branch offices of pill companies, barbershops...

In less than half an hour, they had more or less finished touring the city.

That afternoon, Wu Kuishan took Su Yi around to familiarize him with the terrain and environment.

After making a circuit, Su Yi learned the locations of each stronghold and supply point, then applied to Wu Kuishan for permission to explore freely.

Wu Kuishan pondered for a moment but ultimately did not stop him. He could not accompany Su Yi into the underground caves every single time.

Besides, Su Yi was very strong. Even a Fifth Grade martial artist could not hold him back. As long as he did not go too far, there should not be much of a problem.

After leaving Wu Kuishan, Su Yi continued onward. He was not getting carried away.

It was simply that, after coming here, he had been struck by many emotions. Right now, he badly wanted an outlet.

He encountered quite a few humans along the way. No one approached; they merely nodded to one another from afar.

About eighteen kilometers from Hope City, Su Yi ran into his first enemy.

"Kagu!"

A furious roar rang out. A figure burst from the grass to his right and launched an Assault at Su Yi.

Su Yi slashed out with his sword, directly beheading the Abyss Warrior who had attacked him.

"I'd been on guard against you all along."

Su Yi's Spiritual Power had detected the energy fluctuations on the Abyss Warrior long ago.

A Third Grade Mid Stage martial artist actually dared to Assault a Third-Rank High Stage martial artist.

Su Yi searched the man and found a small cloth pouch and a badge.

"A Third Grade medal."

The front of the medal bore three Long Spears, one of them noticeably shorter than the others. The back was stamped with the Heaven's Gate Tree.

Su Yi opened the small cloth pouch and inspected it. There were roughly three grams of Cultivation Energy Stone and around twenty grams of basic energy stone.

He weighed the Long Spear in his hand. It was about ten jin, made of D-grade alloy.

"Not a bad haul."

Getting resources worth more than three million from a Third Grade Mid Stage martial artist was already quite good.

The area Su Yi was in was still some distance from the Meat Grinder. Normally, he should not encounter any Middle Three Grades martial artists here.

Killing an enemy for the first time left Su Yi slightly excited. He stored the resources in his storage space and continued searching for Abyss Warriors.

Three hours later, Su Yi took stock of his spoils. He had killed seven Abyss Warriors in total—six Third Grade and one Fourth Grade.

It was hard to say whether he was lucky or unlucky. He had actually encountered a Fourth Grade Realm martial artist within thirty kilometers.

There were roughly 120 grams of basic energy stone, 25 grams of Cultivation Energy Stone, three E-grade weapons, three D-grade weapons, one C-grade weapon, and an Energy Heart.

Altogether, they were probably worth over a thousand Credit Points.

Once he had finished counting, Su Yi wrapped up the weapons and returned to Hope City. Night was nearly falling, and he had not yet reached the Fourth Grade Realm, so he could not see in the dark.

When he returned to Hope City, Wu Kuishan was chatting with someone atop the city wall. The moment he saw Su Yi return, he immediately dropped down in front of him.

Looking at the bundle Su Yi was carrying, Wu Kuishan chuckled. "Looks like you did pretty well."

Seeing Su Yi return safely, he was relieved as well. After all, it was Su Yi's first time entering the underground caves. But judging by his appearance, he probably had not gone too far.

Su Yi had dealt with every enemy he encountered with ease. There were only some Abyss Warrior bloodstains on him; he himself was not injured.

Shaking the bundle in his hand, Su Yi said with a smile, "I only wandered around within thirty kilometers. I killed six Third Grade martial artists and one Fourth Grade."

Wu Kuishan did not pay much attention to the Fourth Grade Su Yi had mentioned. It was not as though Middle Three Grades martial artists never entered the thirty-kilometer zone. It was only because the creatures within thirty kilometers were regularly cleared out that they were relatively rare.

"Come on. Let's exchange the resources you seized."

Wu Kuishan took Su Yi directly to the Military Department's Logistics Office.

Once there, Su Yi opened the bundle. Inside were seven weapons and a Fourth Grade Energy Heart. Then he took out the basic energy stones from his pocket.

As for the Cultivation Energy Stones, he did not take them out. He intended to keep them for his own use.

"The weapons came to 460 Credit Points, the Fourth Grade Energy Heart was 300 Credit Points, and there were 120 grams of basic Energy Stones. Their purity was all very low, so that was 120 Credit Points. Altogether, 880 Credit Points."

The Logistics Office officer quickly finished tallying Su Yi's gains.

Su Yi briefly described his journey, which was also part of the procedure for returning from the Abyss.

"What about the medals you captured?"

Su Yi took the medals from his pocket and smiled. "There are too few of them. I'll keep them as souvenirs."

Su Yi knew that captured Abyss medals could be exchanged for Military Department points, but he did not have many at the moment, so there was no real need to exchange them.

The Logistics Office officer nodded and returned Su Yi's Martial Arts Certificate.

Whether to exchange them or not depended on personal preference. Some people simply liked keeping them.

After the Credit Points had been exchanged, Wu Kuishan asked, "Su Yi, are you planning to leave with me, or stay in the Abyss?"

For his first trip into the Abyss, earning 880 Credit Points in just one day was already quite impressive.

It could be considered a fulfilling experience of an Abyss expedition.

Su Yi thought it over. He was planning to visit the Meat Grinder. Eight hundred and eighty Credit Points looked like a lot, but they would not support his cultivation for long—not enough to let him reach Fourth Grade.

"Teacher, I'll stay in the Abyss."

"Alright, then I'll head back to the school first. Be careful in everything!"

At daybreak the next morning, Su Yi left Hope City and headed straight for the Meat Grinder.

On the way, Su Yi casually killed two Third-Rank Peak warriors who had tried to ambush him, before finally arriving at the Meat Grinder.

The Meat Grinder was mainly an area of activity for mid- and low-grade martial artists. There were not many Fifth or Sixth Grade martial artists here.

Upon entering the Meat Grinder's territory, Su Yi saw that the vegetation had become much sparser. There were many bare pits in the ground, and the soil faintly glimmered with the color of blood.

"So this is the Meat Grinder?"

Su Yi lightened his steps and focused his mind. A faint sense of unease rose within him—someone was watching him.

Whoosh!

Every hair on Su Yi's body stood on end. In the next instant, he leapt into the air and swiftly used the momentum to retreat.

At the very moment Su Yi left, an arrow struck where he had been standing. Wrapped in bloody light, it blasted a pit into the ground.

"Kagu!"

An enraged, low roar came from the grass ahead.

A mid-grade archer?

Releasing Blood Qi outward and attaching it to an arrow fired from the bow was a privilege reserved for at least Fourth Grade martial artists.

Martial artists of the Lower Three Grades found it difficult to launch arrows infused with Blood Qi, but once one reached mid-grade, it was different. The destructive power would be no joke. Even Su Yi would die if an arrow hit a vital point.

Fourth Grade Peak!

Su Yi sensed the opponent's strength, and his first reaction was: I can fight him!

He sprinted toward the Abyss Warrior.

The Abyss Warrior was somewhat stunned as he watched Su Yi charge at him. A Third-Rank High Stage martial artist had encountered him, yet instead of fleeing, he wanted to fight?

Did the boy think he could not escape, or had he failed to notice his strength?

But he was only a little Third-Rank brat. The Abyss Warrior lowered his bow, picked up his blade, and advanced toward Su Yi as well.

As the distance between them steadily closed, the Abyss Warrior revealed a mocking smile.

Suffer! Despair!

When they were less than ten meters apart, Su Yi unleashed his Spiritual Power with all his strength, crushing down on the Abyss Warrior.

The Abyss Warrior, who had been rushing forward with his blade raised to strike, stiffened. Blank-eyed, he continued charging at Su Yi.

Su Yi sidestepped, and the longsword in his hand instantly slashed toward the Abyss Warrior's head. It was so fast that by the time the Abyss Warrior reacted, it was already too late.

The sword, carrying over 300 Cal of Blood Qi, crashed down onto the Abyss Warrior's head.

Looking at the headless corpse that had fallen to the ground, Su Yi searched it for resources and swiftly left the area.

Su Yi ran several kilometers back before finally stopping with ease of mind.

That Fourth Grade Peak Abyss Warrior had not been particularly strong. His burst of Blood Qi had probably been around 400 Cal, but he had been unable to withstand Su Yi's Spiritual Power attack.

By the standard of roughly 2000 Cal for Fourth Grade Peak, he had only barely grasped a trump card.

Su Yi had killed him without even going all out, but while collecting resources, he had sensed energy fluctuations. There was more than one Abyss Warrior—likely an Abyss squad.

They had probably been drawn over by Su Yi's battle. Without knowing the enemy's strength, Su Yi could only retreat first to be safe.

If it was a squad of Fourth Grade martial artists, Su Yi still had a certain degree of confidence. But if there was a Fifth Grade martial artist, working with several Fourth Grade martial artists to besiege him, he would still be in danger.

"What a pity about that bow."

Su Yi had left too hastily and had not had time to pick up the bow and arrows left behind by the Abyss Warrior.

The bow used by a Fourth Grade Peak martial artist should not be of poor quality.

He took stock of the spoils from killing the Fourth Grade Abyss Warrior: a heavy saber with C-Grade Alloy strength, an Energy Heart, 23 grams of Cultivation Energy Stone, and 110 grams of basic Energy Stone.

"This Abyss Warrior was loaded!"

This single Fourth Grade Peak was nearly worth as much as yesterday's entire haul. The Abyss Warrior's saber had a decent weight to it, nearly thirty jin—probably worth around 400 Credit Points in exchange. Adding everything else, this Fourth Grade Peak Abyss Warrior could bring him nearly 1,400 Credit Points.

The Fourth Grade Initial he had killed yesterday had only been worth a little over 700 Credit Points. The gap between them was a full doubling.

After swallowing a Blood Qi Pill, Su Yi prepared to recover a little before continuing toward the Meat Grinder.

So long as he was not injured, he would not use Cultivation Energy Stones to restore himself.

That would be far too extravagant. Cultivation required resources.

Besides, his Blood Qi was still fairly abundant. Once he had confirmed that the Abyss Warrior was certain to die, he had not unleashed much Blood Qi.