Blood Dragon State

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!

The dull sound of flesh struck by Great Strength and bones shattering exploded in a continuous chain through the humid, sweltering rainforest dungeon!

A Lizardman warrior's eyes gleamed with bloodlust, its sharp claws carrying a piercing screech as they tore through the air.

It viciously aimed for Xu Feng's back, right at his heart!!!

Xu Feng, however, neither dodged nor evaded, not even bothering to adjust his stance, taking the claw strike—enough to rend iron—squarely on his back!

"Thud!"

Amid the muffled impact.

Xu Feng's massive frame merely swayed slightly, his feet rooted like they'd taken hold, not a step back!

Through his shirt, easily shredded into tatters by the claws, it was clearly visible.

That claw strike, enough to leave deep gouges in steel, landed on Xu Feng's bronze back muscles—and didn't even leave a white scratch!

His skin remained smooth as before, only a bit of mud rubbed off.

Meanwhile, his two thick arms each gripped the neck of a struggling Lizardman, their throats emitting guttural "heh-heh" sounds.

Feeling the trivial "itch" at his back, Xu Feng's lips curled into a savage grin, his arm muscles coiling like steel cables, his fingers suddenly tightening!

Crack! Crack!

Two crisp, scalp-tingling sounds of neck bones breaking rang out almost simultaneously.

The ferocity in the Lizardmen's eyes instantly dimmed, their limbs going limp.

"Satisfying—!!!"

Xu Feng threw his head back and let out a hearty roar, casually flinging the two corpses away like discarded sacks.

The Lizardman bodies sprayed gouts of warm blood through the air, splattering across his face and body, already covered in gore and sweat.

It made his battle-roused features even more wild and ferocious.

He reveled in this pure, overwhelming power—like a tiger among sheep, the unmatched thrill of mowing down foes!

What's this about a breakthrough in desperation?

Or overcoming the strong with the weak?

Or recalling the past at death's door to ignite one's inner cosmos...

That's the script for the protagonist, Cheng Xiaoyu.

He's not the protagonist.

He's just...

A boy who wants to protect his family's safety.

A bit introverted and shy!

Whoosh—!

Another Lizardman, driven mad by the scent of blood, lunged through the air, claws aimed straight at Xu Feng's face.

A flash of murderous intent flickered in Xu Feng's eyes, his left hand shooting out like lightning, catching both of the creature's swinging wrists with pinpoint precision.

He bared his teeth, revealing a set of teeth startlingly white even amid the gore, his smile shy and harmless.

Then, the muscles on his back suddenly bulged and contracted like writhing dragons, the taut sinews even emitting a faint hum, like a bowstring vibrating!

"Open—for me!!!"

Rip—!!!

A deafening sound of cloth being violently torn apart!

That Lizardman was instantly overwhelmed by despair and searing pain.

Its proud, sturdy body was ripped clean in half by Xu Feng in the most primal, brutal way—like a Japanese soldier torn apart in a war drama—right down the middle!

Organs and blood cascaded down like a waterfall!

A rain of blood!!!

Xu Feng shook the remains off his hands with lingering relish, his bloodthirsty gaze sweeping the surroundings, only to find with some regret.

As far as he could see, there were no Lizardmen left standing.

That entire settlement had been slaughtered by him alone.

Splash—!

Just then, the muddy swamp surface around him suddenly churned violently!

Countless carnivorous fish, lined with sharp teeth, swarmed in, frenziedly tearing at the Lizardman corpse fragments floating on the water or sinking into the shallows.

The water was instantly stained a dark red, the sounds of chewing and splashing unending.

These fish didn't seem to be magical beasts; they showed no aggression toward Xu Feng, who radiated a terrifying aura, even instinctively keeping a safe distance from him.

"Eat up, eat up..."

Xu Feng's wild expression instantly retracted, replaced by that harmless, bashful smile.

Instead of driving the fish away, he actively kicked the Lizardman remains scattered along the shore—those not yet dragged into the water—one by one into the swamp.

"Eat up, grow strong..."

He murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping over the dense, scrambling fish on the water's surface. His tongue unconsciously licked his lips, still stained with blood froth, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.

"...so later, I can... eat my fill."

Eating these humanoid Lizardmen directly still felt a bit off psychologically.

But using them as feed for the fish, then eating the fish... that felt much more natural.

Just like how ordinary people wouldn't resist vegetables grown with farm manure.

"160 Breakthrough Points..."

After the fierce battle, Xu Feng calmed down and checked the attribute panel in his mind.

Along this killing spree, at least sixty or seventy Lizardman warriors had fallen by his hand.

These Lizardmen were all uniformly D-class Lower Rank in strength.

The first twenty or so provided Breakthrough Points similar to ordinary wild bulls, fluctuating between 5 and 10 points.

But after exceeding twenty, the Breakthrough Points each Lizardman provided plummeted sharply, averaging only about 2 points, with some weaker individuals giving just 1 point.

Xu Feng vaguely understood something—the acquisition of Breakthrough Points probably wasn't simply about killing monsters for experience.

During the fight, he could faintly sense that the panel seemed to be extracting some special substance from the slain Lizardmen.

Perhaps it was related to life level, energy purity, or even their uniqueness?

When killing large numbers of the same type and rank of enemy, the efficiency or value of this extraction dropped significantly.

The exact rules would need more verification later.

"Forget it, if I can't figure it out, I won't dwell on it."

"Since it's come to this, let's allocate points first!"

Xu Feng shook off distractions and focused on the most practical improvement at hand.

"Qi Realm 'Blood Replacement Realm Mid Stage' to Late Stage requires 70 points.

Body Realm from 'Third Refinement' to 'Fourth Refinement' requires 100 points."

"Survival first, defense above all! Body Realm first!"

With a focused thought, he confirmed!

[Breakthrough Points - 100]

A torrent of energy, hotter and heavier than before, instantly erupted from his dantian, surging like molten lava into every corner of his body!

The enhancement began!

Xu Feng didn't stay idle either. The intense hunger brought on by the enhancement followed like a shadow.

He casually grabbed several plump, good-looking unlucky fish from the churning swarm beside him.

Ignoring whether they were raw or cooked, and not caring about bones, he stuffed them directly into his mouth and chewed vigorously.

With his terrifying control over muscles and the reinforcement of his throat, esophagus, and stomach walls, even fine fish bones—or even steel bars swallowed whole—could be instantly crushed into powder and digested by his qi and blood.

Getting stuck by a fishbone?

That was a worry only for ordinary people.

Over ten minutes later.

The redness of his skin and the high-temperature steam from the enhancement slowly dissipated.

Xu Feng let out a long breath as the surging power within him gradually settled.

He looked around at the swamp. The once-dense fish swarm had thinned considerably, with many fine fish bones floating on the water's surface.

[Name: Xu Feng]

[Breakthrough Points: 60]

[Qi Realm: Blood Replacement Realm Mid Stage]

[Body Realm: Fourth Refinement]

"Hoo... defense up another level! And..."

Xu Feng focused his mind slightly, drawing a thread of pure, blazing qi and blood from his dantian.

This thread of qi and blood didn't go directly into attack or amplification. Instead, it rapidly circulated through all his major meridians and body surface.

Then it suddenly spread out, transforming into countless fine, web-like crimson lines that quickly covered his entire skin!

Next, a one-second mutation!

Xu Feng's physique began to swell and stretch violently!

His muscles bulged as if inflated, and his bones emitted faint cracking sounds. In the blink of an eye, his height swelled to a terrifying two and a half meters!

A layer of dark red, almost black, horny substance resembling flowing magma rapidly grew from beneath his skin, covering his entire body!

This horny layer was no simple covering; it clung tightly to his surging muscle lines, forming a full-body suit of armor that exuded both aesthetic power and biological texture!

Jagged horn-like protrusions jutted from his joints, his chest plate was thick as a mountain, and the armor lines on his limbs were smooth yet bursting with explosive force.

Even his face was covered by a faint red, semi-transparent special horny membrane, similar to the compound eye structure of an insect.

Only a pair of pupils burning with a blazing golden light were visible!

A presence, a mix of extreme ferocity, heavy oppressive pressure, and an ancient draconic might, radiated from this blood-armored body!

Just standing there, the surrounding air seemed to freeze!

The fish underwater fled without a trace, and even the faint insect chirps deep in the rainforest abruptly ceased.

(For reference, imagine the appearance of Kai from Honor of Kings after activating his ultimate in the Dragon Domain Lord skin.)

"This power... this feeling... it's too wonderful!"

Xu Feng raised his right arm, wrapped in dark red armor, and lightly punched a towering tree beside him that would take two people to wrap their arms around.

Boom!!!

There was no loud crash, only a dull sound of penetration and shattering.

The thick trunk of the giant tree was struck as if by a massive battering ram. Wood chips mixed with sap sprayed everywhere, and a huge hole, clear through from front to back, appeared in the center of the trunk!

Yet the armor on Xu Feng's arm didn't even have a single scratch or vibration.

"This form... I'll call it 'Blood Dragon State.'"

Xu Feng lowered his head, examining his body, filled with destructive power, through the faint red tint of his faceplate. He was quite satisfied in his heart.

"But the consumption... is too great."

Still, after the joy came a sobering reality.

"Maintaining this form, this one strand of blood qi can only last about 8 seconds, and right now, in my dantian, I only have three strands of blood qi in total."

"Twenty-four seconds of being a real man? That's kind of interesting..."

He chuckled to himself in self-deprecation.

Soon, the 8 seconds were up.

The dark red armor on his body seemed to lose its energy support, instantly collapsing and dissolving into wisps of blood-colored smoke that dissipated into the air.

Revealing Xu Feng's true body, with a slightly helpless expression on his face.

"I'm still lopsided. The accumulation in the Qi Realm can't keep up with the strengthening speed of the Body Realm."

Xu Feng felt the two remaining strands of blood qi in his dantian and shook his head.

As he steadied his breathing, the free mana in the rainforest air began to be passively absorbed and converted by his strengthened body.

Bit by bit, it gathered again in his dantian, replenishing the consumed blood qi.

A rough estimate suggested it would take about 10 minutes to recover one strand.

"Not enough... time to keep hunting!"

Xu Feng shook his head and cast his gaze deeper into the rainforest.