Chapter 27: Harvest

"Laughing my ass off!" Seeing the corners of Flying Tiger Demon Hu Dali's mouth curl into a mocking expression, Meng Yifan couldn't help but burn with rage. He hugged a loaded Elm Cannon, shoved it against its head, and shouted, "I know that Third Grade Demon Beasts can speak human language. You tell me how to break this mark, and I'll let you leave."

Hu Dali looked at Meng Yifan as if looking at a fool. Its intelligence was high, and it knew that under such circumstances, Meng Yifan would never let it leave regardless. Since death was certain, it naturally wouldn't tell Meng Yifan the method to break the mark.

"Then go to hell." Meng Yifan lit the fuse.

The muzzle of the Elm Cannon was pressed right against Hu Dali's head. He could clearly hear the sizzling sound of the fuse burning rapidly, and could see with his own eyes the fuse shortening, extending toward the inside of the cannon barrel.

This feeling was very unpleasant, like watching the Death God walk over step by step, brandishing a scythe, preparing to harvest his life.

"Giving you one last chance. Tell me the method to break the mark, and I'll move the cannon away." Meng Yifan shouted again.

Hu Dali glared viciously at Meng Yifan, opened its mouth, and said with some difficulty, "This King... is going to die... you must... die too."

Hu Dali's internal organs had long been smashed by the Iron Ball. It could live until now partly because a Third Grade Demon Beast's vitality was tenacious, and partly because it was using Demon Power to maintain its injuries. Having just unleashed the Tiger Mark, it had used up its last bit of Demon Power, and its internal organs had ruptured again. Even if he let it go, it was certain to die.

"Then go to hell." Meng Yifan hadn't expected this Flying Tiger Demon to have such guts; even with an Elm Cannon pressed against its head, it was still so stubborn.

"Boom!" The Elm Cannon let out a roar, and an Iron Ball surged out. Hu Dali's hard skull was like a rotten watermelon, smashed to pieces.

Firing at such close range, Meng Yifan was also shaken by the recoil, his chest in great pain, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Ding! Surpassing a major rank, killed a Third-grade Mid-tier Flying Tiger Demon. Experience doubled. Congratulations to the host for obtaining 800 points."

The Game Panel's notification sound rang out again. Meng Yifan was ecstatic. He hadn't expected that killing the Flying Tiger Demon would actually double the experience reward. Eight hundred experience points! If used to raise his realm, he could easily become a Second-grade High-tier Martial Artist. Such a rate of improvement was simply shockingly fast.

However, Meng Yifan didn't plan to raise his realm for the time being. He still wanted to kill monsters above his level in the future to get doubled experience. He planned to add the eight hundred experience points he obtained this time directly to his attributes.

In this battle, 70 points of speed made him run extremely fast. Even running on the ground, he barely kept up with Hu Dali, and by holding the Elm Cannon to fire, he even used his Level 2 Shooting Technique to bring Hu Dali down. But the recoil of the Elm Cannon was too great; Meng Yifan still felt his chest in great pain. Although his ribs weren't broken, they were definitely cracked from the shock.

"Need to add some Strength and Defense attribute points." Meng Yifan pondered. If his defense increased greatly, he wouldn't fear the recoil of the Elm Cannon. If his strength were greater, he could carry more Elm Cannons and run.

Just think, if his strength were sufficient, he could completely carry ten Elm Cannons and run. Upon discovering a target, he could hold an Elm Cannon and fire ten shots in rapid succession. With such powerful firepower, even a Third Grade Demon Beast, he would dare to face head-on.

An Elm Cannon weighed about 100 kilograms. Meng Yifan's current strength was 21 points, and he could carry at most two Elm Cannons to run. After thinking for a moment, he added 40 attribute points to Strength, and then added 40 attribute points to Defense.

In an instant, Meng Yifan again felt a mysterious energy appear out of thin air, wrapping around his body. His physical fitness was rapidly improving at an astonishing speed.

Almost in the blink of an eye, that mysterious energy was completely absorbed by his body. He felt his body filled with powerful strength, as if he could kill a cow with one punch. The previously slightly heavy Elm Cannon now felt much lighter; holding it in his arms didn't take any effort at all.

The ribs in Meng Yifan's chest, which had been injured by the recoil of the Elm Cannon and were aching with every breath, were completely healed under the effect of that mysterious energy just now. Moreover, the bones were nourished by that energy to be even tougher, and his defense increased greatly. He estimated he could now withstand the recoil of the Elm Cannon.

Meng Yifan looked at the Game Panel, and the attribute values on it had changed to:

Name: Meng Yifan

Race: Human

Profession: Second Grade Lower-tier Martial Artist

Cultivation Method: Manyuujin True Qi Level 2 (3/900)

Skill: Level 2 Shooting Technique (200/1000)

Strength: 61/200 (Physical strength limit for a Second Grade Martial Artist is 200)

Defense: 60/200 (Physical defense limit for a Second Grade Martial Artist is 200)

Speed: 70/200 (Physical speed limit for a Second Grade Martial Artist is 200)

Aptitude: 0.2/100

Experience Value: 0 points

"Yifan, look quickly, the fog outside the village has dispersed." Meng Dayong pointed outside the village and shouted with joy.

Meng Yifan looked outside the village and indeed discovered that the fog that had originally shrouded the entire Qinghe Village was dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye. It seemed that killing the Flying Tiger Demon really could break the fog outside the village.

The surviving villagers of Qinghe Village, seeing the fog outside the village disperse, all wept with joy.

The fog outside the village was like a pigpen where they were kept. The beasts raised humans like piglets, rushing over to eat a few whenever they wanted. Now that the fog had finally dispersed, they could gain their freedom.

Living in the village was too dangerous; Demon Beasts could launch an attack at any time. Perhaps living in the county town was a good choice.

"Clean up the battlefield. Except for those poisoned beasts, cut the meat off all the other beasts. This will be our food in the future." Meng Dayong said loudly.

In a year of famine, nothing was more important than food. All the villagers who could still move began to take action, brandishing various knives to harvest edible meat from the beast carcasses.

The number of beasts brought by the Flying Tiger Demon this time was large. Just the big rats alone numbered over a thousand. Each big rat was the size of a watermelon and could yield two or three catties of meat. Over a thousand of them could collect two or three thousand catties of meat. Adding the carcasses of other beasts, they could harvest at least four thousand catties of meat this time.

Now, apart from the Meng father and son, there were only forty-seven people left in the entire Qinghe Village. Among them, only twenty-two able-bodied men remained, and two of them had been crippled in the great battle just now. That is to say, there were only twenty able-bodied men left who were completely unharmed.

With over four thousand catties of meat for forty-seven people to eat, even if one person ate three catties of meat a day, they could eat for more than a month.

The villagers were all busy, their faces filled with the joy of a bumper harvest. With so much meat, they would all be able to survive.

Meng Dayong walked quickly to the side of the Flying Tiger Demon's carcass. Regardless of the disgust, he reached into the mushy head and rummaged around, soon finding a round bead the size of a broad bean.

"Haha, Yifan, this is a Third-grade Demon Core. Immortal Masters need to use such Demon Cores to refine magical Pills. There are shops in Luolong County that buy Demon Cores. A Third-grade Lower-tier Demon Core is worth eight taels of silver, a Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core is worth one thousand taels of silver, and a Third-grade High-tier Demon Core is worth fifteen hundred taels of silver. We've made a fortune this time."

Meng Yifan took the Demon Core and examined it carefully. He found that this Demon Core was crystal clear, warm to the touch, very comfortable to hold in his hand, and emitted a faint fragrance that made one feel refreshed just by smelling it.

What surprised Meng Yifan even more was that he sensed a special energy fluctuation on this Demon Core, somewhat similar to the Manyuujin True Qi in his body, but also somewhat different. It should be Demon Power.

Meng Dayong ran to the side of the Second Grade Tiger Demon's carcass again, rummaged through its head once more, and soon found a Demon Core the size of a soybean.

Compared with the Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core, the Demon Core in the head of the Second-grade Mid-tier Demon Beast was not only a large circle smaller, but most importantly, the Demon Power contained within it was much less.

"This Second-grade Mid-tier Demon Core can be sold for one hundred taels of silver." Meng Dayong was extremely excited. The First Grade Breakthrough Pill he dreamed of was only worth one hundred taels of silver.

That is to say, as long as he went to the county town, relying on this Second-grade Mid-tier Demon Core in his hand, he could exchange it for a First Grade Breakthrough Pill. After taking it, he might be able to break through to a Second Grade Martial Artist.