Flesh and blood splattered across the ground, a pungent stench assailing the senses. Soon, however, the scattered gore hissed and crackled, shriveling in the blink of an eye into a handful of black ash. A gust of wind blowing through the alley scattered the ash into the air.
Only a few stains of watery blood remained on the ground, rapidly drying until they were nothing more than faint speckles.
*Spiritual qi is extraordinarily thin in this world, making profound Daoist cultivation difficult, yet the power of qi and blood faces few restrictions...*
*Moreover, the nature of this world is quite peculiar. The instant I descended, I drew upon the power of my Dao-integration avatar in the Earth Immortal Realm to quickly scan this realm, only to discover that while it is an expansive cosmos of starry skies, the only true physical entity is this single planet. The boundless sea of stars beyond it is completely hollow.*
*It is as though the entire origin of this universe were gathered within this one planet.*
*And beyond the planet, there are faint traces of several chaotic, immensely powerful auras—likely at the level of ninth-rank Golden Immortals. Are those the so-called evil gods?*
In the alley, Huang Tian, who had just descended, was deep in thought when an illusory line of text suddenly appeared before his eyes:
[Potential Points: 1]
*Hmm? A golden finger? Has my supernatural ability changed? No, this isn't my golden finger—it was granted to the original host by the Heavenly Dao of this world!*
He realized the truth. The original host was indeed the destined savior of the world, like a child of fortune or a worldly protagonist! But if that were the case, why had he been killed by this monster before he could even rise?
He pondered carefully, and a guess formed in his mind. *Perhaps it was because of me. My observation caused his fate to shift. Observation itself is a form of power...*
Having roughly grasped the cause and effect, he focused his attention on the potential point. With a single thought, the number changed from 1 to 0. An instant later, a surge of warmth welled up within him, coursing through his limbs and bones. It felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring as his body gently underwent a metamorphosis.
About half a minute later, the transformation ceased. He clenched his fist and swung it lightly, producing shrill whistles of torn air.
*Only a wisp of my spiritual consciousness descended, carrying very little power. This simple attribute addition made me noticeably stronger. Not bad.*
He glanced at the faint traces of blood left on the ground. *This monster was probably a kin or minion of the evil gods. Slaying them grants me potential points to continuously grow stronger. Therefore, my top priority is to find them and kill them!*
As for how to find them...
He silently sensed his own body and keenly detected a lingering smudge of murky aura. It had clung to him after he killed the monster. Dispelling it would not be difficult, but why bother?
*If I cannot find the mountain, I will let the mountain come to me.*
*Unfortunately, it isn't convenient for my Dao-integration avatar to act directly. Otherwise, these monsters would have nowhere to hide. That single scan when descending earlier almost alerted the host of evil gods.*
*If I were to strike across endless time and space again, I would certainly be discovered. I do not fear clashing with them, but doing so would likely trigger a chain reaction, robbing this avatar of time to develop.*
*For me, the most important thing is to empower this body, then return to my true body to enhance its origin.*
Although he could not rely on his Dao-integration avatar in the Earth Immortal Realm for the time being, he was not worried. At his realm of comprehension, looking down from a commanding height, his cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds. What was more, with the golden finger bestowed by this world's Heavenly Dao, it was like adding wings to a tiger.
*Besides slaying monsters to gain potential points, I can also spend money to buy precious medicinal herbs to speed up my cultivation and bolster my qi and blood.*
With these thoughts in mind, he walked unhurriedly out of the alley toward the nearest subway station.
About an hour later, he had taken the subway back to Baidi University. Baidi University was the foremost comprehensive university in Baidi City and was reasonably well known even throughout the Yangbai Federation.
Graduates from Baidi University could generally find respectable jobs within the state. It was just that the original host had not wanted to remain in this state, which made his job search far more difficult.
Baidi City, Talin State, Yangbai Federation—a nation somewhat resembling America on Blue Star.
With information about the Yangbai Federation surfacing in his mind, he walked into the student dormitory, headed up to the second floor, and pushed open the door to Room 201.
The room was empty. His only roommate, Fang Yun, was still hanging out off-campus and usually only came back once every several days to sleep—classes were basically over now, and aside from finishing their graduation theses, students were free to do whatever they pleased.
"Just as well. Living alone makes it easier to cultivate. If he were here, it would bring plenty of trouble."
Sitting down on a chair, he pulled out his phone and searched for large medicinal herb markets and pharmacies near the university. After browsing for a while and getting a good grasp of the situation, he calculated his total net worth.
"The original host's parents are both deceased, leaving behind a little over three hundred thousand and a house in his hometown. The house won't sell quickly, nor can it fetch a high price. Besides, going back to take care of all the paperwork would take at least a month or two. That's too long and troublesome. Still, money is necessary, and three hundred thousand isn't quite enough. So, how do I get more cash?"
He searched online for quick ways to make money. When he saw an advertisement for predatory online loans, his eyes suddenly lit up. "If I don't have money, I can just borrow it! There are plenty of loan sharks in the Yangbai Federation. Why not just borrow directly? With my status as a student of Baidi University, taking a bit from each platform should easily net two to three hundred thousand..."
As for paying it back?
*Why should I pay back what I borrowed with my own ability?*
*If you have the guts, come collect—I'd love to see just how shady these loan sharks really are!*
He downloaded a dozen or so predatory loan apps, opened them, entered his identity details, then blinked, opened his mouth, and shook his head for facial recognition.
*Ding-dong—*
*Ding-dong—*
*Ding-dong—*
Loan disbursements arrived in his account one after another.
Ten or so minutes later, looking at the nearly four hundred thousand in borrowed funds added to his phone balance, Huang Tian felt satisfied.
"Now, let's look up this world's supernatural system online and see if I can find any useful information..."
He opened a search engine and entered keywords like "monsters," "man-eating monsters," "evil gods," "espers," and "martial artists."
"Just as expected, there are only fragmented snippets online..."
After multiple searches, he only managed to glean a few tidbits about martial artists. Throughout the cities and states of the Yangbai Federation, martial arts halls of various sizes were established, and their instructors were at least fourth-dan martial artists—in the Yangbai Federation, martial artists were ranked from first to sixth dan through examinations, with sixth dan being the highest.
However, he also saw a post claiming that true martial artists existed only above sixth dan—the First Transformation, Second Transformation, and Third Transformation of qi and blood!
The so-called dan ranks were just for laymen joining in the fun; anyone who couldn't cultivate qi and blood didn't even deserve to be called a martial artist.
"What level am I at right now?" he mused. "There's too little useful information online to judge accurately, but I should be at least at the First Transformation. After all, I killed that monster rather easily..."
With a rough estimate of his own strength, he put down his phone and began circulating his qi and blood in the room.
The next morning, he left the campus and headed straight to the herb market he had scouted the day before. Aside from keeping a month's worth of food money, he spent every single cent to purchase a large bag of medicinal pills that nourished qi and blood. Returning to the apartment, he ingested them directly.
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.
*Whoosh—*
Exhaling a blast of scorching air, Huang Tian slowly drew back from his stance as the qi and blood within him gradually settled.
"Seven days, and the pills are completely exhausted. My strength has risen by another level... Unfortunately, the faction behind that monster hasn't come looking for trouble yet. However, I've already found where they live."
He walked over to the desk, picked up a glass, and took a sip of warm water. Following a black voice line with his gaze, a scene appeared before his eyes:
In a detached villa on the outskirts of Baidi City, three people sat facing one another in the living room.
A young man with only one ear spoke up: "I've found the person who killed the blood beast last time."
"Who is it? Which style does he belong to, or is he from the government?" asked a middle-aged man in a trench coat.
The one-eared young man answered, "Neither. He's a student at Baidi University named Huang Tian. I checked thoroughly; he has no official or martial sect background."
A woman with faintly red pupils asked in disbelief, "A college student could kill a blood beast?"
Although blood beasts were negligible creatures that any martial artist at the First Transformation of qi and blood could deal with, ordinary humans encountering one had only death awaiting them.
The one-eared young man replied, "I was puzzled at first too, but the lingering scent of the blood beast on him doesn't lie. It's practically certain that it was him."
The trench-coated man asked, "When you investigated him, did you notice anyone from the authorities protecting him?"
"No," the one-eared young man shook his head.
The trench-coated man's expression turned solemn. "It seems he is definitely no ordinary person, and he's quite confident, showing little fear of us."
"Then do we strike back?" the one-eared young man asked.
The trench-coated man pondered for a moment and shook his head. "No rush. Investigate his background further. For him to be this confident, he must have something to rely on."
"Understood," the one-eared young man responded.
*Whoosh—*
Huang Tian withdrew his gaze, and the vision cut off.
"You may be fraught with misgivings, but I have none."
Having finished the warm water, he set down the glass, tidied up slightly, and was about to head out when the door creaked open. A young man of average height with a pale complexion walked in.
It was his roommate, Fang Yun.
"Huang Tian, you're heading out? Huh, haven't seen you in a few days, how'd you get so buff?!" Fang Yun's eyes widened. He walked over, eyeing Huang Tian up and down, feeling that Huang Tian was noticeably bulkier and had a completely rejuvenated vigor compared to their last meeting.
"I've been working out pretty hard these past few days."
"A few days of working out gives results like that?" Fang Yun was stunned, muttering, "Guess I should try it some day too. Lately I've been feeling weaker and weaker—*cough, cough*—more and more drained..."
Huang Tian didn't take the bait, only saying, "I'm heading out. I might not come back tonight."
"Holy crap, you're staying out all night like me now? You're not sneaking off to make babies, are you? Hehe~"
"It does involve people."
Dropping that remark, Huang Tian walked out the door and headed downstairs.
"Involves people?" Fang Yun scratched his head. "If it's not making people, what else could it be?"
Walking out of the university gates, Huang Tian hailed a taxi and headed straight for the outskirts of the city.
About forty minutes later, the car pulled over on a relatively secluded road.
Having paid the fare, Huang Tian stepped out of the car. Glancing around, he confirmed his bearings and walked north at an unhurried pace.
After five or six minutes, a small white villa came into view.
In the villa's courtyard, a chained-up vicious dog immediately barked furiously upon seeing a stranger approach.
Huang Tian swept a glance over it, and the hound instantly tucked its tail and whined. However, the three people inside the villa had already heard the commotion and walked out in brisk steps.
"Huang Tian?!" the one-eared young man gasped in shock.
Hearing this, both the trench-coated man and the red-eyed woman looked on with suspicious disbelief.
"Wuuu—" The red-eyed woman quickly glanced behind Huang Tian. Seeing no one else, she felt a slight wave of relief while emitting an eerie sound from her mouth.
The next moment, six humanoid monsters surged out of the villa. Their entire bodies were wrapped in black overcoats, exposing only their faces, with eerie green eyes and saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths.
"Is that all?"
Huang Tian furrowed his brows slightly. Then, his right foot kicked off the ground with tremendous force, sending dirt blasting in all directions. He shot forward like an artillery shell, his fist wind howling so violently that it ripped a visible white shockwave through the air!
*Boom!*
A lightning-fast punch struck square against the chest of a blood beast, blasting a gaping hole through its torso. With a pivot of his feet, his palms and fists blurred. In the mere blink of an eye, the six blood beasts were blasted into flying gore, collapsing to the ground and disintegrating into black ash.
[Potential Points: 6]
"How is this possible?!" The red-eyed woman looked terrified. "Second Transformation of Qi and Blood?!"
"Kill him!" Despite the shock jolting through his heart, the trench-coated man roared an order. Facing a powerful opponent, fleeing was no option; they had to meet force with force.
Yet no sooner had the words left his mouth than Huang Tian crossed the distance in a single stride, a ferocious slap hurtling directly toward his face!
*Splat—*
The horror-twisted face, along with the skull, shattered instantly like a watermelon struck by a sledgehammer. Red and white sprayed everywhere. Only a headless corpse swayed for a moment before crumpling heavily to the ground.
[Potential Points: 8]
After killing the trench-coated man, Huang Tian turned his gaze upon the stunned one-eared young man and the red-eyed woman. "Tell me, where are your superiors?"
The air fell dead silent.
"Y-You... The Feast Lord shall ultimately descend upon this world and devour everything! I shall attain eternal life in the flesh feast!" the one-eared young man suddenly screamed in fanaticism.
*Bang!*
Another punch, and another headless corpse hit the ground.
"He wouldn't talk, so you will," Huang Tian said, looking at the trembling red-eyed woman.
"F-Feast Lord..."
"Hmm?"
"I-If I talk, will you let me go?" The red-eyed woman gave a tragic laugh. "No, you won't. Hahaha!"
She clawed at her own face with both hands, blood dripping into her mouth as she shrieked fanatically, "Feast Lord—"
*Boom!*
A fist crashed down, bursting her head apart. The headless corpse stiffened momentarily, wobbled, and collapsed with a thud, blood splattering all over the ground.
[Potential Points: 12]
Having killed the three without expression, Huang Tian focused his thought. The potential points instantly dropped to zero, and a surging wave of heat coursed through his body. His qi and blood rushed like a surging stream, while wisps of white vapor steamed from his skin.
*Whoosh—*
A minute later, he slowly exhaled a breath of hot air. "Another breakthrough. Now I'm at the Third Transformation of Qi and Blood."
A smile appeared on his face as he stepped into the villa. A short while later, he emerged carrying a black bag packed with gold and cash, totaling roughly two million in value.
"A worthwhile trip. My strength grew, and I got money too."
His gaze swept across the three blood-soaked corpses on the ground, then around the surroundings.
Secluded.
This place was far too secluded.
Outsiders would practically never stumble upon it, so the ones to discover these three corpses first would almost certainly be fellow devotees of the Feast Lord.
In that case...
He chuckled softly and wrote two characters on the ground: "Huang Tian."
"I'll be waiting for the ones behind you to speak my name..."
Chapter 210