The city center, once the most densely populated part, suffered the most from the ferocious beasts. That is why the buildings in the center looked even more ruined than those on the outskirts. Everywhere Xu Jingming looked, he saw no structure left intact.
"Great Xia chose real combat as the method for the martial arts exam not only to test the strength of the participants but probably also for the Awakened to see the destructive power of ferocious beasts with their own eyes," Xu Jingming contemplated.
Great Xia did everything possible to protect its citizens. With the exception of those unfortunate people whose cities were attacked by ferocious beasts, most residents could live their entire lives without seeing these monsters in reality. For ordinary people, this approach was perfectly acceptable. But for nurturing Superpower Users, it was crucial to realize the brutality of ferocious beasts as early as possible.
"Rrrrrrrr!" A deep roar interrupted Xu Jingming's thoughts, and a ferocious beast leaped out from the ruins.
Outwardly, it resembled a tiger but was significantly larger, and its fur was a mixture of yellow and blue-green colors. The most notable feature was the bone blades on its forearms, which looked like scimitars and gleamed like metal. A long, whip-like tail dragged behind the beast.
"A First-Stage Ferocious Beast, the Sabre-toothed Tiger," Xu Jingming narrowed his eyes.
Like Shadow Cats, Sabre-toothed Tigers were a fairly common species of ferocious beast. Determining the level of a Sabre-toothed Tiger was simple—it was enough to measure the length of the bone blades on its forearms. If they were shorter than 20 centimeters, the beast hadn't reached the First Stage; if longer, it had already entered the ranks.
The bone blades on this Sabre-toothed Tiger reached 22 to 23 centimeters in length, indicating its membership in the lower rank of the First Stage. Compared to the unranked Sabre-toothed Tigers Xu Jingming had encountered before, this beast's aura was far more ferocious. A thirst for blood raged in its amber eyes.
"Looks like I got lucky. I just entered the Middle Zone and already encountered a First-Stage ferocious beast," Xu Jingming finished the remnants of the energy bar, feeling his stomach fill up. The corners of his lips lifted slightly: "Excellent, I'll test my spear mastery on you!"
Casually tossing aside the empty wrapper, Xu Jingming did not retreat; on the contrary, he charged forward, dragging the black spear behind him.
Jingle-jingle-jingle!
The black spear scraped against the broken concrete, accompanied by a sharp grating sound and scattering sparks.
As a First-Stage Ferocious Beast, this Sabre-toothed Tiger already possessed the rudiments of intelligence. Seeing a seemingly weak human dare to attack it first, the naturally cruel beast let out a furious roar.
"Rrrraaar!" Its massive body, like a tank, rushed towards Xu Jingming. Even disregarding its enormous maw and sharp bone blades, the sheer size of the beast alone was enough to put most exam participants in a hopeless situation.
However, Xu Jingming was not frightened at all; there wasn't a trace of panic in his eyes. Abruptly tensing his right arm, he swung the black spear like a huge windmill, then delivered a powerful thrust toward the Sabre-toothed Tiger!
Xu Jingming originally had 140 units of vitality, which made him physically stronger than most participants. Now, with High-Level Spear Mastery, the speed of his attacks increased severalfold.
Faced with this lightning-fast spear thrust, the lower-ranked First-Stage Sabre-toothed Tiger did not have time to react. With a dull thud, a huge, bowl-sized hole appeared in its abdomen. The wound was so deep that it pierced through the thick fur and skin, and its pulsing internal organs could be seen through the gushing blood!
"Awoo!" An ordinary creature would certainly have lost the ability to move after such a devastating blow. However, the Sabre-toothed Tiger merely howled in pain, and as if awakening its animalistic rage, it frantically lunged at Xu Jingming.
"As expected of a First-Stage ferocious beast—the vitality is simply astonishing," Xu Jingming thought. Not using his superpower, he hadn't expected to kill the beast with a single strike. Therefore, he continued to fight the Sabre-toothed Tiger, wielding the black spear.
Thanks to his High-Level Spear Mastery, Xu Jingming swung the black spear as if it were a dragon in the air. Every thrust left a new wound on the Sabre-toothed Tiger's body. And due to the length of the spear, the beast simply could not land an effective blow on Xu Jingming...
In less than a minute, the First-Stage ferocious beast, capable of killing 99\% of the exam participants, was defeated by Xu Jingming. Its massive body, riddled with wounds, crashed to the ground with a rumble, raising a cloud of dust. Xu Jingming himself remained unscathed; even his combat suit was not stained with a single drop of blood.
This was the advantage of the long spear. If the opponent wasn't strong enough, they could be stabbed to death without even being able to touch the edge of their killer's clothes.
『First-Stage Sabre-toothed Tiger slain. +10 Ability Points』
The system notification sounded with the death of the Sabre-toothed Tiger.
"Slaying a First-Stage ferocious beast gives almost twice as many ability points as an unranked one!" Xu Jingming's eyes lit up. "In that case, I need to kill ferocious beasts as quickly as possible and accumulate ability points."
Strapping the black spear to his back, Xu Jingming did not waste a second and dashed in the direction of the loudest roars of the ferocious beasts.
The abandoned town was divided into four zones according to the strength of the ferocious beasts inhabiting them: Peripheral, Middle, Central, and the very Core Zone.
Most exam participants could only operate in the Peripheral Zone. Only a few dared to enter the Middle Zone. Even the top students from Jiangcheng First Middle School's elite class hesitated before entering the Central Zone. As for the very Core Zone, where Second-Stage ferocious beasts lived, almost no one in all of Jiangcheng could enter it. This was a place only geniuses from the provincial capital dared to venture into!
Xu Jingming, possessing the S-level Purple Sky Divine Thunder, certainly had the right to be there. However, given the limited duration of his ability, he decided to stay in the Middle Zone first. He planned to enter the Central Zone in the last two hours of the exam.
Of course, in the real Wildlands, there was no such clear division into zones based on strength level. One could easily stumble upon a high-rank ferocious beast and be eaten.
Xu Jingming perfectly understood that this was his only opportunity to gain a large number of ability points. Therefore, after slaying the Sabre-toothed Tiger, he began to hunt for new ferocious beasts.
Upon finding a beast, Xu Jingming didn't even use his superpower—he killed them relying only on his superior physique and High-Level Spear Mastery!
Find a beast! Kill it! Gain ability points!
Find a beast! Kill it! Gain ability points!
In the process of slaying ferocious beasts and gaining ability points, Xu Jingming discovered a pattern: the number of points received depended more heavily on the beast's power level.
For example, among Shadow Cats and One-Horned Rhinos of the same rank, one One-Horned Rhino could withstand three or four Shadow Cats simultaneously!
This was why slaying a High-Level, unranked One-Horned Rhino gave as many ability points as slaying a lower-ranked, First-Stage Shadow Cat!
However, this pattern was of little concern to Xu Jingming now—he was simply killing everyone in his path!
Thus, without the slightest pause, Xu Jingming was either fighting ferocious beasts or searching for new ones. As the number of beasts he killed grew, the number of ability points on his system panel rapidly increased, and along with them, his exam score!
Xu Jingming had no idea what a sensation this scene was causing in the outside world.