A Solo Trainee with Two and a Half Years of Practice

[Main Quest triggered: Level Up, Young Man!]

[Description: Since you possess the rule-breaking talent of dual cultivation, go harvest souls.]

[Effect: Talent "Dual Cultivation of Physique and Magic" activated. Each time you kill an enemy, in addition to normal experience, you will absorb a small amount of Strength and Spirit attributes.]

Two side quests followed immediately after.

[Side Quest One: The future King of the Undead needs a handy weapon]

[Description: To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. Please find a weapon suitable for yourself.]

[Reward: Experience +100, Strength +2]

[Side Quest Two: Tatakae! Keep fighting, tatakae! (One-time only)]

[Option A: You, go kill the BOSS: Challenge an enemy of a higher level than yourself and successfully kill it. Difficulty: A. Reward: Experience +200, Strength +10.]

[Option B: Kakashi Hatake: Fight and kill an enemy of the same level. Difficulty: B. Reward: Experience +100, Strength +5.]

[Option C: The weak wield their blades against the weaker: Slaughter enemies weaker than yourself. Difficulty: E. Reward: Experience +50, Strength +2.]

Su Li's Soul Fire suddenly flickered.

"Kill monsters to gain attributes? This is the prototype of an infinite-growth build!"

As a veteran stats nerd, Su Li instantly constructed the perfect stat-allocation model in his mind.

"Since killing monsters gives Strength and Spirit, why the hell would I put points into attack stats? I'll dump everything straight into Constitution and Agility! Tanky and fast, with free attack power—that's what you call a Strength-Agility-Intelligence Warrior!"

A perfect plan. As for that [Advancing Bones] quest...

Su Li looked at that tempting A-rank reward. It was a whole 10 points of Strength, equivalent to leveling up several times.

As a skeleton with the heart of a strong man, did he need to hesitate when faced with this kind of challenge?

"I choose C." Su Li locked in Option C without the slightest hesitation.

"Are you kidding? I'm only level two. Playing it safe is the way to go."

"Yoshi, let's go!"

Su Li strode toward the depths of the cave with the swagger of someone who feared neither heaven nor earth.

The farther in he went, the darker it became, and the air was thick with a rotten, moldy stench.

But for Su Li, who was no longer human, that was no problem at all.

His vision was like it came with built-in night goggles. The surrounding rock walls appeared in an eerie yet clear grayish-blue hue.

"Hehehe, just like I said, there are no useless races, only useless sou—cough, wrong script."

Suddenly, a dim yellow firelight appeared ahead.

Su Li immediately reined in his presence, pressing himself against the rock wall like a wolf as he cautiously poked half his skull out.

Two figures sat blankly beside the campfire.

They wore ragged, rusted chainmail. Their shriveled, ashen skin clung tightly to their bones like orange peels dried for a century. Their eyes were lifeless, and every so often, they let out meaningless roars.

Another one lay nearby. Its leg seemed to be broken, leaving it able only to wriggle along the ground.

"Are those... humans?" Su Li looked closely. "Huh? Why do they seem kind of familiar?"

"Aren't these freaking Hollows? How dare you say you didn't copy Old Man Ring, devs? Did I come to the Aiseland Continent, or did I transmigrate to the Lands Between?"

"If I ran out and yelled 'Praise the Sun' right now, would they do the gesture with me?"

Jokes aside, Su Li's eyes were instantly drawn to what the two seated Hollows held in their hands.

They were two swords. Though rusted beyond belief, in Su Li's eyes, they were peerless divine weapons.

"Since they're Hollows, they should count as undead creatures too..."

A bold idea gradually took shape.

"We're both monsters. There shouldn't be any aggro between our kind, right?" He decided to take a gamble.

"Tap, tap." Bony feet stepped on gravel, making faint sounds.

The two Hollows by the fire abruptly turned their heads. Their cloudy yellow eyes fixed dead on Su Li as he emerged from the darkness.

Su Li froze, his heart leaping into his throat as he prepared to slide forward and beg for mercy at any moment.

Yet one second passed, then two...

The Hollows seemed to catch the pure aura of death on Su Li, then turned back in disinterest and continued staring blankly into the fire.

"Whew..." Su Li let out a long breath.

"Just as expected. We're all dead guys here, so why make things hard for each other?"

Since they had been classified as friendly units, there was plenty of room to operate.

Su Li swaggered over.

First, he cautiously walked up to one Hollow and quietly gripped the hilt of the sword stuck in the ground beside it.

He pulled hard!

It did not budge an inch.

"Roar..." The Hollow sharply turned its head, releasing a low warning growl from its throat.

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author. It may have simply been renamed!

Su Li instantly let go as if electrocuted and raised both hands in surrender.

"Misunderstanding, Older Brother. I was just checking whether this sword had been polished."

It seemed direct robbery would not work. These two might be dumb, but they were protective of their food.

Su Li turned his gaze toward the one on the ground.

The legless Hollow lay sprawled there, with a rusty iron sword tossed beside it. It was trying to reach for it, but its damaged body left it unable to do so. All it could do was let out helpless, furious "heh-heh" sounds.

"Hehehe..." Su Li gave the signature laugh of a villain.

"Since you can't hold it anyway, as a kind-hearted person, I'll reluctantly help you keep it safe."

He walked over, hooked the sword with his toe, and snatched it up in one motion.

[Ding! Successfully obtained weapon: Rusty Iron Sword]

[Side Quest "Needs a Handy Weapon" completed. Reward: Experience +100, Strength +2.]

[Congratulations, leveled up! Lv2 → Lv3 (10/200)]

[Strength: 3 → 5]

[Free points obtained: 2]

"Yes!!" A warm current washed over his whole body once more.

Holding the iron sword, Su Li felt its heavy weight become noticeably lighter.

Five points of Strength were already equivalent to half the strength of an adult male.

As for those two free attribute points... Su Li glanced at his fragile ribs.

"All into Constitution! Because I'm afraid of pain!"

[Constitution: 5 → 7]

After assigning the points, Su Li felt a faint, warm sheen spread across his bones. Their hardness seemed to have risen to the level of "well-aged old bones."

But he did not leave in a hurry. His gaze fell on the helplessly raging Hollow on the ground again.

It wore a tattered gray robe. It was a little dirty, but at least it was clothing!

"Brother, I think you're pretty hot here anyway, so how about..." Su Li reached out his wicked claws with a sinister grin.

Moments later, a mysterious undead clad in a tattered gray robe and holding a rusty sword was born.

On the ground, only a naked Hollow remained, still utterly bewildered.

"At least I'm not showing so much bone now. That way, I won't have to worry about corrupting children." Su Li examined himself and nodded in satisfaction.

Then he weighed the sword in his hand. "Still a bit heavy."

Though his Strength had increased, he still needed time to adapt before he could wield it as naturally as an arm.

At that moment, the system seemed to see through his predicament.

[Hidden Side Quest triggered: Ten Mile Slope Sword Saint with Two and a Half Years of Practice]

[Description: Hello, everyone. I am an apprentice swordsman who has swung his sword 1,000 times. Even if it is only sword swinging, as long as you swing enough, you can master the art of sword swinging.]

[Requirement: Complete 1,000 sword-swinging exercises.]

[Reward: Experience +50, Strength +2.]

"1,000 times? This counts as a hidden quest?" Su Li's mouth twitched, but for the sake of Strength +2...

"Let's freaking do it, Brothers!"

Thus, an eerie sight appeared in a dark, damp corner of the cave.

Two Hollows sat by the fire, staring blankly into space, while one naked Hollow wriggled around on the ground.

Beside them, a little skeleton in a gray robe swung its rusty sword at the air again and again.

"One! Behold my Tetanus God Sword!"

"Whoosh!" The iron sword sliced through the air, making Su Li's humerus give off a faint scraping sound.

"Two! Whoever dares take my sword will get infected on the spot!"

At first, Su Li's movements were still clumsy. The sword's weight dragged his body around, and several times he nearly flung himself away.

But as the count increased—one hundred swings, two hundred swings...

His body seemed to begin developing a strange kind of soul memory.

With every swing, he could clearly sense the precise interlocking of all two hundred-plus bones in his body.

This pure sense of precision was something he had never experienced when he possessed flesh and blood.

Sweat would not drip because he had no sweat glands. His arms would not ache because there was no lactic acid buildup.

As long as his Soul Fire did not go out, he was an untiring killing machine.

"Nine hundred ninety-nine... one thousand!"

[Quest completed: Two and a Half Years of Practice]

[Experience obtained +50 (60/200), Strength +2 (5 → 7)]

[Congratulations, player. You have successfully comprehended a skill!]