Hunting in the City

Blood-red moonlight filtered through ragged clouds and spilled over Black Water City.

This once-prosperous city now resembled a realm of ghosts. Not a soul could be seen on its streets; only the howling wind and the occasional low roar proclaimed that this was no longer a place where the living could linger.

Yan Kui lay hidden behind the ruins of a collapsed house, his gaze blazing as he fixed it tightly on a dark figure not far away.

It was a Walking Corpse.

It had once been the stout, well-fed owner of a butcher shop. Now, its entire body was bloated, its skin the blue-black of a corpse and covered in dark-red livor mortis. Its faintly green eyeballs nearly bulged out of their sockets, while thick yellow-green drool, reeking of venomous rot, continuously dripped from its mouth. Its joints were stiff, its movements mechanical. Every step it took landed with a heavy thud, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression.

[Walking Corpse detected (Mortal Grade Mutation). Life Essence can be plundered.]

This was the "new species" Yan Kui had discovered after entering Black Water City.

These Walking Corpses were puppets controlled by the Corpse Fiend's true body. They instinctively preyed on the living, devouring flesh and blood to strengthen themselves and provide energy to the Corpse Fiend behind them.

Yan Kui had wandered through the city for half a shichen and had already figured out the habits of these Walking Corpses.

They usually traveled in groups, wandering aimlessly. Though powerful, they were sluggish and dim-witted, making them easy to lure apart and divide.

"One... too few."

Yan Kui weighed it in his heart.

He needed more Origin Power.

He did not rashly make a move. Instead, he waited patiently.

Sure enough, after a short while, two more dark figures came down from the other end of the street.

They were a young married couple, likely a scholar and his wife in life. Now they held hands, yet wandered mechanically through the street in an eerie posture.

"Three... that should be enough."

A sharp glint flashed through Yan Kui's eyes.

He suddenly sprang from the ruins like a ghost beneath the night.

His target was the butcher-shop owner Walking Corpse at the edge of the group.

"Roar!"

Sensing the aura of a living person, the Walking Corpse abruptly turned its head and let out a roar. It swung its infected, swollen arm and clumsily smashed it toward Yan Kui.

Yan Kui neither dodged nor retreated. Relying on the defense of his Iron Cloth Shirt at Mastery, he forcibly took the blow head-on.

A muffled bang rang out.

The Walking Corpse was indeed powerful enough to smash an Ordinary Person into a pulp. But when the blow landed on Yan Kui, it only made him sway slightly, a faint tremor rippling through his chest.

[Iron Cloth Shirt (Mastery) triggered rebound force. Walking Corpse suffered impact damage.]

A cold smile curled across Yan Kui's lips.

His "Black Iron Body" was no decoration.

He seized the Walking Corpse's thick arm with his backhand, twisted his waist, and wrenched hard!

"Crack!"

The sound of bones breaking was crystal clear.

He had actually torn the Walking Corpse's arm clean off!

"Roar!"

The Walking Corpse howled even more miserably in pain, but it knew no fear. Its other hand continued swinging at him.

Yan Kui sidestepped the foul-smelling claws and drove a fist into the Walking Corpse's chest.

"Die!"

This punch carried the terrifying force of 3.2, along with the explosive power of the Raging Bull Fist at Mastery. Even the air was compressed into a thunderous boom.

It was like a sledgehammer smashing a watermelon.

The Walking Corpse's chest instantly caved in. Its breastbone shattered into fragments, and its organs burst under the pressure. Stinking black-red clots of blood sprayed wildly from its mouth, eyes, ears, nose, and every opening in its face.

[Walking Corpse killed (Mortal Grade Mutation). Life Essence plundered.]

[Origin Power: +0.3]

Though Walking Corpses possessed greater strength, their souls were incomplete, so they provided less Origin Power than Wandering Souls. Still, they made up for it with numbers, and their tangible bodies made them more convenient to kill.

Having dealt with the first Walking Corpse, Yan Kui did not linger. The other two had already reacted and were slowly closing in on him.

He tapped the ground with his foot, his body flashing like lightning as he instantly pulled away and avoided being surrounded by the two Walking Corpses.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

The Walking Corpses released hollow roars and followed Yan Kui's scent in pursuit.

Yan Kui's tactics were simple—divide their encirclement and crush them one by one.

Using street corners and ruined buildings for cover, he separated the two Walking Corpses. Then, repeating the same trick, he found the right moment and struck with the force of thunder, killing them one by one with a single punch each.

[Walking Corpse killed (Mortal Grade Mutation). Life Essence plundered. Origin Power +0.3]

[Walking Corpse killed (Mortal Grade Mutation). Life Essence plundered. Origin Power +0.3]

Yan Kui panted heavily, feeling the surging Blood Qi within him and the Origin Power constantly ticking upward on the panel.

Origin Power: 1.9

"1.9 points of Origin Power..."

A sharp gleam flickered in Yan Kui's eyes.

He opened his attribute panel again.

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Martial Arts:

Raging Bull Fist: Mastery

Iron Cloth Shirt (Incomplete): Mastery (Traits: Black Iron Body, Level 1 Rebound Force, Weak Magic Resistance)

Body Nourishing Technique: Mastery (Traits: Everlasting Vitality, Long-Lasting Inner Breath)

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His Iron Cloth Shirt had already reached Mastery and could no longer be improved. Yet a red "+" sign had lit up beside it.

This meant he could "break the limit"!

"Break the limit?"

Yan Kui's heart stirred.

He had suspected it before. Once a system Cultivation Technique reached Mastery, fusion was not the only path—another path was to break the limit.

"How much Origin Power will it consume?"

Yan Kui silently asked in his heart.

[Break the Limit: Iron Cloth Shirt Mastery (Black Iron Body). Requires 5.0 Origin Power.]

"5.0!"

Yan Kui sucked in a cold breath.

That was no small number. He only had 1.9 Origin Power right now, nowhere near enough.

"Looks like I'll have to keep hunting."

Yan Kui was not discouraged. On the contrary, his fighting spirit surged.

To him, this chaotic Black Water City had already become an enormous farming ground for points.

He continued wandering through the city.

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The deeper he went, the more Walking Corpses he encountered, and the stranger their varieties became.

He came across packs of dogs corrupted by the Corpse Fiend. Their eyes were blood-red and they moved with astonishing speed, but they still could not withstand a single punch from Yan Kui.

He also encountered yamen runners possessed by the Corpse Fiend. These yamen runners possessed immense strength, but they could not use the martial arts techniques they had known in life and could only attack on instinct.

Yan Kui was like a god of slaughter, weaving through the darkness.

His Iron Cloth Shirt at Minor Mastery allowed him to ignore most attacks. The power of his Raging Bull Fist at Mastery made every punch claim a victim, with terrifying efficiency.

Every Walking Corpse he killed brought him between 0.2 and 0.5 Origin Power.

Under his deliberate purge, the number of Walking Corpses on the outskirts of the southern city sharply dwindled.

Origin Power: 4.8

When he counted his Origin Power again, he found that he had accumulated 4.8 points.

"Just a little more."

Yan Kui turned his gaze toward the north of the city, in the direction of the Zhao Family Shelter.

All the survivors had gone there.

That place would inevitably see the most frequent assaults by Walking Corpses—and contain the greatest number of them.

"Then I'll go to the north gate."

Yan Kui did not hesitate in the slightest.

He needed the final 0.2 Origin Power to complete the breakthrough of his Iron Cloth Shirt.

When he arrived near the north gate, he found that it was indeed a battlefield.

Though the city gate was tightly shut, the surrounding houses had already been battered full of holes by the Walking Corpses.

Groups upon groups of Walking Corpses wandered near the gate. They seemed to sense the presence of living people within the city, charging the walls one after another and releasing hair-raising roars.

On the walls, the shadowy figures of several Zhao Family Guards could be seen. Armed with bows, arrows, and talismans, they occasionally managed to shoot down a few Walking Corpses.

But there were simply too many Walking Corpses, packed together as densely as a tide.

Yan Kui did not approach the city wall. Instead, he chose a narrow alley to the right of the gate.

It was relatively secluded, but quite a few Walking Corpses still wandered there.

Like a sharp blade, he plunged into the sea of Walking Corpses.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Every punch sent a Walking Corpse flying.

Every movement allowed him to evade the encirclement of several Walking Corpses.

Origin Power: 5.0

Finally!

After he killed another Walking Corpse, the system notification sounded.

"Enough!"

Yan Kui quickly withdrew from the battlefield, found an abandoned and empty loft, and hid inside.

His entire body was smeared with black blood and scraps of flesh, reeking horribly. Yet his eyes shone with astonishing brightness.

"System, break the limit! Iron Cloth Shirt!"

[5.0 Origin Power consumed. Iron Cloth Shirt Mastery (Black Iron Body) begins breaking the limit.]

This infusion of energy was different from every previous one.

The power was no longer a mere enhancement. It was an ascension that penetrated deep into his bones and altered the essence of his life.

Yan Kui felt as though his body had become a giant furnace, infinitely amplifying the Black Iron Body trait of the Iron Cloth Shirt.

Dense cracks began appearing across his skin, and a dark-red glow shone from every fissure.

It was the agony of being torn apart and reborn.

"Roar!"

He could not help releasing a deep roar as his body trembled uncontrollably.

The bones within him were restructuring, his muscles condensing. Even his blood seemed to grow thicker, exuding an ancient and weighty aura.

When everything finally settled.

Yan Kui slowly opened his eyes. Deep within them, two clusters of dark-red flames seemed to dance.

He removed his tattered clothes and looked down at his body.

His skin was no longer a dull bronze. It had become black as ink, like polished obsidian, giving off a cold metallic sheen.

He tapped it with a finger.

It actually produced the crisp ring of metal striking iron.

"So this is... breaking the limit?"

Yan Kui was shaken to the core.

[Iron Cloth Shirt (Incomplete): Mastery (Limit Broken)]

[Trait: Mysterious Iron Body (Defense greatly increased. Physical damage reduced by 80%. Yin Energy corrosion reduced by 50%)]

[Trait: Level 2 Rebound Force (Reflects 30% of received attacks back at the enemy)]

[Trait: Qi and Blood Projection (Can condense Blood Qi over the body's surface to form Body Protection Qi. Consumes Origin Power)]

Three major traits!

Yan Kui felt the surging power in his body, as well as the indestructible Mysterious Iron Body covering his surface.

Now, he could truly become impervious to blades and spears, immune to water and fire—at least on the physical level!

His strength and constitution transformed once more:

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Physical Data:

Strength: 3.2 -> 4.0

Agility: 1.7 -> 2.0

Constitution: 4.5 -> 6.0

───────────

Strength 4.0, Constitution 6.0!

This had already surpassed the limits of Mortal Martial Arts, reaching an unimaginable level.

Even if he stood still and allowed the Walking Corpses to swarm him, they would be unable to harm him in the slightest.

"Corpse Fiend... peak Viscera Refining Realm."

Through the window, Yan Kui looked toward the Zhao Family Mansion at the center of Black Water City.

That was the area where the Corpse Fiend was currently trapped.

"Perhaps... it's time to go and meet it."

Confidence gleamed in Yan Kui's eyes.

With the Mysterious Iron Body, he no longer feared attacks from the Viscera Refining Realm. Though the Corpse Fiend's true body might be stronger, he at least now had the qualifications to contend with it.

"It's time to go to the Zhao Family Shelter."

He needed to observe the Corpse Fiend up close and seek an opportunity. He also needed to gather more intelligence from the Zhao Family.

He had a premonition.

The Zhao Family might well have been the true force behind Black Water City's disaster.