Except for Fang Rou, everyone else was astonished by Xiang Ning’s action. That was a Shadowblood Hound, a tier one, nine-star beast. Xiang Ning was only a tier one, six-star martial artist, why did he provoke such a powerful beast?

“I have no idea what he’s thinking.”

“What an idiot, wait until he gets bitten by the beast.”

The Shadowblood Hound saw the dagger flying toward it and its pupils shrank in surprise. Its blood-red fur bristled up as it revealed its dagger-like teeth, saliva dripping down its fearsome maw. It raised its front paws and tried to smack the dagger away.

“Not only did he miss the target, but he also angered the beast. Xiang Ning is digging his own grave.”

But just as everyone thought the beast would smack the dagger away, it mysteriously slipped through a gap in its claws and stabbed directly into the beast’s eye.

“What?! How could that be? That gap was just big enough for the dagger to slip through! The Shadowblood Hound can’t be that stupid!”

“I think I just saw a ghost. Does the Shadowblood Hound want to kill itself?”

Xiang Ning smiled as he saw what happened. He turned to the rest of the squad and said, “What’re you guys looking at? Hurry up and kill the Boulder Boar.”

Fang Rou was speechless. She almost blurted out her true thoughts. I’m looking at you.

“Liu Ruoxue, use your weapon to suppress the Boulder Boar while looking out for Xiang Ning. I’ll draw its attention with Li Zimo,” Fang Rou instructed.

Li Zimo and Liu Ruoxie nodded and took their weapons. Liu Ruoxue’s weapon was a RSS-P90 Assault Rifle, capable of holding seventy-two rounds in a single magazine and firing at an astonishing rate of three thousand rounds per minute. It used 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds, capable of piercing ten-millimeter steel plates and more than enough to kill a normal beast.

The Boulder Boar took its stance just as the Shadowblood Hound tried swatting the dagger away. As the Shadowblood Hound cried in pain from its injury, the Boulder Boar charged toward Fang Rou without hesitation, its giant body shaking the ground as if it was a bulldozer.

“Go!” Fang Rou charged forward, followed by Li Zimo, who held his staff and attacked the boar.

Liu Ruoxue stood her ground and opened fire with her RSS-P90. The air was ripped apart by a hail of fire and steel. But the Boulder Boar was a beast specialized in defense, and most of the bullets bounced off of it, showering the ground with sparks. Only some of the bullets pierced through its armor and hurt it.

“What perfect teamwork! Now they just have to look out for Xiang Ning. If Xiang Ning can’t suppress the Shadowblood Hound, then Instructor Lei will have to directly intervene. I don’t think a normal instructor would be able to save Xiang Ning in time. Xiang Ning would have lost a limb or two by then if Instructor Lei was a normal instructor.”

Xiang Ning heard that and his face darkened.

“Hey, you. I heard you. I’m going to break something precious of yours when I get out,” Xiang Ning warned.

The person who commented felt something shrink, and Xiang Ning received some Fury Points in return.

Fury Points +66

Xiang Ning looked at the Shadowblood Hound, his eyes filled with excitement.

Three thousand Fury Points consumed

Mountain-Splitting Slash (Awakened)

Xiang Ning slowly breathed out as his muscles swelled, his heart beating like a drum.

“Come!” Xiang Ning roared, the single word filled with animosity. The students—even Lei Zhongyuan, who was hiding in the shadows—felt like they were on the battlefield.

“Such a strong fighting spirit!” Lei Zhongyuan chuckled. In his eyes, he could see Xiang Ning’s cultivation. A tier one, seven-star martial artist was fighting against a tier one, nine-star Shadowblood Hound.

It was a ferocious beast that not even a tier two martial artist would dare fight alone. He wanted to see whether Xiang Ning was strong enough to defeat it, or if it would end as a folly of youth.

The next few scenes caused him to question his eyes.

The Shadowblood Hound removed the dagger, its eye a bloody mess. The students reflexively stepped back after sensing the bloodlust from the beast, as if they could lose their life if they got too close.

The Shadowblood Hound pounced, its speed reaching up to a hundred kilometers per hour. It closed the gap and appeared in front of Xiang Ning, its massive jaw biting at Xiang Ning’s head.

Xiang Ning stood his ground as his veins popped; he could see the Shadowblood Hound’s movement through his heightened Mental Power, so he had already made the necessary preparations.

“Mountain-Splitting Slash!” he roared. The instructor that wanted to save Xiang Ning stopped. It looked like Xiang Ning might not be as simple as he seemed.

Xiang Ning’s blood vessels expanded as his vitality soared through the roof. An overwhelming aura roared out as he brought the sword down and slashed the Shadowblood Hound, causing it to fly backward.

“Oh my God! I’m not hallucinating, am I?”

“Impossible! That Shadowblood Hound is at least a hundred and fifty kilograms, how did Xiang Ning send it flying like that?”

A nasty gash was left on the body of the Shadowblood Hound where Xiang Ning had slashed it; it was thrashing on the ground in pain.

Fury Points +666

Xiang Ning wanted to finish it, but the hound was faster and knocked him aside. Everyone was thinking that he held the advantage, but he knew the recoil from a single slash like that was no joke. The Mountain-Splitting Slash was a technique that pushed the muscles of his body to the limit.

Level: Tier one, seven-star martial artist (1600/3500) +800

Everyone gasped as Xiang Ning crashed into the cage and blood splattered everywhere. He immediately stood up before the crowd could process what had happened.

“Triple Slash, Mountain-Splitting Slash!” Xiang Ning shouted as he used the technique that had defeated Zhao Huatai. The speed of the Triple Slash and the power of the Mountain-Splitting Slash burst forward, each slash stronger than the last.

“Hey, I think he’s even stronger than when he was fighting Zhao Huatai.”

“That deafening boom, was that Xiang Ning’s doing?”

Lei Zhongyuan walked out from the shadows. Awakened level!

Never would he have thought that this youngster was able to train a martial technique to the Awakened level. Usually, if someone trained a martial technique to the Assimilation level, it would be very hard to further improve it. Opportunity and innate talent both were needed to advance to the next level. The current fastest record for someone to train a martial technique to the Awakened level was eight months. But Xiang Ning had only learned the technique the week before, and he had already attained the Awakened level!

I want him to join me! Lei Zhongyuan was thrilled.

Fury Points +555

The Shadowblood Hound was angered when it saw that Xiang Ning wasn’t backing down.

A faint red mist covered it, a sign that it was preparing for its final battle as its blood boiled. Anyone close enough would feel the air heating up as it pumped more blood through its body.

“Kill!” Xiang Ning roared as his face turned red and his veins popped. His right arm was swelling in power as he held his iridium sword.