6: Chapter 6 Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut? No, it's art.

A 50-meter-tall steel wall forcibly separated civilization from the wilderness.

Outside the wall lay an endless primeval jungle. The plaza in front of the supply station was brightly lit and bustling with noise.

Countless fully armed martial artists were gathering, forming teams, or selling supplies here.

"The Flame Squad is short one heavy shield-bearer! Qi and blood value must be above 1.5. Join now and we depart immediately!"

"Buying E-rank beast materials! Fair prices, honest dealings!"

Lin Yuan, with the serrated saber wrapped in black cloth on his back and wearing cheap black sportswear, looked out of place.

He walked up to a team currently recruiting temporary members. The team looked well-equipped, and the leader was a burly man wearing an alloy breastplate.

"Are you still looking for people? I can serve as a scout," Lin Yuan asked calmly.

It was his first time leaving the city. Although he was confident in his strength, having a veteran familiar with the terrain would save a lot of trouble.

The burly leader looked Lin Yuan up and down.

"A scout? You?" The burly man sneered and pointed at the testing stone nearby.

"Kid, show your martial artist badge first. Don't tell me you're just some unweaned student coming here to throw your life away."

Lin Yuan didn't speak; he took out his ID card and flashed it.

Lin Yuan, Jianghai No. 3 High School student, F-rank talent awakener.

"Get lost, get lost! Damn it, bad luck! An F-rank dares to come to the Mist Forest? Do you want to get the whole team killed? Go home and drink your milk!"

The surrounding team members also jeered: "Students these days really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth."

"Probably went crazy wanting money. People like this are just pig feed if they go in."

Lin Yuan's expression remained unchanged. He took back his ID card and turned to leave.

Being rejected was within his expectations; he hadn't had high hopes to begin with.

Then he walked straight toward the exit checkpoint of the garrison area, and under the gaze of the staff who looked at him as if he were a dead man, he signed the bright red "Life and Death Waiver."

"That stupid kid actually dares to go in?"

"I bet a hundred bucks he won't last half an hour."

"Half an hour? You're overestimating him. If he runs into an Iron-Skinned Pig, he won't even last three minutes."

As soon as he stepped into the area, the temperature in the air plummeted.

Faint white mist filled the surroundings, and visibility was less than twenty meters.

Lin Yuan lowered his stance, stepping silently on tree roots or solid ground with every step.

Although Fleeting Shadow Trail was a grandmaster-level movement technique, it consumed a significant amount of stamina. Before encountering danger, he needed to conserve his energy.

Suddenly, a crack sound rang out—a dead branch broke.

Lin Yuan stopped abruptly, his right hand slowly gripping the hilt of the blade on his back.

"Huff..."

A heavy, ragged breath accompanied by a nauseating, fishy stench.

Immediately after, the bushes in front were rudely smashed open, and a behemoth appeared in Lin Yuan's field of vision.

It was a wild boar the size of a car!

But it was completely different from a domestic pig; its body was covered in a layer of thick, iron-like skin that shimmered with a metallic luster under the moonlight.

Two tusks were half a meter long, sharp as knives, with scraps of flesh from unknown creatures still hanging from them.

E-rank beast—Iron-Skinned Wild Boar!

This was a beast known for its defense and charging power. Even a formal martial artist with a Qi and blood value of 2.0 would suffer broken bones and tendons if hit head-on by it.

The Iron-Skinned Wild Boar's scarlet eyes instantly locked onto Lin Yuan. In its eyes, this skinny bipedal creature was just a midnight snack delivered to its doorstep.

Rumble!

Its massive body carried a suffocating sense of oppression as it charged wildly toward Lin Yuan!

Ten meters! Five meters! Three meters!

In that instant, the scent of death rushed toward him.

This was the first time in his two lifetimes that he had faced such a ferocious monster directly.

His heart pounded uncontrollably, and sweat seeped from his palms. Fear was a human instinct.

But it was also in this instant.

【Gods Insight, full power activated!】

Hum!

The world went quiet.

In Lin Yuan's eyes, the boar's lightning-fast charge seemed to have been put on slow-motion.

A massive stream of data cascaded before his eyes like a waterfall:

【Target: Iron-Skinned Wild Boar (Adult)】

【Strength: 1800kg】

【Defense: Extremely High (Difficult to injure with E-rank alloys)】

【Speed: 18m/s】

【Weakness Analysis: Three inches under the left front armpit, there is a soft white spot; that is the blind spot of the heart's protection.】

【Fatal strike plan: Generated.】

Just as the sharp tusks were about to pierce Lin Yuan's chest—

Lin Yuan moved.

Fleeting Shadow Trail!

Swoosh!

The deadly tusk grazed the tip of his nose, even cutting off a few strands of hair on his forehead.

But that was all.

In this hair-breadth between life and death, Lin Yuan's eyes were calm as an ancient well.

The saber in his hand had already been unsheathed at some point.

Just as he passed by it, he flicked his wrist, and the rusty, serrated long saber, like a surgeon's scalpel, precisely and elegantly pierced into the coin-sized white weak spot!

Pfft!

Lin Yuan let go, turned, and landed.

Boom—!

The Iron-Skinned Wild Boar, which had charged several meters away, let out a shrill scream. Its massive body slid forward another dozen meters due to inertia, snapping a tree as thick as a bowl before crashing to the ground.

It twitched its limbs a few times, and a large amount of blood gushed from its armpit, staining the ground red.

A few seconds later, it was completely silent.

One strike, fatal.

Lin Yuan stood in place, not even a drop of blood on him.

【Ding! Killed E-rank beast Iron-Skinned Wild Boar, gained combat experience +500!】

【Detected host completed a perfect kill... Parsing blade technique artistic conception...】

【Congratulations to the host! Comprehended S-rank Life/Combat Auxiliary Skill—《Blade of the Butcher》 (Max Level)!】

【Blade of the Butcher: Originating from ancient legends, entering the spaces with no thickness. It is both a killing technique and an art of dissection.】

"Blade of the Butcher?"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow. In his mind, countless pieces of knowledge regarding bones, muscles, and textures appeared, along with techniques on how to dismember a behemoth with minimal effort.

He walked to the boar's corpse and pulled out his saber.

This scrap blade, which had only cost a few bucks, seemed to faintly emit an eerie edge after being stained with blood.

"Just in time to try the new skill."

Lin Yuan's wrist flipped, and the rusty saber seemed to have life in his hands.

Swish, swish, swish!

The blade light was like pouring mercury. He didn't need to hack hard at the boar's tough skull; instead, he followed the joints and gently pried.

In just a few seconds.

A fist-sized, blood-stained, earthy-yellow crystal core landed in his palm.

Immediately after, a completely intact iron skin was peeled off in one piece.

"Crystal core for twenty thousand, complete beast hide for fifteen thousand, tusks for five thousand..."

Lin Yuan weighed the crystal core in his hand, a satisfied smile appearing on his lips.

"This one pig earned forty thousand. Sure enough, this is the right path to getting rich."

Just as Lin Yuan was about to leave, chaotic and hurried footsteps came from afar, accompanied by terrified screams.

"Run! Damn it, how are there two of them!"

"Captain, we can't block them! The heavy shield was shattered!"

Lin Yuan looked up.

He saw a few figures running wildly toward this side in a sorry state. Running in the front was the leader of the Flame Squad who had mocked him at the supply station.

Where was the arrogance the burly captain had just now? The alloy breastplate on his body was already dented, his face was covered in blood, and his arm hung limply—obviously broken.

Behind them, two red-eyed Iron-Skinned Wild Boars were chasing them like madmen.

"Help... help!"

The burly captain shouted in despair.

In their panic, they rushed into this clearing where the battle had just ended.

And then, everyone froze.

That F-rank loser they had mocked for needing to go home and drink milk was currently standing on a mountain of flesh.

That was an Iron-Skinned Wild Boar King... that was a size larger than the two chasing them?!

"It hasn't been half an hour yet, has it?"

The burly captain's mouth hung open, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt directly on the ground.

This is an F-rank?!

What kind of god has descended to experience life here?!