Chapter 123: Only One-Third of the Battle Intensity? Song Qiuyun Shocked!

Under Xu Jingming's powerful suppression, it took only slightly more than ten seconds.

All twelve second-tier Iron-Haired Pangolins fell.

Blood pooled like a small stream, seeping downward and staining the surrounding tender green grass a vivid red.

"Slain twelve second-tier Iron-Haired Pangolins, total reward: 276 Ability Points. Not bad."

Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

No wonder it's a Demon Cave—there are many ferocious beasts.

He hadn't deliberately hunted along the way.

Merely killing the ferocious beasts he happened to encounter had already earned him over 400 Ability Points.

"Once we enter the middle region of the Demon Cave, the ferocious beasts' tiers will rise, and the efficiency of harvesting Ability Points will increase further."

Roughly speaking, this month alone, I should be able to gain at least thirty thousand Ability Points.

I wonder if that will be enough to upgrade my Ability Tier."

Currently, the Deep Blue system panel shows about 13,000 Ability Points; if another thirty thousand still can't trigger an upgrade,

then Xu Jingming will have to raise his own level first.

Unfortunately, the Deep Blue system had only responded to his question on the first day.

At all other times, it was as if frozen—only mechanically reporting the Ability Points gained from slaying ferocious beasts.

Otherwise, he could have directly asked the system whether his Ability could be upgraded, and how many points were needed…

Precisely because of this, Xu Jingming felt the Deep Blue system's intelligence was even lower than the most basic AI on Blue Star.

No, it wasn't even that.

It was utterly inferior!

The Deep Blue system had absolutely no intelligent elements!

"If someday in the future I learn the system's origin, I'll definitely complain to its creator."

Xu Jingming shook his head.

He then pulled out an A-grade alloy dagger from his space ring, preparing to collect the ferocious beast materials.

"Let me help you."

Song Qiuyun also stepped closer, pulling out her own dagger and crouching beside Xu Jingming.

"By the way, Jingming, you're different from any other Lightning Ability user I've met."

Swish—

The sharp dagger sliced cleanly through the Iron-Haired Pangolin's razor-sharp claws.

Amid the gushing blood, this Young Lady of the Song family showed not the slightest discomfort.

"Oh? How so?"

Xu Jingming looked intrigued, his dagger simultaneously severing the other claw.

"Other Lightning Ability users always use their powers recklessly."

But you're extremely restrained, very cautious in how you use your Ability."

Song Qiuyun smiled lightly.

Lightning!

The first impression it gives is wildness! Unrestrained!

Most Lightning Ability users leave others with the same impression.

But Xu Jingming is different; though he still feels powerful and sharp to her,

he seems to lack the arrogance and wildness typical of Lightning Ability users.

Of course,

if Jiang Chuxuan, who had witnessed Xu Jingming use Doushen Shenlei to slay five people in a row, heard this thought of hers,

she would be utterly baffled.

Xu Jingming? Restrained?

How could those two even be connected?

Xu Jingming smiled faintly at this, offering no further explanation.

In truth, he could have used Purple Thunder Divine Lightning to wipe out this entire group of ferocious beasts.

But Purple Thunder Divine Lightning's power, used against a group of second-tier beasts, would be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Moreover, after Purple Thunder Divine Lightning strikes, these second-tier beasts—whose defenses are weak—would mostly be charred and carbonized.

There'd be no way to collect their materials afterward.

Thus, for beasts below third-tier, he usually kills them with his spear.

It conserves Ability Points and increases slaying efficiency.

This is experience he's gathered from over two months of traveling through the Wild Zone.

After all, the longer his endurance lasts, the more ferocious beasts he can kill…

Under Xu Jingming and Song Qiuyun's joint collection, they finished gathering the ferocious beast materials in under three minutes.

Of course,

the materials from the Iron-Haired Pangolins aren't just their claws—they also have those iron-like bristles all over their bodies!

But collecting those bristles is too tedious; it would take over an hour to finish.

Their purpose in entering the Demon Cave is to kill as many ferocious beasts as possible and accumulate points.

Naturally, they wouldn't waste much time on material collection.

So they collected only the most valuable claws.

Notably, this group of iron-haired pangolins.

According to the smart wristband's assessment, the kills were accomplished solely by Xu Jingming.

As a result, he ultimately earned 1200 points.

After eliminating this group of ferocious beasts, the two continued toward the central region of the Demon Cavern.

Along the way, most of the ferocious beasts encountered were killed by Xu Jingming.

Song Qiuyun's actual number of attacks was not very high.

Yet even so, when the time reached eight p. m.,

as night fully fell and the two found a cave to rest in,

Song Qiuyun still couldn't help feeling utterly exhausted, her muscles aching.

The fitted battle suit she had worn clean and neat at dawn,

was now stained not only with ferocious beast blood but also drenched in sweat, leaving her body sticky and damp...

On the other side, Xu Jingming, seated cross-legged on the ground, sat with his back perfectly straight.

On his sharply defined, resolute face, not a trace of fatigue could be seen.

'Xu Jingming's stamina is truly impressive...'

Song Qiuyun had lost count of how many times she had made this remark.

But this time, as she gazed at the strong figure not far away,

she suddenly thought of something, her face flushing faintly red as she gently closed her long, shapely legs...

'Are you running a fever? Your face is so red.'

Seeing Song Qiuyun's flushed face, Xu Jingming asked in confusion.

With her second-rank energy user's constitution, she shouldn't be running a fever.

Could it be that she pushed herself too hard today?

'N-nothing... maybe the energy bar was a bit spicy.'

Song Qiuyun snapped back to reality, her cheeks reddening further.

'Energy bars come in spicy flavor?'

Xu Jingming was surprised.

But he didn't dwell on the detail, smiling as he said:

'Get some rest. I'll take the first watch tonight—you need more sleep.'

'I'm fine! I can take the second half of the night,' Song Qiuyun hurriedly said.

'No need. You're exhausted today. I haven't expended much—staying up all night is no problem.'

Xu Jingming shook his head.

In truth, Song Qiuyun, merely a second-rank lower-tier energy user, had already performed remarkably well.

Today's journey consisted almost entirely of sprinting and battling ferocious beasts, with virtually no rest.

He had expected her to collapse by afternoon, yet she had held out until now.

'No exertion?'

Song Qiuyun froze slightly, asking instinctively:

'Could today's intensity compare to your solo battle in the Yangcheng Wasteland?'

'No.'

Xu Jingming shook his head. 'The battle frequency was much lower, and the intensity was only about one-third of my usual level.'

'Only one-third the battle intensity?'

On Song Qiuyun's delicate, alluring face, shock spread wide.

Good heavens,

just one-third the intensity—and she hadn't even fought much herself—and she was already this drained.

If it were Xu Jingming's maximum battle intensity, she probably couldn't last an hour, would she?

At that moment, Song Qiuyun suddenly realized something.

She had never once seen Xu Jingming at his full strength...

Not during daily sparring, nor during the school's Freshman Competition.

Xu Jingming had always crushed his opponents without effort!

Everyone at Magic University knew Xu Jingming was strong—but no one knew his true limits!

Instinctively, she felt her earlier assessment of his fighting style had been biased.

After all, how could one judge a fighter whose full power one had never witnessed?