First Time

Within this enclosed small town, 1,680 prospective fighters dispersed rapidly, setting out to hunt their prey.

"Brother Zhe, Brother Yang, are you both really going to venture into this monster town alone?" The three of them stood by the wall of a dilapidated small supermarket. Yang Wu nodded solemnly. "Luo Zhe, Madman, I know! If I followed you, I would certainly pass this fighter combat assessment with ease, but this is not just an assessment; more importantly, it is a trial of courage!"

"Although my strength isn't as great as yours, as long as I am careful enough, I believe these monsters won't be able to do anything to me. If I need your help for a mere monster town like this now, what will happen in the future? When I truly enter dangerous zones alone, I will encounter far more than just H-Class monsters—the danger will be ten or a hundred times greater than this!"

Luo Feng nodded. "That's true. Take care of yourself, Brother Yang." After saying this, he turned his head to look at Luo Zhe, who stood nearby holding his blade.

Seeing Luo Feng look over, Luo Zhe spread his hands. "This town is filled with nothing but the weakest H-Class monsters; it's perfect for me to practice my footwork. If you follow me, it will only hinder my performance. Besides, these monsters pose no threat to you."

Luo Feng reached up to rub his forehead, sighing helplessly. "But when we left, you promised Chen Gu that you would practice team coordination with me in advance."

"Chen Gu just mentioned it in passing; don't take it to heart. Besides, under normal circumstances, who uses a two-man team? You aren't a Spirit Reader; with your blade technique and footwork, there's no need to worry about enemies getting close." Luo Zhe waved his hand. "I'm off. You two stay safe."

With his battle blade slung over his shoulder, Luo Zhe turned and walked away with a carefree air, strolling right down the center of the road without the slightest concern about attracting the attention of monsters.

Luo Feng shrugged helplessly. It seemed that life in the wilderness area was going to be quite a show; he estimated that Brother Zhe would be hearing plenty of nagging from Chen Gu in the future. Recalling Chen Gu's behavior lately, Luo Feng couldn't help but shiver. Could he be going through early menopause? But Chen Gu was only in his thirties—was the pressure just too much!?

Unaware of the chaotic thoughts running through Luo Feng's mind, Yang Wu reached out and patted Luo Feng on the shoulder. "Stay safe. See you outside the town at daybreak." After saying this, Yang Wu carefully scanned his surroundings and then darted away with a swoosh.

Watching the figure disappear into the night, Luo Feng also quickly dashed into the shadows.

Unlike Luo Zhe's brazen approach, the two of them had to be much more cautious. If they were to attract a swarm of dozens of monsters, even with Luo Feng's status as a Spirit Reader, it would be quite troublesome.

Night had long since fallen, and the edges of the enclosed town were illuminated by large searchlights, leaving many areas bright, though many others remained shrouded in gloom.

Carrying his battle blade, Luo Zhe walked along a concrete road. Guided by the light that swept across periodically from the searchlights, his gaze remained fixed on the dark corners of the nearby buildings, searching for spots where monsters might be hiding.

Swoosh—

Suddenly, a sound of wind being torn apart erupted from above Luo Zhe's head.

Luo Zhe instinctively kicked off the ground, leaping ten meters backward in a tactical retreat, narrowly dodging the lethal claw strike of a Shadow Cat that had pounced from the roof of a nearby residential building.

Bang!

The ground that had been struck by the claws cracked instantly. Under the force of gravity from the high fall, a small crater three meters long and one meter wide was smashed into the earth.

The Shadow Cat, having missed its mark, shook its head in the crater. It clearly hadn't expected the prey, Luo Zhe, to be able to dodge its attack. Despite the fleshy pads on its front paws acting as buffers, the impact still affected it.

For a moment, its head was left spinning!

Luo Zhe narrowed his eyes, sizing up the Shadow Cat not far away. The monster was covered in gray fur and wasn't very large, measuring only about half a meter in length—roughly the size of a bedside table.

In this town, although there were many monsters, they mainly fell into three categories: the 'Iron-Haired Wild Boar' that relied on immense strength and defense, and the 'Tiger Mastiff Hound', which possessed astonishing speed and power among the canine monsters.

Finally, there was this feline monster, the 'Shadow Cat', which relied on speed.

Luo Zhe had heard long ago that some wild animals, which were already relatively intelligent, had awakened their consciousness after turning into monsters during the Great Nirvana. Although humans had yet to discover any signs of monsters learning human language, according to current trends, as monsters continued to evolve, it was possible that some might one day be able to communicate with humans.

Luo Zhe had originally thought this was just nonsense from scientists, but judging by the ambush from this Shadow Cat, it was clear that some monsters already possessed significant intelligence.

Although felines were famous in nature for being excellent hunters, given Luo Zhe's neural reaction speed, even if he had been a bit careless, the fact that this Shadow Cat had managed to ambush him silently from above—only being detected when it was right over his head—meant it had clearly hidden itself with great care to evade his perception.

"The stalking game ends here, little kitty!"

Whoosh!

Luo Zhe's figure closed in on the Shadow Cat rapidly. A flash of cold light erupted, followed by the sound of a blade slicing through flesh.

A moment later, Luo Zhe stood at the edge of the crater, his Blood Shadow Battle Blade hanging naturally at his side, a faint trace of blood on the edge. The Shadow Cat remained standing in the crater, a look of terror in its eyes before the light in them rapidly faded. Starting from its abdomen, its body was torn into two halves, its internal organs severed by Luo Zhe's single strike.

Blood gushed endlessly from the Shadow Cat's wound, pooling on the ground and forming a small, bright red puddle within the crater.

"Hoo... hoo."

Looking at the bloody scene before him, Luo Zhe felt his stomach churn. A wave of nausea surged up, and he quickly took two deep breaths.

The sight of the Shadow Cat's abdomen spraying blood made Luo Zhe tremble, goosebumps rising all over his skin. He felt his hand, still gripping the blade, shaking slightly.

He swallowed hard, forcing the urge to vomit back down.

Killing a monster for the first time was truly a shocking experience!

"No wonder Uncle Wu always said that many prospective fighters, upon seeing blood for the first time, can't even unleash ten percent of their strength." Luo Zhe took another deep breath to steady his emotions.

Fortunately, just in case, Luo Zhe had unleashed his full power, reaching a burst speed of over 100 meters per second, which allowed him to kill the Shadow Cat before it could even react. Otherwise, in his previous state, he might have been successfully ambushed.

However, having gone through the first slaughter, Luo Zhe felt a bit more mentally prepared. He believed that in the battles to come, even if such a situation occurred again, he wouldn't be left limp and unable to fight back.

After standing in place for about five minutes, Luo Zhe walked over to the Shadow Cat's carcass and waved his hand—

Squelch!

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

"Who's there!" Just as Luo Zhe turned to leave, he suddenly tensed up and assumed a defensive posture toward the alley on his right.

"Brother Luo Zhe, don't attack, don't attack, it's one of our own!" A thin, small youth wearing a pitch-black combat suit with faint silver specks slowly emerged from the alley.