Why are Ferocious Beasts labeled with the word 'ferocious'?
Aside from the fact that these creatures are naturally cruel, it's also because they all possess a unique, savage aura.
This savage aura, when compared to humans, is like that of a professional assassin who has killed countless people.
When an ordinary person encounters such a professional assassin, the opponent only needs to give a single look.
It's very likely to cause panic, or even scare them out of their wits!
Ferocious Beasts possess this kind of special aura.
Therefore, for most Awakeners facing a Ferocious Beast for the first time,
under the intimidation of this aura, they often can't even display thirty percent of their strength.
Some even go stiff, forgetting how to attack or use their abilities and weapons.
Thus, before the Martial Arts college entrance exam,
families with some background will hire professional Ability User bodyguards to escort their children into the Wilderness Areas to adapt to fighting ferocious beasts in advance.
Xu Jingming naturally didn't have such conditions.
Therefore, before the Martial Arts college entrance exam, he had anticipated whether his body would have negative reactions after actually encountering a Ferocious Beast.
However, after encountering the Shadow Cat, he had absolutely no reaction to this savage aura.
He could even accurately calculate the Shadow Cat's pouncing trajectory just like he did in normal practice, and then pin it to death with a single spear strike!
"I heard that Awakeners fighting Ferocious Beasts for the first time have to go through several battles before they can overcome the fear of facing powerful creatures.
But some people are naturally insensitive to this aura. It seems I'm one of those exceptions."
Xu Jingming gave a sharp tug with his right hand, using the momentum to pull the Black Obsidian Spear out from the Shadow Cat's neck.
With a thud, the Shadow Cat's corpse hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"This Shadow Cat probably hasn't seen a weapon like a long spear before. To dare jump up like that, isn't that just seeking death?"
Unlike the clumsy Iron-Haired Pig or the Arm Blade Tiger, the Shadow Cat was agile, with a running speed reaching a terrifying 17m/s.
If an Awakener encountered the first two types of beasts and couldn't win, they could still run.
If they encountered a Shadow Cat, they couldn't even run; they could only be chased to death!
Because of this, the Shadow Cat was also dubbed the 'Newbie Killer'.
Under normal circumstances, without using abilities and relying solely on physical strength, it was almost impossible for Astret to achieve a one-hit kill.
Especially given his near-total lack of experience in fighting Ferocious Beasts.
But the Shadow Cat had made a fatal mistake: jumping and swiping its claws!
If it were facing an Awakener using a longsword or a broadsword, this move might have worked.
After all, by the time a longsword or broadsword could cut the Shadow Cat, its sharp claws would have already been able to attack the Awakener.
But Xu Jingming's Black Obsidian Spear was a full 2.1 meters long!
As the saying goes, an inch longer is an inch stronger.
So, before the mid-air Shadow Cat could even enter its attack range, it was stabbed to death by Astret's spear.
"Also, if not for the system notification, I almost forgot that killing Ferocious Beasts grants Ability Points!"
Looking at the 3 Ability Points newly added to the system panel, Xu Jingming's heart burned with excitement.
This meant that if he could obtain enough Ability Points in the upcoming battles, his strength could be further enhanced!
"However, the Ability Points gained from killing an unranked beast are too few. I still need to hurry to the middle area."
Just like Ability Users, Ferocious Beasts are divided into nine levels, from Tier 1 to Tier 9.
As for beasts below Tier 1, they are called unranked beasts, corresponding to human Awakeners.
Xu Jingming, who had no experience fighting beasts, had originally planned to adapt more in the outer area first.
Since he didn't have much of a reaction to the beasts' aura, staying in the outer area didn't make much sense.
So, Xu Jingming picked up his Black Obsidian Spear and sprinted toward the middle area of the Ruined Town... Compared to Zhou Mingyang, who possessed the elemental wind ability, Astret's sprint speed wasn't particularly fast.
But during the sprint, he was also continuously killing beasts.
"Killed one Unranked beast, Iron-Haired Pig, ability points +5."
"Killed one Unranked beast, Shadow Cat, ability points +3."
"Killed one Unranked beast, One-Horned Rhino, ability points +6."
"..."
During the battles with the beasts, Astret did not use his ability.
On one hand, he wanted to hone his Spearmanship and gain more combat experience.
After all, using the S-rank Violet Heaven Divine Lightning against these Unranked beasts would only result in an instant kill, which wouldn't provide any training effect.
On the other hand, the rarer the ability, the greater the consumption when used.
Astret's original E-rank ability, Weak Current, could be sustained for over three hours when used at full power.
But after changing to the S-rank ability Violet Heaven Divine Lightning, he might not even be able to maintain it for an hour at full power.
One must know that the Martial Arts college entrance exam lasts for a full twelve hours.
If he exhausted his ability in the early stages, then upon entering the Core Area and facing Tier 1 mid-level or even high-level beasts, Astret would have no other means of output.
So he could only refrain from using his ability for now, waiting until he entered the Core Area.
Additionally, after each battle, Astret could feel himself improving.
These battles stacked up, causing his combat awareness and Spearmanship to improve at an exaggerated rate!
His Spearmanship, in particular, became smoother with use, eventually reaching a feeling of being able to do whatever he wished.
And this was something he had never experienced before.
"Could it be that my Spearmanship has unknowingly broken through?"
On a dilapidated old path, a beast's corpse lay at Xu Jingming's feet.
This beast was as large as a small car, with a sharp, blade-like horn on its head, thick limbs, and dark brown skin.
Even though it was already dead, it still emitted a powerful, savage aura.
This was precisely the beast examinees least wanted to face—the One-Horned Rhino!
This One-Horned Rhino was covered in bowl-sized wounds, but the fatal blow had come from its head.
The pitch-black head of the Black Obsidian Spear had pierced directly through the eye socket into the brain in a violent manner, destroying the most vital cranial nerves.
The One-Horned Rhino was naturally as dead as could be... "Puchi—"
The spear was pulled out, bringing some red and white matter out of the One-Horned Rhino's head along with it.
If an ordinary person were suddenly faced with this scene, those with weaker mental fortitude might vomit on the spot.
However, Astret remained calm and even opened his system panel right there:
[Name]: Xu Jingming
[Level]: Awakener
[Ability]: Violet Heaven Divine Lightning (S)
[Physique]: 141 Blood Qi (+)
[spirit]: 160 Hertz (+)
[Skills]: Spearmanship (Intermediate +), Lightning Gale Break (Beginner +)
[ability points]: 213
"As expected, my Spearmanship has broken through to the intermediate level!"
Xu Jingming's eyes lit up, and then he couldn't help but sigh, "Looking at it this way, actual combat still provides the greatest boost to strength."
His predecessor had practiced Spearmanship for over six years but was still only at the beginner level.
Yet he had only engaged in dozens of battles with beasts to raise his Spearmanship to the intermediate level.
While there was certainly an element of slow accumulation finally paying off, it still illustrated the importance of actual combat.
"Intermediate Spearmanship already makes me feel like I can do as I wish. What would happen if I were to further improve it?"
Over three hours had passed since the start of the Martial Arts college entrance exam.
Along the way, although Astret hadn't gone out of his way to look for them, he had encountered over forty beasts.
Among them were lower-level Shadow Cats, as well as higher-level Arm Blade Tigers and One-Horned Rhinos.
Every time he killed a beast, he would obtain some ability points.
But he hadn't looked closely at how many he had obtained in total.
Now that he looked, he hadn't expected to have already accumulated 213 ability points, enough for him to upgrade his skills.
"213 ability points is just the beginning. Once I enter the middle area and use the Violet Heaven Divine Lightning to kill beasts, the accumulation of ability points will be even faster!
In that case..."
After a moment of thought, Astret still couldn't resist the temptation and directly clicked the plus sign after Spearmanship!
Instantly, countless techniques related to Spearmanship poured into his mind like a tide.
This infused memory wasn't like a fleeting glance at a movie that would be forgotten shortly after watching.
Instead, it was as if Xu Jingming himself had truly practiced Spearmanship for decades!
After the infusion of Spearmanship memories was complete, Xu Jingming suddenly thrust his spear!
In the next moment,
within a single second, the Black Obsidian Spear stabbed out four times in succession in the air!
Like black lightning, it was swift and dangerous!