Luo Yuan ran casually through Monster Town with his Blood Shadow Battle Blade in hand. Suddenly, a Shadow Cat lunged at him, claws outstretched. He shifted slightly to the side and easily evaded its attack. The next instant, his blade cleaved the Shadow Cat in half at the waist. By the time its blood splashed into the air, he was already more than ten meters away.
Walking back to the Shadow Cat's corpse, Luo Yuan casually sliced off its left ear and slipped it into his backpack. His movements flowed seamlessly, all in one smooth motion. His backpack already held quite a few monsters' left ears, all taken from monsters that had attacked him.
Luo Yuan curled his lip, finding this Martial Artist Combat Assessment rather dull. Although he had never killed monsters before, he felt no discomfort. To him, these monsters were more like poultry; killing them stirred no particular feeling.
As he ran along, Luo Yuan saw many Quasi-Martial Artists fighting monsters, and some were even being devoured. Still, he did not linger. Any monster blocking his path was killed without mercy. Some Quasi-Martial Artists escaped death thanks to him, but by the time they recovered their senses, Luo Yuan was long gone, leaving the monsters hacked to pieces.
"Woooo~~ Woooo~~ Woooo~~"
Piercing sounds suddenly rang out throughout the town, followed by a deep voice booming over the loudspeakers.
"Time's up. All Quasi-Martial Artists, proceed to the town exit immediately."
"The Martial Artist Combat Assessment is over?" Luo Yuan stopped running and flicked his blade, leaving a streak of blood on the ground.
At the exit of Monster Town, Quasi-Martial Artists began emerging one after another. Almost every one of them was stained with blood, whether the monsters' or their own. Some came out supported by their friends.
Luo Yuan also slowly appeared at the town exit. His expression was calm, and there was not a speck of blood on him, but his backpack was heavy.
"Honk, honk-"
Shrill horns sounded as heavy trucks drove out of the town, their beds piled high with monster corpses.
"Hey, these are the Quasi-Martial Artists' bodies. Someone come receive them." One of the heavy trucks stopped nearby. Quite a few bodies lay in its bed, some missing parts, evidently having been mostly eaten by monsters. The truck dumped the Quasi-Martial Artists' bodies directly onto the ground beside it.
Some Quasi-Martial Artists who recognized the dead immediately cried out. A few even threw themselves onto the bodies and sobbed. Lives that had been vibrant just yesterday had become cold corpses today. The surviving Quasi-Martial Artists fell silent. This was the cruelty of their world.
Anyone who chose the path of a Warrior had to be prepared to die. The privileges human society granted Warriors had to be paid for with their lives.
Luo Feng and Yang Wu spotted Luo Yuan at the entrance and walked toward him in delighted surprise.
"Senior Brother Luo Yuan, you've got quite a haul!" Luo Feng said with a smile, glancing at Luo Yuan's backpack.
"Heh, Luo Feng, so have you. Looks like you gained a lot from this combat assessment too. Having blooded yourself really does make a difference. You look much steadier now." Luo Yuan patted Luo Feng on the shoulder, and Luo Feng merely scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
"Ah, you two are both freaks. Look at me-I injured my left arm and only got three monsters' left ears. I barely met the requirement," Yang Wu said self-deprecatingly beside them.
"All right, let's hurry and turn in these monsters' left ears. We've been up all night, and I'm getting tired. We should get some proper rest when we get back."
As Luo Yuan spoke, he walked with Luo Feng and Yang Wu toward the place where they were to hand in the monsters' left ears.
"Look, Luo Yuan and Luo Feng are here."
"They're the two who were recruited early by the Limitless Martial Hall."
"I wonder how many monsters they killed."
"Having strong physical attributes doesn't necessarily mean they're good at killing monsters."
For a moment, the gazes of the many Quasi-Martial Artists who had already emerged focused on Luo Yuan and Luo Feng as they approached from the town entrance.
Luo Yuan, Luo Feng, Wan Dong, and Ma Xiao were the four in this group of Quasi-Martial Artists who had been recruited early. Word had spread from person to person until almost everyone in the group knew all four of them.
"Next." The officer turned to the next person in line.
"Yang Wu. Hmm, not bad. Three monsters' left ears, minor injury to the left arm. Next."
"Luo Feng, thirty-six monsters' left ears. Very good!"
"You're Luo Yuan, right? Give me the left ears of the monsters you killed." Three officers sat in front of him, two working on laptops while the third looked at Luo Yuan.
"Yes, sir."
Clatter! Luo Yuan took off his backpack and tipped its contents out. A mass of monsters' left ears fell straight into the metal basin beside him, forming a sizable pile that filled it to the brim.
"That many?"
"How many monsters did this guy kill?" The Quasi-Martial Artists watching from a distance were stunned.
The assessing officer counted the monster ears one by one. A short while later, he looked at Luo Yuan with a smile.
"Luo Yuan, not bad. A total of 118 monsters' left ears. So far, you've killed the most monsters in this group. Hmm, you're not injured either-not even a bloodstain. Impressive!" The officer gave Luo Yuan a thumbs-up.
"Luo Yuan, you're really incredible. A hundred and eighteen monsters! Those monsters are hard to kill, especially the Tiger Mastiffs. They're faster than me, never mind their strength! Monsters at the same level are usually far stronger than human Warriors. I risked my life just to kill three." Yang Wu marveled at Luo Yuan as he walked side by side with Luo Yuan and Luo Yuan toward the rest area.
Luo Yuan merely smiled. With his strength, he did not consider these H-Class Monsters a threat at all. If he wanted to kill them, every last one would die.
Having handed in his monsters' left ears, Wan Dong clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he watched Luo Yuan and the others walk away, his eyes filled with resentment. There was no question that he had lost this time.
"Luo Yuan, Luo Feng," a voice called.
The two turned to see a bearded major general smiling at them. "Come with me. A friend would like to meet you. He's in the lounge just ahead."
Luo Yuan was a little puzzled. He did not remember the details of events very clearly, but he still decided to take a look. Anyone who could send a major general to deliver a message surely had considerable standing. The two rinsed off and changed into clean, fresh clothes before entering the lounge.
Inside the lounge, a burly man sat with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he opened them, his gaze flashing like lightning as he looked at Luo Yuan and Luo Feng.
So it's him. Luo Yuan frowned. This was the man who had spoken with Supervisor Zhuge earlier, one of the Thunder Dojo's four leading figures in Jiangnan Base City. But Luo Yuan hardly knew him.
"My name is Wang Heng, supervisor of the Thunder Dojo Headquarters," the burly man said with a smile. "Sit."
Luo Yuan sat down opposite this powerful figure with a composed expression and an easy manner. Luo Feng, on the other hand, seemed rather nervous beside him.
P.S. All you true gods out there, please send tips, monthly votes, and add this to your favorites. Luo Yuan bows before you.
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