43: Chapter 43 The Atavism Ritual (Part Two)

Tang Long thought to himself, "As expected, the ultimate goal of this quest series is to help Lu Xiaohu awaken."

The quest description was a bit vague, but the general method was the same as the Stone Ape King awakening quest.

However, the rewards were much more generous; not only did it grant attributes, but the highest bounty could actually provide a special skill.

He just didn't know what the specific difficulty was like, or if he could complete it.

He cast Detection again and checked Lu Xiaohu's HP. To his surprise, he discovered that not only was Lu Xiaohu's HP not low, but the cap had suddenly increased by a large margin, inexplicably breaking ten thousand, just a little less than his own.

"Rest assured! Your grandson is quite tough."

Tang Long curled his lip and asked again, "How does the ritual continue?"

Lu Pingan asked back in even greater surprise, "Continue? Here? Shouldn't we move him away first and find a safe place?"

"This blizzard is the best cover; even if it gets loud, others won't hear. The other Bounty Hunters won't arrive until tomorrow morning; we have plenty of time tonight. Besides, completing the ritual requires help; where would we find helpers if we moved?"

Lu Pingan could only nod, "I'll do whatever you say!"

He immediately grabbed a candle and lit the tiger bone on Lu Xiaohu's shoulder; the oiled tiger bone instantly burst into raging flames.

A smell of burnt hair quickly emanated from the fierce fire, and Lu Xiaohu immediately became even more manic.

Intense heartbeats echoed from within his chest, and at the same time, his chest strangely turned transparent, vaguely revealing the glowing red heart inside.

Every beat of that heart seemed to carry immense weight, like muffled drums. Furthermore, a scarlet pattern quickly appeared on his chest.

His bones began to crackle, his body size rapidly increased by a circle, and his hair became even thicker.

The burning tiger bone on his shoulder slithered like a snake to his spine, as if dragging a burning tail.

This wasn't even the most shocking part.

Tang Long could see more intuitively that Lu Xiaohu's vitality had instantly surged again, exceeding 34,000 points, and his previous stats had also risen sharply.

There was even an extra skill in the special skill bar: Totem Transformation LV1!

[Lu Xiaohu learned the special skill — Totem Transformation LV1: When transforming, vitality increases by 500%, and all attributes increase by 10%!]

Tang Long exclaimed to himself, "Good fellow."

He was worthy of being the future Blood Tiger King; this skill was monstrous. It had such a strong effect at level one, and no side effects.

Fortunately, he was still young and his base attributes weren't high; otherwise, it would be difficult for him to control the situation.

After Lu Xiaohu's strength increased, he struggled even more violently, causing the house pillar he was tied to to shake.

However, his intelligence hadn't returned; he only knew how to pull violently, not how to use his hands to untie the chains wrapped around him, barely managing to pull out one or two steps of activity space.

Tang Long turned around and pointed at Hou Qiang, "Wake up your partner and go fight him. If you can win, I will let you go."

Hou Qiang was stunned, taking a long while to come to his senses.

"Brother, are you sure?"

"Stop talking nonsense! If you don't fight, I'll skin you alive."

Hou Qiang hurriedly pulled out his dagger and carefully returned it to Tang Long. Then he picked up a cup of water from the table and splashed it directly onto Mu Dayong's face.

Mu Dayong jolted awake, and upon seeing the scene in the room, his eyes were still somewhat dull.

Hou Qiang hurriedly leaned into his ear and whispered a few words, and only then did he reveal deep fear.

But this fear mostly stemmed from Tang Long.

Hou Qiang only said one sentence, 'suspected Tier 6 expert,' and the guy was almost scared to pee himself; how could he dare to say a single word of refusal?

As for Lu Xiaohu, although they saw that something was wrong, they hadn't used much effort to capture him earlier, so they had fewer scruples.

"Brother Hou, if we win, will he really let us go? I mean..."

Hou Qiang slapped him directly, "Stop with the nonsense! Old rules, you go first!"

Mu Dayong gritted his teeth and charged straight at Lu Xiaohu. Hou Qiang, using Mu Dayong to block the line of sight, tried to flank him.

However, just as he circled to the rear, he heard Mu Dayong's scream.

Because he knew Lu Xiaohu was related to Tang Long and Lu Pingan, Mu Dayong didn't dare to use lethal force against Lu Xiaohu. Moreover, Lu Xiaohu was still half-bound, so he easily grabbed Lu Xiaohu's hand, inevitably becoming a bit careless, intending only to subdue him.

But just as he wanted to press Lu Xiaohu back against the pillar, Lu Xiaohu suddenly lunged forward and bit his neck.

In shock and pain, he became even more flustered, reaching back to grab and hit Lu Xiaohu's head.

Lu Xiaohu endured a few hits, then climbed directly onto him, this time biting straight into his throat.

Mu Dayong only cried out a few times before his throat was bitten through, and he fell to the ground, blood spurting out.

When Lu Xiaohu turned his head, covered in blood, Hou Qiang felt a chill down his spine.

Even Tang Long was shocked, because at this moment, he had received relevant information again.

[Killing has increased Lu Xiaohu's awakening level! Quest entered the second stage: Current progress 1%!]

[Lu Xiaohu learned the special skill: Blood Tiger Berserk LV1! When health drops below 30%, he can enter the Blood Tiger Berserk state. Critical hit rate increases by 30%, and hits have a high chance of causing bleeding damage. In this state, he ignores the effects of injuries. For every target killed, attack power increases by 5%, up to a maximum of 30%. Each use permanently reduces a random attribute by 1, lasts for 30 minutes, and has a 24-hour cooldown.]

In fact, after a player's second job transfer in the Martial class, they can also learn the Berserk skill.

The function is similar, but the effect... it's far too inferior.

After a player's Berserk is maxed out, the critical hit rate only increases by 36% and lasts for 36 seconds. This Berserk of Lu Xiaohu's increases by 30% at only level one and lasts for half an hour, which can be called extremely monstrous.

And... isn't this awakening way too easy?

Just killed one person, and it's already the second stage?

Although the Stone Ape King awakening quest only had two stages, it cost hundreds of lives.

Originally, he asked Lu Pingan to continue the ritual here because there were more people here. Once out of this house, there was still an entire village.

Anyway, it was an internal conflict on Blue Star; there was no talk of innocent or not, it didn't matter how many died.

But now...

If it enters the third stage and awakens another such monstrous skill, whether he can handle this quest is likely a problem.

He wouldn't finish off this skinny monkey and immediately enter the third stage, right?

Hou Qiang still had some strength, after all, he was Tier 4.

With Mu Dayong's fate right before him, although he didn't run away due to the pressure from Tang Long, he was very cautious when attacking, and very heavy-handed.

Although the two special skills Lu Xiaohu awakened were extremely monstrous, his base strength was still relatively low. Coupled with his unclear consciousness, he didn't even know how to dodge, so he didn't have the advantage in the situation.

After being hit by Hou Qiang several times in succession, his movements became even more sluggish.

Lu Pingan subconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword, wanting to step forward to help his grandson.

But Tang Long's large hand pressed onto his shoulder at the right moment, "Don't be anxious, have some patience."

Lu Pingan felt both uneasy and confused, with many questions. Fortunately, he was experienced in life, so he restrained himself and did not rush to ask.

However, after fighting for a while longer, Lu Xiaohu was beaten more and more miserably, his tiger face beaten into an unrecognizable shape.

Hou Qiang threw another heavy punch, knocking him down under the pillar, then panted and turned to ask.

"Brother, is this enough?"

Tang Long sneered, "Do you think you've won?"

Hou Qiang turned his head abruptly and immediately saw that Lu Xiaohu had somehow stood up again.

Moreover, the flames on the spine bone behind him had actually extinguished, and he was staring at him with a very calm yet still ferocious gaze.

This gaze made him feel a huge danger.

He hurriedly shouted, "Brother, if we keep fighting, I won't be able to hold back, and it might cost someone their life!"

Tang Long looked at Lu Xiaohu's remaining HP of over ten thousand, the newly appeared Blood Tiger Berserk state, and his clearly restored consciousness, appearing thoughtful.

"Keep fighting; if you have the ability to kill him, my promise still holds."

Hou Qiang looked at the murderous Lu Pingan again, then could only grit his teeth and attack Lu Xiaohu once more.

But upon engaging again, the situation was completely different from before.

Lu Xiaohu still didn't dodge or evade, but launched a counterattack when he was hit, and at such times, Hou Qiang couldn't avoid it either.

In just three rounds, he was knocked backward, sitting on the ground with a face full of fear.

He was broken.