Kill

Midair, Ling Yun's body rapidly swelled and grew. In the blink of an eye, his original height of one meter eighty had been forcibly stretched to around two meters!

Chunks of muscle, as if cast from steel, spread evenly across his body. His back had become an exaggerated inverted triangle, enough to imagine the astonishing strength it could unleash!

"Phew!"

Ling Yun exhaled a stream of hot air, feeling the blood within him boil as it supplied him with an unending torrent of power.

Yet this form also placed an enormous burden on his body.

At that moment, the high temperature caused vast clouds of bloody mist to rise from his skin, making it seem as though he wore a suit of crimson armor.

Even with his current physique, he could not maintain it for long.

He had to end this quickly!

Ling Yun's eyes were crimson. Like a humanoid meteorite, he crashed viciously toward the spider monster Situ Ying had become below, dragging terrifying sonic booms in his wake.

His speed was so great that he had already arrived before the wind pressure caught up behind him.

Faced with the terrifying force of this strike, Situ Ying would certainly have chosen to avoid its edge for the moment if he had not lost his reason.

Unfortunately, this spider monster possessed not the slightest intelligence. Its only goal was to kill the human before it!

It neither dodged nor evaded. It let out an enraged roar at the descending Ling Yun, drove its body firmly into the ground, and swung its two enormous scythe-like legs into two blurs, chopping straight at him!

In the darkness, two figures—one large and one small, one above and one below—collided head-on.

Boom!

The collision of strength against strength was like heavenly thunder igniting earthly fire. Terrifying sound waves instantly tore through the night sky and spread far into the distance.

At that moment, no one knew how many people across Cloud City were startled awake from their dreams.

When everything finally settled, a severed limb spun through the air and fell in the distance.

At the center of the collision, Ling Yun stood where he was. He casually tossed aside another severed limb that still dripped black pus, then stared at the spider monster before him with lightning in his eyes.

"Weak. Far too weak!"

"Roar!" As though it understood the contempt in Ling Yun's gaze, the spider monster suddenly let out an angry howl. Yet no matter how one looked at it, it was all bark and no bite.

"Weaklings should learn to keep their mouths shut!" At some point, Ling Yun had already appeared less than a meter away from it.

He backhandedly seized a leg-spear stabbing at him from behind and yanked hard. Black blood splashed everywhere as the entire leg-spear, along with a huge chunk of flesh, was forcibly torn off.

"Too weak!" Ling Yun looked at the endlessly wailing spider monster, yet his heart only grew more agitated.

After entering this state, even his emotions seemed to have been amplified severalfold. He could not help wanting to vent and destroy.

Could it be that I was born a violent maniac?

Ling Yun shook his head and rejected the thought. He had always been kind to others; he simply did not know how to express it "gently."

Then he stomped forward with his left foot. Amid the sound of the ground exploding, his right leg came down like a battle-axe, crashing into the spider monster's waist.

Terrifying force surged from the point of impact through the spider monster's entire body, making every piece of armor tremble violently before cracking apart inch by inch and bursting into clouds of blood mist.

After several seconds of deadlock, all the spider monster's remaining leg-spears snapped. Its huge body flew backward like a missile, plowing a deep trench into the ground!

Under Ling Yun's gaze, the spider monster, which had nearly become a puddle of mush, suddenly began shrinking rapidly. Soon, only the withered, stick-thin figure of an old man remained where it had been.

At that moment, Tiger's Might also ended. Ling Yun's swollen body rapidly shrank like a deflated balloon.

Ling Yun staggered. Only after a brief spell of dizziness did he regain his senses.

The surging power within him also receded like the tide, replaced by an intense feeling of weakness.

The immense sense of loss even made him want to throw caution to the wind and activate Tiger's Might again.

No wonder so many people would go mad in pursuit of power. Once anyone experienced that feeling of being able to do anything, they would never be able to forget it.

Ling Yun shook his head helplessly. After recovering a little, he walked over to where Situ Ying lay.

Situ Ying's face was ashen, his breath a thin thread. None of his former arrogance remained. He struggled to prop up half his body and laboriously said, "Spare..."

Before he could finish, Ling Yun stomped down without hesitation. A string of teeth-gritting bone-cracking sounds rang out, and Situ Ying's right hand, which he had secretly hidden behind his back, fell limp at his side.

As he looked at the cold-faced Ling Yun, Situ Ying's final gaze was filled with unwillingness.

He had probably never imagined that he would die so miserably at the hands of a martial artist he had once looked down upon.

Looking at Situ Ying, who had died with his eyes open, Ling Yun expressionlessly opened the system panel.

The Modification Points had changed. It seemed the old man truly was dead; he had no means of returning from the dead as imagined.

What pleasantly surprised him was that this kill had actually increased his Modification Points by a full three points!

Could it be that the stronger the target he killed, the more points he gained? Ling Yun stroked his chin, deep in thought.

It was only a pity that the half-crippled octopus had long since vanished without a trace while he and Situ Ying were battling.

Ling Yun sighed inwardly. He had lost one Modification Point for nothing.

Still, no matter what, with these Modification Points, his strength would surely undergo another leap forward!

Satisfied, he closed the panel. He intended to save these Modification Points for now. Through this battle, he had also discovered quite a few of his shortcomings. Though his strength was formidable, his body was instead holding him back somewhat.

"Perhaps I should find a few more cultivation manuals to try, preferably ones focused on body tempering."

After pondering for a moment, Ling Yun formed a rough plan in his mind.

Then, suppressing his nausea, he began searching Situ Ying's body.

Very quickly, he had acquired a token, a damaged booklet, and several bottles and jars whose purpose he did not know.

The token was made from some kind of bronze and felt extremely hard to the touch. Several small words were engraved upon it: Demon Suppression Division Eight-Star Demon Subduer—Situ Ying.

Demon Suppression Division? Eight-Star Demon Subduer?

It presumably represented some sort of identity. Though Ling Yun did not know its meaning, he still put it away. It might prove useful someday.

He then turned his gaze toward the book titled "Blood Fusion Art." After flipping through a few pages, his expression gradually turned ugly.

This was an utterly evil cultivation art.

It enhanced one's physical abilities by absorbing the blood of others. Among them, the blood and vitality of martial artists were the most abundant, making them the finest targets.

However, its drawbacks were obvious. While strength gained through this method grew quickly, it could easily leave one's foundation unstable.

And judging by Situ Ying's neither-human-nor-ghost appearance, it was precisely because he had cultivated this art.

It seemed the ins and outs of this incident were certainly closely connected to this cultivation art.

Ling Yun closed the book. After hesitating for a moment, he still put it away.

Although he did not intend to cultivate it, even a sheet of toilet paper had its use. Moreover, the ins and outs of this incident were certainly closely connected to this cultivation art.

But as for the exact circumstances, he would have to find someone to verify them.

Ling Yun's gaze fell upon a corner not far away, and a cold smile could not help appearing on his lips.