The Guyinduo Soul Tree gave no response.
Or perhaps Xu Le's increasingly tranquil heart was already the best response.
Xu Le weighed the standard-issue longsword in his hand. He had never used a sword before.
But that was fine, he figured.
"If I'd had this thing as a kid, not a flower would've kept its head for miles."
Xu Le took a deep breath. Watching the Living Corpse's claws draw within inches of him, he whipped out his sword!
Clang!
Metal rang against metal at the blade's edge. Its sharpness sliced through muscle and joints, severing Xu Le's hand in a single stroke.
But the Living Corpse before him did not pause at all. Losing a hand seemed utterly insignificant to it.
Its other claw swept toward Xu Le again, but he could barely lift his sword-bearing right hand.
His entire arm was numb.
Even with the Veteran’s Soul's enhancement, his untrained body was no match for a Living Corpse.
That single collision had temporarily paralyzed Xu Le's arm.
It would probably take quite a while before he regained feeling in it.
Yet Xu Le remained perfectly calm. His impassive expression made him look certain of victory.
Several nearby students, including the girl Xu Le had rescued, were watching.
Seeing Xu Le cut off the Living Corpse's hand with one slash stunned them.
"Holy shit, this guy's a beast!"
"You've got this, man!"
"There's an Oddity! Come help!"
Some had stopped running and quietly rooted for Xu Le.
Others shouted loudly, wanting to rush over and help Xu Le.
They were only ordinary university students, but despite their panic, they had not backed down. Their words and cries reached Xu Le's ears.
Those words stirred a feeling in Xu Le that he could hardly put into words.
In Xu Le's previous life, certain incidents and certain people had made the world unbearably cold.
It had reached the point where even an elderly person who fell to the ground would be ignored.
That indifference distressed Xu Le, but he was powerless to change anything.
Here, however, things were different.
The people here, even the wealthy, privileged students of Upper City University, possessed the fiery spirit unique to the Dark Age.
Even without supernatural powers, they still dared to face this world's darkness and the things that terrified them.
They might have been weak, but they shone brightly.
For the first time, Xu Le felt that this dark world before him was pretty good.
"Everyone, stand back. I'm about to... kill the enemy. Ahem, don't get in my way."
Xu Le calmly took out the phosphorus fire, silently counted his steps, judged the distance, and threw it.
Bang!
Flames erupted, blasting a shower of gravel and sand into the Living Corpse's face.
The explosion was not particularly powerful, but at such close range, it was enough to burst the Living Corpse's eyes.
The Living Corpse, which had been rampaging unchecked, finally let out a scream.
Its steps faltered as it staggered backward.
Without its eyes, its ability to perceive its surroundings was clearly impaired. It began flailing its claws all around itself.
Xu Le retreated a few steps, moving out of its attack range.
But then the Living Corpse suddenly turned toward the girl.
Without sight, it naturally could not catch Xu Le, but its ability to sense fear had nothing to do with its eyes.
Xu Le looked the dazed girl up and down, then muttered:
"She calls me Xu Le so affectionately, but I don't even know who she is to me. If she's my girlfriend, then this... barely counts as a fair trade."
Shaking his head, he shouted:
"Run!"
Hearing Xu Le shout again, the girl seemed to regain a little clarity.
Xu Le's shout also drew the Living Corpse's attention.
It could no longer see, but it was not deaf.
The Oddity's instincts told it to eliminate Xu Le, the threat, first. It charged at him again.
"So fast!"
Xu Le shook his stiff right arm a little. It had not fully recovered.
He slowly drew a deep breath.
"Veteran’s Soul, alive even in death."
At that moment, Zhou Ke's military swordsmanship seemed to fully take hold of his body.
He gripped the sword with both hands, and the Guyinduo Soul Tree instantly absorbed all of Xu Le's panic and fear.
The unripe fear fruit on the tree ripened at that very moment.
The energy released by the ripened fruit gave Xu Le an unprecedented sense of mental clarity.
He seemed able to predict every possible move the Living Corpse might make and every path its attacks might take.
It'll drive its left claw into my heart, then bite through my neck. The whole process will take about 4.3 seconds. That's enough.
Xu Le thought of many ways to respond, and considering them took only a fleeting instant.
The Living Corpse was still a considerable distance away. In the time remaining, Xu Le could even consider the best way to kill it.
He gently closed his eyes and began to think.
What should I do? Got it.
Xu Le pondered for a long time, but to everyone else, he had merely blinked a little longer than usual.
He charged toward the Living Corpse as well, thrusting his iron sword straight ahead.
Compared with the Living Corpse, his strength was meager. Even with the Veteran’s Soul's enhancement, killing it through his own strength alone was almost impossible.
So he needed to borrow some force.
Where would that force come from?
The Living Corpse itself, of course.
The Living Corpse moved extremely fast, and that tremendous speed brought tremendous kinetic energy.
The force of Xu Le's charge, the thrust of his blade, and the Living Corpse's own momentum.
That head-on collision would be enough.
The fight unfolded so quickly that many people had yet to react.
As the two drew closer, only when Xu Le charged at the Living Corpse, facing death to seize a chance at life, did they finally realize what was happening.
How much courage did it take for an ordinary person to charge at an Oddity?
Shnk!
The iron sword plunged into its skull.
The Living Corpse's hard skull nearly bent the iron sword beyond use.
But their combined momentum was enough. In the end, the bent iron sword pierced through the Living Corpse's head.
At that same instant, Xu Le was knocked flying.
Thud!
He hit the ground hard, and Xu Le felt as though every bone in his body was about to shatter.
The Living Corpse's strength was truly absurd.
And this was only a level 1 Oddity. If it were stronger-even just level 2...
Xu Le could imagine what would happen if a monster like that charged into a crowd. It would be an outright massacre.
He thought how nice it would be to have a firearm.
Remembering how easily he had killed the Living Corpse last time, he realized that this time, he had pushed every advantage to its limit just to barely kill one.
The difference between the two spoke for itself.
Firearms were equally powerful, no matter the world!
"Phew. Looks like I won."
The Living Corpse's fall left many people stunned.
They were shocked not only by the Living Corpse's death, but also because Xu Le had displayed none of a supernatural being's powers.
"That guy... he really did it!"
"Yeah, he did it. He killed the Living Corpse."
"An ordinary person killed an Oddity without a gun?"
"He's incredible."
Though being watched and showered with praise felt good, Xu Le still thought they ought to be doing something else right now.
After all, he was a little thin-skinned. Having people surround him and lavish him with praise was rather embarrassing.
"It wasn't that impressive, really..."
"Xu Le." The girl crouched down in front of him.
From Xu Le's angle, he looked over.
Good lord!
Before you continue