Killing a Peak Third-Grade

The next day, August 21st, Lu Hao began attempting to temper his ribs, only to find that they were much harder to temper than the upper and lower limb bones he had worked on previously.

If tempering a single lower limb bone required 500 calories of blood vitality, then tempering a single rib required nearly a thousand.

Lu Hao's current blood vitality was 480 calories. To ensure a quick natural recovery, he had to leave about a quarter of his energy behind after each session. By this calculation, it would take roughly three days to temper a single rib.

Third-grade cultivation requires tempering the 51 bones of the torso. Without using Slaughter Points, it would take 153 days—five months—to complete the tempering and reach the high stage of the third grade.

Not to mention the time wasted on tempering tendons, skin, blood, and flesh to reach the peak of the third grade. Using Slaughter Points to temper bones would cost about 100 points per bone, totaling 5,100 points for all 51.

Lu Hao was becoming increasingly eager for school to start; once it did, he could apply to enter the Earth Cave, where he would have access to a massive amount of Slaughter Points for his cultivation.

After a tentative attempt at tempering, Lu Hao stopped. It was most efficient to perform bone tempering right before going to sleep at night.

Lu Hao picked up his Big Ring Blade and began practicing basic blade techniques, continuing to familiarize himself with his blood vitality control, aiming to first return to the level of control he had before his breakthrough, and then finding a way to elevate it to the level of a finishing move.

August 27th, Lu Hao had already tempered two ribs. He had to admit that although rib tempering was difficult, completing one added about 8 calories of blood vitality.

If he finished tempering all the torso bones, he estimated he could gain 400 points of blood vitality. Combined with the overall improvement from the tempering process and the subsequent work on tendons, skin, blood, and flesh, it was no wonder that a peak third-grade martial artist could reach a thousand calories of blood vitality.

Over the past six days, Lu Hao had practiced basic blade techniques incessantly, morning and afternoon, finally returning his blood vitality control to its previous level.

The next step was to slowly refine his skills, increasing his control until he reached the level of a finishing move, at which point Lu Hao could truly claim to be invincible at the third grade.

August 28th, while Lu Hao was practicing his blade techniques, he suddenly received news from his mother. The Detective Bureau had just discovered an Evil Cult hideout containing several third-grade martial artists, one fourth-grade, and a group of first and second-grade members.

The Detective Bureau issued a mission, calling for people to help wipe out the nest. The Bureau would send a fourth-grade martial artist to face the fourth-grade cultist, and the rest would be handled by the mission participants.

Bai Qiuyao knew that Lu Hao's strength was not to be underestimated, and since most of the opposing cultists were merely blood vitality martial artists, she decided to let Lu Hao take on a third-grade cultist as a warm-up before he headed into the Earth Cave.

Upon receiving the news, Lu Hao immediately grabbed his Big Ring Blade and headed to the Detective Bureau. He was in desperate need of Slaughter Points, so this mission was perfectly timed. He felt quite confident about dealing with blood vitality martial artists.

When he arrived at the Detective Bureau, Lu Hao saw that quite a few people were already waiting. He scanned the room: including himself, there were five third-grade martial artists and five second-grade ones. He didn't see any first-grade martial artists; after all, this mission was quite dangerous for them.

Before long, a middle-aged man with a square face walked down from upstairs. Lu Hao felt a distinct sense of crisis from him; it seemed this was the fourth-grade martial artist leading the team.

"Everyone knows the mission. Just deal with the martial artists of your respective cultivation levels. I will handle the strongest fourth-grade martial artist. I won't say much more—Evil Cult members must be executed by all."

"Move out."

Following the square-faced man's command, all the martial artists followed him toward the cultist stronghold, Lu Hao among them.

They arrived at a bus, and the leader boarded first, followed by the rest. They were headed to the stronghold, ready to strike the moment they arrived.

On the bus, everyone remained quiet, avoiding unnecessary conversation.

Soon, they reached their destination: a Leisure Villa.

"The Evil Cult stronghold is inside. The perimeter is already under control. There are no civilians inside, only cult members, so once you go in, kill anyone you encounter."

Following the middle-aged man's order, those with weapons drew them, while those without took a Blood Vitality Pill and held it in their mouths, ready to swallow at any moment.

"Enter."

Everyone got off the bus and entered the villa.

The square-faced man charged in first, with the others following closely behind. Lu Hao entered as well, and after only a few steps, he saw the opposing cultist martial artists rushing out.

Seeing this, Lu Hao slashed at a third-grade martial artist. The strike, fueled by nearly a hundred calories of blood vitality, landed directly on the fleeing man.

The cultist was instantly knocked back several meters. Lu Hao looked over and saw a small wound on the man's chest; his inner armor had been pierced by the force of the blood vitality.

It seemed he had hit the jackpot. The fact that the injury wasn't severe under these circumstances meant the man had already finished tempering his tendons, skin, blood, and flesh—he was a peak third-grade martial artist.

However, his resistance revealed him to be a mere blood vitality martial artist. Now that his protective inner armor was shattered, he was as good as dead.

Lu Hao's mind raced through these thoughts in an instant. Since he was a blood vitality martial artist, there was no problem; he could be killed.

Lu Hao continued to attack with his blade. The opponent was already panicking; although he was at the peak of the third grade, he had never actually fought before. Facing this lethal attack, he could only scramble to dodge.

But Lu Hao's Void-Standing Realm Stance Technique was no joke. He blocked the man's escape route and brought his blade down. The cultist couldn't dodge in time and raised his arms to defend.

Under the hundred-calorie burst of Lu Hao's strike, the blade cut to the bone, shattering it significantly.

"Ah, ah! I surrender!"

The cultist collapsed to the ground in agony.

Lu Hao showed no mercy. He unleashed another explosive strike, this time decapitating the cultist with a single blow.

[Enemy killed, Slaughter Point +957]

Lu Hao's Slaughter Points increased instantly. Looking at the headless corpse, he couldn't help but curl his lip. This cultist was a true blood vitality martial artist who had never experienced a single real fight.

He had let Lu Hao take such an easy advantage.

Lu Hao looked up at the others; they were locked in difficult, evenly matched battles with their respective opponents. None of them were as clean and efficient as he was. Seeing a few first and second-grade martial artists charging at him, Lu Hao didn't even need to use his blade.

With a kick for each, he sent them all to their deaths. His own blood vitality was nearly exhausted; the three strikes he had just used had consumed nearly three hundred calories, and killing those first and second-grade martial artists had taken another hundred or so. He now had less than a hundred calories left.

However, Lu Hao wasn't afraid at all. With a full wallet, he felt bold. He now had nearly a thousand Slaughter Points, enough to recover nearly ten thousand calories of blood vitality. Never mind third or fourth-grade opponents, he could even hold his own for a long time against a fifth-grade martial artist who hadn't mastered blood vitality.