Fang Rou’s head was sandwiched between Xiang Ning’s arms. He was staring at her beautiful face as words choked in his throat.

Her face was a brilliant white framed by beautiful dark hair and her eyes were large and mesmerizing with a hint of excitement within. She was hinting at him that it was alright to continue. Their hearts pounded, their heartbeats the only sound around them.

“Xiang Ning… could you please move a bit?” She couldn’t hold her gaze any longer. Xiang Ning’s eyes were too attractive, pulling her closer and closer. 

Xiang Ning almost succeeded in controlling himself, but soon found that it was impossible with how cute Fang Rou was and gently lowered himself onto her. Fang Rou quickly shut her eyes, but her heart was racing in anticipation. She lifted her chin.…

But what greeted her was a warm feeling on her forehead. She felt something warm and light and her heart skipped a beat.

Fang Rou opened her eyes and saw that Xiang Ning had already moved to the opposite side of the truck. He was scratching his head as his eyes darted around restlessly. He was trying his best to not look at Fang Rou.

As for her, she had already sat up as well. Looking at how flustered he was, she laughed. Like a little elf, her laughter was as clear as a bell, plucking at the heartstrings of everyone nearby. She proceeded to straighten her hair.

“Hey, don’t laugh!” Xiang Ning was extremely embarrassed. He wouldn't be able to explain himself if Li Yunfei knew about it… I’m such an idiot to only kiss her forehead! She’s going to think that I’m—

“Xiang Ning.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmm!” Xiang Ning's eyes widened. He felt lightning surge throughout his body. His brain had stopped thinking and his heart had stopped as a warm feeling spread from his lips.

“Dummy.” Having said that, Fang Rou promptly left.

Xiang Ning was still in shock, his eyes glazed over in stupidity. He finally took his first breath after three minutes and gasped for air. To think that a single kiss could make me hold my breath for three minutes! He slowly touched his lips to reaffirm that he wasn’t dreaming, then laughed like an idiot as he tried to remember how soft and sweet it was.

He was so into his thoughts that he almost shot up when he heard someone knocking.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Xiang Ning went and saw who was knocking at the truck.

“I’m just sending over some personal hygiene supplies. Wash up and rest, we need to leave early tomorrow.”

“Wait, why are your eyes like that?” Li Yunfei felt that something was amiss with Xiang Ning.

“Hmm? Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? About what?”

“Hehe, you know why. I’m too tired to explain it. Just leave the stuff there.”

“Hey, what the? What’re you talking about?”

......

The night continued without any incident.

Just as dawn was about to break, Li Yunfei went and woke Xiang Ning up. He stood up groggily as he saw Li Yunfei holding a toothbrush and some toothpaste.

“Come on, let’s go and get ready.”

“Heh.”

Li Yunfei was speechless. He didn’t know what Xiang Ning was trying to say. He had been acting weird since the day before.

After breakfast, Xiang Ning looked for Fang Rou. He felt a bit disappointed because he couldn't find her. But just as they were about to leave, she appeared again.

Both of them locked gazes as they no longer required words to express what they were thinking about. Xiang Ning smiled and waved. “Don’t worry! I’ll be alright!”

“Okay! I’ll wait for you to come back!” She sent them off. It was only after they had left that Fang Rou silently whispered, “Please come back safely.”

Due to the unexpected delay, they were now rushing at full speed toward the Great Blue River. Thanks to Xiang Ning and his bioweapon, their journey had been smooth without any beasts. Li Yunfei was naturally very happy about it.

“Sir, I think it was a really smart move to bring Xiang Ning with us. But don’t you think his weapon would be much better suited to be held by someone stronger?” Six asked.

“Heh, if you think that his weapon is much more suited for you, I can apply to the higher-ups to allow you to undergo intensive training.” Li Yunfei replied.

“What? Why?’

“That thing is only a weapon in name. In reality, it’s no different than a beast.”

“Now you’ve lost me. What do you mean?” He had heard about beast cores, but he still didn’t understand what Li Yunfei meant.

“Heh, look, here’s your chance to understand it. You should be able to comprehend what I meant after this.” Li Yunfei immediately ordered the vehicles to stop, because right in front of them was a beast munching on the corpse of another beast.

“Pale Moon! It’s a Beast General-ranked wolf-type beast!” Six was excited! It was a rare beast that specialized in speed. Its hide was pure white, boasting incredible defensive capabilities as strong legs and teeth granted it overwhelming strength. In general, it was an all-rounded beast, a natural hunter.

“Sir, do you think you can kill it?”

“Yeah I can, but there’s no guarantee. It could easily escape with its speed and I won’t be able to catch up. My weapon is incompatible,” Li Yunfei truthfully answered.

“Then should we help Xiang Ning? He’s already moving toward it.”

“No problem, ask the snipers to prepare just in case. Fire the moment Xiang Ning’s life is in danger.”

“Understood.”

Xiang Ning had volunteered to hunt the beast, not because he wanted to fight, but because he felt Devourer pulsating and squirming. It wanted to drink the blood of the Pale Moon. He remembered that Alia told him about this before. Even if the beast core had been turned into a weapon, it was still alive. It needed to restore its energy by consuming the blood from its prey.

He stared at the Pale Moon, unafraid. 

He held Devourer and pointed it toward the beast. It finally bothered to look up and was shocked to see the weapon. It was slightly apprehensive, but still stood its ground. From the moment it was born it had been destined to become a hunter; the pride of the Pale Moon was indomitable.

“Hu… mans!”

Based on the laws of nature, the stronger the beast, the lower its numbers. Just like rabbits were the prey of the eagle, the number of eagles was always lower than the rabbits. The Pale Moon might be a rare beast, but it was one of the strongest. It could easily fight beasts within its own tier.

Xiang Ning may not know that, but he understood that the beast was strong. Even if he used the Sovereign's Throne, the strength of the Pale Moon would decrease by 20% at most. It could be said that it was a suitable opponent for him to train against.

However, he was still confident that he would win thanks to Keen Observation.

“It’s starting.” Li Yunfei smiled as both Xiang Ning and the Pale Moon vanished from where they stood.

GODDAMMIT MC YOU COULD'VE GONE ALL THE WAY

Oooo new named beast though. Kinda wished the author gave him a skill to tame beasts. Would've been great.