I Had to Get Stronger

On a mountain path.

"Damn it, how could that guy be so sneaky?" Wang Ziyan kicked the wildflowers beside the path, cursing angrily.

She could swear to heaven that she had never met anyone like him in her life.

Wang Shufeng sighed. His heart ached a little, but he still said calmly, "Forget it. Completing the clan's mission was already a good thing. Losing a little wealth is nothing. As a young lady of the clan, are you short of such things?"

"No, I just can't swallow this anger," Wang Ziyan said. She did not care about that little bit of wealth, but her young lady's temper could not tolerate being extorted like this.

Behind them, Wang Teng carried the corpse on his back and complained, "That guy was way too ruthless. He smashed the corpse up like this! I'll definitely have to give myself a good wash when we get back. This is disgusting."

Qing Mang, now a corpse, had been smashed by Lin Fan until he was a truly unbearable sight, so disgusting it was horrifying.

But since he had the lowest standing among them, he could only carry the corpse. Still, he had made a mental note of Lin Fan. Killing the man was one thing, but hammering him into this state? He really had no sense of public decency.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan hummed a little tune, feeling quite good. He had quietly noticed that his standing within the team was gradually rising.

Even the looks his senior brothers gave him had changed somewhat.

This was the regard and respect given to the strong.

Still, this trip had truly yielded a bumper harvest. Whatever the others had gained, he had certainly made a profit.

It had also proven one thing: from now on, he could rely on demonic beasts as a source of points.

He was not some deranged killer who murdered people at random. If hacking people to death were the only way to earn points, his kind heart would definitely be corrupted.

Several days later.

The Flame Magnificence Sect.

Lin Fan and the others returned to the sect and breathed sighs of relief. Everyone had been cautious throughout the journey. After all, none of them knew what might happen.

Of course, Lin Fan had nothing to fear. He had grown full of himself by now and had never known the meaning of danger. At worst, the other party would kill him, and ten seconds later, he would be a fine fellow again.

"We're finally back at the sect." Zhang Long sighed, then said, "Brothers, let's turn in the mission and collect our rewards."

Everyone was very excited as well. They had gone out for precisely this moment. Besides, without Junior Brother Lin, they would probably have faced certain death this time.

They had never expected Qing Mang's cultivation to have reached the Body Tempering Ninth Layer. That strength could crush them.

They also found that Junior Brother Lin was becoming somewhat mysterious. They did not know exactly what level his cultivation had reached, but they did not press him. Everyone had their own secrets. Why ask so many questions?

"Senior brothers, go turn in the mission. I'll head back first. Once you've divided up the rewards, just bring me my share." Lin Fan no longer cared much about the rewards.

I'm rich now. Why would I still care about this stuff?

After Lin Fan left, Lü Qiming looked at the others. "Let's not tell anyone about this."

Yin Xiaotian nodded. "The person who suddenly appeared and ambushed us should have been Liu Feng."

Nobody said much more. They all understood. If this matter leaked, it would be trouble in the end.

Liu Feng was a first-class outer disciple. If the sect learned that Junior Brother Lin had killed Liu Feng, things might turn out badly, so keeping this matter buried in their hearts was best.

Inside his room.

Lin Fan took out everything he had looted. After taking inventory, he was very satisfied.

One bottle of Human Grade, Low Rank pills.

Two bottles of Human Grade, Middle Rank pills.

One bottle of Human Grade, High Rank pills.

There was even a Mystic Grade, Middle Rank pill.

He would set everything else aside and swallow them first to rack up some Hard Cultivation Points.

Other disciples could never take all their pills at once, but Lin Fan had no such concerns. Once he refined the pills, their medicinal potency would turn into Hard Cultivation Points.

Now, pills below Human Grade, Middle Rank could barely increase Lin Fan's Hard Cultivation Points, but even the smallest mosquito was still meat.

He opened all the bottles and poured every pill into his mouth in one go.

He circulated his cultivation technique and tempered his body.

A torrent instantly erupted within his previously calm body. The medicinal potency had been unleashed.

If any disciples had been watching, they would definitely have been dumbfounded. Did this guy have a death wish? They only dared to swallow pills one at a time. How could they dare take them like this?

Such violent medicinal potency could very well damage the body, even leaving hidden injuries that were difficult to heal.

Lin Fan felt fantastic. This kind of increase was the most exhilarating of all.

A massive surge!

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Fan opened his eyes, his face lighting up with excitement and delight.

He checked his panel.

Name: Lin Fan.

Cultivation: Eighth Level of Body Tempering (+)

Hard Cultivation Points: 60250.

Points: 340.

Talent: Undying Body.

Draws: Bronze (100), Silver (300), further options locked.

"Not bad, not bad. Very good."

He was very satisfied with this increase, but he was still quite far from raising his cultivation. He needed to keep working hard.

As for his points, he still had too few for now. He had to save up some more and go big at the end.

Then he took out the Mystic Grade, Low Rank sword technique he had looted, admired it briefly, and tossed it into his storage ring.

He could not cultivate it yet. Besides, even if he did, it would be fucking useless. His Violent Wolf-Fang Club might not be high in grade, but it had violence going for it.

As long as he was strong enough, a single blow would take his opponent's life.

What left Lin Fan somewhat dissatisfied, however, was the Proud Bone Body Tempering Art. He suddenly felt that the words "Proud Bone" did not quite suit him.

It was a little too chuuni and not imposing enough. He had to keep experimenting. He definitely had to create an even more badass cultivation technique.

He took out his little notebook of records and studied it carefully.

"So I've already experimented this far. Then I'll keep experimenting." Lin Fan had an obsession with cultivation: whenever he had time, he had to devote all of it to cultivating.

As for resting and such, forget it. Without cultivating, how would he be any different from a salted fish?

He circulated along a different route.

Before long.

He suddenly felt that something was wrong with his body. His blood and Qi had gone completely awry, and it felt like he was suffering Qi deviation.

Without another word, Lin Fan took a longsword straight out of his storage ring and stabbed himself.

At a time like this, there was no need to waste time. If it did not work, he would start over. Suicide was no big deal.

Hard Cultivation Points +10.

After waking ten seconds later, he continued cultivating.

Lin Fan was now full of vigor and utterly fearless. The longsword lay right in front of him. If anything went wrong, he would stab himself.

Suddenly, the blank page of the Human-Grade Cultivation Technique Creation Guide changed again, gaining another line of text.

"Bronze Iron Body Tempering Art: strengthens the physical body, Hard Cultivation Points +1."

"Human Grade, Low Rank."

"Holy shit, it can actually fucking go backward? Fuck your sister."

Lin Fan no longer had the strength to complain. He simply ignored it. No matter what, he had to take his cultivation technique a step further.