“The all-clear for the alert has been issued, it should be safe now,” Li Yuan pondered for a moment before leaving his room.
Auntie and his younger siblings were still in bed.
“I’ll head to school first,” Li Yuan left home and exited the residential complex.
The military vehicle that had been stationed at the end of the road at four in the morning was nowhere to be seen.
Neither were the patrolling soldiers.
However, with sharp eyes, Li Yuan could see about a few hundred meters up in the sky, there was a drone hovering.
It seemed to be on alert.
Li Yuan went straight to the bus stop to take the trolley, but after waiting for quite a while, no trolley came.
“Forget it.”
“I might as well run to school,” Li Yuan turned around and started jogging towards school along the street.
With Li Yuan’s physical quality, his so-called jog could maintain a pace of about eight or nine meters per second.
In less than ten minutes, he could arrive at school.
On both sides of the street, many shops were beginning to open, and there were many people who looked like they were on their way to work.
The more people there were, the safer it felt.
Just as he turned another street corner.
Suddenly.
“Young man, looks like you’ve started your morning run a bit late today,” a cheerful voice rang out.
“Weren’t there attacks by Star Realm Creatures last night? I waited until the alert was lifted before heading out,” Li Yuan slowed his pace considerably and replied with a smile, “You’re opening the shop today, boss? Aren’t you taking a break?”
The person calling out to Li Yuan was the owner of the Lucky Flavor Noodle House.
He was busy moving things around.
The two had encountered each other many times and were very familiar strangers.
“Got to pay the rent, can’t afford to stop,” the boss replied cheerfully, his figure slightly plump but with strong arms as he easily lifted a large table.
“Wishing you wealth, boss,” Li Yuan casually said and continued running forward.
He passed by a narrow alleyway, dark and foreboding.
Subconsciously.
Li Yuan glanced inside.
Following that, Li Yuan saw a blurry figure, darting out from the sewer drain at the end of the alleyway.
Looking at its path, it seemed poised to burst out from the alley toward the main road on this side.
“Hm?” Li Yuan’s heart suddenly tightened, feeling a sense of instinctual danger.
But his running body, out of inertia, had already charged another twenty or so meters forward.
Then.
Li Yuan finally came to a complete stop, turned around, and stared intently at the mouth of the alley, his feet subconsciously backing away.
“Boom~” “Boom~” Li Yuan’s keen hearing picked up a series of light, hurried noises coming from the alley.
“Huff!”
“Huff!” Apparently, there were also sounds of heavy, hastened breathing.
Subconsciously.
Li Yuan backed up next to a closed shop by the roadside because there were two hollow metal sticks leaning against the wall, seemingly used to prop up goods.
Inexplicably, something was reminding Li Yuan that he needed to run immediately.
But before Li Yuan could react.
Boom!
A tall, thin figure suddenly sprang out from the narrow alley and stood on the sidewalk.
With Li Yuan’s exceptional vision, he saw it instantly.
It was a nearly two-meter-tall humanoid creature with four arms, its skin a deep ocean blue, like the color of the sea, with a head of emerald green hair, red eyes that simultaneously reflected intelligence and wisdom.
It was as if the creature had run straight out of the water.
Its limbs were slender and more elongated than those of humans, giving it an elegant appearance. The tips of its hands and feet had evolved into sharp, webbed claws, but the most striking feature was the tail fin-like structure on its back, resembling both a fish fin and tail.
“Fish Spirit Clan? A Star Realm Creature!” Li Yuan recognized it instantly, feeling the hairs on his body stand on end.
The Star Realm Creatures are incredibly diverse, with some resembling the various animals found on Blue Star, humanoid creatures, and some like enlarged insects… but about one-third of them are humanoid.
And the Fish Spirit Clan is a famously distinguished type; they can live amphibiously on land and in water.
In Jiang City’s history with multiple attacks, the Fish Spirit Clan was a major force.
“How could there be Star Realm Creatures slipping through here?” Li Yuan was on high alert, as if facing a great enemy, “Wasn’t the alert called off?”
Almost instinctively.
[Target creature, Life Level 10.2, Entry Rank, in a critically wounded state, currently around 9.2, killing it will yield Spiritual Nature nutrients]Li Yuan’s thoughts stirred, his consciousness feeling waves of fatigue, and he had gained the information about the creature’s life level.
10.2!
That’s Entry Rank, equivalent to a true Martial Artist.
However.
In the information obtained, what slightly lifted Li Yuan’s spirits was the creature’s critically wounded state.
The physical quality it could exert seemed to be only at 9.2.
“Shot?” Li Yuan then noticed a bullet wound in the chest of the Fish Spirit, but not much blood had flowed out, so he didn’t see it at first glance.
Once the physical quality reaches the level of a Martial Artist, the body becomes robust; small caliber bullets, if not hitting a vital point, cannot be fatal with a single shot.
Apart from noting the creature’s wounded state, Li Yuan also paid attention to the last part of the inquiry message: “Killing it will yield Spiritual Nature nutrients.”
What is that?
Li Yuan had previously inquired about the Life Level of many Martial Artists but had never come across such a prompt.
It seems slow to describe.
But in reality, within a second of the Fish Spirit Clan member charging out of the alley, Li Yuan had already finished identifying and appraising the enemy.
Subconsciously at the same time,
Li Yuan grabbed the hollow metal rod next to him, faintly adopting an attacking stance, and stared intently at his opponent.
In all the materials about Star Realm Creatures that Li Yuan had studied since he was young,
these Star Realm Creatures were incredibly brutal, and an encounter would inevitably lead to a fight.
However, contrary to Li Yuan’s expectations,
“Boom!”
The injured Fish Spirit Clan member, sensing Li Yuan was not easy to provoke, instantly turned and swiftly darted away, its flippers clawing over the paved ground, as it lunged toward the owner of the Fuwei noodle shop dozens of meters away.
The speed was astonishing.
Clearly, in its perception, Li Yuan was not someone to mess with.
“Star Realm Creature?” The noodle shop owner, who had also noticed the Fish Spirit Clan member lunging at him, felt a rush of adrenaline and instinctively picked up a kitchen cleaver!!
Just then,
“Whooosh!” The air burst with a low, whistling roar!
A hollow metal rod nearly three meters in length shot through the air like a giant arrow, aiming straight for the Fish Spirit Clan member.
The Fish Spirit Clan member was fast, but the metal rod came faster and fiercer!
“Roar~”
The Fish Spirit Clan member instinctively sensed the danger and tried to dodge subconsciously, but on land its speed was somewhat slower, and it was injured as well.
“Bang~”
The metal long rod struck the shoulder of the Fish Spirit Clan member with a terrible force, slamming its nearly two-meter-tall slender body directly to the side of the ground.
Bricks shattered.
Its body rolled on the ground.
Blood seeped from what looked like fish scale shoulder skin, then quickly stopped!
“Hah! Boom~~”
The Fish Spirit Clan member suddenly flipped over, emitting strange low growls as if filled with rage, staring at Li Yuan, who stood dozens of meters away, completely ignoring the closer noodle shop owner.
Its forearms slightly raised, the sides of its arms shimmered with a chilling gleam, like bone knives.
“You want to kill me?” Li Yuan, now holding the last metal long rod, glared fiercely at the Fish Spirit Clan member.
Just a moment ago,
seeing the noodle shop owner in danger, Li Yuan had almost subconsciously hurled the metal rod in his hand.
Li Yuan was always very cautious in his actions, not willing to rashly court danger.
Because Li Yuan knew, there was only one life to live.
But to turn a blind eye to someone in distress, to watch someone die, especially an acquaintance?
Li Yuan asked himself, he truly could not do that.
And as he flung the metal rod,
faced with the Fish Spirit Clan member and its bloodthirsty gaze, there was no fear in Li Yuan’s heart.
Or rather, there was no time for further thought, just instinct.
“Martial Path is for killing enemies,” only indescribable courage and passion remained in Li Yuan’s heart.
“Roar~”
The Fish Spirit Clan member let out a low growl and suddenly leaped forward, its speed astonishing.
“Boom!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Yuan’s form shifted as he executed the “Dragon Movement Technique,” like a swimming dragon aggressively advancing towards his opponent.
A long weapon required sufficient space to wield.
“Whoosh” “Whoosh!”
The Fish Spirit Clan member had already realized Li Yuan was not easy to defeat, and it didn’t attack with the casualness it would use against ordinary humans, swinging its arms like dual blades trying to cleave Li Yuan.
“Puchhh!”
The metal long rod, like a great spear, surged in speed at the moment of near contact with the Fish Spirit Clan member’s arms, casting dozens of afterimages, causing the Fish Spirit Clan member to be momentarily distracted.
Following that, the metal long rod already shot through the gaps of the Fish Spirit Clan member’s arms like lightning.
Striking directly at its head and eyes.
Solid Rock Spear Technique’s one of the five major killing moves—Vast Mountain Grandeur.
“Bang~” Like a grape being crushed, its eyeball burst instantly.
Fluid and blood splattered!
“Bang~” The impact of the collision also caused Li Yuan’s arm to tremble, his figure shot backward suddenly.
Offloading the force.
“Ahhhh~” The pain of an exploding eyeball caused the Fish Spirit Clan member to feel excruciating agony, and its vision darkened involuntarily.
Subconsciously, one hand covered the injured eye.
“Bang~”
But the metal long rod in Li Yuan’s hands remained incredibly agile, striking again like lightning, mercilessly hitting its other eye.
Bursting!
Blinded!! Its entire body howled in wild agony.
“Your skills are too poor, not even reaching Third Stage,” Li Yuan murmured to himself.
Raising the heavy rod high, his arm forced down vigorously, smashing fiercely toward the crown of the opponent’s head.