Chapter 255

The battle ended so quickly it defied everyone's expectations.

The short-haired woman and Watermelon Head stared dumbly at Pompeii, twisted into a pretzel, their mouths unconsciously agape in shock and amazement.

Accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, that High-level Servant's blood gushed out like a wrung-out towel, soaking the scorched black earth.

The powerful vitality of the Professional Level stage kept it from dying instantly.

"Heh heh..."

Pompeii breathed with difficulty, its eyes holding shock and bewilderment.

Until the very moment its life reached its end, it never understood.

How did Qin Shi cross the threshold from "ingredient" to become a "Predator"?

This feeling was extremely baffling and unacceptable.

Like a turkey originally destined for the plate suddenly transforming into a devilish muscular creature, slapping the diner's head off with one palm.

Unexpected to the point of absurdity!

"Aside from defense, the intensity in other aspects is average."

As the victor, Qin Shi gave what he considered a fair evaluation.

Although the Perfect Grade Electric Shock Military Saber couldn't break Pompeii's tough body surface, the Old Martial Arts school specializes in Qi Jin, using strength to strike strength, using a point to break a surface — it's their specialty.

No matter how hard the skin akin to black armor, the internal organs and tissues inside couldn't help but be fragile.

"Able to block nearly four hundred basic attacks with your physical body, you have enough to be proud of."

Qin Shi waved his hand lightly, as if brushing off dust.

The demonic body below the neck, like exquisite porcelain struck by a giant hammer, "Bang" exploded!

Flesh and blood collapsed and disintegrated, like powder, scattering everywhere, blown away by the scorching hot airflow!

Hum!

The Perfect Core constituting the field suddenly trembled, as if a great net catching a giant whale tightened, seizing some extraordinary substance from the dead Pompeii.

Having thrown hundreds of punches, Qin Shi, with considerable physical exertion, couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

In Inner Vision State, he saw his mortal body's hundred bones like a magnificent palace, snow-white bones like beams and pillars supporting flawless, full flesh inch by inch.

"Eh, I leveled up again?"

Qin Shi was puzzled; just defeating an opponent like Pompeii made him cross the threshold of the Fifth Great Limit?

The breakthrough was too simple.

Before he could figure out the reason, the Stele Panel floated up with lines of flowing text.

【You have absorbed new material】

【Super Digestion】

【Fuse?】

"The Perfect Core actually has this kind of use. Turning the loser's 'Trait' for one's own use? No wonder I put in so much effort, settling for months."

Qin Shi froze for a moment, slowly digesting the information.

After stepping into the Professional Level, his perception of himself and the outside world had been strengthened to an extremely terrifying degree.

Even cell division and energy conversion could be grasped, achieving extremely precise interference operations.

So, when Pompeii was smashed to pieces by Qi Jin, Qin Shi clearly perceived that at the moment of its thorough death, a wisp of dim radiance attached itself to him.

He raised his hand to look, and sure enough, scale-like traces appeared in his palm.

"The Human-Faced Spider Clan's 'Curse'."

When Qin Shi stepped out of the battlefield, the short-haired woman also noticed, her facial color changing slightly as she said:

"High-level Servants, especially demonic descendants with high bloodline levels, can release a 'Spiritual Field Imprint' that is difficult to erase.

As long as the 'hateful culprit' who killed them appears within the Nest Range, it will trigger the clan's sensing."

So it's putting a mark on me?

Qin Shi didn't care much; a major benefit of condensing a Perfect Core is that its own trait can produce a fusion effect with other Professional Level fields.

If willing, he could instantly fuse the "Super Digestion" Pompeii contributed for free into himself, making it nourishment.

"Keep it for now."

Qin Shi lifted his eyelids, his gaze calm; he didn't mind acting as a "Branded Warrior" once, even rather looking forward to the Human-Faced Spiders continuously sending revenge armies to surround and suppress him.

Free points delivery, warmly welcome!

After all, aside from being a new recruit of the Yellow Spring Training Camp needing to complete exploration missions, he was also a contestant in the Star Cup Youth Group.

And eliminating Vassal Creatures can also accumulate points!

Although it can't compare to participating in a Large-scale Campaign and influencing the battle situation effectively.

But Qin Shi has never aimed too high; he has always adhered to the principle that even a mosquito is meat no matter how small.

Wanting to catch up to Yu Li in first place isn't that easy; relying on just a few instances of dealing with Strong Enemies is far from enough.

"Rice must be eaten mouthful by mouthful, the road must be walked step by step."

Qin Shi shrugged his shoulders; getting the qualification to the Ancient Heavenly Road early on is enough.

Unless it's a Demon King-level like Qi Wuxiang with overwhelming dominance, the vast majority of Star Cup contestants all take the steady accumulation and late blooming development route.

Having killed Pompeii who delivered himself to the door, the Three Stages Amplification Posture was lifted, Qin Shi looked at High Robe:

"How many supplies do we have left? Take out one-third of the Energy Liquid."

High Robe was honest and obedient, taking out eight cans from the Tactical Backpack and handing them to Qin Shi.

No matter how slow-witted he was, he should understand this Brother Qin is absolutely not some Amateur Level rookie recruit.

Single-handedly wiping out the Xu Kong Beast herd at the Transformer Station, then dueling a High-level Servant Human-Faced Spider with a saber, twisting it alive into a pretzel.

This kind of baffling, astonishing performance made High Robe thoroughly, completely convinced.

Even if Qin Shi told him that he was actually a retired Soldier King, carrying out secret missions, and lurking in the Huangquan Training Camp.

Even Gao Pao would believe it!

"In a while, the Lower Servants of the Human-faced Spider, and other Vassal Creature groups driven by the Black Moon Tide, should all surround us."

Qin Shi gradually adapted to being squad commander, and after serious analysis, issued orders:

"You two are responsible for cleaning them up; Xiao Gao can follow and provide assistance. As for Xiao Zhao, stay here and set up sentries."

The short-haired woman said little, taking Watermelon Head and wielding her Double Blades, charging toward the dense black tide shifting over the distant horizon.

"That Human-faced Spider's High-level Servant had its flesh and blood destroyed by me, but its Jointed Limbs should remain on the battlefield and can be collected as samples."

Qin Shi also told Zhao Su that cleaning the battlefield was an important lesson, and the Huangquan Camp had provided special training for it.

In fact, the main task of new recruits from the Three Major Training Camps was to do this kind of work.

In just a few short months, it was far from enough to train rookies into qualified combat units.

"Got it! Hit!"

Zhao Su blurted out in response, mixed with a trace of a rural accent.

After getting along for this period, Qin Shi had already figured out the "backgrounds" of most members of the Huangquan Training Camp.

Gao Pao was more or less like Cheng Ze of Old Factory Street, if not for the grand and fiery Great Expansion Movement.

He might wander in the gray area, doing dangerous work that licks blood from the blade's edge.

As for Zhao Su, the situation was relatively complex; he was not a native of Hengzhou, and by the standards of Imperial Capital Haizhou, he was considered a "new immigrant."

Of course, Hengzhou itself was a discriminated Border Planet, so it wasn't worth taking that seriously.

In short, the overall quality of the Huangquan Training Camp's new recruits was about the level of Xin Yi High School's Elite Class.

Qin Shi thus realized the cruelty of war itself; to be fair, even if they completed all training and graduated from Huangquan, how many of them could survive until the end of the Great Expansion?

He suppressed the stray thoughts rising in his heart and gradually understood how many stories of joy and sorrow were hidden behind Old Liang's weather-beaten face.

The mind operated, groundless emotions were slain, and the Mortal Body's hundred bones merged with consciousness.

After every great war, there is an opportunity for breakthrough.

This is the unique upgrade path of the Old Martial Arts school.

Compared to the New Martial Arts school's "theory determines framework," the Old Martial Arts school is indeed older and more traditional to some extent.

They focus on "sublimation and breaking limits."

All means must be used to smash open and break the shackles imposed on the Mortal Body.

Even if the process might involve acts that mutilate the human body and disregard life.

"The Fifth Great Limit is within easy reach."

Qin Shi quickly adjusted his state; an ordinary person needs to expend a great deal of mental energy to calm down from intense combat.

But Qin Shi, being at the Saint Embryo Stage, could easily enter Zen Meditation, with his Spirit residing in his Inner Landscape, making his Consciousness Sea spotless, with stray thoughts, emotions, and even the flow of thinking proceeding in an orderly manner.

"What level is Brother Qin at anyway?"

After finishing the search, Zhao Su seriously cleaned the battlefield spotless.

He subconsciously kept a distance of about a hundred meters from Qin Shi, as if that would give him a sense of security.

In his view, Qin Shi seemed like a lifelike statue, without even the rise and fall of his chest, and his breathing was inaudible.

The originally boiling and exuberant, vibrant life force seemed like a dormant volcano, making people doubt whether Qin Shi was still alive.

"Specialist level... could he be stronger than Huangquan's instructors?"

Zhao Su scratched his head; imagination is the best filter, and he had already started to believe some of the guesses Gao Pao usually whispered.

Things like Brother Qin being an illegitimate child of a great family in Central City, forced by his father and brothers, helplessly coming to the front lines...

Hah!

Qin Shi, who had activated Cultivation Mode and was madly absorbing Energy Factors, finally brought his own state to its best.

The first to be driven was the "Soldier Slaying Art."

The series of harvest results from Huangquan Training Camp taking Black Medicine and receiving the gaze of 【Heaven and Man】.

Made the progress of the "Soldier Slaying Art" advance rapidly!

Reaching nearly five hundred layers!

Qin Shi's trunk and limbs were like huge vortices formed of light, containing bright nodes one by one.

Dense and numerous, like stars!

Especially as Qin Shi's Life Force Purity broke through the Third Dimension and reached the Crystal State.

Whenever the "Soldier Slaying Art" operated, Qin Shi's Mortal Body was like a Small Sun rising, dazzling beyond compare.

This made Zhao Su retreat another few dozen meters.

He watched thick streams of energy converge and spread out like an ocean.

Light points surged, like a rising tide enveloping Brother Qin.

Zhao Su couldn't help but murmur:

"Never seen such a scene before."

Qin Shi was fully focused, blurring the distinction between the outside world and the mind.

He sighed:

"Never cultivated this comfortably before."

After the "Soldier Slaying Art" finished operating, the other inheritances were also activated in turn, making Qin Shi's Mortal Body and hundred bones like a bottomless pit, impossible to fill.

When this terrifying cultivation lasted forty minutes, Zhao Su inexplicably felt that the Black Moon above his head seemed slightly dim, as if covered by dark clouds.

Boom boom boom—

After an hour passed, Qin Shi completed the first round of cultivation.

The perfect field he himself had condensed was steadily supported by four pillars, namely the "Military Campaign Art," the "Xu Kong Meditation Method," the "Universe Furnace Secret Canon," and the "Hundred Aspects Momentum Art."

To ensure the field's continued growth, the four pillars had to balance each other.

"The price of having numbers is several times more cultivation homework than others at the same stage."

Qin Shi let out a long breath; such an ordinary action nonetheless triggered violent tremors, his pores all over his body opened, his tendons and bones tightly combined, spraying out the impurities from tempering his hundred bones.

The ground, like a shaking blanket, suddenly leaped upward, then surged!

Centered on Qin Shi, rolling smoke and dust spread outward, obscuring the tall and straight figure of the youth, leaving only a blurred outline.

"This is a Contaminated Zone, Captain. Boss cultivating so recklessly, surely there won't be a problem?"

The short-haired woman and Watermelon Head, having returned after sweeping away the lower servants in the surroundings, saw Qin Shi from afar, like the eye of a typhoon swallowing energy tides.

"Probably... I guess."

To Watermelon Head's question, the short-haired woman's tone was hesitant.

The reason a Contaminated Zone forms is because the Yin Realm Depth rises, like a continent sunk to the seabed being lifted up, colliding violently with the Material World.

Rifts form, energy seeps through, and it easily "pollutes and aberrates" living species.

Who let there be many Chaos Great Demons existing in the Netherworld? Their power radiating, it is very simple to twist and enslave those below them, making them mutate and submit.

Although the Wilderness environment is suitable for cultivation, many professional ranks would rather stay in the City, precisely for this reason.

"I heard that the standard for judging whether an inheritance is strong is the conversion rate."

External energy more or less contains impurities, like refining ore; SSS-grade martial arts can achieve nearly eighty percent efficiency."

The short-haired woman speculated that this young boss probably mastered an SSS-grade martial art.

"The Fifth Great Limit, the membrane gate opened."

Qin Shi's heart was calm; his body seemed to have opened some valve, his blood, originally viscous and deep, heavy like mercury, faintly flashed a platinum luster.

His whole body was like a Big Steel Furnace releasing terrifying high temperatures, making the air distort; arms, big hands, chest, back... pieces of muscles crawled with earthworm-like things, bulging and inflating, constantly undulating.

Fresh blood boiled, sublimated and transformed, his mortal body rolling hot as if about to melt!

At this moment, Qin Shi felt himself "growing."

The thin membranes wrapping cells, the tissue membranes of human organs, and even that more special structural membrane... they seemed like tree saplings bathing in sunlight, growing vigorously, completing reorganization and change extremely quickly.

Between blood vessels and muscles, a "great net" covering every part of his body appeared.

Like seawater pouring back in, the energy tide entering Qin Shi's mortal body "filtered" out a large amount of impurities all at once.

With breathing in and out, pores opening and closing, all were sprayed out and drained dry.

This also increased cultivation efficiency by another ten percent, reaching a terrifying ninety-five percent.

"Not enough, not enough!"

Qin Shi, who had opened the Fifth Great Limit, was not satisfied, and launched a third round of cultivation again.

In the Administrative Building, the Human-Faced Spider Clan, which was holding a nest hatching ritual, suddenly erupted in noise.

"Hailus failed!"

"Swo also failed!"

"Lendbeier also did not succeed..."

The Sacrificial Chief, crawling on the ground like a snake, received this information, and could not help but be shocked and angry:

"Why did this happen! Black Moon Night, energy tide, clearly the best stage to enter the nest and complete hatching!"

Full of unwillingness, it actively projected its spirit, linking to that enormous Golden Vertical Pupil.

Under the sweeping boom of the spiritual storm, the Sacrificial Chief trembled all over, bleeding from mouth and nose, and received the final answer.

But it was still very confused, as if not knowing where the problem lay.

"The intensity of the Black Moon Night energy tide has dropped? What does this mean."

The Sacrificial Chief strained to tilt his head, gazing at that black moon whose radiance was indeed much dimmer.

It could not understand, where exactly did the tremendous energy that should have made the nest complete hatching go?

Could there be someone else who can steal the power of the Netherworld's Black Moon?

(Chapter End)