Chapter 37: Powerful Yet Pitiful Creatures

Zhang Dadan glanced contemptuously at these ignorant commoners, his expression and tone carrying a lofty arrogance, before continuing his account.

"Don't be fooled by how powerful these creatures are — for various reasons, they were all artificially given a wide variety of weaknesses, so they could be easily controlled."

"After all, you've now seen for yourselves just how devastating their Burst can be. Without some trick up one's sleeve, who would dare claim they could take one down easily? And even if they did, how many losses would it cost?"

"As it happens, back when this Ice Silkworm was still weak, it nearly got eaten by a rat. You can see the bite-shaped notch on its body."

Hearing him say that, the crowd looked and indeed spotted a tooth-like gap on the Ice Silkworm's pale, tender body.

"Because of that near-death experience in its weak stage, even now that it has become the Ice-Blood Cold Silkworm, it still carries a weakness — when faced with a special rat, it becomes terrified and abandons all its power, letting itself be slaughtered."

"Truly powerful, yet pitiful creatures."

Saying this, Zhang Dadan could not help but sigh with emotion.

"And as luck would have it, this rat is precisely the new-generation suppressor chosen by that old undying one after the previous suppressor died of old age."

As he spoke, the rat had already stumbled its way over, picked up the Ice Silkworm, and stuffed it into the small wooden box.

During this, the Ice Silkworm remained as still as if it were dead.

A normal rat certainly couldn't do this, but this rat had been specially trained and cultivated, and had long since developed a behavior like a conditioned reflex.

Then it was seen picking up the box again and heading back.

However, at this moment, some among the few people present were not pleased.

Earlier there had been secrets worth hearing — the kind only people of a fairly high level were entitled to know — but now that the telling was done, the treasure was about to slip away.

Who would be willing to accept that?

She Po was the first to act. She first whispered to those behind her: Miss Zhao, leave with your brother. This is no longer something you two can get involved in.

Then she took the lead in launching an attack. Though she was clearly old and frail by now, at this moment she displayed an agility that did not match her appearance.

Faint traces of scales flickered across her face, and her whole body slithered forward like a venomous snake. In just a few movements she was beside the rat, reaching out to scoop it up.

"Squeak—!"

In an instant, the rat was so startled that it went *crack*, dropped the small wooden box, and froze on the spot.

The moment the small wooden box left the rat's side, the Ice Silkworm inside immediately began thrashing, and the whole box looked as if it had gone berserk.

It looked as though she was about to scoop up the small wooden box.

But would Zhang Dadan be willing to accept that? Had he said all that to them just to chat idly?

Impossible!

He had only been stalling for Time — after all, his power had ultimately broken through by borrowing external objects.

Although it had let him ascend in a single step and gain strength comparable to the peak of Six Limits, it had also made it difficult for him to wield this vast power at will.

Having stalled for so long, he had now almost fully mobilized this power.

The muscles on his right hand — which wore the enormous Golden Hand Armor — suddenly swelled. Countless fine, dense, black, stiff hairs burst forth like bamboo shoots after rain, spreading up along his entire arm.

In the blink of a moment, his arm was thoroughly dyed black and thickened, transforming into a burly, inhuman limb.

The Golden Hand Armor, which had earlier seemed slightly ill-fitting, now meshed perfectly with his thick arm, as if the two had always been one.

Then he clenched his massive fist, lunged forward and leapt up, and came crashing down from above onto She Po with his enormous golden fist-gauntlet.

"What?"

The fist, like that of a small giant, came smashing down from above. In an instant She Po's pupils contracted sharply. She gave a low cry, hastily checked her steps, and — as if her body were soft and boneless — barely dodged the massive fist.

Only now did she have a moment to clearly see Zhang Dadan's appearance.

By now he no longer looked human at all. His entire body of muscles had turned crimson from extreme blood congestion, slowly steaming with wisps of white mist, and his right arm had completely transformed into a thick limb covered in countless black hairs.

That massive black arm, paired with the Golden Hand Armor, complemented each other perfectly — like the right hand of a titan.

"This is Six Limits? What he's transformed into is the Fomen Numu Jingang?"

But no sooner had She Po finished speaking than she denied it herself: "No, that's not right. At your age, and with Guangshan Dashi being a poor, true cultivator, you couldn't possibly have reached Six Limits. This is—"

"He swallowed a Martial Stone!"

Before She Po could finish, the handsome young man beside them — who had been trying to lower his presence all along — spoke up. He gave the bald hulk a complicated look and sighed: "You're throwing your life away!"

Hearing this, Zhang Dadan didn't care what they said. He grinned: "Heh. If I hadn't swallowed the Martial Stone, I would've been purged by the Buddhist sect long ago. As long as I can devour every person who dies here, plus the Ice Silkworm, I'll be able to reach Seven Limits and defect to the demonic sect."

"So that's how it is — this was your real goal all along?" The handsome young man nodded in understanding.

She Po cut in from the side: "Then shouldn't you tell us your true identity as well? Someone who knows this many secrets must be no ordinary person."

"Mm." The young man smiled, drew a silver token from his waist, and said: "I am of the Demon Slaying Division — Zhou Zhen."

"Zhang Dadan, not long ago you slaughtered an entire village in your breakthrough. You've already caught the full attention of the Demon Slaying Division. I came here today for exactly that."

"Another one after my head, then. So be it — come and take it if you can!"

Zhang Dadan bared his teeth in a savage grin. By now his body was already covered in black stripes like tattoos, and the eeriest thing was that those black markings seemed to breathe as if they were alive.

As they spoke, the three of them were once again locked in fierce combat.

……

Interesting, very interesting!

At this moment, Baichuan, who had listened to the entire exchange from high up in a tree, also exclaimed in amazement.

In one go, he had learned a great number of secrets, and his understanding of this world had grown considerably — no longer the clueless ignorance of before.

But watching the few people below now caught up in their own battle, unable to attend to anything else, and seeing that the surviving pair of siblings had, after some inner struggle, also left.

It seemed no one was near the Ice Silkworm down below now.

Thinking of this, Baichuan felt a stirring in his heart — could he take this opportunity to scoop up a huge bargain?

The Demon Slaying Division, Martial Stones, the bald hulk's gorilla-like black arm, the snake-like old woman.

Baichuan realized that this world's power system seemed completely unfamiliar to him — there was no flashy fighting Spirit here, no gorgeous magic, and no cultivators either.

What exactly did the Demon Slaying Division slay — the demons as he understood them? Or madmen with gorilla-like arms?

And what exactly are Martial Stones?

Could he obtain this power as well?

In that instant, countless whys sprang up in Baichuan's mind.

Speaking of which, ever since he began evolving abilities belonging to various animals.

He found himself increasingly wanting to understand the reason behind each ability, what the underlying principle actually was; he was urgently eager to expand his store of knowledge.

Because only by doing so could he better utilize the panel's abilities to make himself stronger.

Rather than bearing a treasure mountain yet entering it only to return empty-handed.

The only question was whether the Ice Silkworm below could resolve some of his doubts? About the true source of power in this world?

Thinking of this, Baichuan soundlessly climbed down the tree trunk little by little.

Taking advantage of the three still fighting, he quietly made his way near the small wooden box.

And at this moment, that rat was still foolishly hugging the small wooden box, dazedly standing there, not knowing to run.

The next moment, just as it was intently watching the three people fight, suddenly a huge claw reached out from behind, and in an instant grabbed both rat and box away.

(End of this chapter)