Devouring the Starry Sky: Cultivation Makes Me Stronger

A silver-white streak suddenly flashed across the pitch-black street, and the sound of a blade slicing through flesh instantly became one continuous line.

Thud!

The three monsters were sent flying from Luo Shen's side almost simultaneously, crashing heavily onto the street. Blood gushed from their necks, leaving them unable even to roar; they could only twitch helplessly as they died.

"Holy shit!!"

Inside a large building, one room had walls lined with screens. Each small display showed a different scene from within Monster Town, while quite a few proctors carefully watched the screens before them.

Using his status, Zhuge Tao had also slipped in and had someone arrange a separate camera focused on Luo Shen.

Suddenly, a cry of surprise shattered the room's calm.

Everyone's attention was drawn over.

Zhuge Tao, who had been waiting, followed the direction indicated by the young man who had cried out. The young man tapped lightly on the keyboard and replayed the footage from moments ago.

"Look at this guy!"

The others gathered around. As the young man replayed the recording and adjusted its speed, he muttered, "That blade was way too fast, wasn't it? How did such a monster get mixed in among this batch of prospective warriors?"

Even Zhuge Tao's curiosity was piqued.

On the screen, Luo Shen's face flashed past. Then he crossed paths with the three monsters, his blade gleaming. In an instant, he killed all three monsters at once!

To achieve that, strength, eyesight, judgment, and angle were all indispensable!

Zhuge Tao's eye twitched. "I miscalculated. I never expected this kid to be so formidable. Looks like not only will I lose those 250 million, I'll also have to throw in a special training contract for him."

Still, seeing Luo Shen perform so well, Zhuge Tao was delighted.

No matter how outstanding Luo Shen was, he had come from Jiangnan Headquarters. When Zhuge Tao spoke of him before the supervisors from other base cities, he would have plenty of face as well.

Luo Shen continued onward and soon encountered several more monsters, which he killed just as easily.

He already had the left ears of seven monsters in hand. Based on past experience, that number was enough to ensure he passed the assessment.

Luo Shen climbed into a quiet, secluded little building.

Inside one of the rooms.

"Looks like I still underestimated my current strength." Luo Shen looked at the combat blade in his hand. It was this very blade that had allowed him to make his first kill in life.

Even when three Beginner Beast Soldier monsters had surrounded and attacked him at once, they had failed to put him under the slightest pressure.

"Thankfully, it wasn't completely without gains."

Luo Shen focused his consciousness on the azure-blue light screen in his mind. The data under the corresponding abilities had clearly changed—Basic Blade Technique (503/1000); Basic Movement Technique (921/1000)!

In fact, when he had killed those three Beginner Beast Soldiers, he had already noticed that the speed at which he gained proficiency had increased!

Ordinarily, when practicing his blade technique or dodge training for his movement technique, even with his full concentration, it took quite a while to gain a single point of proficiency. But now, successfully hunting monsters using his movement and blade techniques earned him one point of proficiency!

However, after Luo Shen's earlier experiment, he had received one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The bad news was that simply killing monsters did not grant proficiency. Even ordinary swings of the blade and basic footwork did not grant any. The good news, however, was that fully executing blade techniques and movement dodges accelerated the rate at which he gained proficiency.

Moreover, the greater the number of monsters he faced, the stronger they were, and the more pressure he was under, the more each dodge and each counterattack had a chance to grant additional proficiency.

"Isn't this basically dancing on the edge of death over and over?"

But Luo Shen, who felt he had found a shortcut, would not let such an opportunity slip away for nothing. Besides, in this Monster Town, not a single monster was his match. It was the perfect place for him to "grind levels"!

"Once my movement technique reaches the Micro-level and my blade technique reaches the Proficient Level, I won't be afraid even if I face a Mid-level Beast General!"

Thus, after resting briefly in the room, Luo Shen began his journey of grinding levels.

At first, Luo Shen was still somewhat cautious.

Since he did not know the limits of his strength, he only dared lure five to seven monsters at a time. But as he easily ended each battle and his proficiency gain continued to accelerate—

Luo Shen decided to go big!

He would lure twelve monsters!

And among them, he would specifically choose Shadow Cat Monsters, the fastest of the three monster types!

Simply piling up more monsters could not create greater pressure for Luo Shen, but Shadow Cat Monsters were different. Feline monsters were extremely fast, with exceptional reflexes. Their smaller bodies also made them relatively nimble, and their speed was terrifying. Even warriors of the same level could be successfully ambushed if they were not careful.

Not to mention there were a full twelve of them!

On an empty street somewhere in the town, Luo Shen was locked in battle with twelve Shadow Cat Monsters.

"Come on, come on, little guys!"

"Come at me again!"

Under the siege of twelve Shadow Cat Monsters, the dodges of his Basic Movement Technique seemed somewhat "clumsy." Fortunately, relying on his absolute speed and his increasingly proficient movement technique, he had stubbornly kept them from touching him in the slightest.

Luo Shen had put in no small amount of effort to gather these twelve Shadow Cat Monsters.

After all, Shadow Cat Monsters possessed extremely strong concealment abilities. On top of that, feline monsters were naturally aloof and disliked gathering together. Luo Shen had made a huge circuit before finally drawing them all out.

"Roar~"

Just as Luo Shen maintained a delicate balance with the twelve Shadow Cat Monsters, and his Basic Movement Technique proficiency was about to reach perfection and enter the Micro-level, an unwary Tiger Mastiff suddenly appeared at the street corner and pounced at him from behind.

Damn it! A sneak attack? You little piece of trash! Luo Shen thought helplessly.

The excellent situation before him had been thrown off balance by this unexpected intruder. If this Tiger Mastiff had appeared even ten minutes later, he would have entered the Micro-level.

"Hiss!" After evading the attack of a Shadow Cat Monster lunging from his left, his battle blade flashed out like lightning. A condensed blade gleam shone through the air, and the throats of three Shadow Cat Monsters on his left spurted blood as they collapsed simultaneously.

"Basic Blade Technique, proficiency +7!"

"Basic Movement Technique, proficiency +5!"

"Basic Movement Technique has reached the perfected realm. Movement Technique has entered the Micro-level! Micro-level movement technique skills are being imparted!"

I entered the Micro-level?

Hearing the mechanical reverberation suddenly echo in his mind, Luo Shen could not help but feel delighted. As all kinds of techniques streamed endlessly into his mind, he had no time to consider why the movement technique that had still been short of the Micro-level had suddenly reached perfection.

And aside from the three Shadow Cat Monsters he had just killed, there were still nine Shadow Cat Monsters glaring at him from around his body.

The approaching Tiger Mastiff was no less threatening.

He had to deal with these monsters first before he could calm down and study things properly.

Claw marks appeared one after another around Luo Shen.

Yet the Shadow Cat Monsters, which had clearly been able to trade blows with Luo Shen just moments ago, suddenly felt that the human before them had become as slippery as an eel. They could not catch him—simply could not catch him at all!

Luo Shen turned gracefully, and the Shadow Cat Monster's claws brushed past his body.

Even one centimeter closer would have dealt him a fatal wound. Yet to the Shadow Cat Monsters, that single centimeter was like an insurmountable chasm, forever beyond their reach.

"Hiss!" Like leisurely scattered steps, a flash of cold light tore through the darkness.

The throats of another two Shadow Cat Monsters were slit, while the muscles in the right paw of a third were torn apart.

Watching the Shadow Cat Monster howl as it limped backward, Luo Shen could not help shaking his head and sighing softly. "My blade technique is still lacking. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been this Shadow Cat's right paw that was torn open—it would have been its throat."

When he had swung his blade just now, he had deliberately adjusted its angle and aimed at the throats of all three Shadow Cat Monsters.

However, a slight tremor as he swung caused the angle to deviate, resulting in only two kills and one injury.

If he had Proficient Level Blade Technique, this would never have happened.

With two more companions falling, the Shadow Cat Monsters seemed to have had their ferocity provoked. Their movements became increasingly violent as they darted around Luo Shen, then seized the moment to pounce, intending to trade injuries for injuries!

"If this had been earlier, that might have worked."

"But now—too late!"

Luo Shen tapped the ground repeatedly with both feet, effortlessly evading the claw strikes of several Shadow Cats again. The battle blade in his hand swept out from angles they never expected, reducing their numbers once more.

Just as Luo Shen displayed his might and killed the twelve Shadow Cat Monsters and the uninvited Tiger Mastiff one by one, Zhuge Tao, who had been watching him closely, abruptly stood up and cried out in shock, "Micro-level!"

Honestly, Luo Shen's earlier performance had already been enough to surprise him. Although Luo Shen had the advantage in physical fitness, it was still his first time facing real monsters. To perform like this was already quite impressive.

But the movement technique Luo Shen was displaying now had completely surpassed Zhuge Tao's understanding of ordinary geniuses.

Micro-level movement technique might only be the next realm after Basic Movement Technique, but this single step was like an insurmountable chasm to the vast majority of people. Even most War General-level experts had never entered this realm.

Yet how old was Luo Shen? How many battles had he even fought?

Physical fitness at least at the Advanced Warrior Level, combined with Micro-level movement technique and that bodily force exertion—this was no longer a genius within the usual definition.

For a moment, Zhuge Tao even wondered whether he possessed some special attraction for geniuses.

Whoever he favored became successful.

Moreover, Luo Shen did not come from any great family. Like Luo Feng before him, he lived in low-rent housing. In fact, he was even worse off than Luo Feng had been, because he was an orphan.

Without any supporting conditions whatsoever, he had relied purely on the martial arts school's rudimentary facilities to train in its Basic Fist Technique.