Dangerous Situation, Walking Corpses

Life Energy Points: 20

Mental Energy Points: 0

With Life Energy Points, four sections on the Status Panel instantly lit up: Realm, Stamina, HP, and Skills.

Tian Xing examined them one by one and quickly understood the use of Life Energy Points.

Tian Xing's current realm had reached Advanced Rookie (29/30). He only needed 1 Life Energy Point to raise it to Peak Rookie.

If (29/30) was treated as experience, then 1 Life Energy Point equaled 1 experience point.

Besides that, Life Energy Points could replenish Stamina and HP at the following rates: 1 Life Energy Point could restore 10 Stamina.

1 Life Energy Point could restore 1 HP.

The lit-up Skills section meant skills could be upgraded, but only Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship could be upgraded, and it required 10 Life Energy Points.

"I hope raising my realm will fully restore my condition!"

After a brief thought, Tian Xing turned his gaze toward the Realm section on the Status Panel. The moment he focused, a prompt appeared.

Beep. Consume 1 Life Energy Point to raise Realm to Peak Rookie? "Yes!"

Beep. 1 Life Energy Point consumed. Realm upgrade complete.

"Ugh... that feels good!"

In an instant, Tian Xing felt a warm current appear out of nowhere in his heart before coursing through his blood vessels and spreading throughout his body. Everywhere it passed, the pain vanished. Every pore on his body opened up, and the wonderful sensation made him drowsy, like he had soaked in a hot spring for ages.

"What an amazing feeling!"

Coming back to his senses, Tian Xing raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and hurriedly opened the Status Panel to check.

Name: Parr (Tian Xing)
Gender: Baron Race: Human Race
Age: 10 (20)
Realm: Peak Rookie (0/50)
Stamina: 50/50 Mental Power: 10/10 HP: 100/100 Talent:
Prompt Wake-Up LV1 Skills: Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique LV5 Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship LV3 Life Energy Points: 19 Mental Energy Points: 0

"Great!"

Just as Tian Xing had guessed, his condition had fully recovered along with his upgrade. He no longer felt like he might die at any moment. Moreover, his entire body was brimming with strength, as though he could kill a cow with one punch.

"Upgrading feels so good!"

Slowly sitting up without drawing anyone's attention, Tian Xing continued checking the Status Panel. At this point, only one section remained lit: the Skills section.

"I don't have enough Life Energy Points left to keep raising my realm, and my condition is already full, so there's no need to replenish it. In a situation like this, I need to improve my strength."

Beep. Consume 10 Life Energy Points to upgrade Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship LV3 to Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship LV4?

"Yes!"

Beep. 10 Life Energy Points consumed. Skill upgrade complete.

Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship LV4 (The most basic Sword Drawing Technique of the Wind Wolf Kingdom. It consists of three forms: Upward Flick, Slanting Slash, and Horizontal Slash. Cost per use: 4 Stamina.)

"Better than nothing. If I'm not mistaken, the more Stamina a skill consumes, the stronger its attack power. I just hope this will be enough to get me through this crisis safely!"

Closing the Status Panel, Tian Xing recalled the information he had obtained from Parr's memories, and his expression darkened. Their situation was terrible—extremely terrible. The outside was full of Walking Corpses.

Today had originally been a day of celebration. A bright moon hung high in the sky, bonfires blazed on the ground, and the people of Haystack Village sang and danced around the flames. The songs passed down through generations told of a magnificent epic.

Thunder and fire descended from the heavens, the earth split apart, rivers dried up, and plants withered.

The empire was unjust, and heaven and people alike raged in fury. The elements fell out of balance, and holy knights saved the world.

With swords in hand, they raised the banner of justice.

The Heavy Earth Giant Bear rebuilt the foundations of the land.

The Blazing Fire Ash Lion burned away the power of corruption.

The Lightning Chasing Swift Hawk spread wings that covered the sky.

The Swift Shadow Wind Wolf brought the winds of freedom.

The Radiant Holy Dragon dispelled the darkness that shrouded the world.

Thus, the continent was reborn, and all calamities were eradicated.

"Calamities eradicated!"

"Calamities eradicated!"

"..."

At the end, the people of Haystack Village shouted together at the tops of their lungs, their faces flushed red. It was said that the louder they shouted, the smoother the coming year would be.

"Ah!"

But just then, a scream suddenly rang out, drowning out everyone's shouts and startling them all. They turned toward the source of the scream.

"Ah! Save me..."

An old man sitting at the western edge of the clearing, too exhausted to sing and dance any longer, had somehow been pinned beneath a Black-Robed Man. His screams reached everyone's ears, but after only two cries, he fell silent. No one had time to save him.

"Roar..."

At that moment, the Black-Robed Man raised his head and looked at the people of Haystack Village.

"Ah!"

Panicked cries rose one after another. In the firelight, the Black-Robed Man's pale face was covered in blood. A large, bloody chunk of flesh hung from his mouth as he chewed and swallowed, while the old man beneath him was missing a huge piece of flesh from his chest. The sight was unbearable.

"Walking Corpse!"

Old Man Jack, who had once been a soldier and fought on the battlefield, widened his eyes. He recognized the Black-Robed Man's identity: a Walking Corpse, a Walking Corpse that fed on human flesh and blood. But how could there be a Walking Corpse in Haystack Village? Could it be... cultists?

The worst possibility surfaced in his mind, and Old Man Jack hurriedly shouted, "That's a Walking Corpse! Our only chance is to flee into the granary and hold out until dawn!"

One Walking Corpse alone would not have made Old Man Jack so panicked. What he feared were the cultists behind the Walking Corpses.

Sure enough, before the stunned villagers could follow Old Man Jack toward the granary, Black-Robed Men appeared from other directions around the clearing. With low growls, they charged into the crowd, and then... the slaughter began.

Amid the chaos, the villagers of Haystack Village suffered heavy casualties. Still, the experienced Old Man Jack led the surviving villagers through the encirclement and into the granary. During this process, Old Man Jack's adopted son Parr was accidentally knocked into by a Walking Corpse, allowing Tian Xing, who had transmigrated here, to take over his body.

"How was that an accident? Parr, that reckless little brat, clearly wanted to challenge a Walking Corpse. He couldn't even take one move before he was finished!"

A bitter smile appeared on Tian Xing's face as he recalled Parr's memories. Looking at his tiny hands, the bitterness on his face deepened.

"I've taken over Parr's body. Although my realm is high, my height is a serious weakness. If a fight breaks out later, I need to be careful. Old Man Jack said Walking Corpses have no weak points. Only destroying their heads will work, and I can't let one grab me, or I'll turn into a Walking Corpse too. Come to think of it... why do those traits sound so familiar?"

Smack! "Aren't these just zombies? Fantasy-version zombies?"

Tian Xing slapped his palm as the image of a limping zombie appeared in his mind. Then he shook his head. The Walking Corpses here could run and jump; they were far more dangerous than zombies.

"Roar..."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...

Suddenly, the impacts against the heavy wooden door became much more violent, their frequency rising by an entire level.

"Village chief, the wooden door won't hold!"

"Get over there! Hurry and reinforce it!"

Old Man Jack, the village chief of Haystack Village, hurriedly led people over to brace the door. Only then did they manage to hold the teetering heavy wooden door in place.

"We can't keep this up."

Old Man Jack, who was bracing the door, closed his eyes. His ears twitched as he carefully judged the number of Walking Corpses outside, and his heart sank. He knew that if this continued, they would soon be exhausted. Once the Walking Corpses broke in, they would not even have the strength to resist. They might as well take advantage of everyone still having strength, let some Walking Corpses in, surround and kill them, and slowly reduce their numbers.

"Only..."

Old Man Jack glanced back. All the remaining able-bodied adults in the village were here holding the door with him. The rest were old, weak, sick, or injured, huddled together and trembling. Who would dare come forward to kill the Walking Corpses they let in? "This..."

After considering it, Old Man Jack looked at the captain of the Haystack Village Hunting Team, who was bracing the door beside him: Achilles, a tall, powerful bald man.

"Achilles, in a moment, do this..."

"Mm."

Old Man Jack explained his plan to Achilles, who nodded without hesitation. He slowly released his grip and stepped back. With one less main force, holding the door became even harder for Old Man Jack and the others.

"Roar..."

A crack gradually opened in the granary's heavy wooden door. By the firelight, the people inside could see villagers who had been singing and dancing with them moments ago, their faces twisted with savagery as they tried to rush in and devour them.

"Hey!"

The retreating Achilles grabbed the large axe lying nearby and hacked down repeatedly. In an instant, the Walking Corpses at the front had their heads split open and bloodied, losing their ability to move.

"Again!"

Achilles took a moment to recover his strength and was about to continue, but then, with a bang, something seemed to slam into the rear of the crowd of Walking Corpses pressing against the door. The gap in the granary door instantly widened, and under the chain reaction, Old Man Jack and the others were nearly unable to hold on. Achilles hurriedly threw away his axe and rushed forward to brace the slowly opening door.

"It won't close!"

Old Man Jack, Achilles, and the others tried to force the wooden door shut, but the Walking Corpse Achilles had just killed was like a stone lodged in the doorway, preventing it from closing at all.

"Roar..."

Bang! Bang! Bang...

The Walking Corpses continued ramming the door. The opening was now less than half a person wide. The Walking Corpses could not get in for the moment, but Old Man Jack and the others could not close it either. Both sides remained deadlocked.

"Is heaven determined to destroy Haystack Village?"

Old Man Jack roared in despair. They could not let go, because that would mean everyone died faster. But what could they do now?

Tian Xing, who had remained silent the whole time, stood up. "I'll kill the Walking Corpses!"