Crisis?

"Roar!"

The Twin-Tailed Civet saw that the lash of its tail, dealt in its final moments, had failed to affect the "human" who had injured it. It let out a low growl and died consumed by boundless resentment.

"Pfft! I let my guard down. I never expected it to have a move like that. I'll be careful from now on and never make that mistake again."

Guan Ning spat out a mouthful of blood. If not for his combat suit, he would have already collapsed. He silently admonished himself.

In truth, he had always been a cautious person in his previous life as a forensic examiner. But lately, after accomplishing one thing after another—the Elite Training Camp, the Swift Sword, and so on—he had felt his strength improving by leaps and bounds. It was only natural that he'd grown somewhat complacent and made such a mistake.

Still, the incident had brought him back to his senses.

With the Twin-Tailed Civet dead, the already-weakened Flower Civet Cats scattered in all directions.

That saved him the trouble.

Guan Ning smiled faintly, picked up his dagger, and began processing the Twin-Tailed Civet's corpse.

First came its pelt. Following the cut Qingming Sword had made, Guan Ning swiftly peeled off the whole Flower Civet Cat pelt in one piece. Next were the two tendons in its tail, and finally the eighteen claws on its paws.

His movements were clean and practiced, nothing like a beginner's. That was thanks to his previous life as a forensic examiner, where he had dissected more than a few corpses. Even though the animals in this world had mutated, there were still familiar patterns to follow.

"The pelt's intact and in good condition. It should be worth seven or eight million. The two tendons are worth two million, and each claw is worth fifty thousand. That adds up to over ten million. Martial artists really do make money fast!"

"Money comes fast, but so does spending it. Weapons and equipment, manuals and treasures—every one of them is a huge money sink. Being a martial artist isn't easy either!"

Guan Ning sighed.

Once he had finished, Guan Ning hurried away. He could already hear the sounds of monsters running toward the scent of blood.

He was injured, so this wasn't the time to fight them head-on. Better to leave first.

He found a house with no monsters living in it, sealed the doors and windows, then sat cross-legged on the floor and absorbed cosmic energy to heal his injuries.

"Phew!"

A quarter of an hour later, Guan Ning exhaled a mouthful of stale air. His injuries were no longer serious.

He picked up the Qingming Sword and stood still, silently recalling that fleeting stir of inspiration.

"Shing!"

Swordlight flashed as Guan Ning swung his sword again and again. He didn't move quickly, but he put his full attention into every strike.

At the same time, he compared each strike against that faint stir of inspiration in his heart. Every sword stroke differed slightly from the last. Guan Ning seemed possessed, swinging one time after another. Though each strike changed, none of the differences were enough to bring about a qualitative transformation.

After about half an hour, Guan Ning stopped. He knew he hadn't built up enough yet. No matter how hard he tried, it would only be a waste of effort.

"Since that faint stir came during a fight, then I'll fight!"

Guan Ning stood before the brightly lit window, gazing at the ruined buildings and wandering monsters outside. His fighting spirit soared.

"It's time to head back."

Feeling the insight in his heart fade, Guan Ning stopped and checked the time. He planned to leave and return to the Supply Base.

Since then, Guan Ning had encountered five monster hordes, each numbering well over a hundred. Each had more than one Beast General Level monster. He could only use Beast Soldier Level monsters to hone his swordsmanship. As for the Beast General Level monsters, he either couldn't kill them or they got away. Only then did Guan Ning realize that a horde on the scale of the first one was a rare find.

After each fight, he would find somewhere to reflect carefully, only seeking out his next target after he had fully grasped what he'd learned.

He had made great progress in just one day. He was sure that in another five or six days, he could fully incorporate the Swift Sword into his swordsmanship. The thought of what that would look like was almost too much to imagine!

"There are so many monsters!"

He encountered wandering monsters along the same route again. By the time he returned to the Supply Base, he had more spoils in his backpack.

He didn't see Cui You from the HR Alliance at the Supply Base entrance, but Guan Ning didn't mind. He returned to the villa, washed up, ate dinner, and then began cultivating.

There was no need to rush to sell the monster materials. He would save them up and sell them all at once to save time.

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

As the days passed, Guan Ning honed his swordsmanship every day in County 0214. The monsters in the city suffered for it. At first, it went fairly well: when Guan Ning couldn't withstand the pressure of a horde, he would retreat.

But as his strength grew day by day and he drew closer to the first level's perfection, their lives became much harder. Guan Ning killed another Beast General Level monster, while the Beast Soldier Level monsters were left utterly exhausted. He tormented them until they could hardly bear it.

As a result, in recent days, monsters had fled County 0214 in droves. Even several Beast General Level monsters had left. Those remaining were either Intermediate Beast General Level monsters or groups of three to five Elementary Beast General Level monsters. The Beast Soldier Level monsters under their command had even doubled in number.

"I finally did it! Hahaha..."

A figure moved ceaselessly around the room. The Qingming Sword flashed like lightning, its gleaming blade blending with his blue-green combat suit. As he flickered from place to place, he seemed like a streak of blue-green light flying through the room.

"Moo!"

Just as he was savoring the wonder of reaching perfection in the first level, a bellow interrupted him. Annoyed, he went to the balcony and immediately spotted the culprit.

It was one of the tyrants of County 0214: an Intermediate Beast General Level Iron-Armored Savage Bull. Two Elementary Beast General Level monsters and over a hundred Beast Soldier Level Iron-Armored Savage Bulls surrounded it.

The charge of bovine monsters was astonishingly powerful, and Iron-Armored Savage Bulls had exceptionally tough defenses. A charge by over a hundred of them was something only a War God could withstand.

However, their massive bodies made them difficult to control when charging, so they needed ample space between them. That gave Guan Ning room to slip through.

On top of that, although the Iron-Armored Savage Bulls charged quickly, they weren't very agile. This gave him a chance to maneuver around them.

Most importantly, with the Qingming Sword's speed boost, he could still break through the defenses of an Intermediate Beast General Level Iron-Armored Savage Bull. So he still had a chance of killing it.

"Since you interrupted me, you can help me train. Think of it as a test before I leave!"

Seeing the mighty horde, Guan Ning's eyes lit up.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

With his backpack on, he leaped straight off the rooftop. He pushed off the surrounding buildings with his legs again and again, hurtling toward the Savage Bull herd like a bolt of lightning.

The herd heard the commotion and spotted Guan Ning.

"Moo!!"

The monster leader let out a mighty roar.

"Moo..."

The two Elementary Beast General Level monsters also bellowed repeatedly.

"Rumble..."

The herd began to charge in an instant. Over a hundred enormous Iron-Armored Savage Bulls barreled toward him like a hundred speeding heavy tanks! Cracks appeared in the hard concrete beneath their hooves, and even the ruined buildings nearby trembled slightly.

"Bring it on!"

Guan Ning leaned forward and shot downward like an arrow.

"Boom!"

Guan Ning landed on the back of an Iron-Armored Savage Bull. The tremendous impact shattered the scales on its back, and to absorb the remaining force, he had no choice but to flatten himself against the ground. The bulls behind it trampled it repeatedly, turning it into a lump of bloody pulp.

Guan Ning had adjusted his posture while descending. The instant he made contact, he used the impact to leap again. Not only was he unharmed, he had gained even more speed.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Guan Ning leaped again and again, using the Beast Soldier Level monsters as stepping-stones. He soon neared the monster leader at the center.

"Moo!"

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

"Bring it on!"

A flash of brilliance, a gleam of swordlight—like a streak of blue-green light, it pierced straight through the monster leader's throat.

"Ah! No..."

The moment the Qingming Sword touched the scales on the monster leader's throat, Guan Ning felt the immense recoil. His expression changed, and he cried out inwardly.

The Qingming Sword had broken through the monster leader's throat at supersonic speed, driven by its tremendous kinetic energy. But the immense recoil would render his entire right arm unusable. Surrounded by over a hundred monsters, that would mean certain death.

At this life-or-death moment, Guan Ning's mind was exceptionally clear. In an instant, he thought of the only possible solution. Whether it would work wasn't something he could afford to consider now.

His mind reached its peak as he did his utmost to control the muscles throughout his body, making them vibrate at different frequencies. His face turned red, and his eyes filled with blood vessels. He couldn't maintain this state for long.

"Did I fail? Hmm..."

In just an instant, the vibrations of his muscles throughout his body synchronized into one.

Just then, the recoil traveled from the Qingming Sword into his palm. The muscles in his hand shuddered, rapidly dispersing the force throughout his body through a special frequency. Aside from the skin between his thumb and forefinger splitting and his wrist going numb, he suffered no other injuries.

"Wuu..."

The process seemed long, but in reality, it had taken only an instant. Only then did the monster leader let out a low groan and collapse to the ground.

Guan Ning's series of moves had caused five or six monsters to be trampled to death by the herd, slowing its charge as well. Now that the leader was dead, the herd fell into chaos.

He moved through the herd with ease, soon drawing even more Iron-Armored Savage Bulls toward him.

Seizing the chance, Guan Ning flexed his numb wrist. He couldn't worry about the split skin between his thumb and forefinger for now.

Ignoring the stinging pain in his hand, he began a furious slaughter among the herd, venting his fear of death through killing.

Roars echoed throughout the city. The Iron-Armored Savage Bulls went completely berserk and attacked furiously!

Guan Ning was like a butterfly, darting and weaving through the herd. Several blurry afterimages seemed to trail him, and the clumsy Iron-Armored Savage Bulls couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

"Shing!"

Swordlight flashed with deadly sharpness, shaking the air and stirring up gusts of wind. Every strike slashed precisely across an Iron-Armored Savage Bull's neck. Combined with his footwork, each blow was even more powerful.