Blood Dragon State

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—!

The dull thuds of flesh struck by tremendous force and bones breaking rang out without pause through the damp, sweltering underground rainforest dungeon!

Bloodlust gleamed in the eyes of a Lizardman warrior as its sharp claws tore through the air with a shrill whistle.

It drove them viciously toward Xu Feng's back!!!

Xu Feng neither dodged nor bothered to adjust his stance. He simply took the blow on his back, letting claws that could tear through sheet metal strike him!

"Thud!"

Amid the muffled impact,

Xu Feng's massive body rocked only slightly. His feet seemed rooted to the ground, and he didn't budge an inch!

Through the shirt, ripped to shreds by those claws, it was easy to see—

The blow, powerful enough to leave deep gouges in steel, had struck Xu Feng's bronze back muscles without leaving even a single pale scratch!

His skin was as smooth as ever, with only a little dirt rubbed away.

Meanwhile, his thick arms each gripped the neck of a struggling Lizardman, both of them choking out "khh, khh" sounds.

Feeling the insignificant "itch" on his back, Xu Feng grinned savagely. The muscles in his arms twisted tight as steel cables, and his fingers suddenly squeezed!

Crack! Crack!

Two crisp neck-breaking sounds rang out almost simultaneously, enough to make anyone's scalp crawl.

The ferocious light in the Lizardmen's eyes faded at once, and their limbs went limp.

"Feels so good—!!!"

Xu Feng threw back his head and let out a hearty roar, then casually flung the two bodies away like broken sacks.

Warm blood sprayed from the Lizardmen's corpses as they flew through the air, splattering across his face and body, already smeared with blood and sweat.

The battle had already left him exhilarated, and now his expression looked even wilder and more savage.

He loved the thrill of overwhelming his enemies with pure strength, mowing them down like a tiger among sheep!

Breaking through in a desperate situation.

Overcoming the strong while being weak.

Recalling the past on the brink of life and death to unleash one's inner power...

That was the script for the protagonist, Cheng Xiaoyu.

He wasn't the protagonist.

He was just a...

Slightly introverted, shy young man who wanted to keep his family safe and sound!

Whoosh—!

Another Lizardman, driven into a frenzy by the smell of blood, pounced through the air, its claws aimed straight at Xu Feng's face.

A savage glint flashed in Xu Feng's eyes. His left hand shot out like lightning and seized both of its wrists with pinpoint accuracy.

He grinned, revealing teeth that were remarkably white despite the blood smeared across them. His smile was shy and harmless.

Then his back muscles swelled like coiling dragons, contracting and tensing. Even the taut fascia gave off a faint hum, like a bowstring vibrating!

"Rip—!!!"

Riiip—!!!

A deafening sound rang out, like fabric being violently torn apart!

Despair and agony swallowed the Lizardman in an instant.

Its mighty body, once its pride, was torn in half by Xu Feng in the most primitive and brutal way—like one of those enemy soldiers ripped apart by hand in an over-the-top war drama!

Its innards poured down in a waterfall of blood!

Blood rained everywhere!!!

Xu Feng shook the remains from his hands, still not satisfied. His bloodthirsty gaze swept around, but he was disappointed to find that not a single Lizardman was still standing.

He had slaughtered the entire settlement by himself.

Splash—!

Just then, the muddy water of the surrounding marsh began to churn violently!

Countless carnivorous fish, their mouths full of sharp teeth, swarmed in and frantically tore at the pieces of Lizardman corpses floating on the surface or lying in the shallows.

The water quickly turned dark red, while the sounds of chewing and splashing filled the air.

These fish didn't seem to be magical beasts. They had no desire to attack Xu Feng, whose aura was terrifying, and instinctively kept a safe distance from him.

"Go on, eat up..."

At the sight, Xu Feng's wild expression vanished in an instant, replaced by his usual harmless, shy smile.

Not only did he let the fish have their fill, he even kicked the Lizardman remains scattered along the shore—those that hadn't yet been dragged into the water—into the marsh one by one.

"Eat lots and grow nice and strong..."

He murmured softly, gazing at the countless fish jostling over each other on the water. His tongue unconsciously licked the blood on his lips, and a hint of anticipation flickered in his eyes.

"...Then you'll help fill me up, too."

Eating these humanoid Lizardmen directly was a little hard to stomach.

But feeding them to the fish and then eating the fish... that felt much more natural.

It was like how ordinary people had no qualms about eating vegetables grown with farmyard manure.

"160 Breakthrough Points..."

After the fierce battle, Xu Feng calmed down and examined the Attribute Panel in his mind.

He had killed at least sixty or seventy Lizardman warriors along the way.

Every one of them had been D-class Lower Rank.

The first twenty or so had provided roughly as many Breakthrough Points as ordinary Wild Bulls, ranging from 5 to 10 each.

But after he killed more than twenty, the points each Lizardman provided dropped sharply, averaging only around 2. Some of the weaker ones had given him just 1.

Xu Feng had a vague inkling that gaining Breakthrough Points probably wasn't as simple as killing monsters for experience.

During the battle, he had faintly sensed that the panel was drawing something special from the Lizardmen he killed.

Perhaps it had something to do with their level of life, the purity of their energy, or even their uniqueness?

After he killed large numbers of enemies of the same kind and rank, the efficiency or value of this extraction dropped significantly.

He would have to test it further to work out the exact pattern.

"Forget it. If I can't figure it out now, I'll leave it for later."

"Since things have come to this, I might as well spend the points!"

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

"To raise the Qi Realm's Blood Replacement Realm from mid-stage to late-stage will take 70 points.

"To advance the Body Realm from Third Refinement to Fourth Refinement will take 100."

"Survival comes first. Defense above all! I'll upgrade the Body Realm first!"

He focused his intent and confirmed.

[Breakthrough Points - 100]

A torrent of energy, even hotter and heavier than before, erupted from his dantian. Like molten lava, it surged into every corner of his body!

The enhancement began!

Xu Feng didn't just stand around. A fierce hunger accompanied the enhancement, as always.

He casually snatched several plump-looking fish from the churning school beside him and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing them down without caring whether they were cooked or whether they had bones.

With his terrifying control over his muscles and the enhancements to his throat, esophagus, and stomach lining, even tiny fish bones were nothing. He could swallow iron bars and grind them into powder with his qi and blood before digesting them.

Getting a fish bone stuck in his throat?

That was a problem for ordinary people.

More than ten minutes later,

the redness of his skin and the hot steam produced by the enhancement slowly faded.

Xu Feng let out a long breath as the surging power in his body gradually settled.

Looking at the marsh around him, the fish that had packed the water moments ago were now much fewer, and tiny fish bones floated on the surface.

[Name: Xu Feng]

[Breakthrough Points: 60]

[Qi Realm: Blood Replacement Realm, Mid-Stage]

[Body Realm: Fourth Refinement]

"Whew... My defense has gone up another level! And..."

Xu Feng's thoughts shifted. He drew a thread of pure, searing qi and blood from his dantian.

Instead of being used directly to attack or enhance his strength, it swiftly flowed through his major meridians and along the surface of his body.

Then it expanded in an instant, transforming into countless fine, web-like red lines that rapidly covered his skin!

The next moment, he transformed!

Xu Feng's body began to swell and grow taller at a rapid pace!

His muscles bulged as if inflated, his bones gave off faint cracking sounds, and in the blink of an eye, he had reached a terrifying height of around two and a half meters!

A layer of dark red, almost black carapace, like flowing magma, rapidly grew from beneath his skin and covered his entire body!

This carapace wasn't simply a layer laid over him. It clung tightly to the contours of his bulging muscles, forming full-body armor with an imposing, organic look.

Savage carapace protrusions jutted out at his joints. His chest armor was as heavy as a mountain, while the armor on his limbs was streamlined and brimming with explosive power.

Even his face was covered in a translucent, pale-red layer of special carapace, resembling the compound-eye structure of an insect.

Only a pair of pupils, burning with crimson-gold light, remained exposed!

An aura of overwhelming savagery, crushing pressure, and ancient draconic majesty emanated from his armored body!

Just standing there, he seemed to make the air around him freeze!

The fish underwater fled in an instant, and even the faint insect calls from deep in the rainforest abruptly fell silent.

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

"This power... this feeling... it's incredible!"

Xu Feng raised his right arm, encased in dark-red armor, and lightly punched a towering tree beside him, so wide that it would have taken two people to wrap their arms around it.

Boom!!!

There was no tremendous crash, only a muffled sound of penetration and splintering.

The tree's thick trunk was struck as if by a massive battering ram. Wood chips and sap sprayed through the air, and a huge hole appeared through the center of the trunk.

There wasn't even a scratch or a tremor in the armor on Xu Feng's arm.

"I'll call this form the 'Blood Dragon State.'"

Xu Feng lowered his head and studied his body, brimming with destructive power, through the pale-red view of his faceplate. He was very pleased.

"The only problem is... it takes too much energy."

But after the delight came a clear-eyed assessment of reality.

"Maintaining this form, one thread of qi and blood lasts about eight seconds. Right now, I have only three threads in my dantian."

"Twenty-four seconds of being a real man? Interesting..."

He laughed at himself.

Soon, the eight seconds were up.

The dark-red armor on his body seemed to lose its source of power. It crumbled in an instant, turning into wisps of blood-colored smoke that faded into the air.

Xu Feng's true form was revealed, his expression a little helpless.

"I'm still too specialized. My Qi Realm hasn't kept pace with how quickly my Body Realm has strengthened."

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

As he steadied his breathing, the ambient magic in the rainforest air began to be absorbed by his enhanced body and converted.

Little by little, it gathered in his dantian again, replenishing his depleted qi and blood.

By his rough estimate, it would take about ten minutes to recover one thread.

"Still not enough... Time to keep hunting!"

Xu Feng shook his head and turned his gaze toward the depths of the rainforest.