Seeing the dinosaur lift its foot, Li Xing, who was only at half strength, attacked without hesitation.
Splash!
He shot out of the river, aiming for the dinosaur's other foot, which was planted in the water.
In his hand was a rock he had picked up at some point while taking advantage of the situation.
He aimed at one of its toes, a ruthless glint flashing in Li Xing's eyes.
Better to injure one finger than to break an arm.
This was Li Xing's first time facing a dinosaur, but his face showed no fear as he appeared in an instant.
Li Xing had picked the perfect moment.
The dinosaur had spent its strength and hadn't yet regained it. Its other foot, planted on the ground, supported the weight of its entire body.
It wasn't far from Li Xing, either. In the blink of an eye, he was upon it.
Thud~
He plunged into the water and, under the control of his Devouring Power, met no resistance. The rock struck the dinosaur's toe with ease.
"Roar!"
The dinosaur roared in pain. Unable to keep its balance, its enormous body crashed into the river.
Thump!
Splash, splash, splash~
Gurgle, gurgle.
A flash of delight passed through Li Xing's eyes. He hadn't expected to land a blow so quickly.
He touched down on his toes and leaped across the dinosaur's body, quickly closing in on its belly.
In his hand, an elongated pebble gleamed beneath the sun, reflecting a dazzling light—just like Li Xing's excited, fervent heart.
He raised both hands high, a ruthless look in his eyes.
Squelch!
Aagh!
With a cold expression, Li Xing drove both fists fiercely into the wound.
The dinosaur shrieked repeatedly in pain.
A pleased smile appeared at the corner of Li Xing's mouth.
He could feel his body growing warm.
It wasn't the kind of warmth caused by exercise. His body was evolving.
His Devour Ability was at work.
His physique was growing stronger.
Not far away, Xiao Wu and Ashu watched Li Xing go berserk. They were so terrified that they clung tightly to each other.
"What do we do, Ashu?"
"I think we're going to die, Xiao Wu."
The comic duo reacted at once.
Li Xing couldn't care less.
With the timing, terrain, and numbers all in his favor, not taking the chance to kill the dinosaur just wasn't his style.
After ten minutes, the dinosaur still couldn't turn over, and Li Xing finally drew first blood.
Bathed in blood, Li Xing furrowed his brow.
He felt like vomiting at the smell of blood, but otherwise, he felt nothing.
Could it be that nonhuman blood doesn't have that effect?
Li Xing was perplexed.
Wasn't he supposed to throw up the first time he killed something?
Without thinking much more about it, he jumped off the dinosaur, splashing water everywhere.
After washing himself off, Li Xing walked over to the terrified pair.
At the same time, he brought up his stats.
Just as he'd expected.
His physique had reached 1.02.
Killing one dinosaur had improved his physique as much as three days of diligent training.
Never mind how half-hearted that diligent training had been. Those three days were real.
At this rate, Li Xing could only ask: who could possibly match him?
A 0.01 increase, multiplied sixfold, meant an extra 0.06 in combat power.
Once he completed the mission to protect Pilaf, his energy would reach 11, which would add another 0.11 to his strength.
If he reached a physique of seventy or eighty, then with the multiplier, he'd be invincible.
He wouldn't even take Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan 2 seriously.
At the thought, a flash of relief crossed Li Xing's eyes.
He was glad he'd chosen the vaguest ability at the start.
Li Xing's thinking back then had been simple: traveling with Sun Wukong and the others was too dangerous, so it was best to get away from them early.
Besides, Sun Wukong had only just set out and was still very naive. Li Xing had a good chance of stealing the Four-Star Dragon Ball.
He hadn't expected it to give him such a powerful foundation.
Judging by how things were progressing, he wouldn't fall too far behind Sun Wukong in the future.
If his mental strength also increased by a multiplier, and both stats reached 10, he'd have a hundredfold increase in strength.
That rate of growth would be far more powerful than someone like Sun Wukong, who relied on becoming a Super Saiyan.
Most importantly, with the Devouring Power he'd acquired, keeping up with Sun Wukong and the others in training would be effortless.
He wouldn't have to wear himself out, either. He could keep up with them with ease.
He walked over to the trembling pair.
Li Xing considered how to make them obey him.
The two of them were utterly devoted to Pilaf.
Aside from threatening them into pretending to follow his orders, he had no way to control them.
Splash, splash~
Following the current, Li Xing grabbed the two of them and flew up out of the river.
"Let's find a city.
"And tell me where you came from."
Li Xing naturally knew where they came from, but he still had to pretend he didn't know them.
The two were terrified. Their eyes darted around, and they clearly wanted to keep their distance from Li Xing.
Li Xing was completely baffled.
He had no idea that they had already seen him in the village where Oolong had appeared.
They'd also guessed that Li Xing was very powerful.
Li Xing had killed a dinosaur with his bare hands right in front of them, which only confirmed how frightening he was.
Naturally, they were afraid of him.
As they headed toward the city, someone elsewhere was furious.
In a desolate region.
An eerie castle stood in the middle of an empty plain.
A little dwarf wearing clothes emblazoned with the character for "rice" sat on the throne at the very top of the castle, his face twisted with rage.
"Bastards! Idiots!
"I sent those two to bring me the Dragon Balls, and they've been gone for ten days! They're driving me mad.
"And they don't even answer my calls.
"When they get back, I'll make them regret it. They'll see what I can do.
"Damn it.
"The Dragon Balls I'm looking for aren't moving, while the ones that should be staying put keep moving.
"And now several of them are gathering together.
"Damn it! Is someone else collecting the Dragon Balls too?
"Who else knows their secret besides me?
"They dare stand in the way of my plan to rule the world? They're all bastards."
Pilaf's face reddened as he roared in the empty hall, spittle flying everywhere.
"No, I can't just sit here waiting. I need to develop some super technology so I can go after more Dragon Balls. I have to gather enough of them as soon as possible."
Pilaf leaped down from his throne.
He hurried out of the hall.
"Damn it, those two still haven't come back. I'll have to find two more lackeys.
"As for those two idiots, they can go clean the toilets."
His grumbling voice echoed through the hall. Pilaf had already left.
Xiao Wu and Ashu were wholeheartedly devoted to Pilaf. One had to admit that aside from being unreliable, Pilaf was actually quite good to his subordinates most of the time.
He was a million times better than a business executive, and a hundred times better than a capitalist.
While Li Xing headed for his destination, Pilaf was busy tinkering with things.
There was another group of people, too. They weren't pining for Xiao Wu; instead, they were thinking about Li Xing.
Sun Wukong sat on the Flying Nimbus.
"Bulma, where do you think that person might be?"
Bulma was driving with a distracted look on her face. Hearing Sun Wukong's question from above, her heart stirred.
She thought back to how she'd misunderstood Li Xing. Regret welled up inside her.
Her foot pressed down without thinking.
"I really am awful!"
Her loud cry was drowned out by the roar of the car's engine.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness startled Bulma, bringing her back to her senses.
"Ah, help!"
Sun Wukong immediately urged the Flying Nimbus to catch up.
"Wh-why are you awful, Bulma?"
Sun Wukong looked curious.
Bulma's face flushed with anger, but she couldn't do anything about Sun Wukong.
Luckily, she reacted quickly and let off the gas, preventing an accident.
Once the car came to a stop, Bulma climbed out, her legs trembling.
"Damn you, damn you, Sun Wukong! Damn you, Li Xing! Damn me! I really am awful. I shouldn't have misunderstood him."
Before you continue