39: Three-axe Kung Fu

This monster had a very peculiar appearance; its body was neither like a Qilin nor like a Pixiu, and even after searching through historical records, no such strange creature could be found.

Its body was dog-like, round and spherical, resembling a ball. Its limbs were thick and strong, with claws like a young lion, and a tail that whipped behind it, yet it looked like a tiger's tail.

The most peculiar thing was that its head was a pure rectangular shape, looking like a brick. It had eyes, ears, a mouth, and a nose. Its nose and mouth were incredibly wide, very much like a certain feline, and its ears were pointed and stood upright. Only its eyes, which were not open, could not be discerned in size. Overall, combined with its body full of yellow down and reddish-brown patterns, this thing looked quite amusing!

As for its size… it was roughly the same size as an average lion or tiger!

“This fellow… he must be that furnace brick that gained sentience!”

Staring at that large Western face, Tang Ku instantly felt he had hit on the truth, because this thing felt too similar to that brick, and its body was filled with fire spiritual Qi, which should be the culprit causing Flaming Mountain to frequently go out of control.

“Hmm… this is troublesome now!”

Tang Ku stroked his chin and said helplessly, “I originally thought it would be a sea of fire down here, but I didn’t expect it to be something like this. My dream of farming Iron Fist Points is shattered. I really should have come in by myself earlier without the Bull Demon King. At least the external flames could have given me some benefits… Speaking of which, should I wake him up?”

Before Tang Ku could make a decision, the monster made it for him.

For some unknown reason, this fellow actually half-opened his two eyes, squinting and looking around. He suddenly spotted Tang Ku standing there studying him. His large, bell-like eyes suddenly opened wide, and he let out a terrified roar.

Roar!

Like a lion, like a tiger, the sound was as loud as a giant thunderclap, shaking the entire mountain. Then, this fellow directly cut off the energy of the flames he was absorbing from the earth veins, opened his large mouth, and spat out a huge fireball.

Tang Ku’s eyes widened. He neither dodged nor avoided. The huge fireball slammed into him, exploding with a boom. Its power was even more terrifying than a gas tank ignited by a hand grenade.

But to Tang Ku, this was like a tickle.

“0.3 Iron Fist Points?”

Tang Ku was speechless. He looked up at him and said, “Buddy, your power isn’t enough. Can you hit me harder a few more times?”

The monster suddenly became enraged and roared, spewing out a thick pillar of fire. This fire pillar was different from the previous fireball; it actually contained solid matter like lava, looking incredibly powerful.

“Hmm, this time it’s a bit more challenging!”

Besides the intense high temperature, there was also a huge impact force.

Tang Ku blocked the fire pillar with his arms, holding it firmly. However, that impact force, if directed at others, would generally have flattened them into a meat patty. But Tang Ku stood firm, not even moving his feet!

“0.6 Iron Fist Points? Double what it was just now? Haha, this is good, one more time, one more time, hey… at least let me get enough for this one point, so I can push my Strength to 30 points!”

Tang Ku shook his arms, completely dispersing the fire pillar.

At this moment, the monster finally could not hold back and pounced wildly at Tang Ku. Its flying speed was very fast, about one-third of Tang Ku’s full flight speed.

A sonic boom once again shook the mountain peak. This fellow opened his mouth, and a mouthful of large flat teeth bit fiercely onto Tang Ku’s shoulder… but he couldn't even break the skin.

“Roar!”

“0.1 point!”

One person and one beast spoke at the same time; the monster was wailing in pain, while Tang Ku was cheering.

That bite made the monster’s teeth ache. He suddenly released his mouth, retreated several steps, and looked at Tang Ku in shock, his face full of disbelief.

Clearly, with his intelligence, he couldn't understand why a human would be so tough.

Tang Ku pouted. With the mindset of 'use it or lose it', he directly added the accumulated 1 Iron Fist Point to Strength.

Boom!

An incomparably powerful force erupted, causing Tang Ku’s muscles to tremble uncontrollably.

“This… what kind of power is this?”

Staring at his hands in shock, Tang Ku was almost mad with excitement.

His control over his muscles was almost microscopic; it seemed every inch of his muscle fibers could move according to his will, and they were filled with explosive tension.

“Is 30 points a watershed? This improvement is a bit excessive, isn’t it! This is ten times more than when I had 29 points of Strength. In other words, purely in terms of Strength… those at the level of Yang Jian and the Bull Demon King are no longer my opponents? But their points are clearly so much higher than mine… Could it be due to the System’s bonus? Oh right, what kind of reward is there when Strength reaches 30 points?”

“Congratulations to the host for breaking through an integer point in Strength. The System rewards a new skill: Divine Ability of the Seventy-Two Transformations of Earthly Fiends, Dan Shan Technique. Keep up the good work (With immense and endless strength, perhaps you can consider becoming a porter; you will never go hungry again!)”

“Seventy-Two Transformations?”

Tang Ku couldn't help but be shocked, “Does that mean my physical strength is starting to approach that of the Monkey King? But why do I feel like these rewards are a bit random and disjointed? And… is the text in parentheses at the end mocking me?”

He clenched his fists. The monster opposite had already scampered off in the direction of the flowing lava, and as he ran, he kept looking back towards Tang Ku.

Tang Ku suddenly chuckled: “This guy isn’t stupid…”

He can weigh the pros and cons, knowing who he can provoke and who he can't. This guy's intelligence is indeed not low. His attack methods are just those three moves, and after using them, he can't harm his opponent in the slightest, so why wouldn't he run?

Whoosh!

A speed of 20 points was no joke, plus the bonus from the Elementary Somersault Cloud. In the blink of an eye, Tang Ku had already arrived beside the monster.

The monster was startled, then immediately took flight, attempting to fly towards the square hole above his head.

How could Tang Ku let him go? With a casual tug, he grabbed the fellow’s hind leg, pulled him down, and with terrifying strength, slammed him onto the ground. Then, a flurry of punches rained down!

To be fair, this fellow had been trying to kill Tang Ku just now. All his moves, if they were used on a weaker immortal, would have instantly killed them. Even the first fireball could have burned an ordinary immortal or deity to nothing.

So, Tang Ku didn’t hold back in this round of beating, making the fellow howl and wail!

Finally, after taking dozens, even hundreds of punches, this fellow was almost crying and managed to stammer, “Spare… spare my life…”

His words were slurred, but he did indeed utter those two words.

Tang Ku finally stopped… This fellow was a good toy for grinding points. In just a short while, his Iron Fist Points had increased by three, which meant this fellow was very durable.

The monster flipped over, immediately knelt on his hind legs in the dust, prostrating himself on the ground, trembling uncontrollably!