High Martial Arts: Grinding for the Supreme Talent

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Not Playing by the Rules

In a wide expanse of jungle, an asphalt road stretched across several thousand square meters.

Countless dilapidated buildings were smothered in vines, surrounded by rusted-out cars, buses, and even decommissioned tanks.

BOOM!

The asphalt trembled slightly. Dust flew, and dead leaves and branches danced from the vibration.

Under the scorching sun, a light breeze carried the stench of blood over a two-kilometer radius.

HOH... HOH...

Over a dozen massive Iron Spike Wild Boars charged in the same direction.

The thick smell of blood had driven them into a frenzy. They attacked fearlessly, their tusks, gleaming like curved sabers, pointed forward.

BANG!!

A figure in black brandished a Black Great Spear, his movements as nimble as lightning. The sharp spear tore through the air, ripping into the necks of the Iron Spike Wild Boars.

PSHH! PSHH! PSHH!

With every swing of the spear, another Iron Spike Wild Boar fell. They were dead the instant the tip of the Great Spear pierced their skin.

Blood sprayed wildly, pooling on the ground. The area was littered with the corpses of Iron Spike Wild Boars.

Lin Qi stared at the corpses of the Iron Spike Wild Boars, his face devoid of expression. In the Trial Tower, he had been able to kill fifty Iron Spike Wild Boars with a Qi and Blood Value of only 9.99.

Now, with a Qi and Blood Value of 38, killing them was no different from slaughtering chickens.

ROAR! ROAR!

Then, several Mastiff Dogs charged out from different directions, baring their fangs. Seeing this, Lin Qi remained calm. With a flick of his wrist, he repeatedly thrust his Black Great Spear, piercing through the air.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

PSHHH!

THUD!

The Mastiff Dogs collapsed one after another. In the blink of an eye, the ground was covered in more corpses, and the stench of blood grew even thicker.

Points +1, Points +1, Points +1...

His Points were also skyrocketing. By staying put, the smell of blood was enough to attract a large number of Calamity Beasts.

ROAR!

A few breaths later, more than twenty figures pounced toward him at extreme speed. They had tiger-like bodies, powerful muscles, and sharp claws.

They were Fierce Tiger Dogs, a top-level existence among Second-Level Calamity Beasts.

”Second-Level Calamity Beasts aren’t enough!”

Lin Qi smiled. With his Spirit Perception, he could sense dozens more figures rapidly approaching from the surroundings.

There were even some Level 3 Calamity Beasts among them.

”Come and die!”

Lin Qi brandished his Black Great Spear and charged. Without the 800-kilogram Gravity Ring, he was unrestrained and could unleash his full strength.

PSHH! PSHH!

Lin Qi executed the Mountain Splitting Spear Technique. His techniques were grand and sweeping, utterly decisive.

If he could kill with one move, he would never use a second. His strength was applied perfectly, without wasting a single bit of power.

Power flowed continuously through his body. With every clash, that Power was released.

These were real collisions, a real hunt, which made the Flow of Power even faster.

At this rate, his mastery of the Spear Technique would improve significantly.

ROAR! ROAR!

PSHH! PSHH!

Amidst the frenzied slaughter, Fierce Tiger Dogs fell continuously, while more Calamity Beasts joined the fray.

When faced with stimulating combat, Calamity Beasts would completely lose their minds.

Only by eliminating the source of the stimulus would they return to normal.

And right now, Lin Qi was that source.

Amidst the frenzied slaughter, his Points continued to rise.

Points +10, Points +10, Points +10, Points +10...

...

Meanwhile, the students of Azure Sky Sixth Institute noticed that the points of the top 30 prodigies were increasing dramatically.

These were students who had grown too exhausted and had been forced to withdraw from the competition early.

”What’s going on? How did the top twenty or so people suddenly get a huge boost in points?”

”Holy crap, Guan Mountain’s points just passed 4,500! That’s so fast!!” someone exclaimed.

”Guan Mountain is nothing. Lin Qi is the most ridiculous one. He’s already breaking past six thousand points.”

”Our institute’s points are also skyrocketing. We’re almost caught up to the Second Institute.” Everyone looked and saw it was true.

The students of Azure Sky Sixth Institute felt something was off. There were only a few hours left in the team competition. Why was everyone suddenly exploding with activity?

Could it be they’re trying to take this chance to surpass the institutes ahead of them?

Isn’t this a little too exciting?

...

「Three hours later」

Having recovered some of her stamina, Duan Chuchu was preparing to go out and continue hunting Calamity Beasts.

She opened the Points Chart. The top two spots were still held by the First Institute and the Ninth Institute, but when she saw third place, she snapped wide awake.

Because third place had been taken by Azure Sky Sixth Institute, their Azure Sky Second Institute had dropped to fourth.

The other side was already over three hundred points ahead of them.

’This is bad!’

Duan Chuchu thought. ’Looks like Azure Sky Sixth Institute is about to snipe our spot.’

”Yaoji, notify the others. Start hunting Calamity Beasts immediately. We can’t let Azure Sky Sixth Institute surpass us.”

”Yes, Master!”

The pink metallic sphere behind her replied in a female voice.

She gritted her teeth and immediately rushed out of the safe house to resume hunting Calamity Beasts.

...

In the main square, Huo Wanyang had already returned and was lounging on a black folding chair, playing on his phone.

”Marquis Wen, Azure Sky Sixth Institute has surpassed the Second Institute. Will they be a threat to us?”

A pretty girl suddenly walked up and asked worriedly.

Huo Wanyang put down his phone, opened the overall Points Chart, and after a quick glance, shook his head and sneered.

”They’re only in third place. There are less than six hours until the end, and they’re still more than forty thousand points behind our First Institute.”

”There’s no way they can surpass us.”

Hearing Huo Wanyang’s words, the pretty girl relaxed.

In the distance, in the Azure Sky Ninth Institute’s area.

”Ao Feng, don’t worry. In the last six hours, most of them are already exhausted. It’s impossible for them to surpass our Ninth Institute.”

”As for the Second Institute, just let those two compete.” The speaker was an instructor from the Ninth Institute.

Ao Feng, who was sitting and drinking a Healing Potion, nodded.

”That’s right. The Sixth Institute is still twenty thousand points behind us. They’ve already reached their limit.”

”They can’t surpass us.”

...

In a large conference room.

”Old Liu, congratulations! Your Azure Sky Sixth Institute is in third place now.”

Two leaders from other institutes offered their congratulations.

”Just luck!”

Dean Liu replied with a cheerful laugh. His gaze soon fell upon the rankings, and he felt exceptionally pleased.

’Good kid. He’s really given me a surprise.’

’With six hours left, if he makes another push, he might even have a shot at second place.’

...

Azure Sky Sixth Institute’s sudden surge gave the Second Institute a sense of crisis. Their top one hundred students, who had been resting, were now forced to resume hunting Calamity Beasts, wanting to reclaim their spot.

But an hour later, they discovered that the gap between them was only getting wider.

The speed at which Azure Sky Sixth Institute’s total points were increasing hadn’t stopped; instead, it was getting faster and faster.

The students of Azure Sky Sixth Institute watched as the number one ranked Lin Qi’s points climbed, their hearts pounding. His points were rising almost every second.

It was as if they could see the bloodbath unfolding in the Disaster Beast Garden through the rising points.

As their instructor, Luu Wei watched as Lin Qi’s points completely surpassed the third-ranked Duan Chuchu. He was now only three hundred points behind Ao Feng.

’What on earth is that kid Lin Qi doing?’

...

「Disaster Beast Garden, deep within Sector 2」

A thick cloud of blood-tinged dust hung over a field of rubble. The cracked asphalt was completely soaked in blood.

The thick stench of blood filled the air as Fierce Tiger Dogs, Unihorned Black Pigs, and Mastiff Dogs—a horde of Levels 1 and 2 Calamity Beasts—charged ceaselessly toward a lone figure.

SWOOSH!

In the middle of the encirclement, a man in a black and red combat suit brandished a matching black and red great spear. He shuttled between the Calamity Beasts like a bolt of lightning, as if walking on a knife’s edge.

One misstep could have meant being torn to pieces.

ROAR!

Lin Qi’s expression was cold, his emotions unreadable. There was only frenzied slaughter.

The muscles in his legs tensed, and his body moved at high speed. The movements of more than a dozen surrounding Calamity Beasts were all within his Perception.

His figure flickered, like lightning streaking across the night sky, weaving between the Calamity Beasts.

He swung the Black Great Spear in his hand, the Flow of Power constantly tearing at the beasts’ necks.

PSHH! PSHH!

BANG!!

In a matter of moments, the last Fierce Tiger Dog’s neck was severed. Its body was sent flying, crashing heavily onto a junked car.

The car disintegrated into scrap metal, and after a final twitch of its limbs, the Fierce Tiger Dog went still.

[In the heat of battle, your mastery of Body Technique has greatly improved. Body Technique +3%]

[Body Technique: Tier Two 52% -> Tier Two 55%]

...

Hoo...

Lin Qi glanced briefly at his panel. His Body Technique had improved significantly in actual combat.

His Thunder Light Body Technique was getting closer and closer to the Great Success stage.

He pressed a button on his smart wristband to bring up the rankings.

When he saw that Azure Sky Sixth Institute was ranked third, he smiled. The distance to the second-ranked Ninth Institute was also rapidly closing.

Because Ao Feng had withdrawn, many others had withdrawn as well, so their point gain had slowed.

The gap was now less than ten thousand points.

And the gap to first place was less than thirty thousand points.

’All I need to do is hunt 300 Third-Level Calamity Beasts.’

Lin Qi looked at the time. There were less than four hours left until the Disaster Beast Hunting Competition ended at five o’clock.

BEEP!

Little Chan projected another screen, showing the recalculated individual points.

[First Place: Lin Qi, Points: 8,800]

[Second Place: Huo Wanyang, Points: 7,500]

[Third Place: Ao Feng, Points: 7,000]

...

His individual points had also surpassed Ao Feng and Huo Wanyang, making him first place.

’I don’t care about my individual rank. But the institute’s rank has to be number one. And I need to hunt more Calamity Beasts. To me, this is all money!’

Lin Qi’s expression turned serious.

AWOOOO!

Just then, a wolf’s howl brought him back to reality. Not far away, twenty-some figures had surrounded him from all sides.

Lin Qi’s gaze sharpened. These twenty-odd figures had gray fur and powerful, massive bodies.

Their eerie green eyes held a cruel smile.

An intense killing intent radiated from them.

These twenty-six Calamity Beasts were all Level 3 Disaster Beast Gray Ridge Giant Wolves.

’They sure think highly of me, sending twenty-six to gang up on me.’

A smile touched Lin Qi’s lips. The intense danger made his body thrill with excitement.

An endless stream of power surged from within him.

”All of you, come and die!!”

Lin Qi violently swung his Great Spear, and the battle with the Calamity Beasts erupted in an instant.

...