I've Wanted to Beat You Up for a Long Time

Lu Chong woke up from a long sleep at a little past two in the afternoon on March 31.

He was only a Martial Disciple, not yet strong enough to go without food or sleep, so he needed some rest to stay in top form.

He took a bite of a Nutrition Bar, then checked the Scoreboard.

First place: Lu Chong, 680 points

Second place: Xiang Yueya, 635 points

Third place: Xue Cheng, 505 points

After the morning had passed, Lu Chong was still in first place.

However, the students right behind him were catching up.

Xiang Yueya in particular was making excellent time. Judging by how quickly her score was rising, Lu Chong figured she had reached the Eight-Stage Shadow Cats' territory.

He was in the Six-Stage Shadow Cats' area. After sweeping through it in the latter half of the night, he had stopped to rest.

Without lingering, Lu Chong rose, refreshed, and headed straight for the Seven-Stage Area.

The farther into the Hunting Ground one went, the stronger the Shadow Cats became, and the fewer there were.

Naturally, there were also fewer students here, since not many were strong enough to venture this far.

The moment he stepped inside, a chill swept over him.

A shadow darted out like lightning, lunging straight for the back of Lu Chong's head.

"Am I really this lucky?"

Rather than being startled, Lu Chong was delighted. Without even turning around, he swung a Heart-Piercing Kick backward, striking the Shadow Cat squarely in the belly and sending it flying into the air.

The Shadow Cat yowled in pain, then rolled its eyes and passed out before it even hit the ground.

Lu Chong caught the Shadow Cat and pulled the Positioning Device from around its neck.

Lu Chong's score on the Scoreboard immediately increased by 64 points, reaching 744.

The updated score quickly caught the eye of people both inside and outside the Hunting Ground.

"It's Lu Chong! He's at it again. I can't believe this guy wasn't eliminated last night and is only starting to move now." A student couldn't help exclaiming in amazement.

At the rest area outside the Hunting Ground, Chen Yufei burst out laughing. "See? Brother Chong is back in action. He just shot to the top of the campus forum's trending list!"

"Thank goodness. If he'd waited any longer, Xiang Yueya would've overtaken him." A classmate beside him sighed in relief.

Chen Yufei stared at Xiang Yueya's name, looking conflicted. But soon, he shrugged it off. "Forget it. What's a woman compared to a brother? Brother Chong is awesome. Don't go easy on her!"

Inside the Hunting Ground, Lu Chong soon followed the scent to two Seven-Stage Shadow Cats.

Unfortunately, this time his luck wasn't so good. Both cats had already had the Positioning Devices around their necks removed.

Clearly, someone had beaten him to them and taken the devices.

"Rather than fight someone over prey here, I'd be better off going deeper and hunting alone."

Lu Chong made up his mind. Instead of continuing to search the Seven-Stage Area, he headed straight for the Eight-Stage Shadow Cats' territory.

Even fewer students could hunt in the Eight-Stage Area. It was reserved for the truly advanced students.

But after Lu Chong passed through the Energy Light Wall between the two areas, he saw a Class 1 student who turned and walked away without a word as soon as he spotted him.

Lu Chong thought for a moment, then recalled that the other student was a Martial Apprentice Stage 8 student from Class 1.

He didn't dwell on it. With practiced ease, he followed the scents in search of the Eight-Stage Shadow Cats in the area.

Having come all the way from the outermost area, he was now used to this sort of terrain and confident he could handle Shadow Cats at his own stage.

Eight-Stage Shadow Cats were faster, had sharper claws, and were more intelligent.

Lu Chong even had the vague sense that the Seven- and Eight-Stage Shadow Cats had learned some basic tactics.

They were like assassins in the night. If their first strike missed, they would immediately retreat and disappear, then follow their prey and wait for another chance to attack.

That made the Shadow Cats here extremely difficult to deal with. Even if one had the strength to fight them, catching them was another matter.

To take down an Eight-Stage Shadow Cat, one either needed the ability to land a decisive blow or had to be faster than the cat. Otherwise, the best one could do was protect oneself.

Soon, following the scent, Lu Chong spotted a Shadow Cat crouched on the eaves of a dilapidated building.

It was sunning itself up high, its eyes lazily narrowed.

For a Shadow Cat, leaping across rooftops was second nature.

Lu Chong, on the other hand, would struggle to gain an advantage in such complicated terrain, even with his Nine-Shadow Step at the Perfection Realm.

The best option was to lure the cat down.

Lu Chong had already spotted the Positioning Device hanging around its neck.

Meow!

Lu Chong merely glanced its way, but the Shadow Cat curled up on the eaves had already sensed him. It opened its eyes and meowed at him.

Then it stood, stretched, and looked down at Lu Chong from afar, but didn't leap down. Gagedang

"You're a cautious one, aren't you?" Lu Chong thought, shaking his head. He deliberately ignored the cat and strode past.

As long as he could lure it down, he was confident he could finish it in one move.

The Shadow Cat watched Lu Chong walk past and turn into a narrow alley shrouded in shadow.

It clearly didn't want to let an intruder escape its territory.

To a Shadow Cat, humans were good food, too—food that could help them evolve faster.

The cat didn't hesitate for long. It soundlessly leaped from the eaves and landed on a wall more than three meters high, then silently followed Lu Chong along the brickwork.

But when it rounded the corner and poked its head out to search for Lu Chong, it found a grinning face right in front of it.

"Got you."

Lu Chong shouted inwardly and thrust out a clawed hand he had already readied, swift as thunder.

Meow!

The Eight-Stage Shadow Cat felt the fierce force behind the strike and let out a startled yowl, its black fur standing on end.

It hurriedly retreated, only to find Lu Chong's hand following it like a shadow, moving faster than it could back away.

Knowing it had nowhere left to retreat, the Shadow Cat flipped over and deliberately fell from the wall, hoping the brickwork would block Lu Chong and let it escape.

Crash!

The half-meter-thick brick wall collapsed. Lu Chong burst through it, and his hand, shaped like an eagle's claw, stayed locked on the Shadow Cat as it hit the ground and rolled back to its feet.

Meow!

With an angry yowl, the Shadow Cat finally stopped retreating. It bared its teeth, reared onto its hind legs, and swiped at Lu Chong's hand with both forepaws.

"Good!" Lu Chong said, unflinching.

His hand felt forged from steel as he met the Shadow Cat's claws head-on.

Crack!

A sharp snapping sound rang out alongside the Shadow Cat's pained cry.

Its two forepaws had actually broken from colliding with Lu Chong's hand.

"Hand it over."

Lu Chong reached out with his other hand and took the Positioning Device from the Shadow Cat's neck. Then he kicked away the cat, which had been about to bite him.

Score +128

Lu Chong's total Combat Assessment score reached 872, putting even more distance between him and Xiang Yueya.

Clap, clap...

Just then, a crisp round of applause sounded nearby, drawing Lu Chong's attention.

Zhao Longfei approached, clapping as he sneered. "One person taking down an Eight-Stage Shadow Cat—impressive, impressive."

"Lu Chong, I have to admit I underestimated you."

"But I'm here to tell you that your simulated Combat Assessment is over."

Four Class 1 students came with Zhao Longfei, closing in from different directions. Every one of them was a Martial Apprentice Stage 8 student.

Lu Chong looked at them and, far from being alarmed, was delighted. They've come right to me. I've wanted to beat you up for a long time.

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