How old is Iluo Xi, and how long has she been a rogue hunter? She's already awakened! The awakening process seemed incredibly easy!
Did I waste a year of my own awakening?
Qin Liyan was speechless, utterly demoralized.
Iluo Xi glanced dismissively, what's with all the fuss? Suddenly, she felt like people from the Investigation Bureau were country bumpkins.
Never mind,
"Xiao Qing, Xiao Hong, you guard the house."
"Await the glorious return of your big sister."
She glanced at the bewildered investigator. "What are you still waiting for? Didn't you say you needed to support the front line? Let's go, lead the way!"
She was already impatient.
Not because of the Xin Huo mission, not because of the Investigation Bureau's reward, but rather...
At the front line of the Hell Gate defense, there would surely be awakened individuals from all over. That would be her grand opportunity to show off, recruit subordinates, and establish her own organization.
She had even thought of a name for it...
The Sisterhood of Witches!
...
Bai Jiang, Xin Huo Office.
"Hoo~ Hoo~"
An Jianyou's eyes snapped open, gasping for breath. "Failed again?"
This was her 444th attempt at the 'Sword Trial'. As expected, she failed again, unable to see the end of the Sword Trial.
This trial set by her mentor was just too difficult.
From being grazed by a sword at her throat at the beginning, to being pierced by several swords later, and then being killed by a greatsword crackling with radiant lightning.
She had died four hundred and forty-four times, each time in a different posture.
Although in the trial space, no matter how tired she was, it wouldn't affect reality, and the pain of death wasn't as intense, it still felt too real.
Even after dying so many times, An Jianyou still felt a lingering fear.
"However, I have indeed improved a lot. I've learned to conceal my presence, dodge killing blows, and use the corrupted creatures to maneuver, and so on."
"Come to think of it, I was so foolish to just stand there and command the corrupted creatures before."
"My mentor must have seen it."
"Waaah--"
An Jianyou covered her face, the more she practiced, the more she felt how foolish she used to be. How could she fight like that?
Although she hadn't cleared the Sword Trial yet, she had learned a little. Her combat tactics were no longer solely focused on coordinating with corrupted creatures; she had incorporated herself into the system.
To this end, An Jianyou had specifically replaced two two-star corrupted creatures.
At the two-star level, even with her three-star trump card, their monster-slaying efficiency was negligible, but they were enough to protect her. This time, she was fully prepared.
After a brief rest, Ning Ying downstairs called her.
An Jianyou packed her equipment.
The Ghoul Soul Banner, a white-grade saber, a green-grade round shield, and a special tactical inner armor.
She put them all on one by one.
She also brought a few bottles of energy recovery potions.
She went downstairs and looked at Yu Su and the others. "Let's go, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
...
Shuize Prefecture,
A few kilometers away from Training Base No. 1.
The visibility was dim. A terrifying corrupted creature, over three meters tall, opened its gaping maw and let out a fearsome roar.
Boom—!
Not far away, in an abandoned building, the windowpanes shattered with a clatter, and fragments rained down.
The terrifying and piercing roar echoed far away, audible from hundreds of meters.
It also struck Pei Hongjing's ears.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to concentrate.
Perhaps it was because he had been stimulated by his instructor's killing intent so many times, but the roar of this large corrupted creature, while terrifying, was not as intense as he had predicted. It was just… so-so.
However, in his field of vision, that huge, pale gray silhouette was charging towards him.
It was like a large truck whizzing past.
The very ground trembled.
Pei Hongjing raised his hand, three cards held between his four fingers. They were not ordinary gray cards, but ice-blue cards!
This stemmed from his awakened ability – Trait Infusion!
He could obtain a 'certain trait' by absorbing materials and then infuse that trait into an item.
There were drawbacks. The effective time of this infusion was not long. Pei Hongjing could not stockpile a large number of trait cards, nor could he infuse them into other people's weapons.
Because he had to detonate them himself.
Furthermore, most of the absorbed traits were weak, depending on the materials, and depending on money.
The latter, Pei Hongjing didn't consider a problem. After multiple attempts, he had finally created his first type of trait card.
It was powerful enough.
"Go!"
He flung his hand, and three ice-blue cards shot out, tracing three arcs, hitting the target corrupted creature simultaneously from the center, left, and right.
Bang—
A burst of ice mist exploded, enveloping the huge corrupted creature. As it tore its flesh, the biting ice mist seeped in.
The charging speed of this large corrupted creature visibly slowed down.
It worked!
Pei Hongjing smiled and patted the card pouch hanging at his waist. "Cards, come!"
Whoosh—
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Ten gray cards suddenly flew out. His fingers danced, and ten explosive cards were all fired. Under his control, they hit the weak spots of the large corrupted creature effortlessly.
The cards landed.
They didn't penetrate the defense but exploded instantly.
Rumble—
All the remaining glass in the two-story building not far away shattered.
Pei Hongjing raised his hand, blocking the oncoming gust of wind and heatwave, and squinted his eyes to look.
In the tracking vision of the corrupted realm, only a pile of remains was left of the large corrupted creature. At the same time, he heard a 'ding-dong' notification sound.
A highly troublesome large corrupted creature, which would have required the Investigation Bureau to make meticulous plans and mobilize many people to encircle and kill, was now...
Killed with just a few cards!
He now possessed the ability to survive in this chaotic world.
And this was only about ten days after he started training with Xin Huo.
He picked up his phone and called his secretary.
"The Investigation Bureau wants me to assist in the defense of Shuize Prefecture's Hell Gate?"
"As expected."
"Half an hour. I want all the information on the awakened individuals participating in this reinforcement."
...
Yunling Prefecture, as the heavily affected area of this sudden incident, was gathering more and more awakened individuals.
And teams in black combat suits were arriving from all over.
"Those are called Special Forces. I heard they are a department independent of the Investigation Bureau. Everyone in there is an awakened individual, and there are many more experts than in the Investigation Bureau."
"How strong are they? Can they compare to the 'Cracked Fist Martial Saint' Xing Jinglei?"
"Uh, you're making it difficult for me. Boss Xing Jinglei is one of the most powerful figures in the entire Eastern Desolation. I'm not sure if the Special Forces and the Investigation Bureau have anyone that strong, but among civilian awakened individuals, Boss Xing is undoubtedly number one."
"Once you've seen Boss Xing in action, you won't have any doubts."
In the waiting hall, old hunters from Yunling Prefecture were vividly describing it to hunters from other regions.
They felt a sense of pride.
After all, the number one person among civilians came from their Yunling Prefecture, and they had even fought alongside him. This was a topic he could boast about for a long time.
It drew the attention of many rogue hunters.
There were also those who were unconvinced, but this was the Investigation Bureau's territory, and no one dared to cause trouble at this juncture.
Moreover, that 'Cracked Fist Martial Saint', just sitting there with his eyes closed, was like a towering mountain, giving off an aura of extraordinary presence.
Even if he wasn't as exaggerated as the Yunling Prefecture hunters claimed, he was undoubtedly remarkable.
Many of the stronger hunters secretly took note of him.
Xing Jinglei paid no attention to those gazes.
Just now, the Investigation Bureau had gathered a group of stronger rogue hunters and offered them a more rewarding mission.
Assaulting a horde of corrupted creatures.
Xing Jinglei wasn't concerned about any of this.
What he was concerned about was that, according to someone he heard, there were people from their Xin Huo organization among those who had arrived from various places this time.
After being in the organization for so long, would he finally get to meet other official members of Xin Huo?
Xing Jinglei couldn't help but look forward to it.