Encountering the Ink Leopard

The next morning,

After spending the entire night practicing in a somewhat convincing manner, Ling Li opened his eyes and hurriedly looked at his system panel:

Host: Ling Li

Cultivation: One-Star Dou Zhe (1/1000)

Attribute: Dark

Bloodline: Devouring Spirit Clan (First Grade: 30/1000)

Weapon: Dark Night (Yellow Grade High Rank: 0/100)

Ability: Devouring Spirit Demonic Core (Development: 1/3)

Ability Skills (1/3):

Devour LV.1 (60/100) (Can evolve at LV.10)

Shadow Transformation (Locked)

Dark Realm (Locked)

Other: System Space (Opened)

Energy: 599

Sure enough, I was still thinking of cultivation too simply... Ling Li sighed inwardly as he looked at the experience bar, which had not moved at all.

Cultivation had never been an easy matter. Perhaps because the original Ling Li had broken through to Dou Zhe simply by eating, he had developed the mistaken impression that cultivation was easy.

The original Ling Li had never cultivated before, so naturally, the current Ling Li had no experience to speak of. Although he could feel a warm current entering his Dou Qi vortex during cultivation, Ling Li always felt that it was a thankless task, as though the gains could not cover the losses.

Although the Dou Qi Continent had developed Dou Qi to its peak, with cultivation ranks divided into Dou Zhe, Dou Master, Great Fighting Master, Dou Spirit, Dou Wang, Dou Emperor, Dou Zong, Dou Venerate, Dou Saint, and Dou Di, there was also the Dou Qi stage Ling Li was currently in. However, only after entering Dou Zhe could the energy in one's body be called Dou Qi. Before that, it was called Dou Qi. Thus, only after stepping into Dou Zhe could one truly be considered a person on the Dou Qi Continent.

Those below Dou Zhe, whether they possessed insufficient Dou Qi or were ordinary people who could not reach that level at all, were merely tools to be exploited. They could not even become mercenaries at the bottom of society. Those born into certain clans were somewhat better off, as they could serve the clan in exchange for the right to survive. But people without power or influence like the original Ling Li might only struggle on the brink of life and death for their entire lives.

To break through to Dou Zhe, one had to condense a Dou Qi vortex. If the attempt failed, one's cultivation would even fall back one or two stages. As a result, many people had to try dozens of times just to condense a Dou Qi vortex!

It seems this energy really is related to hunger. No matter what, I have to keep it above ten points! Ling Li thought to himself.

According to the original Ling Li's memories, in the past, let alone after a night's sleep, if the food was even slightly worse, he would become hungry again in less than the time it took to burn an incense stick.

Ling Li's physique was somewhat special, and his appetite was astonishing. Correspondingly, this body's strength was abnormally powerful as well. Though he was clearly a fifteen-year-old boy, even without using Dou Qi, his strength had reached the level of a thousand jin. Otherwise, he could not have easily moved that nearly three-hundred-jin wooden stump to block the cave entrance.

"Let's see if there are any magical beasts nearby. It would be best if I can find those red fruits I ate yesterday. Although this energy hasn't been used up, I can't just sit around and eat through my reserves, can I?" Ling Li took Dark Night from the System Space, moved aside the wooden stump piled at the entrance, and walked out of the cave.

The red fruit he had eaten yesterday was not an ordinary wild fruit. It should have been some kind of medicinal herb, containing a great deal of energy. At least, in the original Ling Li's memories, he had never felt full. He had always been hungry.

There were plenty of magical beasts in the Monster Beast Mountain Range. Perhaps his luck had been too good yesterday, as Ling Li had not encountered a single magical beast. This time, however, he was attacked less than a hundred meters after leaving the cave.

The attacker was an entirely ink-black leopard, a first-rank magical beast—the Ink Leopard. This type of first-rank magical beast was not especially numerous in the Monster Beast Mountain Range. They were agile, quite strong, and often hid in the shadows to launch sneak attacks, making them rather troublesome.

Looking at the Ink Leopard standing directly in front of him and blocking his path, Ling Li could not help but start having second thoughts.

The Ink Leopard was about one and a half meters long, its entire body black as ink. Under the sunlight, its fur reflected an oily sheen. Its snow-white fangs still bore traces of blood, while its threatening growl and slightly crimson eyes sent chills down one's spine.

Clearly, this thing had eaten recently, but it had not eaten its fill...

If he had seen a magical beast like this in a video in his previous life, Ling Li might have exclaimed that it looked cool. But now that he was truly facing one, all that remained in his heart was fear.

In this situation, running meant certain death. Just from the tightly corded muscles in that beast's hind legs, he could tell he would never outrun this leopard. Fighting for his life did not seem to offer much chance of victory either. Aside from wildly swinging his blade, he did not seem to have any other skills...

But running would definitely mean death. If he fought with everything he had, there was still a sliver of hope. The choice was obvious.

"Ah!!!" Ling Li roared. Driven by the surge of adrenaline, he raised Dark Night and charged forward.

Strike first! A first-rank magical beast was only at the Dou Zhe level too. Why couldn't he beat it?

Dark Night slashed diagonally down at the Ink Leopard, cutting a streak of black light through the air, but it missed. The Ink Leopard, which had been gathering strength for a long time, suddenly exerted force with all four limbs and leaped onto a tree trunk to the side. Then it sprang off again and pounced at Ling Li.

Hearing the fierce wind from his side, every hair on Ling Li's body stood on end. He forcibly halted his forward momentum and tried to dodge.

Yet even though Ling Li dodged with the fastest reaction he could manage, he still felt a numbness at his left waist, followed by piercing pain. Having never suffered such an injury before, Ling Li felt as though the pain would make him pass out.

They were not on the same level at all!

Ling Li possessed the cultivation of a Dou Zhe, an unusually strong body, and even a Yellow Grade High Rank Dark Night in his hand. Yet he could not use any of them skillfully. It was like a baby holding a gun, utterly unable to unleash the weapon's proper might.

The Ink Leopard licked the blood from its claws. Its gaze at Ling Li grew greedier, though it still carried a trace of vigilance. Without giving Ling Li any time to react, it pounced again.

Ling Li stared fixedly at the approaching Ink Leopard, panting heavily. The unwillingness and fury in his heart transformed into a desire to survive, magnified without limit. The Dou Qi within his vortex was awkwardly activated, flowing into his limbs and then into Dark Night.

Once more, that strange black mist rose from Dark Night. The snow-white blade turned red under the stimulation of Dou Qi, like the fangs of some abyssal demon!

"Hah!" Ling Li exhaled a breath of foul air. His pitch-black eyes became even deeper as he focused his mind, and his grip on Dark Night tightened.

It proved that one could not generalize about people's physiques. At the brink of life and death, people could always unleash limitless potential.

The moment the Ink Leopard pounced before him, it happened fast—so fast! Ling Li suddenly sidestepped, holding Dark Night horizontally. The downward-pouncing Ink Leopard seemed to crash into it of its own accord, and its neck was cut cleanly in two.

Dark Night was already extraordinarily sharp, and with the enhancement of Dou Qi, its sharpness rose to another level. Severing the Ink Leopard's neck met with no resistance at all, as though he had cut through air.

As he watched the Ink Leopard twitch twice on the ground before falling still, the warm blood splashed across his face gradually turned cold, reminding him that he had survived by sheer luck.

Ling Li dropped to his knees, clutching his violently pounding chest as he kept retching. But what could there possibly be in his stomach to vomit?

After the rush of impulse and hot blood faded, the fear of having his life threatened swept over him once more.

The pungent stench of blood, mixed with the hot air from the Ink Leopard's abdominal cavity carrying the scent of its organs, made Ling Li vomit even bile. It would have been better if he had not started vomiting; once he did, the nausea became even worse and could not be stopped.

Ling Li knew this was a normal reaction. He might be able to face such bloody scenes calmly in a game, but after truly seeing that mess of red and white all over the ground, his body's instinctive reaction was impossible to control.

After calming down, Ling Li stored the Ink Leopard's corpse in the System Space and hurried back toward the cave on trembling legs.

The smell of blood produced after killing a magical beast could very well attract other magical beasts. Staying here for too long was definitely not a wise choice.