Chapter 4: The Ascetic Training Begins

Chaos Zone, the outskirts.

This is the ruins of civilization.

Towering ruins, like the skeletons of giant beasts, cast mottled shadows under the dark red moonlight.

Inside the abandoned air-raid shelter, the air was very stifling.

Li Ang sat cross-legged on the cold concrete floor, a row of potion tubes lined up in front of him.

Those were all the "Dragon Blood Body Tempering Pastes" he had brought in.

[Day 4: Cultivation begins.]

[You swallowed the first tube of potion.]

[This medicinal liquid, which felt cold to the touch, was like liquid fire once swallowed into your stomach.]

[The violent medicinal power exploded in your stomach.]

[It surged through your blood vessels, brutally scouring your Meridians, which were already riddled with holes from long-term injections of low-quality potions.]

"Ugh..."

Even in the simulation, that intense pain—as if someone were crushing every bone in his body and reassembling them—still made Li Ang's Soul tremble.

An ordinary person would have passed out from the pain by now, or even gone into shock due to the body's self-protection mechanism.

But Li Ang did not.

The [Hardworking and Enduring (Green)] talent showed its powerful side at this moment.

His pain receptors seemed to be wrapped in an invisible membrane; the pain was still there.

But it wouldn't make him break down; instead, it kept him in a strange state of absolute clarity.

[Grit your teeth, you used this violent energy to begin practicing the "Ninth Set of Radio Body Tempering Techniques."]

[The first time, blood seeped from your skin; those were the toxins being expelled.]

[The tenth time, your bones crackled as the medicinal power seeped into your marrow.]

[The hundredth time...]

In this sunless underground cave, Li Ang became an Incarnation of a tireless machine.

When hungry, he gnawed on a compressed nutrition bar; when thirsty, he drank a sip of purified water.

Aside from Cultivating, there was only more Cultivating.

...

[Year 1: Reborn]

[Boredom is an enemy more terrifying than death. But in your eyes, boredom is a ladder to becoming stronger.]

[Three months later, relying on the overbearing medicinal power of the "Dragon Blood Body Tempering Paste" and tireless hard work.]

[You forcibly broke through the Fourth Stage of Qi and Blood Bottleneck.]

[You promoted to the Fifth Stage of the Qi and Blood Realm!]

[Six months later, the low-quality medicinal toxins in your body were completely flushed out. Your blood was no longer turbid but showed a healthy bright red. Your muscle lines became firm and full of explosive power, no longer that hollow swelling.]

[At the end of this year, as the last potion tube was shattered, the Qi and blood in your body surged like a rushing river, making a roaring sound.]

[You promoted to the Sixth Stage of the Qi and Blood Realm!]

In the infirmary in reality, Li Ang watched this line of text, his heart racing.

One year, Sixth Stage!

[Resources exhausted.]

[As the last nutrition bar was finished, you faced a new crisis: hunger.]

[Although you are a Martial Artist with powerful Qi and blood, you cannot yet achieve Bigu.]

[To continue Cultivating, you must obtain food.]

[You had no choice but to end your seclusion, walk out of the air-raid shelter, and begin exploring the outskirts of the Chaos Zone.]

...

The sky of the Chaos Zone was forever gray, as if shrouded in a layer of dust that could never be washed away.

Carrying the Refined Steel Combat Saber he scavenged from the Ghost Market and wearing the somewhat worn C-grade Nano-protective Suit, Li Ang walked through the dense mutated bushes like a vigilant leopard.

The [Passerby A (Green)] talent was constantly active.

Li Ang was like a slowly moving shadow, blending into this jungle.

A few Mutated Black Crows scavenging carrion by the roadside didn't fly off in alarm until Li Ang was within three meters of them.

"The density of exotic beasts here is higher than expected."

Li Ang stopped behind a cliff, his gaze scanning the jungle below.

If he didn't solve the issue of a stable food source, he would have to spend a lot of time hunting every day.

This would seriously slow down his Cultivation progress.

He needed a stable logistics supply point.

Just then.

"Help! Is anyone there! Help!"

A childish and terrified cry for help drifted faintly on the wind.

Li Ang frowned slightly.

In the Chaos Zone, meddling in others' business usually meant death.

This could be a trap, or it could be a case of dog-eat-dog among drifters.

He originally wanted to turn and leave, but then he had a second thought.

"People mean settlements. Settlements mean stable trading channels."

"I still have quite a few water purification tablets and Antibiotics I bought from the Ghost Market; these are hard currency in the Chaos Zone. If I can make a connection, I won't have to run around every day for a few pounds of meat."

Thinking of this, Li Ang's figure flickered as he activated the "Passerby A" talent, silently creeping toward the source of the sound.

Several hundred meters away, beneath a massive dead tree.

Three massive "Iron-backed Jackals" with iron-gray bone spikes growing on their backs were frantically clawing around the large tree.

On a branch, a young girl of about twelve or thirteen was clinging tightly to the trunk, trembling all over. Her clothes were tattered, her face covered in dust and tear stains, and she clutched a rusty dagger tightly in her hand, clearly on the verge of a breakdown.

"Awoo—"

The leading Iron-backed Jackal lost its patience. Its hind legs suddenly exerted force, and like a gray bolt of lightning, it leaped three meters high, opening its foul-smelling maw to bite at the girl's ankle.

"Ah!" The girl let out a desperate scream.

Just at that critical moment.

A dark figure abruptly appeared beside the jackal.

It was Li Ang.

Under the cover of [Passerby A], until the moment he drew his blade, these keen-nosed beasts hadn't even noticed his presence!

"Slash!"

Li Ang's eyes were cold, without a shred of pity.

Basic Saber Technique (Minor Achievement)!

This saber technique, which he had traded his life for in the first simulation, now displayed its most unadorned lethality.

No fancy Moves, only fast, accurate, and ruthless hacking.

Puchi!

With a flash of the blade, the Iron-backed Jackal mid-leap didn't even have time to scream before its head was separated from its body, and scalding wolf blood splattered everywhere.

"Awoo?!"

The remaining two jackals were stunned.

They couldn't understand where this human had come from.

But Li Ang gave them no time to think. The explosive power of the Sixth Stage of Qi and Blood was released without reservation at this moment.

He stepped on the ground, his body like a bow, and he instantly catapulted forward.

Swish! Swish!

Two more slashes.

One jackal was cut in half at the waist, and the other, just about to flee, was pierced through the heart from behind by Li Ang's blade and pinned to the ground.

From drawing the blade to the end, it took only three short seconds.

Three Iron-backed Jackals, capable of tearing an ordinary adult to pieces, were all dead.

Li Ang slowly sheathed his saber, flicking away the blood droplets from the blade, and looked up at the young girl who was scared witless in the tree, his tone as calm as if he were asking for directions:

"Come down, it's safe now."

The girl tremulously poked her head out, looking at the wolf corpses littering the ground and then at the cold-faced young man. It took quite a while before she shakily climbed down.

"Tha... thank you, big brother..." The girl's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and her body couldn't stop shaking.

"Which settlement are you from?" Li Ang went straight to the point.

"I... my name is Su Ming." The girl wiped away her tears and pointed toward the ruins to the west. "I'm from the Taji Settlement. My grandfather is the Clan Chief, Su Ha. I came out to gather herbs but got lost..."

Taji Settlement?

"Lead the way."

Li Ang picked up two of the jackal corpses. "I'll take you back and talk business with your grandfather while I'm at it."

...

Half an hour later.

A camp built from abandoned containers and earthen walls appeared in sight.

This was a relatively orderly small human settlement on the edge of the Chaos Zone, surviving on hunting and growing radiation-resistant fungi.

At the camp entrance, several guards holding homemade muskets saw Li Ang carrying wolf corpses and leading Su Ming. They immediately raised their weapons nervously.

"Don't shoot! This big brother saved me!" Su Ming hurriedly shouted.

A moment later, the camp gates opened.

A white-haired, one-eyed old man walked out quickly and hugged Su Ming, tears streaming down his face.

He was the Clan Chief of the Taji Settlement, Su Ha.

"Brave warrior, thank you for saving Xiao Ming!" Su Ha looked at the three jackal corpses at Li Ang's feet, all killed with a single strike, and a hint of awe flashed in his single eye. "These Iron-backed Jackals have thick skin and tough flesh. Even a powerhouse at the Sixth Stage of Qi and Blood might not be able to kill them so cleanly... You have great skill, warrior!"

He was an old hand in the Jianghu and could naturally see Li Ang's extraordinary nature.

The smooth, mirror-like cut of the decapitation showed that the young man's saber technique Realm was extremely deep, and his Qi and blood power was very condensed.

"It was nothing."

Li Ang didn't waste words.

He pulled an unopened box of "Military Water Purification Tablets" and a bottle of Antibiotics from his pocket and threw them to Su Ha.

"I want to Cultivate here for a while. These things, along with the extra prey I bring back from hunting, will be in exchange for daily cooked food, drinking water, and an undisturbed place to stay."

Su Ha took the medicine, and after seeing the labels clearly, his breathing suddenly became rapid.

In the Chaos Zone, Antibiotics and water purification tablets were more precious than gold! These were life-saving items!

"Enough! More than enough!" Su Ha was so excited his beard trembled. "Rest assured, warrior. Not just food and water—you are the most honored guest of our Taji Settlement! I'll have the quietest cellar in the back mountain cleaned up for you to stay in!"

For this weak settlement, being able to exchange a little food for a powerhouse's presence, even if only temporarily, was in itself a huge security guarantee.