The city center had the densest population and had also suffered the worst destruction from the beasts back then.
Of course, because of that, the buildings here looked even more dilapidated than those in the suburbs.
Wherever Astret looked, hardly a single intact structure remained.
Great Xia Nation uses real combat for the Martial Arts college entrance exam—not just to test strength, but probably to let Awakeners witness first-hand the devastating power of the beasts.
Great Xia Nation's protection of its citizens could be called extreme.
Except for the unlucky few whose cities had been breached by beasts,
Most people might never see a beast in real life.
For ordinary folk, that was perfectly fine.
But to cultivate Ability Users, the sooner they understood the cruelty of beasts, the better.
"Roar—"
While Astret was thinking, a low growl rang out as a beast sprang from the rubble.
It resembled a tiger, but its body was more than twice as large, its fur a mix of yellow and cyan.
Most eye-catching were the blade-like bones jutting from its forelegs.
Though clearly bone, they gleamed like polished metal.
Behind it, a whip-like tail dragged along the ground.
"First-rank beast—Blade-Armed Tiger."
Astret narrowed his eyes.
Like the Shadow Cat, the Blade-Armed Tiger was a fairly common beast.
Judging its rank was simple: just measure the bone blades on its forelegs.
Anything shorter than 20 cm was sub-rank; longer than that meant a ranked beast.
The blades on this one were 22 or 23 cm—lower first-rank.
Compared to the sub-rank Blade-Armed Tigers he'd met before, this one's aura was clearly much stronger.
Its amber eyes surged with bloodlust.
"Looks like my luck's good—first-rank beast right after entering the middle zone."
He downed the last of the energy gel, felt the warmth in his stomach, and smiled.
"Perfect target to test my spear work!"
He tossed the empty tube aside, then charged the tiger, Black Obsidian Spear dragging behind him.
Claaang—
The spear scraped across the broken concrete, sparks flying with the harsh sound.
As a first-rank beast, this Blade-Armed Tiger already had some intelligence.
Seeing a puny human take the initiative enraged it.
"Roar—"
With a furious growl, the massive body barreled at Astret like a tank.
Even without considering its maw or razor bone-blades,
Its sheer size was enough to stump most examinees.
Yet Astret showed no fear, not a trace of panic in his eyes.
With a twist of his right arm, the dragging spear whipped up like a windmill,
Then stabbed straight at the tiger!
With a base vitality of 140, his Physique was stronger than most candidates.
Now that his spear art had reached advanced level, his thrusts were several times faster.
Facing this lightning-like strike,
A sickening squelch—before the beast could react, a bowl-sized hole appeared in its abdomen.
The wound was deep, piercing fur and hide; through the gushing blood, organs could be seen squirming.
"Awoo—"
An ordinary creature would have collapsed from such damage,
But the tiger only howled in pain, then lunged even more savagely.
"Worthy of a first-rank beast—tough life force."
Without using his ability, Astret hadn't expected a one-shot kill.
So he lifted the Black Obsidian Spear and clashed with the tiger.
Under the advanced spear art, the weapon danced like a dragon.
Every thrust left another hole in the beast.
Unable to close the distance, the tiger couldn't land a single solid hit… In less than a minute,
The first-rank Blade-Armed Tiger that could kill 99% of examinees lay dead.
Its riddled body crashed down, raising a cloud of dust.
Astret was unscathed—not a drop of blood on his combat suit.
That was the beauty of a spear:
If you lacked strength, you'd be stabbed to death without ever touching your foe.
"Killed one first-rank Blade-Armed Tiger: ability points +10."
As the tiger died, the system notification sounded.
"Killing a first-rank beast gives almost double the ability points of a sub-rank!"
His eyes lit up. "Then I need to kill faster and harvest more points."
He rested the spear on his back and, without pause, sprinted toward where the beast roars were densest.
According to beast strength, the ruined town was divided into four zones: outer, middle, core, and inner-core.
Most candidates could only move about the outer zone.
Only a few dared enter the middle zone.
Even the top students from Jiangcheng's premier Rocket Classes hesitated before the core zone.
As for the inner-core with second-rank beasts, almost no one from Jiangcheng could set foot there—
That was the hunting ground of prodigies from the provincial capital!
With S-rank Violet Heaven Divine Lightning, Astret was qualified,
But limited by ability duration, he chose to stay in the middle zone for now,
Planning to enter the core zone only in the final two hours.
Of course, the real wilderness had no neatly labeled outer or middle zones;
You might be walking along and a high-rank beast would pop out and devour you.
Astret knew this was his only chance to rack up ability points in bulk.
So after killing the tiger, he began searching for more beasts.
He didn't even need abilities; raw Physique and advanced spear art were enough to slay them.
Find beasts. Kill. Gain points.
Find beasts. Kill. Gain points… In the process,
He noticed a pattern: Ability Point gain correlated more with beast strength than species.
Take Shadow Cat and One-Horned Rhino, for instance.
At the same rank, one rhino could handle three or four cats.
Because of that,
Killing a peak sub-rank One-Horned Rhino gave as many points as killing a lower first-rank Shadow Cat.
For now, though, the rule hardly mattered—just keep killing!
Thus, Astret never paused: either fighting beasts or hunting for them.
As his kill count rose, the ability points on his system panel soared, and his exam score rocketed.
What he didn't know was the sensation this spectacle was causing outside.