God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 29: Stronger

Xingluo’s blade fell, and the massive bull’s head finally dropped onto the glowing grass.

The next moment, her body shone with a faint golden light, and a level-up notification rang inside her mind.

[Congratulations. You have reached Level 76.]

Seeing the panel, Xingluo sat down on the ground almost immediately, her chest rising and falling as a tired but foolish smile appeared on her face.

Shen Wuxia glanced at her once before floating toward the bull’s corpse and raising his hand.

Dark threads rose from the dead beast and gathered around his palm, draining the remaining soul power from its body before a system prompt appeared inside his mind.

[Soul Extraction successful.]

[Soul Soldier compatibility detected.]

Shen Wuxia chose yes without hesitation, and a bull-shaped Soul Soldier slowly rose from the corpse, its heavy body formed from dark soul power.

After confirming its condition, he stored it directly into the mark near Xingluo’s forehead.

That faint mark had already become the storage point for his Soul Soldiers, and after a week of hunting, he had gradually understood more about its function.

His current Soul Soldier count had reached ninety out of one hundred.

Even though they had killed many beasts during this week, not every elite beast could become a Soul Soldier.

Some corpses only gave Soul Power, some were compatible but too weak to waste a slot on, and some simply failed to form properly.

Because of that, Wuxia had started saving enough capacity for stronger beasts, he wanted to know whether mini-bosses and bosses could also become Soul Soldiers.

If they could, then filling all one hundred slots with ordinary elites would be a waste.

After storing the bull, Wuxia turned his gaze back toward Xingluo, who was still sitting on the ground with that dreamy smile on her face.

He appeared in front of her and looked at her quietly. "Why are you laughing like that?"

Xingluo immediately changed her expression and leaned back with a tired look. "When was I laughing? I am exhausted."

She placed one hand against her chest and continued with a serious face, "You barely let me rest this entire week, I am completely exhausted."

Shen Wuxia looked at her without speaking, he clearly remembered how she had almost gone mad from the massive experience gains after the first few hunts.

If other students in the city knew how much experience she had gained in one week, many of them would probably want to switch places with her even after hearing about the danger.

Most people grinding exhausted dungeons day and night for two months might not gain as much as she had gained here.

Seeing that Wuxia did not believe her act at all, Xingluo clicked her tongue and stood up from the ground.

"Fine," she said, stretching her sore arms. "Coming here was worth it."

Her gaze then moved toward the distant cliff area ahead, where the Moonless Black Panther had almost killed her when they first entered the dungeon.

After one week of hunting, they had returned near that place again and this time, Xingluo no longer looked as helpless as before.

Her level had risen, her movements had become sharper, and she had already adjusted to fighting inside the Dungeon.

She looked toward the cliff and narrowed her eyes slightly.

I am coming, you black little kitty.

Then she turned toward Wuxia and raised her sword. "Well, time for a big hunt."

Wuxia nodded calmly. "Do not get careless. That thing is still a Level 85 mini-boss with a Lord Bloodline."

"I know," Xingluo replied. "That is why I said big hunt."

Before moving forward, Wuxia summoned several Soul Soldiers from the mark on her forehead.

The bull-shaped Soul Soldier appeared first, followed by the Black Stone Armored Bear they had killed outside the dungeon and several wolf-shaped Soul Soldiers from the forest.

Their dark bodies formed quietly around Xingluo, giving off faint soul light that pushed back some of the darkness between the trees.

The Soul Soldiers could not replace proper visibility, but in this dungeon, they at least worked like moving lamps and early-warning guards.

With them around, it would be harder for the Panther to land another sudden ambush.

Xingluo moved forward carefully, while the Soul Soldiers spread around her in a loose formation.

The bull walked near the front, the bear stayed closer to Xingluo’s side, and the wolves moved between the glowing plants with their heads lowered.

For a long time, they found nothing, the cliff area was quiet, and even the smaller beasts nearby seemed to have disappeared.

Xingluo’s grip around her sword tightened slightly. "It knows we are here."

"Most likely," Wuxia said, his gaze moving across the upper rocks. "Do not only look ahead."

Just as his words fell, a deep roar came from above them.

Xingluo raised her head at once and saw the Moonless Black Panther standing on the same cliff where they had first appeared in the dungeon.

Its silver lines glowed faintly beneath the dark moon, and its pale eyes were locked directly onto her. The next instant, the Panther leapt down from the cliff. "Scatter," Wuxia ordered sharply.

Xingluo and the Soul Soldiers moved at once, but one wolf-shaped Soul Soldier was still a little too slow.

The Panther crashed down like a black streak, its claw tearing through the wolf’s body and erasing almost half of its soul form in one strike.

The damaged wolf staggered back, its body flickering heavily before dark soul power began filling the missing part again and in only a few breaths, the broken half of its body reformed.

Seeing this, Wuxia gave a small laugh, as long as he had enough soul strength the Soul Soldiers could regenerate after being damaged.

If needed, he could even burn weaker Soul Soldiers to maintain one stronger soldier during battle.

The Moonless Black Panther seemed to notice the regeneration as well, and its eyes changed slightly for the first time.

But the surprise only lasted for a moment, the Panther lowered its body and let out another roar, its pressure spreading across the glowing forest as the silver lines beneath its fur brightened.

Xingluo raised her longsword with both hands, while the bull, bear, and wolves slowly surrounded the beast from different sides.

Shen Wuxia floated beside her, his eyes cold as he connected his control to every Soul Soldier around them.

"Now," he said. "This time, we do not run."

The Moonless Black Panther vanished from the cliff ground again, and the fight began.

The Moonless Black Panther vanished from the cliff ground, and the next instant, three wolf-shaped Soul Soldiers were torn apart in the same line.

Their dark bodies scattered across the glowing grass before reforming, but the Panther had already changed direction and rushed toward Xingluo.

Xingluo raised her sword and stepped back, but the beast was faster than her eyes could fully follow.

Before its claw reached her chest, the Black Stone Armored Bear slammed into its side under Wuxia’s control and forced it away by half a step.

The Panther twisted its body in midair and landed without falling, its claws tearing several deep lines across the ground.

At the same time, the bull-shaped Soul Soldier charged from the front, while the wolves spread from both sides to cut off its retreat.

The Panther lowered its body and slipped under the bull’s horns, then kicked off the ground and tore through a wolf Soul Soldier’s head with one clean swipe.

Wuxia did not waste words. His eyes stayed fixed on the Panther as he controlled the Soul Soldiers to fill every gap around Xingluo.

The bear blocked the front, the bull pressured from the side, and the wolves kept biting toward its legs whenever it tried to rush past.

Even then, the Moonless Black Panther did not look trapped.

It moved between them with short bursts of speed, tearing through soul bodies and forcing Wuxia to keep repairing them again and again.

Xingluo watched the timing for a few breaths before rushing in when the bear forced the Panther to turn.

Her longsword cut toward its hind leg, but the beast shifted its weight at the last moment, and the blade only opened a shallow line across its fur.

The Panther’s tail whipped toward her side immediately, Xingluo barely raised her sword in time, but the strike still pushed her back several steps and numbed both her arms.

"Do not chase after one hit," Wuxia said sharply.

Xingluo clenched her teeth and steadied herself, while the bull Soul Soldier crashed into the Panther again and forced it toward a cluster of broken rocks.

Seeing the terrain, Wuxia’s gaze changed slightly, and the wolves moved at once without him saying another word.

They rushed the Panther from three sides, not to injure it, but to force its path toward the narrow space between the rocks.

The Panther seemed to notice something wrong and tried to leap away, but the bear slammed its paw down and blocked the escape route.

Xingluo seized that moment and stabbed toward its abdomen and this time, the blade sank in properly.

Black blood spilled down the Panther’s body, and its pale eyes finally turned fierce with real anger.

It roared and burst forward, tearing through two wolf Soul Soldiers before its claws struck Xingluo’s shoulder guard.

Wuxia forced the bear to intercept, while the bull lowered its head and slammed into the Panther’s wounded side.

The beast staggered for the first time, seeing this Xingluo’s eyes sharpened, and she stepped forward again, cutting toward the same wound before it could recover its stance.

But just as her sword was about to land, the silver lines under the Panther’s fur suddenly brightened, Wuxia’s expression changed at once. "Back!"

Xingluo reacted immediately and pulled her sword back, but the Panther’s body had already blurred. The beast in front of her scattered like a dark afterimage, and her blade cut through empty air.

For a breath, Xingluo did not understand what had happened and then a low growl sounded directly behind her as her body froze.

The Moonless Black Panther stood behind Xingluo, one claw already raised toward the back of her neck.

Even Shen Wuxia’s eyes tightened as his soul force moved, but for that instant, he could not decide whether to pull her body away or throw every Soul Soldier between them.