Soul Slave Power Leveling

A surge of unfamiliar information flooded Zhao An's mind, leaving him with a sudden sense of clarity.

At the same time, deep within his consciousness, a mysterious, observable cluster of light appeared.

[Soul Pool]

Within this Soul Pool, two human figures were drifting and sinking.

Under Zhao An's conscious observation, the appearance of those two glowing figures became crystal clear.

They were none other than the gatekeeping thug whose throat he had crushed with a single punch, and the mangy-headed Xu San who had just breathed his last—the two red-named targets.

Vaguely, he could hear the shrill, mournful wails emitted by these two spectral shadows, as if they were enduring the most extreme torture within this Soul Pool, suffering immensely.

Anyone marked in red was a wicked soul who had committed evil in this world.

Once killed by him, their wicked souls would fall into this Soul Pool, be stripped of their selfhood, and become his Soul Slaves.

At this moment, these two wicked souls were undergoing the process of purification.

"Master An, I beg you, spare my daughter! I will, I will definitely scrape together the protection money for you." The old man's legs were broken, and unable to stand, he could only struggle to cling to one of Zhao An's legs, risking his life to plead bitterly.

If it were the old Zhao An, he would have likely crushed the man's hands and had his way right in front of him.

But the old Zhao An was already dead.

Though the current Zhao An was still as fierce as a tiger, he was fortunately not to the point of being a raving lunatic.

He casually tore off a relatively clean piece of cloth and pressed it against the wound on his head.

With his other hand, he grabbed the corpse of Xu San from the ground.

"Today's business is finished. Let go."

The old man's eyes were squeezed shut, having prepared himself for death while begging, but he hadn't expected this Yama to be so reasonable today. He couldn't help but open his eyes and look up.

"Let go."

Zhao An's expression was blank, his lowered eyes still tinged with blood. Though he lacked a murderous glare, the sight was enough to frighten the old man, who immediately and obediently released his grip.

The old man remained uneasy, unsure of what wicked scheme Zhao An might be plotting.

"Father!"

Only when she saw Zhao An dragging Xu San's corpse out of the house did the girl dare to move and help her elderly father up.

"Go, quickly go see how your mother is doing!"

"Alright, alright..."

Outside the house, Zhao An casually tossed the corpse onto the road.

And at the very moment he stepped out of the low hut, the white text above the girl's head in the room gradually turned transparent, and the white light that detached itself fell into Zhao An's hand, transforming into a small, pale-white fruit.

[Disaster Averted, Merit Earned!]

Zhao An looked at the white fruit that had appeared in his hand, lost in thought.

"Brother Zhao, you... you beat this mangy Xu to death?!" Li Gou'er looked at the corpse of Xu San, which had been tossed out like a ragdoll, his expression a mix of shock and fear.

He wasn't afraid of Xu San, but of the Python Gang behind him; he feared they wouldn't let this matter rest.

No matter how useless Xu San was, he was still a minor leader of the Python Gang. His death was no small matter.

"Is there a problem?" Zhao An glanced at him and said calmly.

Li Gou'er felt a chill in his heart. For some reason, he felt that the leader before him had suddenly become somewhat distant.

"Brother Zhao, should we continue collecting the protection money?" Zhao Chunzi scratched his head and asked.

"Collect what? Can't you see Brother Zhao is injured? Getting to the clinic to treat his wounds is what matters," Li Gou'er snapped.

"To the clinic," Zhao An said at this moment.

Although this life was a second chance, since he was alive, he didn't want to waste it.

As for the two men before him, they were the right-hand men of his predecessor, a couple of thugs from the same village.

Zhao An had managed to make a name for himself in the city, and these two had played a part in that.

It wasn't until the three of them were out of sight that the neighbors of Two Wells Alley dared to step out of their homes. They spat at the corpses on the ground, and those who were still angry even stepped forward to kick them, saying they deserved to die.

Of course, they had nothing good to say about the resurrected Zhao An either, only cursing the heavens for being blind and not letting these two bullies take each other down.

"Poor Old Lin's family. I wonder if they can pull through."

"It's likely hard. I went to look; Old Lin's legs are both ruined. They were counting on that girl, Xiaoxiao, to marry into a good family, but now that's gone too. Sigh..."

"Don't talk nonsense. Xiaoxiao is perfectly fine. That Zhao An left after killing Xu San; nothing happened to her."

"Her reputation is damaged nonetheless. Even if she is still pure, once word gets out, no good marriage will come her way."

"What a pity. Such a good girl, always kind-hearted. There is truly no justice in this world..."

Inside the clinic, Zhao An sat on a wooden chair, head tilted back, finally finding a moment to consider his current situation.

His current status as a minor leader in the Tiger Head Gang might seem significant, but in reality, he could only bully ordinary neighbors and suppress commoners with no foundation.

In this bottom-tier environment, he was the kind of villain that both people and dogs despised.

He possessed a bit of ruthlessness and brawling experience, but no real skill; any proper young martial artist could easily use him as a "mob" to grind levels under the banner of justice.

This body should be capable of martial arts, but the previous owner was so obsessed with wine and women that he never put it to use, wasting it entirely, Zhao An thought to himself.

However, practicing martial arts properly was by no means easy; one could not achieve anything in just three or five days.

Without going through several years of training, he feared he wouldn't even be able to grasp the basics.

With this thought, he looked deep into his mind at the two soul entities floating within the Soul Pool.

The soul entity belonging to Xu San was still screaming and struggling, as if it had been thrown into a frying pan and roasted repeatedly, suffering agony with every passing second.

The other soul entity, that of the ruffian, had already calmed down, its purification complete.

[Soul Slave: Jiang Erniu]

[Enslavement Period: One Year]

[Trait 1: Pure-Blooded Human (Capable of practicing human techniques!)]

[Trait 2: Death Substitution (Any Soul Slave can passively substitute for the master when they suffer fatal damage!)]

A simple panel description indicated that this soul entity had become his Soul Slave.

According to the information that surfaced in his mind, it seemed Soul Slaves had many uses, with different slaves offering different benefits.

It was just that low-grade Soul Slaves could not unlock those functions.

Yet, this Soul Slave could actually help him practice martial arts!

Within the Soul Pool, he could clearly see the Soul Slave named Jiang Erniu focusing intently on honing a martial art.

It was the Black Tiger Blade Technique he had just fed him.

This blade art was incomplete and not even graded; it was derived from the unique Fierce Tiger Blade Art of the Tiger Head Gang leader, Zhou Hu.

Every leader who had made contributions to the Tiger Head Gang had the opportunity to receive guidance from the gang leader and learn this Black Tiger Blade Technique.

Because this blade technique was not graded, there was nothing particularly profound about it; it was easy to learn, required no mental effort, and was simple to pick up—suitable for anyone, and perfect for a brainless person like the previous Zhao An.

Even so, the previous owner had practiced it into a complete mess; despite having brute strength, he was clumsy with a blade and preferred to settle matters with his fists, just as he had done earlier.

The flow of time for a Soul Slave in training mode seemed different from the outside world, as if a fast-forward button had been pressed; progress in martial arts was rapid, and the blade techniques soon looked quite decent.

As long as he didn't call a halt, the Soul Slave would continue to strive for perfection, tirelessly refining the blade art, waiting only for Zhao An to claim the results.

Zhao An was in no hurry to claim them, however, intending to observe for a while longer.

Taking advantage of this interval, he continued to examine the small, pale white fruit resting by the side of the Soul Pool.

This was what he had obtained from that girl, Lin Xiaoxiao.

Those with red names were mostly people steeped in sin; by killing them, Zhao An gained a Soul Slave.

Those with white names were often benevolent people with accumulated merits; by rescuing one, Zhao An could siphon off a portion of the merits they had gathered.

These merits condensed into a fruit of virtue, which was the origin of this little white fruit.

While a Soul Slave could help him practice martial arts, the use of this fruit of virtue was even greater.

According to the information instilled in his mind, this fruit of virtue could be used to make a wish!