I Have Infinite Skill Points

Soon, the five of them arrived at the habitat of the Golden mantis.

Normally, mantises should be jungle insects that stay on trees hunting prey. But Exotic Beasts are not true insects; even if they look very similar to mantises, their habits are entirely different.

The Golden mantis is a burrowing animal. They dig into the ground to mine and eat ore. Strangely, though, they greatly dislike staying underground and prefer basking in the sun.

Since the Golden mantis is a communal animal, when Wang Lan and the other two chose a place to rest and retreat, they arrived at the territory of the Golden mantis. Just upon arrival, a Golden mantis stood erect, staring intently at Wang Lan and the four other newcomers.

The routine was still the same.

Jiang Xinyu used ranged attacks to disturb the Golden mantis, drawing the creatures before sending them off in one fell swoop.

Indeed, under Jiang Xinyu's ice arrows, twelve Golden mantises were attracted. When they ran, they would open their wings to flap and assist, making their charge very fast.

"The attributes of the Golden mantis are a great counter to mine; I can only manage to restrict their movements," Jiang Xinyu said, her strength having surged since learning new Star Martial Skills.

To say she couldn't deal with the Golden mantis was certainly impossible. But powerful Star Martial Skills meant a great expenditure of Star Power. If the targets were too insignificant, using potent Star Martial Skills was pure waste.

And hindering the movements of the Golden mantises was tantamount to cutting off all their effective methods of attack. It was like laying the Golden mantises on a chopping board for easy cutting.

No sooner had her words fallen than Jiang Xinyu's Star Martial Skill activated. The Golden mantises were fiercely charging, but suddenly a layer of frost rose from under their feet, freezing them in place like flies stuck to flypaper, utterly immobilized.

With the twelve mantises frozen, Wang Lan and the other three charged at them instantly.

This time, Xu Xiangwen did not swing his Two-handed Great Sword; instead, he split into three clones in an instant, along with his real body rushing towards four Golden mantises.

"Damn, you managed to master three clones in just one term?"

"Are you kidding? Last term I could already split into two, did you forget?" Xu Xiangwen retorted while leaping onto the back of a struggling Golden mantis.

As he raised his right hand, it was only then that Wang Lan noticed Xu Xiangwen's arm was equipped with a metal gauntlet. With the swing of Xu Xiangwen's fist, a surge of Star Energy Fluctuation spread out.

One punch, hammering down toward the Golden mantis's head.

BOOM—

A loud blast erupted, making Wang Lan glance towards Xu Xiangwen in surprise.

Wang Lan had initially assumed the gauntlet was just to enhance Xu Xiangwen's punching power. He had wondered, Why would you punch an Exotic Beast with a head full of metallic armor instead of using a sword?

Now it was clear: Xu Xiangwen's gauntlet was merely for protecting his fists. This term, it wasn't just Wang Lan making rapid progress; Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu had also learned new Star Martial Skills.

The sheer force of Xu Xiangwen's punch was no less powerful than a hand grenade.

A typical Golden mantis's strength was only at the peak of Starlight or the early stages of Star Shine, and they were also in a state of restricted movement. With one punch from Xu Xiangwen, the Golden mantis's entire head was obliterated.

The issue was, Xu Xiangwen had three clones, and almost simultaneously, they each executed the same set of Star Martial Skills. With a BOOM, all four Golden mantises were decapitated nearly at the same time.

"Damn, going all out with such intense Star Martial Skills right off the bat? Aren't you worried about depleting your Star Power?" Gong Feiyu exclaimed.

"The Star Power consumed can be replenished with just one Soul Bead. I took out four in one blow and still gained three, isn't that worth it?"

The realization struck Gong Feiyu, who was prying at a Golden mantis with his blade. He has a point. Then why the hell am I still hacking away?

He tossed aside his battle blade, and a surge of Star Power stirred. In an instant, the earth around him churned, swallowing up the four Golden mantises before him. Gong Feiyu clapped his hands together forcefully, and the four Golden mantises let out a piercing scream as they merged with the earth.

The ground undulated slightly, and four Soul Beads, like moles burrowing out, emerged from the depths.

Indeed swift!

Witnessing this, Wang Lan felt his composure crack. These two are showing off, aren't they? They must be. Did they even ask for my permission to show off in front of me?

Wang Lan instantly changed his strategy as well. His Flame Sword flared into existence with a WHOOSH—the Purple Flame Sword, with fire blazing at nearly ten thousand degrees.

Like a gust of wind, Wang Lan swept past the Golden mantises in front of him, and with each passing, their heads fell like plucked fruit.

In the blink of an eye, four Golden mantises were decapitated.

The three were showing off their moves without considering whether Xie Sisi, next to them, could handle it.

And at that moment, Xie Sisi clearly realized just how vast the gap was between herself and Wang Lan and the others.

Don't think that being surpassed in close-quarters combat is the only measure of strength. Under the might of Star Martial Skills, a mere flick of their fingers could cost me my life.

My heart aches, but I can't cry.

I know the cause of all this is my lack of resources. Being brought into the intermediate-level training ground is already a blessing for me.

Fortunately, Xie Sisi's blade was fast and steady.

Additionally, Xie Sisi had a skill.

Her brother was a chef, and back home, he often taught Xie Sisi cooking. Xie Sisi had a keen understanding of where to cut any ingredient quickly and precisely.

So, Xie Sisi's knife accurately stabbed into the seam in the back of the Golden mantis's armored plate, and with a forceful slice, the head fell along the seam of the plate.

It happened so quickly, the Golden mantis didn't even realize what was going on before it was... on the dinner table... no, dead.

Even if you put the Golden mantis's head back in its place, you couldn't see any sign of a cut. It took three or four seconds to deal with one; besides dodging the Mantis Blade and positioning oneself to strike, the speed of drawing her blade was very fast. In just three minutes, the heads of four Golden mantises were all chopped off.

"Collect the Soul Beads," Wang Lan reminded.

Xie Sisi made the same mistake he did the first time, not knowing to collect the Soul Beads.

"Oh, oh—"

Xie Sisi hurriedly set about the task, precisely slicing open the mantis's head. The Golden mantis's head was about the size of a bowl, yet the Soul Bead inside was not small at all. It really makes one wonder if this creature's brain is just the Soul Bead.

"You're doing much better than I did initially. It took me seven to eight minutes to slay a single Exotic Beast, and you finished off four in three minutes."

"Thank you, but this time it was Xinyu who limited their movements. If it were a real fight, I might not be able to defeat even one..."

"Don't be so modest. You're only at the Starlight Realm. At the Starlight Realm, facing even the most common Exotic Beast means certain death, let alone Golden mantises, which are not common Exotic Beasts at all. Right, you two?"

What's up with these two? Knowing them, they should be chiming in by now. Why are they so quiet?

Wang Lan looked back only to see Jiang Xinyu's lips twitching ever so slightly, holding back a laugh with great effort.

"Wolf King." A voice, brimming with aggrievement, sounded in his ear. Wang Lan turned his head to see Xu Xiangwen's intense, affectionate, and startling gaze that momentarily set his heart racing.

"Whoa, I'm not into that—" Wang Lan quickly stepped back. "And yeah, I can understand if your preferences are different, but I just can't quite grasp why you're talking backward. Can't you speak normally?"

"Wolf King!"

Wang Lan, seeing the expression on Xu Xiangwen's face, realized he was not jesting and looked at him worriedly. "Do you really have a problem? Try calling me by my correct name."

"Wolf King!"

This is serious.

"You're the one who's sick! I'm asking you, are you or aren't you Wolf King?"

"My name is Wang Lan, not Lan Wang!"

"Hello, Wolf, it's nice to meet you," Gong Feiyu's voice came from behind. It was then that Wang Lan suddenly realized that Xu Xiangwen wasn't getting his name wrong—he was calling him the Wolf King.

The Wolf King was a nickname fans on the internet had for Wang Lan. And Wang Lan himself didn't pay much attention to it. After the Star Martial Art Championship, he didn't even go online to look at related forum posts or news articles.

Plus, he soon encountered the matter with the Demon Clan spy, and if Gong Feiyu hadn't addressed him as Wolf, he would have nearly forgotten about the Star Martial Art Championship. Since he didn't know about his internet nickname, the Wolf King, he naturally failed to catch on immediately.

"Uh... I think there's something off about your gazes," Wang Lan said, looking at the two who were steadily closing in, his voice revealing a hint of vulnerability.

"Lanzi, you were really good at keeping us in the dark... Your acting is impressive, truly worthy of an Oscar. Still remember how you argued with me about who the Wolf was, acting like a die-hard Wolf fan..."

"Lanzi, did you know your head has a bounty of eight million out there?"

"I... Is it really that serious? I just didn't want people to know my identity, so I entered the competition anonymously. What's wrong with them, have they got nothing better to do?"

"Anyone who uncovers your real identity wins a reward of eight million. I really didn't expect the poster I hung on my wall, the one I'd look at every night before sleep, to be my own bro whom I see every day."

"You can't blame me for that," Wang Lan shrugged.

"Now that I think about it... Wolf King's fancy footwork and his sharp close-combat fighting skills, they looked so familiar. If it hadn't been for the Wolf King showing off two advanced Star Martial Skills, I would have confirmed it was you."

"I refuse to believe this... When did you learn two A-grade Star Martial Skills? And I've checked online; they say you've already advanced to a high level with those two A-grade skills."

"Damn! That's unscientific!" Xu Xiangwen suddenly yelled.

"A-grade Star Martial Skills take at least five years to master fully. Unless one is a high-tier warrior learning downward, mastery is not possible in under five years. You only awakened your Star Martial Warrior talent half a year ago, and you participated in the Star Martial Art Championship just two months after your awakening. When did you learn them?"

"I learned them right after coming out of the beginner's trial ground. What's so strange about that? Isn't learning things quickly just a basic operation for me?" Wang Lan said, looking at the nearly collapsing Xu Xiangwen with an expression that suggested it was perfectly natural.

"Silly boy, have you forgotten? I even learned an S-grade Star Martial Skill."

That sentence was like drawing the last bit of soul from Xu Xiangwen, leaving his expression frozen like a sculpture.

You forgot? Have you forgotten...

I really almost forgot!

This guy is a complete monster; how could I have forgotten...

But why do I suddenly feel like strangling him?

An A-grade Star Martial Skill, mastered in just a few months and even cultivated to an advanced stage! I've been practicing an A-grade skill for half a year and have barely scratched the surface...

"That stings!" Gong Feiyu gently patted Wang Lan's shoulder and said seriously.