It Is I Who Offended

Not long after Su Bei left.

Two figures appeared at the scene, both dressed in fitted martial attire. Looking at Wen Xiangwei, who had died on the spot, they both fell silent.

"We were too late."

"Was this really done by a person?"

One of them clicked his tongue at the scene before him. "There's a real monster among this batch of Martial Artist Assessment candidates."

The two were martial artists responsible for rescue operations in this area, both only First-order Martial Artists.

Judging by the scene, this was clearly not something an ordinary Quasi-Martial Artist could have caused. Even in their minds, if they went all out, they probably could not have done much better.

Not long after.

Another person arrived.

"There are four more over there. All beaten to death by fists, their internal organs nearly shattered."

"I checked the scene. It should have been five people surrounding and killing one person, and they even launched a sneak attack. Yet they were all killed in return. This person should have been the last one. Tsk..."

He had a neat crew cut and let out an inscrutable sigh.

The other two had no objections. Professional matters should be left to professionals. This newcomer was their team leader for this operation, and he had come from the police department. His ability to assess a scene far surpassed theirs.

"...Then what about this?" one of them asked hesitantly.

"Report it truthfully."

The crew-cut man made the final call. "This assessment is different from the previous ones. These are not the first deaths."

"Over at Number 1, more people who don't fear death have gone to try..."

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room.

Everyone was watching the area around Number 1 on the screen. At that moment, nearly twenty green dots surrounded it.

"Even Zhao Cheng failed."

"But escaping alive from a high-grade Level One exotic beast is already impressive. He even exchanged a few moves with it." Watching the dot representing Zhao Cheng rapidly retreat on the screen, everyone spoke helplessly.

However, a red dot marked Number 2 was attached to Zhao Cheng's dot.

"It looks like Zhao Cheng has achieved the best result this time. It's a pity that no one can obtain Number 1."

Everyone felt some regret. If no one obtained it, it meant that this opportunity had nothing to do with them.

The martial artists selected as examiners, regardless of their strength, had no problems with their judgment and standing.

Watching candidate after candidate miss such a good opportunity, their regret was no less than anyone else's.

"Not necessarily." Fu Hongtao from the association said, "Zhai Feng is naturally sharp and alert. He has probably guessed something and is currently gathering people to cooperate with him. There may still be a chance."

"This assessment tests overall ability. Although Zhai Feng is somewhat weaker in strength, his ability to unite people and seize opportunities is equally indispensable."

Just then.

A message was sent to them. Their brows furrowed slightly. Five people dying in a row was a major matter, even if this Martial Artist Assessment was different from usual.

"Look into this Su Bei's information."

"The other five weren't weak either. Their strength was all around two thousand kilograms."

"Has this Su Bei been hiding his strength? Or did he use some trump card?"

Their gazes instantly gathered on a green dot marked Number 18.

"He got Number 18 and still isn't satisfied? Is he heading deeper in?"

Li Xiongshan stroked his chin with interest. "Proceed with the assessment as usual. Once it ends, conduct a routine interrogation."

The others nodded slightly, having no objections.

They had long grown accustomed to life and death. A group ambushing someone only to be killed in return was nothing worth saying.

After getting rid of all the little tails following him.

Su Bei could finally do what he wanted to do.

At that moment, he not only had a longbow slung across his back, but had also retrieved the remaining arrows from his previous hiding spot and carried them behind him. He was armed to the teeth.

As for archery, Su Bei only knew a little and had barely entered the field. It was relatively niche, with few people studying it. If one truly wanted to learn it, it was far more expensive than other cold weapons.

"This bow is definitely no ordinary item. Even with my strength, I can't draw it to its full extent. Yet even so, the arrows it fires can travel nearly a thousand meters, and their power is even stronger than the Piercing Sun Spear Technique!"

"But the consumption is just as terrifying. Merely drawing it a quarter of the way completely drains my blood and qi!"

"I wonder what material this bowstring and bow body are made from."

This longbow was like a power amplifier. With Su Bei's strength, merely drawing it one-tenth of the way already matched his full-power strike without using Piercing Sun.

No wonder Wen Xiangwei had been unwilling to throw it away even when he was about to die.

With his instant hundred-arrow technique, he probably only needed to draw the bowstring one-twentieth of the way to achieve the previous level of power. It would save strength while the arrows would still be quite powerful.

Su Bei had not planned to learn another archery technique, but after obtaining this bow, he could not help but waver.

He would take another look after this Martial Artist Assessment.

Having another long-range method to fight enemies did not seem like a bad thing.

Before long.

After traveling through the forest, he finally arrived at the deepest part of the assessment zone.

Only one dot was flashing on the receiver. It glowed red, with a large Number 1 flashing above it.

After confirming the direction, Su Bei swiftly ran toward it. From afar, he saw a deep, shadowy cave set into a mountain wall beyond a cleared patch of ground.

Other than that, an enormous body lay sprawled in the open space before the cave, its eyes shut as though it were basking in the sun.

It was a gigantic lizard-like exotic beast nearly twelve or thirteen meters long. Its entire body was brownish-yellow, like armor forged from mountain rock. Its limbs were incomparably thick, and its massive tail, nearly five meters long, stretched behind it. Its head alone was the size of a room, making it terrifying to behold.

"A Mountain-Moving Lizard?"

Su Bei was startled.

The Mountain-Moving Lizard was a high-grade Level One exotic beast. It possessed a huge body and tremendous strength, living year-round in mountain ranges. It had a violent temperament and was an omnivorous exotic beast, particularly fond of devouring rocks and mineral veins. After consuming them, the rock energy within gathered on the surface of its body, forming a hard, rocky keratinous armor with astonishing defensive power.

Its flesh and blood were also prized by martial artists cultivating rock-element Gene Methods. They contained massive amounts of rock energy and were greatly beneficial to cultivation.

Legend had it that a colony of Mountain-Moving Lizards could devour an entire small mountain within a few years and flatten it to the ground. That was how they earned their name.

It was an exotic beast with very few weaknesses. Although the thicker its armor became, the more sluggish its movements grew, few martial artists were willing to provoke one.

Though the Mountain-Moving Lizard currently had its eyes closed, judging from the pools of blood before it, several candidates had likely already tried their luck together.

The results had clearly not been ideal.

Perhaps it had eaten its fill and was taking a nap.

Su Bei took out the receiver and checked it back and forth several times.

"The Number 1 sensor should be inside its nest."

Then the next step was simple: kill the Mountain-Moving Lizard directly, then go inside and bring out the Number 1 sensor.

"Brother, do you want to work together?"

Someone spoke from not far behind him. Su Bei had long noticed the newcomer, so he was not alarmed.

Turning around, he saw a man around twenty years old looking at him from behind a huge tree.

"No need."

"Brother, don't be so quick to refuse." The man said anxiously, "My name is Zhai Feng. I have two thousand five hundred kilograms of strength and have already obtained Number 8!"

"There are six of us gathered here, all capable people in the top twenty. I see you have the Number 18 sensor on you, so you must know that this Mountain-Moving Lizard won't be easy to deal with."

"How about we cooperate? A few people can be responsible for feinting attacks and luring the Mountain-Moving Lizard away, while another person enters the cave and retrieves Number 1!"

"This Martial Artist Assessment is unusual. Number 1 must have something special about it. After retrieving it, we can rely on our own abilities. What do you think?"

Su Bei still shook his head. "There's really no need."

At that moment, someone else cut in from the side. "Zhai Feng, why waste words with him? Even Zhao Cheng was defeated and nearly lost his life."

"If he doesn't want to, then forget it. He only has Number 18 anyway. Who knows how he got it!"

"I think the six of us are enough already!"

Su Bei swept his gaze over. It was a young man with a nine-ring broadsword hanging at his waist. Seeing Su Bei look over, the man gave him a disdainful glance.

"Brother!" Beside him, a petite and pretty young woman stomped her foot and directly pinched Wei Qing at the waist. As he wore a pained expression, she nodded apologetically at Su Bei.

"I'm sorry. My brother is just blunt. He doesn't mean any harm."

Wei Qing wanted to say something else, but could only glance helplessly at his younger sister and did not dare make another sound.

Su Bei laughed despite himself.

These siblings were rather interesting.

Three more people slowly emerged from different directions, two men and one woman. The sensors on all of them were within the top twenty.

Sun Zicheng was unexpectedly among them. He was looking at Su Bei with indescribable shock, though a hint of viciousness showed in his eyes.

However.

Su Bei swept his gaze over Zhai Feng, who looked so harmless, and silently mourned for the two of them. They would probably still be counting money for him even after they died.

What decent person would suggest relying on their own abilities at a time like this? The reason he did not mention how to distribute the benefits beforehand was because he never intended to share any at all!

Even capitalists at least drew people a pie in the sky!

Zhai Feng said, "Since you are unwilling to cooperate with us, brother, I won't force you."

"But please leave this area, so as to avoid any conflict."

Before this assessment, his uncle had hinted at certain things to him. Therefore, he was determined to obtain Number 1!

Zhao Cheng had probably received some information as well, otherwise he would not have risked his life so recklessly.

This was Zhai Feng's opportunity. He had to seize it!

Su Bei sighed softly. "And if I say no?"

Zhai Feng slowly drew his blade, his expression unreadable. "Then forgive my offense."

The people around him also drew their weapons in unison and looked toward Su Bei.

"Big brother, you should leave first. Blades have no eyes. You've already obtained the qualification to advance, so why go this far?"

A trace of pity appeared in Wei Ting's expression as she spoke softly.

"No need to say more. I know this man. He is ambitious and vicious. Back when he was at the martial arts school, he acted recklessly and without restraint!" Excitement flashed in Sun Zicheng's eyes, as though he could already see Su Bei kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy.

Once collective interests were recognized, an individual dared to draw a blade against anyone.

But in truth, they had all thought of the same thing.

Su Bei also wanted to clear the field.

"It is I who offended."