Upgrade Plan

Whoosh!

Once an idea came to him, Qin Shaofeng immediately drew the short sword at his waist. He walked to one end of the tree and cut off a branch.

He hacked at the branch with his short sword, and soon he had fashioned a sharp little wooden stake.

He circulated the Inner Qi in his body and immediately spent 5 Inner Qi Points. The little stake in his hand suddenly glimmered, a faint sheen of light clinging to it. Beneath that glow, a sharp edge seemed to spring from its pointed tip.

He looked over his handiwork with satisfaction and nodded slightly.

Then Qin Shaofeng shifted his gaze to the pack of Demon Wolves on the ground, still greedily tearing into the Black Scaled Giant Snake's corpse. A smug smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Whoosh!

Qin Shaofeng jerked his right hand. The pointed wooden stake shot free, slicing through the air as it flew toward the ground.

Thwack!

A dull, piercing sound rang out, as if the stake had sunk into something.

Awooo!

A wolf's mournful cry followed. One of the two or three dozen Demon Wolves on the ground collapsed.

At the same time, Qin Shaofeng heard another system notification.

It worked!

Delight filled Qin Shaofeng's heart, and excitement shone in his eyes.

So it really could be done this way!

He had only meant to give it a try, but to his surprise, it had worked.

He couldn't help looking down at the pack of Demon Wolves, his eyes gleaming.

They were all experience!

At that moment, the spot below, crowded with two or three dozen Demon Wolves, no longer looked like a dangerous place to Qin Shaofeng. Instead, it was a perfect hunting ground for grinding monsters!

As for the pack below, when one of their companions suddenly died beside them, the Demon Wolves were startled. They quickly spotted Qin Shaofeng in the tree.

They immediately realized that their companion must have been killed by the human up there.

All at once, the wolves snarled furiously at Qin Shaofeng in the tree.

But they weren't cats. There was nothing they could do about Qin Shaofeng up there.

After a few snarls, they saw that Qin Shaofeng made no further move. In the end, the pack stopped paying attention to him and returned to their feast.

Low-level demon beasts were low-level demon beasts, with very limited intelligence.

One of their companions had died right before their eyes, and yet they acted as though they didn't care.

Still, when Qin Shaofeng saw the wolves occasionally looking up at him, he understood that they had grown somewhat wary.

With a faint smile, Qin Shaofeng suddenly darted away.

He hadn't actually left.

After a few leaps, he reached another tree and began using his short sword to make more little wooden stakes like the first one.

In no time, he had made at least fifty of them.

During that brief stretch, the Black Scaled Giant Snake's corpse on the ground had already been eaten down to the last two or three scraps.

Even the Demon Wolf Qin Shaofeng had killed earlier had been shared among its companions.

The pack was now showing signs of dispersing.

"Good thing I made it in time!"

He let out a quiet breath as he looked down at the pack, a knowing smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Here we go!

A glint flashed in Qin Shaofeng's eyes. He snatched up the wooden stakes, spending Inner Qi Points to sharpen each one, then hurled them with unerring precision at the heads of the Demon Wolves below.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Faint whistles cut through the air. With each one, the Demon Wolves below let out cries of pain.

One after another, they toppled to the ground, while Qin Shaofeng repeatedly heard system notifications.

"System Notification: Congratulations, player! You killed one ordinary Level 8 low-level Demon Wolf. You gained 2 experience!"

"..."

It wasn't long before Qin Shaofeng had killed every one of the two or three dozen Demon Wolves on the ground.

He didn't linger. Once he had confirmed that every wolf was dead and there were no other Demon Wolves or demon beasts nearby, Qin Shaofeng leaped down to the ground.

He hadn't come down to collect the Demon Wolves' spoils. He had jumped down to retrieve the wooden stakes from their bodies.

Qin Shaofeng moved swiftly, recovering all of the stakes in just five or six breaths.

Once he had collected them, he sprang back up into the tree.

Just as Qin Shaofeng had settled into hiding, the bushes below rustled, and several more Demon Wolves leaped out.

Two or three dozen ordinary Demon Wolves had died on the ground. The stench of blood had grown thick and carried far.

Before long, another pack of Demon Wolves gathered below.

Once enough had gathered, Qin Shaofeng repeated the process, using the little wooden stakes to kill a dozen or two dozen more ordinary Demon Wolves.

After this had happened several times, a Houtian Realm Demon Wolf King finally appeared.

This was probably the territory of a Demon Wolf pack. That was why they had been drawn by the smell of blood. Most were only low-level eighth- or ninth-grade wolves, with a small number of low-level tenth-grade ones.

The steady gain of 2 experience at a time had long since worn Qin Shaofeng's patience thin.

If not for how quickly he was earning it, he would have left already.

Now that a Demon Wolf King had suddenly appeared, it still only gave 2 experience when killed, but at least it offered Qin Shaofeng a bit of a challenge.

And indeed, it did.

The Houtian Realm Demon Wolf King was only at the Intermediate First Level, the same realm as Qin Shaofeng. But unlike the ordinary wolves, the moment it spotted Qin Shaofeng, it sprang up and landed in the very same tree.

Then it faced Qin Shaofeng from across the branches.

Awooo—!

It seemed to be demanding an explanation for why Qin Shaofeng had slaughtered its subjects. The Demon Wolf King howled at him, and though it was a demon beast, Qin Shaofeng could still hear its fury in its voice.

But Qin Shaofeng remained unmoved. With a faint smile, he said, "Tsk, tsk. Who would've thought an intermediate demon beast could get angry just like a human?"

The Demon Wolf King seemed fairly intelligent, as if it had understood Qin Shaofeng's words. That only made it angrier.

It bared its fangs, then lunged at Qin Shaofeng.

From the force of its charge alone, the Demon Wolf King seemed even stronger than the Black Scaled Giant Snake Qin Shaofeng had encountered earlier.

By the realm rankings, if the Black Scaled Giant Snake had been at the mid-stage of the Houtian First Level, then this Demon Wolf King was at the peak of the Houtian First Level.

In a one-on-one fight, this Demon Wolf King would surely have had a better chance than the Black Scaled Giant Snake.

Unfortunately, its attack was doomed to fail all the same!

From the moment Qin Shaofeng had decided to use this method to grind monsters, its fate had already been sealed.

Whoosh!

Qin Shaofeng gave his right hand a slight flick. His Inner Qi Points immediately dropped by 20, and a blade of silver light shot forth.

Thwack—!

With a piercing sound, the silver blade of light passed through the Demon Wolf King's chest, then pierced several more trees before vanishing deep in the woods.

Thud!

The Demon Wolf King's body, several sizes larger than an ordinary Demon Wolf, slammed to the ground.

As it hit the ground, two system notifications echoed through Qin Shaofeng's mind.

"System Notification: Congratulations, player! You killed one ordinary Intermediate First Level Demon Wolf King. You gained 2 experience!"

"System Notification: Congratulations, player! You have gained enough experience to level up. Player Qin Shaofeng has advanced to Houtian Second Level!"

Level: Houtian Second Level, 0/2000

Inner Qi Points: 750/750 (250 Inner Qi Points at Houtian Second Level, tripled by Yi Jin Jing)

Talent Spirit Root: Thunder Body

Skills: Fiery Golden Eyes, Yi Jin Jing, Xiao Li's Flying Dagger

Battle Beast: Hundred Spirits Demon Fox

Equipment: None

Quest: None

Points: 130

Title: Lanjiang City City Lord

"Haha, I finally leveled up!"

Hearing the system notifications, Qin Shaofeng laughed with delight.

He was at Houtian Second Level now. Houtian Fifth Level didn't seem that far off!

Reaching Houtian Fifth Level in three days shouldn't be a problem!

Boom!

A black shape plunged from a tree and crashed to the ground. Yet another Intermediate First Level demon beast had died at Qin Shaofeng's hands.

But a moment later, Qin Shaofeng shook his head in disappointment.

He had already lost count of how many Intermediate demon beasts he had killed.

Since killing the Demon Wolf King and advancing to Houtian Second Level, more than three hours had passed.

During those three hours, Qin Shaofeng had moved from place to place.

Three hours earlier, just after Qin Shaofeng had killed the Demon Wolf King, the stench of blood had apparently grown too strong, drawing in two Houtian Fifth Level giant pythons.

Seeing that, how could Qin Shaofeng dare to stay?

He hadn't even had time to retrieve the wooden stakes before hurriedly leaping away.

After that, Qin Shaofeng made another fifty wooden stakes using the same method, found an area teeming with demon beasts, and started grinding monsters again.

But it wasn't long before the strong stench of blood once more attracted some powerful demon beasts.

The second time, only a Houtian Fourth Level Crimson Flame Eagle came, but it could fly and had several underlings with it. Qin Shaofeng had no choice but to flee.

It had gone like that, over and over: he found a place to grind monsters, then ran into one or two bosses.

If he could beat them, Qin Shaofeng naturally wouldn't let them go. If he couldn't, all he could do was move somewhere else.

Over the course of three hours, Qin Shaofeng had killed plenty of demon beasts, but he hadn't gained much experience.

He had even killed several Houtian Third Level demon beasts and lone Houtian Fourth Level ones while fighting above his level.

But the experience still wasn't enough for him to level up.

"This won't do!"

Qin Shaofeng sighed softly as he cultivated inside a tree hollow.

Looking at his status screen, a trace of hesitation crossed Qin Shaofeng's eyes.

He had gotten used to this place. It was time to seek out some Intermediate Third and Fourth Level demon beasts to kill.

After thinking it over, Qin Shaofeng made up his mind.

"Looks like it's time to start the real upgrade plan!"

Killing low-level demon beasts or Intermediate-level ones at his own realm had only been a way for Qin Shaofeng to get used to the Black Horn Mountain Range and to fighting demon beasts.

Now that he was accustomed to it, it was time for Qin Shaofeng to begin his real upgrade plan!