"Armor! It's actually armor! I must get my hands on it!"
The greatest purpose of armor is clear: to save one's life.
With a powerful piece of armor in hand, the chances of survival increase significantly. Even when facing a fifth-tier opponent, one can at least escape with their life!
The scar-faced man was almost certain that the person before him was likely the young master of a prominent family; otherwise, how could he possess an A-class weapon and be able to afford such precious armor?
Realizing this, the scar-faced man hesitated no more and commanded, "Hall and Warren, seal off all of this kid's escape routes! He must not get away, understood?"
"Yes!" the two replied.
The defensive power of armor is incredibly strong, and it would likely take time to bring down Wang Xu. However, with their numerical advantage, they planned to wear him down; he would have to die, even with armor!
Wang Xu moved through the woods like a nimble monkey, dodging the iron arrows that flew toward him while quickly approaching the three men, including the scar-faced guy.
"Almost there!" Wang Xu's speed reached nearly twenty meters per second, equivalent to the speed of a car at seventy-two kilometers per hour.
The scar-faced man and his companions were no slouches either. They had two mid-stage fourth-tier fighters, while the scar-faced man himself was a late-stage fourth-tier, creating a rather formidable lineup.
"Now! Surround him!"
In less than a breath, they were already closing in. A massive square shield stood firm in front of Wang Xu as a meteor hammer swept through the air, while a gleaming white blade circled behind Wang Xu, aiming for his throat!
In an instant, he was trapped from all sides. The trio's coordination was nearly perfect, and even an iron arrow was whistling toward the top of Wang Xu's head!
With a sharp gaze, Wang Xu invoked the Dance of Illusions, creating countless afterimages. He chose to thrust forward, swinging his blood-bone giant blade directly at the square shield before him!
Hundreds of blades thundered!
Wang Xu unleashed his most terrifying technique, pushing his swing speed to the limit. What once was four slices in the blink of an eye increased to five, all striking the square shield!
The scar-faced man was delighted; from three angles, Wang Xu had chosen to attack the shield, which meant their blades and the meteor hammer could inflict heavy damage!
"Crash!"
As the five strikes landed on the shield instantaneously, Hall, holding the shield, felt an overwhelming force. His face changed dramatically — before he could even scream, the square shield shattered into iron shards, leaving only the handle in his grasp.
Though formidable, the square shield could withstand even attacks from a Chisnake Beast's tail. However, it was still just a B-class shield; it did not require extraordinary craftsmanship to withstand an A-class weapon. There was no way it could hold up!
The scar-faced man's blade and Warren's meteor hammer struck at Wang Xu's figure, but they all passed right through him, missing completely!
Their plan fell apart, and yet a smile crept across Wang Xu's lips. He swung his blade upwards, severing the iron arrow shooting from above, and without losing momentum, brought his sword down upon Hall!
Hall hadn't even recovered from the shadow of his shattered shield when the blood-red giant blade fell, too fast for him to evade!
Thud!
Hall was cleaved in two from head to toe, blood and guts spilling onto the ground.
"Hall!!!!" The scar-faced man and Warren gasped, their faces filled with rage.
From a distance, Owen, who had witnessed this scene clearly, turned pale; from the moment they besieged Wang Xu to the moment he slayed Hall, it had been less than thirty seconds. Such strength rendered their numbers useless.
They had just kicked a steel plate!
Wang Xu's eyes were icy, as if he hadn't just killed a living person but rather a disgusting beast. He continued his swift offense against Warren, who held the meteor hammer!
"Boss, save me!" Warren cried out in terror.
Wang Xu's Nine Thunder Blades struck with exemplary speed, emphasizing rapidity above all!
In martial arts, speed reigns supreme!
Breaching the extreme speed, even a leaf could penetrate steel!
At this point, the scar-faced man's face had lost all color as he recognized his mistake. He should never have coveted this guy's A-class weapon and armor. If only they had used their heads a bit, they'd realize that anyone capable of navigating trials by themselves could never be a mere reckless fool!
Without a second thought, the scar-faced man ignored Warren's cries for help and turned to flee.
Thud! Another slice, and Warren's head shot up into the air, blood spraying several meters away, his headless corpse collapsing to the ground.
"Trying to escape?"
As soon as Wang Xu's blade struck down, he immediately pivoted, pursuing the scar-faced man!
Seeing Wang Xu catching up, the scar-faced man was startled and quickly shouted, "I give up! I give up! Just let me go, and I'll give you everything in my backpack!"
With Warren and Hall being slain in an instant, the scar-faced man realized he could never match Wang Xu. This man was utterly terrifying, like a hellish demon, executing people without flinching, as if they were simply vermin; how could he be a match?!
Wang Xu's gaze was merciless, full of murderous intent, ice-cold as he uttered a few words: "I only want your life!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Xu's speed surged, quickly closing in on the scar-faced man with the blood-bone giant blade slicing through the air.
Hundreds of blades thundered!
In an instant, five lines of blood appeared on the scar-faced man's neck. With a "thud," his head shot into the sky, while his headless body, propelled by inertia, slammed into a tree, blood splattering everywhere.
"Just one left," Wang Xu did not pause, charging toward the abandoned building.
At this moment, Owen had already begun to flee. The instant Wang Xu killed Hall, Owen understood he had gotten himself into a situation he shouldn't have. He immediately abandoned all his teammates and chose to escape.
In retrospect, his decision was correct. Unfortunately, his speed was too slow; within thirty seconds, a cold voice drifted from behind: "Stop running and face death!"
Hearing this seemingly ethereal voice from hell, Owen was terrified to the point of almost losing his mind, fleeing with no regard for his own safety.
As an archer, his strengths lay in archery precision and power, but his physical endurance didn't even match that of Hall or Warren, let alone the terrifying speed of Wang Xu.
Crash!
Once again, a head filled with unwillingness soared into the air, blood splattering onto the ground.
Wang Xu's gaze remained icy. He did not know when his methods had turned so ruthless. Killing felt as easy as eating cabbage, yet he knew that if his strength was lacking today, it would be his own head that would fly!
The harsh reality and brutal world offered no mercy!
Wang Xu gathered all the backpacks and equipment from the fallen foes, finding that their bags contained not only various necessities but also a bottle of insect repellent specifically for women.
Females have a natural scent that attracts beastly insects, so to temporarily mask their scent, women would purchase this insect repellent. After spraying it on, the smell would be effectively concealed.
Clearly, before encountering Wang Xu, this group had run into others, including a woman. As for the aftermath, one could only imagine...
"This group is quite 'wealthy'," Wang Xu remarked wryly as he opened the four bags, discovering various parts of beasts within. There were severed ears, broken teeth, and half-torn insect legs... without concern, he tore open the bags and stuffed the contents into his own pack.
This was necessary for the scoring rules; anything that had been scanned allowed the intelligent scanner to record the DNA of the beast fragments. If someone were to tear a piece away, it wouldn't be logged.
If someone stole another's items, they just needed to rip the bag apart, disabling the scanner; consequently, all fragments would be reset and could be scanned again to add to their score.
The originally withered bag quickly swelled with beast fragments, and Wang Xu nodded with satisfaction before continuing his hunt.
...…
"Look, Wang Xu is on the leaderboard already, and he's straight in at 56th with 586 points! Surely he didn't steal from someone?"
The three-eyed fellow was quick to spot Wang Xu's name on the freshly updated electronic leaderboard.
"So what if he did? It's all about skill. Old Bai Jian's judgment was spot on; look, Yinxing has risen to 16th place! His speed is truly rocket-like," said the silver-armored man.
"Yeah, definitely good," the Academy Head smiled. Wang Xu reaching 56th place was quite impressive, considering he had only recently become a fourth-tier fighter. Achieving such results among a crowd of elites was commendable.
Moreover, there were the three fifth-tier students unearthed by the three-eyed fellow, who were the Academy's hopes for climbing the ranks. As for Wang Xu? Breaking into the top fifty would be quite remarkable.
"Is this the talent from your Extreme Path Academy? One at 16th, another at 23rd, and some even dropped out of the top thirty. How is it that they can't outperform even fourth-tier students? I'd say the Extreme Path Academy isn't all that great either," Huang Long strutted over again to mock them.
The three-eyed fellow was indignant and wanted to argue, but the Academy Head stopped him. "No need to dispute; it's pointless."
Currently, the Free Alliance was leading, with three of the top ten being from there, while the Extreme Path Academy had none. Arguing in this situation offered no advantage.
Everything must be backed by facts!
At the top was still Meng Ander, and second place remained unchanged; however, a new name appeared in third—Zhang Xinglin!
"Who is this Zhang Xinglin?"
"I've never heard of any fifth-tier fighter by that name."
"Is there really such a person?"
The big shots discussed among themselves, but the Academy Head's gaze flickered as he alone in the hall knew exactly who Zhang Xinglin was. He had not expected this person's strength to be so terrifying, rising to third place in such a short time was absolutely incredible!