165: Chapter 165 The Demon King is in seclusion! The next round will be a fight to the death!

The dead silence in the corner of the arena was broken by a mechanical announcement that resounded throughout the entire venue.

"The second round of the hunting points competition has ended. Congratulations to all advancing contestants."

"All contestants will receive twenty-four hours of rest time; please prepare yourselves to meet the challenges of the next round."

This voice was like a switch, instantly igniting the entire Kyoto Stadium.

"Holy sh*t! It's over! That Lin Qi actually took first place!"

"136,000 points! Is this f*cking score something a human can achieve? The second-place contestant doesn't even have a fraction of his score!"

"He slaughtered the Prodigy teams from both the Berserker Alliance and the Blade of the Firmament guilds! He stripped them of all their equipment! You call this a competition? It's more like he went on a shopping spree!"

The clamor and discussions were like boiling seawater, but not a single drop could splash onto Lin Qi.

He ignored all the gazes around him—whether they were of awe, terror, or jealousy—and slowly and methodically wiped the last finger clean with a handkerchief.

A rotund figure came scrambling over; it was none other than Zhang Wei.

The fatty still had tear stains on his face—left over from when he was scared seeing Lin Qi being hunted by the whole arena—but at this moment, his expression was filled with fanatical worship.

"Brother Qi! You... you are too awesome!" Zhang Wei's voice was trembling. "I... I almost had a heart attack earlier! You actually... you actually slaughtered them all..."

Lin Qi casually tossed away the used handkerchief, cutting off his incoherent rambling.

"Cut the crap." His voice was calm. "Get rid of everything in the Storage Pouch."

Zhang Wei was stunned for a moment, then reacted, his eyes gleaming with the light of money.

Those were the entire assets of elite teams from two top federal guilds!

"Don't worry, Brother Qi! I guarantee I'll sell them for the highest price!" The fatty patted his chest, vowing solemnly.

"I need money." Lin Qi looked at him and added, "The more, the better."

"Understood!"

Zhang Wei nodded heavily, clutching the several Advanced Storage Pouchs he had received from Lin Qi as if he were holding several mountains of gold, and scurried off toward the trading market.

After handling these matters, Lin Qi did not linger in the arena; he turned and walked toward the rest area of the Longya Academy.

He had to go to one place: Old Mo's exclusive training room.

Behind the heavy metal door was Old Mo's face, which was filled with fanaticism.

When the old man saw Lin Qi, his eyes lit up like a hungry wolf seeing fresh meat.

"You're here! You're finally here!" Old Mo rubbed his hands together, speaking excitedly. "Quick! Quick, let me record this! What exactly did you do in the Mist Forest? Those force-generating techniques are simply art! They are treasures!"

Lin Qi ignored his excitement and walked straight to the prayer mat in the center of the training room to sit down.

"Old man, I'm borrowing your place for a bit. Before I get up, don't let anyone disturb me."

"No problem! No problem!" Old Mo agreed immediately, but still approached him, unwilling to give up. "Just a little bit of data, your muscle vibration frequency when exerting force, and the trajectory of your True Qi circulation..."

Lin Qi closed his eyes and calmly spat out two words: "Get out."

The expression on Old Mo's face froze. Seeing Lin Qi's unquestionable attitude, he could only sigh in the end, retreat from the training room dejectedly, and lock the big door from the outside.

He knew that this kid was about to start digesting his "spoils of war."

The training room became completely quiet. Lin Qi's consciousness sank into his body.

In the Mist Forest, besides harvesting points and equipment, more importantly, while killing those monsters, he had quietly used the Martial Saint Mind-Cultivation Technique to intercept a portion of the escaping "essence."

This essence was mixed and impure, filled with a violent, wild aura that ordinary professionals could not directly absorb.

But for Lin Qi, these were just raw Materials that needed to be purified.

The Internal Skill of the "martial arts era" operated at high speed, and strands of mixed essence were drawn into his Meridians. Like Ore thrown into a furnace, under the tempering of his True Qi, Impurities were constantly stripped away and pulverized, eventually turning into the purest energy that slowly seeped into his limbs and bones.

He could clearly feel his bones letting out a satisfied "groan."

Under the nourishment of this energy, the Silver Bone body of the Bone Refining Stage saw its surface silver luster brighten by another fraction, and the density and strength of his bones had improved imperceptibly.

"Still too slow." Lin Qi muttered to himself.

This level of improvement was still too far from his goal of forging his mortal body into an "Indestructible Dao Body."

He needed stronger opponents and purer energy.

Meanwhile, in Kyoto, the Li Family secret chamber. The atmosphere was as oppressive as solidified mercury.

Li Pojun's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at a video repeatedly playing on the floating light screen in front of him.

The footage was somewhat shaky and blurry; it was clearly filmed secretly.

In the video, Lin Qi was colliding crazily with a huge Lv.45 elite monster, the [Iron-Armored Violent Bear].

He did not use any fancy techniques; it was just the most primitive fists against claws, Physical Body against Physical Body.

Every time they collided, Lin Qi would be sent flying by the immense force, slamming heavily onto the ground.

But the next second, he would stand up unscathed and charge in again.

His eyes held no trace of pain, only a kind of nearly cold calmness.

"Do you understand now?" Beside Li Pojun, a Family retainer wearing long robes with his eyes closed suddenly spoke.

"Lord Retainer, I don't understand." Li Pojun's voice was somewhat hoarse. "Why does he fight in this most stupid way? With his footwork, he could clearly easily toy with this stupid bear."

"Because he is not just taking a beating." The old man slowly opened his eyes, a flash of sharpness in his pupils. "He is feeding."

"Feeding?" Li Pojun was shocked.

"That's right." The retainer pointed at Lin Qi, who was being swatted away in the video again. "Look closely. Every time he takes an attack, his body's Qi not only doesn't weaken, but actually strengthens slightly. He is using this monster's attacks to temper his own Physical Body. He is absorbing the escaping energy during the battle to strengthen himself."

This discovery was like a bolt of lightning, splitting open Li Pojun's mind.

He instantly understood everything. Why could Lin Qi run rampant with a Lv.1 Rank? Why was he fearless in the face of being surrounded? Because conventional battles, war of attrition, were not consumption for him, but supplements! The longer it dragged on, the stronger he became!

"We must... we must use absolute power to completely destroy him in an instant!" Li Pojun's fists clenched, cracking audibly. "We must never give him any more chances to grow!"

He turned abruptly and rushed out of the secret chamber. A moment later, inside the study of the Li Family head.

Li Pojun reported the video and the retainer's analysis in full to the majestic man sitting behind a massive desk.

The Li Family head, Li Qingcang.

He watched the entire video in silence, and a trace of gloom finally appeared on his calm, unruffled face.

"Tianhai City... we all underestimated this teenager who crawled out of a remote corner."

He tapped his fingers lightly on the desktop, making a dull sound.

"Conventional means are already useless. Since he is a monster that keeps growing, we must use our true trump card before he is fully grown to completely eradicate him."

Li Qingcang's gaze turned to a painting on the wall depicting a world of ice and snow. In the corner of the painting, there was a mark of a tall tower. The Elemental Tower.

A fierce look flashed in Li Pojun's eyes as he bowed to his father, requesting to be deployed. "Father, let me make a move in the next round! I have 100% confidence that I will use my lightning to personally end him!"

Li Qingcang, however, shook his head, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth. "No, it is not yet time for you to make a move." "Why use a butcher's knife to slaughter a chicken?"