After rescuing the two, he would rest for a day, then travel to Pilaf Castle. The journey would take half a month.
Li Xing could raise his strength to at least 30. There was nothing wrong with that.
Completing this mission would raise his energy to 11, no matter what.
Add half a month to that, and if he raised his physique to 1.5 and his energy to 20, it would be a piece of cake.
But if he chose the other path, he would probably become unbelievably powerful.
After doing the math, Li Xing naturally chose Mission Three.
As soon as he made his choice, panicked cries for help came from the distance.
Li Xing's mouth twitched.
This skill from the system was simply too powerful.
Li Xing didn't think twice. He lowered his shoulders and elbows and drove his legs into the ground.
Bang!
The force hit the ground, setting off a muffled explosion.
Using the recoil, Li Xing shot forward like a cannonball, speeding toward the depths of the forest.
He naturally didn't care where the dinosaurs in the forest had come from.
He only needed to rescue Xiao Wu and Ashu.
After scaring the two and keeping them safe, all he had to do was reach the castle and make it through the various crises.
A string of plans had already formed in Li Xing's mind.
All he had to do was keep his identity concealed and, with his Devour Ability, find a few martial artists who were neither too weak nor too strong.
He could challenge them under the pretext of sparring and trade blows with them.
Forget 30 points. If he worked hard, he might even reach 60 points of battle power by the time he got to Pilaf.
As Li Xing bounded through the air, the towering trees he stepped on were out of luck. They burst apart one after another.
Li Xing himself had already raced more than 300 meters ahead.
In the distance, trees swayed and dust billowed upward, spreading across part of the forest canopy.
A small area before Li Xing was just the same.
His sharp eyes swept around like a hawk's as he searched for Xiao Wu and the others.
Even without a failure penalty, he didn't want to lose the system mission.
Five energy points were precious at a time like this.
If he completed it, his strength would definitely undergo a tremendous change.
It would be no exaggeration to call it a complete transformation.
"Help! Someone save us!"
"Mom, no! I'm not tasty! Go catch fish in the river!"
Li Xing's eyes lit up, and his ears twitched.
Faint cries for help came from somewhere ahead and to the left.
Li Xing couldn't afford to waste time. His body shot forward like an arrow as he raced through the forest.
"I've got to figure something out. With my current strength, I can't kill a dinosaur or scare one away."
Li Xing thought to himself, a bitter feeling rising in his heart.
That was where the enormous gap between him and Sun Wukong was obvious.
That guy could already kill dinosaurs and eat their meat.
With his strength, Li Xing probably couldn't even dodge bullets.
The thought passed through his mind, and he immediately put it aside.
He called out, "You bastard! How dare you hurt people!"
His voice rang through the forest like a thunderclap.
The two, utterly exhausted and already at their limit, saw a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Their slowing bodies suddenly surged forward again.
They rushed toward Li Xing.
At the same time, the dinosaur let out an angry roar and chased after them, heading toward Li Xing as well.
Hearing the sounds draw closer, Li Xing felt relieved.
The two might have been idiots, but even they weren't beyond hope in a life-or-death crisis.
Hadn't he called out on purpose to draw their attention and get them to run toward him? It would save time and prevent anything else from going wrong.
In a world like this, you couldn't explain everything with the protagonist's halo alone.
Being careful was practically a basic requirement.
Meanwhile,
Li Xing racked his brain even harder.
He had to think of a way to show off in front of Xiao Wu and Ashu.
After all, the system mission required him not only to save them but also to bring them under his control.
Simply saving their lives probably wouldn't be enough.
If he could kill the dinosaur in one strike or drive it away, that would be ideal. Even if he couldn't, he could still intimidate the two.
As long as he held out until they reached Pilaf Castle, his strength would surely improve by leaps and bounds. Then he could force all three of them to submit.
Li Xing wouldn't claim he knew everything about the Pilaf Gang, but he knew them well enough.
At the thought, Li Xing's eyes darted around as he cautiously observed his surroundings.
"Maybe I can make use of these trees."
Once he'd figured it out, Li Xing didn't stubbornly wait to act until he saw the dinosaur.
He gathered strength in his waist, leaped a few times, and landed on the crown of a large tree.
After thinking it over, he decided that being unarmed was still a little dangerous.
Using his powerful energy, Li Xing snapped off a branch with his bare hands.
Energy spread through his palm, turning it into a blade. He quickly carved the branch into a single-piece wooden spear.
Panting and drenched in sweat, Li Xing stared at the dust below while listening closely to the rumbling.
He couldn't help it; he wasn't very strong yet.
If he hadn't been quick-witted and calm, three days wouldn't have been enough for him to master the use of energy.
On the ground,
Xiao Wu and Ashu babbled incoherently,
calling out again and again to Li Xing, the kind stranger.
But after running for a while, both of them were already mentally and physically exhausted. They still hadn't gotten a response or seen anyone, and the last of their strength began to drain away.
They stumbled and couldn't go on, falling flat on the ground.
Li Xing's eyes lit up.
"Here it comes."
After this brief bout of exertion, his strength had gradually recovered.
If he timed it right, he could use the spear in his hand to pierce the dinosaur's eye and stop the beast.
The dust was swirling, but fortunately Li Xing could just barely see.
If he had to act blind, he didn't think he had the protagonist's halo. He wouldn't be able to hit it in one strike.
If he missed, all he could do was turn into Li Run-Run and flee as fast as he could.
With his strength, even chopping down a tree with his bare hands would be a struggle. Fighting a dinosaur one-on-one was out of the question.
He'd be delivering himself as a meal—freshly served, too.
"Almost there. Three, two, one."
Li Xing focused his gaze into a single point, shutting everything else out.
"Now!"
Li Xing leaped from the air, aiming straight at the dinosaur.
Thwack!
"Roar!"
Joy flashed in Li Xing's eyes. He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.
Gripping the wooden shaft with both hands, he drove his waist into the motion and swung his whole body around it.
He planted his feet on the shaft and rushed straight toward the dinosaur's eye socket.
"Two, one."
He pushed off hard against the shaft and flipped into the air.
At the same time, the dinosaur's thick claw swiped toward its eye socket, but Li Xing dodged it at just the right moment.
Using the wind from the claw's swing, Li Xing shifted himself in midair and lunged toward the dinosaur's unharmed right eye.
The dinosaur was in pain, and its eyes had been shut tight.
Sensing something was wrong, it hurriedly opened its eyes—just in time to see Li Xing lunging toward them.
Fear appeared in its eyes. It jerked its head back and opened its enormous jaws.
Li Xing snorted.
He'd made it this far. How could he let the beast escape?
He tapped one of its fangs with his toe. While the dinosaur was slowed by the pain, Li Xing landed right on its right eye.
He swung a punch at the dinosaur's right eye.
That punch carried 30 percent of his strength.
As he threw it, Li Xing's steps drifted over the dinosaur's face like willow fluff.
Judging by his direction, he was advancing instead of retreating.
The dinosaur trembled with fear and let out a mournful cry.
Li Xing felt a gust of wind sweep toward him again.
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