Before the Beast Tide Arrives, This Seat Will Grind Monsters for Three Days First

"Beast Tide?"

Lin Feng stood in the formation, ears perking up.

The burly man continued roaring: "According to scout reports, this beast tide is C-Rank in scale, with an estimated total of over ten thousand beasts."

The ranks erupted in commotion.

A C-Rank beast tide—the last one happened eight months ago. That time, the Sixth Defense Line lost nearly two hundred men, and the city wall was breached in three sections.

"All personnel above Sergeant Major, report to command headquarters immediately for a meeting! Everyone else, return to your posts, inspect your equipment, and stock up on pills!"

As soon as the burly man finished speaking, the surrounding soldiers began to stir.

Lin Feng didn't follow the crowd toward command headquarters.

He turned and went back to his tent, grabbed Mountain Splitter, and headed west out of the camp.

On the way, he ran into Zhang Qian.

"Sergeant Major Lin! Command headquarters is to the east—you're going the wrong way!"

"I'm not going."

"Huh?" Zhang Qian caught up. "This is a meeting personally convened by Commander Li—all sergeants major must attend..."

"Help me ask for leave."

Lin Feng didn't look back, his pace unbroken.

"Tell him I have diarrhea."

Zhang Qian stood frozen, mouth hanging open, unable to close it for a long time.

Diarrhea?

A beast tide was coming, the entire defense line was on secondary combat alert, and you, a sergeant major, were telling him you had diarrhea?

But Lin Feng was already far away.

Zhang Qian stamped his foot, could only steel himself and run toward headquarters, racking his brain over how to explain this to Commander Li.

Lin Feng left the camp and headed straight for the nearest military-controlled E-Rank Rift.

The beast tide would arrive in three days.

Three days.

For others, it was preparation time. For him, it was grinding time.

The exotic beasts in a beast tide were too mixed up, a chaotic mess—hard to farm individually.

But a rift was different. The exotic beasts in a rift spawned on a fixed schedule, with high density and a single variety. It was practically a tailor-made experience dungeon.

Three days. He was going to push his strength to a new level.

At the rift entrance stood two military guards. After verifying Lin Feng's Sergeant Major badge, they immediately let him through.

"Sergeant Major Lin, would you like us to arrange a support squad for you?"

"No need."

"Going in alone?"

"Mm."

The two guards exchanged glances but didn't stop him.

A sergeant major's authority was clear—he could do whatever he wanted.

Lin Feng plunged straight into the rift.

The moment Mountain Splitter left its sheath, the System Panel lit up in the corner of his vision.

[Current Martial Path Points: 0]

[Steel of the Blade: 134/500]

Time to work.

First layer: Iron-Armored Centipedes, eight of them, clinging to the rock crevices on both sides of the passage.

Lin Feng didn't even slow his pace. Mountain Splitter swept left and right—the centipedes' carapaces were like paper before an A-Rank War Blade.

Two slashes.

Eight centipedes became sixteen segments.

[Killed E-Class Exotic Beasts: Iron-Armored Centipede ×8, gained Martial Path Points ×400]

[Steel of the Blade: 142/500]

Second layer: Cold Crystal Scorpions, twelve of them, forming a semicircle as they charged at him.

Lin Feng didn't retreat. He unfolded Lost Trace Step, his figure trailing afterimages as he charged straight into the heart of the scorpion swarm.

Mountain Splitter slashed in succession, each blade stroke precisely cutting into the gaps between the scorpions' abdominal armor.

Six seconds.

All twelve scorpions were dead.

[Killed E-Class Exotic Beast: Cold Crystal Scorpion ×12, gained Martial Path Points ×600]

[Steel of the Blade: 154/500! Second stage activated: Armor Piercing effect! Ignores 100% of target's defense!]

Lin Feng gripped his blade and sensed the change.

A faint, barely discernible sheen had appeared on the edge. When he swung, a low hum whispered through the air.

He found a protruding rock and casually slashed at it.

The rock split cleanly in two, the cut surface perfectly smooth.

"Armor Piercing."

Lin Feng licked his dry lips.

Before, fighting E-Class Exotic Beasts relied on the material advantage of Mountain Splitter to hack through.

Now that Armor Piercing was active, every strike came with built-in penetration.

An exotic beast's carapace? Like paper.

He picked up his pace.

Third layer, fourth layer, fifth layer.

He pushed straight through, killing whatever he encountered, and of course, he didn't leave the Magic Cores behind.

Too fast—digging out Magic Cores wasted time.

Right now, he only wanted Martial Path Points and talent progression.

[Killed E-Class Exotic Beast: Rock Armor Lizard ×3, gained Martial Path Points ×150]

[Killed E-Class Exotic Beast: Blood-Claw Giant Lizard ×2, gained Martial Path Points ×100]

[Killed E-Class Exotic Beast: Iron-Spined Black Python ×1, gained Martial Path Points ×50]

The system notifications rang out nonstop, Martial Path Points piling up rapidly.

Sixth layer of the rift.

At the end of the passage coiled a massive black-armored spider, its eight legs draped in sticky webbing.

E-Rank peak.

Before, Lin Feng would have had to put in some effort.

Now?

He stepped forward with his blade and struck down on the spider's head.

The Armor Piercing effect, stacked with Mountain Splitter's A-Rank power, shattered that layer of hard black carapace instantly.

The spider didn't even have time to screech before its brains splattered across the ground.

[Killed E-Class Exotic Beast: Black-Armored Spider King ×1, gained Martial Path Points ×80]

[Steel of the Blade: 168/500]

One E-Rank rift, from start to finish, completely cleared.

Lin Feng glanced at the system.

[Current Martial Path Points: 2130]

Over two thousand points.

Enough.

First, upgrade.

"Realm, add 400."

[Consumed Martial Path Points ×400]

[Realm increased: Martial Artist Fourth Stage → Martial Artist Fifth Stage!]

A surge of heat flooded his body, the dull ache of bone restructuring already familiar. Lin Feng leaned against the rock wall for half a minute until the heat receded.

He clenched his fist, then released it.

Good.

"Add another 500."

[Consumed Martial Path Points ×500]

[Realm increased: Martial Artist Fifth Stage → Martial Artist Sixth Stage!]

This time, it hit hard. Every meridian in his body felt like it had been scorched by fire, his teeth grinding audibly. After over a minute, the pain finally faded.

Martial Artist Sixth Stage.

He had gone from a fifth-stage Martial Disciple a month ago to where he stood now.

[Remaining Martial Path Points: 1230]

Lin Feng glanced at the remaining points, mulled it over, and dumped 500 points into Mountain-Breaking Slash.

[Mountain-Breaking Slash (501/1000), power greatly increased]

He then poured the remaining 730 points entirely into Lost Trace Step.

[Lost Trace Step (731/2000), movement speed significantly increased]

Lin Feng stood up and stretched his limbs.

A sixth-stage Martial Artist physique, plus the Armor Piercing talent, plus an A-Rank War Blade, plus two advanced martial skills.

This setup, placed on the Sixth Defense Line, was already considered mid-to-upper tier.

But it wasn't enough.

The Beast Tide would bring a large number of C-Rank aberrant beasts.

C-Rank—that was Martial Ancestor-level monsters.

Right now, he had little trouble dealing with D-Rank aberrant beasts, but C-Rank? That was still a stretch.

Three days, with two and a half left.

Lin Feng stepped out of the rift and checked the sky.

Still afternoon.

He turned and headed toward the Second Rift.