The giant bear called "Vini" shook its furry head, letting out a low growl in response to its master's command.

Meng Hongzhuang stood up from the bear's back and whistled.

In mid-air, a deep-blue hawk swiftly descended, perching gently on her shoulder.

Listening closely to the majestic hawk's cries, Meng Hongzhuang nodded and soothingly stroked its head.

"Vini, let's go. Quinn found a group of Fierce Rats ahead and to our right. If we take them out, our top position will be even more secure."

Giant Bear Vini roared and charged in the direction Meng Hongzhuang had pointed.

Unlike Fang Zhou's dozens of skeletons, which were used purely as cannon fodder, the animals summoned by Meng Hongzhuang, the Natural Summoner, were fewer in number but could be continuously nurtured. Her summons—Vini, a formidable giant bear that served as both mount and powerful combatant, and Quinn, a raptor that acted as an aerial scout—made Meng Hongzhuang's hunting efficiency far surpass that of other students. Even those with powerful Rare Professions, like Ye Fan and Gu Zhiqiu, could not compare to her in this regard.

Meanwhile, in caves, forests, and wastelands, other students aspiring for higher rankings also noticed the change in Fang Zhou's points. A sense of urgency immediately gripped them, and they subconsciously quickened their hunting pace. Fang Zhou's might was truly terrifying.

「...」

Within the dense fog, the thermal imaging radar on Fang Zhou's Hunting Recorder flared with a strong signal again.

In this barren wilderness, the possibility of encountering another student was minuscule; it was almost certainly a group of low-tier Demons.

Fang Zhou commanded the Skeletons to advance slowly and explore. They soon discovered a camp brightly lit by fire.

As Fang Zhou drew closer, he got a clearer view.

Kobolds?

Before him, seven red humanoid creatures were dancing and reveling around a bonfire. These creatures were quite short, each barely reaching Fang Zhou's waist. Their heads were covered in red fur, giving them the ugly and ferocious appearance of wild dogs. They wore simple Leather Armor and carried stone or bone clubs and axes, while a few held bone-tipped spears or darts.

It appeared to be a small Kobold camp. Fortunately, from what Fang Zhou could see, there were no troublesome Kobold Warlocks present.

Compared to the Fierce Species that had mutated from animals in the Cave, Kobolds, as creatures from an Otherworld, possessed a certain level of intelligence and social awareness that made them more troublesome. They bullied the weak, feared the strong, held grudges, and were quite fast. Therefore, to prevent any future trouble, all seven Kobolds had to be eliminated at once.

Lurking not far from the camp, Fang Zhou silently waved his Magic Staff and summoned another five Skeletons. Under his command, fifteen Skeletons surrounded the reveling Kobold camp from all directions.

Upon receiving Fang Zhou's order, the Skeletons lunged out from the dense fog.

Fifteen middle-rank Apprentice Skeletons against seven lower-rank Apprentice Kobolds.

It was an utterly one-sided slaughter.

The two Skeletons in the lead worked together to tackle the nearest Kobold, pinning it to the ground. One Skeleton extended its Bone Claw and easily pierced the creature's heart, while the other sank its fangs viciously into its throat. The Kobold was killed instantly, without even a chance to react.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

Startled by the death of their companion, the other six Kobolds didn't even think of revenge. They immediately turned to flee, their nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong on full display.

But they ran straight into the other thirteen Skeletons.

After a brief and brutal skirmish...

"WOOF..."

The last Kobold stared in terror at the Bone Claw protruding from its chest. It let out an unwilling cry, its head flopped to one side, and it departed from this miserable world.

"Hunting Points +14."

"Soul Power +0.3."

Only then did Fang Zhou emerge from the fog and enter the camp.

By the light of the bonfire, he scanned the chaotic camp with a look of disdain. After finding nothing of value, Fang Zhou flicked his Magic Staff and commanded the Skeletons to dissect the seven Kobold corpses.

Kobolds themselves yielded no materials, but they loved ores and possessed a natural Talent for prospecting. As a result, they often consumed indigestible stones, which would form mineral crystals similar to a Dog Treasure inside their bodies. These crystals could be used for crafting Equipment and were on the academy's list of materials, valued at 1 Contribution Point per 10 grams.

Once the process was complete, Fang Zhou stored the 20 grams of cleaned mineral crystals in his backpack. Content with his 2 new Contribution Points, he prepared to leave the camp and start his next hunt.

Suddenly, a Skeleton cleaning the battlefield made a new discovery. It had found a Level 1 Refining Stone among the embers of the bonfire.

Fang Zhou's heart leaped with joy when he received the Refining Stone, which was worth 10 Contribution Points. Given the hardness of a Refining Stone, a lower-rank Apprentice Kobold couldn't even bite into it, let alone swallow and digest it. It seemed they weren't reveling around the bonfire after all. Instead, they were likely performing some kind of mysterious ritual to soften the Refining Stone for consumption.

Unfortunately for them, their encounter with Fang Zhou was a stroke of extremely bad luck.

Now that he understood this, Fang Zhou was somewhat puzzled. The more accessible mineral veins in Cave No. 1 had long been depleted by the Sea City Military Academy. Where had these Kobolds mined this Refining Stone?

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him.

Could it be that these Kobolds discovered a new Refining Stone vein? If so, that would be an incredible fortune. Although Cave No. 1 is the collective property of the Sea City Military Academy and the Longxia Federation, the discoverer of a vein would still receive an extremely generous reward in Contribution Points.

At this thought, Fang Zhou excitedly ordered his Skeletons to turn the entire Kobold camp upside down in search of clues.

Watching these uncomplaining Skeletons, Fang Zhou sighed softly. If he were strong enough to master some soul-interrogation Skills, he wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.

A few minutes later, there was good news.

A Skeleton had found a torn Beast Skin Scroll in the camp. The scroll was covered in crooked, crude symbols that resembled a rudimentary map.

Fang Zhou frowned and studied it for a long time, but the map was too badly damaged for him to decipher. So, he simply scanned the map into his Hunting Recorder and activated the big data comparison mode. In this regard, computers were far more convenient than human brains.

Soon, the Hunting Recorder reached a conclusion.

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