Monarch Night
Chapter 37 - 3 What’s the Situation?_2

Chapter 37: Chapter 3 What’s the Situation?_2

But a sixth level Demon Beast essentially had the combat power of around a Fifth Grade Martial Master.

As for the seventh level... cough, I don’t even want to think about it.

Once one appears, I’d better be ready to become its excrement.

Fang Che’s goal wasn’t at all the first grade, second level, or third level beasts.

That was too slow.

So he headed straight for the depths of the jungle right from the start.

For the first and second level Demon Beasts startled along the way, he simply didn’t give them a second glance.

But the deeper he ventured, the more Fang Che felt something was amiss.

Yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

In front of a dense thicket, amid a thick patch of grass, Fang Che finally came to a sudden halt.

Looking at the bushes, at the grass, at the surrounding trees, that sense of ’something’s not quite right’ intensified.

But what exactly was amiss, he couldn’t say.

He fell into contemplation.

If there’s a feeling, there must be a situation. But where was it?

He focused and pondered, scrutinizing every blade of grass, every bush, every tree.

The oddity was in the environment, but what aspect of the environment was off?

After a long observation, a sudden inspiration flashed through his mind as he recalled the two men who had tried to waylay him.

Because of those two, Fang Che had paid extra attention to his surroundings.

At that time, those men stood under large trees with glistening leaves, the foliage plump and healthy.

Now before him, although the bushes were thriving, the leaves of both trees and grass were thin—not exactly malnourished, but not rich in nutrients either.

The bushes were slender, yet the bark was mottled, showing a great age.

All the trees nearby were the same—unlike the large, several-men-around trees encountered just inside the jungle, there was almost no tree large enough for a person to embrace.

But judging from the extent of mottling on their bark, they appeared to be much older than the trees outside.

Amongst the underbrush were some rotting animal carcasses.

Fang Che turned one over, finding it had decomposed thoroughly, but the color of the fur was still quite vivid.

After a long period of thought, Fang Che surveyed his surroundings, with the sunlight casting a dappled pattern through the trees.

’This forest is strange, by all logic, trees deep in a dense forest, rarely trodden by man, should be especially robust. Yet this vast expanse is exactly the opposite. Could it be geological?

There was no sense of imminent danger, just an inexplicable stillness.

Standing here, one could distinctly hear the beating of their own heart. There was a vague sense of trepidation, not very pronounced.

Beyond that, no anomalies were observed.

Nothing found.

Fang Che exhaled a breath.

"Best to focus on gathering Points for now," he thought. "These abnormalities... I can ponder them gradually. But under no circumstances should I overlook them."

...

In the shadows.

A horned, strange serpent, its skin almost identical to the surrounding environment, indistinguishable, emerged silently. With a flick of its long tongue, it ensnared two second level Little Demon Foxes nearby and pulled them into its mouth.

While it savored its meal, a sudden flash of sword light fell, pinning it right behind its head.

The serpent’s body spasmed, writhing violently, causing the nearby tree to sway.

But the sword had already fatally wounded the serpent.

Moments later, the sword was withdrawn, transforming into a sliver of light.

With a puff, the serpent’s head was severed.

Blood sprayed.

Fang Che let the snake blood drip onto his nameplate, then proceeded to place the serpent’s extracted core into it.

A circle of light appeared on the nameplate.

Both the core and the blood disappeared without a trace.

A few lines of text emerged.

Bibo City, Fang Che.

Points, Zero Point Five.

This serpent was undoubtedly a fourth level Demon Beast.

"Only fourth level."

Fang Che was somewhat dissatisfied and immediately got up, continuing deeper into the jungle.

Within a quarter of an hour, Fang Che’s Points changed to; three.

...

Sitting on a large tree branch, munching on dry rations, Fang Che’s heart weighed heavy.

’Earning these Points is indeed no easy task.’

Six fourth level Demon Beasts, for just three Points.

This was only because Fang Che had vast experience in the Jianghu and a clear understanding of the living habits of Demon Beasts, allowing him to quickly determine where beasts might be hiding based on the environment.

This indicated that the one hundred Points would be anything but easy to obtain.

’I need to find a group of Demon Beasts.’

’This entire area spanning hundreds of miles of trees and grass seems to suffer from malnutrition. I haven’t left the area yet. What could be the cause?’

Fang Che leaped down from the tree.

Several hours later.

Fang Che, covered in blood, returned to the carriage, where Ye Meng was shivering inside, "Young...Young Master, have you returned?"

"Look at how little courage you have."

Fang Che scoffed, stripped off his dirty clothes, changed into new ones, and threw them at Ye Meng, "Wash these when you get a chance."

"Yes."

After a grueling three hours of battle, Fang Che had earned twenty-one points.

The goal of one hundred points seemed far out of reach.

He urged the carriage forward and traveled a few dozen miles.

Then he stopped again, disembarked with his sword, and under Ye Meng’s gaze, he rustled into the jungle and instantly vanished from sight.

Ye Meng noticed that before entering the jungle, Fang Che paused, as if he was deliberately observing the trees by the road.

Unable to help himself, he wondered: What’s so interesting about the trees?

...

In the dense forest, numerous youths in martial attire were moving to and fro.

Some were still engaged in fierce battles.

Fang Che swiftly passed everyone as quick as an arrow and entered the edge of the forbidden area.

Here, there would certainly be high-level Demon Beasts.

Indeed, in a gorge, Fang Che discovered a pleasant surprise.

A pack of fifth-level Xueya Demon Wolves.

There were over a hundred wolves in the pack, and that was only what was visible.

"Holy crap, close to two hundred points!"

Fang Che became excited.

The next step was how to exterminate them.

After all, the Demon Wolves wouldn’t just stupidly wait here to be slaughtered.

Moreover, a pack of fifth-level Demon Wolves, all with considerable fighting power, would definitely have an alpha amongst them!

The wolves’ fur wasn’t shiny or healthy-looking; they seemed undernourished and probably very hungry, right?

He took a closer look.

The surrounding trees and bushes were the same—alive, but with poor nourishment, as if the land only ensured these plants’ basic survival.

Beyond that, nothing more.

Under some trees with animal carcasses, the leaves did not have thick and shiny blades, suggesting that the carcasses of the dead Demon Beasts didn’t provide any extra nutrients to the plants either.

After observing for a while, Fang Che quietly retreated.

A moment later, he returned with a bag of medicinal powder in his hand.

...

In a grand hall of Baiyun Martial Academy.

A group of academy staff were focusing on a large, illusory screen in front of them.

Beside it stood two pillars, brimming with Seven Colored Spirit Crystals, casting brilliant glows and supporting the screen with their pure energy.

The screen listed countless names, with points displayed after each.

"This year’s number of applicants is somewhat high."

One of the academy professors looked at the long list with interest, "Ten thousand spots, yet still not enough room; some didn’t make it onto the list."

Another sighed, "I just hope the ten-thousandth place doesn’t exceed thirty points."

The rest smiled wryly.

Since those beyond the ten-thousandth place didn’t appear on the list, it was impossible to decide whom to admit.

"This is the highest turnout in years; the most we’ve ever admitted was eight thousand two hundred. We’re still far from ten thousand. Don’t worry, it won’t exceed that."

"Right, the one currently in the last spot is still at zero points, and it’s been a day already."

"That’s true, from the nine thousand two hundredth place down, all are at zero points. Even above that, quite a few still have less than one point."

An elder with a grizzled beard looked up at the scrolling list and asked, "Are the top hundred fixed yet?"

"Not yet. But someone in the top ten has already reached fifty points."

"Oh? Let’s see."

Everyone looked at the top ten names on the far left and upper side of the screen.

Qiu Yunshang: sixty-two.

Ding Jie Ran: forty-nine.

Xie Gongping: forty-eight.

Huo Churan: forty-seven.

Mo Gan Yun: forty-three.

Fang Che: thirty-nine.

Ximen Xuri: thirty-eight.

...

While they were watching, suddenly Fang Che’s number twitched twice, instantly increasing to forty-three, tying with Mo Gan Yun, and then jumped again to forty-five, forty-seven, forty-nine... all the way up to ninety-one, placing him in first position.

It happened in the short span of a breath.

Then it stopped.

Everyone was utterly dumbfounded.

What... what just happened?

...

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.