"Uh..."
Qin Dongcheng was speechless. Hadn't he brought this on himself? How had it become Qin Dongcheng's fault?
Arguing with someone this obsessive was a waste of time. Qin Dongcheng shook his head and turned to leave. "If you dare cause me trouble again, don't blame me for showing no mercy. As an Official Disciple and an Alchemy Apprentice, I doubt anything will happen even if I cripple a servant."
After warning Zhen Le, Qin Dongcheng strode away, too lazy to bother with the fool any longer.
Zhen Le, left behind, was also frightened. He glared resentfully at Qin Dongcheng but didn't say anything else.
Once Qin Dongcheng's figure disappeared, Zhen Le began screaming again, low curses mixed in.
"Damn you, Qin Dongcheng! Just wait until I get the chance. I'll make you pay."
"This time, I misjudged your strength. I never expected you to have cultivated beyond the Mid-stage Body Phase. Next time, I won't make the same mistake."
"Yingying is mine. No one can take her away—not you, and not that old bastard Zhang Jing."
Cursing made him feel much better. Even the pain in his body seemed to ease, which only made Zhen Le curse more furiously.
As he cursed, his vision suddenly blurred. It seemed a glimmer of light had flashed past.
He hurriedly followed the light with his eyes and discovered a young woman before him. She was gentle and lovely, with delicate features, and she looked at him with concern. "Brother Zhen, are you hurt? Do you want me to bandage you?"
"Yingying, what are you doing here? I knew you wouldn't be so heartless." Zhen Le immediately grew excited. The young woman looking at him with such concern was none other than Zhang Ying, the woman he yearned for day and night.
Because Zhang Jing had stood in their way and Zhang Ying had deliberately distanced herself from him, he hadn't seen her for several days. Now, badly wounded, he had suddenly come face-to-face with the woman he loved. Naturally, he could barely contain himself, and his voice even grew choked with emotion.
He didn't notice that Zhang Ying was deliberately hiding one arm and one leg behind her. She had only one arm and one leg, after all, and there was no other way to conceal it.
Zhang Ying's delicate face was full of concern as she leaned toward Zhen Le. "Of course I know how you feel about me, Brother Zhen. But my father won't allow it. He only wants to climb the social ladder. I'm just a helpless woman—how could I disobey my parents? Please forgive me, Brother Zhen."
"Yingying, you've suffered. Wait a little longer. I'll soon reach Body Phase Perfection and become an Official Disciple. Then I'll make your father and the others agree to our relationship." Though Zhang Ying seemed a little strange to him, almost too enthusiastic, Zhen Le was badly wounded and weak, his mind hazy. He reached out to embrace her and couldn't help leaning in to kiss her sweet lips.
Zhang Ying didn't refuse. She immediately returned his affection, and the two embraced like that—a rather unusual sort of bandaging...
After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Zhen Le lay smiling in the bamboo grove, utterly silent.
The Zhang Ying before him transformed into an exceedingly ugly Ghost Spirit with only one arm and one leg. It nodded in satisfaction, then vanished into the depths of the bamboo grove.
Not long after the Ghost Spirit left, a Rat Demon furtively crawled out of the ground. It eyed Zhen Le's lifeless corpse greedily and pounced on it.
Soon, most of Zhen Le's corpse had been eaten. The Rat Demon carried off what remained, leaving nothing behind.
And so the gloomy, obsessive young man died silently in the depths of Moonlight Slope.
Even if Qin Dongcheng hadn't broken both his legs, Zhen Le wouldn't have been able to resist the Ghost Spirit's bewitching corruption with his strength. Besides, the Ghost Spirit wasn't the only danger in Moonlight Slope. There were Rat Demons there, too.
To Qin Dongcheng, this was merely a minor episode, not something worth dwelling on.
He didn't know that Zhen Le had died on Moonlight Slope—and had, in a way, taken a calamity meant for him. He devoted himself to cultivation. Perhaps he had unknowingly offered a human sacrifice to Heaven, because over the next several days he triggered multiple critical-hit rewards.
Each reward only multiplied his gains by a few dozen times at most, but there were so many of them.
His Diamond Skin Refining Fist soared steadily, soon nearing Skin Phase Perfection. Then, with a Fivefold Critical Hit reward, it broke through its bottleneck and entered a whole new level.
His skin grew tough as iron!
That was the mark of Skin Phase Perfection. As his Blood Qi circulated, his skin became as tough as iron, its resilience surging. Ordinary blades, spears, and clubs could barely scratch it.
Even an ordinary handgun from his previous life could no longer pierce his skin. Its defensive power was staggering.
With every movement, he could unleash more than 1,600 kilograms of force. Once boosted by the Dragon Vigor Tiger Might Strange Phenomenon, that could soar to more than 3,200 kilograms.
With the addition of his fighting techniques, the power he could unleash in an instant probably reached around 10,000 kilograms—or about ten tons.
Can you withstand a punch from me, with its ten tons of destructive force?
The power of a Barrett rifle from his previous life was only around ten tons.
In other words, a single punch from Qin Dongcheng could rival the destructive power of a Barrett sniper rifle. Forget Martial Artists in the Flesh Phase Realm—even whether a Martial Artist in the Tendon Phase Realm could withstand it was an open question.
Of course, his defensive power had increased the most. After all, the Skin Phase Realm mainly focused on cultivating the toughness and defense of the skin. Without the boost of the top-tier Dragon Vigor Tiger Might Strange Phenomenon, even Qin Dongcheng's own destructive power would have struggled to damage his skin.
Ordinary Martial Artists in the Tendon Phase Realm—the Fourth Martial Realm—were the ones whose destructive power could match Qin Dongcheng's current level. In other words, Qin Dongcheng already possessed the strength of the Tendon Phase Realm.
In the martial world, Martial Artists in the Body Phase Realm were known as Third-Rate Martial Artists, those in the Skin Phase Realm as second-rate Martial Artists, and those in the Flesh Phase Realm as first-rate Martial Artists. Those in the Tendon Phase Realm were considered top-tier Martial Artists.
With strength now rivaling that of a top-tier Martial Artist, Qin Dongcheng could have become a local powerhouse and established his own Lineage if he left Bamboo Forest Valley.
The strongest member of the Qin Family in Maple Leaf City, their old ancestor, had only reached the Bone Phase Realm, the Fifth Martial Realm. The direct descendants whom the Qin Family had spent vast resources cultivating had only reached the Skin Phase Realm.
If Qin Dongcheng returned to the Qin Family now, he could easily become one of its elders, with a distinguished position and status.
But that wasn't what he wanted to pursue, and he had no desire to return to the Qin Family.
After breaking through to Skin Phase Perfection, Qin Dongcheng's strength had surged once more. Yet he still hadn't awakened a Skin Refining Strange Phenomenon, and he didn't know whether he might awaken one at this level.
He hadn't yet perfected his Diamond Skin Refining Fist. Once he did, there was still a good chance he would awaken a Skin Refining Strange Phenomenon.
Besides, Qin Dongcheng had the Heaven Rewards Diligence System. Its critical-hit rewards could continuously spur his cultivation forward, often allowing him to cultivate a realm to its utmost limit. His chances of awakening a Strange Phenomenon were therefore quite high.
However, after reaching Skin Phase Perfection, another matter came before him—one he needed to resolve.
Before you continue