Judgment

Lu Chen was in a miserable state, but he could endure it through sheer constitution. On the other side, the Fire Ox was not faring well either.

Before launching his full-force attack, Lu Chen activated Blood Boiling, increasing his strength by three points to thirty-two.

Then, gripping his longsword, he activated Fatal Blow. This method of exerting force united all the strength in Lu Chen's body, allowing his strike to unleash sixty-four times the strength of an ordinary person.

Under that terrifying blow, the charging Fire Ox's forelegs gave out beneath the Heavy Blow, and it instantly collapsed. Cracks even appeared across its skull.

But they were only cracks. A Barbarian Beast's body was even tougher than that of a Barbarian Blood Warrior.

The Fire Ox was still struggling to rise, but Lu Chen knew he had already won.

"You're propping yourself up with your body, but I used an Iron Rod. Even if I can't send force through it, getting hit in the head by an Iron Rod will definitely give you a severe concussion."

It could only be said that Lu Chen's strength might not be especially useful against Evil Spirits, but against Barbarian Beasts, it could display miraculous results.

Not to mention that this Fire Ox had used its head to meet the Iron Rod in Lu Chen's hands head-on.

In that explosive collision, even with his constitution as high as forty-four points and the Iron Rod cushioning the impact, the webbing between Lu Chen's thumbs split open, blood flowing out.

How could the Fire Ox, which had directly taken such a blow with its head, possibly remain conscious?

And indeed, just as Lu Chen had expected, though the Fire Ox kept trying to stand, the severe concussion and nerve damage had caused it to lose control over its body.

Time and again, it managed to lift only half its body before collapsing back to the ground.

As he watched the Fire Ox struggle, Lu Chen rested for quite a while. Only after recovering some strength did he pull his legs from the mud and walk toward it.

At this point, the Fire Ox still had not recovered.

No, it should be said that unless it possessed some healing ability, after taking that Fatal Blow to the head, it would never rise again for the rest of its life.

Right now, it was merely struggling on through a Barbarian Beast's tenacious life force.

"In terms of strength and constitution, I'm still stronger. And I have an Iron Rod. This time, I won."

With that, Lu Chen swung the "iron sword" in his hand at the Fire Ox's neck.

At that final moment, the Fire Ox sensed danger descending upon it.

Boom! Raging flames suddenly surged from all over its body, igniting the leaves around it.

But flames like these could not stop Lu Chen at all.

Enduring the scorching blaze, Lu Chen brought the rod down on the Fire Ox's neck.

The instant it landed, Lu Chen felt as if he had struck a piece of slick cloth. The Iron Rod involuntarily slid aside.

The sight made Lu Chen narrow his eyes.

"This hide has incredible defensive power. Not only does it defend, it can even slide attacks away. Against a Fire Ox like this, arrows, thrown spears, or even stone axes wielded by ordinary Barbarians would have no effect at all."

"At the same time, with its immense strength, if it wanted to flee, no one could stop it."

"No wonder the village knew it existed but never hunted it. They simply had no way to deal with it!"

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Lu Chen's hands did not slow. Three consecutive strikes smashed into the Fire Ox's neck.

After three blows, despite the Fire Ox's tough, slippery hide remaining unbroken beneath Lu Chen's attacks,

the vertebrae in its neck were still smashed apart by force.

System notification: Host has killed Barbarian Beast—Fire Ox. Obtained 500 experience points.

"Five hundred? That's almost the same as a Black Coffin Level Evil Soul. Still, it makes sense. Last night, the Black Coffin Level Evil Soul was strange and unpredictable, but this Fire Ox wasn't weak either. It was easy enough for me to deal with, but for ordinary people, even a hundred working together would find it hard to break through its defenses."

After the system announced the Fire Ox's complete death, Lu Chen finally let out a breath. Then he looked at the bloodied webbing between his thumbs.

"My constitution is still too low!"

By now, Lu Chen thoroughly understood that constitution was extremely important in this world.

That clash just now had appeared to be about strength, but Lu Chen understood that if his constitution had not served as a safety net, then no matter how great his strength was, the recoil from that collision would have shattered both his arms.

And the shock force entering his body would have made his internal organs bleed. Even if he won then, he would still die a miserable death.

But his robust constitution allowed Lu Chen to clash head-on without restraint.

However, Fatal Blow, which gathered the strength of his entire body through a special exertion method, allowed Lu Chen to unleash sixty-four points of strength. That exceeded his forty-four points of constitution, so although Lu Chen had not died, he was injured.

"I still need to increase my constitution!"

"If my constitution is strong enough, I won't suffer recoil injuries."

As he considered this, Lu Chen directly sprawled over the Fire Ox and began drinking its blood.

"Can't waste it. Drink every drop of blood that has spilled out."

With that thought in mind, Lu Chen gulped down the blood.

As the ox blood entered his mouth, Lu Chen felt a stream of heat spread from his stomach through the rest of his body. At the same time, cells that had always seemed somewhat hungry and thirsty greedily absorbed the Fire Ox blood's energy.

Yet after only several large mouthfuls, Lu Chen felt his body grow hot, along with a strange sense of fullness.

"This Fire Ox blood is on the same level as century-old wild ginseng, isn't it? So much energy."

After a dozen or so mouthfuls, Lu Chen actually burped in satisfaction. It was something he had never even dared imagine before.

"Back then, nearly twenty jin of wild boar meat only left me barely full, but now a dozen mouthfuls of fresh blood can fill me up."

"Sure enough, once one reaches the level of a Barbarian Blood Warrior, improving oneself should no longer rely on ordinary food. One should eat Barbarian Beast flesh and blood, or consume prepared medicinal soups. Only then can one improve one's strength most effectively."

Of course, only the immensely wealthy or those with mines at home could sustain such a lifestyle for long.

"My family has no mine, and the village isn't wealthy either. But I have enough strength. From now on, Barbarian Beasts will be my food as well."

His body satiated, Lu Chen looked at the blood flowing from the Fire Ox. After some thought, he did not waste it, instead opening his attribute panel to improve himself.

"System, increase my Swordsman level."

Last night, Lu Chen had raised his Swordsman level twice in succession, reaching level four at the cost of seven hundred experience points.

However, he had hunted the Black Coffin Level Evil Spirit, Black Umbrella, last night, and had just hunted the Fire Ox. The experience points within Lu Chen had now reached 1,009 again.

Each increase in Swordsman level required one hundred more experience points than the previous level, so Lu Chen could now level up once more.

"System notification: Host has spent 500 experience points. Swordsman level has increased to level 5."

"Ding. System notification: Host has reached level 5 and obtained one skill draw opportunity. Drawing..."

"Ding. System notification: Host has drawn the skill Judgment."

"Detected that the host possesses Spirit Crystals. Spend five Spirit Crystals to redraw?"

Without answering immediately, Lu Chen looked at the description of Judgment.

Judgment (Bronze): Rapidly spin the greatsword, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies for the duration. The host may approach enemies while swinging the longsword.

"This is Demacian Power Garen's E skill."