8: Surprised Captain, Zhenwu Pavilion, Selling Ferocious Beasts

Li Ziyu looked at the blue panel in his mind, his heart surging.

The accumulated Blood Qi from killing the Red-Eyed Rabbit, plus this Shadow Cat, was actually enough to upgrade his Knife Skill.

He didn't know exactly how much Blood Qi was needed to upgrade a Knife Skill.

But Li Ziyu didn't dwell on it; he unhesitatingly chose to upgrade his Knife Skill.

On the panel, the words “Elementary Swordsmanship” changed to “Intermediate Blade Technique”!

The moment the Knife Skill was upgraded, a warm current invaded his limbs and bones.

At the same time, Li Ziyu felt a memory of practicing Knife Skill appear in his mind, as if he had always possessed it.

Li Ziyu picked up the knife in his hand and brandished it a few times around himself.

Then he adjusted his direction and, with a swoosh, struck a large tree over a meter thick in front of him.

A cold light flashed.

The meter-thick tree in front of him snapped in response, separating into upper and lower halves, crashing to the ground.

The break was smooth and clean.

“The system is truly miraculous; this Intermediate Blade Technique feels like I cultivated and advanced it myself, without any unfamiliarity or discomfort.”

“My previous understanding of Knife Skill was too shallow, simply full of flaws.”

“After mastering Intermediate Blade Technique, my current combat power has at least doubled!”

Li Ziyu was excited.

If Blood Qi was like internal cultivation in wuxia novels, then Knife Skill was the external cultivation that converted this internal cultivation into destructive power!

It was definitely a huge boost to a Warrior's strength.

Moreover, Knife Skill, like Blood Qi, was extremely difficult to improve, even harder to train than Blood Qi!

Blood Qi might still be improved through some rare treasures.

But Knife Skill could only rely on talent and continuous training!

“With Intermediate Blade Technique, if I also had a good weapon, killing a Shadow Cat head-on would be effortless!”

“If Intermediate Blade Technique is already this powerful, then what about the Advanced Knife Skill above Intermediate? Wouldn't that be even more formidable?”

…

“Holy crap, Captain, look! Why is there a moving small mountain over there?”

“Could it be some new species of ferocious beast!?”

On the towering city walls of Xu Jiang City, a Soldiers guarding the city pointed at a moving small mound in the distance and said to his captain in surprise.

It was the three Soldiers guarding the city whom Li Ziyu had met when he left the city.

The squad leader followed the direction of the Soldiers' finger and quickly picked up his binoculars to look:

“Stop making a fuss. What kind of ferocious beast? That’s a person!”

“It's just too many ferocious beast corpses, making it look like a small mountain!”

The squad leader put down his binoculars, then slapped the Soldiers on the head and reprimanded him.

“Uh, hunting so many ferocious beasts, this person is quite powerful!”

This time, the squad leader did not refute; instead, he nodded, his expression turning serious.

“Indeed, I also saw a Shadow Cat corpse on his back.”

“Even I would have to be cautious when encountering a ferocious beast like the Shadow Cat.”

“This person can hunt a Shadow Cat and carry so many ferocious beast corpses, so his strength is probably not weaker than mine!”

“Strength not weaker than yours? Captain, you are a First Grade Warrior! Then when this person arrives, we should go up and greet him.”

“But Captain, why do I feel like this person looks a bit familiar?”

The Soldiers pointed below the small mountain.

The squad leader was startled, and following the Soldiers' finger, he looked at the figure at the base of the small mountain.

When he saw the face clearly, he was immediately stunned.

Below this small mountain was actually the young man who had just left the city?

At this moment, Li Ziyu also happened to be looking in their direction. Seeing the squad leader standing on the city wall looking at him, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

“Brother, it seems I misjudged you just now. I didn't expect you to be so low-key, actually a Warrior of considerable strength?”

After the city gate was opened, the squad leader was the first to greet him.

He looked Li Ziyu up and down, his eyes filled with emotion.

“To be able to kill a Shadow Cat alone, your strength, brother, is stronger than I imagined!”

“Hehe, just lucky, just lucky.”

Li Ziyu scratched his head awkwardly and replied with a chuckle.

If the Shadow Cat hadn't been injured, and before he mastered Intermediate Blade Technique, he really might not have been able to kill it alone.

However, Li Ziyu's words, in the squad leader's eyes, were simply modesty.

An expression of admiration flashed in his eyes as he looked at Li Ziyu.

“Brother, not only are you strong, but you're also so humble. I, Wang Long, admire you!”

“Alright, brother, we won't delay you any longer. If there's a chance in the future, I'll treat you to a drink!”

Li Ziyu nodded, said goodbye to Wang Long and the others, and walked towards the city.

“Captain, this kid looks like he's not even seventeen yet. So young, is he really a First Grade Warrior!?”

“He just seemed to say he was from Third High School and was preparing for the Martial Exam. Is Third High School's strength already this strong?”

After Li Ziyu had walked far away, the Soldiers leaned close to Wang Long, curiously observing Li Ziyu's back.

Wang Long's gaze was serious.

“He's probably a hidden genius from Third High School.”

“To be able to hunt First Grade ferocious beasts at such a young age, it seems there will be a good show at this year's Martial Exam in Xu Jiang City.”

…

Xu Jiang City.

A three-story building located in the bustling downtown area.

Li Ziyu stood below the building, looking at its plaque, and read aloud, “Zhenwu Pavilion.”

“One of the top five Warrior shops in Xu Jiang City by reputation, mainly dealing in the acquisition and sale of ferocious beast corpses, weapons, and Knife Skills.”

This ancient, somewhat Hui-style three-story building, reminiscent of his previous life, was the shop Li Ziyu had carefully chosen.

He had originally wanted to find a shop closest to the city wall to sell these ferocious beast corpses.

But then he thought that he would surely frequently leave the city to hunt ferocious beasts in the future, so he decided to find a long-term partner.

This Zhenwu Pavilion was the result of his careful selection online, after checking various reviews and considering various factors.

It was said that its boss was a Second Grade Warrior with a good reputation, and there would be no arbitrary price reductions.

After watching for a while, Li Ziyu tightened the mountain-like sack on his back and stepped into Zhenwu Pavilion.

Along the way, his appearance had attracted no small amount of attention from passersby.

Although he often saw Warriors returning to the city after hunting ferocious beasts, it was rare to see someone carrying so many back, especially a First Grade ferocious beast like the Shadow Cat among them.

Many ordinary people had never left Xu Jiang City in their lives.

They were completely unfamiliar with ferocious beasts.

They had only seen ferocious beasts online and on television, and were incredibly curious.

Li Ziyu was practically followed and filmed the entire way.

There were even a few good-looking girls who actively came up to take photos with him and asked for his Flying Letter.

Helpless, Li Ziyu finally found an unmanned corner and stuffed the Shadow Cat's corpse into the sack.

Only then did the crowd of onlookers significantly decrease.

After all, although Red-Eyed Rabbits were also rare, they weren't unheard of on the market.

Many parents whose children were preparing for the Martial Exam would more or less buy some Red-Eyed Rabbit meat for their children to supplement their Blood Qi.

Li Ziyu walked in.

What met his eyes was a spacious, thousands-of-square-meter hall.

It was ancient in style, and within the hall, there were individual partitioned counters, displaying various weapons, pills, and so on.

It was evening, and the hall was brightly lit.

There were also many people dressed as Warriors, accompanied by tall, young female guides, either selecting items or sitting in the lounge area on the side of the hall, drinking tea.

As soon as Li Ziyu walked in, he attracted the attention of everyone in the hall.