Extreme Breaking: Demon Slaying Blade

Wang Quan walked along the desolate path outside the city, his brow furrowed. Tonight was unusually quiet. The low-level Corpse Tribe that usually roamed the area were few and far between, as if deliberately swept away by some power. He casually killed a few foolish Walking Corpses, only receiving sparse notifications of skill increases in his mind, totaling no more than 10 points. This abnormal calm, however, carried a suffocating sense of impending doom.

"Found you, test subject."

A cold, emotionless voice suddenly rang out in Wang Quan's ear, like a viper's hiss.

Wang Quan stopped in his tracks and slowly looked up. Three figures had silently appeared before him, all clad in tight black clothing, their faces shrouded in shadow. Only their eyes, devoid of any fluctuation, glinted with an eerie light in the darkness, fixed upon him.

A mocking curve touched Wang Quan's lips, but his eyes were as sharp as a blade. "You found me?" He slowly drew the Blood Drinking Saber from his waist. The blade gleamed a dark red under the faint moonlight. "Or perhaps... I found you?"

"Hm?" The three figures in black clearly faltered, seemingly taken aback by their prey's reaction.

In the instant they were stunned, Wang Quan moved!

His figure blurred like a phantom, and the glint of his saber flashed! There were no complex moves, only a chilling arc too fast for the eye to follow, like the Grim Reaper's scythe, silently slicing across the neck of the leftmost figure.

The look of shock had yet to fade from his face before his head separated from his body, rolling onto the ground. The headless corpse swayed, spraying blood as it fell. The edge of the Blood Drinking Saber remained unstained.

"Damn it! Don't hold back!" The remaining two roared in a mixture of shock and fury. They ripped open their upper garments, revealing their well-built bodies.

The next moment, the grating sound of cracking bones erupted in rapid succession! Their bodies swelled madly as if inflated, muscles bulging and twisting. Their skin quickly became covered in thick, gray-black fur, their limbs contorted into massive wolf-like claws and powerful hind legs with reversed joints. In an instant, they transformed into two terrifying monsters, standing on their hind legs, nearly three meters tall, with complete wolf bodies!

However, the most horrifying aspect was that atop these massive, powerfully wild wolf bodies were not wolf heads, but their original human heads! Those two familiar human faces were now twisted and deformed by pain and rage, their eyes blood-red, mouths split open revealing bone-white teeth, drool dripping, letting out roars that were not entirely human. The bizarre fusion of human and monster bodies exuded a suffocating, violent demonic aura.

"What are you guys? Half-human, half-monster?" Wang Quan raised an eyebrow, his surprise deepening. He advanced, sweeping a fierce roundhouse kick towards the waist of one of the Wolf Demons!

The Wolf Demon didn't dodge. A massive, bristly wolf claw shot out like lightning, precisely grabbing Wang Quan's ankle!

"Roar!" The wolf demon with a human head let out a roar mixed with human cries and beastly howls. Its arm muscles bulged as it gripped Wang Quan's leg and slammed him violently to the ground!

BOOM--!

The ground shook violently, and dust billowed.

As the dust settled, Wang Quan stood up as if unharmed, brushing off the dirt. "Not bad, that's some strength." He twisted his neck. "Too bad, it's not enough."

The two monsters with human heads and wolf bodies roared and lunged! Their claws tore through the air, their attacks ferocious!

However, Wang Quan remained standing in place, unmoving. The Wolf Demons' claws struck him, producing sounds like metal clashing against metal!

"You're no good." Wang Quan shook his head. "Looks like I'm still superior. I was going to ask you something... but seeing your current state, I doubt you can speak coherently. Never mind."

A murderous intent flashed in his eyes as he drew his saber again. But the Wind Slaying Saber Technique, when slashed against the tough bodies of the Wolf Demons, couldn't inflict a fatal wound! My saber technique isn't enough, Wang Quan's mind raced.

He simply abandoned his saber, his arms flexing. His fingers closed together, and as his blood surged, the skin on his hands took on a metallic sheen, his fingers instantly becoming as sharp as swords! He moved like lightning, crashing directly into the embrace of a Wolf Demon. His right hand, like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair, pierced through its chest, harder than refined iron, with a schlick sound, precisely grasping a wildly beating, incredibly hot heart!

"Your hearts beat so fast." A sinister and cold smile spread across Wang Quan's face as he looked at the Wolf Demon's blood-red eyes, filled with terror and disbelief. "Did the General of the Middle Army send you? What kind of scheme is he plotting?"

Saying this, Wang Quan suddenly shook his head. "Forget it, I don't want to hear your nonsense." His fingers tightened abruptly!

"You...!" The heart was crushed by brute force! Scalding Monster Blood splashed onto Wang Quan's hand. Before the Wolf Demon could finish its sentence, the light in its eyes instantly dimmed, and its massive body crashed to the ground.

Seeing this, the other Wolf Demon let out a despairing, frenzied roar and lunged at him without regard for its own safety. Wang Quan didn't look back, thrusting his left hand back like a sword into its chest and crushing the second heart.

The Wolf Demon's massive body froze in place, a gurgling sound escaping its throat. Its blood-red eyes stared fixedly at Wang Quan, as if trying to say something, but ultimately it could only fall powerlessly, its life extinguished.

Wang Quan flicked the blood from his hands, looking at the two rapidly cooling Wolf Demon corpses on the ground. He paused, then smacked his forehead in annoyance. "Tsk, you could have just said you could still maintain your sanity... I thought you'd completely lost your reason. Ah, miscalculation, miscalculation. I should have kept one alive to question."

[Killed Half-Demon Mutant (Mortal Transformation Realm) * 3, Gained Skill Points: 30 points.]
[Current Skill Points Accumulated: 61 points.]

"My saber technique is falling behind, time for a change of pace." Wang Quan's mind moved, communicating with the system in his head. "Deduce the Wind Slaying Saber Technique, make it more ruthless, more ferocious, a path born solely for slaughter!"

[Instruction received. Consuming 10 Skill Points, deducing Wind Slaying Saber Technique... Deducing...]
[Deduction successful! Obtained Mortal Transformation Realm Saber Technique Extreme Break: Demon Slaying Blade!]
[Extreme Break: Demon Slaying Blade: A saber technique that pursues extreme lethality and destruction. Its moves are ruthless and unpredictable, containing various properties such as tearing, armor penetration, and blood devouring. It has additional destructive power against Demon Race and those with strong physiques. Cultivation requires tempering with killing intent; those with unstable minds are prone to self-inflicted backlash.]

"This is it!" A sharp light flashed in Wang Quan's eyes. "Upgrade Extreme Break: Demon Slaying Blade, Entry Level!"

[Consuming 10 Skill Points, Extreme Break: Demon Slaying Blade upgraded to Entry Level!]

"Upgrade to Minor Accomplishment!"

[Consuming 12 Skill Points, Extreme Break: Demon Slaying Blade upgraded to Minor Accomplishment!]

"Upgrade to Major Accomplishment!"

[Consuming 14 Skill Points, Extreme Break: Demon Slaying Blade upgraded to Major Accomplishment!]

Three consecutive upgrades, a torrent of saber technique comprehension and killing intent surged into Wang Quan's mind, as if he had experienced hundreds of bloody battles! His aura became even sharper and more dangerous. With every opening and closing of his eyes, a faint bloody saber glow flashed.

[Skill Points Remaining: 15 points.]

Wang Quan sheathed his saber, his fingertips brushing against the cool hilt. The saber intent of "Extreme Break" lingered in his divine sea. The exhilaration of breaking through shackles flashed and vanished, replaced by a clearer perception of his own limits.

His gaze swept over the rapidly decaying assassin remains on the ground, then turned towards the blurred silhouette of Anping County city in the twilight. Wang Quan's eyes were sharp as blades.

"This is the second time." He muttered to himself, his voice sounding particularly cold and hard in the silent woods. "Li Chongshan's claws are getting tougher each time. The next ones might not be so easy to handle."

He clenched his fists, his knuckles emitting a faint cracking sound. "My strength... is still not enough." He concluded, the last trace of hesitation in his eyes utterly crushed.

He needed nourishment. He needed more, fiercer battles, the watering of Monster Blood and souls, more Skill Points!

With his thoughts clear, he bent down and searched the assassin's remains for their tokens: glossy black ox hair, eerie green snake sheds, translucent spider silk, and flame-patterned beast hide. Four names ignited cold flames in his mind:

"Black Wind Cave, Ten Thousand Snakes Den, Thousand Threads Cave, Burning Heart Ridge..."

This is no death trap, it's clearly the fastest ladder to heaven!

"Li Chongshan..." Wang Quan cast one last glance at the city, shrouded in what seemed like ill omen. He felt as if he could see through its walls, to that hypocritical, or perhaps already twisted, face.

"Whatever you're plotting in there..."

He turned, striding without hesitation towards the territory of the Four Great Demon Races. His pace shifted from a brisk walk to a full sprint, like the shriek of a drawn sword.

"...once I've cut down these lackeys and absorbed enough nourishment to sharpen my blade."

"When I return to Anping..."

His figure melted into the deepening night, leaving only a resolute whisper that scattered with the wind across the wilderness:

"It will be time for us to settle the score, once and for all."