Slaying demons and eliminating evil, a martial saint among mortals.

He heard the phrase "the idiot from Black Mountain Town" very clearly.

However, Qin Lie did not turn around, nor did he argue with these people.

No need.

What's the use of just winning with words?

They'll shut up once they win the match.

At the other end of the training ground, there was a huge iron cage.

The cage was as big as a room, and the bars around it were covered with yellowed talismans.

Deep inside the cage lay a black spider with a bulging belly, which looked bigger than a millstone.

Li Hu stood to the side and offered a reminder.

"See that? That's the mother spider. Our Demon Suppression Division keeps it specifically to test new recruits."

"Don't let its size fool you, seventy or eighty percent of its demonic power has already been locked up by talismans."

"The only troublesome thing is the little spiders it spits out, they come in nests."

"When you go inside, be quick and don't let those little things surround you."

Qin Lie nodded after hearing this, then looked at the mother spider in the cage.

This reminded him of the Demon-Born Nest in the Hundred Demon Mirror.

One was a demon slave, and the other was a spider spitting out tiny spiders; they even looked strangely alike.

I wonder if these little spiders, like those demon slaves, will give attribute points when killed.

Just then, a voice came from the other side of the training ground.

"Old Zhao, I've arrived."

Qin Lie turned his head to look.

The man who arrived was a tall young man, carrying a long knife in his hand. He looked to be only a few years older than Qin Lie.

But his arms were as thick as his calves, so it was obvious he had worked out.

This must be Zhao Kui, the one who's competing with him for a spot in Lu Chen's team.

Zhao Kui walked up, first bowed to Elder Zhao, and then cupped his hands to Lu Chen.

"Team Leader Lu."

Lu Chen nodded.

"Zhao Kui."

Zhao Kui then looked at Qin Lie, his gaze lingering on the demon-suppressing sword that had just been issued to him at his waist.

"You're the newcomer from Black Mountain Town?"

Qin Lie said calmly, "Qin Lie."

Zhao Kui chuckled.

"I've heard that you were filled in to fill a vacancy, right? I also heard that you spent quite a few years acting like a fool in Black Mountain Town..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence, and immediately some people around him covered their mouths and laughed.

Qin Lie knew he was doing it on purpose; it was just the rumors spread by those fools.

However, with Elder Zhao and Lu Chen in front of him, Zhao Kui couldn't say anything too harsh.

Qin Lie was too lazy to explain.

"Whether I was brought in as a replacement or not has nothing to do with whether I can kill monsters."

"Besides, you said yourself that I'm an idiot. If you lose to me later, then you'll be..."

Zhao Kui raised an eyebrow after hearing Qin Lie's words.

"Okay, that's interesting. Someone like him is worthy of competing with me, Zhao Kui, for the same spot."

"Then I'll wait and see, and hope that your mouth will still be this stubborn after you're in this cage."

Old Zhao glanced at the two of them.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense."

"Zhao Kui, you arrived first today, so you can go first."

Zhao Kui did not refuse, and drew his long sword and walked to the cage.

The guard opened the cage door, Zhao Kui went in with his knife, and then the cage door was locked again.

Old Zhao stood outside the cage and repeated the rules.

"There's no time limit for this competition. If you can't hold on any longer, just bang on the cage door to admit defeat."

"In the end, whoever kills the most spiderlings will join Lu Chen's team."

Zhao Kui nodded.

"start."

With a wave of his hand, Old Zhao released the seal on the mother spider.

The spider queen's abdomen twitched deep inside the cage.

Soon, tiny spiders, each about the size of a palm, crawled out from under it and swarmed towards Zhao Kui at incredible speed.

Zhao Kui's expression also turned serious.

However, he didn't rush to attack. Instead, he waited for the first little spider to crawl up to him before suddenly slashing down with his sword.

Snapped!

The little spider was immediately split in two, and dark green blood splattered all over the ground.

Immediately, people outside cheered.

"A fine knife!"

"That's for sure. He comes from the Zhao Family Martial Arts School. The strength in his hands is something most people couldn't achieve even after years of training."

As if he had heard people outside praising him, Zhao Kui's lips unconsciously curled up.

However, he quickly stopped because even more small spiders had swarmed up.

Zhao Kui kept slashing down with his knife.

One.

Two.

Three.

He has indeed put in a lot of hard work in swordsmanship.

Every strike was ruthless and steady; any small spider that got close to him was cut in two with a single stroke.

Qin Lie stood outside the cage, carefully observing Zhao Kui's every move.

Zhao Kui may have said some unpleasant things, but those who can enter the Demon Suppression Division all have some skills.

By the time he had killed about ten, Zhao Kui's breathing had become noticeably heavier.

A small spider seized the opportunity when he turned around and pounced on his calf.

Zhao Kui's expression changed, he kicked it away, and with a backhand slash, killed it.

However, a piece of his trouser leg was also bitten.

Li Hu stroked his chin.

"This kid is alright. If it were a typical newbie, they'd probably be completely flustered by now."

After another incense stick's time, Zhao Kui finally raised his hand and patted the cage door.

"Open the door."

The guard immediately opened the door, and Zhao Kui came out, covered in sweat, but with a smile on his face.

At this moment, Old Zhao came out and announced Zhao Kui's results.

"Zhao Kui, kill twenty-one small spiders."

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding people immediately started talking.

"Twenty-one? That's a good result."

"A normal, mediocre martial artist could only kill about ten, but he killed twenty-one in one go."

"It seems that Captain Lu's spot will most likely go to Zhao Kui."

After hearing the discussions around him, Zhao Kui's smile widened even more.

Then he turned his gaze to Qin Lie.

"Alright, now it's your turn."

"But I still have to give you a piece of advice: if you can't hold on any longer, just admit defeat."

"It's not pleasant when those little spiders bite you one after another."

"Don't end up screaming in pain; that would be too embarrassing for the Demon Suppression Bureau."

Qin Lie glanced at him expressionlessly.

"Thanks for reminding me."

After saying that, he gripped the demon-suppressing knife and walked to the cage.

As soon as the iron cage door opened, Qin Lie smelled a foul, fishy odor.

It's probably because the toxins from the spider have evaporated, which is why it smells like that.

"start."

The other spider mother's abdomen twitched, and little spiders crawled out one by one, rushing towards Qin Lie.

Qin Lie didn't rush to make a move either; he adopted the same strategy as Zhao Kui.

Since Zhao Kui used it this way, he must have his reasons.

He waited until the first little spider crawled to his feet before raising his knife to strike.

Snapped!

The next moment, a prompt appeared in front of me.

[Slay the unranked spider]

[Gain 0.05 attribute points]

Upon seeing this line of text, Qin Lie's eyes lit up.

As expected, they gave it to me.

Just as he guessed.

Killing small spiders also gives attribute points, although less than what you get from killing demon slaves!

Now we can only hope that the mother spider will vomit a little more.

Don't stop spitting out when you've killed more than twenty, otherwise the killing won't be satisfying.

It doesn't matter if the Demon Suppression Division doesn't award merit points, as long as the system gives attribute points.

The second little spider pounced on it quickly.

Qin Lie moved half a step to the side and slashed down with his sword.

Snapped!

[Slay the unranked spider]

[Gain 0.05 attribute points]

The third one.

The fourth one.

……

Qin Lie didn't rush to show off how capable he was; he simply used the safest method.

He charged straight at them, and slashed down with his sword.

If someone tries to bite his foot, he'll lift it up.

If you can't cut it in time, use the blade to block it.

However, the whispers outside still reached his ears.

"What kind of swordsmanship does this kid use? He just uses the same two moves over and over again."

"Exactly! All he does is chop and flick; he doesn't look like someone who's had proper training."

"What kind of swordsmanship is this! I think it's just brute force swinging around blindly."

Qin Lie heard all of these words, but he didn't take them to heart at all.

What's the use of beautiful swordsmanship if you can kill monsters?

Qin Lie quickly killed his tenth enemy.

There was less noise outside.

By the time he had killed his twentieth enemy, the training ground had become much quieter.

Because Zhao Kui had only killed twenty-one.

Although Qin Lie was panting, he was clearly not at his limit yet.

The twenty-first one.

The twenty-second one.

The twenty-third one.

When Qin Lie overtook Zhao Kui, the outside suddenly became quiet.

However, Qin Lie did not stop, because the mother spider was still spitting out baby spiders, so he continued to kill them.

These are all attribute points, we can't waste them.

After killing around the thirtieth one, Qin Lie could clearly feel his arms starting to ache.

These little spiders aren't very strong, but killing them repeatedly really drains your stamina!

Qin Lie glanced at his panel.

Current attribute points: 1.5

enough.

"Improve physical fitness."

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a surge of heat spread from his chest, and his arms instantly regained a lot of strength.

Qin Lie gripped his knife tightly and continued slashing.

People outside can't see his panel either.

All they could see was that Qin Lie was clearly exhausted, but for some reason, he suddenly became energetic and vigorous again, even increasing the speed at which he swung his sword.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Wasn't he panting just now? How come he's acting like nothing happened now?"

"How come this kid has such incredible stamina?"

"He hasn't even reached the rank yet, how come his stamina is so good? He's already on par with a ninth-rank martial artist."

The murmurs started again.

This time, however, there was less mockery and more surprise.

Li Hu stood outside, a smile involuntarily spreading across his face.

"I knew it was this kid..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when he seemed to remember what happened at Bai Yaojian's place, so he quickly swallowed the rest of his sentence and shut his mouth.

Qin Lie had no interest in what was happening outside; all he could see were the little spiders that kept crawling out.

To outsiders, this is a test.

But in Qin Lie's view, this was a good opportunity for him to earn attribute points.

Moreover, it allows you to further solidify your basic knife skills.

This demon-suppressing knife is indeed much more useful than a wood-chopping knife. As long as the little spider is hit, it will either lose a leg or split open.

The thirty-fifth.

The fortieth one.

The forty-fifth.

At this point, the spider mother's speed in spitting out the baby spiders noticeably slowed down.

Qin Lie frowned as he looked at the spider mother's belly.

How come they can't spit out anymore after only a few?

He hasn't had enough fun yet!

Mother spider, you must hang in there!

Old Zhao seemed to have noticed the problem as well, and immediately raised his hand.

"Stop! Stop now! We can't continue like this."

"If we continue, we'll damage the mother spider's very essence!"

Qin Lie felt somewhat regretful when he heard Old Zhao call a halt.

However, he did not continue to strike.

After all, this is the Demon Suppression Bureau, not his own monster-hunting den.

Old Zhao has already spoken; if he still insists on cutting, then he'd be ungrateful.

The guards quickly opened the cage door.

Qin Lie sheathed his sword and slowly walked out of the spider mother's cage.

He wanted to see whether Zhao Kui would submit or not.

Of course, Qin Lie was now secretly hoping that Zhao Kui would not submit to him.

Then we can legitimately have Old Zhao have another match.

That way, he can do another round.