The Lizardmen's Bitter History of Blood and Tears

Lizardman Broken Fang lay motionless in the blood-scented earth. He concealed his presence; even his heartbeat had slowed to an extreme crawl as he silently awaited his prey's arrival.

Broken Fang stood around 2.4 meters tall, exceptionally strong among the Lizardmen. He was also the most gifted Lizardman in his village.

However, since this was his first time merging with the strange and entering the Abyss, Broken Fang still felt somewhat nervous.

Following the tricks taught to him by the village elders, he quickly found a spot to lie in ambush while absorbing the strange energy drifting through the surrounding mist.

Cultivating the strange in the Endless Abyss would bring the same growth to one's body in reality. Not only that, cultivation in the Abyss was even somewhat more effective than in reality.

If they mastered certain ways of using the strange, they could also engage in real combat within the Abyss, and the experience gained in battle would be brought back to reality as well.

As for why Broken Fang had buried his body in the earth, that was all experience painstakingly compiled by countless Lizardman ancestors.

Among the many races, the Lizardmen ranked near the bottom and were considered a relatively weak race.

Their innate physical qualities were excellent, but their affinity with strange power was quite low. Very few Lizardmen could break through to above the fourth tier.

More importantly, the Lizardmen were not very intelligent.

Even the Lizardmen themselves admitted that.

In this world, many races had established cities. Some races had even created magnificent metropolises, where steam trains thundered endlessly through the towns, and those towns were filled with light at night.

Yet the Lizardmen still lived in a primitive society.

Yes, even the Lizardman settlements that possessed Town Crystals were not true towns, merely larger villages.

The Lizardmen's history in this world was an incomparably bitter chronicle of blood and tears. Due to their lack of intelligence, they had been deceived countless times. Over the past two hundred years, the Lizardmen had supplied innumerable cannon-fodder mercenaries to the battlefields of this world, only to gain nothing in return.

The only good news was that Lizardmen had no habit of recording history, so most of them did not know their race had endured such tragic experiences.

What they did not know could not make them sad.

In short, the Lizardmen were generally an optimistic race. They knew full well the weaknesses and shortcomings of their own race.

The scenes within the Endless Abyss were bizarre and ever-changing. No one knew what they would encounter on their way through the Endless Abyss.

Therefore, to avoid being deceived by other races, most Lizardmen would lie in ambush like this after entering the Abyss.

If they encountered weaker foreign races, they would strike and kill them. If they encountered powerful foreign races, they would continue hiding where they were. Then, when the scene was settled, killing them would often earn some reward points, and occasionally even additional rewards.

As for what exactly the scene they were in required them to do, Lizardmen would not consider it at all.

Other than a few foolish Lizardmen who liked to act clever, most Lizardmen had only three actions after entering the Abyss: lie in ambush, cultivate while lying in ambush, and launch an attack.

Broken Fang considered himself an intelligent Lizardman, so he followed the elders' teachings and quietly waited in ambush for prey to enter his hunting range.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the Lizardman's field of vision.

"A human?"

Broken Fang felt tempted, thinking of capturing the human.

Humans possessed a high affinity for the strange, but because of their frail bodies and weak wills, they were easily dominated by strange power. Thus, the Human Race had few powerful individuals, and brutal cases of mutual slaughter occurred easily among them.

According to the elders of his race, humans had once flourished, but they had now grown weaker and weaker. They were even weaker than the Lizardmen, lingering at the very end among hundreds of races.

As for why he wanted to capture a human, it was because captured humans could be sold.

According to the elders, human bodies were highly suitable for cultivating strange origins. The strange origins cultivated from them were extremely stable, making them highly sought-after experimental materials and very valuable.

It was said that some races even captured humans and raised them in captivity.

However, as Broken Fang imagined selling his human captive, he suddenly realized that this was the Abyss, not reality.

Even if he captured the human before him now, he would gain nothing.

Broken Fang felt somewhat frustrated. He decided that once the human entered his attack range, he would spring out and tear the human's body to pieces.

Yet just as he was about to strike, the human before him suddenly stopped.

Feng Buzhi ultimately did not attack. After all, this Lizardman's hide was far too rough and unsuitable for skinning into an apron.

He decided to ask this Lizardman for some information.

Looking at the Lizardman still concealed in the earth, Feng Buzhi said, "Your heartbeat has accelerated by around seventy percent. Is it because I've entered your attack range?"

Lizardman Broken Fang remained unmoved.

As an intelligent Lizardman, he would never be swayed by an enemy's honeyed words.

Feng Buzhi gave a slight shake of his head and took a small step forward.

The next moment, Lizardman Broken Fang abruptly sprang out of the earth. His mouth opened wide, and every tooth inside suddenly grew a short length longer. It seemed the organ that had merged with the strange was his teeth.

The Lizardman ultimately pounced on empty air. It was not that Feng Buzhi had erupted with any great speed; he had simply retreated at once as he took that small step forward.

Afterward, Feng Buzhi saw that the Lizardman who had attacked him was fleeing toward terrain that was relatively more complicated.

If one strike failed, retreat immediately—this was the Lizardmen's code of conduct in the Abyss.

As an intelligent Lizardman, Broken Fang naturally would not choose to stubbornly fight an enemy to the death here.

"He actually ran away just like that?"

Feng Buzhi had used only thirty percent of his physical ability to evade just now. He had planned to feign weakness and test the strange power within his skin during the battle, but this Lizardman had simply fled.

Watching the Lizardman run farther and farther away, Feng Buzhi shattered the shackles on his body and gave chase in the direction it had fled.

This time, as he broke those shackles, dense crimson paths of light appeared across the surface of his skin, while waves of heat rose from his body as steam.

"My speed seems to have increased slightly, though not noticeably. But this searing power..."

Feng Buzhi murmured softly, and his speed suddenly surged.

The crimson paths of light flowing over the skin of his body converged on his right hand, making it look like a red-hot branding iron. The next moment, that branding iron seized the Lizardman's tail, producing a sizzling sound.

The Lizardman let out a furious howl and abruptly turned to bite him, only for Feng Buzhi's fist to smash into its face. It rolled across the ground more than ten times before staggering to its feet, its head swaying.

Although the Lizardman's physical abilities were strong, there was still a considerable gap between it and him—let alone the Feng Buzhi who had already shattered his shackles.

"I have some questions I'd like to ask. I hope you can answer them for me. I can let you die more quickly."

Looking at the Lizardman, whose throat kept issuing hoarse roars and whose expression was filled with ferocity, Feng Buzhi quickly threw another punch, knocking it to the ground.