Advanced Spear Technique! Swift as Thunder!

Why were ferocious beasts given the word "ferocious" in their name?

Besides the fact that these creatures were inherently brutal, it was also because ferocious beasts possessed a unique savage aura.

Compared to humans, this savage aura was like that of a professional assassin who had killed countless people.

When an ordinary person encountered such a professional assassin, all it took was a single glance from the other party.

It could very likely make their heart tremble, even frighten them out of their wits!

Ferocious beasts possessed this kind of unique aura.

Therefore, most Awakened fighting ferocious beasts for the first time.

Would often be so intimidated by that aura that they could not even display thirty percent of their strength.

Some would even freeze up completely, forgetting how to attack or use their abilities and weapons.

Thus, before the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination.

Families with even a little background would hire professional metahuman bodyguards to escort their children into the Wilderness Area, allowing them to adapt to fighting ferocious beasts in advance.

Xu Jingming naturally did not have such conditions.

Therefore, before the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination, he had considered whether his body would have any negative reactions upon truly encountering ferocious beasts.

However, after encountering the Shadow Cat, he had shown absolutely no reaction to the ferocious beast's savage aura.

He had even been able to precisely calculate the Shadow Cat's pouncing trajectory as usual, then nail it to death with a single thrust!

"I heard that Awakened fighting ferocious beasts for the first time need to go through several battles before overcoming that fear of facing powerful creatures.

"But some people are naturally insensitive to this kind of aura. It seemed that I was one such exception."

Xu Jingming sharply pulled with his right hand, using the momentum to yank the Black Obsidian Spear from the Shadow Cat's neck.

With a bang, the Shadow Cat's corpse crashed to the ground, kicking up dust everywhere.

"This Shadow Cat probably had never seen a weapon like a spear. It actually dared to leap at me like that. Wasn't that just courting death?"

Unlike the bulky Iron Fur Pig and Arm Blade Tiger, the Shadow Cat was agile and could charge at a terrifying speed of 17 m/s.

When encountering the first two types of ferocious beasts, an Awakened could still run if they could not win.

But if they encountered a Shadow Cat, they could not even escape. They could only be pursued to death!

Thus, the Shadow Cat had also been given the title of "Newcomer Killer."

Under normal circumstances, without using his ability and relying solely on physical strength, it was nearly impossible for Xu Jingming to achieve an instant kill.

Especially when he had almost no experience fighting ferocious beasts.

Yet the Shadow Cat had made a fatal mistake: it had leaped into the air and attacked with its claws!

If it had faced an Awakened wielding a longsword or saber, this move might have worked.

After all, when a longsword or saber could reach the Shadow Cat, the Shadow Cat's claws could also reach the Awakened.

But Xu Jingming's Black Obsidian Spear was a full 2.1 meters long!

The longer the weapon, the greater the advantage.

Thus, before the Shadow Cat flying through the air even entered attack range, Xu Jingming had stabbed it to death with one thrust.

"Besides, if not for the system notification, I nearly forgot that killing ferocious beasts could also earn Ability Points!"

Looking at the three new Ability Points on the system panel, Xu Jingming's heart burned with excitement.

This meant that if he obtained enough Ability Points in the upcoming battles, his strength could be further enhanced!

"However, the Ability Points gained from killing an Unranked ferocious beast are too few. I still need to get to the Central Area quickly."

Like metahumans, ferocious beasts were likewise divided into nine ranks, from First Order to Ninth Order.

As for ferocious beasts below First Order, they were called Unranked ferocious beasts, corresponding to human Awakened.

Originally, Xu Jingming, who lacked experience fighting ferocious beasts, had planned to spend more time adapting in the Outer Area.

Since he had little reaction to the aura of ferocious beasts, there was no great point in staying in the Outer Area any longer.

Thus, Xu Jingming picked up the Black Obsidian Spear and sprinted toward the Central Area of the Ruined Town at full speed.

Compared to Zhou Mingyang, who possessed an Elemental Wind-Type ability, Xu Jingming's charging speed was not particularly fast.

However, during his sprint, he continued killing ferocious beasts as well.

"Killed one Unranked ferocious beast Iron Fur Pig. Ability Points +5."

"Killed one Unranked ferocious beast Shadow Cat. Ability Points +3."

"Killed one Unranked ferocious beast Unicorn Rhino. Ability Points +6."

"..."

During his battles with ferocious beasts, Xu Jingming did not use his ability.

On one hand, he wanted to temper his spear technique and gain more combat experience.

After all, using the S-Rank Purple Heaven Divine Lightning on these Unranked ferocious beasts would only result in instant kills, providing no tempering effect at all.

On the other hand, the rarer an ability was, the greater its consumption during use.

Xu Jingming's original E-rank metahuman ability, Weak Electricity, could last for over three hours when used at full power.

But after switching to the S-Rank Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, it might not even last an hour at full power.

One had to know that the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination lasted a full twelve hours.

If he exhausted his ability during this early stretch, then after entering the Core Area and facing First-Order Mid-Rank or even higher-ranked ferocious beasts, Xu Jingming would have no other means of attack.

Therefore, he could only refrain from using his ability for now and save it for after entering the Core Area.

Additionally, after every battle, Xu Jingming could feel himself improving.

These battles layered upon one another, causing his combat awareness and spear technique to improve at an astonishing rate!

Especially his spear technique. The more he used it, the smoother it became, until it even gave him a feeling of complete control.

This was something he had never experienced before.

"Could my spear technique have broken through without me realizing it?"

On a dilapidated old road, a ferocious beast's corpse lay beside Xu Jingming's feet.

This ferocious beast was as massive as a small car, with a sharp, blade-like horn on its head, thick limbs, and dark brown skin.

Even in death, it still radiated a powerful savage aura.

This was precisely the ferocious beast candidates least wanted to face—the Unicorn Rhino!

This Unicorn Rhino's body was covered in bowl-sized wounds, while the fatal strike had come from its head.

The pitch-black spearhead of the Black Obsidian Spear had violently pierced straight through its eye socket into its brain, destroying the most vital cranial nerves.

Naturally, the Unicorn Rhino was dead beyond all doubt...

"Pfft—"

As the spear was pulled out, red and white matter was dragged out from the Unicorn Rhino's head along with it.

If an ordinary person suddenly saw such a scene, anyone with weaker nerves would likely vomit on the spot.

Yet Xu Jingming remained calm, even opening his system panel right there:

Name: Xu Jingming

Rank: Awakened

Ability: Purple Heaven Divine Lightning (S)

Physique: 141 Qi-Blood (+)

Mental Power: 160 Hz (+)

Skills: Spear Technique (Intermediate +), Lightning Gale Slash (Beginner +)

Ability Points: 213

"As expected, my spear technique has broken through to Intermediate!"

Xu Jingming's eyes lit up, but then he could not help sighing. "It seemed that actual combat was still the most effective way to improve one's strength."

His predecessor had practiced spear technique for more than six years, yet had only reached the Beginner level.

Meanwhile, Xu Jingming had merely fought several dozen battles with ferocious beasts, and his spear technique had already reached Intermediate.

There was certainly an element of accumulated progress finally breaking through, but it still demonstrated the importance of actual combat.

"Intermediate Spear Technique already makes me feel completely in control. What would happen if I improved it even further?"

More than three hours had passed since the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination began.

Along the way, although Xu Jingming had not deliberately searched for them, he had encountered more than forty ferocious beasts.

Among them were lower-level Shadow Cats, as well as higher-level Arm Blade Tigers and Unicorn Rhinos.

Each ferocious beast he killed granted some Ability Points.

However, he had never carefully checked how many he had gained in total.

Now that he looked, he had unexpectedly accumulated 213 Ability Points, enough to upgrade a skill.

"Two hundred and thirteen Ability Points are only the beginning. Once I enter the Central Area and use Purple Heaven Divine Lightning to kill ferocious beasts, the Ability Points will accumulate even faster!

"Since that's the case..."

After pondering for a moment, Xu Jingming still could not resist the temptation and directly tapped the plus sign behind Spear Technique!

Instantly, countless techniques related to spear technique flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

These implanted memories were not like fleeting scenes in a movie, something he would forget shortly after watching.

Instead, it was as if Xu Jingming himself had truly practiced spear technique for decades!

After the memories of spear technique finished flooding in, Xu Jingming suddenly thrust his spear!

The next moment,

Within a single second, the Black Obsidian Spear stabbed out four times in rapid succession!

Like black lightning, swift and dangerous!