Slaughter! Breakthrough!

After watching for a while, Chen Lin grew a little bored. He glanced around at the many demon beasts that had yet to breathe their last, his eyes darted, and he prepared to pick off the stragglers with his sword.

"A Lin, where are you going?"

The moment Chen Lin moved, Wu Fan asked curiously.

"Many of the demon beasts around here aren't completely dead yet. I'm sending them on their way!" Chen Lin explained with a smile.

"Then be careful, A Lin. A demon beast's attacks are at their most frenzied before it dies. Don't let your guard down!" Jiang Tianyu reminded him.

"Mm!" Chen Lin nodded.

"This little fellow really has a sharp eye!" Zhu Wei said with a smile to He Yanjun.

"Newcomers are always brimming with enthusiasm. I was the same back then!" He Yanjun said, smiling.

[Slaughter Points +2]

[Slaughter Points +3]

[Slaughter Points +4]

[Slaughter Points +2]

...

Chen Lin cut down one demon beast with each swing of his sword. Slaughter Points rose rapidly, as though they cost nothing at all.

Once everything had been dealt with, Chen Lin had actually gained a full 65 Slaughter Points from more than twenty demon beasts.

Chen Lin was so delighted that his face split into a wide grin, and he was beside himself with excitement.

As he looked at the Crimson Flame Lion, which was on its last legs and occasionally let out a miserable howl, Chen Lin's eyes practically sparkled.

A fierce beast was worth a fraction of a Slaughter Point, while a Demon Soldier was only worth two to eight points. I wonder how many Slaughter Points a Demon General can yield—fifteen? Or twenty? Chen Lin thought eagerly, itching to give it a try.

But in the end, Chen Lin did not get his wish. Zhu Wei was worried that the Crimson Flame Lion's final counterattack might injure Chen Lin, so he stopped Chen Lin from delivering the finishing blow.

Once the Crimson Flame Lion had completely died, Zhu Wei and the others gathered all the valuable materials from it and the surrounding demon beasts, then prepared to return to Bridgehead to hand in the mission.

"This hunt went very smoothly. Once we return to Bridgehead and sell the materials, we'll distribute the profits among everyone." After saying that, Zhu Wei's expression suddenly turned solemn. "We gained quite a bit this time. Stay alert on the way back. We aren't the only Monster Slaying Squad out here in the wilderness. Sometimes, people are far more dangerous than demon beasts!"

"Mm!"

Wu Fan, Wang Ming, Chen Lin, and the others all nodded heavily.

Chen Lin understood why Zhu Wei had said that.

Compared with the danger of hunting demon beasts, ambushing a Monster Slaying Squad returning to Bridgehead covered in wounds was far more profitable for some people.

Moreover, many such incidents happened out in the wilderness, where investigation and evidence collection were extremely difficult. Thus, the final outcome of investigations into many vanished Monster Slaying Squads was simply nothing.

This only fueled the spread of such crooked and evil practices. The upper echelons of the Four Great Powers ground their teeth in hatred, yet had no solution. In the end, they had no choice but to increase the punishments for secretly harming members of other factions, hoping to deter those martial artists harboring ill intentions.

After making some simple preparations, the group headed back toward Bridgehead.

Less than fifty li away from Chen Lin and the others, Duan Hengyuan's Monster Slaying Squad was also slowly sneaking through the wilderness.

For some unknown reason, the tracking powder had failed ahead of time, causing them to lose the trail of the Howling Moon Sky Wolf they had been pursuing.

They had no choice but to enter an area being cleared by another Monster Slaying Squad, cautiously and carefully searching for traces of the Howling Moon Sky Wolf.

"Old Zhang, are you sure that Howling Moon Sky Wolf ran into this area?" After searching for a long time without results, Duan Hengyuan impatiently asked again.

"Brother Yuan, of course I'm sure. I don't know why the tracking powder failed, but that Howling Moon Sky Wolf definitely disappeared in this area. You have to believe me! When have I ever let you down?" Old Zhang said earnestly as he stroked the white fox marten perched on his shoulder.

"Ever since that Howling Moon Sky Wolf was ambushed by us last time, it's become even more cautious. It doesn't even keep underlings anymore, and it changes locations every few days. If we still can't find it in the next few days, then once its injuries heal, it'll be much harder to kill it," said the burly man with a bow on his back, frowning.

Everyone's expressions were grave. They all understood how much effort they had poured into hunting this Howling Moon Sky Wolf.

"Besides that, I think the most important thing is to guard against the Monster Slaying Squads in this area. If we aren't careful and someone else picks up our prize, we'll suffer a huge loss!" one squad member said, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

"Our Monster Slaying Squad ranks among the very best even among Martial Grandmaster squads. If anyone dares pick up our prize, then we'll see whether they have the life to take it!" Duan Hengyuan said, a vicious glint flashing through his eyes.

"Second Brother is right! Our prize isn't so easy to pick up! Whoever dares stick out a claw, we'll chop off that claw! You all know what to do, right?" the burly man with the bow said with a savage expression.

"Don't worry, Boss!"

The others all nodded in agreement. It was obvious that this was not their first time doing such a thing.

"Keep searching!" The burly man with the bow waved his hand, and the group immediately spread out to continue their search.

By sunset, Chen Lin's group had eaten and drunk their fill, then each found a place to rest.

Not wanting to miss such a good place to earn Slaughter Points, Chen Lin informed Zhu Wei and then went alone to hunt demon beasts in the nearby area.

Over the past few days, Chen Lin's performance had thoroughly won over Zhu Wei and the others. Therefore, they were not particularly worried about his request to act alone.

Instead, they felt even more admiration for him.

After all, in their eyes, aside from gathering materials, fighting demon beasts was only useful for honing one's combat ability.

How could the veterans of the squad not appreciate a new teammate who was so driven?

After leaving the group, Chen Lin released his spiritual sense and began scanning the surrounding area.

This was another highly useful function of spiritual sense that he had discovered during this period.

When Chen Lin had walked roughly a dozen li away from the temporary camp, the distant sounds of barking and mooing suddenly caught his attention.

"Mm?"

Chen Lin found a relatively tall tree. After climbing to its top, he carefully observed the area.

More than a thousand meters away from him, over a dozen demon beasts covered in black-spotted scales and somewhat resembling hyenas were hunting three White Jade Horned Bulls—two adults and one calf.

"Spotted Scale Hounds? White Jade Horned Bulls?" Chen Lin rejoiced inwardly.

Seeing that the battle was fierce, Chen Lin had no intention of immediately joining it. Instead, he rubbed his chin in thought, opened the Slaughter Jade Book in his mind, and began frantically adding points.

When Chen Lin raised the Basic Body Tempering Method to Level 8 and his physical strength reached 126—

Chen Lin suddenly felt his body tighten, then heat surged through him from head to toe. Vast amounts of vital energy and blood continuously emerged from his limbs and bones, washing over his flesh again and again.

A sensation of stiffness, swelling, soreness, numbness, and pain instantly assaulted Chen Lin's nerves. He lost his footing and involuntarily fell from the towering tree, more than ten meters above the ground.

Fortunately, Chen Lin could still barely use his spiritual sense. With the support of the Azure Orchid Treasure Sword on his back, he ultimately landed safely and avoided injuring himself.

After lying on the ground and gritting his teeth through nearly a quarter-hour of torment, the uncomfortable sensation finally faded away.

The instant Chen Lin got to his feet, he immediately felt as though the strength in his body had increased considerably.

He directed his consciousness into the jade book, and his personal data appeared before him.

[Host: Chen Lin]

[Realm: Mid Martial Master]

[Soul: 115]

[True Qi: 0]

[Physical Strength: 126]

[Slaughter Points: 20]

[Techniques: Soul Strengthening Technique Level 10, Mysterious Origin Body Tempering Technique Level 1 (18/100), Basic Body Tempering Method Level 8 (1/80)]

[Martial Skills: Basic Swordplay Level 4 (20/40), Basic Movement Technique Level 8 (12/80)]

After examining his realm and data, Chen Lin revealed a satisfied expression.

In three months since arriving in this world, he had gone from the Late Martial Disciple realm to the Mid Martial Master realm. If word of such a breakthrough speed got out, it would make many people die of jealousy.

If the month he had spent bedridden with severe injuries were deducted, then if people learned of this breakthrough speed, some would likely want to kill him.

Fortunately, unless martial artists deliberately showed off their cultivation, others in this world could only make rough guesses based on their outward performance. They had no way to accurately determine another martial artist's exact cultivation.

As a result, martial artists in this world were always courteous and cautious when facing unfamiliar martial artists, terrified that one careless move might lead them to encounter a grandmaster of the martial path—only to be pressed to death with a single finger.