Xiao Ke neatly carved the zombie nucleus from the head of the Level-8 Demon Apostle. It was the size of his palm, heavy, and its color was a much purer, deeper shade than that of a common zombie.
He grinned, holding the nucleus out to Ye Yun. "Here, Yun. You take this. When they tally the points, put it under your name."
Xiao Ke was going by the book—the unspoken rules of the hunt. Credit went to whoever landed the final blow. While some teams pooled their scores, the Autumn Hunt was an individual competition. The new Emperor wanted to see who stood out, and by that logic, the kill was Ye Yun's.
But Ye Yun didn't take it. She just rolled her eyes. "Why are you handing me that disgusting thing, Ke? You hang onto it. We'll put it under your name."
Xiao Ke's eyes went wide. "No way. You're the one who took down the Demon Apostle."
Ye Yun flashed a brilliant smile. "And you just stood there and watched?"
"I helped," Xiao Ke admitted, "but they're not scoring by team, only by individual. You got the final hit, so it's yours. It's only fair…"
Before he could finish, Ye Yun cut him off with a lazy wave of her hand. "I don't care. We killed it together, so why does it have to be in my name? Can't it be in yours? That's it. It's decided."
Xiao Ke was speechless, half amused and half frustrated. He knew her aversion to grime was part of it, but the real reason was obvious: she was handing him the glory.
"Yun…" he started, looking at her in a new light. Finding a friend—a true brother-in-arms—was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Ye Yun blinked. "What?"
A slow grin spread across Xiao Ke's face. "Good thing you're not a girl."
Ye Yun's heart skipped a beat, but she kept her expression perfectly calm, not a single crack in her composure. She even managed a look of mild curiosity. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You've got me so damn grateful," Xiao Ke said with a laugh. "If you were a girl, I'd probably have to marry you on the spot. Ha!"
Though Ye Yun fought to stay calm, a deep blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks. She shot him a glare that was more flustered than angry. "Ke!"
Xiao Ke just laughed it off. He knew his friend was a bit sensitive and embarrassed easily, and the thought that Ye Yun was actually a woman never even crossed his mind. "Hey, I'm just kidding. Don't take it seriously!"
Ye Yun just huffed, her heart still hammering against her ribs. Did he know something? Was he testing me?
But one look at his carefree expression told her it was just an off-the-cuff remark. Nothing more.
After clearing the area, they set off again, this time sticking together. They'd learned their lesson: as a team, they could take on high-level zombies with confidence. And bigger zombies meant bigger scores. It was a solid plan.
They pushed deeper into the sprawling Qianlong Mountain Range as the night wore on, picking off a dozen or so low-level zombies along the path. They figured that was it for the night when they suddenly heard a commotion up ahead—shouts and screams of people running for their lives.
They exchanged a look. "Trouble," they said in unison.
A moment later, a group of young nobles and their retainers burst from the treeline, scrambling over each other in a blind panic. Something monstrous was right behind them.
The new Emperor's Autumn Hunt had attracted all sorts—princes, royal heirs, and the sons of powerful families. By the rules, each noble could bring two guards, and any kills made by the guards would count toward their master's score. The only catch was that a guard's Origin Power could only be one level higher than their master's. It was a rule designed to keep things fair; otherwise, every rich kid would just hire a Level-10 Great General to do all the work, turning the competition into a joke.
These nobles were all around Level-5—soft, spoiled, and clearly out of their depth. Their guards weren't much better, capping out at Level-6. But what could have sent such a large group running scared?
Then they saw it. Behind the fleeing nobles, trees were snapping like twigs as a colossal figure crashed through the forest.
It stood nearly ten feet tall, bigger than an armored truck. It had no head, but its torso was a grotesque canvas of eyes. Its arms were pure muscle, obliterating anything in their path.
"What in the hell is that?" Xiao Ke breathed.
"A Titan Zombie," Ye Yun said instantly. "Level-7. All brute strength, capable of tearing down city walls. They're incredibly strong, but slow and clumsy. If you're stronger, you can take it. If you're not, you don't stand a chance. Want to give it a shot? I'll cover you."
"Let's do it," Xiao Ke said without hesitation.
He drew his Fierce General battle blade and launched himself forward, a hawk diving toward its prey. The surge of power in his veins made him feel impossibly light, as if gravity had loosened its grip. He moved with blinding speed.
The nobles, still running for their lives, saw Xiao Ke charge the Titan. One of them noticed his blade didn't glow—no lightsaber. That meant he was below Level-7. To challenge a Level-7 Titan without that power? It was suicide.
"Hey, kid, get back!" one of them yelled. "That's a Level-7 Titan! You can't fight that thing!"
But it was too late. Xiao Ke was already face-to-face with the monster.
The Titan roared and swung its right arm—as thick as a man's torso—down on him, aiming to turn him into a red paste on the forest floor. The nobles and their guards gasped, certain they were about to watch him die.
He's finished, they all thought.
Just as the Titan's massive fist was about to connect, Xiao Ke planted his left foot and pushed. The ground cracked under the force of the movement, and he shot into the air like a rocket, delivering a brutal kick to the monster's broad chest.
To the onlookers, the kick looked like a pebble hitting a mountain. But a deep, resonant boom echoed through the forest as his foot made contact. The impact was like a cannon blast, sending the Titan's enormous body hurtling backward. It crashed through a line of trees before finally slamming to the ground.
The nobles and their guards just stared, dumbfounded. The sheer power required to do something like that was unimaginable.
Shakily, the Titan struggled back to its feet. A deep, crater-like dent had formed in its chest, spiderweb cracks spreading out from the point of impact. Green ooze seeped from the fissures. Xiao Ke's kick had done serious damage.
A Titan's crystal core was located in its chest, right where its heart should be. Wounded and disoriented, the monster lumbered forward like a malfunctioning robot, determined to crush the tiny human who had dared to injure it.
It swung its fist again. This time, Xiao Ke didn't dodge. He met the attack head-on, his Fierce General blade slicing through the air. Fueled by a raw combination of Origin Power and pure physical strength, the blade was a blur of deadly precision. It connected with the Titan's arm with a sickening crack, severing the limb clean off at the wrist.
The Titan reeled, shocked and enraged. It couldn't comprehend how a human who couldn't even wield a lightsaber could be so powerful.
Before it could react, Xiao Ke coiled and sprang. The ground beneath him shattered as he launched himself skyward. Soaring through the air, he brought his blade up in a devastating arc, slicing from the Titan's abdomen all the way through its fractured chest, effectively gutting it.
Xiao Ke executed a flawless mid-air flip and landed softly on the ground, his back to the monster. He turned to face the stunned nobles and gave Ye Yun a quick, confident smile.
Behind him, the thin gash on the Titan's chest split wide open. For a moment, it stood frozen, then it crashed to the earth with the force of a fallen mountain.
A wave of stunned chatter washed over the nobles and their guards.
"My God, that guy's insane!"
"If he were a Valiant General, maybe… but he's just a Battle General! Taking down a Titan is impossible at that level."
"Look at his uniform. He's from Glory School. They're going to be the talk of the town after this. The Emperor will be thrilled."
"Glory has been in Hanlin Academy's shadow for too long. If they pull off a big win, His Majesty is sure to reward them well."
Ye Yun watched Xiao Ke from a distance, a satisfied smile playing on her lips. This was exactly what she had wanted. Posing as a man to attend Glory and compete in the hunt was one thing, but if she drew too much attention and her real identity was revealed during the final palace examinations, it would be a disaster. She didn't need the high scores, so she was more than happy to give the credit to Xiao Ke.
Her only concern was that if his score was too high, people might get suspicious. A Level-5 Battle General achieving so much would raise questions. But now, she had witnesses. When these nobles went back and told everyone what they saw, it would cement Xiao Ke's reputation and validate his accomplishments. It was all part of her plan.
Xiao Ke dug the crystal core from the Titan's chest. It was smaller and less pure than the Demon Apostle's nucleus, which confirmed the theory that a zombie's power was concentrated in its core. He found himself wondering just how big the core of a legendary Zombie Emperor would be.
With the Titan dead, they could have headed back, but a quick calculation told them there was still time. They said their goodbyes to the stunned nobles and pushed on, determined to make the most of every last minute. The stakes of this hunt were too high to quit early.
The hunt officially ended at noon. Anyone who wasn't back by then was disqualified.
By 9:00 AM, contestants began to trickle in, mostly the princes and nobles who were there for the experience and just wanted a respectable score.
Around 10:00 AM, Shang Yang from Hanlin Academy and Ling Feng from Glory School returned at almost the same time. The rivalry between the two schools was the main event, a proxy battle between the Imperial House and the powerful noble families. Everyone was watching.
The scoring was exponential: 1 point for a Level-1 zombie, 2 for a Level-2, 4 for a Level-3, and so on, all the way up to 128 points for a Level-8.
Ling Feng was a decent warrior, but he'd had a rough night, ending with a measly 36 points. Shang Yang, on the other hand, had failed to track down Xiao Ke but had stumbled into two Level-5 zombies and one Level-6, giving him a total of 72 points—exactly double Ling Feng's score.
Hanlin Academy was in the lead, and the mood among the new Emperor and the Glory School instructors turned grim.
Not long after, Glory's remaining two elites, Xiao Ke and Ye Yun, finally returned. Ye Yun's score was even lower than Ling Feng's, barely in the double digits.
But then Xiao Ke stepped forward to register his kills. As he laid out his collection of zombie nuclei, a hush fell over the crowd. Murmurs turned to gasps when they saw the nucleus of a Level-8 Demon Apostle and the crystal core of a Level-7 Titan.
When the final tally was announced, the number was staggering: 254 points.
In a field of the empire's finest, Xiao Ke was in a league of his own.
When the news reached the Emperor, he boomed with laughter. "I knew it! I knew Xiao Ke wouldn't let me down!"
Meanwhile, Hanlin's other two elites, Luo Zhenglong and Liang Jian, were still missing. Their locators had gone dark hours ago, and the outlook was bleak. The Imperial Guard was dispatched to search for them as the final announcement was made: with a record-breaking score of 254, Xiao Ke of Glory School was the champion of the Autumn Hunt.
The crowd buzzed with talk of this dark horse who had come out of nowhere to dominate the competition. But across the field, one man, Qiao Zhennan, wasn't celebrating. His face was a mask of cold fury. And even from a distance, Xiao Ke could feel the full, murderous weight of his gaze.