Before long, Ed returned to the inn. After dinner, he immediately retreated to his room and began using the Moonlight Meditation Technique under the moonlight.
Soon, he was pleasantly surprised. Within an hour, his progress had been steadily increasing at an impressive speed!
His heart surged with excitement: "Alright, this really works!"
With that, he immersed himself in meditation for 18 hours, and by the time dawn broke the next day...
[Successfully advanced to High-tier Black Iron Hunter]
[Progress towards Silver-tier Hunter breakthrough: 1%]
[Reward obtained: Low-level Monster Bestiary]
As his body successfully broke through, Ed felt a sudden surge of power.
His physical condition had skyrocketed! Compared to his previous self as a Mid-tier Black Iron Hunter, he was now at least ten times stronger!
But amid the joy, the reward he received—a Low-level Monster Bestiary—also piqued his curiosity.
"Hmm, what's this?"
The contents of the Monster Bestiary were automatically transmitted into his mind, directly converting into his memory.
No matter how much time passed, he would never forget it.
After going through the information, Ed instantly understood the purpose of the bestiary.
It documented many of the monsters Ed had already encountered, such as wild wolves, water ghosts, griffins, and more.
This bestiary, like an encyclopedia, not only detailed the habits, appearances, and characteristics of each monster, but also precisely recorded their weaknesses!
It described the best strategies to easily defeat them or what kinds of potions could effectively counter them...
In a sense, Ed had become a walking monster expert. With this reward, he now possessed hunting knowledge that would take other seasoned Hunters decades to acquire!
For a moment, Ed felt incredibly satisfied. As dawn broke, he left his room.
When he went downstairs to have breakfast, sure enough, Viktor and Iris were both reading yesterday's newspaper, constantly exclaiming as they read:
"I can't believe something so huge happened yesterday! The Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association officially declared war on all other associations in the paper, claiming they will defeat all the other associations in tomorrow's competition and take first place!"
"And the reason the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association made such a declaration is to recruit that mysterious young Hunter who defeated Brown before, making him a new member of their association!"
This news was so sensational for all the Hunter enthusiasts in the city!
At this moment, Viktor turned to Iris and said, "I was wandering around the city yesterday, and I heard an even more shocking rumor."
"Remember how all the associations gathered at the hotel yesterday to compete for that mysterious Hunter?"
"Well, the mysterious Hunter didn't show up! He stood up all the associations!"
Iris, hearing this, was immediately captivated, her expression full of excitement—like a fangirl witnessing her idol's shining moment.
"Oh my gosh, that's so cool! This mysterious Hunter has such personality!"
Meanwhile, Ed, listening to the conversation, furrowed his brow slightly. He sat calmly next to the two of them and casually grabbed a newspaper, discovering that the contents were exactly as they'd said.
The idea that the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association wanted to recruit him as an apprentice, even going so far as to declare war on all the other associations, was just too bizarre!
After all, he wasn't even aware of this himself!
After putting down the newspaper, Iris added:
"This mysterious young man is just too cool!"
"I have a feeling that someone as outstanding as him will definitely participate in tomorrow's competition. I really want to see what he looks like."
Viktor, who was sitting next to them, laughed and said:
"I'm definitely going to the competition tomorrow. The tickets are expensive, ten gold coins, but seeing so many associations in one place is worth it."
"Ten gold coins? That expensive?" Ed, who had been listening, immediately frowned.
He already knew the value of currency in this world, and even one gold coin was a large sum. The ticket for the competition alone cost ten gold coins!
Viktor noticed Ed's reaction and quickly said, "Lord Ed, don't you want to go see such an exciting competition and experience it firsthand?"
"I can even buy a ticket for you, although I'm running low on money."
Ed frowned even more. "Didn't you bring 100 gold coins? How could you run out so quickly?"
Ed was taken aback; the village chief's son seemed to be quite the spendthrift.
But Viktor didn't see any problem with it at all:
"As long as the money is spent wisely, it's worth it."
"Well then, Lord Ed, what do you think? Are you going or not?"
Ed smiled and shrugged. "I won't be going. I have something to do tomorrow."
Iris, who had been listening, couldn't resist teasing:
"Why are you pretending? What's so important? It can't be that you're going to participate in the competition, right?"
"You wouldn't actually believe the lies you told yesterday, would you? If you're looking down on the competition, just say so. Call me 'sister' and I'll treat you to a ticket."
Ed ignored Iris's comments, standing up and heading for the door.
"I'm not practicing swordplay today. Since the competition is tomorrow, I'll go sign up."
Ed looked at the newspaper in his hand, which had a guide map printed on it.
The registration deadline was before tonight; today was the last day for registration.
Following the map, he would be able to find the registration desk!
One hour later, Ed arrived at the location. The news about the competition had been incredibly hot.
But the registration desk was much quieter than Ed had expected. There were very few people there. In the registration hall, only about a dozen Hunters were waiting in line to sign up, and they all appeared to be men in their thirties or forties, with their true ages hard to tell.
Since registration was being done one by one, the people were lined up.
A registration staff member called out to the Hunters in line:
"Everyone, get ready! This competition is open to all Hunters, whether from an association or not."
"When registering, you must provide your name, cultivation level, and age. If you're from an association, be sure to mention it."
Ed joined the queue, waiting for more than 20 minutes. Finally, it was his turn.
However, just as Ed began walking toward the registration desk, a large hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder from behind:
"Hmph, get lost! What are you doing here, you little brat who hasn't even grown a beard yet?"
"Are you sure you're not in the wrong place?"
At the same time, a coarse voice filled with mockery came from behind.
Ed turned his head and saw a middle-aged Hunter shouting at him.
This guy was clearly trying to cut in line. Behind Ed, there were still a dozen Hunters waiting in line, but this man had walked directly from the side to cut in front of him.
It seemed that he had targeted Ed because he looked like an easy target.
On the surface, it made sense—Ed was young and didn't wear a cloak, looking nothing like a formal Hunter.
"Are you talking to me?" Ed narrowed his eyes, his face turning cold.
"Of course, who else would I be talking to? Get out of the way and let me take your spot!" the middle-aged man sneered.
"Let me warn you, even though I haven't joined an association yet, my cultivation is already at the Black Iron Low-tier Hunter level!"
The man added.
Upon hearing this, the dozen or so Hunters behind Ed all showed expressions of fear, their faces filled with genuine respect.
A Black Iron-tier Hunter was already a force to be reckoned with!
In an instant, many people shrank back, choosing to observe the situation from the sidelines. Some even looked at Ed with a sense of schadenfreude, thinking that this young man was simply out of luck.
In reality, although Ed's reputation had spread throughout the city, only the top associations knew what he looked like.
This era didn't have cameras, and recording stones were incredibly rare and precious magical tools.
As a result, most civilians had no idea what the mysterious young man who had taken the city by storm actually looked like.
Even his name, "Ed," had been carefully hidden by the top associations, kept secret to the point where the majority of lower-tier Hunters didn't know who this mysterious figure really was.
Faced with the middle-aged man's attempt to cut in line and his provocation, Ed naturally couldn't back down.
"What if I don't let you?" Ed asked coldly.
The man was clearly taken aback, not expecting that after revealing his cultivation, this young man would still dare to confront him.
Instantly, he became furious. "Hah, you really don't know the difference between heaven and earth. Looks like you're asking for trouble!"
Without another word, he drew his steel sword from behind and aimed to teach Ed a lesson.
Ed snorted coldly and made his move.