At the center of Little Stone Village's square, Lu Chengchuan stood before a point of light.
After several minutes of absorption, the light sphere had shrunk to the size of a fingernail. It would not be long before he absorbed it completely, and then he would gain lifespan.
Gunfire and explosions continuously rang out from outside. He could even hear screams.
As the light sphere gradually faded into nothingness, Lu Chengchuan's heart stirred with excitement. When the last trace of light vanished into the black fog, the system's voice finally sounded.
Energy successfully absorbed. Obtained 35 years of lifespan.
Thirty-five years of lifespan entered his body. As the light sphere disappeared, the black fog shrouding Little Stone Village also collapsed, countless wisps of black fog being sucked into an invisible space.
In less than a minute, the black fog over Little Stone Village had dispersed, and the place returned to its former appearance.
Only, the villagers were all gone. Or rather, they were here in the square, among that pile of twisted, rotting corpses. Some villagers had also turned into monsters.
The black fog dispersed, and light returned to the village. Just as Lu Chengchuan thought the monsters had vanished as well, a scream reached his ears. The gunfire and explosions had not stopped.
"The monsters didn't disappear?"
Lu Chengchuan was not at the scene, so he did not know exactly what had happened. But judging from the gunfire, it was not hard to guess.
Knowing the monsters had not vanished with the black fog, Lu Chengchuan opened the system and prepared to upgrade the Giant Elephant Skill. Even if he rushed over now, he could not defeat the Black Zombie. He might as well increase his strength first, then go save them once he was stronger.
He now had fifty years of lifespan, enough to upgrade the Giant Elephant Skill to the fourth level.
Seeing the words "Can Be Upgraded" behind the Giant Elephant Skill, Lu Chengchuan immediately chose to upgrade it.
The Giant Elephant Skill quickly became Level 4. After the martial art upgraded, heat surged from his dantian and flowed throughout his body, rapidly strengthening his physique and Inner Energy.
The heat melted his muscles before swiftly restructuring them. Through repeated melting and restructuring, his body was undergoing a transformation.
His Inner Energy doubled, then under the heat's "roasting," a large amount of Inner Energy compressed together. The quality of his Inner Energy grew stronger, and it could even be projected outside his body.
Both his body and Inner Energy were transforming, but this was only an initial transformation. After the heat circulated through his body several times, it stopped, and all his changes ceased at that moment.
Life-Sacrificing System Host: Lu Chengchuan Realm: Acquired Martial Arts: Giant Elephant Skill, Mysterious Grade / Level 4, Can Be Upgraded (Cost: 30 years); Everspring Skill, Yellow Grade / Level 3; Eagle Claw Iron Body Skill, Yellow Grade / Level 3. Current Lifespan: 50 years, 46 days. Host's bodily functions restored. Unknown illness not cured.
His realm had broken through, and both his strength and lifespan had improved. The fifth level of the Dragon Elephant Skill required thirty years of lifespan. The lifespan needed to reach the fifth level had not doubled, but the cost was still terrifying.
Fifty years sounded like a lot, but in reality, it was nowhere near enough.
Lu Chengchuan had no time to think about that. He set off toward the outskirts of the village, afraid Zhou Yaning and the others would die if he was even a step too late.
Rushing out of the alley, Lu Chengchuan saw corpses strewn everywhere the instant he emerged. There were monsters and humans alike, though most were monster corpses.
He turned his gaze toward the battlefield. Of the roughly forty people, fewer than half remained. Their losses were devastating.
However, of the dozen or so zombies, only four remained. Aside from the Black Zombie, the other three were covered in wounds, and one had even lost an arm.
Both sides appeared to have suffered terribly, but zombies would not show fear because of that.
They did not care whether they lived or died. They only wanted to kill these people.
When the black fog dispersed, Zhou Yaning had initially been delighted. But when she saw that the zombies had not disappeared with it, her joy instantly turned into pure terror.
Light had returned to the village. Lu Chengchuan had undoubtedly succeeded, but unlike before, the monsters had not vanished this time.
The Black Zombie that had broken free of its chains had killed ten soldiers in succession. No one could stop it, until Lu Chengchuan appeared.
Lu Chengchuan had just broken through to a new realm. He wanted to see whether he could now fight the Black Zombie.
With a powerful leap, Lu Chengchuan crossed more than ten meters and landed near the Black Zombie. He caught up to it and blocked it before it could kill the next person.
Seeing someone dare approach it on their own, the zombie immediately swung its claws at him.
Lu Chengchuan raised his hand and threw a punch as well. The instant he lifted his arm, Inner Energy flowed from his dantian into it. Invisible Inner Energy covered the skin of his arm, forming a protective film.
With Inner Energy protecting his arm, Lu Chengchuan fearlessly clashed with the zombie's claws.
Claws and palm collided, and enormous force rebounded onto both sides. Lu Chengchuan took one step back, while the zombie staggered back three steps.
After steadying himself, a hint of joy flashed across Lu Chengchuan's face.
The zombie was strong, but after his breakthrough, he was even stronger. At least in a contest of strength, he had won.
The expression vanished from Lu Chengchuan's face as he took the initiative to attack the zombie.
The zombie let out a low growl and rushed over, trying to seize him. But Lu Chengchuan easily dodged its grasping claws, then threw another punch that sent it back several steps.
Seeing that he could trade blows with the zombie, Zhou Yaning looked as though she had seen a ghost. What was going on? In less than fifteen minutes, Lu Chengchuan's strength had skyrocketed, and he could suddenly fight the zombie head-on.
She could not figure it out, and there was no time for her to do so.
Lu Chengchuan held off the strongest Black Zombie, but the remaining two zombies were not monsters they could handle easily either. Their battle was too intense for Zhou Yaning and the others to intervene, so they could only lead their people to surround the other two zombies.
After punching the zombie back, Lu Chengchuan pursued it and clawed fiercely at its body with all five fingers.
Five wounds were torn into the Black Zombie's body. With Inner Energy empowering them, Lu Chengchuan's fingers were harder than refined steel. Combined with his immense strength, he could tear through the zombie's abnormal defenses.
Lu Chengchuan swung his hand toward the zombie's throat. If he tore open its throat, the Tainted Qi inside would leak out. No matter how strong the Black Zombie was, it would die then.
But the zombie also knew to protect its weak point. Though it kept retreating beneath Lu Chengchuan's fierce assault, Lu Chengchuan could not find an opening to kill it.
That was not until two explosions sounded behind him. Zhou Yaning and the others had dealt with the two zombies and brought out the iron chains to help.
The zombie thrust its arm forward. Lu Chengchuan raised his hand and grabbed it, while Chen Long and several other strong men picked up the iron chains and hurled them at the zombie's body.
Several iron chains wrapped around the zombie. The Black Zombie exerted force and dragged Chen Long and the others to the ground.
By now, Chen Long and the others had little stamina left. Zombies had no such limitation. As long as the Tainted Qi inside them did not disperse, they could remain in peak condition indefinitely.
The five men fell to the ground, but they still gripped the chains with all their strength. The zombie was pulled back a step. As it swung its arms while retreating, Lu Chengchuan seized the opportunity and charged in front of it.
His five fingers became eagle claws as Lu Chengchuan viciously sank them into the zombie's neck.
The zombie's body was harder than refined steel. Armor-piercing bullets could only break its skin and could not inflict effective damage.
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