Chapter 35

"Are there so many wolves?" Li Miaomiao, wearing soft leather armor, held a small shield in her left hand and a long sword in her right. The small shield was only thirty centimeters in diameter, slightly larger than a human palm.

At this moment, Li Miaomiao felt a bit anxious. The wolves were simply too large and too fast.

"Is this just the first floor of the Star Tower?" Li Miaomiao watched as the wolf pack began to encircle and approach, and she hurriedly ran, "I have to run, find an opportunity while moving! I can't let these wolves form a siege."

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

The wolf pack was skilled at coordination, moving quickly, and patiently compressing Li Miaomiao's range of movement. They would never attack alone.

"These wolves are too cunning," Li Miaomiao thought bitterly, "I can't find a chance to pick them off one by one."

As her range of movement became smaller, three wolves finally pounced.

Swoosh.

Li Miaomiao darted forward, holding the small shield in her left hand to block the wolf's claws, and swiftly thrust her sword with her right hand, piercing the wolf's neck.

After all, the virtual world had been open for seven days, and Li Miaomiao had received daily private training from Xu Jingming. Xu Jingming had taught her, "You only need to learn one move now—thrust! This is the most suitable move for a sword. Thrust forward, thrust backward, thrust with a reverse hand, thrust while turning... In short, no matter how your body moves, even if you fall, you must be able to thrust this sword!"

"Hold a small shield in your left hand. Since you haven't practiced with shields, a large shield would affect your sword skills. A small shield... will allow your left hand to block and defend." Xu Jingming taught her step by step.

Plop, plop!

Li Miaomiao dodged left and right, her small shield barely blocking the attacks, and her sword thrusts were swift, killing three wolves in quick succession. But more wolves pounced.

"Finished." Seeing the large pack of wolves rushing towards her, Li Miaomiao instantly clicked to exit.

After exiting, she returned outside the Star Tower, looking at the towering structure, Li Miaomiao muttered, "The first floor of the Star Tower already has over a hundred wolves? What will the third floor be like? I wonder how Jingming is doing."

******

The second floor of the Star Tower was a vast, snow-covered primeval forest.

"So cold."

Xu Jingming felt the cold seeping through his armor, invading his body. He carefully observed his surroundings.

He saw a huge cave ahead, with five giant brown bears playing outside. The appearance of these brown bears made Xu Jingming's expression more serious. These giant brown bears were over four meters long, with high, hunched shoulders, and their massive bodies were terrifying. Their thick, long brown fur, formed in the cold environment, served as a natural armor!

"Giant brown bears over four meters long, weighing at least three thousand kilograms. With their physique, a single paw strike could have tens of thousands of kilograms of impact force. Once they charge, their momentum is even more terrifying. Humans are not suited to engage them head-on," Xu Jingming observed and made a judgment, "Their thick fur and subcutaneous fat make it difficult for a spear to penetrate. I need to target their vital points."

The five giant brown bears all stared at Xu Jingming, the unexpected visitor.

"Roar." One of the giant brown bears suddenly moved. Despite its massive, fat body, its speed was terrifying when it charged.

When this giant brown bear suddenly charged at Xu Jingming, the other four brown bears stood up but didn't rush to attack, clearly believing their companion could handle the intruder.

Xu Jingming stood in the snow, calmly watching the charging giant brown bear.

The brown bear ran very fast, and when it was close, it leaped up, its massive paw striking out.

Swoosh.

Xu Jingming moved his feet, nimbly stepping aside, causing the giant brown bear to miss.

As he dodged, Xu Jingming also thrust his spear.

"Swish!" The spear, like a venomous snake, instantly pierced the giant bear's neck, a vital point. However, Xu Jingming felt immense resistance, and the spearhead only penetrated a little before stopping.

"Hum."

Xu Jingming pulled back his spear to avoid the bear's counterattack and thrust again.

This thrust was faster, the spear tearing through the air with a peculiar sound, and the tip instantly pierced the giant bear's neck to a considerable depth. As he pulled the spear out, blood gushed out, and the giant bear began to collapse.

"An ordinary thrust isn't powerful enough; it didn't penetrate deeply. Using the Shadow Thrust, I managed to kill one giant bear," Xu Jingming evaluated, looking at the distant cave. The other four giant bears, which had not initially considered the intruder a threat, now felt a great threat and were filled with anger after seeing their companion killed with just two thrusts.

"Roar~~"

"Roar~~"

The four giant bears charged, their roars filled with both anger and sorrow.

"Although they are troublesome, four of them can still be dealt with," Xu Jingming clearly assessed the situation, "These giant bears have an advantage in size and strength, but they are slower and less agile than me. They can't withstand my Shadow Thrust."

Just then—

"Roar~~~~~" A much deeper and more resonant roar came from the cave, causing Xu Jingming's face to change. The cave shook, and an incredibly massive giant bear charged out. This bear was over six meters long, making the previous five giant bears seem like cubs in comparison.

"Perhaps those five smaller bears are really its cubs?" Xu Jingming muttered, his eyes flashing coldly. Instead of fleeing, he actively approached the four angry giant bears.

His footwork was ghostly, and as he approached the four giant bears, he made a sudden change in direction, followed by a spear thrust.

"Thud!"

The spear deeply pierced the neck of one giant bear. As another giant bear angrily pounced, its paw swinging, Xu Jingming immediately pulled back his spear and dodged. While dodging, he turned and delivered a backhand thrust, piercing the neck of another giant bear with full force.

In just a few steps, he killed two giant bears.

"Top experts would maintain distance, be cautious, and not give me the chance to use the Shadow Thrust. But these giant bears... they don't defend, they just charge," Xu Jingming thought, glancing at the super-giant brown bear charging furiously from a distance.

"The Bear King is here, faster than me, and very difficult to deal with."

Xu Jingming thought.

Thud!

As he moved, another Shadow Thrust left a large hole in the neck of another giant bear. Now only one giant bear remained, and it was afraid, turning to run towards the Bear King.

"So I need to quickly eliminate the other cubs," Xu Jingming paid no attention to the charging Bear King and instead actively pursued the last giant bear, his speed still having an advantage over the giant bears.

"Boom!"

A direct pursuit, a fierce and violent Mountain Breaker! The spear pierced through the mouth of the giant bear, which had turned to block, and penetrated its skull.

"Roar—" The Bear King, filled with anger, pounced.

Xu Jingming calmly pulled back his spear and dodged the pounce.

"In terms of size, strength, and speed, I am inferior to this Bear King. Only in agility and technique do I have an advantage." Xu Jingming understood a principle from his youth: in a one-on-one match, once you lose your composure, you lose the battle.

In a one-on-one fight, it's about avoiding your weaknesses and leveraging your strengths.

"Rip—"

The Bear King, over six meters long, had an enormous body. Its paws could cover a wide area when it swiped. Xu Jingming used the trees in the forest to dodge. These trees... were an advantage for his smaller size.

"Bang." A paw struck a large tree, breaking its trunk, making Xu Jingming's eyes twitch.

He knew the Bear King's strength was terrifying, but it was even more terrifying than he imagined.

"Just one hit from its paw, and I'm done." Xu Jingming carefully dodged, looking for an opportunity to attack.

The Bear King pursued.

Xu Jingming used the terrain to continuously dodge.

For a moment, large trees fell, and the snow was thrown into the air.

In the flying snow, a spear suddenly thrust out! The spear, as fast as lightning, appeared at close range, and the enraged Bear King, charging forward, collided with the spear.

"Thud." The spear pierced the Bear King's eye, but it only penetrated a little before getting stuck.

Swoosh.

Xu Jingming instantly pulled back his spear and retreated.

"Roar~~~" The Bear King, blinded in one eye, became even more enraged and frenzied.

"Still not dead?" Xu Jingming was somewhat incredulous.

...

The enraged Bear King pursued Xu Jingming, who used the forest terrain to continuously dodge, occasionally countering with a spear thrust. The Bear King was also very cautious, protecting its remaining eye, but its neck was pierced with more and more holes by Xu Jingming.

After a grueling eighteen minutes of battle, the Bear King finally collapsed, exhausted.

Xu Jingming was also exhausted.

Eighteen minutes!

Eighteen minutes of intense, full-effort combat!

"I pierced so many holes in the Bear King's neck, and it was the bleeding that finally killed it," Xu Jingming said helplessly, "Its skin is really too thick."

"Thrusting at its chest or back, I couldn't penetrate at all," Xu Jingming was quite frustrated, looking around. Many trees had fallen, and the snow was in disarray, "Fortunately, in the seven days since the virtual world opened, my footwork has improved a lot. If I had encountered this Bear King on the first day, I would have been killed with one paw strike, unable to last this long."

Long-term training and being attacked by over a hundred fierce bandits had made Xu Jingming's footwork much more agile.

"Second floor cleared, preparing to enter the third floor of the Star Tower." A voice sounded in his ear.

Xu Jingming's exhaustion faded, and his body returned to peak condition. His spear and armor became clean and tidy.

The scene before him began to change, and he arrived at the third floor of the Star Tower.