"Iron-Haired Sheep, Intermediate Beast Soldier Level, thirteen of them. No other monsters nearby. Safe to hunt."
After spotting the Iron-Haired Sheep, Li Xin cautiously circled the flock. Only after confirming there were no other monsters nearby did he decide to hunt them.
"Make it quick!"
Blood Shadow Battle Sword in hand, Li Xin charged like a cheetah.
"Baaa!!!!"
The Iron-Haired Sheep reacted quickly. At the sight of an approaching enemy, all thirteen turned in unison toward Li Xin.
The thirteen sheep immediately launched a frenzied charge at him, lowering their heads with their metallic horns pointed forward, like a massive steel plate studded with steel spikes crashing toward him.
Li Xin remained completely calm in the face of their charge. He danced through the flock as nimbly as a cat. Fierce as their charge seemed, they could not even touch his clothes.
Riiip!!
The battle sword in Li Xin's hand was peerlessly sharp, and his swordsmanship was incisive and lightning-fast.
The sheep charged as one, but as they rushed past Li Xin, their iron-hard wool was easily torn open. His battle sword sliced across every sheep's throat.
Their charge was fierce and fast, but once they had passed him, they all collapsed to the ground, blood instantly gushing from their throats.
"Intermediate Beast Soldier Level monsters aren't much of a challenge for me. After all, I'm already an Advanced Warrior, and I've mastered a power amplification that doubles my output."
Standing behind the flock, Li Xin slowly slid his battle sword back into its sheath.
Gulp!!
The Eternal Divine Brain robot emerged from hiding and walked over to the dead sheep. Its tail pierced an Iron-Haired Sheep through its wound, and in just one second, the sheep was drained dry, reduced to ashes.
In less than half a minute, all thirteen Iron-Haired Sheep had been drained dry.
"The energy from thirteen Intermediate Beast Soldier Level monsters doesn't even match that of one Elementary Beast General Level monster."
After checking the energy inside the Eternal Divine Furnace, Li Xin did not use it immediately. Instead, he continued on in search of more monsters.
As for monster materials, those from Intermediate Beast Soldier Level monsters were so cheap that he had no intention of collecting them and let them all be absorbed. Only materials from Advanced Beast Soldier Level or Elementary Beast General Level monsters were worth collecting.
"Keep going!"
The fight had barely drained his stamina. Li Xin continued onward, and before long, he did indeed encounter another pack of monsters.
"Black-Scaled Wolves, twenty-five by my count. All Advanced Beast Soldier Level. A little dangerous, but not too much. I can hunt them."
The Black-Scaled Wolves were covered in pitch-black scales as hard as steel, giving them formidable defenses.
Their tremendous speed also made them powerful even among Advanced Beast Soldier Level monsters. Combined with their tendency to live in packs, this made even many Elementary Warlords reluctant to provoke them.
"Awooo!!"
The Black-Scaled Wolves were extremely alert. Li Xin had barely made a move before they noticed him.
Baring their fangs, the Black-Scaled Wolves swiftly closed in around Li Xin with savage expressions. Wolf packs excelled at surrounding and overwhelming their prey, and these Black-Scaled Wolves were no exception.
"Firmament Step!"
The Black-Scaled Wolves were fast, and their claws were incredibly sharp, but Li Xin's reactions were faster still as the pack rushed him all at once.
Using the movement technique from the Heaven-Breaking Sword Technique, Li Xin dodged the claw attacks of the two leading Black-Scaled Wolves. He had already calculated exactly where and when each wolf's attack would land.
With Firmament Step, he could stroll effortlessly through the pack even while surrounded by twenty-five Black-Scaled Wolves.
"Heaven-Breaking Sword Technique!"
Amid the pack, Li Xin wielded the Heaven-Breaking Sword Technique with effortless ease. His battle sword flowed smoothly through the air, and every stroke claimed a Black-Scaled Wolf's life.
"Weak-point attack!"
This time, instead of attacking the monsters' necks as he had before, Li Xin targeted their anuses, eyes, ears, and other vulnerable spots unprotected by black scales.
He sought to achieve the greatest effect with the least force.
"Awooo!!!"
The Black-Scaled Wolves were somewhat more intelligent than the Iron-Haired Sheep. Seeing so many companions die in such a short time, the few remaining wolves fled in utter terror.
"How could I let my prey escape!"
The corners of Li Xin's mouth lifted slightly. Driving hard with his legs, he instantly accelerated and gave chase in one direction.
At the same time, he drew his other battle sword and hurled it in another direction, impaling the Black-Scaled Wolf that had fled the farthest.
"A nice haul!"
Once he had killed every Black-Scaled Wolf, the Eternal Divine Brain robot cleaned up, collecting a considerable amount of energy.
"There's enough energy now. Time to get stronger!"
Seeing that the energy in the Eternal Divine Furnace now exceeded what he had previously obtained from a single Elementary Beast General Level monster, Li Xin left the area and began using it to increase his strength.
"This feels so good!"
He placed the energy in his palm, and it spread from there throughout his body. The sensation of soaking in a hot spring returned, filling him with warmth and a comfort like returning to his mother's womb.
His strength steadily rose in the process, advancing from Advanced Warrior to Elementary Warlord.
"Aaaah!!!!"
Just then, however, an unimaginably terrible pain exploded inside his head, as though countless steel spikes were being driven continuously into his entire skull.
The sudden, excruciating pain forced him down onto one knee. He clutched his head tightly with both hands, even pounding it repeatedly in an attempt to lessen the agony.
At the same time, a powerful, mysterious force surged from his mind and spread throughout his body, into his blood, bone marrow, internal organs, and more.
As this energy washed through him, his entire body underwent drastic changes, all of them making him stronger.
But these changes were too violent and too fast, tens or even hundreds of times faster than the improvements brought by absorbing energy from the Eternal Divine Furnace.
His whole body turned red, and countless discarded cells and genes were expelled through his pores along with sweat and blood.
The bulging veins all over Li Xin's body looked like green snakes coiling around him, and he convulsed uncontrollably.
Had the Eternal Divine Brain not kept his mind clear, he would likely have already lost consciousness and collapsed.
This is a sign of spiritual force awakening!
These sudden symptoms made him think of a spiritual force awakening. He had assumed he possessed no talent for spiritual force, yet the moment his body reached the Elementary Warlord level, it had awakened-and so abruptly.
Breaking through from Warrior to Warlord was normally easy and uneventful, which was why he had dared to absorb the energy and break through right here.
But who could have imagined that his spiritual force would awaken!
Before you continue