Many people had been uncomfortable with Wu Rui going for the kill first, but heaved sighs of relief when they witnessed the rejection. 

He looked terrible as he stared at the girl who stood a foot shorter than him, his face a deep red. He didn’t want to fight a girl—instead, he wanted very much to leave—but somehow his legs just would not move! I need to go, but that would be embarrassing. But if I stay, I’ll still be a joke too. 

Lu Shiyu looked impatient, immediately circling past Wu Rui to get to Xiang Ning. She smiled her adorable smile once again, as if they were already a couple. Her attitude was a complete contrast to before, as if she was an entirely different person. 

Wu Rui’s expression turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, then Zhang Hongyu and Zhao Huatai approached. 

They glared when they saw Xiang Ning. 

“Rui, this is the Xiang Ning I told you about,” said Zhang Hongyu. 

“Oh? And Brother Yu, that’s the same guy you talked about?” Wu Rui’s embarrassment turned to anger when he heard Xiang Ning’s name. 

“Hmph, then I’ll avenge you, Brother Yu.” Wu Rui aggressively stepped forward. He didn’t think he would lose to Xiang Ning, since he was a tier two martial artist. 

“Not now, there’s many instructors watching. You can do it when we’re out in the wilderness, though there are explicit rules not to attack another student. But they didn’t say we cannot snatch another team’s prey, so we can start robbing any beasts hunted by Qiling Academy so their students will all hate Xiang Ning,” sneered Zhang Hongyu. 

One of the worst kinds of violence wasn’t just a simple fight, but to cause an opponent to be ostracized and spat on. Zhang Hongyu was particularly excited for Xiang Ning to receive such treatment. 

Why could they even convince Wu Rui to do such a thing? That was because Wu Rui’s current girlfriend was Zhang Hongyu’s younger sister. Since Wu Rui’s family wasn’t as powerful as the Zhangs, and he was relying on the Zhang name, Zhang Hongyu was naturally comfortable with giving him instructions. 

“Hmph, then we’ll let them go for now. Just wait until we’re out in the wilderness… hmph!” Wu Rui turned to leave. This time, Hanwu Academy’s team was ranked first in terms of their team’s combined strength. All of their students were mostly tier one, six-star and above, both as martial artists and spiritual cultivators. This marked a huge gap between them and other academies. 

That was because Hanwu Academy only took in martial artists as students. In the beginning, the head of the academy was a tier seven master. He had gone to war eighty years ago and fought until he exhausted himself so the city could hold itself until reinforcements arrived. That was a story and background that attracted many students. 

“Please look at your combat attire. There’s a button on the left of your chest, press it if you’re in any danger. Even if you’re far from us, we will arrive in ten minutes and the beast you killed will still be recorded.” 

“Remember, you may not attack other students or lead beasts to attack other teams. If we find out you’ve done so, you’ll be stripped of your cultivation and sent to jail.” 

The five hundred students took the rules to heart. 

City 213, originally Zhanghe Town of China, used to have three million residents in population. But after the Great Disaster, it had turned into a pile of rubble. 

The main menaces that remained were Boulder Boars, Night Cats, Tyrant Spiders, and Shadowblood Hounds, all of them common fearsome beasts, but no one could guarantee that new species would not appear. All of the Beast General-ranked beasts had been exterminated, leaving behind only those of tier three and below. At least small human squads could still deal with those while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. 

That said, no one would actually venture too deep out into the wilderness, because they would have to be sure of their ability to kill every beast they encountered. Anyone who made it there would be very strong and likely wouldn’t need reinforcements, anyway. 

“Let’s go!” Lei Zhongyuan waved and the large gates of the iron fortress slowly opened. Five hundred martial artists charged out.

“We have ten teams here, so all of you, follow the Qiling Academy teams and snatch their prey whenever possible. Don’t stray more than three kilometers from them,” Wu Rui instructed. 

The rest of the Hanwu Academy teams nodded. Wu Rui was the new king of their school; his tier two cultivation meant he was stronger than all the other students. The entire school had already accepted him as their leader, and he was out to win. No one could refuse such a generous reward. He didn’t take the Qiling Academy students seriously, anyway. His main competitors were from three other schools who had students stronger or equal to himself. 

When the gates opened, Xiang Ning led his squad at the end of the crowd. After they passed a tower, they broke from the crowd and climbed to the top floor. 

“The crowd will sweep this entire five-kilometer radius clean. We have two options to choose from—the first is to find a safehouse and kill the beasts around the safehouse, or we can head beyond this five-kilometer radius where the beasts will be worth much more. There’ll be safehouses there, too, but the beasts will also be much more powerful.” Xiang Ning looked far out into the scenery. He could still see how majestic of a town this used to be. But now, the tall buildings were already covered in a blanket of plants while cars on the road had been abandoned and turned into obstacles. 

Every now and then, a beast’s roar sounded. They, too, sensed a huge crowd of prey entering their territory. To the humans, these beasts were worth huge amounts of money. To the beasts, human martial artists had great vitality and could strengthen their physical bodies, quickening their breakthrough process once eaten. 

“I choose the second option. I don’t like places with too many people,” said Li Zimo. 

“Me either.” 

“Me either.” 

The other three had agreed. 

“Alright, then we’ll venture further out. Kill all the beasts we encounter along the way, but treat it more as practice. Do not get too caught up in killing them,” said Xiang Ning. He also had selfish intentions. Provoking beasts was a great source of Fury Points, as well as good practice for his team! 

On the other side, Li Minghao’s team was ahead of the crowd. Within a parking lot two kilometers away from the fortress, they discovered a birthing Night Cat. But just as they were about to attack, five other people rushed out with swords, clubs, and guns, then killed the weak Night Cat within a few seconds. 

As for the kittens? In a battle between races, this was the ultimate rule: kill every beast you see! It didn’t matter that they were just kittens, if you let them live, they would kill humans! 

Li Minghao and the rest looked at each other. Perhaps they had coincidentally targeted the same beast. However, what happened next sent them into a rage spiral.