[3. Strength of a Tiger: Talent/Rare] [Strength of a Tiger: Directly grants five thousand jin of immense strength! Strengthens the entire body, giving you the strength of a full-grown tiger!]
"That Iron Tower brute actually had such a terrifying talent!"
Li Qiming was slightly taken aback.
No wonder Senior Brother Qin Yu couldn't beat him.
They were both at the peak of the Blood Refining Realm, but his opponent had the Strength of a Tiger. Naturally, he'd been no match for him.
He even suspected that with the Strength of a Tiger, one could fight above one's level. Even against someone in the Bone Refining Realm, one might still have a chance!
"Don't rush. I'll leave the entry dropped by this Iron Tower brute for now... I'll decide when the moment comes!"
Li Qiming kept his head clear and didn't make any rash choices.
After all, danger lurked all around these deep mountains.
If he could gain the Strength of a Tiger at a critical moment, he'd definitely have a chance to fight someone in the Bone Refining Realm!
"Big Brother? Who killed my big brother?!"
Suddenly, a coarse voice rang out.
It was filled with unbearable grief!
Li Qiming tensed and looked toward the sound. He saw a figure even taller and bulkier than the Iron Tower brute, charging this way like a black bear.
This man was like a bigger version of the Iron Tower brute.
"Big Brother! You're the only family I have in this world!" Looking at Little Iron Tower on the ground, Big Iron Tower couldn't hold back his tears.
Then the burly Big Iron Tower looked up and glared viciously at Li Qiming.
"Did you kill my big brother?!"
"No."
"Doesn't matter! You'll die all the same! I'll take your life to bury my big brother!"
Big Iron Tower charged at Li Qiming, wielding a spiked club that looked impossibly heavy.
Whoosh—
The spiked club came crashing down like a tree trunk.
Li Qiming's eyelid twitched. Even with his light-footed movement, he couldn't dodge in time. He had no choice but to raise both daggers and brace for the blow.
Clang!
A terrifying force surged through him. Li Qiming was sent flying, blood spilling from his mouth!
Terrifying!
Li Qiming steadied himself. He couldn't run—not while Senior Brother Qin Yu was still recovering. If he fled, Qin Yu would be as good as dead.
"You're only at the middle stage of Blood Refining. How are you stronger than me, when I'm at the peak of Blood Refining?"
Li Qiming wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and asked, unable to understand.
"Hmph! Because I was born with Divine Power! I can even beat someone in the Bone Refining Realm! And you're nothing but a mere peak Blood Refining cultivator!"
Big Iron Tower said disdainfully.
Li Qiming's expression turned grave.
Pointing at Little Iron Tower's corpse, he asked, "Compared to your big brother, who's stronger?"
Most people wouldn't answer such a pointless question.
But Big Iron Tower clearly wasn't like most people. Just looking at him, it was obvious that his wits were, to put it mildly, somewhat lacking.
Big Iron Tower thought it over, then rumbled, "I respect my big brother. He can do arithmetic, so he's smarter than me. But when it comes to strength, nobody can beat me!"
"Brat, are you messing with me? I'll kill you!"
Big Iron Tower seemed to realize what was going on. Feeling that his intelligence had been insulted, he flew into a rage and charged at Li Qiming with his spiked club!
Faced with that terrifying blow, Li Qiming dodged with ease this time.
"What?" Big Iron Tower sensed something was wrong.
But it was already too late.
Roar!
A tiger's roar suddenly rang beside his ear.
Then a fist swelled larger and larger in his eyes!
Thud!
The punch nearly knocked him unconscious! It almost split his skull open!
"You... How did you suddenly get so strong?" Big Iron Tower had been gravely injured by a single punch and lay sprawled on the ground. Looking at Li Qiming's calm face, deep fear rose in his eyes.
"Forgot to tell you."
Li Qiming walked up to him with a dagger in hand and looked down at him.
"I was born with Divine Power too."
As he spoke, Li Qiming flicked his hand, and the dagger sliced through Big Iron Tower's throat.
Big Iron Tower died instantly.
Looking at the man's enormous corpse, Li Qiming shook his head.
He'd suddenly grown stronger because Big Iron Tower had left him no choice. He'd been forced to pick the entry he'd only just obtained: [Strength of a Tiger]!
It strengthened his body and instantly granted him five thousand jin of immense strength. Though the power was a little hard to control precisely, it was much easier to bear than the ten years of Blood Qi that had surged through him.
It felt better, too. At least his body wasn't being crushed under the strain.
And the [Strength of a Tiger] talent had strengthened his body, making the Blood Qi surging within him more obedient. His whole body no longer felt as if it were being torn apart by pain.
"Or, to put it another way, the 'vessel' of my body has grown sturdier. No matter how unruly the surging Blood Qi gets, it'll have a harder time damaging me..." Li Qiming analyzed silently.
He nudged the new corpse with his toe:
[Corpse Looting Entry Trigger] [1. One Thousand Silver Taels: Money/Precious] [2. Wise Brain: Mind/Rare] [3. Strength of Two Oxen and One Tiger: Talent/Rare]
Li Qiming looked at Entry 1.
One thousand silver taels. Nothing worth discussing. He passed over it at once.
After becoming a martial artist, money had become one of the least important things to him.
Of course, that assumed a better entry had dropped.
His gaze shifted to Entry 2.
[2. Wise Brain: Mind/Rare] [Wise Brain: You possess an innocent heart and can focus with absolute concentration. You'll learn any martial art twice as fast. The drawback is that you can focus on only one thing; you'll be somewhat slow to notice everything else.]
"This entry is hard to judge. If I hit a bottleneck and need to go into seclusion to cultivate, I can consider an entry like this... But for me right now, secluding myself to cultivate is still a long way off..."
Li Qiming kept reading.
[3. Strength of Two Oxen and One Tiger: Talent/Rare] [Strength of Two Oxen and One Tiger: Seven thousand jin of immense strength! Choosing this talent entry will bring you to the current limits of your human body... You'll have to endure some pain, but you can choose it without worry.]
Li Qiming's mouth twitched. If the entry said he'd have to endure some pain, then it was bound to be excruciating.
He was afraid of pain.
But none of these three entries were worth keeping. There was hardly anything to debate or hesitate over: he should choose Strength of Two Oxen and One Tiger.
Gritting his teeth, Li Qiming steeled himself. It felt like he had no choice but to take the plunge. Without hesitation, he focused his thoughts and chose Entry 3: [Strength of Two Oxen and One Tiger]!
Boom!
As immense strength flooded his body, it felt as if millions of ants were crawling over his bones, bringing an itch and pain all at once!
His eight extraordinary meridians seemed to freeze and contract in an instant, then an invisible pair of hands seized them and yanked them brutally apart!
The pain throughout his limbs and bones was beyond words. All he knew was that every nerve in his body was throbbing and twitching.
Li Qiming's face twisted into a grimace, and his entire body flushed red like a boiled shrimp.
Amid all this agony, the Blood Qi that had been raging inside him now obeyed like a tiny baby.
There was no time to examine the changes closely. Beads of sweat rolled from his forehead, and impurities steamed out of his body in torrents, carried away by the flood of sweat.
His eyes rolled back, and the pain overwhelmed him. He passed out.
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