Fang Yu and Fan Xing

Fang Yu's trial slaughter continued.

Before he knew it, it was 9 p.m., Blue Star time, of course. The Primordial Star was experiencing polar day, with daylight lasting for half a year.

In a hilly area, three figures were fighting in a valley between two small mountains.

Two of them were beasts that let out snarls from time to time. As large as ponies, they had grayish-brown fur and moved at astonishing speed. Their front claws in particular were absurdly sharp, and they worked together, constantly clawing at the black-clad figure.

The black-clad figure's footwork was incredibly agile as he dodged the two ferocious beasts' attacks.

Dozens of meters overhead.

"He's really formidable."

"He's improving so fast." Xia Yao looked down at the battle, watching Fang Yu. Every dodge he made was nearly at the limit, skimming past the beasts' attacks. It looked perilous, but he was actually as relaxed as if he were taking a stroll.

That showed absolute control over the battlefield.

The two Rending Claw Wolves' frenzied attacks had done Fang Yu no harm. In contrast, every swing of Fang Yu's saber left another wound on one of the wolves.

"He's fighting."

"And he's also honing his footwork."

"He hasn't used Dark Force, and he's been fighting for five or six hours straight, killing almost thirty ferocious beasts. Yet he can still stay this focused? He really has energy to spare," Xia Yao marveled inwardly.

In the first few fights, Fang Yu had been somewhat nervous and would unleash Dark Force at the slightest provocation.

But as the killing continued, Fang Yu quickly found his rhythm and began consciously conserving his strength. He almost stopped unleashing Dark Force, and later even began deliberately controlling his bursts of power, killing ferocious beasts at the smallest possible cost.

Unleashing Dark Force caused both strength and speed to soar, and it was indeed powerful... but it also consumed a great deal of stamina and blood qi, so it couldn't be sustained for long.

Thus, in the unpredictable wilderness, no matter how strong a martial artist was, they wouldn't unleash Dark Force unless necessary.

The first rule for martial artists venturing into the wilderness was never to trust anyone completely; the second was to keep their physical strength and energy at their peak as much as possible.

Under normal circumstances.

Newcomers usually needed guidance from seniors or a long period of combat trials before gradually realizing this... but Fang Yu needed no reminder from Xia Yao. He had realized it after only a few fights.

Even now.

Though he had reached the edge of the safe zone and was facing two Rending Claw Wolves that were both on the verge of level 20, Fang Yu could still handle them with ease, as though the previous hours of intense fighting had never happened.

He was nothing like a newcomer.

"Squelch!"

"Squelch!"

Two flashes of saber light streaked past like lightning. The two already heavily wounded Rending Claw Wolves couldn't dodge in time. Their vital points were pierced, and they fell to the ground, blood gushing out. After struggling for a while, they stopped moving.

Whoosh!

The aircraft descended rapidly. Xia Yao deftly jumped out, picked up a knife, and began cutting off the two Rending Claw Wolves' front claws. Of these beasts, only their sharp claws were worth any money.

Fang Yu stood to one side, constantly sweeping his gaze in every direction, keeping watch.

As she dissected them.

"Fang Yu, you're getting better and better at fighting. Even keeping watch is almost a habit for you now," Xia Yao couldn't help saying. "You've been fighting for so long, yet you can still stay this focused... If it were me, I'd never dare push myself this hard."

Fang Yu grinned. He understood what Xia Yao meant.

Fighting.

Especially life-and-death battles like these, consumed enormous amounts of physical and mental energy. Normally, after several hours of killing, most people would grow tired... If they then faced an opponent close to their own strength, they would surely try to end the fight quickly.

Unleashing Dark Force was the best choice.

Who would do what he did?

But.

Fang Yu was already used to it. His Innate Divine Ability, Devour, gave him not only an extraordinary ability to digest medicinal agents, but also an extraordinary rate of physical and mental recovery... After eating the same high-energy food, he could absorb it faster, so naturally he recovered faster as well.

That was also one reason his martial arts skills had improved so quickly over his years of cultivation.

There was no other reason!

He could focus more on cultivation, so naturally he cultivated more efficiently... Now that he had come to the Primordial Star, this advantage had grown even more pronounced.

From two in the afternoon until now, Xia Yao had grown a little tired just watching the fights and cutting up the spoils. Fang Yu, meanwhile, had only stopped once to eat high-energy food and rest for half an hour, yet he still had plenty of strength.

Suddenly.

"Hm?" Sensing something, Fang Yu looked up into the sky behind and to the side. A low-flying aircraft was passing by, and it was now slowly coming to a hover.

There were two figures aboard as well.

One was a young man in gray combat gear, with a saber on his back and plenty of bloodstains on his clothes. He seemed to have fought not long ago, and he was staring at Fang Yu.

"Fang Yu, what a coincidence! Did you kill both of these Rending Claw Wolves?" the gray-clad young man called. "Their fur has started turning a little white. They look like they're almost level 20. Impressive!"

"You flatter me." Fang Yu smiled faintly and called back with a laugh, "My ranking isn't as high as yours."

Among the hundreds of newly enrolled junior college students.

Six had received Elite Contracts.

Now, on the freshman Coefficient Score rankings displayed on the communication star ring, Fan Xing, Fang Yu, and Yan Hezhou all had Coefficient Scores of 1.1. But Fan Xing ranked higher, clearly having killed more and stronger ferocious beasts.

"I was just lucky," Fan Xing said with a cheerful laugh. He was tall and looked sunny when he smiled. "I'll carry on looking for ferocious beasts. We can talk when we get another chance."

"All right." Fang Yu nodded.

You didn't strike a smiling face. Since the other man was friendly, Fang Yu wouldn't give him the cold shoulder.

Fang Yu watched him leave.

"You know him?" Xia Yao had finished cutting up both Rending Claw Wolves.

"Not well." Fang Yu shook his head. "He's also a new fourth-year student. He got an Elite Contract. His name is Fan Xing, and he's ranked first among the freshmen right now."

Only freshmen had a separate "freshman Coefficient Score ranking" on the star ring's Primal Network.

People like Xia Yao could only see the "fourth-year total score rankings."

"Oh? He's Fan Xing?" Xia Yao was curious.

"You know him?" Fang Yu smiled.

"Mm." Xia Yao nodded. "His life level is very high. It should be the highest among the recommended freshmen in your class. I heard he's level 24."

"Level 24?" Fang Yu was somewhat surprised. "Then why was he at a junior college?"

Level 24 was even higher than Bai Chen's life level.

"I don't know," Xia Yao said, shaking her head. "Just like I'm curious how your skills improved so quickly when you were clearly a junior college student."

Fang Yu felt relieved as well.

Perhaps Fan Xing came from a wealthy family and only awakened his Astral Aspect in junior college... In any case, the world was vast, and anything was possible.

By comparison.

His own saber technique reaching Subtlety might be even more shocking than Fan Xing being level 24.

"His background seems even more impressive than yours. He joined an Earth Team directly," Xia Yao said.

"An Earth Team?" Fang Yu was puzzled.

"As the name suggests, an Earth Team is a team joined by Earth Institute students. It's what we older students commonly call them," Xia Yao said. "There are only a little over thirty Earth Institute students in our class at the moment. Most of them have extremely high life levels, and half have already reached level 30."

"Martial artists above level 30 generally don't come to the No. 12 Secondary Base, and most Earth Institute students also band together... So there are only four Earth Teams at the No. 12 Base right now," Xia Yao said.

"How do you know all that?" Fang Yu couldn't help asking.

"I'm in a support position, so learning a little about the other teams is part of my job," Xia Yao said with a proud smile. "Never mind our own class, I even look into some of the strong fifth-year teams."

"After all, we might run into them in the wilderness, so it helps to be prepared," Xia Yao said.

Fang Yu nodded.

"Earth Teams are scarce. How many elite students have their eyes on them, hoping to join? The stronger a team is overall, the better its chances of hunting high-level ferocious beasts above level 30."

"Killing high-level ferocious beasts in their thirties earns far more Civilization Points than killing beasts in their twenties, so your Coefficient Score rises incredibly fast," Xia Yao explained. "Normally, they wouldn't invite freshmen to join."

"So when Fan Xing managed to join an Earth Team, it caused a sensation in some of our older students' group chats."

Fang Yu understood.

No wonder Xia Yao knew about him.

"In that case, it's almost impossible for my Coefficient Score to overtake his," Fang Yu said thoughtfully.