CHAPTER 97: CHAPTER 97: THIS MATTER ISN’T OVER YET_1

Wang Zhan had almost forgotten how long it had been since he had uttered those words.

The last time was during a massive sweep of the wilderness organized by the military academy. He had managed to secure a large share of the beasts then, inviting a storm of curses from his seniors on the forum.

Resuming his old ways, Wang Zhan felt an overwhelming sense of exhilaration.

His speed was incredible. The moment his voice rang out, he had already arrived at the center of the battlefield, so close he could have bumped fists with William if he’d raised his left arm.

Wang Zhan’s sudden appearance startled the students from the Royal Martial Arts Academy.

Even Ally, known for her keen perception, completely failed to detect Wang Zhan’s presence this time.

"You dare show your face again!" William’s eyes widened. Without a second thought, he threw a punch at Wang Zhan, not even caring that the Soldier-level beast was still alive.

To William, Wang Zhan’s very presence seemed more detestable than the Soldier-level beast.

Wang Zhan watched William’s fist approach. He dodged it merely by tilting his head back slightly.

Then, ignoring William, he drew his dagger again and killed the Soldier-level beast with a single strike.

’Strength+2’

’Agility+4’

’Physique+3’

The attributes gained from this Soldier-level beast were fewer than the last, but even a single point increase was a significant step forward for Wang Zhan.

Hearing the familiar prompt, Wang Zhan nodded in satisfaction before finally turning his gaze back to William, who was once again lunging at him with fists flying.

"A bad temper isn’t good for your health."

After offering this kind piece of advice, Wang Zhan turned and fled once more.

A few members from the Royal Martial Arts Academy clearly wanted to give chase, but before they had covered even a hundred meters, Wang Zhan’s figure had almost completely vanished into the distance.

The gap in speed was too vast. Even for the prodigies from the Royal Martial Arts Academy, Wang Zhan’s speed was something they could only watch from afar; they couldn’t even dream of catching up.

Having their Soldier-level beast stolen by the same person again, the atmosphere among the Royal Martial Arts Academy team grew incredibly tense.

Everyone stood silently around the Soldier-level beast’s corpse.

Someone finally spoke up, "At least he didn’t take the beast core this time. He sort of did us a favor."

William shot the speaker a glare and said coldly, "As elites of the Royal Martial Arts Academy, have our standards fallen so low? This... this trash from some unknown martial arts academy is humiliating us. Can you tolerate that?"

His words made it sound as if they had other options, yet he hadn’t bothered to chase the guy when he ran.

Of course, such thoughts remained unspoken. The team members knew William was furious, so no one else dared to utter a word.

Ally squatted, used a sharp weapon to open the beast’s head, and took out a pile of fragments.

Looking at the pile of fragments that had once been the beast core, even the usually composed Ally couldn’t help but seethe.

"This guy must have destroyed the beast core when he realized he didn’t have time to grab it!"

At these words, William finally snapped, heavily stomping his foot on the ground.

The ground spiderwebbed with cracks radiating from his right foot.

"Damn it! Don’t let me see him again!"

The atmosphere among the Royal Martial Arts Academy team members turned even icier.

***

However, what the Royal Martial Arts Academy team probably didn’t expect was that their nightmare had only just begun.

In the afternoon, just as the Royal Martial Arts Academy was about to finish off another Soldier-level beast, Wang Zhan appeared at the critical moment.

This time, all six members of the Royal Martial Arts Academy present, except for Ally, seemed to have a tacit understanding. Almost simultaneously, they abandoned the beast and attacked Wang Zhan.

But to everyone’s astonishment, Wang Zhan skillfully evaded all their attacks and, once again, effortlessly dispatched the Soldier-level beast.

Not only that, but this time he also successfully snatched the beast core.

"Thanks, see you later!" Wang Zhan called back with a provocative smile as he made his escape.

William was speechless. Watching another Soldier-level beast get killed right under their noses, his expression turned so gloomy it seemed like water could drip from it.

"No more hunting today! I want a full search for any active Martial Arts Academies nearby and the locations of their encampments! I want all that information within three days!" William roared in anger. "I’m going to find that bastard, and I’ll personally ensure he’s eliminated!"

Seeing William seething with such frustration, the other members of the Royal Martial Arts Academy wore expressions as if they’d swallowed bitter gourds.

With their team leader this incensed, their days were not going to be easy.

***

In the evening, Wang Zhan returned safely to the Melted Cave.

The others, under Song Dongming’s direction, had been working efficiently. The depths of the cave were now piled high with Mutated Snake Fruits, and beside them hung seven or eight skinned Big-eared Rabbits.

The cave was naturally cool, like a refrigerator. Meat and fruit stored in its depths would undoubtedly last for at least a month, if not longer.

Upon his return, the first thing Wang Zhan noticed was the seven or eight well-processed Big-eared Rabbits.

"I must say, are there really that many Big-eared Rabbits around here? You caught so many in just one day," Wang Zhan said, somewhat surprised.

Huang Pufeng boasted proudly, "Today, after I found a Big-eared Rabbit, I didn’t rush to attack. Instead, I followed it all the way to its nest. We wiped out the entire warren."

Well now, talk about wiping them out, root and stem.

Wang Zhan chuckled. Those Big-eared Rabbits were truly unlucky to run into Huang Pufeng, especially when he was having a moment of brilliance.

"Captain, did you really snatch a beast from the Royal Martial Arts Academy today?" Song Dongming asked curiously.

After Sun Kelan returned, she had immediately recounted Wang Zhan’s impressive feats of the day. The team members had long been buzzing with curiosity.

Wang Zhan glanced at Song Dongming, feeling a bit awkward.

It was one thing for others to call him Captain, but hearing it from this guy and Huang Pufeng always felt a little strange.

However, Wang Zhan understood that Song Dongming was doing it to help establish his authority.

"Yeah, the Royal Martial Arts Academy isn’t all that. They injured one of ours and still dared to act arrogantly and make threats. Who else should we deal with if not them?" Wang Zhan took out the two beast cores he had snatched that day and tossed them to Song Dongming.

"Today’s harvest was average, just two cores. However, I’ve now roughly figured out the Royal Martial Arts Academy members’ general location. I’ll go find them early tomorrow morning. This isn’t over yet," Wang Zhan said fiercely.

The real reason was that he still needed more extreme attribute points, but he couldn’t very well say that aloud.

"Captain, what about us...?" Huang Pufeng asked, his hands itching for action. He wanted to go with Wang Zhan too.

Wang Zhan shook his head. "You guys should focus on your cultivation in the Melted Cave for now. Confronting the Royal Martial Arts Academy members head-on would be troublesome if I brought you along. Let me deal with them, then we’ll go hunting together."

Since everyone was already familiar with each other, Wang Zhan didn’t bother mincing words or considering their feelings.

He was already being kind by not calling them a bunch of deadweights.

The others exchanged glances upon hearing Wang Zhan’s words. They wanted to argue but couldn’t find a reason to.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

***

The night passed quickly.

At dawn, Wang Zhan left the Melted Cave and headed towards the Royal Martial Arts Academy team’s last known location.

About an hour later, he successfully began tailing the Royal Martial Arts Academy team once more.

However, unlike the previous day, the Royal Martial Arts Academy team consisted of only five people today. One was an injured member, and another person was missing.

Did they leave someone behind to look after the injured? Wang Zhan wondered.

However, whether it was five, six, or even a full team of seven, it didn’t change Wang Zhan’s intention to use them as his personal attribute-point suppliers.

I hope you guys are more productive today. I only need three or four more Soldier-level beasts to break through, Wang Zhan thought.

***

「Meanwhile.」

In a luxurious office within Ao City, Oceania’s human defense fortifications, three men sat in front of a large screen.

The enormous screen was split into dozens of feeds, each displaying the situation of a participating Martial Arts Academy.

This was the command center for the Federal Martial Arts Tournament’s referee committee, and the competition footage was transmitted back in real-time from the competitors’ personal terminals.

The three men seated before the screen were the chief referees for this Federal Martial Arts Tournament.

Though all chief referees, each of them was undoubtedly a heavyweight in the Federation.

All three men—one portly, two lean—were around forty or fifty years of age.

The portly man in the middle always wore a disarmingly benign smile.

King Xiong, a top-tier expert who had broken through to the Martial King Realm a decade ago. Rumor had it that he had already surpassed the Martial King Realm. However, since returning to his post in the Federation several years ago, he had never publicly displayed his strength, so the rumors remained unconfirmed.

And the two men flanking King Xiong were not to be underestimated either.

The more robust of the two was King of Thunder from Yanjing Martial Arts Academy.

The slightly thinner one, with a stern and cold expression, was none other than King Xing—originally from Chu State Military Academy and now a renowned figure in the Federation!

Three referees, all Martial Kings! This alone demonstrated the immense importance the Federation placed on the college competition.

At this moment, all three Martial Kings had their eyes fixed on the feed covering the Royal Martial Arts Academy.

When they saw the Royal Martial Arts Academy exhaust themselves to defeat an intermediate Soldier-level beast, only for someone to swoop in at the last second to kill-steal it and snatch the beast core, smiles touched the lips of all three.

"This young fellow is Wang Zhan, the one who rejected the four major Martial Arts Academies last year, isn’t he? Interesting," King Xiong said with a smile.

"Heh, Wang Zhan is just a first-year, yet he’s already running circles around those third-year geniuses from the Royal Martial Arts Academy. Calling him ’interesting’ is an understatement," King of Thunder said confidently. "This is just the team competition. I’m calling it now: Wang Zhan will definitely secure a spot in the top three of this year’s individual competition."

"Oh? You think that highly of him?" King Xing raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his tone.

Neither of the other two knew that he himself had gifted Wang Zhan the body refining technique he practiced.

Compared to King Xiong and King of Thunder, King Xing was far more eager to see Wang Zhan make a name for himself.

Little fellow, show us even more surprises.