"Sigh, I wonder if the army will still count them when they're mangled this badly."
Zhang Junbao cut off the left ears of all four Shadow Cats, but his longsword had pierced the last two through their ears, leaving them mangled to a pulp. He didn't know whether the army would think he was using a few mangled ears to pad his count.
"Forget it. On to the next place."
He didn't dwell on it. It wasn't as though he was short of those few monster ears.
Several tremendous roars came from the distance. It seemed a Quasi-Martial Artist was slaughtering monsters; the roars rose and fell, carrying a great distance.
The unusual commotion also caught the attention of the soldiers in the monitoring room.
Inside the military district, hundreds of monitors in a large monitoring room showed scenes from every corner of the town.
"Look! Who's that Quasi-Martial Artist? He's so fierce! He's actually taking on three Ironfur Boars and two Tiger Mastiffs by himself-one against five!
Even an ordinary martial artist wouldn't dare try that!"
the soldier responsible for monitoring said in surprise.
"Oh? Hahaha, so it's the kid the Thunder Dojo recruited early. I think his name is Bai Zhan. That's quite a domineering name." The soldier's exclamation caught the attention of an officer nearby.
"Old Wang, that kid you recruited this time is pretty good." The officer looked at the burly man behind him, none other than the Thunder Dojo director who had confronted Zhuge Tao earlier.
"Young people just love showing off. He's killing a few monsters, so why all the pointless roaring and making such a commotion?"
the burly Old Wang said with a smile. The grin on his face was impossible to hide, like a chrysanthemum in full bloom.
"Whoa, what's this?" Old Wang was just about to praise Bai Zhan when the soldier's exclamation interrupted him.
The screen switched to footage of Zhang Junbao, with a densely packed horde of monsters attacking one man.
"Why is he being surrounded by so many monsters? He hasn't sent a distress signal yet. Should we go save him?" the soldier asked.
"No need.
He... he isn't being surrounded at all. He deliberately lured all those monsters over himself. Has this kid gone mad?
Taking on fifteen or twenty monsters by himself?" The officer's scalp tingled as he watched Zhang Junbao dart back and forth through the horde.
"His movement technique... how is that possible? That's a Perfect Level movement technique! A Quasi-Martial Artist who isn't even eighteen has a Perfect Level movement technique!" Old Wang, the Thunder Dojo director, was stunned too. He hadn't expected the lame martial artist he had just mocked to grind everything he knew into the dirt.
"You know him? How do you know he isn't eighteen yet?" the officer asked in confusion.
"His name is Zhang Junbao. Damn it, I only just met him. The Limits Dojo recruited him early!
The Limits Dojo really stepped in dog shit to run into a genius like this. With a movement technique that strong, his strength and speed definitely can't be lacking.
I thought his movement technique was just a little better and he was recruited early because he was young. Is this just a little better?
Movement techniques are different from physical conditioning. Even with talent, you need to hone yourself through countless battles and build an absolutely solid foundation before you can possibly reach the 'Perfect Level.'"
Old Wang, the Thunder Dojo director, spoke through gritted teeth. He now regretted not raising his offer on the spot and poaching Zhang Junbao.
A Perfect Level movement technique! Even he had only reached it not long ago. And it was because Zhuge Tao's movement technique was stronger than his that Zhuge Tao had always kept him down.
Among Warlords, quite a few had yet to reach the Minitia Level in movement technique, while those who reached the Perfect Level all had hope of becoming Wargods.
"No, this won't do. If a genius like that grows up in the Limits Dojo, we'll be crushed.
It's just a matter of throwing money around. Who's afraid of that?
Compared to him, that cocky brat Bai Zhan is nothing. He fights five monsters and squeals like a pig being slaughtered, as if he's afraid nobody will notice."
Comparisons between people were the worst. Now that he'd made one, Bai Zhan suddenly didn't seem so appealing.
"Iron Monkey, make me a copy of this recording. I'm going to ask the higher-ups for a Special Training spot!" said Old Wang, the Thunder Dojo director.
"No problem. That's Special Training at one of the world's two great Training Camps!" The officer smiled and nodded.
In the town, the roars of beasts continued. Every so often, a human scream rang out: the dying cry of a Quasi-Martial Artist who had failed to defeat a monster and been torn apart. It was a constant reminder to everyone of the cruelty of this world.
The roles of prey and hunter could be reversed at any moment.
Inside a dilapidated mansion, the former owner's wealth was still faintly visible. There was a sprawling lawn of several hundred square meters, a swimming pool, and everything else one could want. Zhang Junbao stood on that lawn, surrounded by eight Shadow Cats, six Ironfur Boars, and four Tiger Mastiffs-eighteen monsters in all.
The eighteen monsters' eyes were red as they pounced at Zhang Junbao. Their common enemy, a human, had made them set aside their prejudices against other species and join forces against him alone.
"Very good. Monsters that work together this smoothly are actually stronger than humans of the same level, and their attacks are even more sinister and vicious!"
A bloody slash had ripped open Zhang Junbao's clothes. A Shadow Cat had paid the price of a cut across its belly to lash him hard with its powerful tail.
Though it hadn't done him much damage, it had made Zhang Junbao realize how cunning monsters were.
Now he moved calmly through the horde, his footwork elusive and bewildering, like a butterfly weaving through flowers. His speed and strength remained at the level of a Beginner Warrior throughout.
A Tiger Cat used a Tiger Mastiff's body as cover, then darted out as soon as Zhang Junbao knocked the mastiff flying, clawing at his throat.
But an Ironfur Boar had wedged his longsword firmly between its bones, and for a moment he couldn't pull it free.
It was an exquisitely coordinated attack between monsters of three species, bringing their hunting instincts to the very limit.
"Hmph, trying to play dirty with me? Too bad you're nowhere near good enough to play Taiji!"
Zhang Junbao twisted with his right hand, wedging the trapped longsword even more firmly in place. Then, pulling against the sword, he forcibly shifted his body half a meter to the side, avoiding the perilous attack.
A surge of hidden force flowed into the longsword, crushing the bones of the Ironfur Boar that had risked its life to trap the blade. His sword turned with the motion, opening a meter-long gash in the belly of the Shadow Cat before it landed, spilling its intestines and organs all over the ground.
The night's fighting had allowed Zhang Junbao to learn the monsters' fighting habits and where their weaknesses lay. The awareness that helped him dodge in battle was gradually improving. More importantly, his Perfect Level movement technique already allowed him to observe the monsters and predict their movements to a certain extent, letting him make countermoves in advance.
If a Minitia Level movement technique meant controlling one's body and strength with extreme precision and making the most subtle evasive moves at the smallest cost, then a Perfect Level movement technique meant factoring in all external elements-the surrounding monsters, the environment, rocks, and so on-and taking complete control of one's surroundings to dodge perfectly!
This required not only observing every detail of the surroundings, but also knowing everything in the surrounding environment like the palm of one's hand. It could only be accomplished with an exceptionally fast neural response.
Otherwise, if several minutes or even longer had passed by the time you finished calculating the circumstances of a single instant, what use would it be? The monsters would have torn you limb from limb long ago.