Desperate Struggle

The giant hooves of the pig demon wrapped in a foul wind, lunging straight for his chest. Those hooves were stained with Hou San's fresh blood, bits of crushed meat and filth wedged beneath the nails, growing larger and larger within Wang Quan's rapidly dilating pupils as the breath of death nearly condensed into substance. He felt as though he could already smell the thick stench of blood on those hooves and the rotting foulness spewing from the pig demon's maw, imagining the horrifying scene in the next instant where his skull would be crushed open by that filthy swine snout, his bones clicking between fangs and swallowed down mixed with viscous saliva.

No! Was he going to die the moment he transmigrated here? Fuck!

A burst of rage mixed with extreme terror, unwillingness, and ferocity erupted violently from the deepest part of his heart like magma! His whole body shook violently from extreme fright and chill, his muscles too stiff to obey, but his consciousness roared frantically: Move! Pick up the saber! Even if I die, I'll bite a chunk of flesh off this beast!

Right at the moment when that foul-smelling hoof was about to touch his chest, a scalding drop of the pig demon's saliva, carrying strong corrosive properties, dripped with a splat onto his cheek.

"Sizz--!"

The agonizing pain of burning flesh was like a red-hot branding iron fiercely pressed down! This sharpest of pains, like a glowing steel needle, fiercely pierced through the nerves frozen by his terror!

"Ah!" A sound unlike a human roar tore from Wang Quan's throat, and under the stimulation of this excruciating pain, his previously rigid body violently trembled, reclaiming a shred of control!

Right now!

His eyes were crimson, the last trace of terror and hesitation deep within his pupils replaced by a madness-approaching ruthlessness. His left hand instinctively plunged into his sleeve, grabbed that warm pill, shoved it into his mouth without looking, and swallowed it whole! Almost simultaneously, his right hand lashed out fiercely to the side, gripping the hilt of the standard long saber that had slipped from his hand and fallen to the ground due to terror!

The exploding pill entered his stomach, melting instantly. A violent, scorching current exploded in his stomach like a lit powder keg, rampaging into his four limbs and hundred skeletons! His meridians felt the excruciating pain of being forcibly widened and nearly torn apart, his muscles involuntarily bulging and tensed, his bones emitting a slight, unbearable crackle, and a sense of power far exceeding the mortal realm swept over his entire body alongside a brutal killing intent that burned away reason.

All of this happened too fast, from swallowing the pill to grabbing the saber, taking merely a flash of lightning and flint.

The pig demon clearly had not expected that this human who had just collapsed in terror, acting like a lamb waiting for slaughter, would dare resist and suddenly move with such speed! A flash of astonishment crossed its huge swine eyes, and the front hoof lunging toward Wang Quan's chest instinctively slowed by half a beat.

Just that half a beat!

"Slash!"

A low, inhuman roar rolled from Wang Quan's throat, his body driven naturally by that violent medicinal power as he twisted, stepped, and swung his arm! The plain, unremarkable long saber in his hand swept an arc of desolate and resolute sharpness, carrying all his terror, anger, unwillingness, and the barbarous strength far exceeding his own realm birthed by the exploding pill, slashing diagonally upward in an unspooling arc!

This strike was so fast it exceeded his usual limits! The blade sliced the air, emitting a sharp, short hiss. The silvery blade vaguely reflected his expressionless face in the dim depression, save for his eyes burning with frantic flames.

Unawares, a thin, intensely vibrant streak of blood quietly emerged on the blade edge, extending rapidly along the curve of the blade and finally gathering at the tip into a single, round, heavy drop of blood.

The blood droplet rolled off.

Falling alongside the blood droplet was a front limb of the pig demon, covered in dense black bristles, thick-muscled, and thicker than Wang Quan's thigh!

Squish--!

The cut was smooth, and until the arm hit the ground, boiling pig blood spewed wildly like a long-suppressed fountain from the bowl-sized wound on the pig demon's shoulder, splashing Wang Quan from head to toe!

"Awoooo!!!"

The next instant, a heart-rending, soul-piercing scream nearly punctured Wang Quan's eardrums! The pig demon's massive body staggered backward, its single arm flailing wildly, while its remaining hoof clamped tightly over the spurting, severed shoulder. A pair of crimson swine eyes widened in round terror from the excruciating pain and disbelief, filled with violent fury and a trace of... unexpected panic.

"You dare slash me?! You dare resist?! Mere blood food, despicable two-legged sheep! I'll tear you apart! Chew every bone of yours to pieces! I'll slaughter my way into the city and kill all you filthy things!" The pig demon was maddened by pain and fury, its reason thoroughly swallowed by agonizing pain and violent rage. Its remaining single eye instantly flooded with frenzied blood-red, and the violent monster qi burst out without reservation, blowing away the surrounding rubble and dust!

It fiercely raised its surviving front hoof, no longer grabbing, but instead acting like a giant siege ram wrapped in a foul wind and terrifying immense strength, ruthlessly kicking toward the chest of Wang Quan, who had just delivered a strike and still seemed somewhat dazed!

Bang!!!

With a dull thud, Wang Quan had no time to make any effective dodge, his entire body struck head-on as if by a galloping wild bull, sent flying backward off the ground and smashing fiercely into the soft field ridges several feet away, kicking up a large spray of muddy water!

"Puff!" Wang Quan opened his mouth and spewed a large mouthful of fresh blood, feeling as though his internal organs had shifted, his chest aching terribly, at least a few ribs broken, and every bone in his body feeling as though it were about to fall apart. The power brought by the exploding pill was rapidly receding, his meridians burning with a stinging pain, and an intense wave of weakness began to spread.

Yet he was not dead! In this narrow gap between life and death, an indescribable grief, indignation, and ferocity rushed like volcanic magma to break through the defense line he had kept tightly strung. The panic and helplessness after transmigration, the humiliation and lowliness of being a blood tax, the cruel bloodshed witnessed over days, and the despair of being driven into a desperate corner where even lingering on as a half-alive creature was a pipe dream... all these emotions burst forth at this moment!

"I just wanted to live... I just wanted to survive! What did I do wrong?!" Wang Quan let out a silent roar that finally tore from his throat into a heart-shattering howl, echoing under the bloody night sky. "Why?! Why do you monsters and demons, and those high-and-mighty bigwigs, get to casually decide our lives and deaths? Why must we be treated like pigs and dogs, taken as a blood tax to be swallowed alive by you?!"

His eyes were crimson, covered in bloodshot veins, his face—previously pale from heavy injury and terror—now flushed red from extreme anger, veins bulging on his temples. A novel, near-crazed courage, mixed with the residual medicinal power of the exploding pill and the instinct to survive, burned fiercely within his body!

"This godforsaken world! This man-eating world! Must you force me... must you force me to become a beast just like you?!" he roared, his voice trembling from emotion and injury. "Fine! Very well! Since you won't let me live, then no one gets off easy! If you want my life, you'll shed three layers of skin first!!"

"Fuck your mother..." Wang Quan spat out the blood foam in his mouth, his voice hoarse yet carrying a desperate, near-feral smile. "Isn't it just fighting for our lives... Come on! Whoever flinches dies!"

He gave a low roar, hesitating no longer. Dragging his pain-wracked body, he gripped the hilt with both hands and charged at the pig demon once more! This time, his mind held no stray thoughts; there remained only those crude yet thoroughly tempered stances of the Wind Slaying Saber Technique! Chop, slash, sweep, parry... The most basic moves were unleashed now with a desperate posture, throwing aside all form for the sole purpose of striking the enemy fastest and most viciously!

The pig demon's single arm flailed, its strength still terrifying, but the blood loss from the severed arm and the agonizing pain clearly impaired its agility and balance. It roared angrily, its hooves striking wildly and smashing shallow craters into the ground, yet it temporarily failed to fully capture Wang Quan, who acted like a maddened tiger attacking without defense.

Blade edge and hooves, wolf-teeth clubs clashing, sent sparks flying. New wounds continually piled up on Wang Quan, but he seemed impervious to pain, biting his teeth down hard as he poured every ounce of strength, every shred of hatred, and all his longing for survival into every single slash!

"Die! Die! Fucking die!!" The pig demon grew frantic, fierce light bursting from its single eye. Seizing an opportunity when Wang Quan stumbled, its massive body lunged forward abruptly, its surviving hooves opening to crush Wang Quan's head into pulp!

Right at this critical juncture!

"Hah!" An intensely suppressed low roar erupted from the pig demon's flank and rear! Wei Dayong, who had been dragging himself along with difficulty and looked ready to collapse at any moment, had somehow crept close and now burst forth fiercely! He did not attack the pig demon's vital heart area—which was protected by thick bristles and fat—but instead transformed all his remaining strength, along with his standard long saber, into a resolute stream of light, fiercely piercing the severed shoulder wound of the pig demon where Wang Quan had lopped it off and blood was still jetting!

Squish!

The blade accurately stabbed through the gap between the severed bones, plunging deep into the area near the pig demon's scapula! There was no thick hide protecting it there, leading straight to the internal organs!

"Aargh—!" The pig demon emitted another earth-shattering scream, its body stiffening abruptly as its lunging movement distorted and slowed!

An opportunity!

A fierce light flashed in Wang Quan's eyes. Almost out of instinct, he lunged forward fiercely, disregarding the pig demon's wildly flailing hooves grazing his shoulder and back to kick up a streak of blood. He hurled his entire body straight into the slightly lowered gap of the pig demon's chest caused by its excruciating pain, using all his strength to shove the heavy upper body of the pig demon backward.

Losing its balance, the pig demon crashed heavily backward onto the ground, splashing a large spray of mud.

Wang Quan seized the momentum to drive a single knee ruthlessly down onto the pig demon's thick neck, his left hand pinning down its wildly thrashing, tusk-stabbing massive swine head while his right hand reversed its grip on the hilt, lifting it high!

The cold moonlight, mixed with the stench of blood permeating the depression, fell upon his blood-stained, ghost-like ferocious face, and upon the vertically descending, cold-glinting blade tip.

In the pig demon's remaining single eye, Wang Quan's expressionless face was finally clearly reflected, along with that rapidly enlarging point of fatal sharpness. For the first time, its eyes revealed unmistakable, animalistic terror in the face of absolute death.

"Die!"

Wang Quan squeezed a short, cold syllable from his throat, driving the long saber in his hand down with his last remaining strength, ferociously plunging it into the pig demon's exposed, bristly throat!

Plop!

The dull and clear sound of the sharp blade cutting through tough hide, severing the thick windpipe, and piercing major blood vessels rang out. Boiling pig blood carrying a pungent, foul reek sprayed out like a high-pressure water gun, drenching Wang Quan from head to toe.

The pig demon's massive body convulsed violently, its four limbs kicking wildly while it made wheezing, air-leaking noises, the fierce light and vigor in its single eye rapidly dimming.

Yet Wang Quan did not stop.

As though possessed, he gripped the hilt with both hands, pulled it out, and stabbed it down fiercely again! Pulled it out again, and stabbed again! One slash after another! Toward the pig demon's neck, skull, chest, and belly... stabbing and hacking wildly! Until that massive body stopped moving altogether, until that patch of ground was practically chopped into mud, until his arms grew so sore he could no longer lift them, and until that fierce aura and medicinal power supporting him retreated like a receding tide, leaving boundless weakness and pain to sweep over him like a tsunami...

"Enough! Wang Quan! Enough!"

Wei Dayong's hoarse, weak voice sounded beside his ear, and a blood-stained, slightly trembling hand pressed down on his wrist as he tried to raise his arm for yet another blow.

Wang Quan paused, slowly raising his head. His face, head, and body were entirely coated in viscous, warm pig blood, reeking to high heaven. He panted heavily, his gaze somewhat hollow yet carrying an odd sort of calm as he looked at Wei Dayong.

"Clean up... dissolve the corpse, leave no trace. I have some bone dissolving water left." Wei Dayong's face was deathly pale, his chest heaving violently, every word seeming to consume immense effort, yet his gaze remained locked on Wang Quan, filled with complex emotions and a trace of something indescribable.

Wang Quan nodded silently, his voice dry: "...Right."

He released his grip on the saber, which was nearly embedded in the minced flesh. He struggled to his feet, his legs weak, almost falling over before Wei Dayong braced him with a shoulder to help him stand firm.

It was strange. This was clearly the first time he had personally killed—no, brutally butchered—such a massive, terrifying demonic beast, witnessed such a bloody scene, and even created it all with his own hands. By all logic, his stomach should be churning, his heart pounding, even vomiting nonstop.

Yet, no.

His body was exceptionally calm. Once the slaughter stopped, his heart rate was recovering at an unimaginable speed. Though his hands were weak, they were terrifyingly steady. Facing the messy surroundings and the piercing smell of blood, he merely felt... ordinary. It was as though he had not just engaged in a life-and-death struggle, but had instead completed something... that should have been done long ago and treated as routine.

Was it the influence of the exploding pill? Or the lingering instinct of this body's original owner? Or perhaps... his own soul deep down had always hidden such traits?

He did not know. And he had no time to ponder it.

The two men exchanged no further words, enduring their injuries and weakness to begin cleaning up the scene. Wei Dayong fished a filthy little leather pouch from his bosom, spilling some pungent, grayish-white powder onto the remaining corpse of the pig demon. The powder hissed the moment it touched flesh and blood, emitting a foul-smelling white smoke as flesh and bone melted at a visible rate, turning into a puddle of yellow water that seeped into the soil.

Wang Quan silently helped as well, gathering Hou San's body, the dead blood tax victim, and the two monster corpses together to dispose of them all at once. He had been too focused on fighting for his own life earlier to notice how Wei Dayong had killed that ox demon.

When the last trace vanished beneath the bone dissolving water, only the messy signs of battle and an inseparable, thick smell of blood remained in the depression. A night wind blew past, carrying the chill of late autumn.

Just then, the cold, emotionless prompt sounded once again in Wang Quan's mind:

[Slain lesser demon, obtained points: 4.]

Points? Wang Quan's mind stirred. Immediately after, alongside [Wind Slaying Saber Technique (Proficient)], a flashing option appeared below: [Available Points: 4]. And beside the skill [Wind Slaying Saber Technique], a plus sign emerged, along with a smaller icon that seemed to read "deduce".

Wang Quan's thoughts spun rapidly. He tried focusing his attention on the plus sign after [Wind Slaying Saber Technique].

[Whether to spend 2 points to elevate the realm of the Wind Slaying Saber Technique?]

The moment the thought settled, a stream of information far clearer and more profound than his previous self-directed hard training flooded into his mind! It was as though countless illusory figures were drilling him in his consciousness over and over with the various changes of the Wind Slaying Saber Technique: chopping, slashing, sweeping, parrying, blocking... From the most basic moves to force-exertion techniques, footwork coordination, and combat contingency... countless experiences, realizations, and even fragmented feelings regarding saber momentum and saber intent were crazily branded into his memory and physical instincts!

In an instant, he felt his comprehension of this foundation saber technique reach a brand-new height. The previous obstruction and unfamiliarity were swept away, replaced by a thorough mastery and an effortless fluidity akin to a thousand hammer blows. The saber in his hand seemed lighter and more obedient as well.

[Wind Slaying Saber Technique improved! Elevated from Proficient to Great Accomplishment, final current realm: Perfection!]
[Remaining points: 2]

Perfection! Jumping straight from uninitiated to perfection! Wang Quan felt a jolt in his heart, suppressing the urge to immediately swing his saber and test it out. He looked toward the icon labeled "deduce" and focused his attention on it.

[Detected foundation skill Wind Slaying Saber Technique has reached the realm of Perfection, satisfying preliminary deduction prerequisites. Whether to spend 1 point to attempt deducing the next possible directional stage? (Note: Deduction results are uncertain, affected by foundation, comprehension, destiny, and available points. Deduction directions may include but are not limited to: finer saber moves, special force-exertion techniques, or failure.)]

Deduction? Using points to deduce something further from this most basic saber technique? Could it be moves, or even...?

Yet looking at his remaining 2 points, he calmed down. A single deduction cost 1 point, and the result was uncertain—it could fail. Right now, his Wind Slaying Saber Technique was at perfection, temporarily sufficient. His top priority was to survive, gather more information, and find a more stable channel for acquiring points and cultivation techniques.

"Looks like... I'll have to find a way to kill a few more monsters." Wang Quan wiped the blood grime from his face, his gaze deep in the night. Not for justice, but merely to survive, to grow stronger, and to avoid being treated as a blood tax in this godforsaken world where humans and monsters mingled.

He glanced at Wei Dayong, who was finishing up the last traces with an increasingly frail aura, and then looked at the puddle of yellow water on the ground belonging to Hou San, which had already melted away mostly.

"Let's go, this place is not staying material," Wei Dayong rasped, his injuries severe as he relied on a single breath to prop himself up.

The two supported each other, picking up the still-usable weapons and casting one last look toward the distant dark wilderness, where four terrified blood tax prisoners still lay paralyzed, having pissed and shat themselves.