Chapter 9: Advanced Spear Technique! Swift as Thunder!

Why are these beasts called “ferocious”?

Besides their inherently brutal nature, ferocious beasts possess a special menacing aura.

This menacing aura, when compared to humans, is like that of a professional killer who has taken countless lives.

An ordinary person encountering such a killer would, at just a single glance,

likely feel heart-pounding fear, even be terrified into paralysis!

Ferocious beasts possess this exact special aura.

Thus, most first-time awakened individuals who face ferocious beasts

often cannot unleash more than three-tenths of their true strength under the aura’s intimidation.

Some even freeze completely, forgetting how to attack, use their abilities, or wield weapons.

Therefore, before the Wu Ke exam,

families with even slight influence hire professional awakened individuals as bodyguards to escort their children into the wastelands, helping them acclimate to combat with ferocious beasts.

Xu Jingming naturally had no such resources.

Thus, before the Wu Ke exam, he had already anticipated whether his body might react negatively upon encountering a ferocious beast.

Yet after encountering the Shadow Cat, he felt absolutely no reaction to the beast’s menacing aura.

He could calculate its leap trajectory with perfect precision, then impale it with a single spear thrust!

“I heard that awakened individuals facing ferocious beasts for the first time need several battles to overcome the fear of powerful creatures.

But some are naturally insensitive to this aura—I must be one such exception.”

Xu Jingming yanked his right hand sharply, using momentum to pull the Black Radiance Spear from the Shadow Cat’s neck.

With a thud, the Shadow Cat’s corpse slammed onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“This Shadow Cat must’ve never seen a spear before—jumping up like that? It’s asking for death.”

Unlike the clumsy Iron-Haired Boar or Arm-Knife Tiger, the Shadow Cat moves with agility, reaching terrifying speeds of 17 m/s.

With the first two types of ferocious beasts, an awakened individual can flee if outmatched.

But if you encounter a Shadow Cat, you can’t even run—you’ll be chased down and killed!

Hence, the Shadow Cat earned the nickname “Newcomer Killer.”

Under normal circumstances, without using his ability, Xu Jingming could never achieve a one-hit kill with sheer physical strength alone.

Especially given his near-total lack of combat experience against ferocious beasts.

But the Shadow Cat made a fatal mistake: leaping in to slash with its claws!

Against awakened individuals wielding long swords or great blades, this tactic might work.

Because when the sword or blade reaches the Shadow Cat, its claws are already within striking range of the opponent.

But Xu Jingming’s Black Radiance Spear is over two meters and ten centimeters long!

As the saying goes: “One inch longer, one inch stronger.”

So the airborne Shadow Cat never entered attack range—it was speared dead mid-leap.

“Also, if not for the system prompt, I’d have forgotten that killing ferocious beasts grants ability points!”

Seeing the three new ability points on his system panel, Xu Jingming’s heart burned with excitement.

This meant that if he gained enough ability points in future battles, his strength could grow even further!

“But killing a low-tier ferocious beast grants too few points—I need to reach the central zone quickly.”

Like awakened individuals, ferocious beasts are divided into nine ranks, from first to ninth.

Beasts below first rank are called low-tier ferocious beasts, corresponding to awakened humans.

With no combat experience against ferocious beasts, Xu Jingming originally planned to acclimate first in the outer zone.

Since he felt no reaction to the beasts’ aura, lingering in the outer zone held little value.

So Xu Jingming picked up his Black Radiance Spear and sprinted full speed toward the central zone of the ruined town.

Compared to Zhou Mingyang, who wielded an elemental wind ability, Xu Jingming’s sprinting speed wasn’t fast.

But during his sprint, he continuously killed ferocious beasts.

“Killed one low-tier ferocious beast: Iron-Haired Boar. Ability points +5.”

“Killed one low-tier ferocious beast: Shadow Cat. Ability points +3.”

“Killed one low-tier ferocious beast: One-Horned Rhino. Ability points +6.”

“......”

In combat with ferocious beasts, Xu Jingming did not use his ability.

One reason: he wanted to hone his spear technique and gain more combat experience.

After all, using his S-rank Purple Thunder Divine Lightning against low-tier beasts would result in instant kills—useless for training.

Another reason: the rarer the ability, the greater its cost.

His original E-rank ability, “Weak Electricity,” could sustain for over three hours at full power.

But now, with his S-rank ability, “Purple Thunder Divine Lightning,” he might not even last an hour at full power.

Remember: the Wu Ke exam lasts twelve full hours.

If he exhausted his ability early, he’d have no other offensive options when entering the core zone and facing first-rank mid- or high-tier beasts.

So he could only hold off using his ability until reaching the core zone.

Also, after each battle, Xu Jingming felt his own improvement.

These battles, stacked together, were accelerating his combat awareness and spear technique at an astonishing rate!

Especially his spear technique—it grew smoother with use, reaching a state of effortless mastery.

This was something he had never experienced before.

“Has my spear technique broken through without me noticing?”

On the ruined old path, Xu Jingming’s feet lay beside the corpse of a ferocious beast.

The beast was as large as a small car, with a sharp, blade-like horn on its head, thick limbs, and black-brown skin.

Even dead, it still radiated a powerful menacing aura.

This was precisely the beast candidates dreaded most—the One-Horned Rhino!

Its body was riddled with wounds the size of bowls, but the fatal strike came from the head.

There, the black tip of the Black Radiance Spear had violently pierced through its eye socket, directly into its brain, shattering the vital neural core.

The One-Horned Rhino was, of course, dead beyond revival...

“Pthsshh—”

As the spear was withdrawn, red and white matter spilled out from the Rhino’s skull.

An ordinary person witnessing this sight might vomit on the spot if their mental fortitude was weak.

Yet Xu Jingming remained calm, even opening his system panel on the spot:

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Rank】: Awakened Individual

【Ability】: Purple Thunder Divine Lightning (S)

【Physique】: 141 Qi (++)

【Spirit】: 160 He (++)

【Skills】: Spear Technique (Intermediate+), Lightning Wind Break (Beginner+)

【Ability Points】: 213

“Indeed—my spear technique has broken through to Intermediate!”

Xu Jingming’s eyes lit up, then he sighed, “Clearly, real combat offers the greatest boost to strength.”

His former self had trained spear technique for over six years—yet remained at Beginner level.

He, in contrast, reached Intermediate level after only dozens of battles with ferocious beasts.

Though part of this was due to accumulated groundwork, it still proved the value of real combat.

“Intermediate spear technique already feels effortless—what would happen if I advanced further?”

More than three hours had passed since the Wu Ke exam began.

Along the way, though he hadn’t sought them out, Xu Jingming had encountered over forty ferocious beasts.

These included low-tier Shadow Cats, as well as higher-tier Arm-Knife Tigers and One-Horned Rhinos.

Each kill granted some ability points.

But he hadn’t bothered to check the total.

Now he saw—he’d accumulated 213 ability points, enough to upgrade a skill.

“213 ability points are just the beginning. Once I enter the central zone and use Purple Thunder Divine Lightning to kill ferocious beasts, the accumulation rate will skyrocket!

If that’s the case...”

After a moment’s thought, Xu Jingming couldn’t resist the temptation—he clicked the plus sign beside Spear Technique!

Instantly, countless spear techniques flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

This influx of memory wasn’t like a movie—flashing images quickly forgotten.

It was as if he himself had practiced spear technique for decades!

After the spear technique memory fully infused, Xu Jingming struck out with his spear!

The next instant,

Within one second, the Black Radiance Spear thrust four times in midair!

Like a bolt of black lightning, swift and dangerous!