44: The promised surprise

Three days later.

A piercing ringtone sounded.

Xu Le picked it up casually: "Hello?"

"Hello? Didn't we agree to check the results today? Where are you, kid?"

Hong Yuantai's roaring voice came from the receiver; one could imagine his immense fury at that moment.

He probably would have drowned Xu Le in spit if he were standing in front of him.

Only then did Xu Le remember what happened three days ago, and he quickly said, "I'll be there right away."

For the past three days, he had been Cultivating the Soaring Nine Steps Shattering Jade Force.

Each time he finished a round, new insights would emerge in his mind.

The Moves he now performed were completely different from the initial version; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a new Cultivation Technique.

That feeling of constantly improving and getting stronger was truly exhilarating.

After a quick wash, he rushed to Training Ground Number Eight.

He saw Hong Yuantai chatting with three people, two men and one woman, all of similar age.

Even from a distance, the embarrassment on his face was evident.

"Why are you only just arriving now?"

"No, why do you smell so bad? You haven't showered in three days, have you?"

Hong Yuantai had just come forward when he immediately retreated three steps.

Xu Le: "..."

After three days of arduous Cultivation, he hadn't even eaten or slept, only occasionally remembering to chew on some snacks. How could he have time to shower?

His entire body had been drenched in sweat countless times; he had only changed clothes, otherwise, he would smell even worse.

"You really didn't shower?" Hong Yuantai was shocked.

"I forgot."

Even with Xu Le's thick skin, he felt a bit awkward at this moment.

Hong Yuantai, however, caught the key point.

Forgot.

Could it be... his eyes lit up: "Have you been Cultivating the Secret Manual I gave you these past few days?"

"Uh, pretty much!" Xu Le wanted to remind him it was a video, but then felt something was off; he didn't even know what the later Cultivation was anymore.

"Then let's practice."

Hong Yuantai asked the three to Move further away and assumed a starting stance.

Remembering the previous lesson, he quickly reminded: "It's all about physical strength; no skills can be used."

"Okay!"

As soon as Xu Le agreed, he saw Hong Yuantai disregard martial ethics and charge directly, launching the first Move, "Chasing Mountains and Catching Seas."

Taking three steps in two, a fist the size of a sandbag came crashing down.

After many days of Cultivation, Xu Le had developed keen eyesight.

Instead of directly intercepting the fist, he placed his hand in the predicted position, lightly deflected it with his left hand, and then attacked Hong Yuantai's ribs with a punch from his right hand.

"Good!"

Hong Yuantai's eyes lit up; this simple deflection and counterattack showed that Xu Le had put in the effort.

Changing his Move, he shifted his body, closing in behind Xu Le, and with a "Immortal Turning Back," he delivered a horizontal punch to the back of the neck.

He Le followed with changing Moves, getting faster and faster.

The Moves that were once theoretical became real, and some Moves that seemed useless now felt exquisite when performed.

Hong Yuantai also grew more and more surprised as they fought. Although Xu Le was not yet his equal, he already knew how to vary his Moves instead of rigidly executing them.

Even the most exquisite Moves in the world, if executed rigidly, would be given away for free, even sending one's neck to the opponent's blade.

Only by flexibly applying Moves can one truly become strong.

The three onlookers also grew more satisfied as they watched. How could "outstanding" describe this? At least "Genius" was appropriate.

The few of them were a team with tacit understanding, having slain countless demonic beasts in the Fallen Zone, knowing each other's strengths inside out.

Although no skills were used, this level of strength was already not much inferior to theirs.

Gu Shaoqiang grew more and more excited, directly shouting: "Xu Le, your teacher is disregarding martial ethics, bullying the small with the large! I'll help you!"

Hong Yuantai's attributes were slightly lower, but he had abundant experience, barely managing to suppress Xu Le.

Hearing Gu Shaoqiang's words, he was afraid of making a fool of himself and was about to call a stop when a fist the size of a sandbag already came crashing down.

"Disregarding martial ethics!"

Hong Yuantai cursed inwardly and hurriedly intercepted, but Xu Le's fist had already arrived.

Fortunately, Gu Shaoqiang shouted about hitting Hong Yuantai, but in reality, both of them were fighting together. He just happened to clash fists with Xu Le.

Bang!

Gu Shaoqiang's arm went numb, and he took a step back, not expecting Xu Le's Moves to be strong and his strength attribute to be terrifyingly high.

Even more shameless was that Hong Yuantai's strength was also greater than his, clearly having secretly put on equipment.

While cursing inwardly, he immediately put on his equipment, gaining a deeper understanding of Xu Le's strength.

The three attacked each other, growing more and more intense.

Half an hour passed in a flash.

"Good, good, good! Today we've met through martial arts. How about we become sworn brothers?" Gu Shaoqiang laughed heartily, withdrawing his fist and standing still.

Hong Yuantai also retreated to the side, his face terribly grim.

Xu Le also retreated to the side, thinking to himself that since he could call 58-year-old Zhuang Qiang 'Old Brother,' becoming sworn brothers with a few people in their 40s wasn't impossible.

Bai Yuru stepped forward, glaring at Gu Shaoqiang: "This is Old Hong's inherited Disciple. What sworn brothers are you talking about?"

"Cough cough..." Hong Yuantai interrupted, "Actually, he's just my student, merely a Contractor."

"Ah?" The three were bewildered, pointing at Xu Le, "You said he's a Contractor?"

Gu Shaoqiang was the most bewildered, his tiger eyes bulging like ox eyes, almost popping out of their sockets.

He had personally felt Xu Le's strength, agility, and Physique. You're telling him that Physique belongs to a Contractor?

The legendary Rank 2 Contractor who only gains 7 attribute points?

Hong Yuantai organized his own conjectures and explained for a long time before the three reluctantly believed him.

"Xiao Le, come here. Let me introduce you to today's surprise. This is..."

Gu Shaoqiang spoke first: "My name is Gu Shaoqiang, my profession is SS-Rank Furious Vajra. You can call me Brother Qiang."

Bai Yuru smiled gracefully: "Bai Yuru, my profession is SS-Rank Putuo Immortal Child. You can just call me Sister Ru."

The last person looked at Hong Yuantai, then at the two in front, and sighed: "Lin Feiyu, my profession is SS-Rank Sword-Bearing Immortal Child. Just call me Brother Yu."

Hong Yuantai glared angrily at the three, then spoke in a gentle tone: "Xiao Le, these three, Xiao Qiang, Xiao Ru, and Xiao Yu, were all my comrades-in-arms. Their strength is beyond question. Today, I specifically brought you to experience the Dinosaur World Hell dungeon."

When addressing the three, the character "Xiao" (little) was exceptionally loud, clearly demoting their seniority to that of "nephews and nieces."

Gu Shaoqiang grinned: "Xiao Le, turn around for three minutes. We need to talk to your teacher about something."

Xu Le turned around, then heard thumping sounds.

Three minutes later, the three had flushed faces, as if they had just exercised.

Hong Yuantai, clutching his lower back, led the way towards the dungeon area.

Unlike the Ninth District, where dungeons were scattered, the Demon Slaying Academy's dungeons were all concentrated in one place.

There were only three in total.

Level 30 Demonic Ox Valley, Level 45 Demonic Lion Grassland, and Level 60 Dinosaur World.

They were all top-tier existences in the food chain; even at the same Rank, a one-on-one fight would be difficult to win.

The five formed a small team, with Hong Yuantai as the captain, and directly chose the Abyss difficulty.

The entrance fee was naturally split equally.

Xu Le enjoyed new student privileges, only needing 1 academic credit.

Selected "Confirm."

When he opened his eyes again, a vast world stretched before him.