As Qi Longxiang was recording the terrain, Xiang Ning and the rest collected samples within a hundred meters of him. A tier five martial artist could easily cover that distance within five seconds, so they could easily help each other if needed.

“Can you hear me? Over.” Qi Longxiang’s voice came from Xiang Ning’s earpiece.

“Copy that, over.”

“Wonderful! Looks like they give out pretty good equipment for missions posted by the Hunters Guild.” Qi Longxiang’s chuckle came through the earpiece.

“Alright! The drone has finished scanning the terrain around this area. Let’s move a hundred kilometers first and see what we can find here in the Astra Valley. Hopefully, there’s a new undocumented beast.”

Xiang Ning and the rest were in a triangular formation with Qi Longxiang in the middle. Li Qimu and Zhou Yuanyuan were bringing up the rear, while Xiang Ning was at the forefront. All of them were within a hundred meters of each other.

Initially, they had objected to Xiang Ning being at the front since he wasn’t native to the area. The surroundings were extremely foreign to him, so it was extremely dangerous.

But he explained that, as a spiritual cultivator, his senses were far sharper than theirs and he had flying knives as a defense. Since he was also a tier five martial artist, even if he met a dangerous beast, he would still be able to keep himself alive. He also needed to temper his body!

They thought about it and realized that was true. They then thought about Xiang Ning’s cultivation as a tier five martial artist and a tier four spiritual cultivator and allowed him free rein to take point. As they traveled, they tightened the formation from a hundred meters to fifty, as the visibility was poor. At least at fifty meters, they could clearly see each other.

Xiang Ning didn’t mind. Everyone thought he was a tier four spiritual cultivator, but he was actually tier five. In this region of the wilderness, he was more or less unbeatable. Even if there were three beasts ganging up on him, he would be able to stall them until his team came and assisted him. He could probably kill the beasts, too.

With the aid of the weak moonlight and the bioluminescence around them, they were at least capable of seeing roughly a hundred and fifty meters ahead of them, though the objects were extremely blurry. They traveled through the wilderness at twenty kilometers per hour as they collected samples and data on new plants along the way.

Their luck was extremely good as they didn’t meet any beasts along their path. It was only after they had traveled for two hours or so that Xiang Ning felt something was weird. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon and he had relaxed a bit. But just as he let down his guard a little, his Combat Instinct alerted him of a murderous aura. It was headed for him and it wanted him dead!

He shot out three tier five flying knives toward the left as he hit the ground and rolled.

A black shadow shot out like lightning as it dodged all of the flying knives. But thanks to his speed, the beast landed on empty ground.

The sudden attack from a beast alerted everyone else. Just as they wanted to rush forward and assist him, Xiang Ning asked them to stop. “Wait! Don’t come here. I think this is a new beast! Qi Longxiang, please help me check as I stall it. It’s a good opportunity for me to temper my body, too.”

Qi Longxiang raised his eyebrows as he heard Xiang Ning’s words. A new beast meant unknown danger! He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable letting Xiang Ning stall it by himself. It was only after he saw the flying knives and his other two teammates on standby nearby that he relented. Collecting information on a new beast was also a criterion that would be used to assess them.

“Keen Observation.” Xiang Ning immediately used the technique, as he wasn’t sure how the beast would attack him. It was likely that it had stalked them for a very long time. To think that it could even evade his detection!

As the dust settled and the first ray of sunlight shone through the branches, Xiang Ning finally saw the true identity of the beast. It had jet-black fur that reflected the sunlight and vertical pupils. It was as large as a bull and had the body of a jackal. For some reason, he doubted it was a jackal-type beast. The eyes of the beast were filled with bloodthirst and murderous intent—it was no ordinary beast.

“Wait! Be careful. Something’s not right. I think this is an alpha beast.”

“What?! An alpha?”

“That can’t be right. How could we find an alpha so easily?” Qi Longxiang and the rest saw the beast too. While they were remarking on how fierce it looked, it gave off the aura of an alpha.

Xiang Ning didn’t explain further. Only he knew how strong and oppressive it was, as the beast was targeting him. “Let me fight it. You can record down its behavior and movement.” He directed three flying knives toward the back of the beast as he said that, suppressing the sound and vibration of the flying knives to the minimum as they sailed through the air, but it was useless.

Xiang Ning saw the beast’s ears twitch as it detected the knives. Instead of dodging, it dug in its paws and sprinted. Its speed easily surpassed a hundred meters per second as it appeared in front of him.

“Mountain-Splitting Slash!” Xiang Ning wasn’t using the Devourer. Instead, he was using a Mk. 6 meteorite longsword weighing around 200kg. It was a bit light for him, but still passable. The sound of metal cracking was heard as he took three steps back. Each of his steps left a deep imprint on the ground as the Mk. 6 longsword was chipped!

Qi Longxiang and the rest finally understood why Xiang Ning had said the beast was an alpha. They detected the beast to be within the middle ranges of tier five. But how could a tier five beast chip a Mk. 6 meteorite sword?

Weapons forged from meteorites were harder than iridium. It was even a Mk. 6 weapon that was capable of fighting against tier six! But to think that it had been chipped by a mere tier five beast. 

As Xiang Ning blocked the attack and took three steps back, he also leaped up to dodge the swiping claws of the beast. But he had underestimated the beast’s speed. He blocked its paws, but the beast had already spun and whipped its tail around to strike him even before he had the chance to land. The air cracked and there was a huge gust of wind.

“Watch out! Dodge it, Xiang Ning!”

A new beast appeared! Please accept our MC's humble greetings and die!