290: A combat drill? No, it's a sightseeing trip.

At the base of Qipan Mountain.

Shencheng Martial Arts University students disembarked from the bus one after another.

The large square was already packed with a dense crowd.

Social Martial Artists, led by Liaobei Province’s Governor Yu Qi, had already arrived early.

Qiu Bu Ye, the principal of the Martial Arts University, stepped forward and greeted him with a smile, “Governor, your complexion has been rosy recently; I presume something good has happened.”

Yu Qi crossed his hands, maintaining his composed demeanor and unchanging smile, “Mainly, the Permanent Dungeon in Changtu County has been completed and successfully repelled a wave of alien attacks, so it’s finally stable.”

“That is indeed good news,” Qiu Bu Ye agreed.

Just then.

Several helicopters rumbled overhead.

One could see rope nets suspended beneath the helicopters.

Inside the rope nets, several Vicious Beasts were in a state of unconsciousness.

The helicopters quickly disappeared into the sky, heading deep into the mountains.

Qiu Bu Ye asked curiously, “Aren’t you afraid these Vicious Beasts will escape after being released?”

Yu Qi replied confidently, “The perimeter is being watched by military personnel. Not a single one will escape, not even flying Vicious Beasts.”

Qiu Bu Ye let out an “oh.”

Soon after.

All personnel participating in the simulated combat exercise were in position.

On the left were the Social Martial Artists, led by Yu Qi, and on the right were the student Martial Artists from Shencheng Martial Arts University, led by Qiu Bu Ye.

The two sides stood distinctly apart.

At this moment, Governor Yu Qi stepped forward, his voice exceptionally penetrating, loud and resonant:

“Everyone.”

Yu Qi’s simple two words instantly silenced the entire noisy field.

Yu Qi scanned the crowd and spoke again, “In accordance with national requirements, for the general training outline of the National Martial Artist Reserve Team, we in Liaobei Province are holding a simulated combat exercise here today.”

“One side will be the Social Martial Artists, and the other will be the Shencheng Martial Arts University students.”

“I will briefly reiterate the training rules: the military just used helicopters to release several Vicious Beasts on Qipan Mountain. These Vicious Beasts must all be killed. For each one killed, you will receive 100 points.”

“At the same time, each of you has a name tag affixed to your back. Regardless of how you obtain a name tag, you will receive 5 points. The side with the highest total score at the end will be declared the winner.”

“During the battle, act within your capabilities. After raising your hand to surrender, no further attacks are permitted. Everything should be treated as a sparring match; no lethal force is allowed.”

“Additionally, the purpose of this training is to prepare for a large-scale battle with alien forces. Everyone must follow commands and deployments to achieve tactical training objectives.”

Yu Qi’s gaze swept around, and he waved his hand, “Everyone put on your headsets now. Social Martial Artists, proceed ten kilometers to the left. Student Martial Artists, proceed ten kilometers to the right. Get in the vehicles and depart!”

As soon as he finished speaking.

The crowd in the square dispersed to both sides, getting into their vehicles and heading towards their designated locations.

Overall, the atmosphere was quite pleasant.

It was very much like a group mountain climbing trip.

Some even brought snacks, munching away leisurely.

For everyone, the idea was to fight where commanded, and surrender if they couldn’t win.

After the exercise, everyone would go home to their respective families.

As for winning or losing, it didn’t matter.

As long as the country didn’t cancel their benefits.

If they lost, it was the commander’s problem.

If they won, then it was their own bravery and skill in battle.

Either way, there was no loss.

Boom boom —!

Amidst the roaring of numerous engines starting, dozens of off-road vehicles spewed black exhaust, quickly driving out of the square and heading towards the vast Qipan Mountain.

…

The sky was high and the earth wide; the usually gloomy weather seemed much brighter today, and occasionally, golden sunlight could be seen spilling through cracks in the dark clouds, illuminating the land.

Boom boom boom…

After leaving the scenic area, they entered the dirt and stone roads in the mountains. Large plumes of thick smoke mixed with dust and stones, leaving a long trail.

According to Qiu Bu Ye’s arrangements, Shen Bei and the others’ off-road vehicle had to travel an additional five kilometers North after reaching the designated location.

In the third vehicle from the end of the convoy, the vehicle swayed. Shen Bei sat in the passenger seat with his arms crossed, boredly looking at the outlines of the distant mountain range through the window.

Meanwhile, the female students in the driver’s seat and the back seats were all dusty, gripping their weapons, their faces filled with excitement.

Shen Bei had five teammates, all students from the Martial Arts University, but he didn’t know their names at all.

The other members of Zha Tian Gang were also assigned to other teams, their whereabouts currently unknown.

Shen Bei clicked his tongue, realizing that Qiu Bu Ye had clearly done this on purpose.

According to a normal person’s thinking, Zha Tian Gang, having achieved such brilliant results in the Dungeon, should have remained in one group to cooperate and maximize their strength, but they were still split up.

But it didn’t matter; he would just go with the flow.

“Hey, handsome, you’re in luck now, you know.”

A ponytailed girl in the back chirped, “If this were shopping, you’d turn into a clothes rack.”

The other girls giggled.

Shen Bei turned around and smiled, “If this were in a hotel—”

“Stop.” A girl named Li Mo interrupted, reaching out, “Be serious. Don’t be like Du Ziteng.”

Shen Bei was a little surprised, “You know Du Ziteng?”

“Who doesn’t know that big weirdo?” Li Mo’s face showed immense disgust. “He’s practically a horny poodle, seeking love everywhere, treating the Martial Arts University as his fish pond.”

Shen Bei: …

Shen Bei said with a smile, “I’ll beat him up later. What if he scares the beautiful ladies, right?”

“I suggest expulsion,” Li Mo said very seriously. “If this kind of creature ever goes crazy, what if he… you know?”

“Uh…” Shen Bei scratched his head, “It’s not worth it, not worth it…”

Shen Bei never expected Du Ziteng’s reputation among girls to be so bad.

He truly was going further and further down the path of seeking love.

Even if he just learned from Zhuang Bifan, it wouldn’t be this bad.

His student life was probably loveless.

Before long.

The driver prompted, “Everyone, we’ve arrived.”

Shen Bei and the others jumped out of the vehicle.

Before them was a patch of forest.

“How should we fight?” Li Mo asked Shen Bei.

Shen Bei shrugged, pointing to his headset, “Wait for orders. If there’s no command, we just stay put. Oh, by the way, give me some of your potato chips.”

Li Mo rolled her eyes and pulled out a bag of potato chips from her backpack, tossing them to Shen Bei.

The girls took photos and played nearby, while Shen Bei leaned against a large tree, nonchalant.

…

At the same time, somewhere on Qipan Mountain.

Boom, boom, boom…

Between heaven and earth, a series of consistent muffled thuds drifted on the wind, as if war drums were beating, or ancient giant beasts were galloping across the earth.

Faintly, one could see figures trailing distorted Qi waves behind them across the vast wilderness, galloping at an unimaginable speed.

Leading them was an extremely strong figure wrapped entirely in a black robe, with almost no exposed parts except for a pair of eyes that were profoundly deep.

Each of his strides covered forty to fifty meters, and under high-speed movement, he left a series of afterimages behind him, along with dust stirred up like an enraged Dragon.

Amidst the earth-shattering footsteps, though he was just one person, he gave the impression of a thousand troops charging, with an overwhelming and unstoppable Aura!

Behind him was a man holding a long sword, and the others followed closely behind, keeping pace.

When they reached a hilltop.

The black-robed man took out a map, correcting their direction.

The sword-wielding man gazed at the vast mountains and asked, “We’ve been lurking for five days, finally we can get to work. Report the location.”

The black-robed man said with a hint of awe, “According to the plan, he should be to our East.”

As soon as he finished speaking.

Screech! Screech! Screech!

At this moment, a fierce shadow that had been circling and screaming high in the sky clearly spotted the flickering figures on the ground, immediately let out an excited cry, and then violently swooped down!

This was indeed an eagle-headed, lion-bodied Vicious Beast from the Dungeon, released by the military, and now awake, like a king dominating the sky.

Its wingspan was nearly ten meters, and its body alone was much larger than a full-grown elephant. As it swooped down, it was like a supersonic jet fighter, its outstretched sharp claws fiercely tearing through the airflow, leaving no doubt that even a steel fortress would be shredded by it!

This Vicious Beast, clearly extremely difficult to deal with, was incredibly ferocious. In the deafening wind, it swooped down nearly a hundred meters in an instant, its chilling sharp claws about to grab the black-robed man’s back.

However, even so, the thirty-odd people present showed no reaction, not even moving.

Boom!

The next moment, the black-robed man twisted his body and threw a punch without warning!

His fist wore a mechanical metal glove. With a single punch, the air collapsed without resistance, forming a circular vacuum tunnel more than ten meters long!

And in this vacuum tunnel, an unimaginably powerful force seemed to directly transmit to the swooping giant beast, instantly blowing up this fiercely renowned Vicious Beast in mid-air! Blood rained down!

Boom boom boom boom…

Flesh and internal organs splattered in mid-air, and the air explosion reverberated. This punch from the dark figure actually created a mighty sound like a Falling Thunder from a clear sky.

He didn’t even look at the result of his actions, continuing to look at the map as if it didn’t matter.

The sword-wielding man looked to the East, his hoarse voice slowly drifting:

“"Turbellaria" above, grant me some good luck…”

“Let me find that kid…”

…

At this time, Shen Bei’s group received orders from Qiu Bu Ye to proceed West and find the Vicious Beast ape to kill for points.

Everyone surveyed the continuous mountain forest not far in front of them.

This mountain forest was full of strange rocks, with sparse trees. The mountain wind passing through the strange rocks and trees made a wailing sound like ghosts crying, making people’s hearts pound.

Shen Bei looked around and nodded slightly.

Although it’s said not to enter forests lightly, the vegetation covering the mountain forest wasn’t dense, and there was only one Vicious Beast ape nearby, so it wasn’t considered dangerous; it would be easy.

Between the sparse mountain trees.

The six-person team formed a triangular formation, climbing the ridge step by step, their vigilant eyes scanning back and forth, looking for any clues.

The girls had serious expressions, moving cautiously through the forest, heading higher up the ridge.

Shen Bei, meanwhile, followed behind, yawning and looking completely at ease.

After an hour of walking, they occasionally saw students from the Martial Arts University flashing by in the distance.

At the same time, further away, they could also see thick smoke rising from the mountain forest, indicating battle locations. It seemed some teams had already engaged in close combat with opposing Martial Artists.

Shen Bei’s team, however, had orders to kill Vicious Beasts and ignore everything else.

Swish! Swish!

Just as the group continued their advance.

About twenty to thirty meters into the forest, a ghostly shadow and a cry suddenly flashed and disappeared.

Shen Bei’s peripheral vision keenly caught it.

In fact, Shen Bei didn’t even need to remind them; under the vigilant gaze of the girls, one sharp-eyed girl also noticed it and immediately exclaimed excitedly:

“Over there, there’s movement! It looks like an ape!”