Chapter 31: Slaughterhouse

"Holy shit, why have students from four different sites sent distress calls? Are they all being hunted down by Middle-Tier Demon Beasts?"

"It’s only the second day, and it’s already like a small-scale beast tide. I thought our zone was supposed to have the most Demon Beasts, the kind you have to go out and search for. I didn’t expect them to run into so many without even trying."

"Too bad they don’t have a leader like Brother Jiang. Their only options are to run, call for help from other sites, or [Withdraw] to get the teachers to step in. Now... uh, another site just sent a [Distress Call]. None of them can even protect themselves."

Amid the noisy chatter, Jiang Qiu stared quietly at the holographic map projected from his Recording Ring. It showed a large, gray area with a rugged outline, crisscrossed by white lines that delineated buildings and streets. Four or five green dots, each representing a different site, were frantically racing from the edges toward the center.

The green dots, acting as moving signal sources, emitted faint, buzzing ripples that resonated with his wrist.

Their trajectories all converged on the center, as if they were being hunted by a large ring of powerful Demon Beasts on the outskirts.

"Let’s go." Jiang Qiu turned, moving like an alpha Wolf King. "Don’t bother leaving any alive for me. Kill as many as you can. After the practical hunting exam, the school will buy back the Demon Beast Meat, and we’ll split the money then."

The group was stunned for a moment, then their lips curled into wide grins. Rolling up their sleeves, they quickened their pace to follow him.

According to the simple map displayed on the Recording Ring, many of the sites would converge on the Central Square at the end of Central Street. There would be a lot of people there—and a lot of Demon Beasts.

Although they were going to the rescue, it was also a chance to show off.

Whoever killed the most Demon Beasts would shine the brightest.

Originally, they had all pinned their hopes on Jiang Qiu. As long as he could secure the "Best Performance" award, Site Eight would receive a supply of Wusu Fragrance proportional to their numbers, which was traditionally split evenly. That alone was worth more than any money they might earn from selling Demon Beast Meat.

But they were young, after all; a competitive spirit was in their nature.

With their blood pumping, all their thoughts coalesced into a single cry as Zhang Shan brandished his spear, shouting, "Follow Brother Jiang! Let’s rack up the highest kill count of any site and get the school’s top buy-back price!"

"YEAH—"

Their shouts echoed through the streets. The sixteen young men and women charged down the ruined roads like galloping warhorses, rushing like the wind, a great river surging toward the end of Central Street—the Central Square.

...

The square’s nine pillars lay toppled on shattered stone tiles. The large central pool was bone-dry, revealing withered algae at its bottom. Towering trees, having shot up from the planters, blotted out the sky and moon. Bushes pried up the paving stones, their branches tangling with vines that hung down from the trees above.

SHING... CLANG... THUD...

Iron Armor Lizards swarmed into the square like a flood. More poured out endlessly from the surrounding buildings. As far as the eye could see, there were even the figures of several Red Armored Giant Lizards.

Jiang Qiu and his group had carved a path here, leaving a trail of mangled corpses in their wake.

"Holy crap, did every Demon Beast in Qingmu Town come here? There must be over a thousand of them!" Zhang Shan casually wiped the blood from his cheek, his eyes wide with a mixture of awe and shock. "There are dozens of Red Armored Giant Lizards, and they aren’t even eating the Iron Armor Lizards? It’s like they’re only after us students from Eighth Middle School."

"One, two, three... six, seven. Damn, even Site Four, the one we just saved, fought their way here. How did this Demon Beast stampede escalate so quickly? Could this be the Secret Realm Center?"

"Look, Li Juefeng is here too!"

Following a classmate’s pointed finger, Jiang Qiu looked over. He saw a figure in silver armor weaving through the densest part of the Demon Beast tide. With a spear in his right hand, he mowed down beasts within a three-foot radius as if they were grass. With his left, he hurled a Short Spear, bringing a giant lizard fifty paces away to its knees.

An explosive burst of Strength from within him swirled the dust and wind. The sharpened spearhead spun like a silvery crescent moon. With a twist of his waist, he swung the spear like a blade, creating an arc of light that simultaneously decapitated three Iron Armor Lizards leaping at him through the air.

His legs were as steady as driven piles, kicking up dust as he shifted his stance. Another Short Spear, drawn in a flash, shot from his left hand with a crack, and a Red Armored Giant Lizard charging from behind skidded to a halt, its head dropping to the ground.

He had already comprehended his own form of Huajin within the Ancient Martial Spear Technique, even applying it to his Short Spears. He struck like a sandpiper snatching a fish from a stream—fast and precise.

For a moment, the students’ earth-shaking cheers from every site rose above the cacophony of battle.

"With Li Juefeng holding down one of the streets, let’s keep fighting!"

"This Demon Beast stampede is an opportunity to train! Kill as many Black Armored Lizards as you can, and if you can take down a Red Armored Giant Lizard, go for it!"

"There might be thousands of them, but we have students from every site gathered here!"

As the shout faded, a cloud of dust erupted. A figure launched himself from the main road of Central Street, instantly charging a Red Armored Giant Lizard that stood out from the pack like a tiger among wolves.

BOOM!

The figure slammed into it, striking like a cannonball. The sheer visual impact left the surrounding students completely dumbfounded.

’Holy shit!’

’Did he just pierce through the Red Armored Giant Lizard’s armor?’

’A genius who’s already mastered Hidden Force!’

The stunning display, like a steel needle punching through concrete, shocked them all over again. The black-clad youth planted a foot on the Red Armored Giant Lizard’s neck, pulling his spearhead free from its hard, black skull.

With a thunderous CRACK, the black-clad youth bent his knees, shattering the paving stones beneath him as he shot forward like a cannonball. Any Iron Armor Lizard in his path was bisected in an instant, like a blade of grass meeting a razor’s edge.

"He’s... he’s so strong! Who is that? How have I never seen him before?"

"It’s normal if you haven’t. He’s the top prospect who just became an honor student this month—Jiang Qiu."

"Holy shit, so the top prospect is really this incredible? I was wondering how anyone could possibly be fit to take Li Juefeng’s place!"

"He’s clearly on par with Li Juefeng... no, he might even be a cut above!"

As Jiang Qiu charged into the fray, the rest of Site Eight joined the battle. Their spear techniques were broad and powerful. They were like carp swimming against a raging current, the sheer force of their movements scattering spiders from webs spun in the bushes.

At that moment, Li Juefeng was holding a major street leading to the Central Square all by himself. Not a single Demon Beast got past him. The corpses piled up like a hill.

Jiang Qiu flickered across the battlefield on the edge of the square, felling one Red Armored Giant Lizard and Iron Armor Lizard after another. The students from the other sites soon turned their spears toward the streets, launching a counterattack.

The Central Square had become a slaughterhouse.

[Site One: Li Juefeng]

[Kill Count: 31]

[...]

[Kill Count: 62]

[...]

As his kill count climbed, the teachers watching from the rooftops of nearby high-rises looked on in amazement. "As expected of Director Li’s son. Even after arriving a day late, he’s already slain a hundred Demon Beasts, including six Middle-Tier ones. He’s really reaching for the stars."

"Haha, his Silver Armor set is crafted entirely from Middle-Tier Demon Beast materials, and those four Short Spears are made from the Tail Spikes of a High-Tier Demon Beast. Of course he’s going to be efficient."

"That’s right. The boy, Li Juefeng, reached the Iron Flesh Realm early on and has already fully integrated Huajin from the Ancient Martial Spear Technique into his spear-work. If he can obtain the Qiang Su Fragrance, his understanding of Huajin is bound to deepen."

The forty-some teachers chatted boisterously. After a moment, one of them exclaimed in shock, "Wait, that’s not right. Li Juefeng’s kill count is rising so quickly, so how is he still in second place? Is Jiang Qiu’s pace just as fast?!"

"Look, that Jiang Qiu kid has incredible explosive power. He can leap twenty or thirty paces at a time. He kills a Demon Beast with a single flick of his spear. He can even pierce the Red Armor of the giant lizards. The more he kills, the fiercer he gets!"

All eyes turned to the lush edge of the square, where the students, looking like black dots, were engulfed by the ant-like swarm of Demon Beasts.

Yet Jiang Qiu moved like a black dragon lashing its tail. Wherever the shadow of his spear passed, Demon Beasts were sent flying or were decapitated. The terrifying force of his blows was like a train hitting a watermelon.

More and more teachers began to notice this, clucking their tongues in wonder. Even Li Ang, who stood with his arms crossed atop the tallest building, slowly narrowed his eyes. "Jiang Qiu’s explosive power is impressive..."

’But he’s not much of a threat.’

’Does killing the most Demon Beasts necessarily mean he’ll have the ’best performance’?’

’I doubt it.’