Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 44 Shadowblood Hound

When everyone finally settled down, Xiang Ning’s squad was still left with only four people. Everyone felt that they were overestimating themselves, but Lei Zhongyuan didn’t say anything.

Some people felt weird; the only one absent was Zhao Huatai, could it be that they were waiting for him?

“That’s strange, Xiang Ning’s squad only has four people. The only one absent is Zhao Huatai, are they reserving it for him?”

“Impossible, Zhao Huatai was badly injured by Xiang Ning today, there’s no way he’d join them.”

“Let’s hear what Instructor Lei has to say.”

Lei Zhongyuan looked at everyone and ignored Xiang Ning’s squad. He cleared his throat and explained, “The beasts in the wilderness are strong, so we need good equipment to protect ourselves and draw out our full strength.”

The students were excited. Were they going to provide them with new weapons?

“In three days, I’ll send you all out into the wilderness to survive for a week. You’ll be hunting ferocious beasts at the same time. You may choose your weapons over the next few days, and we’ll grade your performance based on the beasts you hunt. The best-performing squad will receive thirty million dollars of funds, and the weapons they choose will be given to them as a gift. The squad will also earn the right to choose a single martial skill of tier four or below.” Lei Zhongyuan smiled mysteriously.

Everyone's eyes shone. Thirty million dollars! That was enough to fully equip an entire tier one martial artist squad. They could even use it to buy good martial skills! Not to mention that a single tier four martial skill also easily costs a few million.

“To think the rewards would be this great! But it’s too difficult!”

“We only have a single tier one, two-star martial artist in our squad, how can we even win?”

“You should think about whether you could win against a ferocious beast or not. The beasts they used during training are so much weaker than the ones in the wilderness.”

Everyone was clamoring over how the rewards were good, but they needed to bet their lives on it.

“Instructor Lei, some of us are still only tier one, two-star martial artists. We don’t even meet the minimum requirement. Isn’t it dangerous for us to go out into the wilderness?” Li Minghao questioned. He was only a tier one, two-star martial artist, after all, and while the rewards were good, he couldn’t even win against a single Savage Sand Rat even with two Assimilated martial skills.

“That’s why I’m giving you three days. A team has much more strength than a single person. That’s how we’ve survived against the beasts this long. If you’re unwilling to go, you can drop out now.” Instructor Lei jumped down from the podium and disappeared.

Everyone looked at each other. Drop out? Impossible. Everyone was there to improve themselves. Plus, the rewards were too good, how could they miss out?

Li Zimo looked at his teammates and said, “Truthfully, the rewards are good. Any ideas?” He smiled as if he wasn’t thinking much about it, but everyone knew what he meant.

Fang Rou looked toward Xiang Ning, who was deep in thought. The three of them waited for him to say something.

“We’re guaranteed to get first place, so how should we divide the money?”

Everyone was a bit flabbergasted by his response; they hadn’t started yet, but he was already trying to divide up the prize.

“I’m more looking forward to the tier four martial skill. As for the money, we can use it as capital for our squad. Whoever needs money can take as much as they need, since it'll be used to hunt beasts,” Li Zimo laughed.

Liu Ruoxue and Fang Rou agreed.

Upbringing determines perspective. In their eyes, money was something that could be earned through hunting beasts, but a tier four martial skill was something that wasn’t come by easily, even though their family could give them a martial skill of the same tier. Usually, it wasn’t something that could be bought with money. The only other way to get one was through special scenarios or deals. Martial skills were used as the foundation of martial families; no one would be stupid enough to offer them up to others for free.

As for the skills being offered by the military, they definitely wouldn’t be cheap, mass-produced ones.

The evening was reserved for each squad to face off against two ferocious beasts at the same time, which greatly satisfied Xiang Ning.

“A tier one, seven-star Boulder Boar and a tier one, nine-star Shadowblood Hound? It must be a mistake—we only have one tier one, seven-star martial artist here. How will we beat the Shadowblood Hound?”

“Look, they’re entering.”

Xiang Ning’s squad entered and both ferocious beasts immediately locked on to them.

In reality, if a squad were confronted by the same pair of beasts, unless there was a tier two martial artist in the squad to suppress the Shadowblood Hound, everyone would definitely die. The only other way they would survive was if a fully equipped spiritual cultivator was present in the squad.

“They want to challenge the Shadowblood Hound with only four people, are they seeking death?”

“They’re too arrogant. Xiang Ning must think he’s very strong after beating down Zhao Huatai.”

“Time to grab some popcorn. Even if he wanted to boast, he should at least do it after confirming the situation.”

Li Zimo was against fighting this pair of beasts, too. A Shadowblood Hound wasn’t on the same level as other tier one beasts. Even though it was still technically a tier one, it held advantages that other beasts didn’t have.

“I’ll personally handle the Shadowblood Hound, the three of you work together to bring down the Boulder Boar,” Xiang Ning gave a quick command.

Li Zimo and the others didn’t object. The Boulder Boar was a tier one, seven-star beast, while the Shadowblood Hound was tier one, nine-star. They made for a very strong combination, and no one else wanted to face off against them.

Luckily, the Shadowblood Hound was still a pup. A full-grown Shadowblood Hound would be at least tier two, six-star. They specialized in speed and had a bite force three times as strong as a crocodile. Martial artists below tier two would be instantly killed if they were bitten.

The Boulder Boar, on the other hand, couldn’t make sharp turns as it charges. It was a beast that was considered suitable for beginner hunters, so while Li Zimo and the other two may not be as strong as it, they could easily kill it if they worked together.

As for the Shadowblood Hound? Xiang Ning didn’t even think much about it. He could fight against a tier two Tyrant Spider, so why would he be afraid of a beast that’s below it?

Shadowblood Hounds got their name from the blood-red fur covering their three-meter tall bodies. They were beasts that specialized in speed and their mouths were lined with teeth the size of Xiang Ning’s arm, capable of delivering a deadly bite. 

“Xiang Ning, be careful. This Shadowblood Hound is cunning, so don’t be rash,” Fang Rou warned.

Xiang Ning nodded and extended his hand. Fang Rou was confused. What did he want?

“Lend me your dagger.”

Fang Rou handed it over without knowing what he wanted to do, and the next scene almost made her faint.

Xiang Ning threw the dagger toward the eyes of the Shadowblood Hound. “Get over here!”

Fang Rou screamed, “I SHOULD’VE KNOWN YOU’D DO THAT, YOU DAMN BASTARD!”

Fury Points +222