The Moment of the Hunt

The Qingming Sword collided with the cat claws, striking sparks in the night as Guan Ning blocked the first Shadow Cat's pounce. Simultaneously, the claws of the second Shadow Cat sprouted sharp barbs, appearing as if they were about to slash open Guan Ning's throat.

"Good coordination."

However, following the collision with the first Shadow Cat, Guan Ning drifted backward using the force of the rebound. The Shadow Cat's sharp claws missed their mark, and the creature landed on the ground due to its own momentum.

"Pfft..."

Seeing this, Guan Ning's eyes brightened. The Qingming Sword traced an arc, and a thin line of blood immediately appeared on the Shadow Cat's neck. The beast's body collapsed powerlessly, the confusion in its eyes lingering even in death.

Seeing its companion fall to the ground, the other Shadow Cat's eyes betrayed a hint of terror.

The battle had lasted only one round, yet its companion was already dead; the Shadow Cat began to hesitate about whether it should retreat.

"It's too late to run now."

Seeing the Shadow Cat wavering, Guan Ning understood its intentions and charged forward directly.

Realizing that retreat was no longer an option, the Shadow Cat's ferocity flared. It let out a hiss and lunged forward, brandishing its sharp claws.

Guan Ning blocked the claws with the Qingming Sword, twisted his waist, and kicked toward the Shadow Cat's exposed belly.

In that instant, the Shadow Cat was struck with terror, its fur standing on end. The belly was its weak point; taking this kick from Guan Ning would mean either death or severe injury.

It quickly reacted by using its supple body to shrink inward, colliding its two hind legs with Guan Ning's foot, and then used that force to quickly disengage from the fight.

However, Guan Ning's control over his body was exceptional. After a slight pause, he tapped his other foot lightly on the ground and chased after it. Before the Shadow Cat's horrified eyes, the Qingming Sword slashed across its belly, carving a long wound from which blood sprayed wildly.

"Pfft..."

The Shadow Cat's corpse fell limply, its intestines spilling out—the scene was extremely bloody.

But as a former forensic pathologist in his past life, Guan Ning had seen far worse; this was trivial to him. He calmly cut off the left ears of the two Shadow Cats and placed them into his backpack.

"The strength of these two Shadow Cats is simply insufficient. I need a larger quantity."

The previous battle seemed complex, but it had actually taken very little time and failed to provide any real training effect. Guan Ning was quite dissatisfied.

Seeing the corpses of the Shadow Cats on the ground, a glint flashed in his eyes as he thought of a way to gather monsters.

Monsters were extremely sensitive to the scent of blood. The bloody smell emanating from the two Shadow Cat corpses would attract other monsters, and as the number of carcasses increased, more and more monsters would be drawn by the scent, saving him the trouble of searching for them himself.

He called this "waiting for the rabbit to hit the tree stump."

To ensure the scent was strong enough, Guan Ning hacked the two Shadow Cat corpses into pieces. In an instant, the stench became much more pungent. Guan Ning sniffed, found it still within his tolerance, chuckled, and hid in a corner to wait quietly for his prey to arrive.

The first was an Iron-Haired Boar. Relying on his agile footwork, Guan Ning left over a dozen wounds on the beast, but because the Iron-Haired Boar had tough hair and dense flesh, he didn't cause much significant damage. However, the boar went mad from the pain, and Guan Ning seized the opportunity to kill it with an upward slash of his sword.

He followed the same procedure, dismembering the Iron-Haired Boar. Due to its massive size, the stench increased exponentially. Even Guan Ning couldn't bear it, so he found a spot upwind and continued to wait for "fated ones."

The second wave consisted of three Tiger Mastiffs, which Guan Ning handled without any effort.

The third wave totaled eight monsters: five Shadow Cats, two Tiger Mastiffs, and one Iron-Haired Boar.

This time it was more strenuous. First were the five Shadow Cats, as their speed was much faster than Guan Ning's suppressed strength, and their sharp claws made them natural assassins. They would flee immediately if a strike failed, occupying most of Guan Ning's energy, so they were eliminated first.

The remaining two Tiger Mastiffs and the Iron-Haired Boar were simpler. Although Guan Ning limited his own speed, he used his Micro-Level footwork to toy with the three monsters, taking the opportunity to hone his sword skills for a while. Seeing the fourth wave of monsters appear, he didn't waste any more time and finished them off directly.

With the fourth wave of over twenty monsters, Guan Ning finally felt the pressure. Every time he tried to land a killing blow, he would be interrupted by other monsters. In particular, several of the Shadow Cats among them coordinated very well, and even with Guan Ning's Micro-Level footwork, he fell into danger several times. Fortunately, he managed to dodge them thanks to his keen neural reflexes; while he could suppress his strength and speed, he could not suppress his neural reaction time.

Although the process was perilous, Guan Ning's strength and technique underwent a massive transformation. His steps became increasingly concise, yet his movements grew more elegant, and even his swordplay became more streamlined and sharp.

After finishing them off, Guan Ning waited for a long while without finding any new monsters. Once the nearby monsters were mostly cleared out, he left the area to find another place to continue.

The second location...

The third location...

Guan Ning began to slaughter throughout the small town, tempering his combat skills.

The town was densely packed with surveillance devices, and Guan Ning's strategy attracted a large number of monsters each time; such a commotion would naturally be discovered.

Inside a building outside the town, in a large monitoring room, hundreds of monitors were displaying footage from every corner of the town.

"Who is this?" In one room, an officer, a burly man, and a lean man were drinking together. On the large screen on the wall, Guan Ning's figure was being broadcast. The officer sighed, "To actually use this method to attract monsters—it's truly insane! And..."

The officer had long noticed Guan Ning's actions. He had presided over dozens, if not a hundred, of these martial artist practical exams. He had seen many genius martial artists hone themselves during the assessment, but this was the first time he had seen someone use Guan Ning's method. Finding it interesting, he paid closer attention, only to discover Guan Ning's extraordinary nature.

"And what?" The person in charge of the Thunderbolt Martial Hall, the burly man, was staring at a screen showing the flat-topped youth he had scolded at the military base fighting two Shadow Cats. Hearing the officer's words, he asked subconsciously and looked at the screen the officer was watching.

Yu Sen heard this and said nothing, though the corners of his mouth had already curled up. He had naturally noticed Guan Ning; after all, Guan Ning was a genius martial artist recruited in advance by the Limit Martial Hall, so he would naturally pay attention.

Upon looking, Yu Sen was completely astonished. He was not just surprised by Guan Ning's "waiting for the rabbit" tactic, but had actually seen something deeper—such as Micro-Level footwork, Mastery-Level sword skills, and those keen neural reflexes.

All of this gave him a great shock. It wasn't that he hadn't seen geniuses before, but he had truly never seen someone with such strength at only seventeen years old.

"Old Feng, look," the officer pointed at the screen and said, "That exquisite footwork, concise and elegant, confident and composed—it is definitely Micro-Level footwork, and very proficient at that."

"Furthermore, look at that sword technique. Although they are only basic sword moves, every strike is just right. The transition between moves is smooth and seamless, echoing his footwork as if they were one. This is Mastery-Level sword skill!"

"And those neural reflexes..." The officer became more excited the more he watched, his words filled with admiration.

"Huff... huff..."

The burly man watched the screen, his eyes bloodshot, breathing heavily, unable to speak.

On the screen, Guan Ning was constantly weaving through a dense pack of monsters like the wind. His figure was elusive, and the long sword in his hand would slash, thrust, lift, or parry. He was either finishing off a monster or blocking sharp fangs and claws, without a single wasted movement—it was extremely concise.

He had seen the files of the Quasi-Warriors taking the practical exam, especially Guan Ning, who had been recruited in advance by the Limit Martial Hall. He had a deep impression of him; after all, refusing an invitation from his own martial hall's director was not something an ordinary person could do.

Although he had anticipated it, seeing Guan Ning moving with such ease and grace amidst the swarm of monsters was still deeply shocking; after all, sword techniques and movement techniques were different from raw physical fitness, as both required a solid foundation and a massive amount of combat tempering to achieve, and he truly had not expected to see such things appear in a live-combat assessment.

In reality, Micro-Level movement techniques could occasionally be seen during live-combat assessments, but Mastery-Level sword techniques had never appeared before, leaving him unable to help but feel envious.

"Old Feng, what's wrong with you?" The officer noticed the state of the burly man beside him and asked.

However, the burly man's entire focus was currently on how to snatch Guan Ning away from the Limit Martial Hall, and he did not hear the officer's words.

"Old Yu, what's up with Old Feng?" The officer looked toward Yu Sen; the burly man's current state was surely related to the Limit Martial Hall, otherwise, he wouldn't be acting like this.

On the other side, Yu Sen, who was sitting leisurely on the sofa, heard the officer's words, glanced at the burly man, and chuckled, "Wang Yuan, you don't need to pay any mind to this bear; he's surely racking his brains right now trying to figure out how to get his hands on Guan Ning."

"Guan Ning?" The officer, whom Yu Sen called Wang Yuan, looked at the burly man staring at the screen, then at Yu Sen sipping his wine in leisure, and fell into deep thought.

"Is the youth on the screen from your Limit Martial Hall?"

"Correct, he has already joined the martial hall in advance, and he is only seventeen and a half years old."

Yu Sen said proudly; Guan Ning was someone he had recruited personally.

"So that's how it is, no wonder..." Wang Yuan now understood the reason for the burly man's frustration; the Limit Martial Hall and the Thunder Martial Hall were always at odds, and with the Limit Martial Hall producing a freak like Guan Ning, it would be a lie to say the Thunder Martial Hall wasn't jealous.

"Old Yu is right, Feng Xiong is definitely thinking of ways to poach him right now, but..."

Thinking this, Wang Yuan could only shake his head, give the burly man a hard pat to wake him up, and say helplessly, "Old Feng, Old Yu is still right here; how could you possibly..."

"That's right! Yu the Leopard is also here, and he surely saw it too; he won't just let me poach his talent."

Upon hearing this, Feng Xiong froze. After realizing the situation, he took one regretful look at Guan Ning on the screen before sitting back on the sofa to drink his sorrows away.