Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Steel of the Heart

"Cool!"

After killing Shadow Cat with a single halberd thrust, Xiang Bei felt an indescribable sense of comfort permeating his entire body.

That feeling is even better than lying in an air-conditioned room on a hot summer day with a pretty girl feeding you grapes and iced cola.

In fact, Xiang Bei had already spotted the shadow cat and activated the Giant Devouring Technique immediately before it even got close to him.

In an instant, Xiang Bei felt an immense power flowing into his arm, then traveling along his arm to the halberd in his hand!

After one strike, the shadow cat was dead beyond any doubt!

Very strong!

Although there was no specific numerical value for the attack power, Xiang Bei could feel that the power of his halberd strike far exceeded the minimum punching power of a high-level warrior.

At the same time, after killing the Shadow Cat, the effects of the colossal devouring were directly reflected back to Xiang Bei.

The pleasurable sensation almost made Xiang Bei groan out loud.

However, Xiang Bei still held back.

There are cameras everywhere in the town, so he'd better behave himself.

Xiang Bei was worried that others would misunderstand him as a psychopath after he killed a shadow cat and then looked happy.

After clearing away some of the clutter, Xiang Bei also summarized some implicit rules from this use of the Colossus Devouring skill.

The difference between games and reality.

Firstly, the activation of the colossal devouring attack requires Xiang Bei's own attack as a medium to be effective.

Attacks dealing 12% of one's own health are now considered a buff rather than an independent attack.

Secondly, games are games after all; there are no fatal weaknesses or similar distinctions. Whether an enemy is dead or alive depends entirely on their health bar.

But reality is different; there are no health bars. Both humans and monsters have vital points.

If you find the vital point, you can kill the monster in one hit.

Just like that shadow cat, a single halberd pierced its throat, and it died on the spot!

It is highly likely that the colossal devouring returned 12% of the Shadow Cat's total health to Xiang Bei.

That's why Xiang Bei felt such a great sense of comfort.

Finally, there's one more point that, although it hasn't been verified yet, Xiang Bei thinks it's probably correct.

The overwhelming, engulfing attack is not impossible to dodge or resist.

For example, Xiang Bei's attacks don't even break through a person's defenses, or they are simply blocked by the other person.

Therefore, Xiang Bei would naturally not be able to increase his maximum health.

"In other words, if I were to unleash the Colossal Devouring attack, it would be best to kill the monster in one strike, so that I could maximize my gains!" Xiang Bei thought to himself.

"Unfortunately, the cooldown time for the Giant Devouring skill is now three hours, otherwise there would be thousands of low-level monsters in this monster town."

With a 30-second cooldown period, I can raise my strength to at least the intermediate warrior level tonight!

Xiang Bei thought with a touch of regret.

After cutting off Shadowcat's ear with a tactical knife and putting it into his combat backpack, Xiang Bei continued walking into the town.

To be honest, with Xiang Bei's current strength, the so-called martial arts combat assessment is just a formality for him.

As long as Xiang Bei doesn't do anything reckless, this practical assessment will be no challenge for him at all.

Time passed little by little

The roars of monsters echoed throughout the town, and many aspiring martial artists had already fought against them and achieved victories.

However, many aspiring martial artists were also eliminated due to carelessness.

Some people even paid with their lives for it.

Along the way, Xiang Bei also saved two quasi-martial artists who were nearly killed by monsters.

After a night of fierce fighting, a faint glow gradually appeared in the eastern sky.

"Waaaaah~ Waaaaah~ Waaaah"

Suddenly, a series of piercing sounds rang out from above the entire town, followed by the simultaneous blasts of deep voices from loudspeakers hidden in the shadows.

"Time's up! All prospective martial artists, assemble at the town gate immediately. Anyone who fails to assemble within twenty minutes will be considered unqualified!"

As the voice faded, the remaining aspiring martial artists in the town who had not yet been eliminated headed towards the town gate.

Meanwhile, Xiang Bei was walking alone amidst the attack of five iron-haired wild boars.

Ok

Saying it was an attack is not accurate; a more accurate description would be that Xiang Bei was playing with five iron-haired wild boars all by himself.

Of course, this wasn't because Xiang Bei had awakened some kind of perverse sense of humor; it was simply that the cooldown for "Giant Devouring" hadn't arrived yet. He was waiting for "Giant Devouring" to cool down so he could activate the skill one last time.

Xiang Bei simply used these five iron-haired wild boars as training grounds for his movement techniques.

Unfortunately, there hasn't been much progress.

As the deep voice rang out, Xiang Bei glanced at the cooldown time of the colossal devouring ability.

Seven minutes left.

Yes, there's still time!

Let's continue walking the pig!

The halo on the horizon grew brighter and brighter, and a bright red sun had unknowingly risen completely below the horizon on the far horizon.

At that moment, at the entrance to Monster Town, one by one, prospective martial artists emerged from the town. Almost every one of them was stained with blood, some from monsters, and some from their own. Some were even being helped out by their friends.

At the town's main gate, two soldiers in combat uniforms were checking the time on their smartwatches.

"One minute left!"

A soldier shouted into the town.

However, no one was present at the entrance of the town at this moment.

Having persevered for twelve hours, these people naturally didn't want to collapse at the last moment, so they quickly left the town to tally their achievements.

Just then, a figure rushed out of the town like the wind and appeared in front of everyone in just a few seconds.

"Brother, I'm not late, am I?" Xiang Bei chuckled.

"No, go in!" a soldier said sternly.

"Okay." Xiang Bei maintained his smile and then quickly walked out of the town.

Not long after Xiang Bei left the town, news of the assessment ending spread throughout the town.

Not far from the exit was the place where the results of this assessment were settled, and several prospective martial artists were still queuing up to pay for the beast ears they had obtained from hunting monsters.

Xiang Bei glanced at it and then walked over to stand at the end of the line.

In just a short while, the people in front of them had all finished settling their accounts, and each person's gains were not much.

There were only four or five.

"Xiang Bei, animal ears... Hmm, fifty-seven, not bad." The officer inspecting the goods glanced at Xiang Bei in surprise.

It should be noted that every martial arts combat assessment produces some outstanding geniuses.

However, hunting fifty-seven monsters in one night is definitely top-tier.

The best student in their class so far only killed thirty-eight monsters.

Xiang Bei's fifty-seven monster ears significantly enhanced the brilliance of this practical assessment.