Devouring Souls and Eating Flesh

"Ugh..."

Qin Dongcheng was speechless. He thought, Isn't this something you brought upon yourself? How did it become my fault?

Arguing with such a paranoid person was a complete waste of time. He shook his head and turned to leave. "If you dare to trouble me again, don't blame me for being ruthless. As an Official Disciple and an Alchemy Apprentice, there shouldn't be any consequences even if I cripple a handyman."

After warning Zhen Le, Qin Dongcheng strode away, too lazy to pay any more attention to the idiot.

Zhen Le, left behind, was terrified. He glared at Qin Dongcheng with hatred but didn't dare to utter any more harsh words.

Once Qin Dongcheng's figure disappeared, Zhen Le began to wail again, his cries interspersed with low, muffled curses.

"Damn you, Qin Dongcheng. Don't let me find an opportunity, or I will definitely make you pay."

"I misjudged your strength this time. I didn't expect you to have reached the Mid-stage Body Phase. Next time, I will never make the same mistake again."

"Yingying is mine. No one can take her away—not you, and not that old geezer Zhang Jing."

As he cursed, he felt a sense of relief, and even the pain in his body seemed to diminish, which only made Zhen Le curse even more fiercely.

As he continued to vent, he suddenly felt his vision blur, as if a flash of light had passed by.

He hurriedly followed the light and was shocked to find a young girl standing before him. She was gentle, sweet, and exquisitely beautiful, looking at him with concern. "Brother Zhen, are you hurt? Do you want me to help you bandage your wounds?"

"Yingying, how did you get here? I knew you wouldn't be so heartless." Zhen Le was instantly overcome with excitement, for the girl looking at him with such care was none other than Zhang Ying, the girl he had been longing for day and night.

Because of Zhang Jing's interference and Zhang Ying's deliberate avoidance, he hadn't seen her for several days. Now, severely injured and suddenly seeing his beloved, he naturally couldn't hold back, his voice thick with emotion.

What he failed to notice was that the Zhang Ying before him was deliberately hiding one arm and one leg behind her back. Or rather, she only had one arm and one leg, so she had no other choice.

Zhang Ying's delicate face was full of concern as she moved to embrace Zhen Le. "I naturally know your heart, Brother Zhen, but my father does not allow it; he only thinks of climbing the social ladder. I am but a weak woman, so how can I defy my parents? Please, Brother Zhen, forgive me."

"Yingying, you've suffered. Just wait for me a little longer. I will soon reach Body Phase Perfection and become an Official Disciple. By then, I will surely make your father and the others agree to our union." Although he felt that the Zhang Ying before him was a bit strange and perhaps overly passionate, the severely injured and weak Zhen Le had a clouded consciousness, so he hugged her back and couldn't help but lean in to kiss her cherry lips.

Zhang Ying did not refuse and immediately responded. The two held each other tightly, a form of alternative bandaging...

A quarter of an hour later, Zhen Le lay in the Bamboo Forest Valley with a smile on his face, no longer showing any signs of life.

The Zhang Ying before him transformed into an incredibly ugly Ghost Spirit with only one arm and one leg. It nodded in satisfaction and vanished into the depths of the bamboo forest.

Not long after the Ghost Spirit left, a Rat Demon crept out from the ground. It stared greedily at Zhen Le's lifeless corpse and lunged at him.

Soon, most of Zhen Le's body was devoured, and the remainder was dragged away by the Rat Demon, leaving nothing behind.

This paranoid, sinister youth died silently in the depths of Moonlight Slope.

Even if Qin Dongcheng hadn't broken his legs, his strength would not have been enough to resist the bewitching erosion of that Ghost Spirit, not to mention that besides the Ghost Spirit, there were also Rat Demons in Moonlight Slope.

For Qin Dongcheng, this incident was merely a minor episode, not worth dwelling on.

He didn't know that Zhen Le had died in Moonlight Slope, effectively acting as a shield for him, and he focused entirely on his cultivation. Perhaps it was because he had inadvertently "sacrificed" someone, but he subsequently triggered multiple critical hits.

Although each critical hit was at most a few dozen times the reward, the sheer quantity was staggering.

His Diamond Skin Refining Fist soared, quickly approaching Skin Phase Perfection, and during a five-fold critical hit reward, he broke through the bottleneck and stepped into a new level.

His skin was now tough, like iron!

This was the hallmark of Skin Phase Perfection. As his blood energy circulated, his skin became as resilient as iron, its toughness increasing exponentially. Ordinary blades, spears, and clubs could not leave a single mark.

Even a handgun from his previous life would not be able to pierce his skin; the defensive power was truly astonishing.

With every movement, a massive force of over 1,600 kilograms erupted. With the added bonus of the Dragon Vigor Tiger Might strange phenomenon, this could surge to over 3,200 kilograms.

Combined with his combat techniques, the power unleashed in an instant likely reached around 10,000 kilograms, or ten tons.

With this punch of mine, ten tons of destructive power—can you block it?

The power of a Barrett sniper rifle from his previous life was only about ten tons.

In other words, a single punch from Qin Dongcheng had destructive power comparable to a Barrett sniper rifle. It was uncertain whether even a Martial Artist in the Tendon Phase Realm could withstand it, let alone one in the Flesh Phase Realm.

Of course, the greatest increase was in his defensive capabilities. After all, the Skin Phase Realm primarily focused on the toughness and defense of the skin. If not for the top-tier Dragon Vigor Tiger Might strange phenomenon, even Qin Dongcheng's own destructive power would struggle to damage his skin.

Generally, only a Martial Artist in the Tendon Phase, the fourth realm of martial arts, could achieve the level of destructive power Qin Dongcheng currently possessed. In other words, Qin Dongcheng already possessed the strength of a Tendon Phase Martial Artist.

In the martial arts world, Body Phase Martial Artists were considered third-rate, Skin Phase were second-rate, Flesh Phase were first-rate, and Tendon Phase were considered top-tier.

With his current strength comparable to a top-tier martial artist, if Qin Dongcheng were to leave Bamboo Forest Valley, he could easily become a powerful figure in the county and establish his own family.

The Qin Family in Maple Leaf City, where he had previously lived, only had an ancestor at the fifth realm, the Bone Phase Realm. The Qin Family had spent vast resources to cultivate their direct descendants, yet they only reached the Skin Phase.

If Qin Dongcheng were to return to the Qin Family now, he could easily become one of the clan elders, possessing extraordinary status and authority.

However, this was not what he sought, and he had no desire to return to the Qin Family.

Having broken through to Skin Phase Perfection, Qin Dongcheng's strength had surged significantly, yet he still hadn't awakened a skin-refining strange phenomenon. He wondered if he could awaken one at this level.

Currently, his Diamond Skin Refining Fist had not yet reached absolute perfection. Once it did, there was still a significant chance of awakening a skin-refining strange phenomenon.

Moreover, Qin Dongcheng had the Heaven Rewards Diligence System, which allowed him to stimulate his cultivation through critical hit rewards, often pushing a realm to its absolute limit, making the probability of awakening quite high.

However, after stepping into Skin Phase Perfection, another matter lay before him that needed to be resolved.