22: A small opening doesn't count as an opening.

"Swish! Swish!"

A figure rapidly flickered through the forest.

Jiang Hao looked at Guan Er, who was on night watch, and shouted, "Wake everyone up, there might be a battle soon!"

Without Guan Er needing to call them, Liu Da and the others had already emerged from their tents.

Even with someone on night watch, everyone slept lightly on the battlefield. Jiang Hao's shout had already woken the three of them.

Liu Da was the first to ask, "Young Master Jiang, what happened?"

Jiang Hao, who had just finished his sports drink, looked at the four of them:

"I heard the sound of mutated beasts rioting ahead. It seems many mutated beasts are rushing towards our camp!"

"So quickly pack your things and evacuate towards the plains."

Liu Da gave a look to the other three to pack their things, then looked at Jiang Hao with a serious expression:

"Young Master Jiang, if it's truly a mutated beast riot, the number will definitely exceed a thousand. Even if your strength far surpasses low-tier, it's still too dangerous alone."

Liu Da looked at Hou Si, interrupting what Jiang Hao was about to say:

"Hou Si and I will go with you. After all, when you repel those mutated beasts later, you'll need someone to help process the corpses, won't you?"

At this moment, Hou Si also threw his half-packed belongings to Zhang San and excitedly leaned over, saying:

"That's right, Young Master Jiang, what's your status! How can you do the work of processing mutated beasts yourself!"

As he spoke, he raised his saber and shield: "I know that in battle, my big brother and I can only be a hindrance, so we'll follow behind and wait for you to finish off those beasts."

"Just don't dislike us for slacking off," Hou Si said with a laugh, looking at his third brother, who was forced to pack.

Guan Er suddenly interjected:

"Big Brother, how long will it take the two of you to clean up so many corpses? It'll delay Young Master Jiang. I'll help too; I use dual sabers, so I'm super fast at processing mutated beasts."

"Let Third Brother, who only uses a spear to stab people, guard the camp's supplies alone."

Guan Er naturally dropped the things in his hands, effectively shutting his third brother up.

Zhang San looked around and could only say, "...I'll guard the home!"

Jiang Hao smiled, watching the interaction between the four. He remembered learning during a mealtime chat that Zhang San wasn't married but had adopted several orphans.

Usually, when dangerous situations arose, everyone tacitly agreed to let Zhang San stay behind or go for rescue.

Of course, Zhang San wouldn't take any of the spoils afterward.

They had no blood relations but were closer than some blood-related brothers.

Jiang Hao knew this was their goodwill and nodded, saying, "Alright! Then follow me. Just remember to stay behind when the time comes."

"Don't worry! Follow me, and everyone will get a share in seven days!"

...A few kilometers away from the camp.

Over two thousand mutated beasts gathered together; some were fighting each other, some lay on the ground licking something, and others had red eyes, gnawing at anything they saw.

The corpse of a certain person was in the middle of that group of mutated beasts, no longer visible.

Wearing a ghillie suit sprayed with scent neutralizer, Jiang Hao looked at the flying mutated beasts casting red shadows under the moonlight in the sky, a solemn expression on his face.

Blazing Fire Crow.

A type of gregarious flying mutated beast, always one of the most highly rewarded mutated beasts in the trading market.

Adult Blazing Fire Crow possess Third-tier strength and are extremely vengeful. If you accidentally offend one in the mutated beast battlefield, then congratulations:

You will be hunted to death by hundreds of Third-tier Blazing Fire Crow!

Blazing Fire Crow can condense flames and spit out fireballs imbued with fire poison. Don't underestimate these fireballs.

Although similar to the fireballs of the Spellcasting School, you can dodge them if you're fast enough. But Blazing Fire Crow can fly!

As the ancients said: "Low against high, big trouble."

Moreover, Blazing Fire Crow are extremely fast. With hundreds or thousands of Third-tier fireballs raining down on you from the sky, even a Fourth-tier Martial Artist can only activate their Yuan Power shield and run!

"It seems I can only safely farm points after dealing with the Blazing Fire Crow in the sky first." Jiang Hao observed the movements of the Blazing Fire Crow.

Fortunately, Blazing Fire Crow have small frames, low health, and are relatively fragile.

One Flying Firmament Void-Breaking Slash, capable of instantly killing a Third-tier mutated beast, could take out several.

When most of the Blazing Fire Crow' figures overlapped in the air.

"Chich!" Dozens of pale blue Saber Qi slashed through the air, and in an instant, over two hundred Blazing Fire Crow were killed and fell.

The mutated beasts on the ground looked at Jiang Hao's figure, disregarded their initial opponents, and charged over.

The remaining two hundred or so Blazing Fire Crow shrieked loudly, then spat out fireballs.

Unfortunately.

In reality, there's no such thing as friendly fire immunity.

Jiang Hao did not retreat; instead, he charged towards the mutated beast horde!

Wielding his spirit weapon long saber, Jiang Hao continuously flickered through the mutated beast horde, reaping their lives. From a distance, it looked as if a single person was dancing among the beasts.

The fireballs falling from the sky were dodged by Jiang Hao using Nine Flashes of an Instant the moment he sensed them.

The ground mutated beasts, however, suffered terribly, being mercilessly targeted by their "own kind."

Although Jiang Hao felt a little bad about the kills stolen by the Blazing Fire Crow.

It didn't matter!

This wave tonight would bring in at least 2000 points!

Jiang Hao silently calculated his Essence consumption, occasionally unleashing a Saber Qi to kill a few Blazing Fire Crow.

Not far from the chaotic battle, Liu Da and the others watched Jiang Hao slaughtering the beasts with adoration. Even the group of Blazing Fire Crow couldn't do anything to Jiang Hao!

"Is Young Master Jiang really just Third-tier? I'd believe it if you said he was a Fifth-tier Martial Artist!" Hou Si said admiringly.

"The video of Young Master Jiang dealing with the Direwolf pack alone during the day went viral online. The video from that little girl's live stream this morning was cut and edited, then uploaded to Blue Star Net," Liu Da said, chewing on a piece of beef jerky as he put it in his mouth.

"Whoa, Big Brother, when did you bring beef jerky? Quick, take it out and let's share!"

Guan Er also silently joined the battle for beef jerky... "Shocking! A Mid-tier Martial Artist Shamelessly Steals Kills, Martial School Student Cries Out About Senior Publicly 'Fishing' and Taunting!"

Elder Li fell silent, looking at the video pushed to him by the System.

"That kid Jiang Hao really learned the Flying Firmament Void-Breaking Slash, and he even unleashed so many slashes at once. As expected of a Prodigy from our Yunxiao Prefecture, with a profound Foundation!"

Elder Li contentedly gave a thumbs-up to the streamer who posted the video.

A window popped up. Elder Li glanced at the note, his face darkened, and he clicked to connect.

A middle-aged man on the screen light-heartedly said:

"Old Li, you're doing great! You saw that super popular video, right? Did you secretly take on a talented student behind my back?"

"Sand-player, whether I take on students or not is none of your business! Don't bother me if you have nothing to do, I'm hanging up!" Elder Li made to hang up the phone, but the smile in his eyes betrayed him.

"Alright, alright! Old Li, your Yunxiao Prefecture produced such a Prodigy. How did you manage to hide it for so long? Are you planning to call and mock me after the National College Entrance Examination!"

The middle-aged man showed an annoyed expression. His Jinsha Prefecture hadn't produced a Prodigy he was satisfied with for many years. Yet, his old rival was so lucky.

Elder Li looked at the man's envious expression, feeling as if he had been walking outside on a hot summer day, drenched in sweat, and suddenly pulled out a bottle of ice-cold 'happy water' and chugged it down.

Extremely refreshing.

Elder Li sat in his armchair, looking at the screen, and calmly said:

"He's not my student; I just gave him the Martial Skill."

"But that kid also lived up to expectations, fully mastering it in a day. His talent is decent; getting a perfect score in the National College Entrance Examination shouldn't be a problem."

"Your Jinsha Prefecture surely has Prodigies stronger than this kid, right? Maybe Jinsha Prefecture can take first place among the Shenzhou Martial Arts School freshmen this time."

The middle-aged man on the screen's forehead twitched, and he directly ended the video call.

"Haha, he's mad!"

Elder Li laughed triumphantly, looking at his old rival, who had been mentally attacked from afar and had his defenses broken. He then immediately sent a message to Jiang Hao's fei xin account.

[really want to retire: Kid Jiang, well done! Have a good time in the mutated beast battlefield for a few days, use Flying Firmament Void-Breaking Slash more in front of passersby, and I'll send you a gift then!]