The next reward was within reach

The instant Xu Yuan stepped into skin tempering fourth stage, his entire body shuddered, as though an invisible syringe had brutally injected something called strength into him!

At the same time, his skin and flesh quivered, and a feeling of being reborn, of shedding his old body for a new one, welled up within him!

Xu Yuan knew this was the physical transformation that came with advancing from skin tempering early stage to skin tempering middle stage!

Just as cultivating the Savage Bull Skin-Toughening Method made one's skin and flesh as tough as a bull python's upon reaching skin tempering fourth stage, the Heaven-Shaking Art clearly brought a similar change.

Only, his skin did not turn blue-green at this moment. Instead, dark gold lines surfaced across it, forming a golden net branded over his entire body before disappearing.

An understanding came to Xu Yuan: even if he stood still and let an ordinary person hack at him with a blade now, they probably would not leave so much as a scratch!

In addition, the condensation speed of the Demon Descent Mark inside him soared once again!

Previously, it had still needed fifteen or sixteen days. Now, he estimated it would only take around eight.

"Awesome!"

Xu Yuan roared inwardly, his gaze burning as he looked at the enormous corpse before him. But he did not continue absorbing it, instead forcibly reining in his desire.

This improvement was too violent. Another round might cause abnormalities in his body.

If nothing else, his blood vessels would very likely bulge, because the vessels in his arms already felt swollen.

Besides, although the bone forging experts had not noticed anything, he could hardly justify staying behind this corpse the whole time.

I can't get greedy. There'll be plenty of chances later!

With that thought, Xu Yuan stopped suppressing the fear deep within him and fully released his terror of the rank pressure. Then he walked out from behind the corpse, his face pale.

There was not the slightest trace of acting about him now. All his fear came from the heart.

It was as though he had done nothing just now but endure the rank pressure.

Commander Shen watched with a broad grin. "This kid will probably have nightmares for the next few days!"

People who had endured rank pressure almost always had nightmares.

The rank pressure of Weird Beasts, in particular, was itself filled with savage, bloodthirsty emotions, making it even more likely to give people one nightmare after another.

"But there are benefits, too. When the martial arts class goes out to hunt Weird Beasts, this kid will definitely be much calmer than the others."

Chen Rui said, "Speaking of which, how are preparations coming along for your Divine Guard Army? Have you found all the Weird Beasts suitable for the students to hunt?"

"Not yet. They have to have weak attacks and move slowly. Where are we supposed to find Weird Beasts like that so easily?"

Commander Shen said, rather exasperated, "Honestly, those higher-ups. If they want to get tough, they should just go all the way. Wouldn't it be better to let them see real Weird Beasts firsthand? Instead, they insist on making us go to all this trouble to find some trash to be their sparring partners."

"You can't put it like that. We have to give the students some room to adjust."

As the two spoke, Xu Yuan had already calmed down and walked over. Cupping his fist, he said, "Thank you all for giving me the chance to come into contact with a Weird Beast!"

His thanks came from the heart, without the slightest pretense.

"What's there to thank us for? Go take care of your own business." Commander Shen waved a hand.

Hearing this, Xu Yuan did not stand on ceremony. He nodded to Liu Yun and the poker-faced man, then turned and left.

He had tested what needed testing and even taken the opportunity to advance a stage. There was no point staying any longer.

Besides, looking at that Weird Beast corpse made the Heaven-Shaking Art stir restlessly, and his own heart was growing restless too. Better to slip away first.

"Quick, quick, quick! Over here!"

Just then, a clamor rose as a crowd of reporters rushed toward Chen Rui and the others with their camera operators.

Xu Yuan's gaze shifted slightly. Reporters conducting interviews? Then they would probably interview the injured too, right?

He wondered whether anyone would expose how Zhou Ling had thrown someone to the Weird Beast to be eaten.

If someone exposed it, that beast Zhou Ling might be executed by the Martial Suppression Department before Xu Yuan even made his move.

Passing the crowd of reporters, Xu Yuan took out his phone and told Fatty to come this way.

Traffic here definitely would not clear anytime soon. They would have to go to the other end to catch a ride to the martial arts base.

Someone there was still waiting for his guidance on martial techniques. He had to keep his word when doing business...

That night, the Weird Beast attack on the city made the news.

After returning home from the base and taking a shower, Xu Yuan settled in with his phone and started reading.

According to the news report, the Weird Beast attack had left thirteen dead and 172 injured.

Before appearing at the intersection, that Weird Beast had already eaten twelve innocent civilians.

Zhao Zhongtang, the blood replacement expert in overall command of Yang City's Divine Guard Army, came forward to apologize. He stated that allowing the Weird Beast into the city had been a failure of the Divine Guard Army's duties and explained that it had come from White Beggar Mountain, over a hundred kilometers south of Yang City.

Xu Yuan checked the comments and found that few people blamed the Divine Guard Army. Those speaking up were mainly calling for defensive walls to be built around Yang City.

Yes, Yang City had no defensive walls.

Because Yang City had a favorable geographical location, with few mountains, rivers, or forests nearby, and the Divine Guard Army swept the surrounding area from time to time, Weird Beasts had entered the city only a handful of times over the past several decades. Thus, no defensive walls had been built.

There were quite a few cities like Yang City. After all, building defensive walls was costly, and Great Xia still prioritized cities close to large mountains and forests.

However, cities like Yang City were not entirely without precautions. There was a perimeter security net outside the city, and any Weird Beast breaking through it to enter the city would be detected.

This was also why Chen Rui and the others had been able to intercept that Weird Beast at the intersection in time.

After the official statement came the on-site interviews.

Xu Yuan finished watching the video, then looked up several more reports. Unable to find Zhou Ling's name in any of them, he could not help feeling a little disappointed.

"Looks like I'll still have to deal with this beast myself."

Xu Yuan muttered to himself, then suddenly spotted a picture.

Lin Yuan!

In the picture, Lin Yuan's face was covered in sweat. He was clearly exhausted.

Beneath the picture was a brief report about Lin Yuan:

[Lin Yuan, teacher in the martial arts department of No. 3 Middle School. Although Mr. Lin did not participate in the fighting during this incident, he promptly moved more than fifty injured people to safety. As a result, several of the injured received timely treatment, saving their lives.]

Saving people?

Saving people!

He had saved so many people. Then Lin Yuan's Sin Points...

Xu Yuan's heart suddenly gave a hard thump. His awareness instantly sank into his mind, and he found Lin Yuan's name on the Beast Ranking.

[Lin Yuan, 2329!]

"They dropped that much?!"

Xu Yuan remembered very clearly that Lin Yuan's Sin Points had previously been 2784. In other words, this single rescue operation had brought them down by a full 455 points!

But that was not important. What mattered was that his Sin Points were now very close to Xu Yuan's!

Xu Yuan glanced at his own entry.

[Xu Yuan, 2311!]

Only eighteen points apart. His next reward was right before his eyes!

Just then, his phone vibrated, and a Heavenly Messenger notification popped up.

Xu Yuan took a look and grinned.

Speak of someone, and there they were!

[Jiang Yong: I'll remind you one more time. Prepare a vial of third-stage divine essence medicinal solution, so you won't be unable to go buy one after your arms and legs get broken tomorrow.]

[Xu Yuan: You're such a good person. You even saved me the trouble of typing.]

[Jiang Yong: ?]

Xu Yuan simply copied and pasted Jiang Yong's words and sent them back to him, then tossed his phone aside, lay down, and went straight to sleep.