Chapter 59: No Sword in Hand, Yet a Sword in the Heart!

As they moved, Lu Ming suddenly grabbed Xiang Nan’s arm.

“Xiang Nan, since we’ve both ended up on the battlefield, how about we turn our duel into a wager instead?”

“A wager? What do you want to bet on?” Xiang Nan was intrigued.

“The beasts are right in front of us. Are you really planning to just stand around uselessly at the third defensive line?” Lu Ming’s words were charged with provocation.

“Just say what you mean. Time’s short—no need to beat around the bush.”

“Right here on this battlefield, let’s bet on who can kill more beasts!”

“That does sound more interesting than us fighting each other out of boredom. But what are your stakes?”

“If you lose, you’ll call me ‘grandfather’ three times in front of the whole school and from then on, your family will serve mine.”

“And if I win?”

“If you win, the whole business with Lu Yu is wiped clean. Forgotten.”

“Doesn’t seem like I get much out of it.”

“You sure talk big. I’m eager to see just how strong you really are!”

“If you want to bet with me, fine. But if you lose, you’ll run a hundred laps around the training grounds with a girl’s underwear on your head, shouting ‘Lu Ming is an idiot’ the whole time. Otherwise, I’m not interested.”

The students nearby, overhearing their wager, couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

One glance at Lu Ming’s eyes—almost spitting fire—was enough to make them stifle their laughter, shaking all over as they tried to hold it in.

“Xiang Nan! Just wait till you’re kneeling before me, calling me grandfather!” Lu Ming spat out the threat, then hefted his assault rifle and strode off in another direction.

Xiang Nan, naturally, had no intention of sticking around the third defensive line either. He had a system mission to complete—he absolutely had to hunt down three third-rank beasts.

Watching the wounded and maimed soldiers hurrying past, Xiang Nan calmly walked in the direction they’d come from.

Standing atop the high wall, the sight before him made Xiang Nan’s blood race.

Countless beasts!

Some had blue faces and fangs, some had horns or a single eye, some had a hundred or a thousand legs—grotesque forms, all of them, terrifying and savage.

There were too many to count, all surging forward in waves, crashing against the high wall.

Gunfire raked the beast tide, but the bullets only managed to hold back the lowest-level monsters. Against the third-rank beasts, even bullets and light artillery shells could do little more than minor damage. Nothing could stop their advance.

Beneath the wall, the elite soldiers of the Longyuan Army with higher cultivation levels were showing their skills, unleashing everything they had to fight the high-level beasts.

Fireballs, ice arrows, pulse waves… a dizzying display of powers, making the already chaotic battlefield seem almost surreal.

Seeing Xiang Nan in civilian clothes, looking every bit the student, a nearby soldier manning a sniper post hurriedly pulled him down.

“Kid, you’re one of the new student volunteers, right? You’re in the wrong place—this is the first defensive line. You should be at the third.”

Even as he spoke, the soldier fired a few more bursts into the beast horde.

“I’m here to hunt beasts. The third line isn’t for me. This is exactly where I belong,” Xiang Nan replied, feeling his blood boiling. Whether it was some dormant bloodthirsty trait or the excitement brought on by the violet blood in his veins, he only wanted to twist the necks of these monsters and rip out their spirit pearls.

A faint violet glint flickered in his eyes, exuding a kingly aura of menace.

Even the soldier felt a chill and didn’t try to stop him again.

This student was truly different from the rest.

He had the looks of a flawless school idol, impeccable in every way, but the aura he radiated carried an innate pressure and a touch of the immortal, making him seem unfathomable. Especially now, with that icy light in his eyes, he made everyone’s hair stand on end—no one would dare cross him.

To the soldier’s bewilderment and astonishment, Xiang Nan stepped over the high wall and charged straight into the beast tide.

Several soldiers in the midst of the fight saw a student running into the horde and shouted warnings.

“Who the hell is that? Get back here right now! This isn’t your playground!”

“Stupid student, get back to your third line!”

“Damn! He’s a throwback martial artist! So what? These beasts will tear him apart in seconds!”

“If you don’t get back, I swear, I can’t guarantee you won’t get shot!”

But Xiang Nan surged forward, his body driven by a torrent of internal energy, like an arrow loosed from a bow.

The supreme arts of Zhang Sanfeng—Tai Chi, Supreme Clarity, Supreme Mystery—all were top-tier inner cultivation techniques, and with the added power of the spiritual energy at his brow, they were nearly indistinguishable from true immortal arts.

At this moment, Xiang Nan was unstoppable—gods or buddhas, all fell before him.

A palm strike could split stone and mountain.

Any first- or second-rank beast that crossed his path died before it even knew what happened.

When facing the oncoming horde, Xiang Nan used the subtle mysteries of Tai Chi to dodge every attack flawlessly, turning the enemy’s own strength against them, weaving through their ranks without hindrance.

The soldiers on the platform stared in disbelief.

“Damn! Which university sent this kid? He’s a monster!”

“He’s better than our bullets! Dozens of rounds to kill one beast and he splits them in two with a single blow?”

“Holy hell! I just counted—not even a minute, and he’s killed a dozen first-rank beasts and seven second-rank ones!”

“He’s fierce, no doubt, but he’s still a student. If he runs into a third-rank beast, that’s going to be trouble!”

“Speak of the devil—look! He’s about to face a third-rank beast already!”

“This is bad! It’s a Gale Demon Wolf! That student’s got guts, but we have to save him!”

Several soldiers gripped their weapons, ready to leap from the wall and rescue Xiang Nan.

But just then, a faint violet aura began to emanate from Xiang Nan, growing brighter and rapidly swirling around him, forming a flowing Tai Chi diagram.

The Gale Demon Wolf bared its fangs and howled, then lunged at Xiang Nan like a bolt of lightning.

Its speed was unmatched—among the beasts, if the Gale Demon Wolf claimed second place, none would dare claim first.

But just as it was about to reach Xiang Nan, the violet Tai Chi diagram flashed, and the wolf was hurled back dozens of meters, crashing into the beast horde.

The wolf tumbled heavily, but in the next instant, it was back on its feet, charging in again like lightning.

Now Xiang Nan fully understood the Gale Demon Wolf’s traits. As it fell, he didn’t even bother reaching into his storage space for a sword. Instead, he formed his hands into a blade, channeling both true energy and spiritual power.

“Tai Chi Divine Sword!” he roared, slashing toward the oncoming beast.

Boom!

The impact sounded like an artillery shell, sand and dust billowing everywhere.

The powerful sword energy split the air, cleaving down hard onto the wolf’s spine.

The wolf, just preparing to counterattack, had no time to react. Its pupils shrank, and its body was instantly split in two.

The sword energy was so overwhelming that several lower-level beasts charging nearby were also killed in the blast.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for comprehending the profound martial principle of “No Sword in Hand, Sword in Heart.” Compatibility +2%.]

Was it really that easy? Xiang Nan was ecstatic.

His first kill of a third-rank beast went so smoothly—and he even gained another two percent compatibility. It was exhilarating!

On the battlefield, Xiang Nan didn’t pause for a second. He dug out the Gale Demon Wolf’s spirit pearl and tossed it into his Zhu Wu space.