35: Chapter 35: A Fighting Expert, Carving His Way to Survival!

[You have exchanged for 8 skill pointss]

[Remaining spirituality value: 0]

[You used 1 skill points; your Mixed Martial Arts Rank has increased to LV2 (Proficient)]

[You used 2 skill pointss; your Mixed Martial Arts Rank has increased to LV3 (Mastery)]

[You used 4 skill pointss; your Mixed Martial Arts Rank has increased to LV4 (Expert)]

[Remaining skill pointss: 1]

As the successive System prompts appeared, Chu Xuan immediately discovered that increasing skill Ranks was completely different from personal attributes; they were consumed in a doubling pattern.

If he wanted to reach Rank 5, wouldn't that require 8 skill pointss, which is 80 spirituality value?

This was simply too exaggerated!

However, immediately after, Chu Xuan felt that spending so much spirituality value was not a loss at all.

A vast amount of fighting techniques and knowledge flooded his mind, and Chu Xuan instinctively felt as if he had undergone round after round of training and actual combat.

Through years of honing and the baptism of countless blood and sweat, his fighting level broke through three Ranks in succession; in just an instant, he leaped from a novice rookie who had just started to the elite Ranks.

He swapped the High-intensity Flashlight and the eight-sided han sword between his left and right hands, then Chu Xuan raised his sword to meet the enemy.

One of them came at the fastest speed and was sent back even faster, kicked squarely by Chu Xuan's front kick and flying backward like a broken puppet.

The person following closely behind lunged forward, trying to grab Chu Xuan's waist.

Before this, Chu Xuan would have only relied on his overwhelming advantage in agility and strength to hack away with the eight-sided han sword.

But now, with Mixed Martial Arts reaching Rank 4, these monsters in their human state were truly fragile in Chu Xuan's eyes; even when Berserk, they were still full of openings.

Chu Xuan paused slightly, raising the High-intensity Flashlight in his right hand high and shining it diagonally downward, keeping the opponent consistently within the range of the light.

Then he suddenly raised his knee—it was the simplest of Moves, but the lunging person seemed to bring their face right to it, taking the knee strike full-on.

Their entire face caved in completely, and they fell to the ground on the spot, their body twitching incessantly.

Slash!

A sword swung down, and a head rolled!

[You have slain an Eerie Clone; your spirituality value +20.]

[Current spirituality value: 20 (Exchangeable)]

At the same time, the person Chu Xuan had just kicked away roared and charged again, gnashing and clawing.

But unfortunately, this was still like a moth to a flame.

Chu Xuan sidestepped slightly, which looked extremely dangerous but perfectly avoided the opponent's wild, amateurish clawing, followed by a sudden low sweep kick.

Crack!

The person's lower leg snapped in the opposite direction, and their body involuntarily tumbled downward.

Chu Xuan raised his sword and slashed again!

[You have slain an Eerie Clone; your spirituality value +20.]

[Current spirituality value: 40 (Exchangeable)]

At this point, all six monsters had been slain, earning a total of 120 spirituality value, and less than half a minute had passed.

"Chu Xuan!"

Only then did the dozen or so people resting and on standby in front of the fire door start shouting, running over to help with their Long-handled Fluorescent Lamps raised.

As for He Ruhai and Yang Huancheng, they were also struggling to crawl up from the ground, their faces covered in swellings and their noses and mouths bleeding, looking incredibly wretched.

Half of He Ruhai's ear was still bleeding, causing him extreme pain.

Fortunately, while Xu Zhiyou was searching the way up, he had found a Medical Kit containing bandages and gauze, which could be used for simple treatment.

"Cough, cough! I almost got strangled to death!" Lin Tong clutched his throat and coughed repeatedly, tears and snot mixed together.

"Die!"

From the other end of the corridor came Tang Zheng's furious roar.

Tang Zheng and Chen Yinghao had also been ambushed.

Just like with Chu Xuan, the enemies had ambushed them at the doorway in human state, turned into monsters when the lights went out, and then hid inside the rooms.

Although there were only two monsters, without anyone to warn them, Chen Yinghao had been pressed right up against them from the start, and his Xiuchun saber couldn't be wielded properly.

If it hadn't been for the Long-handled Fluorescent Lamps keeping the monsters in human state, combined with Tang Zheng's quick reactions and timely rescue, Chen Yinghao might have been instantly killed on the spot; even so, a chunk of flesh had been bitten off his neck.

These two were also in extreme danger but eventually slew the two monsters.

If not for this, when Chu Xuan was first ambushed, if Tang Zheng's flashlight could have shone directly over, Chu Xuan wouldn't have been in such a narrow escape.

Clearly, while the monsters had focused their main force on Chu Xuan's side, they hadn't neglected Tang Zheng's side either.

This was a premeditated ambush, and Chu Xuan was incredibly fortunate that he had made arrangements in advance.

Correspondingly, if it hadn't been for that voice's warning, in the first exchange of the ambush, he would have been pinned down even if he didn't die, leaving him at the mercy of the other monsters.

Chu Xuan felt a lingering fear while also pondering.

Who exactly was the voice that had just appeared in his ear?

A System prompt?

No!

The System's voice was mechanical and cold, without the slightest emotion, while that cold and aloof voice just now was clearly a woman's voice.

A woman?

Could it be... Qin Qing?

Voice Transmission?

A Transcendent Skill similar to Mind Reading or Berserk?

"Regardless, another hurdle cleared..."

Chu Xuan leaned against the wall, let out a heavy sigh of relief, shook his somewhat numb head, and focused his attention on the damage prompts that the System had been popping up, as well as his current health points.

[You are in a persistent bleeding state; in your current state, you will lose 10-20 health points per hour.]

[Current health points: 85 (Base health points are stamina x 10)]

Is this the benefit of increasing stamina... after losing so much blood, I've only lost 15% of my health points; this should only count as a minor injury.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have already gone into shock and coma from excessive blood loss.

Chu Xuan looked down at his chest; through his torn clothes, the lacerated flesh was exposed, and the stark white ribs of his upper chest were faintly visible.

The blood that had been gushing out earlier was now only slowly seeping out.

What surprised Chu Xuan even more was that the System popped up another line of prompts.

[Your Basic Swordsmanship Rank has reached LV1 (Entry-level)]

This was truly an unexpected surprise!

Opening the System attribute panel and looking at the [Basic Swordsmanship] that had appeared in the regular skill tab, Chu Xuan felt a slight joy in his heart while taking off his jacket and forcefully tearing off his undershirt.

"Quick, disinfect it so it doesn't get infected!" Xu Zhiyou brought over some Iodopovidone and Hemostatic Gauze containing anti-plasminogen activator components.

"Give it to me." Chu Xuan poured the entire bottle of Iodopovidone directly onto the wounds on his chest and shoulder blade, and while walking out, he messily wrapped the wounds with gauze.

A new prompt appeared on the System page:

[You are in a persistent bleeding state; in your current state, you will lose 8-15 health points per hour.]

[Current health points: 84]

"Chu Xuan, what should we do next? Should we continue upstairs? It'll be nightfall in less than ten minutes; how about we go back to the eighth floor to rest and wait for the next day?"

Lin Tong was panting heavily; he was truly terrified, and it wouldn't matter even if he were ridiculed for going back.

Not just Lin Tong, but the others were also very worried and didn't really want to go further up.

Before this, they had all placed their hopes on Chu Xuan, believing that as long as they followed him, they would definitely be safe.

Because Chu Xuan not only displayed physical fitness far beyond that of an ordinary person but also created the Long-handled Fluorescent Lamps so they wouldn't fear the dark stairwells, and he had even slain monsters one after another, seeming to have everything under control.

But now, even Chu Xuan had been so severely injured.

It was like being doused with a bucket of cold water, making everyone deeply realize that Chu Xuan was not omnipotent; he could also be injured and he could also die.

"We can't wait for the next day; we can only continue upstairs."

Chu Xuan paused slightly, turning back to scan the crowd, many faces falling into his sight.

The worried Lin Tong, the silent Xu Zhiyou, Tang Zheng who was tightly wrapping his Tang Sword to his hand, Chen Yinghao whose neck was still seeping blood, He Ruhai who had lost half an ear, and Yang Huancheng with his face full of swellings.

And the many other survivors.

Some of these people were hesitant, some terrified, some numb, some steadfast, and some determined.

Chu Xuan's tone was exceptionally calm:

"Frankly speaking, I'm not bringing you along out of selfless devotion; we are all getting what we each need. Having reached this point, you don't need to thank me for anything, nor do you owe me anything, and I likewise won't make any guarantees to you! There are only two floors left; as for which way to go, you can still choose for yourselves!"

After speaking, Chu Xuan turned around, put on his jacket, and continued striding toward the stairwell.

"What's there to talk about? Let's just get it done!"

Tang Zheng was the first to respond, his Tang Sword already wrapped to his hand as he followed by Chu Xuan's side.

"Dammit, I really regret it now. If I'd known, I would've stayed on the eighth floor. Now, even if I die, I can only accompany you." Lin Tong was grumbling, yet he was the second to follow.

Next were Xu Zhiyou, Chen Yinghao, Yang Huancheng, He Ruhai, and the other survivors, who all called out in response, not a single person left behind.

"Good!"

The corners of Chu Xuan's mouth curled up slightly, and his pace grew faster and faster.

"Then follow me, and let's carve out a path to life!"