Crack! Crack!
The pungent, fresh blood rolled down the thick hide of the unicorn boar’s neck, dripping onto the dusty highway. The boar’s eyes were filled with madness, and with each low, guttural roar, it charged lightning-fast at Luo Feng again and again. Its iron hooves, single horn, and tail launched an unrelenting series of attacks.
“The injury on its neck has clearly reduced its head’s flexibility,” Luo Feng thought while skillfully dodging.
In his martial artist practical exam, he had faced seven H-rank beasts simultaneously, honing his evasive techniques. The density of attacks from seven H-rank beasts, though slightly inferior to that of this near F-rank unicorn boar, was not much different.
Whoosh!
Rather than retreating, Luo Feng advanced. With a graceful sidestep, he narrowly evaded the tip of the unicorn boar’s horn by just three centimeters. Yet, those three centimeters felt like an insurmountable chasm, preventing the boar from touching Luo Feng at all.
“Strike now!”
Luo Feng swung his Blood Shadow Blade in a powerful downward slash from above. Accompanied by a piercing whistle, the unicorn boar roared furiously in alarm and tried desperately to dodge by pushing off with all four hooves. However, Luo Feng’s blade was too fast. A sound of the blade slicing flesh was heard.
Hiss—
Another slash landed on the neck, though not at the same spot as before. This time, the blade cut in about eight centimeters deep!
“Hmph, the previous injury prevented its neck muscles from fully resisting. Its defense will weaken further next time,” Luo Feng thought as he immediately dodged away from the boar’s retaliatory strike. Then, he closed in again!
“Hrrr! Hrrr!” the unicorn boar roared furiously.
“One last strike!”
Luo Feng dashed forward in three quick steps, creating a blurred illusion as he dodged the boar’s attack once more. At the same time, his blade flashed with deadly precision!
“Slash!”
The initial cut was somewhat difficult, but once it reached twelve centimeters deep, the resistance dropped sharply. Luo Feng’s Blood Shadow Blade cleaved nearly two-thirds of the way through the boar’s skull. He quickly withdrew the blade and leapt back!
Blood spurted violently from the massive wound like water from a tap!
“Aaarrgghh!” the beast howled in agony, its entire body convulsing wildly. Its hooves kicked the ground aimlessly, cracking the asphalt of the highway. Then, in a frenzy, the boar dashed forward and crashed into the curved guardrail beside the road, breaking through it and tumbling down.
Its cries gradually weakened, and it stopped moving.
Luo Feng stood at the edge of the broken highway guardrail, looking down at the boar’s corpse, whose head was nearly severed. The flow of blood had slowed, clearly almost drained completely. After all, the amount of blood lost earlier was probably enough to fill a wooden bucket.
“Dead!” Luo Feng leapt down and used his Blood Shadow Blade to sever the boar’s horn from its head.
The horn was the most valuable part of the unicorn boar’s entire body!
…
Far away, the five members of the Hammer Squad who had been watching couldn’t help but let out a long breath.
“Abnormal!”
“Monster!”
The Wei brothers muttered those two words.
“See what I mean? My recommendation wasn’t bad, right?” Chen Gu proudly exclaimed. If they had been surprised before, now they were truly awestruck.
“Incredible,” Zhang Ke couldn’t help but exclaim.
Gao Feng, the dual-hammer captain of the squad, stared at Luo Feng, who was cutting the horn in the distance: “How is Luo Feng’s footwork so amazing? If we talk purely about speed, the unicorn boar is slightly faster than him. But just now, he dodged several times so effortlessly. And each movement was so fluid! If he could maintain this footwork for hundreds or even thousands of times, he would reach the ‘Microscopic’ level!”
“He’s only eighteen years old. If he reaches the Microscopic level, he should be sent to the global headquarters of the martial arts academy for special training,” Wei Tie, the eldest of the Wei brothers, couldn’t help but say.
Microscopic level…
It meant that a martial artist of the same level could precisely and subtly dodge every time, using the smallest possible movement to achieve the perfect evasion. This kind of evasion was extremely difficult. Ordinary martial artists might manage it once or twice, but to do it hundreds or even thousands of times meant one had truly reached the Microscopic level!
“We’ve struck gold!” Gao Feng smiled.
The younger Wei brother, Wei Qing, nodded for once: “Yes, let’s cultivate him. The Hammer Squad will gain another backbone.”
“Me and the younger brother will teach him,” Wei Tie declared.
Chen Gu and Zhang Ke both smiled. As senior martial artists who had walked the line between life and death countless times, they knew very well that some so-called geniuses had great physical qualities. However, during actual battles with beasts, they might not even display a tenth of their potential. That’s why they usually looked down on these so-called geniuses.
True experts were forged through countless life-and-death battles!
Luo Feng’s first performance was this strong. Obviously, his combat skills were also formidable.
“Captain,” Luo Feng ran over from a distance, “about this horn…”
“You killed it, so it naturally belongs to you,” Gao Feng replied.
Luo Feng nodded and didn’t refuse.
In general, materials from soldier-ranked beasts weren’t worth much. Because soldier-ranked beasts could be killed with firearms… even a novice warrior martial artist wielding a machine gun could easily kill one after another of these soldier-ranked beasts if their shooting skills were good. Hence, soldier-ranked beasts weren’t valuable!
“This horn, if sold to the martial arts academy, should be worth about three thousand credits. It would also earn a few contribution points. If sold to the underground alliance, it might fetch five thousand,” Chen Gu said with a smile.
Materials from general-ranked beasts were valuable.
As for important materials from lord-ranked beasts, they were priceless!
“Your performance just now was barely acceptable,” Wei Tie, the elder of the Wei brothers, who had always kept a stern face, said.
“Brother Tie?” Luo Feng looked over, “Please, Brother Tie, give me some guidance.”
“Your footwork foundation is good, but your efficiency is too low,” Wei Tie said coldly. “Later, watch how I kill an F-rank beast.”
…
The beast Luo Feng killed was a near F-rank one. After a short journey, Luo Feng and the others encountered an F-rank feline beast, a tiger-cat monster. This tiger-cat had speckled patterns on its body and was as sturdy as a young bull. Its agility and ferocity were much higher than the unicorn boar.
“Watch me,” Wei Tie said coldly.
Whoosh!
With a shield in his left hand and a curved blade in his right, Wei Tie charged straight toward the tiger-cat.
“Brother Tie is an advanced warrior, matching the physical strength of this F-rank tiger-cat,” Luo Feng observed carefully. He saw Wei Tie charging directly at the tiger-cat without dodging. Actually, just as the tiger-cat roared and lunged at him, and the moment they were about to collide,
Wei Tie sidestepped slightly, letting the shield collide diagonally with the tiger-cat.
This diagonal collision caused the tiger-cat to lose balance, veering to one side.
“Slash!”
A curved, cold blade dangerously slid past the shield, slicing through the tiger-cat’s exposed throat area where it had lost balance. A stream of blood spurted out like water from a tap. Wei Tie quickly retreated, watching coldly as the tiger-cat roared in pain before gradually collapsing, lifeless.
Wei Tie cut off the tiger-cat’s tail, took out a nearly transparent tendon from within, placed it in his backpack, and walked back.
“Did you see that? My footwork isn’t as good as yours, and my strength isn’t greater than yours. But I killed it in one move,” Wei Tie looked at Luo Feng.
Luo Feng remained stunned.
The battle had indeed decided life and death in an instant. Earlier, he had to dodge the boar’s attacks repeatedly before striking its neck. It took quite some effort to kill it, and that unicorn boar was much weaker than this tiger-cat.
“Think about it carefully,” Wei Tie didn’t explain further, leaving Luo Feng to ponder alone.
Luo Feng was completely shocked.
Wei Tie’s speed and technique weren’t impressive, but his effectiveness was undeniable!
“The best way to kill a beast is to target its weakness!” Wei Qing, the younger Wei brother, walked over and said indifferently, “Generally, the weak points of mammalian beasts are their eyes, anus, throat, and mouth. The next level of critical areas is their soft abdomen… and the least critical area is the neck back you slashed!”
Luo Feng nodded. He knew this, but beasts moved so fast that hitting the eyes was difficult! And beasts like the unicorn boar and tiger-cat usually kept their heads low, making it hard to stab their throats. Attacking the abdomen was also challenging, so slashing the neck back was the easiest.
“Attacking the weak points is hard because beasts aren’t stupid; they protect their weaknesses well.”
“But, if there’s no opportunity, you can create one!”
“For example, just now, my brother created a sudden diagonal collision, causing the tiger-cat to lose balance momentarily, exposing its neck’s vital point. Then, instantly, the curved blade stabbed from under the shield into the tiger-cat’s neck, killing it instantly,” Wei Qing said coldly. “Even my brother’s final strike came from under the shield, giving the beast no time to react!”
Luo Feng nodded.
“Remember, learn to use your strengths effectively,” Wei Qing continued, “and strive to be the most effective and concise! Your footwork is excellent, but you don’t have to show it off every time. The ultimate goal of every action in battle is to kill the beast as effectively as possible.”
“I understand,” Luo Feng replied.
Wei Qing rarely showed a slight smile.
“Move out,” Captain Gao Feng waved with a smile.
…
Clearly, the Hammer Squad intended to cultivate Luo Feng as a future “backbone” of their team. Along the way, Wei Qing and Wei Tie took turns handling various beasts, sometimes letting Luo Feng deal with them himself. Through their verbal instructions and demonstrations, they imparted practical combat experience to Luo Feng, and his progress was equally remarkable.
Even Gao Feng, a Warlord-level expert, occasionally stepped in to teach Luo Feng.
Gradually, Luo Feng came to understand that killing beasts meant making every attack as effective as possible. His initial kills of the unicorn boar, with those flashy dodges, were actually just showing off and inefficient! Luo Feng’s attacks gradually became sharper, more direct, more decisive, and more efficient.
Three days later.
At dawn, on a dilapidated ring road around a city, the six members of the Hammer Squad advanced.
“There are two F-rank lion-hound dogs ahead. Luo Feng, you take them,” Captain Gao Feng ordered.
“Yes, Captain.”
Luo Feng grinned and ran toward the lion-hound dogs, not moving particularly fast.
“Roar!” “Roar!” The two lion-hound dogs roared and charged at Luo Feng. Their eyes were filled with bloodthirsty madness, not caring about this human. As the distance closed—
A smile appeared on Luo Feng’s face.
Whoosh!
His speed suddenly surged! The fur on both lion-hound dogs instantly bristled.
Luo Feng instantly closed in, his steps strangely taking four quick steps. It was the ‘Light Flow’ footwork from the ‘Nine Thunder Blades’ technique. He lured the lion-hound dogs into swiping their claws at him. Luo Feng twisted his body, precisely dodging their claws. At the moment their bodies passed each other, his Blood Shadow Blade struck viciously and stealthily!
Puh! It pierced straight into the neck’s vital spot.
Luo Feng quickly dashed forward, then turned to face the other lion-hound dog.
“Roar!” The other lion-hound dog saw its companion’s neck spewing blood and, with a low growl, quickly fled.
Gao Feng, Chen Gu, and the others from the Hammer Squad smiled slightly upon seeing this.
Although Luo Feng’s experience still couldn’t match the Wei brothers, his superior footwork meant that his current killing power was no less than that of the elder and younger Wei brothers.
“Luo Feng, come on, let’s hurry into the county town! Lion-hound dogs are pack animals. The one that escaped will soon bring a group of lion-hound dogs back,” Chen Gu chuckled. Luo Feng smiled and rejoined the group. The six members of the Hammer Squad finally entered their destination—the 0201 county city.
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