HUFF... HUFF...

The sound of his own breathing seemed to muffle his hearing, and hot sweat streamed through the valleys of muscle on his chest and back. His bloodshot eyes looked like black jade wrapped in an Other Shore Flower.

Two arrows had completely drained the surging Qi Blood replenished by the Blood Boiling Liquid. His soul felt like a bronze bell struck by a solid wooden mallet, deafening his senses.

[Blood Circulation] opened his blood vessels, mobilizing all his Qi Blood in an instant and channeling it to the tips of his right fingers.

[Aim] used his most focused Mental Power to lock onto the high-speed target, clearing his mind of all stray thoughts.

[Powerful Penetration] forcibly drew the bow with strength beyond the limits of the Steel Bone Realm, breaking through the Qi Blood Bow’s normal damage threshold.

[Strong Arm] temporarily raised the upper limit of his arms’ drawing strength, providing the foundation for [Powerful Penetration]’s explosive power.

Fusing four Metamorphosis Attributes at once was even harder to control than the Soaring Dragon Thrust he had used before. Even now, a Dragon’s Roar from the depths of his heart still echoed in his mind...

[Mastery Fusion Drill x1]

[Powerful Penetration + Steel Arm + Blood Circulation + Aim = Black Flood Dragon Breaking Sky]

[Ancient Martial Arrow (Mastery)]

[Mastery Points: 1/10]

[Technique One: Black Flood Dragon Breaking Sky]

[Features: The Black Flood Dragon hibernates in the wild, but becomes a true dragon upon leaving the abyss.]

In an instant, the sensory memory of drawing the bow and shooting from afar flooded his mind, like a Gale blowing away the gray fog that clouded his vision. He gave his fingers a slight twitch, and the gentle whisper of wind entered his ears once more.

"Was the One-eyed Owl really shot dead?"

"It’s dead..."

He heard two staggered whispers as he lifted his gaze, looking in the direction his second arrow had flown. A ten-meter-wide path had been carved out for two thousand meters, the ground indented from his very feet, like a shallow ditch leading to the far side of the Iron Forest.

At the very end, he could vaguely make out a few figures, small as black beans, milling about. They were gathered around the One-eyed Owl, like tiny ants swarming the corpse of a bird.

’If people can get that close, then the One-eyed Owl is definitely dead.’

"The High Tier Demon Beast, the One-eyed Owl, is dead, and the Flying Demon Beasts in the sky have all scattered," Jiang Qiu said, tilting his head back and letting out a soft sigh. "I guess this means we’re halfway done with the Military Department’s test, right?"

"Ah..." Sun Yongsheng jolted, his jaw, which had dropped open at some point, snapping shut with a CLICK. "Pretty much. Based on my experience with similar tests, we just need to clean up the battlefield and wait for Officer Liu Qi to come back and wrap things up."

"Mm, okay."

Jiang Qiu nodded, his gaze sweeping over the corpses that littered the ground.

As far as the eye could see, several acres of the Iron Forest had been shorn away. The dense carpet of bodies and the Iron Feathers embedded in the Iron Trees made for a scene at least five times more brutal than the one at Qingmu Town’s Central Square.

’I should be able to make a lot of money from salvaging this.’

BEEP.

Someone, on a whim, activated their Recording Ring. A moment later, they sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, and a wavering whisper escaped them. "Two thousand one hundred?"

Qiu Hu’s thick brows shot up. "What two thousand one hundred?"

"The... the kill count..."

BEEP. Qiu Hu activated his own Recording Ring. The first thing he saw was his own kill count: 61, ranking him at 51st.

It wasn’t much different from his usual ranking; he still hadn’t managed to break into the top fifty.

He scrolled up. The kill counts grew by ones and twos until they jumped into the hundreds in the top three.

TAP. His finger paused. Third place had 102 kills. Second place, Yang Yu, had 1,301 kills. And first place, Jiang Qiu...

"2,100?!"

Qiu Hu’s mouth fell open, a bone seemingly caught in his throat.

That was nearly half the total kills, far surpassing the second-place Yang Yu. And with the kill of an Advanced Demon Beast to his name, there was no doubt that Jiang Qiu was number one in this major test. Not only would he be invited into the Prodigy Program, but he would also fill the vacant thirtieth spot among the Optimizers.

He had heard Jiang Qiu’s name half a month ago and dismissed it as some funny story online, paying it no mind.

He had only met him for the first time yesterday afternoon. The boy had a "quiet and reserved" appearance, suggesting he might be a hidden genius.

’But he was hiding his strength *this* well?!’

The chasm between 2,100 and 61 solidified into a hammer that THUDDED against Qiu Hu’s composure. In that instant, an image of Sun Yongsheng’s annoyingly defeatist face actually appeared in his mind.

"Sigh~" Sun Yongsheng had appeared behind him at some point. PAT, PAT. He tapped him twice on the shoulder, a triumphant gleam appearing in his usually downcast eyes. "You’re always calling me a slacker, aren’t you? Look at your face. Seems like you got quite the shock, huh?"

"..."

Qiu Hu pouted but said nothing.

The several prodigies from the Outer City were all silent, quietly observing the lone figure of Jiang Qiu as if looking at the statue of a great man—distant, yet vividly real.

"Hooo—"

A sharp whistle blast for assembly blew from the distance. Jiang Qiu paused for a moment before moistening his parched lips and walking alone toward the One-eyed Owl’s corpse.

For some reason, his mind drifted back to the barbecue in the Qingmu Town Secret Realm, filled with laughter and the rich fragrance of meat.

Here, every step was past another corpse, the stench of blood filling his nostrils.

TAP, TAP, TAP...

Sun Yongsheng, Qiu Hu, and the others also began to walk, following behind him in response to the assembly whistle.

"Holy shit, my Recording Ring shows Jiang Qiu in first place with twenty-one hundred kills?!"

"And he’s the one who shot down the High Tier Demon Beast!"

"No way, man. Wasn’t he rumored to be at the Entry Level of the Archery Dao? During that competition with Liu Yong, he ’just’ shot through ten suits of armor at two hundred meters. How does he have Archery Dao Mastery now?"

"And it’s not just ordinary Mastery. I suspect he could surpass several of the Optimizers..."

The assembled prodigies from the Inner City were all talking at once. They gazed up at the three- or four-meter-tall corpse of the One-eyed Owl, their eyes fixed on the bloody wound on its left wing, awestruck.

The Non-commissioned Officers who had heard Hu Tianlin’s assembly whistle also arrived, supporting one another and muttering amongst themselves.

"Here he comes, here he comes... Jiang Qiu is here... Holy shit, he’s not wearing Armor, and he doesn’t have a single wound on him?!"

A sudden cry of surprise made everyone turn to look toward the edge of the trench carved out by the arrow’s path. Several prodigies from the Outer City were approaching at a steady pace. The youth leading them was bare-chested, without a single bloody mark or cut on him.

His physique was certainly strong compared to an ordinary person, but it lacked the brutish build of a bear or a tiger. He was noticeably leaner than Qiu Hu, who stood behind him in his battered Black Armor.

His muscles looked as if they were sculpted from steel rebar. In the dim twilight, set against the jet-black armor of the other prodigies, the deep lines and valleys of his muscles stood out even more.

Most had never seen such a refined physique with their own eyes. Many Martial Artists were built like bears.

"Jiang Qiu..."

Yang Yu turned her head as well. The moment she saw Jiang Qiu’s black jade eyes, her cold, placid eyes, which were usually as still as an ancient well, were suddenly stirred by a ripple.

There were very few things in this world that could truly move her anymore, but some things could instantly conjure a memory with a single glance.

’Brother.’

"Quiet down!"

Hu Tianlin pried off his heavy helmet and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Officer Liu Qi and his men haven’t returned victorious from the depths of Dongqi Lake yet, which means our mission isn’t over!

"This may be a test for you, but for the Military Department, it’s an extremely important operation to secure a Secret Realm! A total of ten Martial Arts Teams, over a hundred Martial Artist officers, and more than three hundred elite Non-commissioned Officers are attacking Dongqi Lake! We are just guarding the outermost perimeter!

"Even though we’ve killed the High Tier Demon Beast, the One-eyed Owl, we must remain vigilant for any Demon Beasts High Tier or above that might escape from the main battlefield at Dongqi Lake!

"Otherwise..."

WHOOSH—

The crisp sound of a sharp arrow tearing through the air exploded from the west like a violent gust from the end of a flute, accompanied by an arc of light that made it seem as if daylight had arrived!

The words died in Hu Tianlin’s throat. His eyes widened as he stared at the beam of white light that shot toward them before vanishing into the darkening sky. His chest swelled abruptly, then deflated as all the air rushed out of him.

"Assemble!

"Assemble!

"Sound the alarm!

"A Top Tier Demon Beast is fleeing in our direction!

"Hurry, assemble—"