Chapter 25: A Surge in Strength and the Lord-Class Green-Scaled Giant Python

This five-hundred-kilogram increase in strength was not Luo Feng’s greatest gain, however.

"The restlessness caused by the Essence of Flesh and Blood, combined with the slaughter of the Netherworld Blade technique, has accelerated my comprehension of the blade significantly!"

Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.

The Netherworld Blade was a technique naturally suited for improvement through combat and slaughter; he had never expected that the restless side effects of the Essence of Flesh and Blood would provide such a unique advantage.

"At this rate of comprehension, I will truly master the first level of the Netherworld Blade very soon!" Luo Feng gripped the hilt, his heart surging with excitement. Mastering each level of the Netherworld Blade increased his power output multiplier by twofold—a massive boost to his overall strength.

He had a premonition that by the time he returned to the base city, his strength would have undergone a earth-shattering transformation.

Luo Feng, who had previously been slightly anxious, now cast his worries aside completely and threw himself wholeheartedly into the impending battles.

...Time passed day by day.

In the outer reaches of Sector 003, ruined skyscrapers rose and fell across the landscape. The roars and movements of countless monsters echoed through the air.

A thousand meters above the ground, a figure hovered in flight. Looking closer, one could see the figure was standing upon a black shield.

Flying on a shield!

It was incredibly dashing!

Clad in a jet-black combat uniform, the man flying on the shield was none other than Luo Feng. He looked down at the ground, his eyes, sharper than those of a hawk, swiftly scanning for targets.

Six streaks of silver light circled him. Any avian monster that dared to approach within a hundred meters was instantly pierced through the brain by these silver streaks, which would then exit the body. Before the monster’s carcass could even hit the ground, it would vanish.

The danger in the sky was no less than on the ground; it was only because Luo Feng’s strength had increased so dramatically that he had the confidence to adopt such an aggressive combat strategy.

[Name]: Luo Feng
[Warrior Level]: Low-level Wargod (Entry-level) (Strength: 78,520 kg, Speed: 367.1 m/s)
[Spirit Reader Level]: High-level Wargod (Entry-level)
[Secret Techniques]: Netherworld Blade (First level mastered), Giant Elephant Secret Technique (Not yet initiated, first Giant Elephant particle is currently condensing.)
[Current Points]: 12,013

With the aid of the Essence of Flesh and Blood, Luo Feng’s physical fitness surged daily, with his strength increasing by several thousand kilograms each day—a rate of growth akin to a rocket launch.

As his physical fitness improved, the solid mental energy in his mind continuously melted into spiritual force, ensuring that his power remained two minor levels ahead of his warrior rank.

As a warrior, he was a Low-level Wargod; as a Spirit Reader, he was a High-level Wargod!

With the first level of the Netherworld Blade mastered, his power output multiplier reached two. Coupled with his blade technique, which had advanced from the entry-level of mastery to the peak of mastery, and his footwork, which had reached the peak of the microscopic level, Luo Feng’s strength had undergone a complete metamorphosis compared to just a dozen days ago.

However, Luo Feng could feel that the solid mental energy in his mind had already melted more than halfway. It would not be long before it was entirely liquefied. Once that happened, his spiritual power would have to be improved slowly through cultivation, just like his warrior strength, with no more shortcuts available.

"My points have reached over 12,000. I need to work harder and earn more," Luo Feng thought to himself.

In the past dozen days, he had killed over 100,000 soldier-level monsters and more than a hundred general-level monsters. His ability to slaughter so many was due to his advantage as a Spirit Reader. By simultaneously controlling twelve Seventh-Series throwing knives, he mowed down soldier and general-level monsters like grass; a flash of silver meant twelve monsters dead in an instant.

If not for his need to use the Netherworld Blade in close-quarters combat to refine his techniques, and if he had relied solely on his spiritual force to control the throwing knives, that number would have at least doubled.

This was the terrifying aspect of a Spirit Reader! At the very least, when dealing with cannon fodder far weaker than themselves, the killing efficiency of a Spirit Reader far surpassed that of a warrior. This was why every Spirit Reader on Earth was incredibly wealthy; it was simply much easier for them to make money than it was for warriors.

ROAR!

A heaven-shaking roar came from the distance. Luo Feng, flying high in the sky, suddenly froze, his sharp gaze sweeping toward the direction of the sound.

Through the gaps in the ruined skyscrapers, Luo Feng could faintly see a cloud of dust sweeping across the land some ten kilometers to the northeast.

This level of power could only be a lord-level monster, and one that was likely quite formidable among its peers!

"You're the one!" Luo Feng locked onto the target's location, his shield-flight transforming him into a streak of black light, with sonic booms trailing in his wake.

Had there been instruments to measure it, they would have shown that Luo Feng’s speed had surged to over six hundred meters per second. Supersonic flight!

...

In a dilapidated residential area, a squad of warriors fled in panic.

Behind them, within the billowing dust, a giant green-scaled python over two hundred meters long, its upright body towering like a skyscraper, glared with blood-red eyes. Enraged by the scent of the human warriors fleeing and moving rapidly away, the giant beast flew into a fury.

The giant python hissed toward the sky, its thick body slithering rapidly across the ground like a dragon. Any buildings or supermarket ruins that blocked its path were crushed into even finer rubble.

The python lashed its tail, sending a piece of building debris weighing dozens of tons flying like a toy. It struck the slowest member of the four-man squad—a lean youth who was a low-level Warlord—with the force of a cannonball. Before he could even react, he was crushed to death by the flying debris.

The massive impact caused the very ground to tremble.

"It's over, we're dead... we're dead! Aaaahhh!!"

The remaining three warriors glanced back. Seeing their teammate crushed like an ant and the lord-level green-scaled python closing to within two hundred meters—a distance it could bridge in an instant given its size and speed—they felt a wave of absolute despair.

"No, no, I won't die! As long as I make it back to the base city with this, everything will be worth it!!" The fastest of the three, a burly bald man, carried a large backpack. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was pushing his physical limits like a madman.

Through a gap in the top of the backpack, the contents were faintly visible: a giant snake egg covered in fine green scales.

There was no doubt that this squad had infuriated the terrifying lord-level green-scaled python precisely because they had stolen its egg.

The green-scaled python was among the top ten most powerful snake species; an adult could reach the level of a mid-level lord. The beast behind them was a fully mature specimen.

A single live green-scaled python egg could easily sell for over one billion Chinese yuan!

BOOM!

Another piece of building debris, the size of a house, flew like a cannonball, crashing beside the three of them. The massive shockwave threw them off balance, and the bald man carrying the egg nearly fell.

Suddenly, the sky in front of them went "dark."

The three looked up, watching in terrified despair as the giant snake head swung around to block their path. Its thick tail was still coiled behind them, sealing off every possible escape route. As far as their eyes could see, it was like a wall of green jade.

Hiss...

The green-scaled python flicked its scarlet tongue, its blood-red eyes—each larger than a chariot wheel—filled with murderous intent as it stared at the humans trapped within the coils of its body.

"Don't move! If you come any closer, I'll destroy this egg!!" The bald warrior held the backpack in front of him, his expression fierce and filled with a final, desperate madness.

General-level monsters already possessed significant intelligence, and lord-level monsters possessed intelligence comparable to humans, fully capable of understanding human speech.

Threatened by the human, the green-scaled python let out a frustrated hiss, longing to crush the three into bloody pulp instantly. But every time its gaze fell upon the egg in the human's arms, it was forced to restrain its violent temper.

The more powerful the monster, the harder it was to produce offspring.

For a moment, both human and monster stood in a standoff.

The bald warrior and the other man and woman saw a glimmer of hope amidst their despair.

"Captain, tell it we'll leave the egg behind if it lets us go!" the foreign man with the high nose bridge said, gasping for air. Although the egg was precious, it was not as valuable as his own life! He was a mid-level Warlord; earning tens of millions a year was easy for him, and as long as he was alive, there would always be opportunities to make money.

"Captain!" The other female warrior, who wielded a blade, looked at the captain with a grim expression.

Seeing his teammates ready to fight him to the death if he refused, the bald warrior was furious, yet he knew this was their only chance for survival.

Gritting his teeth, just as he was about to agree to his teammates' suggestion and communicate with the python that was staring them down, a streak of black light sliced through the sky at high speed, landing atop a nearby building dozens of meters high.

The landing, though occurring at a speed as terrifying as a meteorite, was silent and subtle.

But a split second later, the massive sonic boom that followed echoed across the entire area.

The green-scaled python and the three warriors had their attention instantly drawn to the disturbance.