Back in the cultivation room, Wang Xu felt much calmer. Although his fist power had inexplicably increased several times, progress was a good thing, and his mindset had not truly reached a stable state.
"When testing my true fist power, I didn't use the exertion technique from the 'Nine-Column Thunder Saber', yet I still managed to punch with nearly ten thousand kilograms of force. If the exertion level were enhanced, my fist power could reach nearly twenty thousand. What exactly has increased my fist power?"
Anything unusual must have its cause!
Wang Xu sorted through all of his possessions and ultimately focused on one thing: the Energy Core!
The Energy Core still had a semi-transparent outline but was increasingly becoming more substantial compared to before.
"Could it be that this Energy Core caused the sudden change in my fist power?" Wang Xu pondered.
Apart from this explanation, Wang Xu could not find any other reason.
The Energy Core had already dispersed eleven times, each time becoming more substantial, requiring more and more energy. Fortunately, Wang Xu had advanced to Tier Five, and his energy absorption speed greatly increased. At this rate, reaching the initial forty-nine steps was merely a matter of time.
...
"Leader, are there any new missions recently?"
The next day, Wang Xu called Jin Tun to inquire about missions.
"There's nothing suitable for us recently. Why, do you have something on your mind?" Jin Tun replied on the other end of the line.
"Yes, I want to cultivate for a while. If there's a mission, you can inform me in advance," Wang Xu said.
"Alright, no problem."
The cultivation Wang Xu referred to was not in the cultivation room, but in the insect beast region, with the training goal of hunting insect beasts.
Currently, Wang Xu was not lacking in understanding Ancient Martial Arts. The exertion level of the 'Nine-Column Thunder Saber' was enough to unleash a terrifying amount of power, but he still needed to hone his body technique.
Additionally, Wang Xu had set his eyes on a "Secret Technique" in the Warband Mall.
The so-called Secret Technique is a method of potential development that humans encountered after detaching from Ancient Martial Arts.
Secret Techniques do not belong to Earth, nor to humans, but come from the mysterious "Earth Restricted Area."
Wang Xu learned online that there are many unknown mysterious places on Earth, places so dangerous the Insect Race cannot set foot. Humans call these places "Earth Restricted Areas."
The Earth Restricted Areas contain unimaginably great dangers, and those powerful enough to venture inside often do so at great risk, but there is also fortune to be found amidst danger, with Secret Techniques being one of the treasures within these areas.
The Secret Technique Wang Xu had his eye on was a sword technique— "Sword Romance."
Wang Xu had not thoroughly understood the strengths of this Secret Technique, but as one of the few sword technique Secret Techniques, he chose it. However, upon seeing its price, Wang Xu was stunned.
36,000,000 Contribution Points.
"Sword Romance" is the cheapest of all the sword technique Secret Techniques, yet this astronomical number still made Wang Xu's heart turn cold.
Wang Xu's total Contribution Points only amounted to 20,000, and for a C-level mission, he only received 10,000 points, making the 36 million a distant dream.
So Wang Xu decided to go outside to cultivate while earning Contribution Points to buy "Sword Romance."
"Tier Five Cat Shadow Insect Beast Corpse 100 pieces, Reward: 50,000 Contribution Points"
"Tier Five Black Snake Insect Beast Corpse 100 pieces, Reward: 60,000 Contribution Points"
In the mission hall, Wang Xu selected two missions. Cat Shadow Insect Beasts are agile-type insect beasts and are a headache for ordinary genetic warriors. It's too difficult to kill them without the help of ranged weapons, as their speed makes them difficult to chase.
Black Snake Insect Beasts belong to swarms, and their numbers are vast. A single insect nest holds at least a thousand Black Snake Insect Beasts. Dealing with them requires caution, killing one at a time. Once other Black Snake Insect Beasts are alarmed, it would mean being engulfed by the insect beast army and becoming their meal.
These two types of insect beasts are challenging for ordinary people and offer low rewards, but they were just right for Wang Xu.
After accepting these two missions, Wang Xu immediately boarded the train to the C51 region.
...
"Bai Bi, how's the thing I asked you to do last time?" In a large room, Xu Zhou walked in and asked a bespectacled man fiddling with a computer.
"No difficulty. The guy just joined the number one hundred fifty-third ranked 'Red Flame Battle Group' and just completed his first C-level mission yesterday. Why are you so concerned about a little Tier Four kid?" Bai Bi, the man with glasses, said.
"Hmph, that kid killed my nephew. I promised my brother I'd bring back his head to honor my nephew," Xu Zhou said venomously.
"It's just another petty vendetta..." Bai Bi shook his head but suddenly focused. "Huh? He just personally picked up two C-level missions. This guy is bold enough to challenge Cat Shadow Insect Beasts and Black Snake Insect Beasts alone?"
"Oh? So he's alone in the insect beast region now?" Xu Zhou's eyes lit up, ignoring why Wang Xu would choose to hunt Tier Five insect beasts.
"That's right. The information shows he has already boarded the train to the insect beast region," Bai Bi said, adjusting his glasses.
Xu Zhou's eyes flared with murderous intent as he licked his lips: "There's a road to heaven, yet you don't take it; there's no door to hell, yet you enter by yourself. Bai Bi, I'm heading to his insect beast region now. Lock onto his position for me."
"It's such a minor issue yet you make a big deal out of it, really tedious."
...
Wang Xu entered the C51 region, once a prosperous city, now turned into a densely wooded wasteland.
Walking on the broken asphalt road, many buildings on both sides are still clearly discernible.
Supermarkets, cinemas, clothing stores, hospitals... and so on, some buildings are even preserved very well, looking exactly like before the insect disaster era.
Wang Xu took out the Blood Bone Giant Saber and stepped into the city step by step.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a black shadow flashed past him, moving so fast that the naked eye couldn't catch it.
Cat Shadow Insect Beast!
The Cat Shadow Insect Beast doesn't have strong attack power but possesses unique agility and speed. Unless a Tier Six student comes, it's impossible to touch even a hair of it.
The black shadow jumped onto an abandoned building, looking down coldly at Wang Xu, the intruder.
Wang Xu also truly saw the appearance of the Cat Shadow Insect Beast, looking like an ordinary house cat, but with blood-red eyes, two huge exposed fangs, and its limbs covered with barbed insect legs.
"Mew~" The Cat Shadow Insect Beast let out a strange cry, then turned into a black shadow and pounced fiercely!
Wang Xu's mouth curled up, compare body techniques? Nothing better!
At once, Wang Xu's body transformed, turning into countless illusions, as the Cat Shadow Insect Beast dashed through the illusions, ultimately locking onto Wang Xu's true form, opening its bloodthirsty mouth with two monstrous fangs biting down!
Just as the Cat Shadow Insect Beast was about to touch Wang Xu, he slightly turned his body, and the Blood Bone Giant Saber in his hand fell like a thunderbolt!
Sixth column, Thunder Dragon Entering the Earth!
The Cat Shadow Insect Beast missed its target, planning to land on the ground to spring up again for an attack, but a blade light like thunder instantly enveloped it, causing the Cat Shadow Insect Beast to let out a painful howl, its body crashing down, fur blackened and standing on end, with a faint scorched smell as if struck by lightning.
Once the high-class martial form reaches a certain realm, elements become tangible, just like Willens' Flaming Fist, not only feeling scorching heat but also burning.
The Cat Shadow Insect Beast originally thought it could toy with the human in front of it as before, but who knew its proud body technique speed was not even worth mentioning in front of others.
"Splat!" Wang Xu mercilessly solved this dying Cat Shadow Insect Beast with a single stroke.
"First one."
Wang Xu continued to walk forward, constantly using the Giant Saber to pick up stones, making loud noises to attract all nearby Cat Shadow Insect Beasts.
When the Cat Shadow Insect Beasts gathered to sixteen, surrounding Wang Xu from all sides, they launched a combined attack, intending to kill this human who had no idea how high the sky was!
Wang Xu couldn't wish for anything better, he was just worried about not having a suitable target for body technique cultivation, the Cat Shadow Insect Beasts were perfect for him.
The overwhelming attacks enveloped Wang Xu, and he moved his body technique, making micro-control evasions, perfectly controlling his physical power.
"Not enough!" Merely sixteen Cat Shadow Insect Beasts hadn't reached Wang Xu's evasion limit.
Immediately, he swept out with a slash, piercing through one Cat Shadow Insect Beast, lifting it up.
"Mew!" The Cat Shadow Insect Beast let out a painful strange howl, the sound sharp and piercing, attracting more Cat Shadow Insect Beasts.
"This is the effect I want!"
The Cat Shadow Insect Beast forces kept growing, Wang Xu dodged amidst their onslaught, he didn't attack the Cat Shadow Insect Beasts, but only used the Spirit Level body technique to evade attacks, aiming to improve his limits.
If it were an ordinary person, they would probably be terrified at this moment. The frightening speed of the Cat Shadow Insect Beasts, along with such a large number, was simply a nightmare, but for Wang Xu, this was merely a body technique training session!
"Slash!" A Cat Shadow Insect Beast's sharp insect leg scratched a bloodstain across Wang Xu's face.
Blood seeped out, flesh was exposed, pain transmitted from his face, yet Wang Xu kept dodging without fighting back.
Moments later, Wang Xu's spiritual power had reached its limit, although the Spirit Level body technique was powerful, it demanded excessive brain responsiveness, without highly focused spiritual power, it was impossible to execute evasion moves, thus Wang Xu's evasion began to slow, even revealing flaws.
Chest, arms, thighs, in just the blink of an eye, Wang Xu's body was covered with countless scratches from the Cat Shadow Insect Beasts, if not for the A-level soldier armor weakening some of the impact, this wave of offensive could have left Wang Xu flesh and blood.
"Splat!" Instantly, Wang Xu realized his spiritual power had reached its limit and couldn't continue training, he directly waved the Blood Bone Giant Saber.
Eighth column: Thunderous Saber!
A circular arc of thunder blade light swept through, splitting several Cat Shadow Insect Beasts, their bodies halved, blood and brain matter splattered everywhere.
Wang Xu's fist power approached ten thousand, combined with the exertion level boost from the "Nine-Column Thunder Saber," had a force of twenty thousand kilograms, more terrifying than ordinary Tier Six students, these Cat Shadow Insect Beasts were merely Tier Five insect beasts and didn't have Copper Skin Iron Bones, they were utterly vulnerable like paper in front of Wang Xu.
Moments later, this area completely turned into a mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
All the Cat Shadow Insect Beasts were dead, even the ones rushing in later, upon smelling the intense blood scent, shivered and retreated, daring not to advance again.
Wang Xu sat down, the Mysterious Flame devoured all the Cat Shadow Insect Beasts, and the injuries from the attacks just now instantly recovered to their original state.
The mission wasn't the main point, and the number of Cat Shadow Insect Beasts was sufficient, there wasn't a lack even with dozens.
Wang Xu consumed a potion that could temporarily alleviate spiritual fatigue, rested for a moment, then stood up.
"Continue hunting!"