HUMMM...
The last trace of the wall's vibration faded into silence outside the door, long and drawn out. Inside the storage room, the campfire danced wildly, the sixteen figures standing with spears in hand swaying with the flames.
Eyes as sharp as needles were all fixed on the steel door, its iron lock long since shattered. Through the crack, a sliver of pitch-black darkness was visible—empty and featureless.
Jiang Qiu remained silent. The spear shaft turned slightly in his palm as he tapped its tip on the ground and strode toward the door.
Demon-exorcising Powder was mostly made from the spinal fluid and blood of Middle Tier or higher Demon Beasts. Low Tier Demon Beasts would retreat from it, and those with a keen sense of smell would steer clear from a great distance.
High Tier Demon Beasts were too powerful and should have already been cleared out by the instructors. Whatever was outside could only be a Middle Tier Demon Beast.
'Tough, but killable.'
CREAK...
He pushed the heavy steel door open with the tip of his spear. The firelight from within the storage room spilled out, stretching Jiang Qiu's shadow more than ten meters long across an empty space.
'Where's the Demon Beast?'
Jiang Qiu's taut eyelid suddenly twitched. He took a step over the threshold, his piercing eyes darting back and forth into the darkness on either side, beyond the firelight's reach.
He took another step. Still, nothing emerged from the darkness. He only tightened his grip on his spear subconsciously.
'There's no mistaking that sound from before. The walls were trembling. That Demon Beast has to be more than twice the size of an Iron Armor Lizard.'
'But why did the grating sound of claws on concrete suddenly disappear right at the door?'
SCRAAAPE...
The grating sound of claws digging into concrete suddenly rang out from above, then fell silent. Jiang Qiu instinctively snapped his head up. His pupils quaked as his entire field of vision was blotted out by a blood-red maw.
Two rows of sharp fangs snapped shut, growing larger at an alarming rate. From the depths of a pitch-black throat, a long, scarlet tongue shot out, lashing toward him as well.
In that instant, a chill shot from the top of Jiang Qiu's skull down to his very toes.
[Life and Death Drill x1]
THUD. The Demon Beast hit the ground.
CLATTER...
The spear slipped from a nerveless hand and clattered onto the concrete floor. The sound was like a sledgehammer striking the top of everyone's heads, their eyes bulging as if they would leap from their sockets.
The strongest of them, Jiang Qiu, had been seized in the jaws of a reptilian Demon Beast that had dropped from the ceiling, his entire upper body clamped in its mouth!
Vertical pupils, a crocodile-like snout, and a body covered in scarlet plates. With a tilt of its head, it was about to swallow Jiang Qiu whole. It was a Middle Tier Demon Beast: the Red Armored Giant Lizard!
According to the natural predator relationships mentioned in their general studies class, in an unrestricted environment, the law of the jungle reigned among Demon Beasts. The Red Armored Giant Lizard preyed on weaker Low Tier Demon Beasts like the Iron Armor Lizard!
In the case files from previous years' multi-school practical hunting drills, many exceptional students wearing Light Armor had been disabled by Middle Tier Demon Beasts. There were even geniuses at the Iron Flesh Realm who had been careless and suffered grievous injuries from a bite!
It didn't matter how masterful Jiang Qiu's Spear Technique was—he wasn't wearing a shred of armor!
'Unless he really has trained his skin to be like bronze and his flesh like iron...'
'Fuck, how is that possible? It's just a figure of speech!'
As this thought crossed his mind, Li Si's breathing grew ragged. He fought to calm his heaving chest and looked for the window on the wall. At that exact moment, a female voice, like a startled bird's cry in an empty valley, broke the night's silence: "Go!"
Liu Zili, Zhang Shan, and Wang Guanjia flew past his shoulders one after another. The faint wind they stirred up lifted the cuff of his sleeve from under his pauldron. In the blink of an eye, a dozen or so students had charged out the door.
Gritting his teeth, Li Si stamped his feet twice before raising his spear and chasing after them.
KILL—
The Red Armored Giant Lizard had only ambushed Jiang Qiu a second ago. It hadn't even lifted its head to swallow the legs dangling from its mouth when a cold glint flickered in its huge, dark eyes. A slender human female was thrusting a spear at it, her gaze as cold as an ice needle.
It instinctively shut its right eye. Though the spearhead only pierced the surface of the eyelid, pain lanced through its pupil!
In that instant, as its eye was closed, a thousand blows rained down upon its body. The stinging pain was like a hailstorm hammering its impenetrable plates. Annoyed, it clenched its jaw, but the person in its mouth was as hard as bronze and stone. Its teeth had only managed to break the skin and could not bite any deeper!
It couldn't even bite through its food. This enraged it further, its gaze turning colder.
CRACK—
Its long, Red Armored tail whipped out like a python, a crescent of red shadow sweeping low. The attack sent all the surrounding humans flying, knocking them onto the concrete floor like scattered pebbles. Some couldn't even push themselves back up.
It ignored the ants, its massive maw opening slightly as it gathered its strength to deal with the food in its mouth.
Suddenly, its body went rigid. A sharp SNAP echoed from within its mouth, and its black, vertical pupils constricted to the size of pinpricks.
"AWOOO—"
It spat out a mouthful of blood, sending Jiang Qiu flying with it. He slammed into the wall with a BOOM, and dust rained down.
Everyone stared intently at the wall in the darkness. Their pupils quaked, and their gazes flickered. Li Si's jaw hung slack, as if dislocated.
Thud.
Jiang Qiu dropped from the wall, landing firmly on both feet. Half of a severed scarlet tongue fell next to his outstretched right foot. The tattered remains of his black shirt fluttered with each slow step.
On his tough skin, like that of an Ancient Bronze Artifact, were faint, almost imperceptible teeth marks. A faint hint of Qi Blood could be seen circulating there, wreathed in a yellow glow.
His clear, bright eyes shone like stars in the night, brimming with murderous intent!
He walked out of the darkness, his strides growing longer with each step until, in an instant, he broke into a full sprint. He suddenly sprang into the air like a coil, his right fist gathering the wind, his arm drawn back like a bow as he looked down upon the massive, crocodile-like Red Armored Giant Lizard.
All thought of life and death vanished, leaving only the boiling of his blood.
"You fucking dare to bite me?!"
With a furious roar, the unarmored Jiang Qiu shot like a small meteorite toward the dark red Red Armored Giant Lizard. It was a scene of immense impact, like Wu Song pouncing on the giant tiger.
As this punch tore through the air, the Red Armored Giant Lizard, its eyes red with hate, bared its fangs and twisted. Its massive, python-like tail whipped through the air, using the motion to build momentum!
In that instant, everyone's hearts, which had just begun to settle, leaped into their throats once more. Fingernails dug into palms as they watched in terror.
'Who fights a Middle Tier Demon Beast bare-handed in a practical hunting drill? A full-powered strike from that tail is enough to shatter a concrete wall!'
'Sure, you can gang up on a weaker Middle Tier Demon Beast, but against something as ferocious as this Red Armored Giant Lizard, you're supposed to avoid a direct confrontation!'
BOOM—
The bronze fist and iron tail collided. The whipping force and the Hidden Force crashed together with a thunderous roar. A howling gale sent dust and plastic bags flying. The scene of their clash, a vision of pure, aesthetic power, was seared into the onlookers' eyes!
'Isn't Brother Jiang a spear user, just like us?'
'His fists are that hard!'
Before anyone could even collect their thoughts, the concrete floor where Jiang Qiu's right foot had landed belatedly buckled and sank, cracks spreading out like a spiderweb!
'Life and Death Drill—'
'[Powerful Penetration]!'
HUMMM!
The armored tail, thicker than both of his thighs combined, recoiled violently from his fist. Not a single plate was broken, but the creature's enormous body trembled. "HISS-AWOOO—"
It spat out a mouthful of red blood, then turned with wide eyes. SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE. Its claws dug into the floor as it scrambled away, moving like a snake through tall grass. With a twist of its body, it disappeared into the darkness.
THUD, THUD, THUD...
Jiang Qiu gave chase with heavy strides. A moment later, another enormous BOOM rang out, like a bomb blast, and the entire floor of the supermarket trembled violently.
The others quickly grabbed their spears and hurried over. They saw a hole the size of a car blown through a wall. Murky moonlight streamed in, revealing a three-to-four-meter-long trail of claw marks scraped two centimeters deep into the concrete floor.
Outside the supermarket, under the murky Moonlight, the silhouettes of the surrounding buildings were clearly outlined.
In the middle of the main road, its surface webbed with cracks like tree branches, Jiang Qiu sat astride the neck of the Red Armored Giant Lizard, a beast even larger than a mighty tiger. He rained down blows with his left and right fists onto its head, which was covered in Dark Red Armor Plates. BOOM! BOOM! The impacts rang out like a midnight alarm, echoing down the entire street.
"If I hadn't already reached the Iron Flesh Realm and couldn't use [Copper Transformation], I would have died in your mouth today," Jiang Qiu said with a smirk, his canine teeth glinting. "Heh. The plates of a Red Armored Giant Lizard are dark red, indestructible. They can be forged into Armor and are worth over one hundred thousand.
That bite of yours nearly drained my Qi Blood. I'll let you compensate me with this full-body suit of plates."
A torrential storm of fists hammered the Red Armored Giant Lizard's head. The dark red plates gradually began to show hairline cracks. Its jaw sank deeper and deeper into the concrete road, becoming a mangled mess of blood and flesh.
Like a feral cat being mauled by a rabid dog, its four claws scrabbled desperately at the road, its tail slapping weakly against Jiang Qiu's back. TAP. TAP. TAP.
"Die."
Suddenly, Jiang Qiu drew a sharp breath into his chest. All the blood in his body surged like a great river into his right fist. All his Strength converged on a single point as his punch tore through the air and descended.
The stench of death filled the night air. The Red Armored Giant Lizard's eyes widened in terror. It had just started to lift its chin a fraction when it was slammed down again, as if a towering mountain was crushing its neck!
BOOM—
The dark red plate on its head, like an overstressed shell struck by a sledgehammer, shattered with a CRACK, sending fragments flying. His awl-like fist pierced the outer plate and shattered the skull beneath. The frantically whipping tail behind him abruptly fell still.
Perhaps the fist was so heavy it squeezed two tears of regret from the corners of its eyes...
The thunderous, non-stop sound of flesh striking iron had long since alerted certain instructors from the Martial Inspection Department, who were hidden in the high-rises.
On the windy roof of a distant hospital, Wu Shan blinked his slightly dry right eye, the corners of his mouth twitching into a small smile. "Fighting a Middle Tier Demon Beast bare-handed, and a Red Armored Giant Lizard at that, one known for its defense...
Jiang Qiu is truly a remarkable prodigy. He possesses Talent far beyond the ordinary."
"But to run into a Middle Tier Demon Beast on the very first night… no matter which zone they were in, someone would have been forced to [Withdraw]. From that perspective, the students in my zone have some bad luck."
WHOOSH...
Suddenly, a brilliant beam of light flashed from the top of another high-rise several kilometers away, accompanied by the Spirit Charm fluctuations unique to a Martial Artist, sniping a Demon Beast.
Wu Shan smirked. "Forced to [Withdraw] on the first night, and this far from the Secret Realm Center… Which zone is that weak…"
WHOOSH... WHOOSH... WHOOSH...
Three more beams of light flashed in succession from different directions. The smirk on his lips slowly faded. His single right eye seemed to swirl like a black moon. "The intensity of this year's practical hunting drill is a bit high."
BZZZT...
He pulled a vibrating, phone-like information receiver from his pocket. It displayed a single notification.
[Team Leader Li Ang: All students in all zones may encounter Middle Tier Demon Beast attacks tonight. There are already casualties. All units, prioritize student safety. In addition, Director Zhao has personally activated [Bright Eyes] to search, but the body of the missing Demon Plant has still not been found...]