Spending the Night in the Wilderness

Song Chen had never spent a night in the wilderness.

Before, he had always returned to camp before nightfall. Even after he began acting alone, he still went back as soon as it got dark, never lingering.

But now...

He understood that this was a step he would have to take sooner or later. The practical portion of the martial arts college entrance exam would not end in a single day.

After thinking for a long time, Song Chen decided not to leave. He would spend the night in the wilderness.

He checked the Kill Points in the system.

2,150 points—enough to buy over a hundred bottles of Spiritual Energy Blood Tonic.

If he drank them now, he might be able to break through to Tier Two in one go.

But a breakthrough required time, and a relatively safe environment.

Breaking through in the jungle? That was courting death. If a mutated beast showed up halfway through, he would not even have the strength to resist.

He needed to find somewhere safe.

Song Chen rose to his feet, stretched his somewhat stiff body, and carefully surveyed the surrounding terrain. At last, his gaze settled on an ancient tree.

Its trunk was so thick that several people could not wrap their arms around it. Its canopy towered into the clouds, and more than fifty meters above the ground was a tree hollow.

He walked over and carefully inspected the trunk. There were no climbing traces and no scent of mutated beasts. It should be safe.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed off with both feet and leaped upward.

His 9.6 Vitality made his jumping power far greater than an ordinary person's, but a height of over fifty meters was still a little beyond his reach.

He grabbed a protrusion in the trunk with both hands, climbed up in a few quick movements, and slipped into the hollow.

The hollow was not large, barely enough for him to lie down in, but it was sufficiently hidden. Dense branches and leaves concealed the entrance, making it impossible to spot from outside.

Song Chen leaned back inside the tree hollow and let out a long breath.

Safe. At least, safe for the moment.

He did not immediately drink the Spiritual Energy Blood Tonic. Instead, he first pricked up his ears and carefully listened to the sounds around him.

The jungle remained noisy, with insect chirps and beast roars rising and falling one after another, but there was nothing unusual.

He waited an entire hour. Once he was certain there was no danger, he finally opened the system interface.

[Current Kill Points: 2150]

He took a deep breath.

Begin.

[Confirm spending 2000 Kill Points to purchase Spiritual Energy Blood Tonic ×100?]

"Confirm."

Flashes of light flickered in rapid succession.

A hundred small bottles appeared out of thin air, neatly arranged before him.

Song Chen picked up one bottle, unscrewed the cap, tipped back his head, and drank it. That scorching sensation once again swept through his body.

But this time, he was already used to it.

One bottle after another.

He gulped them down bottle by bottle as though he were drinking water.

By the fifth bottle, the power of Vitality within him began to surge.

By the tenth bottle, his Life Core began to heat up.

By the twentieth bottle, he sensed an invisible barrier.

That was the threshold of Tier Two.

Without hesitation, he kept drinking.

The thirtieth bottle.

The fortieth bottle.

The fiftieth bottle.

When the liquid from the fiftieth bottle slid down his throat, that barrier shattered with a thunderous crash.

A powerful force erupted from within him.

Song Chen clenched his teeth, refusing to let out a sound. His body trembled, every muscle spasming and every cell cheering.

His Life Core throbbed violently. He could feel something undergoing a qualitative transformation.

Song Chen closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his body.

He "saw" the pale golden Life Core at the center of his heart spinning madly.

As it spun, strands of golden light flowed from the core, following his blood vessels into all four limbs and every part of his body.

Wherever those strands passed, cells strengthened, meridians widened, and bones grew denser.

Suddenly, the core stopped spinning.

Then...

"Crack."

A faint cracking sound rang out.

A crack appeared across the surface of the Life Core.

Song Chen's heart tightened sharply, but the crack did not spread. Instead, an even stronger light shone from within it.

The golden radiance gradually faded, replaced by a deep purple.

That purple resembled the color of lightning, identical to his awakened ability.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

More and more cracks appeared.

Boom.

The Life Core exploded.

But it was not destruction. It was rebirth.

Countless fragments spun within his heart before gathering together again. When they took shape once more, a brand-new Life Core appeared before Song Chen's "eyes."

Purple—the color of lightning.

The core was a full size larger than before, and the halo on its surface was even richer. With every pulse, Vitality far exceeding its former strength surged from it and flowed throughout his body.

Song Chen opened his eyes. In the darkness, a streak of purple lightning flashed through his gaze.

He clenched his fist.

Power. Unprecedented power.

He could feel that he was now more than twice as strong as before.

He raised his hand, and with a thought—

He glanced at the system's notation.

[Realm: Tier Two Martial Artist]

Tier Two.

He had broken through.

Song Chen leaned back in the tree hollow and let out a long breath.

Outside the hollow, the night remained deep.

Mutated beasts roared one after another throughout the jungle, but at this moment, he no longer felt afraid.

He closed his eyes. Tomorrow, he would continue.

Two days later.

Morning in Vastwild Mountain was shrouded in gauzy mist that coiled around the mountainsides.

Song Chen emerged from a hidden cave and took a deep breath of damp air.

After two days of adapting, he had grown accustomed to life in the jungle. He hunted mutated beasts during the day and hid in shelters he had found beforehand to cultivate at night.

He raised his hand, his thoughts stirring slightly.

A bolt of purple lightning danced at his fingertips, more solid and more agile than before.

More importantly, he could clearly feel that controlling lightning no longer required deliberate guidance. It moved as his heart desired, as though it had become a part of his body.

His gains over these past two days had been even greater than he had expected.

His Spiritual Power had reached 10.5. Even that breakthrough had only come after he drank more than a hundred bottles of tonic.

He was now a Tier Two Esper.

The lightning he released now was more than twice as powerful as before. He could simultaneously unleash multiple bolts of lightning, attacking enemies from different directions.

"Not bad, but not enough."

He looked at the system panel.

[Current Kill Points: 3850]

Upgrading the Kill System and Blood Battle Saber Art to Master level required 5,000 points each—10,000 points in total. He only had a little over 3,000 now, still far from enough.

He had made the decision to upgrade both of them long ago.

Today, he would continue.

Just as he was about to set out, his brow suddenly furrowed.

More people had entered the mountain?

Several faint auras came from the distance within the range of his Spiritual Power perception.

Tier Two. More than one.

Song Chen immediately lowered his body and concealed himself behind a large tree.

His breathing became long and faint. The breathing method paired with the Blood Battle Saber Art operated at full force, and his entire body seemed to merge with the surrounding environment.

This was a skill he had developed in the jungle over the past few days. To survive here, one first had to learn how to hide.

Those auras drew closer and closer.

Soon, five figures entered his field of vision.

Five people, all dressed in dark green combat uniforms that nearly blended into the colors of the jungle.

They moved swiftly, their footsteps light. They were clearly all veterans.

Song Chen's gaze swept over them.

Judging from their auras, the two leaders were both at the peak of Tier Two, while the other three were in the middle stages of Tier Two.

Five people, all Tier Two. This was no ordinary squad.

In Anning City, Tier Two martial artists were already the backbone of the force. For a squad to gather five Tier Two members, it was absolutely top-tier.

What were they doing here?

Song Chen's curiosity was piqued. He did not move, continuing to lie low.