Chapter 17: Chapter 16: Tough Hide, Immense Strength
"Hmph?!" The dark figure in his arms let out a tentative grunt.
He Xiaotian: "..."
If he were holding a beautiful woman, he could have at least accepted it.
’But you’re some gruff-looking guy who’s clearly not normal. What’s the big idea, grunting at me like that?’
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The two-meter-tall, broad and brawny fellow quickly realized something was wrong.
He Xiaotian was gradually tightening his embrace, about to perform a legendary, bone-crushing bear hug.
"Hmph!!"
The grunt was filled with fury. At the same time, the butcher knife in its hand stabbed at his neck.
CLANG!
As the sound of metal on metal rang out, He Xiaotian unleashed his full strength in the same instant.
BOOM!
The burly man, who had been making pig-like sounds, was instantly snapped in half.
A spray of blood and gore splattered all over him.
Inside the slaughterhouse, the other nine dark figures, as well as Zhou Yun, were all frozen in shock.
Inner Strength surged from his Dantian, and the scorching heat radiating from him grew more intense.
His bare hands turned fiery red, glowing like branding irons.
[Ding! You have killed a Butcher and gained 100 Experience Points.]
Text flashed in the upper left corner of his vision.
[Experience Points: 150
Function: Scan
Martial Arts: *Fire-refined Golden Body* -/500+ (Minor Attainment: Lower Grade Scorched Earth. A casual strike can scorch the earth, boiling away all moisture and cracking the ground, leaving it barren and charred. Your body becomes as hard as iron, as if clad in steel armor, impervious to blades and axes. Your strength is massively increased, granting you the power of an ox.)]
’So I can get Experience Points not just from crystals, but also by killing these monsters called Butchers?’
A pleasant surprise!
He leaped into the workshop, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"I just want to ask one simple thing: how do you cure this madness?" He Xiaotian got straight to the point. "Or rather, how do you deal with that wisp of clinging, resentful energy inside the patient’s body?" His only reason for being here was to help his father recover. He had no other objective.
’Save the innocent?’
’You’ve got to be kidding me!’
’At best, I’m just a lucky guy, not some kind of savior.’
He was very clear on that point.
In other words, he knew his damn place.
"Kill the resentful entity lurking in this slaughterhouse. It’s about to evolve into a full-fledged monster." Zhao Lei had crawled out from a pile of pork at some point.
He looked pale. It seemed that kick from the burly man had really done a number on him.
"Don’t lie to me. I don’t care if you’re from a special task force; I’ll make you disappear without a trace."
He Xiaotian narrowed his eyes, glancing at Zhao Lei. He had no intention of being used as someone’s weapon.
’There are no cameras here anyway. If I really have to kill them both, I can just erase all traces of myself and pin everything on the anomalies in this slaughterhouse. Problem solved.’
"Don’t worry, we’re here to deal with the source of the ’biting’ incidents in Z County." Zhao Lei said, suppressing the searing pain in his gut. "We just didn’t expect it to evolve so quickly and spawn ten incredibly strong sub-entities."
He wouldn’t dare try to fool this mysterious man. He had seen that "maiden-crushing bear hug" with perfect clarity in the moonlight.
’I couldn’t even handle one of those two-meter-tall humans that had been transformed by resentful energy.’
’But this guy squeezed one into a bloody pulp with his bare hands.’
’Utterly terrifying!’
"Miss, can you temporarily bind these things?" He Xiaotian asked, looking at Zhou Yun and the reddish-brown liquid floating before her.
"I... I-I can." Hearing his words, Zhou Yun seemed to snap back to her senses and nodded repeatedly.
Although blocking the butcher knife’s strike had taken a lot out of her, she still had more than enough strength to help out by briefly restraining the remaining nine figures.
"Go."
As soon as he spoke, the reddish-brown liquid in front of Zhou Yun split into nine whips that shot toward the remaining nine dark figures.
"HMPH!!"
The pig-like grunts held boundless fury as they all moved to charge He Xiaotian.
But the moment they moved, they fell to the ground with a series of thuds.
The nine liquid whips had bound their feet tightly.
"Perfect chance!"
With a thunderous roar, he shot forward like a cannonball, rumbling toward the Butchers.
Just as the Butchers were getting to their feet, his crimson palm descended upon them.
BANG! BANG!
Two of the Butchers took a blow to the head and shattered instantly, like clods of dried earth.
Puffs of gray smoke billowed out from them before their bodies thudded back to the ground.
At that moment, the other seven butcher knives stabbed viciously at vital points all over his body.
He Xiaotian paid them no mind. ’You think that "body as hard as iron... impervious to blades and axes" part is just for show?’
’If they were holding chainsaws, I definitely wouldn’t have taken the hits head-on.’
’But just a butcher knife? Who are they kidding!’
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Sparks flew, but He Xiaotian was completely unaffected.
His arms, like a pair of iron hammers, swept out at the Butchers before him.
WHAM!
A flicker of fire even appeared in the air where his arms passed.
The seven towering Butchers were sent flying, their heads exploding on impact without a single drop of blood spilling.
It had all been instantly vaporized by the searing Inner Strength of his Fire-refined Golden Body!
"Whew!"
He Xiaotian took a sharp breath. That last attack had unleashed nearly all of his strength in a single instant.
He felt a bit drained at that moment.
Zhao Lei was dumbfounded.
’This...!’
’Is this an Adept?’
’No, that’s not right.’
’I’ve never heard of an Adept with super strength *and* a body as hard as iron.’
’I’m an Adept who can turn my body into steel, but my ability isn’t that well-developed.’
’I can only instantly transform vital spots like my throat, heart, the area over my heart on my back, and my groin into impenetrable steel.’
’The rest of my body is just covered in a thin layer of iron plating.’
’Otherwise, that Butcher with the knife wouldn’t have been able to take me out with a single kick.’
’But just now... how many vital points did those seven butcher knives hit?’
’Could he be a Dual Series Adept?’
’Wait, the mysterious man’s hands were glowing fiery red.’
’And when he shattered the skulls of those resentment-transformed humans, he seemed to have vaporized the blood and brains inside in the blink of an eye.’
’That proves he has a third ability.’
’My God, a Triple Series Adept?’
’I’ve never even heard of such a thing!’
He Xiaotian had no idea what wild theories were running through Zhao Lei’s head. If he did, he’d probably have laughed his ass off.
’With an imagination like that, he should be writing novels, not playing at saving the world.’
Right now, he was completely engrossed in the flood of notifications from his Experience Points system.
[Ding! You have killed a Butcher and gained 100 Experience Points.]
[...]
The message flashed nine times in a row.
His Experience Points jumped from 150 to 1050.
Jackpot!!
’Now I can upgrade my *Fire-refined Golden Body*, and the *Iron Sand Palm* I got from my cousin can finally go through the whole scan-and-upgrade process. All I have to do is kill the so-called ’source’ in this slaughterhouse, and Dad will go back to normal.’
’It’s a double blessing! A true double blessing!’
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