Chapter 61: Talented Hunger, Void-Faced Armory

"This..."

Zhou You also noticed the changes in his hands, as his force surged to reveal patterns like tiger stripes.

He was not unfamiliar with this.

When the Dazhuang Fist gang came to challenge the martial arts hall, Big Senior Brother Lu Qiang had similar patterns on his body when he fought.

He had assumed it was a unique trait of Qi-blood martial artists, never expecting it to appear on himself tonight.

Zhou You's intuition told him that these patterns possessed some kind of mysterious function.

The Void Phantom had originally worn a smug expression, but its face changed immediately upon seeing the patterns.

"Tiger Aura; it seems the martial arts hall still has quite a few things it hasn't taught."

Zhou You took a deep breath, his muscles exerted force, and the patterns undulated along with the movement.

He felt he had endured long enough and was eager to burst forth with the strength of his entire body to tear the prey before him to shreds.

He immediately unleashed his level 2 Basic Lightness Skill, leaping above the woman's head to pounce down fiercely.

The speed was so fast it far exceeded that of an ordinary force-based martial artist.

The Void Phantom's true form was a wisp of smoke, coming and going without a trace, fast as lightning, but it slowed down significantly after possessing a human body.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou You reached the top of the woman's head, and she raised a pitch-black claw to gouge at his chest.

Her movements were fast and her strikes vicious, three times more ferocious than a wild beast in the mountains.

Zhou You's right fist struck the tip of her claw, and just as the cold, sinister aura emerged, it was entangled by the patterns formed by his force.

Sizzle—the sound of a branding iron searing flesh erupted.

The woman let out a heart-wrenching roar, and the claw that had made contact with his fist melted away for the most part.

She retreated rapidly, her face full of terror.

Zhou You was shocked internally; this punch consumed too much, directly depleting sixty percent of his force.

It was true that Tiger Aura restrained the Void Phantom, but the consumption was also high; an ordinary force-based martial artist could not afford it.

Watching the woman retreat in terror.

A thought surfaced in Zhou You's mind: he absolutely could not let her run.

"Sky-Lingering Style."

He executed the killing move of the Yanxing Quan, leaping up with his arms like wings to chase after her.

His right hand transformed into a sharp claw, grabbing toward the back of the woman's head.

The woman stumbled, staggering while clutching the back of her head, as blood and brain matter flowed down through her fingers.

Zhou You felt a sharp, splitting pain in his fingertips; the skull was too hard, harder than refined steel tempered a thousand times.

Although his finger bones had gouged through the back of the woman's head, they were also nearly shattered by the force of the hard collision.

Once a living person was possessed by a Void Phantom, they were no longer a normal life form.

The back of the woman's head was pierced with five holes, and her brain matter was leaking out, yet she still stood without falling.

"Thud!"

Zhou You fell from mid-air, stepping on the woman's lower back to pin her to the ground.

"Spare me!"

Just as the woman opened her mouth, she was struck in the mouth by a punch, her entire set of teeth embedded into her throat, and her tongue was smashed directly into pulp.

Fists rained down upon her body, leaving no part from head to toe untouched.

Every one of Zhou You's punches was full of force, with patterns entwined, each blow landing solidly on flesh, covering the woman's entire body.

His strength flowed away rapidly, accompanied by the sounds of skin tearing and bones breaking, echoing throughout the room.

As his strength accumulated to the end, he unleashed a final punch, smashing the floor tiles to pieces through the woman's shell.

"Awoo!"

The roar of a tiger startled Zhou You.

Zhou You stopped and stood up, only then discovering that the woman beneath him was nothing more than a skin, while her flesh, blood, and internal organs had all been smashed into liquid.

This Void Phantom had been beaten to death by him alive.

"Trial Project: Survival complete, entering evaluation."

"Survival, completed perfectly; protect family, completed perfectly; kill Void Phantom, completed beyond expectations."

"Evaluation result, one and a half stars, Experience Points +500."

"Name: Zhou You.

Strength: 25.

Speed: 25.

Defense: 25.

Experience Points: 1398.

Occupation: Martial Arts Apprentice.

Level: Initial Force Entry.

Skills: Yufa Hand lv10 (Completed), Tiger-Subduing Fist lv13, Basic Lightness Skill lv2/lv?, Yanxing Quan lv11. Ultimate Moves: Wind-Chasing Triple-Layer Technique lv1, Tiger Aura (?).

Talent:?

Trial Project One (Two-Star): Break through the Qi-blood barrier, become an Inner Court Disciple of the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall.

Trial Project Two (Four-Star): Perfect the Basic Lightness Skill."

On the panel, the few glaring question marks left Zhou You confused.

What was going on?

It was fine for Tiger Aura to be classified as an ultimate move, as it was a finishing move that restrained Void Phantoms, but what did the question marks afterward mean?

There was also a newly added Talent column, which was also a big question mark.

As a question arose in his mind, the interface immediately provided a prompt.

These two question marks were different from the Basic Lightness Skill; they only required 500 Experience Points to scratch off.

Hmm, scratch-offs!

Zhou You looked at his left hand, which was pitch-black as if stained with ink, the evil Qi of the Void Phantom lingering and refusing to leave.

The Tiger Aura had erupted several times just now, yet it had failed to drive it out; it was as stubborn as a maggot on a bone.

Could it be that he had to go find the Hall Master, Wang Jianxiong, and beg him to bestow half a Life-Changing Pill of Monarch Shangshan?

The possibility of success was not high.

Thinking about it now, the Secret Medicine of the Inner Courtyard of the martial arts hall, the Life-Changing Pill of Monarch Shangshan, very likely contained Tiger Aura.

Tiger Aura, on the other hand, was an added byproduct of practicing the Subduing Tiger Fist to a profound level, and it had a restraining effect on Void Phantoms.

Since that was the case, such a precious Secret Medicine could not be bestowed upon an Outer Courtyard Disciple casually.

Zhou You steeled his heart and issued the command to strengthen.

"Experience Points -500, Tiger Aura increased to lv1, basic circulation techniques unlocked."

A great deal of information appeared in his mind, including how to distribute and condense Tiger Aura, as well as how to expel the evil Qi of the Void Phantom from his body.

Zhou You felt as if he had found a treasure; these 500 Experience Points were well spent.

He immediately mobilized the little remaining strength he had and gathered it into his left hand, the tiger stripes rippling like flowing water.

With a sizzling sound and smoke rising, a tingling sensation came from his left hand, and his sense of touch recovered slightly.

The originally pitch-black appearance also faded somewhat; the expulsion by the Tiger Aura was working.

He clutched his chest, suppressing his pounding heart; this meant that from now on, when facing Void Phantoms, he would have the power to protect himself and even strike back.

The terror of a Void Phantom lay in that evil Qi, which would invade the body and freeze the flesh and blood; no matter how powerful a martial artist was, they would be unable to exert their strength and would become mere fish on the chopping block.

But once one could neutralize the evil Qi, the martial arts moves would have the possibility of exterminating the Void Phantom.

The human skin on the ground was a trophy, representing that Zhou You had just personally beaten a Void Phantom to death.

"500 Experience Points, worth every bit!"

Zhou You thought for a moment and looked at the other question mark, "Talent."

Since he could remember, he had no outstanding talent, and when he first obtained the interface, this option did not exist either.

The most likely possibility was that the interface underwent a mutation after he killed the Void Phantom.

"If it needs to be spent, it must be spent."

Although Zhou You had killed the Void Phantom, the sense of urgency in his heart only intensified.

The once peaceful Gongliang City was becoming increasingly unsettled; gang warfare and the number of displaced people were rising, and now even Void Phantoms were taking advantage of the chaos to mix in among the Commoners.

In the homes of the common people, they would devour the living at night to wreak havoc.

It was easy to imagine that the result of the situation worsening was irreversible, and the future would only get worse.

Zhou You feared that his own strength was insufficient to protect his entire family, including his parents.

"Experience Points -500, Talent unlocked."

"You have grasped the essence and charm of the Hungry Tiger, fusing your essence, Qi, and spirit to unlock the Talent: Hunger."

"This talent is uncontrollable, and the harvest is random."

"Talent Hunger, activating."

"First failure, second failure, third... success."

"Talent Hunger has plundered a relic of a Void Phantom for you, the human skin fused with charm."

"The human skin has been refined by the talent and combined with your flesh and blood to become a... Void Mask."

"Armory unlocked!"