23: Wang Dali

“Little brother, don’t get excited, I mean no harm.”

Li Ziyu looked in the direction of the voice; it was a dark-skinned middle-aged man in a black combat suit.

Behind him was a red-haired woman carrying a huge sniper rifle.

In a situation where hot weapons had minimal effect, it was quite rare to see someone still using a sniper rifle.

Li Ziyu also noticed that both of their combat suits were somewhat damaged, and their faces showed some signs of distress.

Behind them, they were dragging the corpse of a Shadow Cat, which clearly indicated that, like him, they had come to the Wilderness Area to hunt ferocious beasts for money.

Li Ziyu stared at the two with a wary expression, remaining silent.

In the Wilderness Area, it wasn't just ferocious beasts that were dangerous; sometimes encountering humans was even more perilous than encountering ferocious beasts!

After all, in this sparsely populated Wilderness Area, where even cell phone signals didn't reach, people's greed could be infinitely magnified.

Murder and robbery were common occurrences.

However, Li Ziyu wasn't overly panicked.

Judging by the Shadow Cat corpse they were dragging and their disheveled appearance, he could deduce that they were probably only First Grade Warriors of intermediate level.

He wasn't afraid of intermediate First Grade Warriors at all.

“Brother, I don’t mean anything else; I just saw how young you are and couldn’t bear to see you die in the jaws of a ferocious beast, so I specifically came to warn you.”

“The Wilderness Area has undergone a change and is much more dangerous than before. You should hurry back to the city!”

The middle-aged man in the black combat suit looked at Li Ziyu with a serious expression and said to him:

“You dare to come out of the city alone to hunt ferocious beasts. I think you must be a First Grade Warrior of elementary level, right?”

“Such young First Grade Warriors are rare. It would be too regrettable if something happened to you in the Wilderness Area.”

The middle-aged man in the black combat suit was serious. Li Ziyu listened, frowned slightly, glanced around, and then curiously asked the middle-aged man:

“A change? What kind of change?”

“On our way here, we saw many corpses of Shadow Cats. Not just Shadow Cats, but also various types of First Grade ferocious beast corpses!”

“And there were even Arm Blade Tigers!”

“Killing them but not taking the bodies away—this is definitely not something a Martial Artist would do!”

“I speculate that this must have been done by a Second-Level Martial Artist!”

“A Second-Level Martial Artist has appeared nearby! So, little brother, take my advice: don't stay here; hurry back to the city.”

The combat-suited middle-aged man's expression grew increasingly solemn, and as he spoke, he cautiously scanned his surroundings, as if some great danger were lurking nearby.

Li Ziyu's expression was a bit strange. He thought, what was it? Those Shadow Cats, weren't they killed by him?

He left the bodies there because he simply couldn't carry them all, alright.

However, this combat-suited middle-aged man was kind-hearted.

An ordinary person would have long since run away, not come over to persuade him like this.

Li Ziyu smiled and chatted with the two for a bit, then continued walking deeper into the wilderness.

The combat-suited middle-aged man watched Li Ziyu's unhurried retreating figure and secretly shook his head:

“Alas, listen to advice and you'll be well-fed. Why won't this young man listen to advice?”

“A Second-Level Martial Artist has already appeared, and he's still going deeper. Isn't that just seeking death?”

“Forget it, good words are hard to persuade a love-struck ghost. Let's go.”

...

Li Ziyu continued to advance deeper into the Wilderness Area.

Encountered an intermediate First Grade ferocious beast, a Shadow Cat: one Knife Skill.

Encountered a high-level First Grade ferocious beast, a Bloodthirsty Ape: one Knife Skill.

Encountered a First Level Peak Martial Artist ferocious beast, an Arm Blade Tiger: still one Knife Skill.

The system prompt for increasing vital energy sounded continuously.

Li Ziyu calmly put away his blade. Before him, a First Level Peak Martial Artist ferocious beast, an Arm Blade Tiger, crashed to the ground.

“Please call me Li One-Strike.”

After the Mad Bull Tempering Method advanced to intermediate level, his endurance and physical strength were countless times stronger than before.

The most direct example was:

He had just endured several hours of high-intensity combat, yet he felt no fatigue at all.

Not only was he not tired, but he felt invigorated.

After several hours of slaughter, he himself had almost forgotten how many ferocious beasts he had killed.

He only knew that when one appeared before him, he would kill it.

Draw the blade, then sheath the blade.

Blade falls, ferocious beast dies.

Li Ziyu put away his blade, found a safe spot, and opened his system panel.

Name: Li Ziyu.

Realm: High-Level First Grade Warrior (+).

Combat Skills: Intermediate Mad Bull Tempering Method (+), Swift Wind Blade Technique (+), Intermediate Blade Technique (+), Initial Body Technique (+).

System: Martial God System.

Function: Can absorb all things, increase vital energy, other functions to be discovered by the host.

“As expected, I can upgrade!”

“System, upgrade my Initial Body Technique!”

Li Ziyu didn't hesitate; development needed to be balanced and comprehensive.

Since he decided to take the path of extreme leveling, he had to see it through and not be lopsided.

He hadn't upgraded his Body Movement before because he felt the elementary level was sufficient, saving some vital energy for other skills.

But now, after killing so many ferocious beasts, he had enough vital energy.

Even if he upgraded Body Movement to intermediate level, Li Ziyu estimated that he could still allocate points to other martial arts.

Name: Li Ziyu.

Realm: High-Level First Grade Warrior (+).

Combat Skills: Intermediate Mad Bull Tempering Method (+), Swift Wind Blade Technique (+), Intermediate Blade Technique (+), Intermediate Body Movement Technique (+).

System: Martial God System.

Function: Can absorb all things, increase vital energy, other functions to be discovered by the host.

Sure enough, after upgrading Initial Body Technique to Intermediate Body Movement Technique, the plus sign behind it still remained.

This meant he could continue to upgrade!

Without rushing to test the effects of Intermediate Body Movement Technique, Li Ziyu gave another command to the system in his mind.

“Continue to add to my Body Refinement Method!”

Intermediate Body Refinement Method, advance to High-Level Body Refinement Method!

Instantly, a current ten times stronger than when he had just advanced from elementary to intermediate level surged through Li Ziyu's limbs and bones once more.

But this time, the duration was much shorter than when he advanced to intermediate level.

When the current stopped, Li Ziyu distastefully wiped the dirt from his face, found a nearby river, and after confirming there were no ferocious beasts inside, stripped off his clothes and jumped right in.

A moment later.

Li Ziyu looked at his fist, his tone filled with emotion.

“I've grown stronger again.”

“The current me could probably instantly kill my former self!”

“If I were to face an Arm Blade Tiger again, I probably wouldn't even need to use my blade; I could just punch it to death!”

Each time the Mad Bull Tempering Method advanced a level, it could cleanse the impurities within a Martial Artist's body once, and it could also continuously compress and refine the vital energy within the Martial Artist's body.

Growing stronger and stronger.

“An ordinary Martial Artist would need to put in at least ten years of effort to cultivate body refinement techniques to a high level, but I only took less than three days!”

“Above high-level is peak-level. I just don't know if I can continue to upgrade after cultivating body refinement techniques to peak-level.”

Li Ziyu also tested his Body Movement.

With the vital energy's boost to speed, his current speed was more than twice as fast as before.

“It’s almost time to return to the city. I wonder what level my current strength has reached and if I can fight opponents above my level.”

“But out here in the wilderness, there’s no one for me to test it on. I should go back to Hong Su Martial Arts Hall and test it!”

“And also ask Tang Xuan to help collect the ferocious beast corpses here.”

With that thought, Li Ziyu put away his long blade and headed back towards the city wall.

...

On a winding path, the wreckage of a discarded off-road vehicle lay in the center.

A burly man sat cross-legged on the off-road wreckage, eyes closed in contemplation, looking like a master.

Beside him, a gleaming horse-slaughtering blade lay flat.

If Bai Haoran were here, he would definitely recognize him as his coach, First Level Peak Martial Artist Wang Dali.

Wang Dali had been stuck at First Level Peak Martial Artist for several years. With his aptitude, it was difficult for him to advance further in this life.

But after learning about Li Ziyu from Bai Haoran, he immediately realized that Li Ziyu must have had an extraordinary encounter!

And if he could obtain this encounter, it was very likely to help him break through from Second-Level Martial Artist to Third-Level Martial Artist!

So he tracked Li Ziyu all the way to the Wilderness Area outside the city.

“This path is the only way back to Xu Jiang City from the Wilderness Area. As long as I wait here, I'll definitely encounter Li Ziyu.”

“Hmph! As long as I encounter him, I don't believe I can't interrogate the secret from Li Ziyu!”

Wang Dali's lips curled into a triumphant arc, his expression smug.

Damn it, getting the secret from Li Ziyu will definitely help me break through to Second-Level Martial Artist!

At that time, I'll first cultivate diligently for a few months. After becoming a Second-Level Martial Artist, I'll first eliminate that old man Hong Tianlang, then snatch his daughter.

And that receptionist.

Damn, pretending to be so pure!

I'm a First Level Peak Martial Artist, and she still ignores me. When I take over Hong Su Martial Arts Hall, I'll make you kneel and call me daddy first.

Wang Dali planned his bright future after forcing the secret out of Li Ziyu, and immediately felt completely refreshed.