5: Chapter 5: Carnage! Overcome the slump, level up!

Roar—!!

As soon as he entered the small town, the roars of fierce beasts reached his ears.

A faint smell of blood constantly permeated the air.

One could easily imagine how large-scale the slaughter had been in this place.

"Fierce beasts are almost impossible to find at the entrance; I have to go deeper."

Lu Qingyun remained vigilant, not letting the fact that he possessed a system make him reckless.

After all, he was currently just an ordinary martial artist at the first level of the Mortal Shedding Realm, and he had never had any real combat experience from beginning to end.

However... for some reason, the more it was like this, the more excited Lu Qingyun's body became!

He was even trembling slightly—not out of fear, but because the mere thought of the impending collision of flesh and blood made him shake with excitement!

"Huff—!"

From within an alley came a heavy and powerful breath, and a foul, fishy stench flooded Lu Qingyun's nasal cavity.

It was the smell of dried blood, and it was quite pungent!

Without getting too close, just standing outside the alley, Lu Qingyun saw a blood-colored rectangular frame flickering in the alley.

[Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf (LV1): This is a low-level demon beast, but it is much stronger than a Slime! Unfortunately, this demon beast seems to have suffered significant injuries, and its condition is declining. As the ultimate BOSS of the future, surely you wouldn't want to win unfairly. The honor of a Slime should not be achieved by bullying the old, weak, sick, or disabled!]

"Indeed, as a Slime, how could I win unfairly?"

"But the problem is... what does the honor of a Slime have to do with me, a human!"

Lu Qingyun didn't feel there was anything wrong with this at all; he strode inside, his Qi and Blood Power surging within him!

Upon entering, a Wind Wolf, three zhang tall and exuding ferocity and bloodthirst from head to toe, appeared in Lu Qingyun's eyes.

[Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf (LV1) (Bleeding Status)]

[Health Points: 87 / 125]

[Physical Strength: 0.72 (1.1)]

[Mental Strength: 0.3]

[Skills: Bite, Roll]

...

"Even at its peak, its physical strength is only 1.1?"

Upon seeing the specific values of the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf, Lu Qingyun subconsciously glanced at his own physical strength, which was as high as 1.4.

This did not make sense!

The strength of fierce beasts in terms of their physical bodies is universally acknowledged!

Even if a martial artist wears specialized protective clothing and uses alloy weapons, it is very difficult to bridge this gap.

Yet, Lu Qingyun's stats were actually stronger than the fierce beast from the very beginning!

This, of course, could not be because he was born with exceptional talent.

"This system really treats me like a demon beast!"

After figuring it out, Lu Qingyun immediately revealed an exceptionally ferocious smile.

That fierce aura was even more like that of a beast than the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf opposite him!

"Eat my Mountain-Shaking Fist!"

Braving the bite of the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf, Lu Qingyun threw a punch, completely disregarding defense!

The giant fangs pierced into his body from his shoulder, nearly running him through!

His health points plummeted from one hundred to seventy!

Intense pain struck, but instead of making him fearful, it caused his adrenaline to skyrocket, making him even more excited!

His punch landed on the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf. Having the advantage in strength, this punch landed solidly on the demon wolf's abdomen!

[HP -- 53]

Trading injury for injury!

Trading blood for blood!

The only difference was that Lu Qingyun could afford it!

But the already injured Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf could not!

After this punch, its health dropped to 34. Unlike Lu Qingyun, the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf's strength had clearly weakened significantly.

Seeming to sense the approach of death, it opened its mouth, wanting to detach its fangs from Lu Qingyun's body.

But its wolf head was held by Lu Qingyun's other hand in an exceptionally intimate embrace, and no matter how it struggled, it was firmly controlled!

"Don't rush, it will be over soon."

Lu Qingyun whispered in its ear.

At the same time, he did not forget to smash punch after punch into the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf's body!

Until its health points hit zero completely!

[Congratulations! You killed an injured LV1 Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf. Level experience + 23, Max Health + 13! Current Max Health: 117.2!]

[After some practical combat, your Mountain-Shaking Fist experience + 25]

[Battle ended, out-of-combat health regeneration mechanism activated, restoring status... Restoration complete!]

Three seconds later, Lu Qingyun tugged at the clothes on his shoulder and found that they had completely recovered.

There wasn't even a trace of a scar to be seen.

It was as if the pain from before had been fake.

However, the notifications on the system panel and the exceptionally fresh wolf corpse at his feet clearly demonstrated the reality of what had just happened.

"A single demon wolf added 5 points of health, so after killing a hundred fierce beasts, even just in terms of health, I will be several times that of a normal martial artist!"

"No... My stats are compared to fierce beasts, so I am already stronger than martial artists of the same level!"

"However, my combat experience is still too lacking. Although this time it was intentional, even in a normal battle, I would need to pay a price to take it down."

After the battle, Lu Qingyun reviewed the fight. Aside from summarizing some experience, the greater feeling was... exhilaration!

The feeling brought by having powerful strength is completely different!

"A Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf provided twenty-three experience points. Based on this number, I should be able to reach level two after killing three more fierce beasts."

"Calculated like this, is leveling up really that easy?"

Lu Qingyun himself found it hard to believe.

But looking at the clear numbers on the panel, he had to believe it!

"Kill, kill, kill!!"

Lu Qingyun's gaze was incomparably firm.

He was a person who held grudges. Although Lu Dacheng and Wu Chunlan had already been killed by him, Lu Tianshun was still alive, as was that young master of the Xing Family who had broken his legs and left him a cripple.

Even... that woman who had used him as a human shield and hadn't even spared him a glance after he suffered a great disaster for no reason!

One by one, these things were always kept in his heart.

And revenge requires strength sufficient to make even the rules unable to bind him!

"Continue!"

Lu Qingyun bent down and, after a great deal of effort, pulled out the fangs of the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf.

The sharp fangs were still stained with Lu Qingyun's blood. Although they didn't feel very good in his hand, they could at least be considered a weapon.

Besides that, they could also serve as proof of killing a fierce beast.

As for the remaining demon wolf corpse, it would likely be dragged away by someone to be used as food after Lu Qingyun left.

But it was even more likely to be gnawed on as a snack by a passing fierce beast before that.

Normally, even a complete three-person martial artist squad would expend a great deal of physical strength after hunting a fierce beast, unless the difference in strength was too vast.

If they were injured, it was even more troublesome; forcing it might cause the entire squad to be wiped out!

Only after the injuries were healed could they continue to hunt fierce beasts.

Under these circumstances, the efficiency of hunting fierce beasts was naturally extremely low.

If it were a normal martial artist who had just entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, wanting to kill ten fierce beasts of the same level by themselves would be wishful thinking.

Even if it were possible, the time consumed would be extremely long.

Never mind the martial arts exam in two months; being able to successfully survive until the next year's exam would count as having quite a bit of strength.

It's just that these restrictions simply did not exist for Lu Qingyun!

This bug-level mechanism of out-of-combat regeneration allowed his body to remain in its absolute peak state almost forever!

He didn't even need to rest; he could hunt endlessly twenty-four hours a day!

Night fell.

A black ape, standing two zhang tall, covered in pitch-black fur, with muscles bulging all over its body, was running vigorously. Two thick white puffs of air occasionally surged from its nose, and its heavy breathing indicated that its condition was nearing its limit.

It angrily beat its chest, only because it had once again lost track of the human who had provoked it again and again!

"Gotcha!"

Just then, Lu Qingyun leaped down from a building, the fang in his hand stabbing into the black ape's back!

Instantly, scarlet blood flowed down!

The intense pain made the black ape even more irritable. Its eye sockets were blood-red, and it stared fixedly at Lu Qingyun.

It wanted to tear this hateful human in front of it into pieces, but its body had already completely lost its ability to pursue after being ravaged several times.

It stood in place and let out a roar at Lu Qingyun!

Immediately, unwilling to tangle with Lu Qingyun any longer, it wanted to turn and leave.

But just at this moment, Lu Qingyun stood openly in front of it and said righteously:

"Come on! Face me! Let us have a fair life-and-death duel!"

Before it could respond, Lu Qingyun rushed up, brandishing the fang in his hand!

It wanted to counterattack, but after swinging its arms with effort just a few times, its consciousness gradually blurred.

And the human in front of it, although his dodging movements were very rough and stiff, was not slow, so that not a single one of its punches hit!

"Is this human a monster wearing a human skin? Why is his stamina so good; he doesn't get tired at all. And the wounds I left on him at the beginning, why are they like they disappeared?"

A few questions floated in the black ape's mind at the end, but until its health points were completely cleared, no one could answer them for it.

[Killed LV1 Blackwood Giant Ape, Level Experience + 32, Max Health permanently + 23, Current Max Health is 175.3]

[Congratulations! You have successfully broken through to LV2, all attributes increased, free attribute points + 1]

After casually discarding the fang in his hand that was already severely worn, Lu Qingyun heard the system notification ringing in his ears.

In an instant, his Qi and Blood Power surged!

His strength grew at a speed visible to the naked eye!

His Qi and Blood Power also soared by a large margin!

Now, Lu Qingyun had officially stepped into the second level of the Mortal Shedding Realm!

The time it took to break through from the first level to the second level of the Mortal Shedding Realm was... one day!