Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 19 Promise

Xiang Ning took one look at his Fury Points, which had increased by eight hundred, then at the string of text where Zhang Cheng used to be on the ground, shaking his head. Young people these days are too weak! He only lost twice, was it necessary to be this furious? He didn’t understand at all. Plus, being short-tempered was bad for one’s health. He had better tell Zhang Cheng that when they meet again, warning him of the dangers of heart disease. 

He exited the duel and selected hunting mode. Hunting mode was divided into subcategories; for example, he could choose the type of beast to fight, though his choices were restricted. A tier one martial artist could only select Beast Soldiers and Beast Generals. Hunting a Beast King required at least a tier four martial artist’s strength. 

Knowing his own strengths, Xiang Ning chose the lowest-ranked Beast Soldier. His vision changed and he reappeared in the battle arena. The arena was available for both dueling and hunting modes, though most would prefer simulating a real-life scenario by hunting a beast in its habitat. 

Xiang Ning had chosen the Night Cat, a common Beast Soldier. Its strongest feature was its speed, though it wasn’t very powerful overall. It had abilities equivalent to a tier one, four-star martial artist, which suited Xiang Ning’s requirements. 

This Night Cat was about the size of a large dog, had a long tail, and fur as black as ink. It smoothly trotted into the arena, glaring at Xiang Ning with its yellow-brown eyes as it started circling him. 

Xiang Ning knew the Night Cat was ready to pounce. It usually slowly circled its enemy, intimidating them. Although he knew this was just virtual reality, the look in its eyes and the sound of thick claws scratching the ground made him take it seriously! 

Slowly, his mind settled. He tightly clutched his iridium sword, his eyes fixated on the circling Night Cat. The cat was about to leave his field of vision so he turned, only to see it pounce! 

In a flash as quick as lightning, far exceeding Fang Rou’s speed, it sprinted and pounced on him like a black arrow. 

The sheer power paralyzed Xiang Ning. He swore he had taken the cat seriously, but it was so quick there was only time for his brain to react, not his body. 

He returned to the scene after staring at a white screen for an entire minute, his heart thumping like it was trying to escape his chest. If he hadn’t forced his body to regulate itself, the system would have forcefully kicked him out. 

When he calmed down, he stood up once more. It was the same Night Cat. This time, the cat didn’t circle him, as it knew its opponent was weak. There was no need to be this serious. This was the power of the Battle Network, even animals had the instincts and personalities of their real counterparts! 

Xiang Ning had learned his lesson. When he saw the cat move, he immediately attacked. “Mountain-Splitting Slash!” 

Surprised, the cat quickly changed directions to dodge the fatal strike. Xiang Ning was astonished at its agility; it was unbelievable that the cat could change directions so quickly at its current speed! So this was why the ordinary Night Cat was said to be equivalent to a tier one, four-star martial artist. 

In reality, there were some gaps in Xiang Ning’s understanding of the animal. Such equivalence didn’t mean a tier one, four-star martial artist could kill a Night Cat. Instead, killing one fearsome beast required three skill-equivalent humans. That meant killing one Night Cat required at least three tier one, four-star martial artists working together! 

Over the next few hours, no matter how Xiang Ning dodged and attacked, he still couldn’t defeat the Night Cat. He was in shock. The beast was terrifying in both morphology and instincts. It was far superior to humans. At least now he understood why humans needed to borrow the strength of scientific inventions to fight these powerful beasts. 

He wasn’t disappointed by this session. In total, he had died eleven times. In the first round, he died in two seconds, then six seconds in the second round, eleven seconds in the third round… right until he could survive one minute in the eleventh round. That was a significant improvement! 

Xiang Ning walked out of the virtual reality capsule, stretching his back as his joints popped. It felt good. Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine. He turned and saw a familiar silhouette disappearing into a room. He knew who it was from his rising Fury Points: Zhang Cheng. 

He chuckled and rubbed his cheek. Zhang Cheng was a good man for giving him so many Fury Points. With more than a thousand points, he was waiting to explore the system for more ways to spend them. 

Wang Zhe arrived by his side and curiously asked Xiang Ning, “What’s up? You look happy.” 

“Nothing, I just like Zhang Cheng more now.” Xiang Ning grinned. 

Wang Zhe looked perplexed. “Hmm, I heard Zhang Cheng’s virtual reality capsule shut off due to a sudden extreme surge of emotion. I saw him, too, his face was quite green. Do you know what happened?” 

Delighted, Xiang Ning told him the entire story, leading to Wang Zhe almost fainting from laughter. Thank goodness there was no one left in the room. 

The two walked to the school gates, then agreed to meet there the next morning before separating. Xiang Ning met Xiaoyu and took the levitating bus back home with her. 

Just like normal, Xiang Ning went to check on the hole he had discovered in the mines, then left to continue mining. He mined for about an hour, earning close to five hundred dollars. Although it wasn’t as much as the day before, he was satisfied. He had already cleared the area with yesterday’s three thousand dollars worth of spirit stones. If he wanted more, he would have to venture deeper into the caves. And the locals advised against venturing too deep, as it was dangerous. 

At home, during dinner, Xiang Ning mentioned Wang Zhe’s invitation to the dojo. 

“Xiaoyu, why don’t you come with me? I really don’t like the idea of you staying alone in the house,” said Xiang Ning. Being in the suburbs far from the city center, this area was unsafe. 

“Hmm… will I be intruding?” Xiang Xiaoyu did want to go. 

“Nope, and I’ll get you great food after training,” he said with a grin. 

After dinner, they were watching a live stream on the crystal television when Xiang Xiaoyu asked, “Ning, we had a physical examination at school today. My teacher said I’m suited to be a spiritual cultivator—what’s a spiritual cultivator?” 

Xiang Ning froze. His little sister was suited to be a spiritual cultivator?” 

“Why’d your teacher say that?” 

“My teacher said I had more than thirty Mental Power, which is a very rare talent, and that I should talk to my parents about it. They want to raise me as a spiritual cultivator, my friends are all jealous,” Xiang Xiaoyu said, waiting in anticipation for Xiang Ning’s reply. 

More than thirty Mental Power! Xiang Ning was shocked. He remembered when he had first gained access to his Mental Power stat, he’d started with less than ten! Right now, at fourteen, he could barely keep up with a martial artist’s footwork. If he was at twenty, he felt like he could track someone on Fang Rou’s level, and possibly even defeat her. With more than thirty Mental Power… Xiang Ning felt he could easily defeat Fang Rou. 

He wasn’t sure what to say. Based on their current household income, raising a spiritual cultivator was an unrealistic dream. Just one set of spiritual armor was at least a million dollars, plus maintenance also incurred more costs. 

Yet Xiang Ning clenched his jaw. He understood the benefits of being a spiritual cultivator, and liked the defensive abilities of armor. That way, Xiang Xiaoyu’s future would be safer than if she became a martial artist; with proper armor, she wouldn’t be injured so easily. 

With that thought in mind, he smiled. “Spiritual cultivators are powerful people, more powerful than martial artists! And you’ll get pretty armor.” 

“Is that true?” Xiang Xiaoyu excitedly gasped. 

“It is. When you achieve tier one as a spiritual cultivator, I’ll buy you a set of Spiritual Armor!” he promised. 

“Thank you! You’re the best brother in the world!” Xiang Xiaoyu didn’t know the price of a set of armor. If she had, she wouldn’t have mentioned it at all. 

Xiang Ning smiled, lovingly patting her head.