Chapter 43: The Path of Prestige

"Is that him?"
"Yes, that's Chu Cheng from Class Five. I heard he awakened a tremendously powerful talent, and the homeroom teacher values him highly. Even Wang Weilong has been pushed aside."
At the stone fortress gate, several young men dressed in chainmail and leather armor watched Chu Cheng's departing figure with piercing eyes. One of them spoke up,
"Dammit, he's already replaced Wang Weilong as the top of Class Five. Why isn't he out there hunting bosses with a team? What's he doing farming reputation here?"
"Maybe he doesn't get along with the others in his class. After all, the rest used to hang around with Wang Weilong."
"Speaking of which, Wang Weilong came here too. I wonder if there'll be any conflict between them."
"Who cares if there is? Anyway, the first to reach Revered reputation in this joint exam has to be us."
"Come on, we can’t waste time either—let’s go pick up our quests."

Outside the outpost gate, a vast slope stretched ahead. Chu Cheng paused there for a moment, nodding in appreciation.
This terrain had a significant defensive advantage; attacking forces would have to expend much more effort, and the sloping ground on the sides left no footing for siege engines.
The edges of the outpost were relatively safe, with patrols making the rounds each day, clearing out wandering beasts.
But beyond this, there was no road. The Northern Outpost marked the very edge of human territory; beyond it lay the endless wildlands, teeming with beasts and hostile nonhuman tribes. Anyone venturing out would be attacked on sight.

Chu Cheng entered the wilds alone, glancing up to confirm his direction before adjusting his path and pressing on.
"If only I had a mount—it would be much faster."
From what he knew, there were several types of mounts available in this instance. On the wildlands, there were rare elite beast bosses that could drop mounts, and reaching Revered reputation with the Cross Fortress would allow one to purchase a warhorse for a single gold coin.
He could either keep it for himself or sell it. Buying at one gold and easily selling for two or three—turning a swift profit of one or two gold coins.

The further he got from the outpost, the more desolate the land became. Tall grasses, some reaching a man's height, were everywhere; the air was filled with the rattling of insects and the distant, occasional roars of beasts.
From time to time, he saw other teams who had set out before him, engaged in battles with wild beasts.
Those daring to venture out were all quite capable—single beasts or pairs were no match for them.
He would pause briefly, greet them, and offer help; if it wasn't needed, he simply moved on.

His destination lay straight ahead, a range of mountains, one peak of which he used as his coordinate.
According to the map, several centaur tribes were scattered around that mountain, including one particularly large settlement. Destroying it would yield a great deal of reputation.

A sudden, thunderous lion's roar caught his attention. He swiftly determined its direction and headed the other way.
A roar that powerful could only belong to an elite or boss beast.
His talent was suited for group combat, not solo boss fights.
Out here, encountering a level thirty or higher boss beast was common; lions were especially fast, and with his current strength, it would be troublesome. If he ran into a beast boss above level forty, there was a real risk of failure.

An hour later, Chu Cheng crossed the wildlands and reached a river near the mountain range.
This was the Embroidered Waters River, a tributary of the Blackwater River. It originated in the mountains, meandered across the plain, and joined the Blackwater.
Water was the source of all life; even nonhuman tribes had to settle near water. Along this river, upstream and downstream, were a dozen or so centaur settlements of various sizes.
The smaller ones had just over a hundred inhabitants, the larger ones had over a thousand. In the coming Blackwater River War, two months from now, these tribes would obey the command of the great orc horde east of the river, join the allied army, and battle the humans.

Chu Cheng walked upstream along the river and soon spotted a nonhuman gathering on the opposite bank.
It was a small centaur tribe, not large in scale, enclosed by a wall of stone and wooden stakes, with many tents inside. Watchtowers stood by the gate, and centaurs patrolled outside.
"This will do."
Emerging from hiding, Chu Cheng strode straight to the front of the centaur camp. The water here was shallow, with plenty of rocks forming exposed stepping stones, making it easy to cross.
He dispensed with tactics, simply drew his weapon, and charged the camp.

The centaurs spotted a lone human and immediately raised a ruckus, charging at him in a frenzy.
In this scenario, humans and centaurs were mortal enemies; there was no need for provocation—hostility was already at its peak.
As the deep sound of war horns rang from within the camp, more centaurs awoke and rushed out to fight.
When the two sides were still more than twenty meters apart, the front-line centaurs drew their bows and loosed a volley. A series of whooshes split the air, space rippled and cracked, and the front ranks of the centaurs were thrown into chaos as bodies fell in heaps.

At first, the centaurs had no idea what was happening; they only knew they had to kill this audacious human.
Two minutes later, the camp was strewn with corpses—nearly two hundred centaurs lay dead, all within moments. Only a handful of high-ranking warriors and the tribal chieftain survived, driven back to the heart of the settlement by a lone human.
Even the slowest among them realized something was wrong by now.
Those who were still alive dared not fight back.
But this was only temporary. As Chu Cheng advanced, blade in hand, toward the centaur chieftain, they were forced to resist.

"You are attacked by a centaur warrior leader and receive 125 points of physical damage. Your talent absorbs 30 points of damage, your armor absorbs 14 points of slashing damage, your Blood God's Body absorbs 8 points of physical damage, your defense absorbs 36 points of physical damage, and you ultimately suffer 37 points of physical damage."
"Your Blood God's Body trait activates, restoring 65 health."
"Your Space Refraction talent activates, dealing 30 pure, defense-ignoring damage to the centaur warrior leader."
"Your Space Refraction talent activates, dealing 30 pure, defense-ignoring damage to the centaur chief."

"Your Space Refraction talent activates, dealing 30 pure, defense-ignoring damage to the centaur chieftain."
"......"
"Your Blood God's Body trait activates, restoring 65 health."
What did it mean to regenerate 65 health per second?
Such endurance was nearly monstrous.

"Rising Tide of the Furious Sea!"
A brilliant blue arc of blade light swept fifteen meters, cleaving two wounded centaur leaders in half.
"Swift!"
"Blade Storm!"
The whirling Blade Storm sucked in the remaining centaurs, shredding them in a frenzy of steel.

In just seven seconds, the camp was littered with severed limbs and mangled bodies—a scene of utter carnage.
The centaur chieftain could withstand no more and turned to flee in panic.
With a soft exhale, Chu Cheng wiped the blood from his face and grinned, baring his teeth.

"Thunderstrike!"
A bolt of lightning shot skyward, arced over seventy meters, and crashed down, stunning the blood-soaked centaur chieftain.
"Mighty Blow!"
"Frenzy!"
In a flash of blade light, a cascade of damage numbers soared, interspersed with several critical hits.
The centaur chieftain never even regained consciousness before falling into eternal slumber.

"Notification: You have slain the centaur chieftain and destroyed the centaur tribe, gaining 100 points of Human Faction reputation!"