Adding Points Makes You Stronger

It was three in the morning, still dark before dawn, when Chen Lin was woken up by Chen Hongbo.

After a quick wash, Chen Lin followed Chen Hongbo, traveling under the stars, to the slaughterhouse in the south of the city.

Due to limitations in social productivity, slaughterhouses in the current world typically slaughtered livestock at the Yin hour (3-5 AM) and brought them to the meat market for sale at the Mao hour (5-7 AM).

The slaughterhouse where Chen Lin's father worked was an enterprise owned by the Chen Clan Patriarch.

Back when Chen Lin was found to have martial arts talent, the Chen Clan Patriarch not only arranged new housing for Chen Lin's family but also found a job for Chen Lin's father to earn money to support the family. Additionally, the family received a monthly subsidy of five taels of silver, showing consideration in every aspect.

Of course, none of this was free. It was all arranged with the understanding that Chen Lin would repay the clan once he became a Demon Slayer Envoy or a powerful Martial Artist.

If Chen Lin failed to achieve success in his cultivation or become a noble Demon Slayer Envoy, his entire family would have to work as slaves and servants for the clan to repay the debt, unless Chen Lin could suddenly acquire a large sum of money to cover the expenses the clan had incurred on him over the years.

Faced with such a mandatory arrangement, no matter how unwilling Chen Lin's family was, they had no choice but to accept it with gritted teeth.

One reason was that martial arts cultivation consumed a huge amount of money, which ordinary families simply couldn't afford. Another reason was that these were the clan's rules, which every household had to abide by. They couldn't refuse, nor did they have the power to refuse.

Soon, Chen Lin followed his father to the slaughterhouse located by the city wall.

Due to the special nature of slaughterhouses, to minimize the impact on nearby residents, they were generally located on the outskirts, near the city walls.

As soon as Chen Lin entered the slaughterhouse, a strong, foul odor assaulted his nostrils, making his stomach churn.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Chen Lin looked up. In the spacious area, seventeen or eighteen burly men were busy working with great fervor.

Livestock were being bled and dismembered one after another, their muffled, tragic cries echoing throughout the area, making Chen Lin's scalp tingle.

Chen Hongbo led Chen Lin to a small shed and, cupping his hands towards a stout, muscular man in a coarse cloth shirt, introduced him: "Master Dong, this is my child, Chen Lin. He's recently hit a bottleneck in his martial arts training and wants to work in our slaughterhouse for a while. I hope you can make things convenient for him."

The man Chen Hongbo called Master Dong was named Dong Wu, the head butcher managing the slaughterhouse. Although greedy, he was a straightforward person, which was the fundamental reason Chen Hongbo had agreed to Chen Lin's request without hesitation.

After speaking, Chen Hongbo subtly placed a small bag of silver on the tea table next to Dong Wu, waiting for Dong Wu's reply with a fawning expression.

Chen Lin witnessed everything his father did. Although he felt a bit stifled, he didn't impulsively stop his father's actions.

Dong Wu casually weighed the money bag Chen Hongbo had placed on the table, and his expression immediately brightened with a hint of joy as he said politely, "Since he's Old Brother Chen's child, how could I possibly not make things convenient for such a small request! Leave this to me, your younger brother. Please wait here for a moment, and I'll have Old Li come over to take my grandnephew around and familiarize him with the slaughterhouse environment."

After speaking, Dong Wu shouted towards a few busy men in the distance: "Old Li, come here, I have something to tell you!"

Among the busy workers, a muscular man with his upper body bare and covered in muscles stopped his work upon hearing the call. With a fawning expression, he strode towards the three of them, asking from afar, "Brother Dong, what are your orders?"

"This is our nephew. Take him around the slaughterhouse and teach him how to slaughter livestock. He's a Martial Artist, so don't teach him by the book. Teach him the quickest way, get him up to speed as soon as possible!" Dong Wu pointed at Chen Lin and loudly instructed.

"Sure thing! This is simple. I, Old Li, guarantee that our nephew will learn how to slaughter livestock in a day!" Old Li immediately understood and loudly patted his chest, giving his assurance.

"Go on!" Dong Wu waved his hand, signaling Chen Lin to follow Old Li.

Chen Lin glanced at Chen Hongbo. After receiving a nod of affirmation, he followed Old Li to the area where the slaughtering was in full swing.

Old Li first led Chen Lin on a tour and then explained some basic knowledge about slaughtering livestock. Afterward, he handed Chen Lin a cleaver and pointed to a cage containing chickens and ducks, saying, "Grandnephew, you haven't done livestock slaughtering before. Since it's your first time today, you can start with killing chickens and ducks. After you get the hang of it for a while, I'll let you try killing pigs and sheep. What do you think?"

Chen Lin nodded upon hearing this: "Okay!"

"Good! Then you can try it first. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!" Old Li said and turned to leave, as if afraid Chen Lin would go back on his word.

Chen Lin didn't care about Old Li's perfunctory attitude. He wasn't here at the slaughterhouse to learn a trade or earn money, but to gain Slaughter Points. As long as they let him kill, he didn't care about anything else.

By the well, Chen Lin reached out and grabbed a chicken. He skillfully held its feet and wings with both hands, then plucked the down from its neck. Next, he clamped down on its windpipe and made a light cut with the cleaver.

"Pfft, pfft..."

The chicken's blood gushed into the large brown vat like a stream, creating faint ripples.

[Slaughter Points +0.05]

Slaughter Points!

Chen Lin's eyes widened. After hearing the notification about gaining Slaughter Points in his mind, he couldn't help but feel secretly delighted.

Although he had a guess beforehand, seeing that killing a chicken actually yielded Slaughter Points still filled him with joy.

He hadn't expected to obtain the Slaughter Points he had been longing for so easily, which significantly increased his confidence in passing the Demon Slayer Envoy assessment a month later.

Wait, one chicken is 0.05. If he killed all of these, wouldn't he gain over ten Slaughter Points? And if he killed pigs and sheep, which are larger than chickens, wouldn't he gain even more Slaughter Points?

Thinking of this, Chen Lin's eyes burned with fervor, and his movements in killing chickens became much more efficient.

By the end of the day, Chen Lin had slaughtered a total of 150 chickens and 120 ducks, earning a total of 13.5 Slaughter Points.

He was both tired and happy.

As evening approached, Chen Lin, having finished his day's labor, returned home and eagerly ran to the kitchen to boil water.

After spending the entire day at the slaughterhouse, although the frequency of nausea had decreased significantly, the smell of sweat and blood on him had become much stronger.

This was unbearable for Chen Lin, who had always been a clean person.

Looking at Chen Lin, who was clumsy and covered in sweat like a little monkey, Chen Hongbo shook his head with a wry smile but didn't utter a single word of reproach.

After all, when he had gone to the slaughterhouse earlier, he hadn't fared much better than Chen Lin.

Soaking in the bathtub, Chen Lin leaned his head against the edge of the tub, his tailbone feeling comfortably numb.

As Chen Lin's thoughts stirred, the jade book slowly opened.

[Host: Chen Lin]

[Realm: Late Martial Disciple]

[Soul: 25]

[True Qi: 0]

[Physical Strength: 62]

[Slaughter Points: 13.5]

[Cultivation Methods: Soul Strengthening Technique Lv. 1 (1/10), Basic Body Tempering Method Lv. 2 (12/20)]

[Martial Skills: Basic Swordplay Lv. 3 (8/30), Basic Movement Technique Lv. 2 (8/20)]

Seeing that the Body Tempering Method was closest to leveling up, Chen Lin focused his attention on the small transparent plus sign behind Basic Body Tempering Method.

With a thought, the number 12 in (12/20) suddenly jumped slightly as Chen Lin added points, changing to 13. The Slaughter Points also decreased from 13.5 to 12.5.

Seeing that adding points was indeed effective, Chen Lin couldn't help but add 8 Slaughter Points to Basic Body Tempering Method in one go.