Train of Thought

At this moment, the Fire Hammer Squad had yet to reach the rooftop of the first residential building.

Xu Qing sat down to take a sip of water, then reclined casually on a belt, gazing at the azure sky as he stretched out his hand. "Lying down is still the most comfortable."

He found that compared to taking action, he preferred using his brain; it felt far less troublesome.

Many things seemed simple to him; he could see the essence and core at a glance and find the most effective way to handle them.

"Should I be like Sister Xin and go to university to get a job instead?" Xu Qing muttered. When it came to killing monsters, his presence didn't make much of a difference—one more or one less didn't matter.

Even if the sky were to fall, there would be taller people to hold it up first.

Over the past few days, Xu Qing had followed behind the Fire Hammer Squad and killed quite a few monsters. Although they were all soldier-level, it had been as easy as slicing melons and vegetables.

However, he had also discovered that he wasn't particularly keen on killing monsters. Perhaps the novelty of becoming a martial artist had worn off, and he didn't seem to care much about his status as a martial artist anymore.

"Oh my, am I acting like one of those confused teenagers in TV dramas? It feels so strange, hehe," Xu Qing suddenly laughed, curling his body up and rolling from side to side.

He had amused himself, starting to entertain himself like a child.

Bang!

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, echoing over the urban area.

Xu Qing stood up and approached the edge of the rooftop, seeing a group of pig-type monsters huddled together on the street, roaring incessantly.

In the center of this group was a massive monster covered in blood-red scales, looking just like a tank.

"A commander-level monster, I think it's called a Bloodthirsty Tank," Xu Qing identified it.

That shot just now must have been fired by someone from the Fire Hammer Squad, and it had struck the Bloodthirsty Tank.

Under the cover of the many pig-type monsters, the Bloodthirsty Tank moved toward the distance, blood trailing on the ground; it was clear that a vital spot had been hit.

"Not bad, hitting a lethal spot with a single shot," Xu Qing remarked with surprise.

Five minutes later, the Fire Hammer Squad descended from the residential building to find the Bloodthirsty Tank, which by then had already become a corpse.

However, many pig-type monsters were still gathered around the body, as if they hadn't realized their leader was dead.

Without a doubt, a battle was about to ensue.

Through their combined efforts, Luo Feng and his team successfully harvested materials from the Bloodthirsty Tank's corpse and then quickly departed.

Following this, the Fire Hammer Squad used the same method, continuing to snipe commander-level monsters from afar, though their luck wasn't as good, and they failed repeatedly.

"Trying to overcome the strong with the weak carries risks. Even with the help of powerful external forces, success isn't guaranteed; one still needs solid, hard power," Xu Qing mused, rubbing his chin.

If the members of the Fire Hammer Squad had all reached the Warlord level, they wouldn't need to go through so much trouble just to kill a single commander-level monster.

"Still, their control over their power is too poor. They only manage to output sixty or seventy percent of their potential; not only is there no amplification, but it actually shrinks significantly," Xu Qing couldn't help but complain.

Having watched for so long, he realized that the members of the Fire Hammer Squad didn't even know how to exert force properly. Even Luo Feng only knew how to use spiritual force to amplify his own strength and speed.

Even he, someone who hadn't undergone professional training or cultivation, knew that relying solely on brute force was a dead end with too many limitations.

The weaker one's strength, the more one should master every bit of their power, using one part of force to achieve the effect of two, three, or even more.

That was what true cultivation was about, rather than just increasing brute force—if you only grew your raw strength, wouldn't you just become a big, dumb oaf?

If one could utilize every bit of their power well, or even perform beyond their limits, then overcoming the strong with the weak would be as simple as eating and drinking.

"So, a brain is a good thing to have. Besides, the way Luo Feng uses spiritual force to amplify the speed and power of his blade is actually quite interesting. I've never played with it like that; I should give it a try," Xu Qing's eyes darted around.

Currently, he only used his spiritual force to manipulate the God-Splitting Silk and hadn't tried applying it to a bow and arrow.

Because spiritual force could not act upon living bodies and could only affect non-living objects, and given that Xu Qing's understanding of spiritual force had only recently matured, he was still quite green in its application.

"Hmm, worthy of being a genius recruited in advance by the Limit Martial Arts Hall, he's not bad at all. He's provided me with a new line of thought. I, Xu Qing, will reluctantly consider you a candidate for a brother-in-law," Xu Qing's opinion of Luo Feng rose by a tiny margin.

If Xu Xin and Luo Feng knew what he was thinking, they would surely be left speechless.

Before long, the Fire Hammer Squad locked onto another target: a commander-level Twin-Tailed Tiger Cat.

The entire team launched a fierce assault on the Twin-Tailed Tiger Cat, and a full-scale battle erupted, with the cat being forced into a steady retreat.

At the same time, four or five hundred meters away, a six-man martial artist squad appeared.

"Hmm? Someone's here," Xu Qing sensed an unfamiliar presence and moved toward that direction.

A few minutes later, Xu Qing appeared beside a half-collapsed building.

On a six-story residential building a few dozen meters away, that martial artist squad was using binoculars to observe the battle in the distance.

Xu Qing saw a face that looked somewhat familiar; he remembered it as the person who had been cursing loudly at Chen Gu and the others at the supply base that day.

"What are they doing here, secretly watching Luo Feng and his team? Are they planning to swoop in and steal the spoils?" Xu Qing pondered.

In the wilderness, conflicts and killings between martial artists were not uncommon; they often stemmed from conflicts of interest that turned into murderous intent.

The laws of the base city didn't reach into the wilderness.

The Fire Hammer Squad and this squad clearly didn't get along, so it wouldn't be strange if they harbored murderous intent and planned to fire a cold shot from the shadows.

Thinking this, Xu Qing quietly approached, moving silently until he reached the fifth floor, right beneath them.

Once close, Xu Qing heard their voices.

"Captain, it was that rookie brat from the Fire Hammer Squad who cost me a hundred million. I want to kill him!"

"Fine. Judging by his performance, he's not bad. If he becomes a core member of the Fire Hammer Squad in the future, it will be disadvantageous for us."

"A-Xiao, A-Dong, you two use your sniper rifles to take out the key members of the Fire Hammer Squad first, then immediately open fire on the two monster packs nearby..."

The voice drifted over, causing Xu Qing to knit his brows. These people were truly ruthless; they actually intended to wipe out the Fire Hammer Squad.

"Dongzi, aim for that Luo Feng and slaughter him with one shot! Vent this frustration for me! Since he dared to mess with my money, I want his life. I'll make sure he has nowhere to regret it even after he descends into hell!"

"Prepare to move."

"Yes, Captain."

Within that squad, the two members wielding firearms immediately set up their sniper rifles and went prone, chambering their rounds—high-caliber armor-piercing bullets.