In a single day, Ling Chen had searched nearly ten corpses.
Unfortunately, apart from the first corpse, who had been a Soul Ancestor, the rest had all been Soul Masters around level ten. Of the Soul Rings he'd found, eight had been in the ten-year range.
That wasn't surprising. If they'd had plenty of combat experience and formidable strength, they wouldn't have ended up as corpses.
He had ten portions of Martial Soul Origin. After subtracting the one he'd used for enhancement earlier, nine remained.
By then, the Martial Soul he'd briefly condensed earlier had just disappeared, so Ling Chen took out another portion and condensed it again.
He wasn't in a hurry to use the remaining eight portions to strengthen his Martial Soul. He needed to make sure he could always use it; otherwise, he'd be as helpless as he had been yesterday.
Throwing rocks really was a child's game, the impotent fury of a little kid.
He crawled back into the doghouse and picked up a few bricks to seal the opening. The doghouse's only source of light vanished.
Ling Chen sat against the wall and closed his eyes to rest. His consciousness returned to Dragon Pillar Space.
When he'd been searching corpses outside, he hadn't had the time to inspect anything. He'd needed to stay alert so the other people in Slaughter City wouldn't find him, especially Scarface, the only person who knew he existed.
Ling Chen had to find a way to deal with him, or his situation would grow more dangerous by the day. If word of his existence got out, he'd face endless pursuit.
Ling Chen walked over to the Dragon Pillars. The Golden Dragon Pillar and White Dragon Pillar glimmered faintly, responding to the master of Dragon Pillar Space.
He reached out to touch the Golden Dragon Pillar. He wanted to ask the Golden Dragon a few questions.
The Golden Dragon on the pillar sensed Ling Chen's call and slowly opened its eyes. It spoke first.
"There are some questions I can't answer, and some I don't know. But if they concern Martial Soul Origin, I can tell you a thing or two."
Ling Chen had meant to ask about his Martial Soul. There was something strange about it. But when he heard the Golden Dragon, he swallowed the question.
"Questions about Martial Soul Origin?"
Ling Chen didn't want to put the Golden Dragon in a difficult position. He was too weak right now. Even if he learned certain things, it wouldn't do him any good.
"Can you tell me whether, after I use Martial Soul Origin to briefly condense a Martial Soul and then strengthen it with Martial Soul Origin, the enhancement will still be there when I awaken my Martial Soul later?"
Ling Chen looked up and met the Golden Dragon's enormous gaze. The Golden Dragon nodded without speaking.
"What specific enhancements does it provide?"
Ling Chen asked again.
"Martial Souls are all born from Martial Soul Origin. So as long as you have an endless supply of Martial Soul Origin, you can keep condensing Martial Souls without awakening one."
"Likewise, if you use Martial Soul Origin to strengthen your Martial Soul, you'll naturally enhance it as a whole, in every aspect."
"You might not notice much of a difference by feel, but once you use it, its power will be beyond comparison with what your Martial Soul could manage before."
Ling Chen fell into thought. He hadn't tried out his Green Steel Sword since strengthening it, so whether the Golden Dragon was telling the truth remained to be seen.
After thanking the Golden Dragon, Ling Chen's consciousness returned. But before he could get up, he heard the bricks at the doghole entrance being kicked aside.
Scarface had come back. Yesterday, he'd walked along the wall several times, but still hadn't found the other side of the doghole.
So he was certain that Ling Chen, the little brat, was still inside.
And just as he'd expected, not long after the bricks were kicked aside, he heard the sharp crack of bones being kicked inside.
"Come on out, little guy. Uncle's got candy for you!"
Scarface held up his axe and lightly tapped the bricks over the doghole. Then he brought the axe down, knocking a few bricks loose.
Ling Chen knew things were bad. He immediately condensed the Green Steel Sword and crept along the wall toward the doghole.
Scarface wasn't easy to deal with. He hadn't crawled in to look for Ling Chen; he was trying to tear the place apart instead.
He was cautious. He'd probably been in Slaughter City for a long time. He was also afraid Ling Chen might smash his head to mush with a brick while he crawled through the doghole.
Ling Chen wasn't about to let him destroy his home. He crouched down and raised the Green Steel Sword to peer outside.
The doghole wasn't damaged too badly yet, but it was still far beyond the reach of Ling Chen's sword. All he could do was watch as Scarface wrecked his doghouse.
Scarface's axe didn't have the terrifying destructive power of the Clear Sky Hammer, but it was far more efficient than a sword at chopping bricks and stones.
The opening had been widened to nearly half a leg's height. Ling Chen made his move, gathering strength before sweeping his sword sideways.
"Ah!"
Scarface let out a scream as Ling Chen's Green Steel Sword cleanly severed both his legs. It cut through bone as easily as water.
Scarface fell to the ground, blood spurting from his legs. He stared in disbelief at the lower halves of his legs, now severed from his body, and roared in pain and fury.
"How is this possible?! You're a six-year-old brat who hasn't even awakened a Martial Soul. There's no way you could cut off my legs! Who the hell are you? Aaah—!"
Scarface struggled to roll over, then dragged himself toward the doghole with his hands. He wanted to kill the little bastard inside.
Ling Chen didn't press the attack. Instead, he retreated farther into the doghouse. He had every advantage now: the dim doghouse gave him the initiative, and his intact limbs made him more agile.
Scarface didn't let his anger cloud his judgment. He picked up the loose bricks and stones on the ground and hurled them inside, one after another.
"Come out! Get out here!"
Ling Chen pressed himself against the wall beside the doghole. None of the flying stones could hit him.
Time passed by the second. Nearly all the stones outside the doghole had been thrown, and Scarface was beginning to feel his strength fail him.
There was still not a sound from inside the doghole, but he could feel the breath of death slowly creeping up his body from his severed legs.
"No! I don't want to die! There's no way I'm going to be killed here by a little kid! No—!"
Scarface was starting to lose his mind. He dragged himself along with his hands, desperately crawling toward the alley's exit.
"Help me! Someone, help me! I don't want to die yet!"
Before long, he collapsed in the middle of the alley, having lost too much blood. He fell silent.
Ling Chen was cautious. He waited a long while before carefully crawling out of the doghole to check the situation.
A long trail of blood stretched across the ground. At the middle of the alley, Scarface lay quietly.
Ling Chen hurried over and beheaded him with the Green Steel Sword, eliminating any future trouble.
"He's finally dead! Damn it! Who else could you have picked on? Why did you have to mess with me?"
Ling Chen cursed as he searched Scarface's body. Along with the Soul Ring and Martial Soul Origin, he found a Soul Tool—a storage ring.
Ling Chen put the ring on, but an unbearable sensation swept through his body. He wanted to throw up and laugh hysterically at the same time, and his whole body trembled.
"So this is what it feels like to kill someone? This was my first time, so I'm still not used to it..."
Ling Chen tried not to look at the bloody corpse and left the alley.
Scarface's cries hadn't drawn anyone else over. After all, this was Slaughter City, where people killing one another and corpses appearing were perfectly normal.
But Ling Chen also knew this wasn't a place he could stay for long.
Some people didn't just get pleasure from killing. They even ate corpses!
Not long after Ling Chen left, a half-human, half-lizard monster slowly crawled out of the dim alley.
It flicked its tongue at Ling Chen, then turned back and began to enjoy its delicacy...
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