Master Wanke Shan scanned the students before him, a little surprised.
The first lesson of martial arts was his specialty.
Almost every time he took new students, he summoned a ferocious beast for the lesson.
The purpose wasn't to intimidate, but to let them see what a real beast looked like.
To make them realize martial arts are not for fitness alone.
Martial arts are a weapon, a way of kill or be killed.
None of the students who had fled in panic, nor Liang Mingyu who had fainted, were unexpected.
Yu Lei and Hong Qian only stepped back a few paces yet still faced the beast—they were already doing well.
But someone like Li Qingshan, who stepped forward with a blade when the beast revived, was the first he'd seen.
More importantly,
Li Qingshan's eyes glowed with hunger as he stared at the beast, his lips licking as if the creature were a delicious meal.
"Born for battle?" the thought crossed Wanke Shan's mind, and a smile curled his mouth.
"Don't hold back—cut as many times as you like, even until it dies!"
"Thank you, teacher. I understand." Li Qingshan moved forward, his right hand trembling slightly on the hilt—an excited tremor.
When the wolfpoison noticed the human approaching with a blade, its ferocity intensified.
But its limbs were still fixed to the metal plate; all it could do was gape its blood-filled maw.
A roar—brutal and foul—filled the air.
Li Qingshan did not stop; he even inhaled deeply, a trace of joy appearing on his face, as if he smelled food.
In his view, the translucent panel and the wolfpoison's silhouette overlapped; the "Martial Space" section was flashing.
As he closed the distance, the flashing accelerated.
Kill it, and the "Martial Space" would surely unlock!
"Be careful—don't let it bite you," Wanke Shan warned, fearing Li Qingshan's fervor. The wolfpoison's head still had some range of motion despite its bound limbs.
His worry was unnecessary.
At a meter away, Li Qingshan pivoted and moved to the beast's waist. He raised the blade and struck down hard.
Bang!
"So tough?" Li Qingshan flexed his numb wrist and looked at his "result."
A less-than-one-centimeter wound marred the wolfpoison's flank.
"It's hard to kill!" he frowned.
A neck strike risked being bitten; it was too dangerous. He deliberately aimed for the flank to avoid rib protection.
But he had misjudged—the starborne beasts couldn't be measured by ordinary logic.
Although the creature looked wolf-like, its anatomy was entirely different; dense ribbing ran beneath the torso.
Moreover, his blade had been stopped by muscle before it even reached bone.
The wound had already stopped bleeding as the muscles contracted.
The beast twisted its head and roared, staring at the man with a mocking ferocity.
"Is that it?" Liang Mingyu sneered, having recovered and now standing.
Wanke Shan casually asked if Liang wanted to demonstrate. Liang flinched and fell silent.
Wanke Shan glanced around—aside from the still-unconscious Liu Jingya, the other students had gathered, waiting to see how Li Qingshan would "wield the blade."
Good; at least they weren't cowed.
Wanke Shan was satisfied, still eyeing Li Qingshan. After one strike, Li Qingshan didn't press the attack but studied the wolfpoison's body as if thinking.
"First stage body tempering—killing a wolfpoison is no easy feat," Wanke Shan murmured, his earlier judgment about a natural fighter wavering.
True warriors revel in combat; they rarely stop before the end. But Li Qingshan calmed after one cut.
He stepped behind the beast, pulled the blade back, and pointed it upward—then made slicing motions between the wolfpoison's hind legs.
"Damn! He just wants to mutilate the beast, not fight it!" Wanke Shan slapped his forehead.
The watching students brightened and grew excited.
"Well done, class top—thinking outside the box." "I suddenly feel less scared." "My legs go numb—can't watch."
Zhao Hongzhou, confident, explained: "All creatures have weak points. Besides, it's a male!"
The wolfpoison roared louder, a kingly defiance that swept the area.
This group of frail humans, however, didn't flee. Their gazes were oddly similar—something the beast couldn't understand.
Next moment—
A knife slipped in. The wound wasn't deep, but a horrifying pain surged.
The wolfpoison reared its head, howl peaking and cutting off abruptly. Its head drooped, then jerked up and spun wildly, searching.
There was no time to locate the attacker—another torment struck lower.
The beast howled and writhed; Li Qingshan, standing directly behind, didn't flinch. He used both hands on the hilt, driving the blade upward with force.
One cut, then another—each deeper than the last.
Crack—rupture—open!
A wound over thirty centimeters gaped; viscera spilled out.
The wolfpoison trembled and collapsed, gasping its last. Li Qingshan exhaled and stood with the blade.
His white martial robe stained with blood; sweat and spots of gore streaked his face.
"Finally done!" Everyone around sighed with relief, legs trembling.
Wanke Shan's eye twitched—this lesson turned into a dissection.
As he reached to call Li Qingshan back—
Another thrust. Li Qingshan drove the blade into the beast's belly up to the hilt.
"What grudge? What hatred?" Everyone was stunned.
"The wolfpoison is not yet dead." Wanke Shan added, and Li Qingshan continued, tearing through organs until the beast's last breath left it.
He withdrew the blade and smiled, wiping his brow, eyes on the translucent panel.
"Martial Space—unlocked!"