40: Chapter 40 Slaying a Fifth-Rank Official

The first thing the Rift Scorpion did upon rushing out of the cave was not to attack, but to look down at the corpses of its kin scattered across the ground.

Then, it raised its head and stared at Li Zhengyang.

Its eight eyes were filled with killing intent.

Li Zhengyang raised his spear.

"I won't be paying for your kin's funeral expenses."

The leader let out a hiss, and its tail stinger whipped out a ray of dark green venom.

It had a range of twenty meters and a coverage width of three meters.

Li Zhengyang dodged to the left, the venom flying past his side and landing on the rock wall behind him.

Hiss.

Half of the rock wall was corroded, emitting white smoke as the stone began to drip like a melting candle.

The toxicity was indeed fierce.

But if it couldn't hit him, it was zero.

Li Zhengyang stepped on the Startling Cloud Step and charged forward, his dragon gall golden spear infused with blood energy, the light from its three blood grooves leaving afterimages in the rift.

The leader's scorpion pincers closed, clamping onto the spear shaft.

Quite strong.

Li Zhengyang didn't pull hard; instead, he released his right hand and smashed a fist into the joint of the scorpion pincer.

A full-power punch from a Martial Master.

Crack.

The scorpion pincer snapped.

Green blood sprayed from the break, and the leader retreated while shrieking.

Li Zhengyang pulled back his spear, using the Twist Technique.

The tip of the spear spun and drilled into the gap of the leader's abdominal armor.

The leader's body convulsed violently, its eight legs scratching wildly at the ground.

With the final strike, the Collapse Technique, he pierced through the center of its head shell.

The leader fell.

The ground shook.

Li Zhengyang squatted down to extract the beast core.

The leader's beast core was the size of a goose egg, dark green, and rich in spiritual energy.

A peak Level 4 beast core, with a market price of at least two hundred thousand.

Plus the two hundred thousand reward for the leader.

He cut off all the remaining tail stingers, extracted the beast cores, and stuffed them, along with the leader's, into his space ring.

On the way back, he found a few straggler scorpions in the caves on both sides of the rift that hadn't come out, and casually stabbed them to death.

In total, forty-seven.

When he exited the rift, the sun had just passed noon.

Including the round trip and the fight, it took an hour and a half.

Li Zhengyang was covered from head to toe in green scorpion blood, his hair matted into strands, and the blood on his face had dried and cracked into flakes.

As he walked, the dried fragments of scorpion blood fell off with a rustling sound.

He returned to the north gate of the fortress.

The sentry at the gate's first reaction upon seeing him was to raise his rifle.

"Who goes there?"

"Li Zhengyang, Sergeant Major, Blade-Breaking Force."

The sentry recognized his face and then looked at the green blood plasma on him.

"You are..."

"Killed some bugs."

The sentry slowly lowered his gun, but his expression was very strange.

When Li Zhengyang walked into the fortress, people on the street turned to look.

A young man covered in green blood, carrying a spear that was still dripping blood, walked swaggeringly toward the central district.

When he passed the training ground, two squads that were sparring stopped in unison.

When he passed the cafeteria, three heads poked out from the window.

"Is that... the new officer who just arrived this morning?"

"He went out alone? How did he end up like that?"

"Green blood, is that Rift Scorpion blood?"

"Impossible, the Falcon Squad was almost wiped out in the rift zone last month."

Li Zhengyang walked into the Quartermasters Office.

A female soldier with short hair was sitting behind the counter, organizing documents.

Li Zhengyang dumped the contents of his space ring onto the counter.

Clatter.

Forty-seven scorpion tail stingers, along with a peak beast core, piled up into a small mountain on the counter.

The green blood hadn't dried yet and was dripping down the counter.

The short-haired female soldier stepped back two steps.

"This..."

"A031, Rift Scorpion extermination, forty-seven including the leader, settle the account."

The female soldier looked down and counted three times, her fingers trembling.

"Forty-seven common individuals, fifty thousand each, totaling two million three hundred and fifty thousand. Leader bonus two hundred thousand. Total... two million five hundred and fifty thousand great xia currency."

"Transfer it."

Received.

Emerging from the Quartermasters Office, Li Zhengyang glanced at his phone.

One forty in the afternoon.

There was still over an hour until the meeting.

Enough time for a shower.

He had just reached the door of the public bathhouse when his communicator rang.

"Sergeant Major Li." Combat Staff Officer Song Qing's voice sounded a bit unsteady.

"What's wrong?"

"You... did you just go to the rift zone alone?"

"Yeah."

"Cleared it?"

"Cleared it."

The other end was silent for several seconds.

"Commander Han Tieshan said the meeting is canceled."

"Why?"

"He said formalism is meaningless, and wants you to come directly to the headquarters."

"Fine."

Li Zhengyang took a shower first and changed into clean clothes.

When he walked to the entrance of the headquarters, he found the atmosphere was not quite right.

There were four extra Martial Master-level guards at the entrance.

In the headquarters hall, a dozen or so officers were sitting, all quiet.

A person was sitting in the chair at the very back.

About sixty years old, with white hair and beard, a thin build, wearing a simple gray military uniform.

Commander Han Tieshan.

The oppressive feeling of the Martial King realm was not actively released, but the air in the entire hall felt heavy.

Li Zhengyang walked in and stood at attention.

"Report, Li Zhengyang, reporting for duty."

Commander Han Tieshan didn't look at him, but kept his head down, flipping through a document.

After flipping for a long time, he closed it.

"You arrived less than two hours ago and you already wiped out the Rift Scorpion nest?"

"I arrived when it was time; I didn't delay anything."

Commander Han Tieshan looked up.

"I've read your file. Twenty years old, Level 5 Martial Master, zero casualties during the beast tide at Fortress No. 13, champion of the military region selection tournament."

"Commander Xiao sent you to No. 7, saying you are a good seed."

Li Zhengyang didn't respond.

Commander Han Tieshan stood up, walked to the window, and looked north.

"Three hundred kilometers away in the Northern Wilderness, there is a territory of a Level 5 Demonic Beast, where an Abyssal Giant Lizard dwells. This thing has already killed seven of my scouts."

He turned around.

"Do you dare to go?"

Li Zhengyang asked reflexively.

"How much is the reward?"

Commander Han Tieshan's mouth twitched.

The staff officer next to him hurriedly flipped through some documents.

"Level 5 Demonic Beast kill bounty, one million."

Li Zhengyang nodded.

Just as he was about to speak, the door to the headquarters was pushed open.

A communications soldier ran in, gasping for breath.

"Report! Two strangers have arrived at the fortress's south gate."

Commander Han Tieshan frowned.

"Who are they?"

The communications soldier swallowed hard.

"Not sure, they don't look like military personnel."