170: Finally reached level 90

The Praying Mantis pushed off with its legs and appeared beside Xu Le, its two sharp forelimbs slashing down.

Xu Le had long been on guard, having prepared himself ever since he learned of stronger demonic creatures.

Seeing the dark shadow appear, he immediately activated Destiny Link, sharing the Little Demon Monkey's current attributes.

The world seemed to slow down, and the previously indistinct black shadow suddenly became clear.

The mantis's ferocious and bloodthirsty eyes were clear, and its two forelimbs crossed, seemingly intending to perform a cross-cut on him.

The Thousand-Year Fish beside him also moved, its speed so fast that only afterimages could be seen.

Xu Le quickly drew his yanyue saber and activated the 'One Cut, Two Halves' Skill.

The yanyue saber accurately struck the mantis's head at an even faster speed. The Skill triggered, and its already small triangular head was severed.

The Thousand-Year Fish's tail whipped the mantis into a pulp, only then realizing that its head had already been cut off. Its expression immediately turned sour.

That attack was wasted.

Xu Le felt as if he had drunk honey, thinking, 'You show-off, you finally got a taste of your own medicine!'

The Thousand-Year Fish quickly adopted a calm and indifferent expression, continuing to gaze towards the center of the city.

"That last saber strike was very decisive. If you can maintain that state, you should be able to deal with that guy."

Xu Le was skeptical, not ruling out the possibility that the other party was trying to save face after a failed attempt to show off.

The mantis on the ground was already a pulp, but still no experience points were dropped. Xu Le continued to strike, slashing at the pulped corpse.

[Experience +20 Million]

This was clearly different from other experience points.

Thinking of the Parasitic Demonic Spirits in the Xiaoyao Realm, Xu Le instructed Nine Phoenix to burn the mantis's corpse to ashes before finally feeling at ease.

Time slowly passed.

A bright moon rose in the sky, its light scattering through the light clouds.

The contracted beasts had been fighting all day and were very tired, but the Demonic Corpses were endless, showing no signs of decreasing.

Except for the Little Demon Monkey, all the other contracted beasts were struggling to hold on.

Xu Le finally reached Rank 86, and two-tenths of his Void Realm aura had been dissolved by Devilish Qi and Death Qi.

Especially after he shared the Little Demon Monkey's attributes, wielding the yanyue saber among the Demonic Corpses, he was like a Heavenly God descending to the mortal world; no Demonic Corpse could withstand a single strike from him.

But even so, in that one hour, he only killed over a million Demonic Corpses.

"Retreat!"

Xu Le felt it was enough and recalled his contracted beasts to the Contract Space.

A look of surprise flashed in the Thousand-Year Fish's eyes. It had thought Xu Le would continue to relentlessly exploit his contracted beasts, but he unexpectedly let them return.

However... a smile flickered in its eyes.

It clearly remembered being humiliated during the day; it had to get its revenge.

It had thought it would have to wait a very long time, but unexpectedly, the opportunity was right before its eyes.

"Master, can I continue fighting?"

The Little Demon Monkey brandished its star radiance profound spear, its face full of reluctance.

Xu Le carefully observed the Little Demon Monkey, finding that not only did it show no fatigue, but its Battle Intent was even stronger.

Its movements were so fast that only afterimages could be seen, yet each attack was incredibly precise, and its Moves showed no deformation.

"Alright, tell me if you get tired, don't force yourself." Xu Le nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, the other contracted beasts also requested to fight, but Xu Le sternly refused.

They had fought with all their might for most of the day and were already exhausted.

"Aren't you going back?"

Xu Le looked at the Thousand-Year Fish's sparkling eyes. He seemed to have never seen that look in its eyes before.

"No, I want to watch... the monkey fight, it's absolutely brilliant!"

The Thousand-Year Fish thought of Xu Le about to be humiliated and certainly wouldn't go back. If it had hands, it would surely clap and cheer.

Xu Le didn't try to persuade it further; the other party could return on its own.

He took out the scythe of death staff and released the Ghosts within.

Boom!

Leading the charge were over a dozen Void Creatures' Ghosts.

There were also the Demonic Corpse Ghosts killed during the day, densely packed, numbering close to ten million.

Over a dozen Void Creatures cleared the way, sending the surrounding Demonic Corpses flying.

One large octopus was particularly lethal; its eight tentacles were like the sharpest swords, each swing capable of cutting the surrounding Demonic Corpses in half.

With all eight tentacles striking simultaneously, shattered corpses were everywhere.

The other Void Creatures were no less impressive; not only were their bodies comparable to skyscrapers, but their attacks were like tanks. Wherever they passed, no demonic creature could withstand them.

Although the other Demonic Corpse Ghosts were weaker, with the Void Ghosts clearing the path, they only needed to finish off stragglers and kill any missed Demonic Corpses. It was essentially ten-on-one or nine-on-one, with no danger to speak of.

As for the earlier collected trash Ghosts, Xu Le didn't release them; they were merely tools to provide experience points for the divine statue.

The Thousand-Year Fish looked at the scythe of death staff in Xu Le's hand, its eyes wide, and couldn't help but begin to take Xu Le seriously.

Perhaps his strength was average, but his Heaven-Defying luck made even it envious.

"Contractor, can I see your staff?"

"You can."

Xu Le handed over the staff, curious how the Thousand-Year Fish would take it.

The Thousand-Year Fish didn't use its pectoral fins to hold it, nor did it conjure hands with magic. Instead, the scythe of death staff simply floated in the air, allowing it to examine it.

"Your staff is good, but the space inside is almost full of Ghosts."

"I suggest you dispel all the non-humanoid Ghosts, then allocate a separate area in the Contract Space to house the humanoid Ghosts. They will be of great use in the future."

The Thousand-Year Fish spoke with utmost sincerity, completely unlike its usual show-off style.

Xu Le subconsciously agreed.

However, he didn't discard the non-humanoid Ghosts. Instead, he carved out two separate spaces in the Contract Space: one for non-humanoid Ghosts and one for humanoid Ghosts.

But compared to the contracted beasts, these two spaces were transformed by Xu Le's thoughts into two cities with four walls.

He released the non-humanoid Ghosts from the staff into them, and the sheer number of insects, flying fish, birds, and beasts made Xu Le's scalp tingle.

Returning to the city, led by over a dozen Void Creatures, the Ghost army had already counterattacked a great distance, almost out of Xu Le's sight.

The Thousand-Year Fish wanted to persuade him again, its lips moved, but in the end, it said nothing more.

How could a unlucky, non-European person teach an European person how to fight?

[Experience +3650]

[Experience +98000]

[Experience +6580]

...Three days later.

A white light rose, and Xu Le ascended to Rank 90.

Not only that, his Ghost army had grown by another 24 million.

He opened his attribute panel:

[Name] Xu Le

[Class] Holy Contract Master (SSS-Rank)

[Rank] 90 (58230/440000000)

[Talents] Innate Divinity, The Gift, Raven Emissary

[Strength] 10805+8000

[Agility] 11205+8000

[Physique] 10805+8000

[spirit] 10810+8000+800 (scythe of death staff)+600 (Divinity)

...Compared to before, after Rank 90, the experience required for each level increased by 100 million, making it terrifyingly difficult.

Furthermore, due to the increase in Rank, the experience penalty for low-level monsters became even more severe, adding insult to injury.

The strangest thing was that after Rank 90, there was a gray mark next to it.