The martial arts course freshmen no longer hesitated. After taking ten minutes to reorganize themselves, they recovered most of their stamina and decided to remove their severely malfunctioning strengthened exoskeletons to go into the battlefield with just light armor.
They had learned their lesson. They became cautious of every step they took and paid close attention to the ground before them as well as what was behind them.
They also formed groups of three and set up triangle formations without anyone telling them to do so. They stuck close to each other as they moved forward, which allowed them to see all 360 degrees around them.
After they gave up on creating spirit energy magnetic fields, they had less openings, and their reaction time improved. The efficiency at which they killed monsters increased.
Wolf Crocodiles, Ghost-arrow Pigs and Hundred-eyed Toads were just normal monsters. As long as the prodigies from Agricultural University’s martial arts course fought steadily, the monsters posed no threat to them.
Gradually, the freshmen found their rhythm, and the more they killed, the smoother the process became.
The two lecturers watched the battle from a distance with different expressions on their faces.
“Ms. Li, that Meng Chao from your course has been really famous recently,” the lecturer from the monster controller course said with a grin. “I didn’t expect that you would agree with his thoughts about spirit energy magnetic fields not being important.”
Li Yingzi was silent for a long time before she sighed softly and said, “Mr. Zhao, you should know that I took part in Meng Chao and Mr. Gu’s Project 1024 before, but at that time, a major accident occured, which led to Zong Ye’s death. My thoughts were different from Mr. Gu’s, and that’s why we split ways.
“For ten whole years, I believed that I was right and Mr. Gu just refused to realize his errors, which is why he became obsessed with the project.
“I once tried to convince him for a long time, but he refused to listen to me, and in my anger, I stopped paying attention to Project 1024 and Mr. Gu. Later, the project faced a major setback, and he seemed to have completely given up on it. I watched it from the side and refused to lend a hand when he needed it the most.
“It’s what I regret the most in my life.
“Regardless of whether it’s for the participants who once joined Project 1024 or as Mr. Gu’s… as someone with a different status with Mr. Gu, I shouldn’t have been so indifferent toward it.
“Then, half a month ago, Mr. Gu and Meng Chao really produced results in their experiment and proved that Zong Ye’s wild dreams could actually be turned into reality. It woke me up from my dream and I became incredibly ashamed.
“In truth, the one who has been refusing to realize their mistakes over the years was me. I shouldn’t have given up on Zong Ye and Gu Jianbo’s blood, sweat, and tears so resolutely and became a deserter.
“Of course, the beast soul fusion technology I’m using right now is also a brand new martial art that is powerful and filled with endless possibilities, but I’ve decided to do everything that I can to give a chance to Mr. Gu and Meng Chao’s Ultimate Style.
“Cultivation is a science, and science is something that needs constant exploration and testing. Failures also have value, don’t you think?
“Mr. Zhao, honestly, I suggest that you should convince your students to try and understand the Ultimate Style as well. They might be able to become even stronger from it.”
The monster controller lecturer was slightly stunned.
“I know that the monster controller course has been reforming its fighting ideals nonstop. The traditional monster controllers strengthen their minds until their brains become deformed but highly developed. While their biochemical beasts become stronger, the monster controllers themselves turn into their own fatal weakness because of their body’s weakness.”
Li Yingzi smiled faintly. “This year, you worked hard to bring Wu Wu among you. It’s obviously not just because you value her personal strength, but also because you want to explore a brand new path through her. You want to see just how powerful a monster controller with great fighting skills can become.
“If that’s the case, the Ultimate Style is your best choice. As long as you’re willing to, the martial arts course will definitely teach you everything without holding back!”
The monster controller lecturer thought about it for a while. “Ms. Li, are you?”
“Are you thinking that we’re too generous?”
Li Yingzi looked over Shattered Starlake, Graveyard Forest, which was surrounded by black fog, and Raging Waves, which looked like it was about to erupt like a volcano due to the black clouds rolling about above it.
“Before we came here, I spoke for an entire night with Dean Zong Yue, and I learned that he has a shocking ambition. If we were to only treat the monster controller course as our competitors, I might not have said what I did today.
“But Dean Zong said there is only one true opponent for Agricultural University’s martial arts course, and that is Dragon City University’s martial arts course!
“The monster controller course isn’t our competitors, and much less our enemies. Instead, you’re our allies in our challenge against Dragon City University’s martial arts course. If the exchange of skills can make us stronger together, we should share our secret techniques, ultimate techniques, and whatnot.
“Of course, the prerequisite is that the monster controller course has the guts to publicly challenge Dragon City University’s martial arts course!”
The monster controller lecturer’s pupils shrank.
But his breathing quickened, and he could not help but clench his fists.
Dragon City University’s martial arts course lived up to its name as the strongest in Dragon City.
All the fighting majors of the other universities treated Dragon City University’s martial arts course as their target.
Defeat Dragon City University’s martial arts course!
This was the cry existing in multiple universities, lecturers, and students’ hearts.
Unfortunately, no one was able to realize it so far.
“Are you… really confident in the Ultimate Style?” the monster controller lecturer asked hesitantly.
“No practitioner of any martial arts style would dare to say that they have the confidence to defeat Dragon City University’s martial arts course.” Li Yingzi smiled. “But Meng Chao is right. Even if we practice the Ultimate Style, we won’t suffer any losses and won’t be scammed out of our money.
“Since the current Beast Soul Style and the fighting model of the monster controllers can’t win against the Overkill Style from Dragon City University’s martial arts course, we can give the Ultimate Style a try. At most, we will just lose completely, but that’s fine.
“Speaking of which, Meng Chao just joined Agricultural University’s martial arts course two months ago, but he managed to get so many resources for himself, and he caused such a ruckus as well. I have a feeling that he was born for the Ultimate Style and to challenge Dragon City University’s martial arts course. Even if he can’t completely win against the Overkill Style through admirable methods…”
Once Li Yingzi said this, she suddenly stopped talking, and her gaze became gentle, but her smile turned a little strange. “Perhaps his use of ambushes, traps, devious attacks, and his willingness to use every conceivable method will terrify those arrogant Overkill Style martial artists who think that there’s no one else worthy of their attention!”
Under Meng Chao and Wu Wu’s lead, the new superhumans who had regained their composure took control of the battlefield, and everyone’s kill count started climbing steadily.
Then, everyone noticed that Meng Chao had deliberately slowed down his rhythm and did not seek to kill at maximum speed.
Even though based on his efficiency earlier, it would have been easy for him to complete the third segment of the Fight for the Ultimate Style Quest and kill more than one thousand normal monsters, he believed that his score would not be high enough for him to get the new skill—Monster Blood Combustion.
Hence, compared to speed, he paid more attention to achieving perfect kills. While he danced among the Wolf Crocodiles, Ghost-arrow Pigs, and Hundred-eyed Toads, he continued training his skills, saber technique, and control over every inch of skin and every strand of muscle fiber.
In the beginning, he left wounds that were the length of a pinky when he killed the monsters.
Gradually, the fatal wounds became even smaller, and the glints from his saber became as fine as needles when he pierced the monsters’ hearts or necks. He learned to kill a monster instantly without spilling a single drop of blood.
He also minimized the strength he spent as well as the weaknesses he revealed.
This was the effect of the perfect kills he longed for.
Soon, Wu Wu surpassed his kill count.
After an entire day, even Sun Ya, Xie Feng, Duan Lian, Jiang Rui, and the strongest students in the monster controller course managed to kill more than he did.
Meng Chao’s kill count was ranked at ninth place among the fifty new students. It was a pretty decent number but was not enough to shock everyone.
Only the veteran harvesters could understand just how terrifying he was when they personally dissected the monsters he had gently stabbed to death through the crevices of their shells and cracks in their bones.
The students naturally did not have such judgment.
They just thought that he had spent all of his energy killing in the morning, which led to him slowing down in the afternoon. That was quite normal.
At the very least, he did not use any sinister or despicable methods. Instead, he used true martial arts to kill monsters head-on, which won some of the students’ trust and admiration.
Their views of the Ultimate Style also started changing subconsciously.
It changed from a trick used by criminals into a skill that was somewhat useful when used against normal monsters, and they could try to understand it as an elective course.
When the last Ghost-arrow Pig fell with a cry, the Long-legged Spiders checked the lake three more times. They could not find any monster that could pose a threat to humans.
The lecturers guided the students to pile up the numerous monsters around the perimeter, then poured special chemicals on them so that their scent would spread out. It was a warning to the other monsters that this area had become human territory and monsters were not allowed inside it!
The weaker monsters would not dare to come recklessly after such a display.
After a few days, the engineering team from the Red Dragon Army would set up a station and build a signal tower, set up an electrical grid, and build automatic battle forts. If they did not manage to detect large numbers of monsters for a week, the safety level of the area would change from Yellow to Green.
At that time, the environment reconstructionists and agricultural specialists would enter the area and get rid of the annoying weeds and Water Monkeys. They would change the quagmires and moats into fertile land that would be suited for planting crops or cultivating plants.
After finishing their first battle, the students naturally celebrated it. They picked the largest monster carcasses and returned with their hands full while chatting with each other.
At that moment, the hundreds of hunting squads scattered in the other parts of Shattered Starlake all returned victorious as well. The huge tents at the base of the east lake filled with life once more.
The fights during the day were a healthy competition between the universities.
When everyone returned to the base at night, the alliance of the five universities would set up big booths to trade prey and skills or make friends from different fields. They could also discuss their experiences, and while they brainstormed their fights, they could create new fighting styles.
The alliance of the five universities was made of people who were like birds of a feather. They all treated Dragon City University as a target they must defeat, so they often exchanged ideas with each other.
When they reached the depths of the wild, some people even jokingly named the base at the east lake as the union of universities.
Quite a lot of professors from the universities organized all sorts of talks to broaden the horizons of the outstanding students from the other universities.
There were also plenty of study groups, martial arts research clubs, and other personal exchange groups among the students. The universities also encouraged such things.
Meng Chao used the monster coins he gained from the hunt during the day to apply for a tent, in which he organized the Ultimate Style Exploration Group.
Chu Feixiong then brought him a piece of good news. That night itself, he had collected around forty military students who were willing to meet the legendary Meng Chao—the man who received a notice of criticism around one month after he enrolled into his university.