"Thanks!"
Guan Ning thanked him. Whatever Cui You's reason for speaking up, he had still offered Guan Ning his first well-intentioned warning, and that deserved his thanks.
"Beep."
The Supply Base wasn't large, and Guan Ning quickly found the row of villas marked H502. He swiped the chip key across the door, and the entrance to the two-story villa opened. Until he left the Supply Base, the villa was his to use.
After resting at the Supply Base, eating lunch, and getting his gear in order, Guan Ning headed out.
The Wilderness Area was a general term for all the land outside humanity's Base Cities. It included abandoned, ruined cities, suburbs, mountains, woodlands, lakes, and more.
In short, all the land on Earth beyond the Base Cities was considered Wilderness Area.
To ordinary people living in the Base Cities, the Wilderness Area was a forbidden land where death awaited.
It was teeming with all kinds of monsters and was off-limits to humanity.
March weather swung between cold and warm, clear and rainy. Guan Ning was in luck: though the temperature was low, the sky was unusually clear.
With a long sword in hand, Guan Ning strode through the wilderness. These fields might once have been farmland, but decades had passed, and they were now overgrown with weeds. It was the third month of spring, when birds sang and grass grew lush. The weeds had already reached waist height.
He followed the paths trampled by warriors, heading in a fixed direction, his nerves taut the whole way. A monster could suddenly leap out of the grass at any moment.
"Rustle..."
Sure enough, just as Guan Ning reached a bend, the grass to his right stirred. He gripped his sword tightly and fixed his gaze on the spot.
"Poof."
A rabbit appeared before him, half a meter tall and over a meter long, its entire body covered in gray-white fur. Its two blood-red eyes stared fixedly at Guan Ning.
"F-class Red-Eyed Gray Rabbit, Intermediate Beast Soldier Level. Its most valuable materials are its red eyes, worth 10,000 Huaxia Currency."
Guan Ning recognized its name and level at a glance, along with the valuable materials it carried.
Red-Eyed Gray Rabbits were common Beast Soldier-level rabbit monsters. H-level ones had pale-red eyes, G-level ones had bright-red eyes, and F-class ones had eyes as red as blood, making them easy to identify.
"Grr..."
The Red-Eyed Gray Rabbit made an angry sound when it saw Guan Ning. It kicked off with its hind legs and shot toward him like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Rabbits were quick to move!
Even before the Great Nirvana, rabbits had been fast, with especially powerful hind legs. Now, they were even more formidable.
The F-class Red-Eyed Gray Rabbit before him was as fast as an ordinary E-level monster even at a normal pace. Its leap would be even faster, comparable to that of a D-level monster.
Combined with its enormous build, its charge carried tremendous force.
"Thud."
Guan Ning darted to the rabbit's side. Qingming Sword swept lightly upward, and the rabbit's head flew off. Its headless body sailed a long way under its own momentum before crashing to the ground.
Though Qingming Sword wasn't renowned for its sharpness, it could still carve through Beast Soldier-level monsters with ease.
Guan Ning took the dagger strapped to his leg, dug out the two blood-red eyes, and put them in his backpack.
Though Guan Ning found it cruel, he felt no pity. The two sides simply couldn't coexist.
He encountered two or three more Beast Soldier-level monsters on the way, but dispatched them all cleanly.
Guan Ning had known to expect this. Most monsters active beyond the cities were Beast Soldier-level. Beast General- and Lord-level monsters usually lived in abandoned cities, where the tall buildings shielded them from missiles.
He walked along the ruined streets, gazing out at desolation all around.
Apartment buildings, shops, supermarkets, convenience stores, barbershops...
The bustling prosperity of the past was gone. This place had become a paradise for monsters.
The area around him was silent, yet he had no idea how many monsters were lurking nearby. Guan Ning swept his gaze around and soon spotted one inside an apartment building ahead.
Through the windows, he saw dozens of Flower Civet Cats lying on the floor, dozing. In their midst was a Twin-Tailed Civet three times larger than the rest.
Two tails: Elementary Beast General Level.
Among the feline monsters,
two tails meant Elementary Beast General Level,
three meant Intermediate Beast General Level... five meant Elementary Lord... seven meant High Lord... and eight meant beyond the Lord level.
Any with nine tails were Nine-Life Cat Demons (Nine-Life Cat Kings), among the most fearsome monsters on Earth.
"Boom!"
Guan Ning took a deep breath and put a little force into his feet. He shot forward like lightning, and the concrete beneath him cracked with a bang. He sprang up like a cannonball and crashed straight through the window.
"Meow... meow... meow!"
The tremendous noise woke the Flower Civet Cats from their carefree slumber. Dozens of them, their fur bristling, cried out in a chorus of shrieks.
Seizing the opportunity, Guan Ning's figure flickered from place to place as he darted through the monster horde. He paid little attention to the Beast Soldier-level monsters, dodging them one after another as he made straight for the Twin-Tailed Civet in the center.
"Meow!"
The Twin-Tailed Civet realized the intruder's intent and roared. One Flower Civet Cat after another pounced, bit, clawed, and wrapped its tail around Guan Ning, relentlessly trying to hinder him.
With his physique and the A6-Type Combat Suit he wore, even if the Flower Civet Cats landed their attacks, they couldn't hurt him.
Still, Guan Ning dodged each attack with care. He used the spine of Qingming Sword to bat the attackers away. Even though they rejoined the fight right afterward, he kept knocking them aside instead of killing them.
His goal was to hone his footwork and swordplay, not to slaughter. So he had set himself a rule: when he encountered a horde made up only of Beast Soldier-level monsters, he would avoid it at once; when a Beast General-level monster led the horde, he would try not to kill a single "soldier" and take only the Beast General.
The Flower Civet Cats slowed Guan Ning's advance, but he continued inching toward the Twin-Tailed Civet at the center of the horde.
"Meow!"
Seeing Guan Ning plow through the horde, the Twin-Tailed Civet grew afraid and roared at the others. The Flower Civet Cats moved with greater agility, their coordination growing tighter.
Guan Ning had to dodge and defend more frequently, and his progress slowed considerably. His stamina was draining much faster, too.
But instead of pressing forward, he now focused entirely on battling the surrounding horde. Throughout the fight, he kept trying to incorporate the Swift Sword into every swing. He hadn't succeeded once, but his progress kept increasing.
At first, Guan Ning had been completely at a loss, but in this short time, he had already glimpsed the beginnings of an idea.
Realizing this made him even more excited. He gradually lost himself in the experience, unable to pull away.
Just then, the Flower Civet Cats' attacks suddenly weakened, jolting Guan Ning out of his excitement. Their movements had grown sluggish, and their coordination had fallen apart. It was obvious they were exhausted.
Seeing this, Guan Ning understood. The Twin-Tailed Civet had ordered them to overexert themselves to stop him. Now, they were too exhausted to help.
Once he understood, Guan Ning turned his gaze to the Twin-Tailed Civet, which was preparing to flee. It was less than three meters away.
Guan Ning was briefly surprised, then realized what had happened. After giving the order, the Twin-Tailed Civet had seen Guan Ning stop because the horde was holding him back. It had then crept closer, hoping to catch him off guard.
When it noticed the horde faltering and realized Guan Ning was no match for it, the Twin-Tailed Civet had tried to escape—and Guan Ning had caught it in the act.
"Heh. You're trying to run now? Too late."
With a light chuckle, he moved and appeared in front of the Twin-Tailed Civet like a streak of lightning. This was the same move he had used when he mastered the Swift Sword.
After practicing yesterday, Guan Ning had already mastered the move. Its essence lay in channeling the force created by his vibrating muscles into his legs, suddenly doubling his speed. Of course it was fast!
The Twin-Tailed Civet reacted quickly, leaping backward to evade the horizontal slash. Though its body was massive, its four paws were light and nimble. Its narrow eyes looked down at Guan Ning.
Guan Ning stared back at the Twin-Tailed Civet, holding Qingming Sword in his right hand as he walked toward it, step by step.
The distance between them closed rapidly.
"Thump!"
The Twin-Tailed Civet's graceful air vanished, replaced by savagery. It blurred and lunged straight at Guan Ning.
"Whoosh!"
As it flew at him, its soft paws opened like blades drawn from their sheaths, revealing rows of sharp claws.
"Whoosh!"
At the crucial instant, Guan Ning shifted his feet. His Micro-Level footwork made him as swift as the wind, and he slipped clear of the Twin-Tailed Civet's pounce.
Qingming Sword thrust diagonally, fast as lightning.
"Poof."
With a soft sound, Qingming Sword pierced the Twin-Tailed Civet's body. Its armor-like fur was as fragile as tofu before the blade.
"Wuu... wuu..."
Using the Twin-Tailed Civet's own momentum, Qingming Sword easily carved a long gash in its body, deep enough to expose bone. Blood sprayed out.
The Twin-Tailed Civet let out a shriek. The muscles around the huge wound contracted, slowing the bleeding, but blood still trickled steadily. The wound had clearly been too large.
Knowing it was doomed, the Twin-Tailed Civet's eyes flashed with viciousness. Its tail swept around fiercely.
Guan Ning hadn't expected it to manage a last-ditch attack before dying. Caught off guard, he could only raise his sword to block.
"Bang!"
The Twin-Tailed Civet's tail struck the blade like a heavy steel whip. Qingming Sword stopped the first tail, but the second slammed into Guan Ning's body. The powerful impact sent him flying.
While still airborne, Guan Ning adjusted his posture. He landed and took three steps back to dissipate the force, only then coming to a stop.
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