23: Chapter 23 unlocks a race, the captain who escaped death.

Chen Xing remained calm. "There's nothing here I need. You guys take it. When it comes to the things I want, you'll know what to do."

Lu Wu nodded. "Understood."

As he turned, he paused, reaching back to pull out a brown glove fitted with brass knuckles and inlaid with gemstones.

"It's Earth-attribute, suitable for heavy punches. It probably doesn't suit you well, but I don't have any Light System Magical Artifacts left to give you," Lu Wu said.

"I don't like owing favors. Thanks for saving me just now. I'll give you something better later. For now, please make do with this."

Chen Xing paused. He actually had a Magical Artifact, but seeing the other's serious attitude, he took it. "This is enough."

Lu Wu was silent, thinking to himself, "This is a true Prodigy, a truly confident expert!"

He thought Chen Xing disdained using equipment, believing he could kill opponents even with mismatched attributes—a confidence unique to the strong.

In reality, because of the System's Second Law, Chen Xing could adapt to any attribute, so it didn't matter what he used.

Putting it on, he found the bulky glove resized itself to fit his palm perfectly.

"This must be expensive... Is he really some wealthy Young Master?" Chen Xing wondered.

"Da Chen, you haven't answered me yet." Xia Qinger leaned over slightly, looking down at him as he sat on the ground.

"What?" Chen Xing snapped out of it.

"You're so strong, why are you so willing to play support in the back?" Xia Qinger asked.

Chen Xing hummed for a moment and said, "I'm... just Cultivating, passing the time."

Xia Qinger was puzzled. "Passing time doing what? We're out here hunting!"

Chen Xing thought about it. He didn't lack resources; he was only here to complete the task assigned by his teacher. Instead of exerting effort in a fight, he'd rather Cultivate.

So, he said, "Those Yao Beasts aren't worth my effort."

Xia Qinger's expression froze upon hearing this.

Who praises themselves like that?

Lu Wu's mouth twitched. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, his arrogant nature would have made him snap back long ago.

"It's getting late, let's rest first. We just had a big battle; we need to recover," Li Tan walked over.

"Alright, I'll take the night watch," Lu Wu said.

"Good, don't wander too far from us," Li Tan nodded.

Chen Xing closed his eyes and continued to Cultivate.

"Da Chen, you're also Light System. Can you teach me how to fight?" Xia Qinger rubbed her hands together.

"I haven't been at this long, I'm still a student. I can't be a teacher," Chen Xing politely declined.

"Who hasn't just started Cultivating? I'm only a junior in college. I had my Awakening the year before last. It's quite pathetic, actually—it's been two years and I'm only at the Seventh Rank," Xia Qinger sighed.

"It's fine. Xiao Xia, you still have a lot of room for improvement. You'll catch up to me sooner or later," Chen Xing comforted her.

"Don't even joke. You look younger than me, yet you've Cultivated to this level. How could I possibly compare?" Xia Qinger shook her head.

"Cough, cough!"

Nearby, Zhou Chen choked on his wine and couldn't help but speak up: "Xiao Xia, can you stop? You're breaking this uncle's heart!"

Li Tan facepalmed. "If you're pathetic, then what are we? Not fit to live?"

"Uh... sorry!" Xia Qinger was speechless. She was just poking fun at herself and didn't expect to catch her teammates in the crossfire.

Chen Xing smiled. These two weren't actually that old, maybe in their early thirties or forties at most, which was still very young in the circle of Ability Users.

Speaking of which, his secretary Li Qingyi looked like she was twenty, but she was probably over thirty. This reminded him of a rule.

In the world of abilities, the younger and prettier someone looked, the less they could be trusted. Who knew if they were some thousand-year-old monster?

Night fell, and the nocturnal beasts in the forest gradually came out to forage.

Enlightenment Space, Battle Mode.

"A new opponent has been unlocked."

"[Race: Tiger Race]"

"[Species Variant: Thunder Tiger]"

"[Characteristics: A fierce tiger born with mastery over lightning. Possesses immense strength and extreme speed. Can transform from Pure Yang to Pure Yin; neither form is superior to the other.]"

"It's not an individual unlocked, but an entire race?" Chen Xing raised an eyebrow.

He had fought many Yao Beasts these past few days, but the Thunder Tiger was the only exception where the entire race was added.

It seemed that encountering a powerful Yao Beast race would unlock specific options.

"The one I fought earlier had a Half-Yin Waning Yang Body. That Thunder Tiger hadn't fully transformed and was much weaker. This time, I'll find a Pure Yang one." Chen Xing clicked the option.

"Ding—!"

"Battle begins."

As soon as the words fell, a crimson figure pounced from the opposite side.

Chen Xing was unhurried. He dodged with a shift of his body and got a clear look at its appearance.

Although this Thunder Tiger's cultivation level was the same as his, it was clearly much stronger than the previous two. Its Aura alone carried a powerful pressure.

The Thunder Tiger was about three meters tall. Its dense Pure Yang energy was almost overflowing, and crimson lightning crackled between its jaws.

"Swoosh!"

Chen Xing dashed forward, combining the basic techniques of the S-Rank Combat Techniques: Light-Speed Punch and Dragon Soul Claw.

The Thunder Tiger reacted quickly, immediately swinging a paw carrying violent and fierce lightning.

"Bang!"

The two collided, creating intense sparks.

Chen Xing's punch combined the mysteries of the two combat techniques, erupting with startling power and suppressing his opponent in an instant.

With a thud, the Thunder Tiger's hand bones shattered. It then took Chen Xing's fist to the face and was sent flying.

"Not bad. These days of Cultivating haven't been in vain. I'll polish this further with Old Qin later," Chen Xing smiled slightly.

During this time, another practitioner of the Dragon Soul Secret Tome—Qin Feng—had been his sparring partner, helping him resolve many issues.

Chen Xing had avoided many detours and progressed rapidly. He had even achieved a preliminary form of Fusion for the two techniques.

More importantly, with the Enlightenment Space, he didn't have to worry about finding actual combat practice. So he just kept grinding and hadn't really fought much in the real world lately.

...

The next day.

As a Lightning System Ability User, Li Tan was extremely fast, so he went out first to scout the path for his teammates.

A moment later, he rushed back with a grim expression.

"What happened?" Lu Wu stepped forward.

"Damn it, what bad luck. I ran into a group of people shortly after heading out. Seeing me alone, they tried to rob me. I barely managed to escape!" Li Tan cursed.

"What?" Zhou Chen immediately ran over, brandishing his broadsword.

"I want to see who has the guts! Let them come and talk to my blade!"

"Calm down. That group has at least four Ninth Ranks and six Eighth Ranks. They're stronger than us in both cultivation and numbers!" Li Tan shook his head.

"If it weren't for my speed, I probably would have been captured."

"Ten people?" Lu Wu pondered.

"Wait." Chen Xing ended his meditation and walked over slowly.

"What is it, Little Brother Chen?" Li Tan asked.

"When you came back, were you really alone?"