"What did you say?"
Scarface Li San looked as though he had heard the biggest joke in the world, the flesh on his face twitching.
One-Eyed Dragon burst out laughing, his voice filled with disdain and cruelty. "Kid, did getting hurt scramble your brains? You want to kill us? Maybe in your next life!"
Before his words had even faded, he stomped hard with his foot and lunged at Chen Chen like a cheetah.
The steel blade in his hand tore through the air with a shrill whistle, chopping straight for Chen Chen's head.
He intended to teach this brat who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth a lesson first—by cutting off one of his ears.
Facing this vicious slash, Chen Chen's body tensed to the limit.
He had no cultivation, and his body had only just recovered a little. If he met the attack head-on, he would surely die.
But he possessed something the Wang Family guards did not—a soul from another world, and a heart tempered by a sea of blood and deep hatred, calm to a terrifying degree.
The instant One-Eyed Dragon pounced, Chen Chen did not look at the blade in his hand. Instead, he stared fixedly at the ground beneath his feet.
Mud, slick and wet, with a thick tree root half-covered by rotten leaves.
Now!
Instead of retreating, Chen Chen surged forward, stumbling toward One-Eyed Dragon's left side.
To One-Eyed Dragon, the movement looked like the desperate struggle of someone scared out of his wits.
"Courting death!"
He grinned savagely, his blade speeding up.
Yet his charging foot landed heavily on that patch of slick mud.
His foot slipped!
One-Eyed Dragon instantly lost his balance, his center of gravity pitching forward.
Such a tiny mistake might have meant nothing normally, but in a life-and-death struggle, it was fatal.
This was the chance Chen Chen had been waiting for!
As he fell to the ground, his right hand flashed out and seized the stiff corpse of the Shadow Cat. With all his strength, he flung it upward!
Whoosh!
The Shadow Cat's corpse, carrying a stench of blood, smashed solidly into One-Eyed Dragon's face as he lost his balance.
"Urgh!"
One-Eyed Dragon's vision went black. An intense smell of blood rushed into his nostrils, completely blocking his sight.
A fatal opening!
Killing intent flashed explosively in Chen Chen's eyes!
His body spun low against the ground like a venomous snake, and his right hand smoothly snatched up the steel blade One-Eyed Dragon had dropped beside him when he lost his balance.
The hilt fell into his hand, its icy texture passing into his palm.
Without the slightest hesitation, he squeezed out every scrap of strength from that 1 point of cultivation and viciously thrust the steel blade upward into One-Eyed Dragon's lower abdomen!
Squelch!
The sound of the blade piercing flesh was so clear it made one's scalp tingle.
"Uh..."
The Shadow Cat's corpse slid from One-Eyed Dragon's face, revealing features twisted by agonizing pain and disbelief.
He lowered his head and stared at the hilt protruding from his abdomen, blood continuously welling out around it. A rasping sound came from his throat, as though he wanted to say something, but in the end he only spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.
[Ding! Killed a Body Tempering First Layer martial artist. Cultivation Points +10!]
The cold mechanical voice rang in Chen Chen's mind like heavenly music.
A warm current ten times stronger than before exploded within his body!
This warmth was no longer a trickling stream, but a surging river!
It washed through Chen Chen's limbs and bones, repairing his broken bones and nourishing his parched meridians.
Crack!
A faint crisp sound came from his left arm. Wrapped in the warm current, the broken bone actually began forcefully reconnecting!
His severely injured body recovered nearly thirty percent of its strength in that instant!
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Scarface Li San, on the other side, was utterly stunned by the sudden turn of events.
A moment ago, his companion had held victory in the palm of his hand. The next moment, he was clutching his stomach and kneeling on the ground, his life force rapidly draining away.
And the youth who should have been prey was now slowly rising with a blade in hand, the aura emanating from him utterly different from before!
"You... you..." For the first time, terror entered Li San's voice.
This was not some helpless young master from an aristocratic family!
This was an evil ghost wearing human skin!
Chen Chen did not answer him.
He pulled out the steel blade. Warm blood dripped along its edge, splashing tiny blossoms of blood across the mud.
He could clearly feel that his strength, speed, and reactions had all undergone a qualitative leap.
This was... the power of Cultivation Points!
This was... the reward for killing!
He lifted his eyes, his gaze settling on Li San.
That gaze was cold and indifferent, as if he were looking at a walking number.
A walking "+10."
"Your turn."
Chen Chen's voice was hoarse, yet it carried an unquestionable verdict.
"Madman! You madman!"
Chen Chen's gaze completely frightened Li San out of his wits. He no longer had any of his former arrogance or cruelty, turning to run at once.
But the moment he turned around, he felt a chill at the back of his neck.
A figure appeared behind him like a ghost, utterly soundless.
Too fast!
Li San's pupils shrank to their limits. He desperately tried to turn back, to raise the blade in his hand and block.
But it was too late.
Chen Chen's figure had nearly merged with the darkness. After killing One-Eyed Dragon and gaining 10 Cultivation Points, his speed had already far surpassed that of a Body Tempering First Layer martial artist!
A cold blade swept across Li San's throat, without the slightest flourish—clean and decisive.
Slash!
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
Li San's body stiffened where he stood. He clutched his neck, his eyes filled with despair and regret.
He could not understand why, after only one exchange, two Body Tempering First Layer martial artists like them had been killed in reverse by a useless young master who could not even truss a chicken.
[Ding! Killed a Body Tempering First Layer martial artist. Cultivation Points +10!]
Another warm current flooded into his body.
Chen Chen's body was strengthened once more. His injuries nearly healed completely, and his strength rose again.
He could feel the blood and qi within him churning, as if something were about to break through the earth.
[Cultivation Points: 20] [The host has accumulated sufficient cultivation. Consume 20 Cultivation Points to break through to the Body Tempering First Layer?]
A breakthrough?
Chen Chen drew a deep breath and suppressed the excitement in his heart.
He glanced at the two corpses on the ground, then at his hands covered in blood.
There was no nausea, no discomfort.
There was only the exhilaration of avenging a great hatred, and an endless thirst for power.
From the moment the Chen Family had been exterminated, the Chen Family's former young master, dressed in fine clothes and fed on delicacies, ignorant of the ways of the world, had already died.
What remained alive was an evil ghost who existed only for revenge.
"Break through!"
He murmured inwardly.
[Cultivation Points -20. Beginning breakthrough...]
Boom!
An unprecedentedly powerful force exploded within his body!
Every bone in his body crackled as though being reforged. His muscle fibers tore apart and reassembled, becoming even tougher. His blood surged like mercury, brimming with explosive power.
Chen Chen could not help letting out a low roar. A visible wave of white air spread outward from him, blasting away the fallen leaves and rainwater on the ground.
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You have successfully broken through to the Body Tempering First Layer!] [Name: Chen Chen] [Realm: Body Tempering First Layer] [Cultivation Method: None] [Martial Skill: None] [Cultivation Points: 0]
Chen Chen slowly spread open his palm, then clenched it hard.
Bang!
A muffled explosion rang through the air.
He could clearly feel that the power contained within his body was several times greater than before!
This was the world of martial artists!
This was what power felt like!
His cold gaze swept over the two corpses as he began searching their bodies.
Before long, he found a money pouch in their robes. It held more than a dozen taels of broken silver, along with some dried provisions and a bottle of Trauma Medicine.
It was not much, but to him now, it was life-saving.
The rain gradually weakened.
Chen Chen raised his head and looked toward Qingyang City, his eyes as deep and dark as a pool.
Wang Family!
This was only the beginning.
He would kill every person who had participated in the extermination of his family. He would make the Wang Family repay its blood debt in blood!
But that was not enough.
He needed greater strength, more Cultivation Points.
He cast his gaze toward the depths of the Black Wind Mountain Range, a place fraught with danger, yet also filled with "opportunities."
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