Shadow Cat! Martial Skill Upgrade

"There's a plus sign that appeared behind it—does this mean I can upgrade?"

"I'll raise my realm first!"

Li Ziyu looked at the system panel and, without much hesitation, directly chose to increase his realm.

The moment his thought landed.

Instantly, Li Ziyu felt his limbs and bones turn scorching hot.

Then, crackling and popping, a sound like beans bursting came from within his body.

At the same time, a murky, sticky black liquid with a foul odor surged out from his body.

Faced with this sudden change, Li Ziyu was not alarmed but delighted instead.

His eyes couldn't help but widen as he looked at his own hands.

"Bone and Marrow Resonance, Tiger and Leopard Thunderous Sound, impurities expelled—this is the sign of becoming a Level 1 Martial Artist?"

"I'm already a Level 1 Martial Artist??"

Bone and Marrow Resonance, Tiger and Leopard Thunderous Sound—when the body's bones harden to a certain degree, this sound emerges.

And these impurities inside him—this is the manifestation of cleansing the body of waste.

He knew all too well what these two phenomena represented.

It wasn't just him who understood; probably everyone who aspired to become a martial artist knew.

Because this was what everyone dreamed of.

It signified that in terms of blood and qi, he had already reached the Level 1 Martial Artist standard published by the National Martial Arts Association!

Thinking this, Li Ziyu opened the system panel.

Name: Li Ziyu.

Realm: Level 1 Beginner Martial Artist.

Combat Skill: Beginner Blade Technique.

System: Martial God System.

Function: Can absorb all things to enhance blood and qi; other functions await the host's own discovery.

Sure enough, the realm display on the system had changed to Level 1 Martial Artist.

The plus sign behind it had also disappeared.

"Excellent! Becoming a martial artist means I have some ability to protect myself, even in this dangerous world, haha!"

Li Ziyu couldn't help but laugh heartily.

As he laughed, he set the steel blade in his hand aside.

He took two steps to a nearby dirt slope, beside a willow tree as thick as a bowl's mouth.

Twisting his waist and swinging his arm, he punched the willow's trunk.

With a crack.

This bowl-thick willow, which looked incredibly sturdy, was snapped clean in half under Li Ziyu's cannon-like punch!

It crashed sideways, crushing a patch of grass and shrubs.

"My current strength is at least several times greater than before!"

"Before, one punch could only make this willow's trunk shake wildly, but now I can break it with a single blow!"

"If I hunt Red-Eyed Rabbits now, I could blow their heads off with just my fists!"

"And this is without cultivating any martial techniques—just relying on pure physical strength!"

"If I cultivate powerful martial techniques, my strength will definitely reach another level!"

Li Ziyu looked at the fallen willow, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

Beyond basic martial techniques like fist techniques, blade techniques, sword techniques, and spear techniques.

There was also a higher-level type of skill, known as Combat Skills!

Combat Skills, like martial artist realms, were divided into nine levels from low to high.

Level 1 was the lowest, Level 9 the highest.

At the same time, the higher the level of a Combat Skill, the harder it was to cultivate, and the higher the requirements for the martial artist.

Correspondingly, their power was far greater than low-level Combat Skills.

"I remember there are quite a few places in Xujiang City that trade in martial artist resources; they should all sell Combat Skills!"

"I've killed enough for now—time to head back to the city."

Li Ziyu waited a little longer on the spot.

After killing a few more Red-Eyed Rabbits.

He packed up his sack and prepared to return to the city.

The corpse of the Red-Eyed Rabbit could no longer fit into the burlap sack on the ground.

Moreover, after advancing to Level 1 Martial Artist, he found that killing Red-Eyed Rabbits now gave far less Qi-Blood power than before his advancement.

"If I want to increase my Qi-Blood quickly, I'll probably need to hunt beasts at my own level, or even higher than my own level."

"So now that I'm a Level 1 Martial Artist, my targets for hunting ferocious beasts should be Level 1 Ferocious Beasts, or even Level 2 Ferocious Beasts."

Level 1 Ferocious Beasts.

They weren't as easy to kill as ungraded beasts like Red-Eyed Rabbits.

Whether in attack or speed, they were countless times stronger than Red-Eyed Rabbits.

Although Li Ziyu had now advanced to Level 1 Martial Artist, his weapon and martial techniques were still lacking.

On his way back, Li Ziyu killed a few more Red-Eyed Rabbits.

Just as Li Ziyu packed up his burlap sack, picked up his steel blade, and was about to lift his foot to return toward the city wall—

Suddenly.

In the distance, behind him, the low roar of a wild beast rang out.

It sounded a bit like the growl of a large feline.

Li Ziyu's gaze sharpened, and his entire body instinctively tensed.

Hearing that roar, without a second thought, he instantly dodged behind a large tree nearby.

The tree was thick enough to completely conceal Li Ziyu's figure.

Li Ziyu peeked out, carefully looking in the direction of that roar.

It was a Level 1 Ferocious Beast—a Shadow Cat!

Less than a hundred meters away, on the small mound where he had just been hunting Red-Eyed Rabbits.

A large black cat, about the size of a Siberian tiger, with a sleek, agile body and glossy black fur.

Was devouring the corpse of a Red-Eyed Rabbit on the ground, eating ravenously.

It was exactly the Level 1 Ferocious Beast, the Shadow Cat, that Li Ziyu had seen in his textbooks.

Li Ziyu also noticed that on the hind leg of this Shadow Cat, there was a wound deep enough to see bone.

Blood was continuously dripping onto the ground.

"Probably attracted by the smell of the Red-Eyed Rabbit's blood. This Shadow Cat must have been hungry for who knows how long—it's lost even basic alertness, just burying its head and eating."

Li Ziyu stared at the Shadow Cat, which had its back to him, his eyes flickering.

He had originally wanted to retreat.

But when he saw the wound on the Shadow Cat's leg, he hesitated.

Ferocious beasts also fought among themselves.

Judging by the wound on this Shadow Cat's leg, it was clearly left by another ferocious beast.

Combined with how long it had been starving, this Shadow Cat's strength was definitely at its lowest point ever!

"Damn it, a martial artist must charge forward without hesitation. I'm a Level 1 Martial Artist now—if I don't even dare to face an injured ferocious beast, how will I ever kill stronger ones?"

"Let's do it!"

Li Ziyu's eyes hardened, and he made up his mind.

Putting down the burlap sack on his back, gripping his steel blade with both hands, Li Ziyu cautiously walked toward the back of the Shadow Cat.

In school, they had explained the habits and weaknesses of low-level ferocious beasts.

The Shadow Cat was a ferocious beast with extremely high speed, but average attack and defense.

For an ordinary Level 1 Martial Artist, without mastering a Basic Movement Technique, they simply couldn't keep up with the Shadow Cat's speed.

Now that this Shadow Cat was lame in one leg, its greatest advantage—speed—was gone. That was why Li Ziyu dared to approach.

This Shadow Cat had been hungry for who knows how long.

Li Ziyu had already walked to within less than twenty meters of it, and it still hadn't noticed, just burying its head and eating.

"Now!"

When he was less than ten meters away.

The Shadow Cat finally sensed something wrong and stopped eating.

Baring its teeth and growling low, it suddenly twisted its head, staring coldly with bloodthirsty eyes behind it.

What it saw was a steel blade growing larger in its vision.

Ao wu!

This time, Li Ziyu didn't directly smash the Shadow Cat's head like he had with the Red-Eyed Rabbits.

Although the Shadow Cat's defense wasn't high, its skull—the hardest part of its body—wasn't something he could shatter directly with a steel blade.

What Li Ziyu attacked was the Shadow Cat's waist!

As the saying goes, copper head, iron bone, tofu waist—this rule from a previous life held true for this Shadow Cat as well.

Sure enough.

Under his full-force strike, the Shadow Cat was smashed flat to the ground.

The bones in its waist twisted into a V-shaped arc, and it couldn't get up for a long time.

Li Ziyu didn't know his current Blood Qi value or Combat Power.

But after killing so many Red-Eyed Rabbits, with the accumulated Blood Qi, he guessed he had at least reached the level of a Level 1 Intermediate Martial Artist.

With a full-force strike, coupled with the element of surprise.

This Shadow Cat being killed in one blow was within his expectations.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Li Ziyu pressed his advantage, slashing down several more times.

Although the ordinary steel blade couldn't break through the Shadow Cat's defense.

But with brute force behind it.

Under Li Ziyu's raw strength, the Shadow Cat on the ground, which had been struggling with a ferocious expression, instantly lost all signs of life.

Before dying, its eyes were wide open, a look of unwillingness on its face.

As if it were saying, Damn it, a sneak attack—you have no martial virtue.

Ding, killed a Level 1 Ferocious Beast Shadow Cat, Blood Qi increased by 0.01.

Name: Li Ziyu.

Realm: Level 1 Beginner Martial Artist.

Combat Skill: Beginner Blade Technique (+).

System: Martial God System.

Function: Can absorb all things to enhance Blood Qi; other functions await the host's own discovery.

"Oh, the martial skill can actually be upgraded?"