43: Chapter 43 Assessment Score: S-rank!

On the rooftop of an abandoned high-rise building in a city.

Gu Changming flicked his wrist. Before him, a Shadow Devourer that had been ferociously lunging just a moment ago turned into a wisp of dissipating black smoke, quickly melting into the air.

He crouched down and picked up a black crystal the size of a fingernail from the ground.

He casually stuffed the crystal into his jacket pocket. A faint clinking sound came from within; a substantial pile had already accumulated there.

After completing his mission in Hujiang City, Gu Changming began wandering from city to city.

Solving the Shadow Devourer problem everywhere and collecting their crystals was one aspect. Another was that there was usually only one Shadow Devourer within a certain area; if he killed it, no new Shadow Devourer would spawn in that zone, allowing the humans there to survive.

After stowing the item away, he straightened up and squinted his eyes, looking toward the sky.

The midday sun was somewhat piercing.

After he stared for a few seconds, the sky suddenly darkened without warning.

It wasn't dark clouds blocking the sun; rather, the entire sky looked as if it had been splashed with a layer of thick, blood-red color.

Huge, cold white characters appeared out of thin air once again, spanning across the blood-red firmament.

【The second Civilization Advancement Assessment is about to end.】

Below the text, a thirty-second countdown began to tick.

【30】

【29】

Gu Changming stood at the edge of the rooftop, motionless, quietly watching the countdown decrease second by second.

【3】

【2】

【1】

The moment the countdown hit zero, the blood-red sky was like a fading curtain, rapidly returning to normal.

A translucent prompt box popped up in front of Gu Changming's eyes.

【Assessment ended, calculating rating...】

Almost at the same time the prompt appeared, in the distance, within the originally deathly silent city blocks, a wave of raspy cheers erupted.

Gu Changming withdrew his gaze from the distance and looked down at the prompt box in front of him.

【Assessment Rating: S】

【Obtained Title: Shadow Hunter (Permanent)】

【Obtained points: 2000】

He glanced at it, his face devoid of expression.

He had known this rating result since the very beginning of the Assessment.

The condition to achieve it was: successfully kill one Shadow Devourer to receive an S-rank evaluation.

He casually closed the prompt box and subconsciously touched his jacket pocket.

Feeling the bulging sensation, Gu Changming made a rough estimate; over these three days, the number of Shadow Devourers that had died under his blade exceeded a hundred.

After killing so many, is there no S+ rating?

Gu Changming curled his lip and complained.

Then, Gu Changming looked up and waved his hand casually toward the air.

Next, he reached into his jacket pocket, and when he pulled it out, his palm held over a dozen heavy black crystals.

"Whoosh!"

A sudden, violent gust of wind pressed down, making the corners of his clothes flap loudly.

The Mimic Beast, transformed into a Storm Hawk, circled above his head, its massive wings blotting out a small patch of sunlight.

Gu Changming looked up and flicked his finger, sending a black crystal shooting upward.

The Storm Hawk's form in the air quickly blurred and shrank, diving down like a bird returning to the forest, accurately catching the crystal in its beak and swallowing it.

It landed lightly, its body completely transforming the moment it touched the ground, turning into an all-black kitten.

"Awoo!" After swallowing the black crystal, it looked up at Gu Changming and let out a cry.

Gu Changming sensed the clear demand it was transmitting and flicked his fingers repeatedly, tossing the black crystals in his hand one after another toward it.

The black cat's form was agile, leaping up easily every time to accurately swallow the crystals.

As it swallowed more and more crystals, a faint, smoke-like black aura began to seep out from its pitch-black surface, slowly swirling around it.

Gu Changming watched the changes in its body and did not stop, instead continuing to toss out the black crystals.

After feeding it nearly twenty in a row, the black cat no longer leaped to catch them. It landed back on the ground, rolling around contentedly and purring.

Gu Changming squinted his eyes, a trace of a smile on his lips as he watched the rolling black shadow on the ground.

A moment later, a sudden mutation occurred.

A dense, almost physical black mist burst out from within the black cat, instantly enveloping it completely.

The mass of black mist twisted violently, its silhouette rapidly elongating and deforming.

In the blink of an eye, the black mist dissipated.

Standing in its place was no longer that little black cat, but a twisted figure composed of pure shadow.

Its blurred head turned toward Gu Changming, meeting his gaze.

The smile on Gu Changming's face deepened.

As expected, it was a success.

The Mimic Beast could acquire the abilities of Shadow Devourers by devouring those black crystals and replicate them.

Immediately after, Gu Changming took out the whistle of contract, brought it to his lips, and blew gently.

The effect of the whistle of contract activated, and an ability-sharing channel between him and the Mimic Beast was instantly established.

Then, Gu Changming raised his right arm. Under his gaze, the outline of his arm began to blur and fluctuate.

Next, the front end of his arm reshaped like flowing liquid, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a sharp scythe shimmering with a dark luster, composed entirely of shadow.

Gu Changming lightly swung this shadow scythe that had been transformed from his own arm.

It moved as easily as pointing his own finger.

Well, it was his own arm, after all.

After swinging it a few times, Gu Changming reverted his arm, but the smile on his face didn't fade.

It wasn't that he particularly liked the Shadow Devourer's ability to transform the body into a weapon.

His excitement was directed at the Mimic Beast; it could continuously simulate and replicate various strange creatures and even share a portion of their abilities with him.

Gu Changming shook his head and looked at the whistle of contract in his hand.

Snatching this thing back then wasn't in vain.

Gu Changming raised his hand and beckoned to the Shadow Devourer transformed from the Mimic Beast.

Black mist surged on its body as it changed back into the all-black crow, flapping its wings and landing on Gu Changming's shoulder.

Just as Gu Changming was about to start walking, the sky above darkened again without warning.

Huge white characters followed immediately, branded upon the blood-red curtain.

【In twenty days, the third Civilization Advancement Assessment will begin.】

The preview information remained for only a few seconds before vanishing without a trace.

However, in the distant city blocks, the noise that had risen from the feeling of having survived a disaster after the Assessment ended was suddenly throttled by an invisible hand and died down.

Seeing this, the corners of Gu Changming's mouth curled slightly, revealing a faint, inscrutable smile.

In his previous life, he hadn't felt it, but now that he had stepped out of the perspective of a participant and looked at it as a bystander...

Wasn't the preview that appeared some time after every Assessment ended a bit like a deliberate, malicious joke?

Of course, Gu Changming didn't care.

The third Assessment was actually quite special.

It could be said to be a newbie bonus for human civilization, so even knowing there would be a new Assessment in twenty days, Gu Changming wasn't as worried as he had been this time.

After a few light leaps, he landed on the ground from the high-rise.

Gu Changming took out the Tang sword from his back, glanced at it, and then looked at the black crystals in his pocket.

He tilted his head and thought for a moment, then clicked his tongue. "I wonder if anyone has developed a weapon forging professional skill yet..."

These black crystals obtained after slaying Shadow Devourers were rare and good materials; they could be used to upgrade his weapon.

Otherwise, by the mid-stage, this Tang sword purchased for a hundred points wouldn't be able to keep up with the intensity of combat.