Chapter 19: Astonished Veteran

Gu Chen is here, thank you all for stepping forward.

Gu Chen turned and bowed to the many combat soldiers, among them Yuqitian.

No matter what, these combat soldiers are speaking up for me, standing with me against the formidable Lei Chao.

Both emotionally and rationally, Gu Chen must accept this favor.

No need for thanks; we just can't stand that guy whose nostrils are on his forehead, who judges people by his nostrils.

All the combat soldiers burst into laughter, indicating Gu Chen shouldn't take it to heart.

If you're willing, just give it your all and fight me when the time comes!

Yuqitian eagerly clenched his fists,

Every sparring session requires holding back, which is boring.

Gu Chen smiled and nodded,

Since Brother Yu wants to spar, Gu Chen will gladly accompany him.

Now, the many combat soldiers instantly became excited again.

Now, Yuqitian and Gu Chen can be said to be the unequivocal top two choices of their camp.

A full-force battle between the two is absolutely a lively spectacle not to be missed!

Fine, heal your wounds and I'll come find you to spar.

Yuqitian smiled faintly, disdainful of taking advantage of Gu Chen,

I remember that; don't think you can weasel out when the time comes.

After chatting a while, everyone went their separate ways to rest; the afternoon training will still be tiring.

After everyone left, Gu Chen's neck bore an antiquated sword-shaped pendant that emitted an ancient voice.

That fellow shows no sign of letting you go; what do you plan to do next?

Only Gu Chen can hear this voice.

Gu Chen grinned, a flash of cold light passing through his eyes,

Strike first, and in seven days it will be his death day!

In these seven days, I must gain the strength to kill Lei Chao!

Having said that, Gu Chen suddenly shifted the topic,

You said before that letting me be your sword master would cause me no loss, right?

The voice from the sword-shaped pendant was obviously startled, then said in surprise,

You've been unwilling to be the sword master for so long; I never expected a mere Lei Chao to change your mind.

Had I known it would be this easy, I would have stirred up a few people to cause you trouble.

Hearing the pendant's joking tone, Gu Chen rolled his eyes in annoyance,

The strong do not rely on objects; I believe I can become a peerless powerhouse through my own strength.

Gu Chen's eyes revealed an indescribable confidence, as if everything was surely attainable for him.

But now there's only one week; even for my brothers' safety, I must kill Lei Chao to eliminate future trouble.

The sword-shaped pendant fell silent, then spoke solemnly,

Becoming the sword master means bearing its mission; unimaginable dangers will lie ahead.

By then, even if you want to quit, there will be no way out.

Cut the nonsense; I will walk the path I chose, even if I have to crawl.

Gu Chen's eyes filled with resolute determination.

Fine, then discard your lousy Qi Drawing Technique and switch to the Nine Heaven Immortal Sword Technique.

……

Gu Lin hurried over and quickly arrived at the Logistics Camp.

But it was already mealtime; Ma Tie and the other logistics soldiers had returned to camp with freshly hunted beasts.

Yet Gu Lin inquired along the way, and no one had seen Gu Han's trace.

Didn't Gu Han tell you? He's been operating separately from us for the past few days.

Hearing Ma Tie say that, Gu Lin's brow furrowed.

What nonsense!

Gu Han's strength surpasses that of other logistics soldiers, but at most he's only a second-stage martial apprentice.

In the forests near the military camp, powerful beasts have basically been cleared out.

But if a second-stage martial apprentice encounters danger, he may not be able to guarantee his safety.

Furthermore, Deng Li ordered Lei Chao to reflect in seclusion, forbidding him from leaving the Warrior Camp for a week.

But Lei Chao has been in the military camp for years; they're newcomers, so how would they know if he has other connections?

For Gu Han's safety, Gu Lin couldn't rest; he grabbed a few steamed buns and headed straight for the mountains.

Vegetation covered the mountains, and the roads were rough and uneven.

Gu Lin, also making his first foray into the mountains, could only follow the traces left by others and search slowly.

Meanwhile, he tightly gripped the dagger Gu Chen had given him.

This dagger, like the one given to Gu Han, was coated with lethal blood-sealing poison!

Meanwhile, Gu Han had already reached the strength of a fourth-stage martial apprentice in these days of hunting.

He was only a step away from reaching fifth-stage martial apprentice.

Give it your all, striving to break through to fifth-stage martial apprentice today.

Since reaching third-stage martial apprentice, Gu Han has been dissatisfied with the meager gains from hunting rabbits and wolves.

Therefore, the area he now roams is already equivalent to the area where beasts with the strength of fourth- to sixth-stage martial disciples reside.

What accompanies crisis is opportunity.

Gu Han can also use these wild beasts to hone his combat skills.

However, Gu Han is after all a Logistics Soldier; bringing back the corpses of fourth- and fifth-stage monster beasts to the camp would be too shocking and likely draw others' attention.

It might even attract some people with ulterior motives who suspect he has some secret treasure.

Therefore, Gu Han did not bring back the corpses of these monster beasts.

Gu Han directly lit a fire in the wild to enjoy the portion of monster beast meat that looked tasty.

The rest, he could only choose to discard directly.

Meanwhile, the punished Combat Soldiers who came to hunt wild beasts shuttle through the mountains, each full of complaints.

"It's all because of Lei Chao, that Fellow; picking a fight with Gu Chen and them would be bad enough, but he had to scold all the new recruits, alerting Instructor Deng and thus implicating us."

"Sigh, go look for wild beasts properly; Deng Matou won't mess around with you. If you really can't bring back a hundred one-star fifth-stage monster beasts, just wait to go hungry."

However, at that moment, someone suddenly spotted a few hyenas in the distance, gnawing on a monster beast's corpse.

"Holy shit, shut up!"

That Combat Soldier was delighted, rushed over, and together with his comrades took care of those three hyenas in a flash.

"Three hyenas, plus this relatively intact corpse, make four!"

"Looks like we're not far from success."

Several people grinned, picked up the corpses, and continued forward; soon they discovered something amiss.

"We've been to this area before; how could there be so many monster beast corpses?"

"Moreover, they appear to have died not long ago."

Although monster beasts also fight each other, that's only for territory or food.

But if it were for those reasons, those dead monster beasts could hardly leave intact corpses.

How could it be that here, after walking just a few hundred meters, one can find a monster beast corpse?

Although not every one of them is a one-star fifth-stage monster beast.

But if this continues, before long just picking them up will yield a hundred monster beast corpses, completing the mission!

"Never mind all that; as long as we can complete the mission, that's fine."