Chapter 48: Brother Chu, the Rankings Are In—You've Been Overtaken!

The drone network covered all channels, and the contestants’ smart wristbands automatically detected millimeter-wave radar. As long as a warrior slew a single exotic beast, the wristband would instantly recognize the beast’s level and award points accordingly.

“Slayed one level-three exotic beast, points +3!”
“Slayed two level-three exotic beasts, points +6!”
“…”

As dusk approached, while Fan Tianlei and his team were left speechless in the command center, Zhang Chu and Hu Sanyi had already advanced fifty kilometers.

They arrived at a desert oasis, Crescent Spring. The wind howled fiercely, sand and dust obscured all vision, reducing visibility to less than fifteen meters. Here, the creatures roaming about were level-three exotic beasts—desert vultures.

Desert vultures, famed as the lightning of the sands, moved with astonishing speed, outpacing even ordinary level-four beasts. With wings spanning over five meters, their swift flight generated an airstream shield around their bodies, granting them a defense unmatched by other flying beasts of their level.

A violent gust swept by—a black desert vulture burst from the gravel to their right, its wings like scythes, sweeping toward Zhang Chu and Hu Sanyi.

With the experience from earlier, Zhang Chu remained calm. Gripping his Xuansteel greatsword, he leapt two meters high and cleaved downward. The grade-one superior Xuansteel sword was peerless in its sharpness. No matter how swift, the vulture was still flesh and blood.

The sword struck, the vulture let out a piercing shriek, and its right wing was severed instantly.

“Old Hu, finish it!” Zhang Chu shouted.

Hu Sanyi, a veteran mercenary, seized the moment. He rushed forward, dagger in hand, and plunged it deep into the vulture’s neck. The blade rose and fell, blood sprayed wildly. The vulture crashed heavily into the sand.

Hu Sanyi deftly extracted the beast’s core and stowed it in his backpack. At the same time, his wristband chimed: Slayed one level-three exotic beast, points +3!

“Zhang Chu, brother, thanks!” Hu Sanyi grinned, delighted at his score.

He now ranked second, with 185 points. First place was Zhang Chu, whose tally had soared to a staggering 401. Third place trailed far behind, with only 101 points—Zhang Chu had left them in the dust.

“No need for thanks between brothers,” Zhang Chu replied, glancing at the corpses. He used his Xuansteel sword to slice off their wings and tossed them into his storage ring.

For level-three desert vultures, the wings were the most valuable part. A pair could be exchanged at the Warrior Center for a grade-one superior Blood Vitality Pill.

“It’s getting dark. Let’s find a place to rest for the night.” After dealing with the bodies, Zhang Chu surveyed the oasis and pointed to a nearby hill. “According to the map, there should be a safehouse ten kilometers ahead.”

“Zhang Chu, shouldn’t we press on and keep advancing?” Hu Sanyi was astonished.

This was a competition; he’d never heard of people stopping to sleep. He’d coasted along, racking up points, but resting seemed utterly absurd.

“Old Hu, we’re here to compete, not to take the martial exam. Dropping dead isn’t worth it.” Zhang Chu’s reasoning struck Hu Sanyi as perfectly sound. Zhang Chu, at twenty-one, understood the importance of self-care—at his age, Hu Sanyi realized he was pushing himself too hard for no good reason.

…

The safehouse feature had just been activated on the wristbands about an hour ago. To ensure contestants’ safety, the organizing committee had set up eighty-eight safehouses within a 240-kilometer radius around Canglong Mountain. Each safehouse was stocked with drinking water, instant noodles, bread, and some first-aid supplies.

The two quickly selected a route for walking to Safehouse No. 32, following the wristband’s navigation.

Passing a hillside, they encountered a small squad—six people facing a level-three armored pangolin.

Pangolins were notorious for their tough defenses. Zhang Chu and Hu Sanyi crouched atop the hill, watching the action. Soon, the six were wailing in despair.

As the pangolin charged, a young girl, terrified, unleashed a lion’s roar and frantically pressed the red distress button on her wristband. The other five followed suit.

Bang!

A crimson light flashed from their wristbands; dozens of laser scythes shot out, slicing the pangolin into pieces, the scent of blood filling the air.

“What was that?” Hu Sanyi stared, astonished, as the group vanished in a flash of light. “Was that teleportation?”

“A spiritual array—looks like this year’s competition has Binzhou’s dual-force warriors protecting us from the shadows,” Zhang Chu remarked, immediately seeing through the trick.

Upon breaking through to level six and becoming a dual-force warrior, one awakened spiritual power. Spiritual power could be used to form arrays; teleportation arrays were one kind. Such long-distance teleportation was no trivial feat—it required the combined strength of at least three to five dual-force warriors above level six.

Zhang Chu gave Hu Sanyi a vague explanation, and the two turned toward Safehouse No. 32.

Dual-force warriors were legendary figures; as a level-two warrior, Hu Sanyi was better off not worrying about it.

The night was dark, the terrain treacherous, and beasts prowled everywhere. The safehouse had a warning system five hundred meters out.

With their competition badges, Zhang Chu and Hu Sanyi passed security and entered the safehouse. Outside, darkness was absolute.

The safehouse, built of lightweight steel, was warmed by solar heating—quite comfortable. Two single beds, hot water available around the clock, instant noodles, and self-heating hotpot—all provided.

While Hu Sanyi nervously listened for any signs of beast attacks outside, Zhang Chu was already making himself a bowl of noodles. He refrained from adding a marinated egg—better to save his appetite, he’d need it later.

By midnight, Hu Sanyi could take no more. Clutching his dagger, still fully dressed, he finally drifted into a deep sleep. They’d advanced sixty kilometers and slain over a hundred exotic beasts that day—he was utterly exhausted.

Zhang Chu, meanwhile, dragged a chair outside and sat at the safehouse entrance. He emptied his storage ring, laying out the beast cores harvested that day, and spent half an hour sorting them.

Level-one beast cores: 200, all destined for the black market.
Level-two beast cores: 115, some for consumption.
Level-three beast cores: 10, prioritized for immediate consumption.

Following his usual routine, Zhang Chu began with the level-three beast cores.

“Ding! Host consumed one level-three beast core. Blood Vitality +500!”
“...”
“Ding! Host consumed two level-two beast cores. Blood Vitality +300!”

When he felt overfull and his vision started to darken, he finally opened his personal information panel:

Name: Zhang Chu
Age: 21
Level: 5
Additional Blood Vitality: 15,000
Total Blood Vitality: 75,300/100,000

“What a pity, it doesn’t improve martial skill proficiency!” Zhang Chu checked his smart wristband.

The points ranking was projected before him:

“First place, Zhang Chu, 401 points.”
“Second place, Hu Sanyi, 185 points.”
“Third place, Su Mingyue?? 145 points?”

Seeing Su Mingyue suddenly rocket into third place, Zhang Chu remembered that she was competing in this year’s non-professional warrior tournament. “How did she go from level one to level three? Could she have awakened some system too?”

But Zhang Chu wasn’t worried. No matter how strong Su Mingyue became, she was a long way from surpassing him.

Stretching lazily, Zhang Chu finally returned to the safehouse and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, a graceful shadow in black passed by Safehouse No. 56 on Canglong Mountain. She took a sip of water, then followed the satellite drone deeper into the territory of level-three beasts.

Su Mingyue, walking and watching the points leaderboard, made a silent resolution.

The next morning, no beast attacks had occurred at the safehouse, but Zhang Chu was jolted awake by Hu Sanyi’s shriek.

“Old Hu, what’s with the early morning screaming—are you hyperthyroid or something?” Zhang Chu sat up, rubbing his eyes.

“Zhang Chu, brother, look—the points ranking has updated! You… you’ve been knocked out of first place!”

Hu Sanyi hurriedly brought up the leaderboard.

“First place, Su Mingyue, 412 points!”
“Second place, Zhang Chu, 401 points!”

Zhang Chu glanced at the screen, stunned.

Damn! Su Mingyue must be crazy—how did she overtake me in just one night!