The First Time

In the sealed-off town, 1,680 Quasi-Martial Artists quickly spread out and began hunting their prey.

"Brother Zhe, Brother Yang, are you both going to take on Monster Town alone?" Luo Zhe and the others stood beside the wall of a dilapidated little supermarket. Yang Wu nodded solemnly. "Luo Zhe, Madman, I know! If I stick with you, I'll definitely pass this Martial Artist Combat Assessment easily. But this isn't just an assessment. More importantly, it's a test of courage!"

"My skills aren't as good as yours, but as long as I'm careful, I'm sure these monsters won't be able to do anything to me. If I need your help just to deal with a mere Monster Town, how will I manage in the future? When I eventually venture into a dangerous area alone, I'll encounter more than just H-Class Monsters. The danger will be ten, even a hundred times greater!"

Luo Feng nodded. "You're right. Be careful, Brother Yang." Then he turned to look at Luo Zhe, who stood nearby with a blade in hand.

When Luo Zhe saw Luo Feng looking at him, he shrugged. "This town is full of the weakest H-Class Monsters. It's perfect for practicing my footwork. Having you follow me would make it harder to perform. Besides, these monsters are no threat to you."

Luo Feng raised a hand to his forehead and said helplessly, "But when we left, you promised Chen Gu you'd team up with me to get used to working together."

"Chen Gu was just making a suggestion. Don't take it to heart. Besides, when do you ever see a two-man team under normal circumstances? You're not a Spirit Reader, but with your blade technique and footwork, you don't need to worry about enemies getting close." Luo Zhe waved a hand. "I'm off. Stay safe."

Lifting the War Blade onto his shoulder, Luo Zhe turned and strode away with an easy confidence, walking right down the middle of the road without the slightest concern about attracting monsters.

Luo Feng shrugged helplessly. Looks like there'd be plenty of drama once they started teaming up in the Wilderness Zone. Brother Zhe would probably get an earful from Chen Gu. Thinking of how Chen Gu had been acting lately, Luo Feng couldn't help shuddering. Had he hit a premature midlife crisis? But Chen Gu was only in his thirties. Maybe it was just too much stress!?

Unaware of all the random thoughts running through Luo Feng's head, Yang Wu patted him on the shoulder. "Stay safe. I'll see you outside town at dawn tomorrow." After speaking, Yang Wu carefully scanned his surroundings, then shot off in a swift sprint.

Watching Yang Wu disappear into the night, Luo Feng darted away and slipped into the shadows.

Unlike Luo Zhe, who'd swaggered off without a care, Luo Feng and Yang Wu had been far more cautious. If they attracted a swarm of dozens of monsters, even Luo Feng's abilities as a Spirit Reader wouldn't make things easy.

Night had long since fallen. Along the edge of the sealed-off town, large searchlights shone down on it, brightly illuminating many areas, though plenty of places remained dim.

With his War Blade over his shoulder, Luo Zhe walked along a concrete road. The searchlights swept past from time to time, and in their fleeting glow, he kept an eye on the shadowy corners of the surrounding buildings, searching for places where monsters might be hiding.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a sharp sound of rushing air came from above Luo Zhe's head.

Luo Zhe instinctively kicked off the ground and leaped backward in a tactical retreat, covering ten meters. By the narrowest margin, he dodged the pouncing claws of a Shadow Cat that had sprung from the roof of a nearby residential building.

Bang!

The innocent patch of ground it had attacked split open at once. The force of its fall from such a height had smashed a small crater into the ground, three meters long and one meter wide.

After missing its strike, the Shadow Cat wobbled its head in the crater. It clearly hadn't expected its prey, Luo Zhe, to dodge. With no body to cushion its fall, the impact had affected it despite the pads on its forepaws.

For a moment, its head rang like a bell!

Luo Zhe narrowed his eyes and studied the Shadow Cat nearby. Its fur was gray, and it wasn't very large, only about half a meter long—roughly the size of the bedside table at home.

There were plenty of monsters in the town, but most belonged to just three kinds. The first was the Iron-Haired Wild Boar, which relied on its immense strength and defense. The second was the Tiger Mastiff Hound, a canine monster with astonishing speed and power.

The last was the feline monster before him, the Shadow Cat, which relied on its speed!

Luo Zhe had heard that some wild animals, already known for their intelligence, had gained sentience after becoming monsters during the Great Nirvana Period. Humans had yet to find any evidence of monsters learning to speak, but given the way they kept evolving, it was possible that one day a monster would be able to talk with people.

Luo Zhe had thought it was nothing but scientific nonsense, but judging from the Shadow Cat's ambush, some monsters really had developed considerable intelligence.

Felines had always been renowned hunters in nature. Yet with Luo Zhe's reaction speed, even if he'd been a little careless, this Shadow Cat had managed to sneak up on him without making a sound. He hadn't noticed it until it was already right above him. Clearly, it had carefully concealed itself to evade his senses.

"Your game of stalking ends here, kitty!"

Whoosh!

Luo Zhe rushed toward the Shadow Cat. A flash of cold light appeared, followed by the sound of a blade slicing through flesh.

The next moment, Luo Zhe stood at the edge of the crater, his Blood Shadow Battle Blade hanging loosely in his hand, a trace of blood glinting on its edge. The Shadow Cat was still standing in the crater, a hint of terror in its eyes. Then the light in them quickly faded. Starting at the belly, its body split into two halves, head and tail, its internal organs cut apart by Luo Zhe's single slash.

Blood poured endlessly from the Shadow Cat's wound, spilling across the ground and gathering in the crater to form a small, bright-red pool.

"Huff, huff."

Looking at the gruesome scene, Luo Zhe felt his stomach clench. A wave of nausea rose in his throat, and he hurriedly took a couple of deep breaths.

The sight of blood gushing from the Shadow Cat's belly made Luo Zhe shiver. Goosebumps rose all over his body, and even the hand gripping his blade trembled a little.

He swallowed hard twice, finally suppressing the urge to throw up.

Killing a monster for the first time really was shocking!

"No wonder Uncle Wu kept saying that when many Quasi-Martial Artists saw blood for the first time, they couldn't even manage a tenth of their full strength." Luo Zhe took another deep breath and steadied himself.

Fortunately, he'd gone all out just in case. His burst speed exceeded 100 meters per second, leaving the Shadow Cat no time to react before it died beneath his blade. Otherwise, given how he'd been feeling a moment ago, the Shadow Cat might well have succeeded in ambushing him.

Still, after experiencing that first kill, Luo Zhe was somewhat prepared. He was sure that if the same thing happened again in the battles ahead, he wouldn't go completely weak and lose the ability to fight back.

After standing still for about five minutes, Luo Zhe finally walked over to the Shadow Cat's corpse and swung his hand—

Schk!

He cut off the Shadow Cat's left ear and put it in the backpack on his back. "That's the first one!"

"Who's there?" Just as Luo Zhe turned to leave, he suddenly assumed a defensive stance and warily faced the alley on his right.

"Brother Luo Zhe, don't attack! Don't attack! I'm one of you, one of you." A thin young man in a pitch-black combat suit flecked with a faint silver sheen slowly emerged from the alley.