Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Demon Beasts Really Deserve to Die
Inside the demon nest, the blazing sun hung high overhead.
Lu Zhan moved through the forest, searching for traces of demon beasts.
He could not help growing anxious. He glanced at the examination countdown.
1 hour 13 minutes.
In other words, aside from the two minutes it had taken him at the start to kill that wild boar, he had already spent a full fifteen minutes just searching for demon beasts.
During that time, he had also heard quite a few screams from other examinees. Clearly, some people had met with disaster.
The demon beasts here were not distributed evenly.
Fortunately, he had the system.
Perhaps this examination was not only testing strength and luck.
It was also testing whether the examinees could quickly locate demon beasts, whether they could accurately judge the gap between a demon beast’s strength and their own, and whether they could escape from a powerful demon beast...
All of those were hidden parts of the examination.
Suddenly, the system’s voice rang out.
[ Ding. Demon aura from a demon beast at the Fifth Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm has been detected nearby. Host, please be cautious. ]
Hearing that, Lu Zhan instead let out a sigh of relief in his heart.
“Finally. Damn it, after searching so long, I’ve finally found a demon beast suitable for hunting.”
Along the way, he had encountered three demon beasts.
But one was at the Ninth Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm, and another was at the Eighth Heaven. Those were not things he could provoke right now.
As for the third, it had only been at the First Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm, and he had casually killed it.
Although it had not given him any points, it had still provided 110 Slaughter Points.
As for this one before him, it was the fourth demon beast he had encountered.
And this one, he happened to recognize.
A Rock Giant Ape!
He had heard that this demon beast possessed immense strength and astonishing defense. Even martial artists of the same realm would fear it.
But even though Lu Zhan was only at the Fourth Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm, judging by its aura alone, he felt that this Rock Giant Ape was not beyond his ability to fight.
Most importantly, it was in the open while Lu Zhan was hidden in the dark. If he launched a sneak attack, he might have a chance to kill it in one strike.
That confidence came from the Longevity Saber.
The Longevity Saber was a spirit weapon rewarded by the system.
And each time it absorbed an enemy’s blood, it became even sharper.
With that thought, Lu Zhan no longer hesitated. He dove straight down from above the mountain valley.
The Longevity Saber flashed from its sheath.
A red glow instantly lit up the entire valley. Killing intent swept through it, staining the whole valley crimson.
“Die!”
The Longevity Saber slashed viciously toward the Rock Giant Ape’s neck.
Perhaps the Rock Giant Ape, which had been resting, sensed the approach of death. Its scarlet eyes suddenly widened.
Roar!
Its thick limbs exploded with force.
At the final critical moment, it actually managed to evade the slash aimed at its neck.
In the end, the blow landed on the Rock Giant Ape’s chest instead.
A tearing sound rang out.
Yet the razor-sharp Longevity Saber only cut a shallow bloody mark.
Lu Zhan was a little stunned.
He knew that the Rock Giant Ape’s weak point was its neck, and that the defense of the rest of its body was extremely high.
But was it not a little too absurdly high?
Then Lu Zhan grew angry.
“This damned beast really deserves to die. It actually dared to dodge? Isn’t that just lowering my hunting efficiency?”
“Damn you. You really deserve to die!”
The Rock Giant Ape howled in pain and instantly flew into a rage, smashing its enormous fist at Lu Zhan.
At that moment, Lu Zhan had just finished one slash and had no time to turn around, but with the Iron-Slaying Saber Art at the Mastery stage, he struck with a precise backward slash.
The Longevity Saber seemed to have grown eyes, landing exactly on the Rock Giant Ape’s fist.
Then he followed it with a sweeping kick that crashed into the Rock Giant Ape’s head.
It sent the creature, nearly three meters tall, flying more than ten meters away.
Only when it slammed into the cliff wall did it come to a stop.
At the same time, a streak of red light followed close behind and pierced straight through its throat.
“You tell me, couldn’t you have just died cleanly? You’d suffer less, and I’d waste less effort. It would’ve been better for everyone.”
Lu Zhan gave a cold snort.
When it came to stubborn demon beasts like this, only a heavy hand would do.
At the next moment, the system panel lit up.
[ Host has been detected killing a demon beast at the Fifth Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm across realms. Reward: 600 Slaughter Points (base Slaughter Points: 500 + bonus for cross-realm kill: 100) ]
[ The title First Showing of One’s Edge has been activated. Additional Slaughter Points gained: 60. ]
[ Current Slaughter Points: 770. ]
Lu Zhan checked the Martial Art section of his personal panel.
[ Martial Art: Iron-Slaying Saber Art (Mastery 90%) ]
There was still 10% left before it reached the Major Mastery stage, so Lu Zhan decisively said,
“System, continue deducing the Iron-Slaying Saber Art.”
Compared with continuing to raise his realm, Lu Zhan felt that bringing the Iron-Slaying Saber Art to Perfection first would be more worthwhile.
After all, if he only raised his realm while his saber art failed to keep up, then he would have a hard time bringing out the full strength of the Fifth Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm.
Of course, the most important reason was that Lu Zhan felt that if he reached the Fifth Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm, then killing demon beasts at the Fifth Heaven would only earn him 20 points.
That would not be worth it.
Better to wait until the Iron-Slaying Saber Art reached Perfection before raising his realm.
[ Ding! The Slaughter System is wholeheartedly at your service. ]
[ The host consumes 770 Slaughter Points to deduce the Iron-Slaying Saber Art. ]
[ No resources beneficial to cultivation have been detected. Entering an unceasing cultivation state... ]
[ Since your Iron-Slaying Saber Art has already reached the Mastery stage, cultivating it now comes naturally. ]
[ However, the farther a saber art progresses after reaching Mastery, the harder it becomes to comprehend. ]
[ You cannot help but wish someone could guide you, but unfortunately, you have no famous master to instruct you. ]
[ Without a famous master’s guidance, you can only bury yourself in bitter study. ]
[ You think to yourself that if the you inside the unceasing cultivation state works a little harder, then the you outside the system will gain a little more. ]
[ So you change your daily goal from one thousand saber swings a day to three thousand saber swings a day. ]
[ At last, Heaven does not fail the devoted. Three months later, your saber art grows sharper and sharper. One day, your Iron-Slaying Saber Art reaches Major Mastery (1%). ]
Looking at the words on the system panel, Lu Zhan stroked his chin and praised himself.
“As expected of me. I’m diligent and sensible indeed. Especially that line about working harder. It speaks straight to my heart.”
Then another thought occurred to him.
He was gifted by nature, and on top of that, he worked this hard. Add to that the system’s tiny, insignificant bit of help, so what was there to fear about reaching the summit of the martial path?
In a fine mood, Lu Zhan stared at the system panel.
[ After your Iron-Slaying Saber Art reaches Major Mastery, you feel that continued practice is unlikely to bring much further gain. ]
[ So you begin searching for a way to break through and raise your saber art to the Perfection stage. ]
[ One day, you see an old man teaching his disciple to forge iron. The old man says, “The hammer must be swung from the heart,” and you are suddenly enlightened. ]
[ You enter a state of epiphany... ]
[ Host is in epiphany... ]
[ Epiphany ended. Congratulations, host. You have comprehended the Iron-Slaying Saber Art at Perfection (+). ]
[ This cultivation session consumed 600 Slaughter Points in total. 170 Slaughter Points are refunded. Remaining Slaughter Points: 170. ]
Huh?!
Seeing this, Lu Zhan froze slightly.
“So the system can be used like this too.”
He had originally thought that the Iron-Slaying Saber Art would reach no more than Major Mastery. He had never expected one moment of epiphany to push it directly to Perfection.
But what did the plus sign after Iron-Slaying Saber Art at Perfection mean?
Could there be an even higher realm beyond Perfection?
The plus sign was gray, though, so Lu Zhan had no idea what it did.
He cautiously focused his mind on the plus sign, and to his surprise, there really was a prompt.
[ Would you like to consume Slaughter Points to deduce the Iron-Slaying Saber Art to the Entering the Divine stage? ]
[ Warning: insufficient Slaughter Points. Deduction cannot proceed. ]
Lu Zhan chose yes without the slightest hesitation, but the system immediately let out a harsh sound.
The Entering the Divine stage?!!
That should be a stage even higher than Perfection.
Which meant that martial techniques actually had six stages.
Beginner, Minor Mastery, Mastery, Major Mastery, Perfection, and Entering the Divine.
He just did not know why the authorities had never made the Entering the Divine stage public. Or perhaps even the authorities themselves were unaware of it.
He did not dwell on the matter.
At this moment, Lu Zhan’s eyes held only Slaughter Points. As for the examination, that was merely incidental.
But then another thought crossed his mind.
Exterminating demons not only earned points to pass the examination, but also provided Slaughter Points.
How should he put it? Perhaps this was what they called a win-win.
And an immensely satisfying win-win at that.
The corners of Lu Zhan’s lips lifted slightly.
“These demon beasts really deserve to die!”