[Name: Chen Chen] [Realm: Body Tempering Second Stage] [Cultivation Method: None] [Martial Skills: Cloak Axe Technique (Basic Mastery)] [Cultivation Points: 100]
Looking at the glaring "100" Cultivation Points on the system panel, Chen Chen's heart thudded wildly several times despite himself.
One hundred points!
This was practically a windfall!
Killing four Body Tempering Second Stage guards had earned him a total of 80 points.
Killing Wang Lie, who was at the Body Tempering Third Stage, had earned him 20 points.
No, that wasn't right.
Chen Chen quickly calmed down and realized he had miscalculated.
Wang Lie himself should have provided 40 Cultivation Points. Body Tempering First Layer gave 10 points, the Second Layer gave 20, so the Third Layer should have given 30 or 40. The system had only awarded 20 points, perhaps because Wang Lie had been severely injured and his strength had been greatly reduced.
But no matter what, the total of 100 Cultivation Points was real!
"Open the Martial Skill Treasure Chest!"
Chen Chen suppressed the urge to immediately raise his cultivation and muttered inwardly.
He was even more eager to see this random reward.
The Cloak Axe Technique was merely Yellow Grade Low Tier, yet it had already greatly increased his combat power. What could this system-awarded treasure chest yield?
[ Ding! Opening the Random Martial Skill Treasure Chest... ]
[ Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the High-grade Yellow Tier martial skill—Seven Shadows Step! ]
A streak of light exploded in Chen Chen's mind.
Countless pieces of information about movement techniques and footwork poured into the depths of his memory in an instant, like enlightenment poured straight into his head.
Seven Shadows Step, a High-grade Yellow Tier movement martial skill!
Once cultivated to great mastery, a single step could create seven afterimages, making truth and illusion impossible to distinguish. Whether used against enemies or to escape for one's life, it was a top-tier technique!
"Good! Excellent!"
Chen Chen was overjoyed.
This was like sending charcoal in the snow!
What he lacked most right now was precisely an exceptional movement technique.
In his previous battles, he had relied more on sneak attacks, schemes, and overwhelming strength. Once he encountered an opponent of equal or greater strength, the weakness of lacking movement techniques would be completely exposed.
And Seven Shadows Step perfectly made up for that flaw!
"Break through!"
Chen Chen no longer hesitated and directly immersed his consciousness into the system.
[ Consuming 60 Cultivation Points. Beginning breakthrough to the Body Tempering Third Stage... ]
Boom!
An energy more violent than any before exploded within his body.
If the previous times had been rivers flowing into the sea, then this time was a tsunami sweeping across the continent!
His blood and qi surged like thunder!
His bones trembled like a dragon's roar!
Large beads of blood seeped from Chen Chen's skin once more, but this time, he did not feel much pain. Instead, an exhilarating pleasure welled up within him.
His body was undergoing a qualitative transformation!
Only after a full half hour did everything finally settle.
Chen Chen slowly opened his eyes, and a sharp glint shot forth, leaving a shallow mark on the stone wall opposite him.
Body Tempering Third Stage!
He could feel that the blood and qi within him had become several times more condensed than before. His strength, speed, and five senses had all undergone an all-around explosive increase.
He even had the feeling that his current self could easily crush his pre-breakthrough self to death!
[Name: Chen Chen] [Realm: Body Tempering Third Stage] [Cultivation Method: None] [Martial Skills: Cloak Axe Technique (Basic Mastery), Seven Shadows Step (Beginner)] [Cultivation Points: 40]
Forty points remained!
"Keep going! Break through to the Body Tempering Fourth Stage!"
A trace of madness flashed through Chen Chen's eyes.
He wanted to strike while the iron was hot and raise his strength to unprecedented heights!
[ Breaking through to the Body Tempering Fourth Stage requires 80 Cultivation Points. Host has insufficient Cultivation Points. ]
The system prompt was like a basin of cold water poured over his head.
"Still short by 40 points..."
Chen Chen frowned.
It seemed that the higher his realm became, the more the Cultivation Points needed for breakthroughs multiplied.
Though somewhat regretful, he quickly adjusted his mindset.
Rice had to be eaten one bite at a time, and roads had to be walked one step at a time.
To leap from an ordinary mortal unable to truss a chicken in just two or three days into a Body Tempering Third Stage martial artist was already an appallingly fast pace.
He turned his gaze toward Wang Lie's corpse.
This second young master of the Wang Family should still have quite a few good things on him.
He walked over, suppressing his nausea as he searched Wang Lie's corpse.
Before long, he found a more exquisite money pouch than the Mercenary Leader's. It contained over a dozen gold leaves and some jewelry, all quite valuable.
Besides that, there was also a bottle of pills.
A label was pasted on the porcelain bottle—"Qi Replenishing Pill."
This was good stuff. Martial artists expended enormous amounts of blood and qi in battle. At a critical moment, a Qi Replenishing Pill could swiftly restore a portion of one's blood and qi, which was equivalent to gaining another life.
Finally, Chen Chen felt a cold jade pendant within Wang Lie's robes.
The jade pendant was blood-red throughout, carved with a ferocious tiger. It felt warm and smooth in his hand, while a strange energy faintly circulated within it.
"Eh?"
Chen Chen held the jade pendant in his hand and could feel the circulation of blood and qi in his body seemingly speed up by a tiny fraction.
"This should be a treasure that assists cultivation."
Though its effect was slight, it was better than nothing.
Chen Chen stored it close to his body.
After finishing everything, he glanced at the gorge that resembled an asura battlefield. Without lingering in the slightest, he turned and left.
The smell of blood here was too heavy. It would soon attract demonic beasts, perhaps even other martial artists.
He had to leave as quickly as possible.
He began using the Seven Shadows Step he had just learned.
With one step, his figure instantly became elusive, as though wind had sprung beneath his feet. His speed was nearly twice what it had been before!
Although he still could not create afterimages, its wondrous effects were already beginning to show.
Chen Chen felt greatly reassured.
With this movement technique, his chances of surviving in the Black Wind Mountain Range had increased by several degrees.
However, he did not notice that—
Not long after he left—
The Blood Tiger Jade Pendant he had taken from Wang Lie and stored close to his body touched his skin. At that instant, the eyes of the ferocious tiger carved on its surface quietly lit with an almost imperceptible red glow before dimming again.
Meanwhile.
At the Wang Family Mansion in Qingyang City, a hundred li away from the Black Wind Mountain Range.
Inside a heavily guarded secret chamber.
Wang Zhan, the Wang Family Patriarch, sat cross-legged atop a meditation cushion.
On the table before him was a white jade disc one chi wide.
Seven or eight jade slips of varying sizes floated above the jade disc, each emitting a faint glow.
These were the Wang Family's core disciples' "Life Soul Jade Slips."
When a person lived, the jade slip shone.
When a person died, the jade slip shattered!
Suddenly!
Crack!
The crisp sound of breaking was especially ear-piercing in the silent secret chamber.
Wang Zhan abruptly opened his eyes, his sharp gaze instantly shooting toward the table.
One of the jade slips, engraved with the words "Wang Lie," had split down the middle. It had become two halves, and its glow had completely gone out.
"Lie'er!"
Wang Zhan's body jolted, and a terrifying aura erupted from within him!
The pressure of the Body Tempering Ninth Stage caused the air throughout the secret chamber to freeze solid!
His eyes turned blood-red as he stared fixedly at the shattered jade slip, his face filled with disbelief and towering fury.
"Who was it?! Who dared to kill my son?!"
He suddenly rose to his feet and grabbed another intact jade pendant from the table, one that emitted a blood-red glow.
Its design was identical to the one Chen Chen had taken from Wang Lie!
Wang Zhan poured his blood and qi into the jade pendant.
Hum!
The jade pendant gave a faint tremble, and a blurry map of light appeared on its surface. Upon that projection, a faint red dot was slowly moving.
"The Soul Chasing Jade... Good. Lie'er had the matching pendant on him."
An incomparably savage smile appeared on Wang Zhan's face.
"No matter who you are, no matter if you flee to the ends of the earth, I, Wang Zhan, swear that I will flay you alive, pull out your tendons, grind your bones to dust, and scatter your ashes!"
He put away the jade pendant and strode from the secret chamber. His voice rolled like thunder throughout the entire Wang Family Mansion.
"All guards! All elders! Assemble in the council hall immediately!"
An even greater storm was quietly brewing.
And Chen Chen, at the heart of that storm, still knew nothing of it.
He was heading ever deeper into the Black Wind Mountain Range.
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