First kill of a fierce beast

Standing high and looking far, among the old city district, the school's teaching building was already a very tall structure.

Li Yuan looked around; the old district was filled with lush greenery.

With so much less human activity, the old district and the wild forests were constantly merging.

Standing at a high point, Li Yuan also spotted others who had come in for training.

This Qijia Town was a treasure trove for training, and the number of people coming was far greater than expected.

No wonder they had to implement controls, limiting the number of people entering at the same time.

If too many people came in at once, the training effect would be greatly diminished.

Coming down from the rooftop, before he had even walked out of this abandoned middle school, he immediately noticed something was off.

The two books Li Yuan had read before coming here provided many experiential tips.

The anomaly before him matched what was described in the books.

In the drainage ditch of this abandoned school, there was actually a spot that was very smooth.

Seeing this, Li Yuan had already gripped his alloy blade tightly.

From the experience gained in the books, this was a sign of walking into a beast's den.

There were many types of ferocious beasts, and most of them were quite cunning.

The smooth spot was an entrance to the beast's den.

But its den definitely had more than one entrance and exit.

The spot it frequently used was actually the one it would directly abandon when encountering danger.

Thinking this, Li Yuan began to search for another path to the beast's den.

His entire demeanor was cautious.

For now, he couldn't be sure whether there was a beast in the den.

At this moment, Li Yuan was verifying the experience he had learned from the books.

The biggest difference between students in school and warriors who had truly crawled through battlefields was practice.

Ninety-nine percent of what was in the books was correct.

But the situations described were too idealized.

When actually applied in practice, one would encounter all sorts of strange circumstances.

Only by experiencing and trying could one truly put this experience to use.

This situation often appeared in other disciplines as well.

For example, medical students—they couldn't possibly ask patients to get sick exactly like in the textbooks, could they?

They also learned from textbooks first, then practiced for years before they could stand on their own.

Occasionally, when they saw symptoms matching the illustrations in the textbooks, they would get excited for a long time.

Following the drainage ditch, its den shouldn't be easily reached by water.

These simple human facilities had still been functioning after decades.

The drainage ditch's effect still seemed quite good.

Searching along the way, Li Yuan found some traces.

At the same time, he faintly heard a weak sound.

If this sound wasn't made by him, then there was something else...

As he pondered, a black shadow suddenly burst out, charging straight at Li Yuan.

But Li Yuan's attention had long been on alert for that spot.

Cloud Extreme Fist, Extreme Guard!

The moment he opened up in a defensive stance, the long blade in Li Yuan's hand slashed forward!

Six Martial Chain Blade, the blade's momentum surged toward the black shadow.

Warriors who didn't often go to the front lines would have much poorer mastery of weapon techniques.

But unfortunately, Li Yuan was different from other young warriors training here.

Relying on the [Martial Recruitment Accelerator] talent, his mastery of Six Martial Chain Blade had already reached a very deep level.

This black shadow also sensed the threat.

Its ambush having failed, it crouched not far away in a standoff.

This was a wildcat with gray and black fur.

At this moment, its fur was standing on end, its bloody mouth bared, revealing sharp fangs.

These wandering wildcats are a typical D-level beast.

Despite their small size, they are incredibly ferocious.

When facing larger opponents, they are clever enough to specifically target the eyes.

After blinding the enemy, even a powerful foe that was previously unbeatable becomes their meal.

But this one wasn't so lucky—Li Yuan was far more cautious than an ordinary martial artist.

His martial arts foundation was also solid and steady.

The Six Martial Chain Blade surged forward in an instant, its momentum crashing toward the beast.

This type of small beast was agile, and if a martial artist lacked sufficient skill to land a clean hit, it was easy to run into trouble.

But Li Yuan's mastery of martial techniques was extremely proficient.

Paired with the Cloud Treading Step, the Six Martial Chain Blade shifted its stance in an instant.

The blade soon landed on its body.

Blood splattered, and the small wildcat beast was dead.

Li Yuan grabbed a handful of wild grass from the side and wiped the blood off the blade.

This was the first beast he had personally slain.

It was much simpler than he had imagined.

The help from the Practical Handbook for Beast Response and Border Records was also greater than expected.

Relying on the [Mind Enlightenment] and [Enlightenment to Perfection] talents, the gains Li Yuan obtained from reading were far beyond what others could achieve.

He could quickly put them into practice.

There was nothing valuable on the wildcat beast's body.

Unlike some beasts, whose fur, bones, sinews, and organs all had uses.

After dealing with this small nuisance, Li Yuan continued deeper into Qijia Town.

The further southeast he went, the farther he was from human activity.

More beasts lurked there, stronger and more aggressive ones as well.

Li Yuan planned to go another ten li outward.

Ten li was a short distance for a martial artist.

But in this wilderness of dense forest, every li outward was accompanied by a host of dangers.

Ten li—on a real border frontline—might take years to push through.

For someone like Li Yuan, out on his first training expedition, going ten li forward was actually quite risky.

But Li Yuan had confidence in himself.

Moreover, after this training, he would have to return for the Youth Martial Tournament.

He had to make full use of this training opportunity to adapt both his mind and body to this rhythm.

Especially with the beasts—he wanted to see as many as possible.

Border Records documented a hundred common beasts, including their habits and attack methods.

But it was still different from seeing them in person.

Only after witnessing them firsthand could he respond more calmly.

Just as Li Yuan was about to head deeper, he suddenly noticed three specks of light on the ground.

He picked them up and gained eleven points of experience.

The rewards from actual combat seemed to bring more insights than training alone in seclusion.

Holding his long blade, he walked step by step toward the southeast.

On the first day, Li Yuan covered one li and then stopped to rest.

Along the way, he encountered three beasts.

The hardest to deal with was a War Spider.

The silk it spat, while not enough to trap a martial artist completely, could still impose significant restrictions.

Once entangled in the silk, he would have to face its venomous fangs next.

Li Yuan's experience was truly abundant.

From a distance, he had already spotted the War Spider's setup.

After going through four beasts in a row, Li Yuan's mind grew calmer.

He could now maintain a normal state of mind whenever he encountered a beast.

This was probably what desensitization felt like.

At the same time, Li Yuan discovered many more traps left by the War Spider.

The outskirts of Qijia Town truly had quite a few War Spiders.

Li Yuan carefully observed these traces, taking in the various different conditions.

The contents described in the book were applied one after another.

At the same time, Li Yuan walked deeper and deeper, growing more and more vigilant.

The strange tracks he saw also increased.

He rested for four hours midway.

By noon the next day, Li Yuan met the owners of these tracks...