Chapter 12: Crazy Killing, Harvesting Ability Points!

The urban area was the most densely populated region, and also the place most severely ravaged by ferocious beasts back then.

Of course, precisely because of this, the buildings in the urban area were far more dilapidated than those in the suburbs.

Wherever Xu Jingming's gaze fell, not a single building remained intact.

"The Great Xia Nation uses live combat as the assessment method for the Wu Ke Gaokao; besides testing strength, it likely also intends to make awakened individuals witness firsthand the devastating power of ferocious beasts."

The Great Xia Nation's protection of its citizens could be described as supreme.

Except for a few unfortunate citizens whose cities had been overrun by ferocious beasts.

Other citizens might never see a ferocious beast in their entire lives.

For ordinary people, this posed no problem.

But to cultivate awakened individuals, it's best to recognize the ferocity of ferocious beasts as early as possible.

"Roar—"

As Xu Jingming was pondering, a low growl sounded, and a ferocious beast burst forth from the ruins.

Its appearance resembled a tiger, but its size was more than double, with fur interwoven in yellow and green hues.

Most striking were the bone blades growing along its forearms like razor edges.

Though made of bone, they shimmered with a metallic luster.

Behind it hung a tail like a whip, dragging along the ground.

"First-rank ferocious beast, Armblade Tiger."

Xu Jingming narrowed his eyes.

Like the Shadow Cat, the Armblade Tiger was a relatively common ferocious beast.

Determining the rank and strength of an Armblade Tiger was simple: just observe the length of the bone blades on its forearms.

Bone blades shorter than 20 centimeters meant it was unranked; those longer than 20 centimeters were ranked ferocious beasts.

The Armblade Tiger before him had bone blades measuring 22 to 23 centimeters— a first-rank lower-tier ferocious beast.

Compared to the unranked Armblade Tiger Xu Jingming had encountered earlier, this beast's aura was clearly far more formidable.

Its amber eyes brimmed with rampant bloodlust.

"Looks like I'm lucky—I encountered a first-rank ferocious beast right after entering the central zone."

Downing the remaining liquid from the energy bar, Xu Jingming felt his abdomen regain its fullness, and a faint smile curled his lips:

"Perfect—I'll test my gunplay on you!"

He casually tossed aside the energy bar, then advanced instead of retreating, dragging the Black Radiance Spear toward the Armblade Tiger.

Ding ling ling~~

The Black Radiance Spear scraped along the ruined concrete road, spitting sparks with a screeching, grating sound.

As a first-rank ferocious beast, this Armblade Tiger had already developed rudimentary intelligence.

Seeing this human, whose aura was weak, dare launch a preemptive attack,

the inherently brutal Armblade Tiger let out an enraged roar.

"Roar—"

Then its massive body charged forward like a tank, even ignoring its gaping maw and razor-sharp bone blades.

Merely its sheer bulk was enough to leave most examinees helpless.

Yet Xu Jingming showed no fear; his eyes held not a trace of panic.

With a powerful swing, he lifted the Black Radiance Spear, which had been dragging on the ground, like a spinning windmill.

Then he thrust it forward with all his might!!

Xu Jingming's original blood value was already 140 points—his physique stronger than most examinees.

Now that his gunplay had reached advanced level, his spear speed had increased several-fold beyond before.

Thus, facing this lightning-fast thrust,

there came a wet *puch! *—the first-rank lower-tier Armblade Tiger had no time to react, its abdomen pierced by a bowl-sized hole.

The wound was deep, tearing through thick fur and skin, and through the spurting blood, one could see the writhing internal organs inside!

"Aowu—"

A normal creature, struck by such a blow, would have lost all mobility.

But the Armblade Tiger merely let out a pained howl, then, as if its ferocity had been ignited, launched itself wildly forward.

"No wonder it's a first-rank ferocious beast—its vitality is formidable."

Without using his ability, Xu Jingming never expected this single strike to instantly kill it.

So he gripped the Black Radiance Spear and engaged the Armblade Tiger in close combat.

With the aid of advanced gunplay, the Black Radiance Spear danced in Xu Jingming's hands like a coiling dragon.

Every thrust left another hole in the Armblade Tiger's body.

But due to its short reach, the Armblade Tiger could not land any effective attacks on Xu Jingming...

In less than a minute,

this Armblade Tiger, capable of killing 99% of examinees on the battlefield, was slain by Xu Jingming.

Its mangled, massive body collapsed with a thunderous crash, kicking up clouds of dust.

Xu Jingming himself remained unharmed—not a single drop of blood stained his battle suit.

This was the cheating advantage of the spear.

If your strength isn't enough, you're stabbed to death without ever touching your opponent's sleeve.

'Slain one first-rank Armblade Tiger. Ability points +10.'

As the Armblade Tiger died, the system notification sounded.

"The ability points gained from killing a first-rank fierce beast are nearly double those from killing an unranked fierce beast!"

Xu Jingming's eyes lit up. "In that case, I need to make even better use of my time killing fierce beasts and harvesting ability points."

Stowing the Black Glimmer Spear behind him, Xu Jingming did not pause for a moment before charging toward the direction where the fierce beasts' roars were thickest.

According to the fierce beasts' strength, the ruined town was divided into four zones — the outer, the middle, the core, and the innermost core.

The strength of most examinees was only enough for them to operate in the outer zone.

Only a small number of examinees dared to enter the middle zone.

As for the core zone, even the examinees from Jiangcheng's top high school's rocket class would have to hesitate.

As for the innermost core zone, where second-rank fierce beasts existed, almost no one in all of Jiangcheng could go there.

That was a place only the geniuses of the provincial capital city dared to set foot in!

Xu Jingming, who possessed the S-rank Purple Sky Doushen Shenlei, naturally had that qualification as well.

However, due to the limited duration of his ability, Xu Jingming planned to stay in the middle zone first.

He would enter the core zone only in the final two hours.

Of course, the true wilderness zone had no such strength-based divisions as outer or middle zones.

It was entirely possible that while walking through the wilderness zone, a high-rank fierce beast would suddenly appear and eat you.

And Xu Jingming also knew full well that this was the only opportunity currently available to him to obtain ability points in large quantities.

So, after killing the Armblade Tiger, he began searching for fierce beasts.

Once he found a fierce beast, Xu Jingming did not even need to use his ability — relying solely on his formidable physique and advanced spear techniques, he could kill it!

Find fierce beasts! Kill them! Gain ability points!

Find fierce beasts! Kill them! Gain ability points...

Xu Jingming did not rest for a single moment — he was either fighting fierce beasts or on his way to find them.

And so, the number of fierce beasts Xu Jingming killed grew more and more.

The ability points on the system panel surged, and his Wu Ke Gaokao score skyrocketed along with it!

What Xu Jingming did not know was what a sensation this scene caused out in the outside world.