Physical Augmentation

"Bang!"

Chang Ping hit the ground hard, the back of his head making intimate contact with it.

Luckily, the ground was soft and damp. Otherwise, he would definitely have gotten a concussion.

"Am I not dead?" Chang Ping first lay on his side, then propped himself up with an arm and sat up.

He touched his left chest. The bloody hole was gone, and the wound had healed completely, without leaving a trace.

Dried bloodstains remained around him, proving he hadn't just been dreaming. That poisonous woman really had dug out his heart.

He guessed the only reason he was unharmed was that mysterious voice from earlier.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but he couldn't feel his heart beating.

As he was thinking about it, a data panel suddenly appeared before him, just like in a video game.

Name: Chang Ping

Sex: Male

Hobby: Women

Talent: Physical Augmentation (automatically gains one pound of strength per minute)

Strength: 69 (Warrior Apprentice)

Soul Force: 13 (Spirit Master Apprentice)

"This must be my transmigrator perk—the system, right?" Chang Ping stroked his chin. "But what's this 'hobby: women' supposed to mean? Do you think I'm the kind of guy who'll take anyone?"

He wasn't attracted to just any woman. He only liked beautiful women.

As he grumbled to himself, the number on the panel suddenly changed. His strength went from 69 to 70.

"Holy crap!" Chang Ping exclaimed. "I really do gain a pound of strength every minute? That's ridiculously straightforward!"

One minute meant one pound of strength, one hour meant sixty pounds, and one day meant 1,440 pounds.

In the Glory City, Warriors and Spirit Masters had five ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold, and Legend. Each rank had five stars.

Once his strength reached one hundred, he'd be a Bronze Star One Warrior; at two hundred, a Bronze Star Two Warrior; ... at one thousand, a Silver Star One Warrior; ... at ten thousand, a Gold Star One Warrior; ...

"So you ate my heart, huh?" Chang Ping clenched his fist, hard enough to kill a bull, and gritted his teeth. "You'll cough up what you took from me—with interest!"

If he didn't make Shen Xiu, that bitch, call him "Daddy," then he wouldn't be a Chang!

The problem now was how to get out of this pitch-black place.

Chang Ping strained his eyes until they nearly bulged, but he still couldn't see a thing. It was as if he were blind.

"If only I had a torch..." Chang Ping lay flat on the ground, dejected.

He couldn't see anything, so it was better not to act rashly. It'd be bad if he triggered some sort of mechanism or trap.

[Beep! Exchange Shop unlocked. Think of it to call up the shop. Please explore its functions yourself, Host.]

???

"Exchange Shop?" Chang Ping froze. "Can I get a torch from it?"

At a thought, a panel silently appeared. It looked exactly like the data panel.

The shop interface displayed all kinds of goods: weapons, armor, pills, inscription scrolls, and more. Most of them were Bronze-ranked items, usable only by Bronze Star One Warriors and Spirit Masters.

They could be exchanged for strength.

"Holy crap! It works like that?" Chang Ping was thrilled. He'd thought he'd need money to buy things.

The Sacred Family provided food and lodging, and there was nowhere to spend money, so he'd hidden his wages in a crack in the dormitory wall instead of carrying them around.

Luckily, all he needed to exchange for goods was strength.

A torch cost just one pound of strength. It was dirt cheap.

He tapped the exchange button. His strength decreased, and a torch appeared in his hand.

The torch lit on its own, and the darkness retreated like lightning.

At last, Chang Ping could see his surroundings.

He hadn't known what to expect, but the sight shocked him.

Broken bones were scattered all around, stark white and horrifying.

Chang Ping brought the torch closer and narrowed his eyes to examine them.

He realized they were all human bones.

He had no idea what had broken them.

As he wondered about it, the sound of splashing water suddenly came from nearby.

He turned toward the noise and saw a huge, indistinct shadow slowly approaching.

"What the hell is that?"

Chang Ping turned deathly pale with fright, hurried to his feet, and backed away.

After just two steps, his back hit a wall.

He turned around and saw that there was nowhere else to go.

"I can only go sideways!" Chang Ping pressed himself against the wall and hurried left, because men went left and women went right.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind him, unhurried. The monster didn't seem ready to give up.

The path to the left soon came to an end. A bottomless Cold Pond lay ahead.

Pairs of eerie green eyes opened in the dark water. Chang Ping sucked in a sharp breath.

"Damn! Have I stumbled into a monster's lair?"

Unable to go forward, Chang Ping had no choice but to turn back.

Naturally, he ran into the monster behind him.

It was a black turtle, half as tall as a person, with a massive shell covered in bone spikes. It flicked a crimson forked tongue and drooled thick black saliva as it stared greedily at Chang Ping.

"What the hell is that? I've never seen it in any novel!"

As Chang Ping wondered, the system spoke again.

[Black Water Mysterious Turtle, Silver-ranked demon beast. Violent by nature and fond of human flesh.]

[Strengths: Extremely high defense, extremely fast underwater, and powerful bite.]

[Weaknesses: Extremely slow on land and afraid of fire.]

"...Afraid of fire?" Chang Ping raised his eyebrows.

He held up the torch and cautiously edged toward the Black Water Mysterious Turtle.

Sure enough, the moment the torch approached, the cowardly turtle retreated in terror.

Chang Ping stepped forward, and it stepped back.

"Go home and drink your mother's milk, you coward!"

Chang Ping drove the Black Water Mysterious Turtle back into the Cold Pond, then swaggered along the bank with his torch held high.

As soon as he left, the Black Water Mysterious Turtle crawled out of the water and slowly followed him.

With no other choice, Chang Ping held up the torch and drove the cowardly turtle back into the water again.

After repeating the process several times, Chang Ping finally lost patience.

He exchanged for eleven more torches and stuck them into the soft, damp ground, forming a large circle to protect himself.

He'd thought the Black Water Mysterious Turtle would give up, but instead, it lay down not far outside the circle, glaring at Chang Ping.

"Keep staring, will you? What are you looking at? Keep it up and I'll gouge your eyes out!" Chang Ping cursed furiously. "Still not leaving? Fine, just you wait. I'll cut off your head and make soup out of it!"

He wasn't joking. He meant it.

The Exchange Shop had everything except food, so he'd have to find something to eat himself.

As his strength increased, so did his appetite, and his hunger grew more intense.

It was no exaggeration to say he could now kill a bull with one punch and eat an entire bull in one meal.

Minute by minute, Chang Ping's strength rapidly increased.

Suddenly, the Black Water Mysterious Turtle stood up.

It had spotted Chang Ping walking out of the safe zone while wiping drool from his mouth.