Madness and Killing

Come at me!

Ling Yun did not panic in the slightest. His body twisted sharply, violent power surging from within as he swung his long blade with terrifying force!

He put so much strength into it that even his bones let out a teeth-grinding creak.

Burst Force!

Behind him, a grotesque creature covered in tangled black fur had opened its jaws wide and was biting toward his neck.

As the distance closed, a cruel gleam flashed through the creature's eyes.

But it was fast—Ling Yun's blade was faster!

Bang!

A fierce gust of compressed air came first, followed by a black streak that arrived later and hacked viciously into the creature's forehead. The next instant, a thunderous boom erupted.

Under Ling Yun's terrifying strength, the grotesque creature flew backward even faster than it had come. With a boom, it slammed heavily into the ground.

Stone chips flew everywhere, completely burying the creature's body.

Ling Yun was not feeling much better himself. It felt as though he had struck divine iron. The powerful recoil left his entire arm numb.

The long blade in his hand had been completely ruined as well. All that remained was a bare hilt clutched in his palm.

The backlash from Burst Force followed close behind. His chest felt as if a blazing fire had been lit inside it, and every muscle in his body twitched violently.

It seemed he would not be able to use that move again anytime soon.

But there was no time to worry about that. Ling Yun casually tossed the hilt aside and stared gravely at the pit in the distance.

By instinct, he felt that slash had not taken the monster's life.

Crash!

Sure enough, accompanied by the sound of shifting stones, a disgusting-looking monster swayed as it crawled out of the stone pit.

It had the thin, long limbs of an ape, a body covered in black fur, and was roughly the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child. More bizarrely, its head took up nearly a third of its entire body. Its features were twisted, and black fangs crisscrossed within its mouth, making one's blood run cold.

A deep blade wound was carved into its forehead, black fluid gushing from it in great quantities and making it look even more savage and horrifying.

It seemed that even with its body of copper skin and iron bones, it could not withstand Ling Yun's full-force strike unscathed.

Strike while you're sick and take your life!

Seeing that it did not seem fully conscious yet, a vicious light flashed in Ling Yun's eyes. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the soreness in his body, and charged forward like a fierce tiger.

Each step left a footprint behind, like the footsteps of a demon.

In just three steps, he reached the monster. He raised his foot and stomped hard toward its spine!

Die!

Under that terrifying force, a crisp crack of breaking bones rang out. The grotesque creature's body bent at a bizarre angle, and it was forcibly stomped back into the pit.

But this ghostly thing's vitality was truly formidable. Even after suffering such injuries, it still did not die.

Wooo!

At that moment, the grotesque creature suddenly let out another pained howl.

The sound was sharp and piercing, and it seemed to contain some strange power.

Ling Yun, standing at close range, naturally bore the brunt of it. Just as he was about to add a few more kicks, a tearing pain suddenly ripped through his mind.

It was as if an invisible hand were madly stirring inside his skull. He could not help letting out a muffled groan as blood spurted from his mouth and nose.

Yet even so, his body did not shift an inch. Looking at the grotesque creature howling endlessly beneath his foot, his gaze turned ruthless. Enduring the pain, he crouched down and raised both fists high.

Fuck! Shut the hell up!!!

The next moment, Ling Yun went completely mad. His hands became jackhammers, his fists raining down on the grotesque creature's head like a violent storm.

Very quickly, the creature's cries changed from shrieks to screams, then to wails. In the end, its voice grew weaker and weaker until it vanished altogether.

But Ling Yun showed no sign of stopping. His eyes were bloodshot as he smashed down fist after fist.

One punch... ten punches... a hundred punches... a thousand punches!

Who knew how much time had passed? When Ling Yun finally came back to his senses, all that remained before him was a lump of mangled flesh whose original form could no longer be distinguished.

Huff... huff!

Ling Yun knelt on one knee, exhausted, gasping heavily.

He casually wiped an unknown bit of flesh from his face. Combined with the killing intent in his eyes, under the moonlight, he looked like a demon that had crawled out of hell.

Then a series of hissing sounds arose. Large amounts of black vapor suddenly billowed from the grotesque creature's corpse, and a nauseating stench spread through the air.

Ling Yun frowned and cautiously backed away. Only after the black vapor had dispersed and he was sure it was safe did he slowly approach.

The grotesque creature had now completely vanished from the pit, leaving behind only a thumb-sized Black Pearl.

"What is this?"

Ling Yun observed the unfamiliar Black Pearl for a while. After hesitating again and again, he finally stretched out one finger and tentatively poked it.

Yet the instant he touched the Black Pearl, vast amounts of black vapor burst from its surface!

Before Ling Yun could react, all of the black vapor had already seeped into his palm and vanished.

The Black Pearl seemed to have exhausted all its power as well. With a crack, it turned to powder on the spot and scattered in the wind.

Ling Yun stared at his completely unchanged right palm, his expression uncertain. He had no idea what that black vapor was or what effect it might have on him.

"Could it be..."

Suddenly, as if recalling something, he immediately opened his panel.

Sure enough, the Modification Points that had been completely used up had now increased by one!

Seeing the additional Modification Point, Ling Yun finally let out the breath he had been holding.

He had not expected that this disaster would turn into a blessing, allowing him to learn how to obtain Modification Points.

But recalling how difficult that grotesque creature had been to deal with, his excitement cooled somewhat.

This time, he had only barely managed to kill it by relying on the Tiger Blade Technique at mastery and his formidable strength.

If the grotesque creature had been a little stronger, or if two had appeared at once, the outcome might have been completely different.

No wonder the senior brothers at the martial arts school were so wary of going out at night. It could be said that aside from that headmaster whose head was seen but whose tail was never found, anyone in the entire martial arts school would have no chance of survival upon encountering this ghostly thing!

He just did not know where this ghostly thing had come from. Had it always lived within the martial arts school, or had it wandered in from outside by chance and happened to cross paths with him?

But thinking it over carefully, the former seemed unlikely. If such a ghostly thing had existed in the martial arts school, it would have been impossible for the place to remain as peaceful as it was now.

Given this thing's terrifying strength, he truly did not believe that merely hiding in one's room and refusing to go outside would be enough!

This was not a game. There was no such thing as a safe zone.

But if it was the latter, then things were far more troublesome.

That would mean incidents like this could never be an isolated case in this world. Otherwise, such a strange rule as "do not go out carelessly at night" would never have arisen!

"It seems this world is far more dangerous than I imagined." Ling Yun shook his head, his expression grave.

Then again, even something as bizarre as transmigration had happened. If demons and monsters started appearing now, it did not seem all that strange.

As for why the memories of the original owner of this body had not mentioned such matters at all, it was likely only because his standing had been too low. He had simply not been qualified to come into contact with them.

After thinking for a moment, Ling Yun let out a long breath, and his gaze became firm once more.

No matter what this world was like, since fate had brought him here, he would never be content to live an ordinary, mediocre life!

Now that he knew the source of Modification Points, whatever demons or monsters lay ahead, so long as they dared block his path, he would cut them down with a single blade!

After resting where he stood for a while, Ling Yun felt that much of his strength had returned.

He swept his gaze around, cleaned up some of the more conspicuous traces at the scene, then turned and left.

At that moment, inside an Ancient Temple outside Cloud City.

The Ancient Temple was grand and imposing. Its incense offerings should have been flourishing.

Yet strangely, the temple was pitch-black at this moment, without the slightest trace of human life.

Buddha Hall.

This place, normally bustling with people during the day, was now silent as the grave.

Under the dim moonlight, even the Buddha statues enshrined above no longer seemed as solemn as they did by day. Instead, they appeared somewhat sinister and eerie.

Before the Buddha statues, a shadow sat quietly in meditation, its head lowered as though it were worshipping.

In front of it, several round objects had been neatly piled up, seemingly offerings for worship.

But upon closer inspection, how could those be offerings? They were bloody, mangled heads!

Deep terror still lingered on the faces of the heads, as though they had experienced something unimaginably horrifying before death.

At that moment, the shadow seemed to sense something. It opened its eyes in confusion and raised its head toward the void.

That direction was precisely where Cloud City lay!

Then, a drifting female voice sounded from the darkness. "Hehe... Old Ghost, it seems one of the Demon Children you released has been destroyed."

There was a hint of gloating in her words.

"..."

The shadow did not answer. After a long silence, he finally said hoarsely, "Bai Ji, make a trip for me. Afterward, I can give you one Demon Fruit."

"Hehe... it isn't impossible for me to help, but I want two Demon Fruits." The woman in the darkness took the opportunity to demand more.

A crimson gleam flashed through the shadow's eyes, but he had no choice. Compared to the Demon Children, he had more important matters here.

"Fine, two Demon Fruits. But you must bring back the Demon Pearl!" the shadow said coldly.

"Hehe... it is rare for you to be so generous, Old Ghost. Then I shall make the trip for you."

"And while I'm at it, I can improve my 'diet.' The taste of martial artists' heart blood... tsk tsk..."

As she spoke, a round object rolled out of the darkness. Under the moonlight, it was clearly a head that had been gnawed beyond recognition!