182: Qing Muchen's methods

It was the next day, March 6th.

Lin Shu woke up early.

He casually added 20 proficiency points to his Mental strength, something Lin Shu planned to stick with starting today.

After all the events that had transpired recently, Lin Shu increasingly realized the importance of Mental strength.

He didn't increase it too much at once; his proficiency points still needed to be spent on his Beastmaster, and this rate of improvement was already quite fast.

The next stage required Mental power to reach 1000 points to enter the fourth tier, and at this rate, it would only take a month.

Today was the day he had arranged to go out with Li Wen and Chu Yu.

After all, they hadn't really farmed monsters much these past few days, and their proficiency points were running low, so they definitely needed to go out and farm thoroughly.

Because of yesterday's ranking match, many high-ranking individuals had sought out Lin Shu, hoping to go with him, but all were rejected.

Lin Shu still preferred familiar faces over strangers.

After all, it was somewhat awkward.

It didn't matter if their strength was a bit weaker; as long as his own strength was sufficient, it was fine.

This conveniently eliminated the worry of competing for monsters, allowing him to acquire more proficiency points.

He skillfully arrived outside the city wall, where the three of them happened to arrive at the same time.

After a simple greeting, they discussed the purpose of their outing.

Li Wen was the first to look at Lin Shu and speak:

"With the strength of the three of us, we can absolutely challenge more difficult tasks."

"So, I've taken on one bounty mission and one collection mission."

"Of course, they're the weakest kind."

Clearly, Lin Shu's strength, having won first place in the ranking match, gave Li Wen enough confidence.

Even his courage had grown considerably.

Chu Yu merely nodded in response; he could accept all of this.

Lin Shu, however, had seen a lot of information related to this bounty mission on the forum last night.

There were also posts about "group news."

However, some insiders said it would arrive in a few days but didn't specify the details, which left Lin Shu with a black line on his forehead.

If they were going to say something, why only half of it? Most of it was news about a sudden increase in foreign personnel in the Soul Severing Mountain Range.

And there were many nobles among them.

Although they couldn't compare to truly noble foreign races, their strength was naturally far superior to ordinary foreign races.

That's why there were bounty missions that even first-year students could complete.

This situation occurred once every two years, as there would always be a few Beastmaster geniuses among the internal foreign forces, who bore the pressure from external students and the immense hope for their clan's rise.

These foreign races thought about escaping their confinement every minute of every second.

Their strength was basically similar to that of first-year students, as the Soul Severing Mountain Range could only be entered by those below the seventh tier.

Of course, those with higher strength went to other places.

Lin Shu was not interested in this; he just wanted to go inside and farm some proficiency points.

"Let's go, we'll see how it goes."

Li Wen and Chu Yu nodded, saying no more.

The group mounted their Beastmasters and flew straight towards the Soul Severing Mountain Range... At a corner of the Soul Severing Mountain Range, three Central State University students looked pale, riding their Beastmasters frantically through the forest, their eyes occasionally glancing backward, large beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads.

But even so, they showed no reaction to it.

They only hoped their Beastmasters could go a little faster.

Behind them, five figures followed closely.

They were dressed in light green attire, similar to grass.

Two exquisite foreign characters, "Qingmu," were clearly visible on their chests.

This indicated their identity — the Qingmu Clan.

One of the youths was quite handsome, with a hair crown on his head, and delicate patterns subtly shimmering in the sunlight, showcasing his extraordinary status.

His expression was cold, his eyebrows slightly raised, and his eyes held a hint of arrogance.

His haughty demeanor showed no regard for the fleeing students in front of him.

Clearly, he looked down on these hothouse flowers.

He slightly raised his head, his chin lifting subtly.

Immediately, the four people beside him understood what to do.

In an instant, several powerful Mental impacts struck out.

Without exception, they hit the Beastmasters of the fleeing students, who immediately faltered, clearly unable to withstand the Mental impact and stopping.

This allowed the five people behind them to reach their side in an instant.

Seeing this, the three students realized they couldn't escape and prepared to fight to the death.

As for surrendering, it was completely out of the question.

Although their strength wasn't great, they were not lacking in courage.

But the outcome was, of course, no surprise; the three lay on the ground, trampled underfoot by the four foreign races.

Beside them, their three Beastmasters lay in pools of blood, their fates unknown.

The opponents outnumbered them and were stronger; the three students were no match at all, as not all students were as powerful as Lin Shu.

Seeing that the opponents were completely incapable of resistance, one of the foreign races mocked:

"Why run? Aren't you tired?"

"Wouldn't it be better to just hand over your resources obediently?"

"Meeting Young Master Aoki Chen, you have wings..."

Before the subordinate could finish, Aoki Chen coldly "hmph-ed," interrupting his speech.

For him, there was no need for idle chatter when facing such trash.

It was simply a waste of words.

Immediately, the four subordinates skillfully began to search them, taking out all their spatial rings.

Even the Central State University badges on their bodies were not spared.

Then, all the items were handed to Aoki Chen.

The latter, upon receiving them, immediately used his Mental power to explore the items within.

Unfortunately, these three students were among the weakest in their first year, so they wouldn't have anything good.

But something was better than nothing; having some resources was enough.

Currently, the internal situation of their Qingmu Clan was worsening, and even the Beastmaster resources of the elders were somewhat insufficient, making the resources available to their juniors increasingly scarce.

So, in most cases, they all had to fight for them themselves, paying the price of their lives.

Aoki Chen's brows furrowed, clearly somewhat dissatisfied with this harvest; this outing to seize resources.

It was precisely to find resources that could help his Beastmaster break through to the seventh tier.

Now, it was still a bit short; these three were truly useless, he shook his head.

But then he thought of something, and a cruel, man-eating smile immediately appeared on his face.

Let's just consider it recycling trash!

An invisible Mental fire brightened in his palm.

It transformed into three flickering flames, flying towards the three Beastmasters in the pool of blood.

This was the Blood Refining Method!

The same technique as Shen Tu Wu Hong, this move was a secret art almost all nobles knew.

The three students lying on the ground immediately had their eyes wide with rage, their emotions growing more intense; although they didn't know what was happening, it was definitely nothing good.

"What are you doing!"

At this scene, the four subordinates on the side showed smug smiles.

"Become nourishment for Young Master Aoki Chen's progress!"

"Three little lambs!"

"Thank the rules, otherwise your lives would also be left here!"

Aoki Chen remained silent, only focusing on the task at hand.

The invisible flames flew into the bodies of the three unconscious Beastmasters, immediately becoming more enchanting and beautiful.

Their originally massive and heavy bodies gradually shrank until they became mummified corpses.

A moment later, three bright crimson Blood Pills were produced, and now the resources were sufficient.

Due to the Mental backlash from their Beastmasters' deaths, the three students immediately twitched and fell to the ground.

"Ah ah ah!"

The intense soul pain was continuous, a non-human torment.

Feeling the energy aura within, Aoki Chen finally revealed a hint of a smile.

But then, hearing the three's commotion, he felt a little annoyed.

His contempt deepened.

He watched the three rolling on the ground with interest, finding it so wonderful.

After a brief moment of appreciation, he quickly put the items into his spatial ring and urged the other subordinates.

"It's not good to stay here long."

"Let's go."

Clearly, the other party had just used a method to call for reinforcements; for a large number of students, they, the foreign races, were actually the weaker party.

Furthermore, students could kill their foreign races, but they could not kill students.

Otherwise, their Qingmu Clan would be completely removed from the registry.

And these were naturally some of the rules set by Central State University.

Beastmasters who had not experienced life-and-death battles would ultimately not grow.

Central State University was for cultivating top Beastmasters, not for babysitting; this was already the most humane environment.

And a Beastmaster dying in battle was dancing on the edge of the rules; this was one of the most severe measures they could take.

But all of this was not worth mentioning compared to life.

After all, as long as one was still alive, everything could start anew...