Hunting Time

The Ming Sword clashed with the cat's claws, sending sparks flying in the night. Guan Ning blocked the first Shadow Cat's pounce. At the same time, the other Shadow Cat's claws sprouted sharp spikes, poised to tear open Guan Ning's throat.

"Nice teamwork."

But after colliding with the first Shadow Cat, Guan Ning drifted backward, using the force of the impact. The Shadow Cat's claws swiped through empty air, and its momentum carried it to the ground.

"Pfft..."

Seeing his chance, Guan Ning's eyes lit up. The Qingming Sword swept through an arc, and a line of blood appeared across the Shadow Cat's neck. Its body crumpled, and the confusion in its eyes remained until the very end.

Seeing its companion lying on the ground, the other Shadow Cat's eyes filled with fear.

Its companion had been killed in just one exchange. The Shadow Cat was already hesitating over whether to flee.

"You're too late to run now."

Seeing the Shadow Cat hesitate, Guan Ning understood what it was thinking and charged straight at it.

Realizing it was too late to retreat, the Shadow Cat's ferocity flared. It let out a hiss and pounced, swinging its claws.

Guan Ning used the Qingming Sword to block its claws, twisted at the waist, and kicked at the exposed belly of the Shadow Cat.

In that instant, the Shadow Cat was terrified. Its fur stood on end. Its belly was its weakness; one kick from Guan Ning could leave it dead or crippled.

It reacted quickly, using its flexible body to curl upward. Its hind legs collided with Guan Ning's foot, and it used the force to break away from the fight.

But Guan Ning had excellent control over his body. After the briefest pause, he lightly tapped the ground with his other foot and swiftly gave chase. Under the Shadow Cat's horrified gaze, the Qingming Sword sliced across its belly, leaving a long gash. Blood sprayed everywhere.

"Pfft..."

The Shadow Cat's corpse fell limply to the ground, a long length of intestine spilling out. The scene was gruesome.

But Guan Ning had been a forensic pathologist in his previous life. He had seen all kinds of things, and this was nothing to him. Calmly, he cut off the left ears of both Shadow Cats and put them in his backpack.

"Two Shadow Cats aren't enough of a challenge. I need more of them."

The fight had looked complicated, but it had been over in a flash and hadn't provided any real training. Guan Ning was quite dissatisfied.

Looking at the Shadow Cat corpses on the ground, a glint passed through his eyes. He had thought of a way to gather more monsters.

Monsters were extremely sensitive to the smell of blood. The stench from the two Shadow Cat corpses would attract other monsters, and as the number of corpses increased, more and more monsters would be drawn by the smell. Then he wouldn't have to go looking for them himself.

He called it "waiting by a stump for a rabbit."

To make the blood smell stronger, Guan Ning chopped the two Shadow Cat corpses into pieces. The stench intensified at once. He wrinkled his nose; it was still bearable. Grinning, he hid in a corner and quietly waited for his prey to arrive.

The first to arrive was a single Iron-Haired Boar. Relying on his nimble footwork, Guan Ning left more than a dozen cuts across its body. But the Iron-Haired Boar had stiff bristles and thick, firm flesh, so the wounds didn't do much damage. The pain sent it into a frenzy, however, and Guan Ning seized his chance to slash upward with his sword and kill it.

He did the same with the Iron-Haired Boar's corpse. Because it was so large, the stench it gave off was several times stronger. Guan Ning couldn't stand it either, so he found a spot upwind and continued waiting for "the next lucky visitor."

The second group was three Tiger Mastiffs. Guan Ning dispatched them without effort.

The third group consisted of eight monsters: five Shadow Cats, two Tiger Mastiffs, and one Iron-Haired Boar.

This time, the fight was more difficult. The five Shadow Cats were much faster than Guan Ning, who was holding back his strength. Their sharp claws made them natural assassins: if they missed a strike, they immediately darted away. They took up most of Guan Ning's attention, so he killed them first.

The remaining two Tiger Mastiffs and the Iron-Haired Boar were much easier to handle. Although Guan Ning was limiting his speed, his Micro-Level footwork let him toy with the three monsters. He used the opportunity to hone his swordsmanship for a while. When he saw the fourth group of monsters appear, he stopped wasting time and finished them off.

The fourth group consisted of more than twenty monsters, and Guan Ning began to feel the pressure. Every time he tried to strike a killing blow, another monster interrupted him. A few of the Shadow Cats were especially good at working together. Even with his Micro-Level footwork, Guan Ning was forced into danger several times. Fortunately, he dodged each attack with his keen reflexes. He could control his strength and speed, but not his reflexes.

Although the fight had been perilous, Guan Ning's strength and technique had changed dramatically. His steps grew simpler, while his movements became more graceful. Even his swordsmanship had become simpler and sharper.

After finishing them off, Guan Ning waited for quite a while but didn't see any new monsters. Once the nearby monsters were almost all gone, he left and found another place to continue.

The second location...

The third location...

Guan Ning began slaughtering monsters throughout the town, honing his combat skills.

The town was covered with surveillance cameras. Guan Ning's strategy drew large numbers of monsters each time, and naturally, such a commotion didn't go unnoticed.

In a building outside the town, hundreds of monitors in a large surveillance room showed scenes from every corner of the town.

"Who's that?" In a room, an officer, a burly man, and a lean man sat drinking together. A large screen on the wall showed Guan Ning. The officer remarked, "He's actually using this method to lure in monsters. He's insane! And..."

The officer had noticed Guan Ning's movements a while ago. He had overseen dozens of Warrior Combat Assessments, if not a hundred. He had seen many talented warriors training during their assessments, but this was the first time he had seen anyone do what Guan Ning was doing. Intrigued, he had paid closer attention, only to discover how extraordinary Guan Ning was.

"And what?" asked the burly man, the Thunderbolt Martial Hall's director. He was watching a screen showing the buzz-cut young man he had reprimanded at the Military Base fighting two Shadow Cats. Hearing the officer speak, he asked without thinking, then looked toward the screen the officer was watching.

Yu Sen heard him but said nothing. The corners of his mouth had already curled into a grin. He had naturally noticed Guan Ning too. After all, Guan Ning was a talented warrior recruited in advance by the Limit Martial Hall.

At a glance, Yu Sen was utterly astonished. It wasn't just Guan Ning's method of waiting by a stump for a rabbit that surprised him. He saw something deeper: Guan Ning's Micro-Level footwork, his Mastery-Level swordsmanship, and his keen reflexes.

All of it shook him deeply. He had seen plenty of talented people, but never anyone with this kind of strength at just seventeen years old.

"Old Feng, look," the officer said, pointing at the screen. "That exquisite footwork—simple, graceful, confident, and composed. It's definitely Micro-Level footwork, and he's very skilled with it."

"And look at his swordsmanship. He's only using basic sword techniques, but every strike is perfectly timed. The transitions between moves are smooth and seamless, working in perfect harmony with his footwork. It's as if they're one. That's Mastery-Level swordsmanship!"

"And those reflexes..." The more the officer watched, the more excited he became, his words full of admiration.

"Whoo... whoo..."

The burly man stared at the screen, his eyes bloodshot. He panted heavily but couldn't speak.

On the screen, Guan Ning weaved through a dense crowd of monsters like the wind, his figure constantly shifting. The long sword in his hand slashed, thrust, swept, and parried. Each movement either dispatched a monster or blocked its fangs and claws. Not a single motion was wasted; his technique was impeccably concise.

He had seen the profiles of the Quasi-Warriors taking the assessment, especially Guan Ning, who had been recruited early by the Limit Martial Hall. He remembered him well. Not many people could turn down an invitation from the director of his own hall.

He had already suspected as much, but seeing Guan Ning moving with such ease among the monsters still shocked him. Swordsmanship, footwork, and physical fitness were different things. The first two required a solid foundation and a great deal of combat experience to reach this level. He had never expected to see them during a combat assessment.

In fact, Micro-Level footwork could sometimes be seen in combat assessments, but Mastery-Level swordsmanship had never appeared before. He couldn't help envying them.

"Old Feng, what's wrong?" The officer noticed the burly man's state and asked.

But the burly man's mind was entirely occupied with figuring out how to steal Guan Ning away from the Limit Martial Hall. He didn't hear the officer.

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

Yu Sen, who was sitting leisurely on the sofa, heard the officer and glanced at the burly man. With a chuckle, he said, "Wang Yuan, don't mind that big oaf. He's definitely racking his brains over how to poach Guan Ning."

"Guan Ning?" Wang Yuan looked from the burly man staring at the screen to Yu Sen, who was leisurely drinking. He seemed to understand.

"The young man on the screen is from your Limit Martial Hall?"

"That's right. He already joined the hall early, and he's only seventeen and a half."

Yu Sen answered smugly. He was the one who had recruited Guan Ning.

"I see. No wonder..." Wang Yuan now understood why the burly man was so furious. The Limit Martial Hall and the Thunder Martial Hall had always been at odds. With a monster like Guan Ning at the Limit Martial Hall, there was no way the Thunder Martial Hall wouldn't be jealous.

"Yu Sen's right. Feng Xiong is definitely thinking of ways to poach him, but..."

At that thought, Wang Yuan could only shake his head. He gave the burly man a hard pat, finally snapping him out of it, then said helplessly, "Old Feng, Old Yu's right here. There's no way he'll let you..."

"That's right! Yu the Leopard is here too, and he's seen it all. He won't just let me poach Guan Ning."

Feng Xiong froze when he heard that. Once he understood, he cast a regretful look at Guan Ning on the screen, then sat on the sofa and began to drown his sorrows in drink.