Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Chapter 3 From Prey to Hunter

In the dimly lit training hall, a strong and tall figure twisted his body, the outline of muscles and a battle sword vaguely emerging, like a dragon dancing in the darkness.

Hunzhen's muscles sometimes tensed and sometimes relaxed, stretching and contracting freely like a highly elastic rubber band. He constantly changed the moves of his sword, slashing, chopping, or parrying. The changes in his moves were smooth and fluid, with almost no gaps between them.

With each muscle exertion, a large amount of air was inhaled and exhaled by Hunzhen, and a tangible aura, resembling smoke, swirled around.

Sweat poured out, heat rose, and Hunzhen's swordsmanship had completely broken away from the original sword manual, developing its own unique rhythm. Only the accompanying breathing technique that stimulated the original energy of the genes remained unchanged.

Although Hunzhen constantly complained that the company treated them, the assassins, like slaves and livestock, he couldn't find fault with the cultivation methods, martial arts techniques, and secret arts they provided.

After a month in the training camp, every new assassin can choose a complete set of training manuals covering training methods, fighting methods, and killing methods.

Compared to the exorbitant price demanded by Earth Martial Arts School, the company is distributing it completely free of charge.

However, these assassins were originally part of the company's assets, and distributing knowledge that could be infinitely copied and pasted was a zero-cost operation for the company.

Leakage? That's out of the question under chip surveillance.

As for the special case of finding a mind-controlled helmet that connects to a virtual universe...

In the virtual universe, such apprentice-level secret techniques are worthless.

But for Hunzhen and others at the bottom of the universe, it can solve their immediate problem.

The secret technique he cultivates is called "Raging Wind Blade," in which the cultivation method and martial arts complement each other and can be practiced simultaneously. While focusing on one, one can also advance the progress of the other.

Despite its unremarkable name, this alone demonstrates its superiority over Luo Feng's beginner martial arts manual, "Ninefold Thunder Blade."

Moreover, the "Raging Wind Blade" is divided into seven levels. Once you complete the beginner level, you can unleash 1.25 times the power with a single swing. The first level can unleash 2.5 times the power when fully mastered, and the mastery level can unleash 10 times the power!

Compared to the seven times the power of the nine layers of the Thunder Blade in "Ninefold Thunder Blade", it is three times stronger!

That's not all. With practice, it can also help people better understand the essence of wind, which is very beneficial for entering the planetary level.

During the apprenticeship stage, laying the foundation for a martial artist is arguably the best choice.

It completely surpasses "Ninefold Thunder Blade".

This is not surprising. After all, at that time, Earth was just a remote corner where martial arts were emerging and the strongest were only at the planetary level. It was quite normal for a force that had already made contact with the universe to develop more complete cultivation methods with the help of predecessors.

"Beep beep".

The phone beeped softly. Hunzhen sheathed his sword and scoffed, "This company's efficiency is so slow. I've already finished practicing a whole set before it even got approved?"

I picked up my phone, opened the text message, and found a location coordinate.

Just three seconds after Hunzhen noted down the coordinates, the information was automatically deleted without a trace.

Hunzhen drew back the curtains, glanced at the night view outside, which was dyed in six colors by neon lights at midnight, quickly tidied himself up, and then hurriedly went out.

The coordinates in the text message were the real-time location of his nearest colleague, as informed by the company.

The killer chips are interconnected, but they will only be triggered when they are within 500 meters of each other.

Night City is so big that the probability of a chance encounter is too low. The only way is to spend kill points to buy information from the company.

A few days ago, after taking photos to verify the killing of his comrade, Hunzhen only got 100 points. This location information, which is only sent once, costs a full 20 points...

"It's damn expensive!"

Despite cursing, Hunzhen didn't hesitate to spend the "money" and then hurriedly left.

If you arrive too late and the target location has changed significantly, the money will have been wasted.

Fortunately, shortly after Hunzhen took the subway to another district, he confirmed the resonance of the chip.

He looked up and saw through the bustling crowds and the white buildings that resembled layered mountains.

At a coffee shop on the street, he saw a man wearing a white bowler hat and sunglasses, with a full beard, drinking coffee and playing on his phone. Their eyes met, and Hun Zhen's lips curled into a smile, while the man with the full beard's pupils contracted.

The café is located at a crossroads, offering a wide view, while behind it lies a densely packed, maze-like narrow alley.

It is an excellent place for both observation and retreat.

Hunzhen's smile faded: "Begin the simulation."

[In the city at night, just off the subway, I saw that figure drinking coffee. A glance confirmed it—neither of us wanted to run into each other. But what can you do? Since you've met, under the influence of the Dark Forest theory, both of you know that the ensuing battle is unavoidable.]

[Your cultivation levels are evenly matched. Your combat awareness and swordsmanship surpass your opponent's by one to two levels, but your opponent also has the home-field advantage. In the end, you narrowly won by three moves, defeating him at the cost of minor injuries.]

Hunzhen quickly scanned the first two lines of the simulation record, confirmed his victory, and without even looking at the rest, directly chose to inherit the soul.

You chose to inherit the soul.

[You have once again grasped the essence of wind, completely crossing the threshold, and gained combat experience and other knowledge experience.]

The influx of combat experience did not cause Hunzhen any discomfort; on the contrary, it made him shine like a sword drawn from its sheath.

Sensing the intense killing intent, the bearded man's pores contracted, his expression changed drastically, and without hesitation, he smashed the window and fled towards the back of the coffee shop.

Almost ten days have passed since the day he turned the tables. Now, Hunzhen's martial arts and movement techniques have both reached the threshold of the Intent Realm. With the support of the Intent Realm of Wind, his speed is comparable to that of a fifth-level martial artist.

He covered the 500-meter distance in just three seconds and entered the dark alley. However, Hunzhen's speed suddenly decreased, and his body suddenly veered to the right without warning.

With a loud bang, a bullet from a heavy sniper rifle shot out from the darkness, grazing past Hunzhen's body.

"impossible!"

In the darkness, the bearded man saw Hunzhen evade his sniper shot as if he had foreseen it, and his face was filled with terror.

The anti-material sniper rifle he was using had a rate of fire exceeding 1,000 meters per second, yet this guy dodged it with such ease, completely unprepared!?

Even a fourth-tier expert probably couldn't do that!

At that moment, he was absolutely certain that the other party was coming for him!

Buying other people's location information to hunt at the beginning of the month is insane!

It was quick, and their strength was terrifying!

A sense of despair rose in the bearded man's heart.

If Hunzhen knew what the bearded man was thinking, he would definitely laugh it off.

No matter how strong his combat awareness is, he is still only a third-tier martial artist. There's no reason why he could perfectly react to the opponent's sniping from this angle.

However, with the help of his combat memories, Hunzhen already had experience fighting against the bearded man and secretly guarded against a sneak attack.

He anticipated the opponent's actions, not reacted hastily due to a lack of intelligence.

The momentary daze of the bearded man was enough for Hunzhen to unleash another burst of speed.

This colleague quickly regained his composure, driven by his biological survival instinct, and tried to fight back in his death throes.

In a life-or-death struggle, a moment's delay can mean the difference between life and death.

The latest novel is first published here!

The sniper shot that was dodged actually revealed the location of the bearded man.

It is precisely because the opponent has the will to fight back that they are more likely to fall into a deadly trap.

This time, Hunzhen was even better than his simulated self, killing his opponent without even leaving a minor injury, then photographing the corpse and uploading the image.

He drifted away amidst the screams and clamor of the crowd that gradually gathered to watch the play.

As for the rest of the arrangements, the company's employees will handle them, so he doesn't need to worry about it.

He casually booked a single room in a hotel. Having just completed his first active hunt, Hunzhen was surprisingly calm.

Because he knew very well that this was just the beginning.

For his purposes, he will completely wipe out all other assassins in Night City except himself.

only……

He glanced at the previous simulation records and sighed inwardly.

After killing the bearded man, the Sim (whom Hunzhen calls himself in the simulation after spending ten days fully understanding the system) did not continue his killing spree as he wished, but instead lay low and followed a path similar to his previous simulations.

"Looks like I still have to keep working hard."

Hunzhen quickly applied to the company for the next target.

He realized early on that there was only a lower limit, not an upper limit, to killing colleagues for points.

However... the assassins cannot leave the originally designated city until the two-year period expires and the company summons the survivors.

What if someone had previously eliminated all other colleagues in the city?

The early birth of the Gu King is something the company is certainly happy to see.

Whether this is beneficial or detrimental to the Gu King's body is another matter.

However, this will undoubtedly allow Hunzhen to enter the company's senior management's field of vision earlier and receive higher-level training.

As long as one's strength improves quickly enough and one possesses the power to compete in the Genius Battle before the three-year deadline, Hunzhen need not fear any demons or monsters.

Risks and opportunities coexist.

Between life and death lies both great terror and great opportunity!

He already knew why, under dozens of times the time, the benefits of soul inheritance were only about one-tenth of the theoretical amount.

For an ordinary genius like him (whom he claims to be), years of arduous training are far less valuable than several life-or-death battles that brought him to the brink of death!

However, no matter how much Hunzhen hinted to himself before the simulation, the simulated human would not fall into a state of actively seeking death!

That would turn the initiative into a passive one!

He turned the once peaceful Night City upside down, becoming the epicenter of the storm! He caused the terrified assassins to unite and fight him!

In order to survive, the simulated humans will naturally unleash their infinite potential and make the most of the gains from the previous simulations.

"My life is made vibrant and colorful by battle!"

Pure and fearless!

With his third-tier cultivation and profound understanding of artistic conception, his true strength rivals that of a peak fourth-tier cultivator!

In theory, when Hunzhen finally reaches the Night City and the remaining assassins unite, they will at most be evenly matched with Hunzhen.

This doesn't even take into account the situation with simulation systems.

Having a simulation system capable of avoiding most crises, Hunzhen had no reason not to give it their all.

What? You're saying that the one who's actually striving is the simulated me?

In reality, do I just pick up what's readily available?

Simulation is simulation, and real combat is real combat.

The risks in real-world combat aren't really risks anymore!?

(End of this chapter)