Crisis?

"Roar!"

Seeing that its death-throes tail whip had failed to inflict any damage on the "human" who had harmed it, the Twin-Tailed Civet let out a low growl and perished in a state of boundless resentment.

"Pah! I got careless. I never expected it to have such a trick up its sleeve. I must be cautious from now on; I can never make such a mistake again."

Guan Ning spat out a mouthful of blood. Had it not been for his combat suit, he would have collapsed on the spot. He warned himself silently.

In truth, as a forensic doctor in his past life, he was naturally a cautious person. However, with his recent achievements—the Elite Training Camp, the Swift Sword, and so on—he had felt his strength surging and had inevitably become somewhat complacent, leading to this lapse in judgment.

Yet, having gone through this, he had readjusted his mindset.

With the Twin-Tailed Civet dead, the already weakened civets scattered and fled in all directions.

That saved him some trouble.

Guan Ning smiled slightly, picked up his dagger, and began to process the carcass of the Twin-Tailed Civet.

First came the fur. Following the incision made by the Qingming Sword, Guan Ning deftly peeled the entire pelt off in one piece. Next were the two tendons from the tail, and finally, the eighteen sharp claws from the paws.

Guan Ning's movements were clean and efficient, not at all like those of a novice. This was thanks to his past life as a forensic doctor, where he had performed countless autopsies. Even though the animals in this world had mutated, there were still anatomical patterns to follow.

"The fur is intact and in good condition—that's about seven or eight million. The two tendons are two million, and each claw is fifty thousand. That adds up to over ten million. As expected, martial artists make money fast!"

"Fast to earn, but fast to spend. Weapons, equipment, secret manuals, treasures—every single one is a bottomless pit for money. So, being a martial artist isn't easy either!"

Guan Ning sighed with emotion.

After finishing the cleanup, Guan Ning left in a hurry; he could already hear the movements of monsters drawn by the scent of blood.

He was injured now, so it was not wise to engage in a head-on collision. Retreat was the better part of valor.

He found a house unoccupied by monsters, sealed the doors and windows, sat cross-legged on the floor, and began absorbing cosmic energy to heal his wounds.

"Hoo!"

A quarter of an hour later, Guan Ning exhaled a breath of stale air. His injuries were no longer a major concern.

He picked up the Qingming Sword and stood in place, silently recalling that fleeting moment of intuition.

"Shing!"

Sword light flickered. Guan Ning swung his blade over and over. He was not fast, but he put his heart into every single strike.

At the same time, he cross-referenced his movements with that spark of intuition. Each swing had a minute change from the last. Guan Ning was like one possessed, strike after strike. Although there were changes each time, they were not enough to trigger a qualitative leap.

After about half an hour, Guan Ning stopped. He knew his accumulation was still insufficient; no matter how hard he tried, it would be a waste of effort.

"Since that spark of intuition was born in battle, then let us fight!"

Guan Ning stood before the bright window, looking at the dilapidated buildings and wandering monsters outside, his fighting spirit soaring to the heavens.

"It is time to return."

Feeling that the insights in his heart had dissipated, Guan Ning stopped and checked the time, intending to leave and return to the supply base.

Since that incident, Guan Ning had encountered five monster packs, each with no fewer than a hundred members, and each containing more than one Beast General Level monster. He could only use the Beast Soldier Level monsters to hone his sword technique. As for the Beast General Level monsters, he either couldn't kill them or they ran away. Only then did Guan Ning realize that a monster pack of the scale he first encountered was a rare opportunity.

After every battle, he would find a place to contemplate deeply, only seeking the next target once he had fully mastered the insights he had gained.

In just one day, he had made great progress. He believed that in another five or six days, he would be able to fully integrate the Swift Sword into his sword technique. The thought of that was unimaginable!

"There are so many monsters!"

Taking the same route, he encountered more wandering monsters. By the time he returned to the supply base, his backpack was filled with more spoils of war.

He did not see Cui You of the HR Alliance at the entrance of the supply base, but Guan Ning did not care. He returned to his villa, washed up, ate dinner, and began his cultivation.

There was no rush to sell the monster materials; he would accumulate more before selling them to save time.

The second day... the third day... the fifth day...

Time passed day by day. Guan Ning spent every day in County 0214 honing his sword technique, and the monsters in the city suffered for it. Guan Ning used them as sparring partners every time. At first, it was fine; if Guan Ning couldn't handle the pressure of a pack, he would choose to retreat.

However, as Guan Ning's strength increased day by day, drawing closer and closer to the perfection of the first stage, their lives became miserable. Another Beast General Level monster had been slain by Guan Ning, and the Beast Soldier Level monsters were driven to exhaustion, tormented by endless misery.

Consequently, over these past few days, a large number of monsters in County 0214 had fled, including several Beast General Level ones. Those that remained were either mid-level Beast Generals or groups of three to five low-level Beast Generals huddled together, and the number of Beast Soldier Level monsters acting as their subordinates had doubled.

"Finally, I've succeeded. Haha..."

A figure moved continuously through the room. The Qingming Sword flashed like lightning, the sword light shimmering and merging with his cyan combat suit. As the figure flickered, it was as if a cyan streak of light were dancing through the room.

"Moo!"

Just as he was enjoying the beauty of reaching the perfection of the first stage, a roar interrupted him. Feeling a bit annoyed, he went to the balcony and saw the culprit at a glance.

It was none other than one of the overlords of City 0214, a mid-level Beast General Iron-Armored Savage Bull, surrounded by two low-level Beast General and over a hundred Beast Soldier Level Iron-Armored Savage Bulls.

The charging power of bovine monsters was astonishing, and the defensive capabilities of the Iron-Armored Savage Bull were monstrous. If a hundred Iron-Armored Savage Bulls charged together, no one but a God of War could withstand them.

However, because of their massive size, they were difficult to control while charging, and the gaps between them were wide enough for Guan Ning to slip through.

Furthermore, although the Iron-Armored Savage Bull charged quickly, its agility was poor, which gave him the opportunity to maneuver.

Most importantly, with the speed bonus of the Qingming Sword, it was possible to pierce the defenses of a mid-level Beast General Iron-Armored Savage Bull. Thus, Guan Ning still had a chance to slay it.

"Since you've disturbed me, you might as well spar with me. Consider it a final test before I leave!"

Seeing the vast, surging herd of beasts, Guan Ning's eyes lit up.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

With his backpack strapped on, he leaped directly from the rooftop, using the surrounding buildings to propel himself forward like a bolt of lightning, charging toward the herd of bulls ahead.

The herd, hearing the commotion, spotted Guan Ning.

"Moo!!"

Following a thunderous roar from the beast leader.

"Moo..."

Two Beast General Level beasts also let out a series of bellows.

"Rumble..."

The herd instantly broke into a run. Over a hundred massive Iron-Armored Savage Bulls charged forward like a hundred heavy tanks speeding along! The solid concrete floor began to crack, and even the dilapidated buildings nearby started to tremble slightly.

"Well come!"

Guan Ning leaned forward, shooting downward like a sharp arrow.

"Boom!"

Guan Ning landed on the back of an Iron-Armored Savage Bull, the immense impact force shattering the scales on its back. To dissipate the remaining momentum, the beast was forced to collapse to the ground, only to be trampled into a pulp by the bulls following behind.

Guan Ning had adjusted his posture during the descent. At the moment of contact, he used that impact force to leap again; not only did he remain unharmed, but his speed even increased.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Guan Ning leaped time and again, using these Beast Soldier Level beasts as stepping stones, quickly closing in on the beast leader in the center.

"Moo!"

The beast leader realized Guan Ning's intent and roared at the sky.

"Well come!"

A flash of brilliance, a flicker of sword light like a cyan stream of light, pierced through its throat in an instant.

"Ah! Not good..."

As soon as the Qingming Sword touched the scales on the beast leader's throat and felt the massive counter-shock force transmitted through it, Guan Ning's expression changed drastically, and he cursed inwardly.

Although the Qingming Sword, moving at supersonic speeds, had used its immense kinetic energy to pierce the beast leader's throat, the massive recoil would render his entire right arm immobile. Surrounded by over a hundred beasts, that would mean certain death.

In this split second between life and death, Guan Ning's mind was exceptionally calm. In an instant, he thought of the only possible solution; whether it would work was not something he could afford to consider now.

His mental state reached its peak in an instant, and he exerted every ounce of effort to control his muscles to vibrate at different frequencies. Guan Ning's face turned crimson, and his eyes were bloodshot; he could not maintain this state for long.

Did I fail? Hmm...

In just a brief moment, the vibration frequencies of his entire body's muscles merged into one.

Just then, the recoil force traveled from the Qingming Sword back to his palm. The muscles in his hand shuddered, rapidly dispersing the recoil force throughout his entire body through that specific frequency. Aside from the webbing between his thumb and index finger splitting open and a tingling sensation in his wrist, he sustained no other injuries.

"Ugh..."

The process seemed long, but in reality, it was only a fleeting moment. Before the beast leader could even finish its low moan, it collapsed to the ground.

Guan Ning's series of maneuvers had directly caused five or six beasts to be trampled to death by the herd, slowing the herd's momentum. Now that the leader was dead, the herd fell into chaos.

He moved through the herd with ease, quickly attracting even more Iron-Armored Savage Bulls to charge at him.

Taking this opportunity, Guan Ning flexed his tingling wrist; as for the split webbing of his hand, he had no time to worry about it for now.

Enduring the sharp pain from his palm, he began to slaughter wildly within the herd, using the killing to vent the fear of death in his heart.

For a time, roars echoed incessantly throughout the city. The Iron-Armored Savage Bulls went completely berserk, attacking frantically!

Yet Guan Ning was like a butterfly, twisting and turning through the herd, leaving behind faint, blurred afterimages. The clumsy Iron-Armored Savage Bulls couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

"Swish!"

Each strike of his sword was incredibly sharp, causing the air to vibrate and whistle. Every blade stroke sliced across the neck of an Iron-Armored Savage Bull with pinpoint precision. Combined with his footwork, the power was astonishing.