The urban district was the area with the highest population density in the past, and it was also the place that had suffered the most severe devastation when the Fierce Beasts invaded.
Naturally, because of this, the buildings in the urban district were even more ruined than those in the suburbs.
Everywhere Xu Jingming looked, there was almost not a single intact building.
"Great Xia Nation uses real combat as the method of assessment for the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam. Besides testing strength, they probably also intend for Awakener candidates to personally witness the destructive power of Fierce Beasts."
Great Xia Nation's protection of its citizens could be described as extremely thorough.
Aside from those unlucky enough to live in cities that had once been breached by Fierce Beasts—
Most citizens would never encounter a Fierce Beast in real life throughout their entire lives.
For ordinary people, this posed no problem.
But when it came to cultivating Ability Users, the sooner they understood the brutality of Fierce Beasts, the better.
"Roar—"
Just as Xu Jingming was thinking, a deep growl rang out as a Fierce Beast burst from between the ruins.
It looked somewhat like a tiger, but its size was more than a full circle larger. Its fur was a mix of yellow and cyan.
The most eye-catching feature was the blade-like bone knives growing from its forearms.
Though made of bone, they gleamed with a metallic luster.
Behind it, a whip-like tail dragged along the ground.
"A Tier 1 Fierce Beast — Blade Arm Tiger."
Xu Jingming narrowed his eyes.
Like the Shadow Cat, the Blade Arm Tiger was a relatively common Fierce Beast.
Determining its strength was simple—just observe the length of the bone blades on its forearms.
If the blade length was less than 20 cm, it was considered unrated.
If it exceeded 20 cm, it had entered the Tier ranks.
The Blade Arm Tiger before him had forearm blades measuring 22 to 23 centimeters, making it a lower-tier Tier 1 Fierce Beast.
Compared to the unrated Blade Arm Tigers Xu Jingming had previously encountered, this beast's aura was significantly more powerful.
Its amber-colored eyes burned with intense bloodlust.
"Looks like my luck is good. I just entered the middle zone and already ran into a Tier 1 Fierce Beast."
Xu Jingming finished the remaining liquid from his nutrition bar and felt fullness return to his stomach. A slight smile formed at the corner of his mouth.
"Perfect timing to test my Spearmanship."
He casually tossed aside the empty nutrition bar.
Instead of retreating, Xu Jingming advanced, dragging the obsidian spear as he charged toward the Blade Arm Tiger.
Clang—Clang—Clang—
The obsidian spear scraped against the cracked concrete road, producing harsh friction sounds and scattering sparks.
As a Tier 1 Fierce Beast, the Blade Arm Tiger already possessed basic intelligence.
Seeing a weak-looking human dare to initiate an attack first enraged the naturally violent creature.
"ROAR—!"
Its massive body charged forward like a tank.
Even ignoring its massive jaws and razor-sharp bone blades—
Its sheer body mass alone was enough to overwhelm most candidates.
But Xu Jingming showed no fear.
Not even a trace of panic appeared in his eyes.
With a powerful motion of his right hand, the obsidian spear that had been dragging on the ground spun upward like a windmill.
Then—
He thrust forward violently!!
Xu Jingming originally had 140 Physique points, already stronger than most candidates.
Now that his Advanced Spearmanship had been achieved, his thrusting speed had increased several times over.
Thus—
Facing this lightning-fast thrust—
Puchi!
The Tier 1 Blade Arm Tiger didn't even have time to react before a bowl-sized hole appeared in its abdomen.
The wound was incredibly deep, piercing through thick fur and flesh.
Through the blood pouring out, the writhing internal organs could even be seen!
"Aoooow—!"
An ordinary creature struck like this would have instantly lost its ability to move.
But the Blade Arm Tiger only cried out in pain before becoming even more ferocious, lunging forward wildly.
"As expected of a Tier 1 Fierce Beast. Its vitality is impressive."
Without using his ability, Xu Jingming had never expected a one-shot kill.
Gripping the obsidian spear tightly, he engaged the Blade Arm Tiger in battle.
With the support of Advanced Spearmanship, the spear moved in Xu Jingming's hands like a roaming dragon.
Each thrust left another bloody hole in the Blade Arm Tiger's body.
Due to the spear's superior reach, the beast was completely unable to land any effective attack on Xu Jingming.
And just like that—
In less than one minute—
This Tier 1 Fierce Beast, capable of killing 99% of exam candidates, was slain by Xu Jingming.
Its massive body, riddled with holes, collapsed heavily to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
Xu Jingming himself remained completely unharmed.
Not even a single drop of blood stained his combat suit.
This was the advantage of using a spear.
If your strength wasn't enough, you would be stabbed to death without ever touching your opponent.
[Killed one Tier 1 Blade Arm Tiger — Ability Points +10]
Along with the Blade Arm Tiger's death, the system notification sounded.
"Killing a Tier 1 Fierce Beast grants nearly double the Ability Points compared to unrated beasts!"
Xu Jingming's eyes lit up.
"In that case, I need to hurry and hunt more Fierce Beasts to harvest Ability Points."
He slung the obsidian spear across his back.
Without pausing even for a moment, Xu Jingming dashed toward the direction where the roars of Fierce Beasts were densest.
...
According to Fierce Beast strength distribution, the ruined town was divided into four zones:
Outer Zone
Middle Zone
Core Zone
Inner Core Zone
Most candidates only had the strength to operate within the Outer Zone.
Only a small number dared to enter the Middle Zone.
As for the Core Zone—even the elite Rocket Class students from Jiangcheng First High School would hesitate before entering.
And the Inner Core Zone, where Tier 2 Fierce Beasts existed—
Across all of Jiangcheng, almost no one had the strength to step foot there.
That was territory reserved for geniuses from provincial capital cities.
With his S-class ability — Purple Heavenly Divine Lightning, Xu Jingming naturally had the qualifications to enter.
However, due to the limited duration of his ability, Xu Jingming planned to remain in the Middle Zone for now.
He would enter the Core Zone only during the final two hours.
Of course, in real wilderness zones, there were no such neat strength divisions.
You might be walking peacefully when suddenly—
A high-tier Fierce Beast would appear and devour you.
Xu Jingming understood clearly that this was the only opportunity currently available to him to accumulate large quantities of Ability Points.
So after killing the Blade Arm Tiger, he immediately began searching for more Fierce Beasts.
Whenever he found one, he didn't even need to use his ability.
Relying purely on his powerful Physique and Advanced Spearmanship, he could kill them.
Find Fierce Beasts!
Kill!
Gain Ability Points!
Find Fierce Beasts!
Kill!
Gain Ability Points!
During this relentless slaughter, Xu Jingming discovered a pattern—
The Ability Points gained were strongly correlated with the beast's combat strength.
For example:
Shadow Cats and One-Horned Rhinos—
Even at the same tier level, a single One-Horned Rhino could fight off three or four Shadow Cats.
Because of this—
The Ability Points gained from killing a peak unrated One-Horned Rhino could be equal to those from killing a lower-tier Tier 1 Shadow Cat.
However, this pattern didn't matter much to Xu Jingming right now.
He only needed to keep killing!
And so—
Without a moment's rest—
Xu Jingming was either fighting Fierce Beasts or searching for them.
As the number of slain beasts increased—
The Ability Points on his system panel surged rapidly.
And at the same time—
His Martial Arts College Entrance Exam score skyrocketed at an astonishing rate.
What Xu Jingming didn't know was—
The scene unfolding here had already caused a massive sensation outside the battlefield.