"There's an extra plus sign behind it. Can this be upgraded?"
"Upgrade the realm first!"
Li Ziyu looked at the system panel. Without much hesitation, he directly chose to upgrade his realm.
As his thought fell.
In an instant, Li Ziyu felt his limbs and bones become scorching hot.
Then, a series of crackling sounds, like beans bursting, came from inside his body.
At the same time, a filthy, viscous black liquid with a foul odor surged out of his body.
Faced with this sudden change, Li Ziyu was not alarmed but delighted.
His eyes widened involuntarily as he looked at his own hands.
"Bone and Marrow Resonance, Tiger and Leopard Thunderous Sound, impurities being expelled... Is this the sign of becoming a Level 1 Martial Artist?"
"I've become a Level 1 Martial Artist just like that??"
Bone and Marrow Resonance and Tiger and Leopard Thunderous Sound occurred when a person's bones became hard enough to produce those sounds.
As for the filth inside his body, that was a sign that impurities were being cleansed from it.
He knew all too clearly what these two phenomena represented.
Not only did he know it—probably everyone who wanted to become a Martial Artist knew it as well.
Because this was what everyone dreamed of.
It represented that his blood and qi had reached the Level 1 Martial Artist standard announced 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 and enhance blood and qi. Other functions await the host's own exploration.
Sure enough, the realm displayed on the system had changed to Level 1 Martial Artist.
The plus sign behind it had also disappeared.
"Wonderful! After becoming a Martial Artist, I'll have some power to protect myself even in this dangerous world. Hahaha!"
Li Ziyu could not help laughing heartily.
While laughing, he set the steel blade in his hand aside.
He took two steps to a nearby earthen slope, beside a willow tree as thick as a bowl.
Twisting his waist and swinging his arm, he punched the willow tree's trunk.
With a crack.
This willow tree, as thick as a bowl and seemingly incomparably sturdy, was actually snapped in half by Li Ziyu's cannonball-like punch!
It fell to the side with a rustle, crushing a patch of grass and plants.
"My strength is at least several times greater than before!"
"Before, I could only make this willow tree's trunk sway with one punch, but now I can break it with one punch!"
"When hunting Red-Eyed Rabbits, I can blow their heads apart with just my fists!"
"And this is without cultivating any martial skills, relying purely on physical strength!"
"If I cultivate a powerful martial skill, my strength will definitely rise another level!"
Li Ziyu looked at the fallen willow tree, his eyes flashing brightly.
Besides basic martial skills such as fist techniques, blade techniques, sword techniques, and spear techniques.
There was also a higher-level cultivation method known as a Combat Skill!
Like Martial Artist levels, Combat Skills were divided into nine levels from lowest to highest.
Level 1 was the lowest, and Level 9 was the highest.
At the same time, the higher the level of a Combat Skill, the greater the difficulty of cultivation and the higher the requirements for the Martial Artist.
Correspondingly, its power was also far greater than that of lower-level Combat Skills.
"I remember there are quite a few places in Xujiang City that sell Martial Artist resources. They should all have Combat Skills for sale!"
"I've killed enough for now. Time to return to the city."
Li Ziyu stood guard at the original spot for a while longer.
After killing several Red-Eyed Rabbits.
He put away the sack and prepared to return to the city.
The bodies of the Red-Eyed Rabbits could no longer fit in the sack on the ground.
Moreover, after advancing to Level 1 Martial Artist, he discovered that the blood and qi gained from killing Red-Eyed Rabbits was now far less than what he had received before becoming a Martial Artist.
"If I want my blood and qi to rise quickly, I'll probably have to hunt Ferocious Beasts at my own level, or even those above my level."
"Since I'm now a Level 1 Martial Artist, my targets should be Level 1 Ferocious Beasts, or even Level 2 Ferocious Beasts."
Level 1 Ferocious Beasts.
They were nothing like the inferior Ferocious Beasts known as Red-Eyed Rabbits, which were so easy to kill.
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 skills were still rather inadequate.
On the way back, Li Ziyu killed several more Red-Eyed Rabbits.
Just as Li Ziyu finished packing the sack, lifted the steel blade, and was about to turn toward the city walls.
Suddenly.
From behind him in the distance came the low growl of a beast.
It sounded somewhat like the roar of a large feline.
Li Ziyu's gaze sharpened, and the muscles throughout his body instinctively tensed.
Upon hearing the roar, he did not hesitate. His body instantly darted behind a large tree nearby.
The tree was thick enough to conceal Li Ziyu completely.
Li Ziyu cautiously poked his head out and looked toward the direction of the roar.
It was a Level 1 Ferocious Beast—a Shadow Cat!
Less than a hundred meters away, on the small earthen mound where he had just hunted Red-Eyed Rabbits.
A black cat about the size of a Siberian tiger, with a nimble body and glossy black fur.
It was feasting ravenously on the corpses of the Red-Eyed Rabbits on the ground.
It was precisely the Level 1 Ferocious Beast, Shadow Cat, that Li Ziyu had seen in his textbooks!
Li Ziyu also noticed that the Shadow Cat had a wound on its hind leg deep enough to expose the bone.
Blood was continuously dripping onto the ground.
"It was probably drawn here by the smell of the Red-Eyed Rabbits' blood. This Shadow Cat must not have eaten for who knows how long. It's lost even its most basic vigilance and knows only to bury its head in its food."
Li Ziyu stared at the Shadow Cat with its back to him, his eyes flickering.
He had originally intended to leave.
But when he saw the wound on the Shadow Cat's leg, he hesitated.
Ferocious Beasts also fought among themselves.
Judging from the wound on this Shadow Cat's leg, it had clearly been left by another Ferocious Beast.
Combined with the fact that it had gone hungry for so long, this Shadow Cat's strength was definitely at its lowest point in its entire life!
"Damn it, a Martial Artist must charge forward without fear. I'm a Level 1 Martial Artist now too. If I don't even dare to fight an injured Ferocious Beast, how will I kill stronger Ferocious Beasts in the future?"
"Let's do it!"
Li Ziyu's eyes hardened as he made his decision.
He set down the sack on his back, gripped the steel blade with both hands, and cautiously walked toward the Shadow Cat from behind.
The school had taught them about the habits and weaknesses of low-level Ferocious Beasts.
The Shadow Cat was the kind of Ferocious Beast with extremely high speed but only average attack and defense.
An ordinary Level 1 Martial Artist could not keep up with a Shadow Cat's speed without mastering the Basic Movement Technique.
Now that this Shadow Cat had one crippled leg, its greatest advantage—speed—was gone. That was also why Li Ziyu dared to come up boldly.
This Shadow Cat had no idea how long it had been hungry.
Even when Li Ziyu had approached to within twenty meters, it remained completely unaware, still burying its head in its meal.
"Now!"
When he was less than ten meters away.
The Shadow Cat finally sensed something wrong and stopped eating.
It bared its fangs and growled low, then abruptly turned its head, its cold, bloodthirsty eyes fixed fiercely on what lay behind it.
What entered its vision was a steel blade rapidly growing larger.
Roar!
This time, Li Ziyu did not smash the Shadow Cat's head directly as he had when killing the Red-Eyed Rabbits.
Although the Shadow Cat's defense was not high, the skull was the hardest part of its body, and it was not something he could smash apart directly with a steel blade.
Li Ziyu attacked the Shadow Cat's waist!
As the saying went, "a copper head, an iron back, and a tofu waist." This principle from his previous life applied to the Shadow Cat as well.
Sure enough.
Under this full-powered blow, the Shadow Cat was smashed directly onto the ground.
The bones around its waist twisted into a V-shaped curve, and it could not get back up for quite some time.
Li Ziyu did not know his current blood and qi value or Combat Power.
But after killing so many Red-Eyed Rabbits, with the accumulation of blood and qi, he guessed that he had at least reached the level of a Level 1 Intermediate Martial Artist.
With his full strength, combined with the element of surprise.
It was within expectations that this Shadow Cat would be killed instantly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Li Ziyu pressed his advantage and struck several more times.
Although the ordinary steel blade could not pierce the Shadow Cat's defenses.
But with great strength, even a brick could fly.
Under Li Ziyu's brute force, the Shadow Cat, which had still been struggling on the ground with a savage expression, instantly fell silent.
Before dying, its eyes were still wide open, its face full of unwillingness.
It seemed to be saying, Damn it, ambushing me? You have no martial ethics!
Ding! Killed Level 1 Ferocious Beast Shadow Cat. Blood and 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 and enhance blood and qi. Other functions await the host's own exploration.
"Huh? The martial skill can actually be upgraded?"
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