DipNovel Chapter 10 Nightfall
Chapter 10 Nightfall
She hugged her shoulders tightly, her heart churning with complex and suffocating emotions.
Dirty, unclean, self-loathing, physiological rejection.
Watching the human body dissolve before her eyes and turn into blood plasma flowing into her own body, even though Li Hui repeatedly emphasized that it was just pure blood energy and did not contain even a single hair of the original owner, she still could not accept it calmly.
Disgust, resistance, resentment. Yet, they had no choice but to do it. To survive. For—revenge!
"Tsk, I already told you, after decomposition, only the purest energy remains, nothing like what you're thinking."
"Be strong, think about your grudges, think about the humiliation you've suffered."
"What morality, virtue... are nothing but shackles that bind the weak."
"I told you, shut up." Li Ai swayed as she got up, forcing herself not to think about it anymore.
She looked up at the sky; the sun was setting, and the last glimmer of light was being rapidly swallowed by darkness.
Night is about to fall.
Once night falls, this is her domain.
With Li Hui's visual assistance, darkness will become her most powerful weapon.
This brief interval before nightfall is precisely the time to adapt to the surging power.
After devouring the three men with flat heads, her strength increased again, and her martial arts realm reached the seventh level of Body Tempering.
Plunder is not an equal exchange, but rather salvaging the "legacy" of a martial artist after death and turning it into an "accelerator" for tempering oneself.
It can be used to temper the body, repair injuries, and clear blockages in the meridians, making one energy source for multiple purposes.
[Observation Target]: Li Ai
[Cultivation Level]: Body Tempering Realm, 7th Level | [Qi and Blood]: 3300/3300
[Attributes] Strength: 3421kg | Defense: 2223kg | Spiritual Awareness: 123
In just half a day, Li Ai broke through three minor realms in succession, something she never dared to dream of.
It took me a year to barely reach the fourth level of Body Tempering, mainly because the early stage of Body Tempering is the easiest to cultivate.
The further you go, the greater the leaps become, and the more difficult it becomes to improve.
She tried to take a step, but the force of her foot went out the window, the water was violently pushed away, her right foot sank into the ground, and she staggered forward two steps involuntarily.
The black-haired, golden-eyed youth leaned against the broken tree, watching the girl clumsily adapt to her sudden surge of power, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.
He recalled the all-consuming hatred in her eyes earlier, and suddenly spoke:
"Hey, tell me about your past?"
"After all, we've been through thick and thin together, so it's not unreasonable to want to get to know each other better."
Upon hearing this, Li Ai paused for a moment before taking a step.
A gentle breeze ruffled her hair, blowing away a few strands of dried bloodstains.
She remained silent for a long time before speaking softly, her voice as light as the wind:
"I...have no parents. Aunt Liu adopted me and raised me."
"Aunt Liu is a master brewer; her 'Parting Sorrow' is the best-tasting wine in the world."
"Sweet, with a lingering aftertaste, intense yet gentle, like a fiery thread entering the throat, warming the stomach, and mingled with the delicate fragrance of pear blossoms..."
"With this skill, she opened a small liquor store, working from dawn till dusk to support my schooling."
"Oh, by the way, she can also make pear blossom candy. I've learned how to make it, and I'll make it for you sometime."
She said she found me under a pear tree. At that time, I was covered in pear blossoms, like a layer of silvery white snow, so she named me Li Ai.
Li Hui couldn't help but tease, "Since it was found under a pear tree, shouldn't it be called 'Pear Tree Hair'?"
Li Ai rolled her eyes at him and continued, "My childhood was very ordinary. My only close playmate was a little kid who was six years younger than me."
"Her name is Jiang Hongying. She always says she wants to be a great hero. She's incredibly cute."
A faint, complex light flashed in the depths of Li Hui's golden eyes, as if he were thinking of someone from a distant past.
He laughed and said, "She's just a little kid, and you're not much older, you old kid."
"Damn it, are you even listening to me? Wait, why should I be the only one talking? You should say your piece too!"
"Ah~ I'm sleepy, maybe next time."
"Screw you, Li Hui, you bastard!"
As the sun moved along, it sank below the horizon amidst the two's bickering, and the last ray of light disappeared.
"Waaah—"
The roars of beasts echoed through the city, and the nocturnal savages began to awaken.
They are true predators, more ferocious, more cunning, and more deadly.
If possible, no one would want to fight a vile beast at night; the danger level is on a completely different level than during the day.
For safety reasons, Qiu Ba and his men abandoned the pursuit and lit a campfire in the ruins of a shop to spend the night.
The firelight, which was quite conspicuous at night, was concealed by walls on three sides.
There were also people standing guard on the rooftop, keeping watch on the surroundings.
Inside the hall, Qiu Ba and the others sat on the floor, holding lunchboxes and swallowing large mouthfuls of the gel-like substance.
That's a nutritional paste made by crushing and compressing meat, eggs, and vegetables; it can quickly replenish energy.
Experienced hunting party members never eat compressed biscuits. In the wilderness, physical strength is life, and nutrition must be adequate.
Several members of the hunting party huddled together and chatted.
"Do you think that girl might have run away in the middle of the night?"
"Are you kidding me? Don't you know how ferocious the nocturnal beasts are? They're all incredibly savage! If she dares to run, she'll be nothing but a pile of bones before dawn."
"Tch, I think that girl's pretty cocky. She might not run away, but instead dare to launch a night attack on us."
"Hahaha, that'll kill you! You actually dared to come? Perfect, it'll give me a chance to loosen up!"
"I think you're not relaxing your muscles, you're just really holding it in!"
A vulgar, unrestrained laugh burst from the ruins and drifted into the boundless darkness outside.
In the darkness, a pair of cold, red eyes were silently watching them.
The girl dragged two animal carcasses. The moon briefly peeked through the clouds, casting two wet, inky black streaks in its light.
There are as many as fifteen similar tracks, distributed along the surrounding streets.
The stench of blood from the filthy beasts wafted through the air, and the increasingly intense stench made some predators hiding in the shadows eager to pounce.
Li Hui sighed, "What a pity, we only caught one Poisonous Sting Rabbit, it will be difficult to make your Poison Claw evolve again."
Li Ai glanced at him, her hand still dragging the object, her tone questioning his reliability: "You've said that at least three times. Have you really been keeping a close eye on the unusual movements around us?"
"Don't worry, if any great beast of the third rank or above shows its face, I'll take you away immediately, faster than anyone else." The Q version of Li Hui poked Li Ai's cheek with a grin.
Despite not being able to actually get close, he enjoyed it immensely.
Li Ai pursed her lips and said no more.
These were all first-tier filthy beasts that she hunted and killed under the cover of night.
Now that she has reached the seventh level of Body Tempering, plundering first-tier corrupted beasts not only provides her with minimal improvement but also inflicts immense pain. The greatest benefit, on the contrary, is the recovery of her injuries and vital energy.
They decided to use all the beast corpses as bait, setting up a trap to lure the nocturnal beasts into attacking the people of the Fierce Tiger Hall. This would both disperse the pursuing troops' firepower and weaken the enemy's strength through the beasts, achieving two goals at once.
"That's about enough. If we make any more noise, it might attract some terrifying thing," Li Hui warned in a deep voice.
"Um."
Li Ai nodded, picked up the last deer-shaped corpse, took a deep breath, felt her blood surge, and her arm muscles tensed instantly.
"drink!"
She exerted all her strength, swung the half-ton beast carcass violently, and hurled it toward the ruins of the shops where the Fierce Tiger Hall was stationed in the distance.
She then ran as fast as she could, not daring to stop for even a moment.
bang-
A deafening roar shattered the silent night sky as the beast's carcass slammed into the wreckage of the vehicle, sending debris flying. The commotion spread rapidly through the streets and alleys, instantly breaking the deathly stillness of the jungle ruins.
In an instant, roars of beasts rose and fell, startling the nocturnal beasts hiding everywhere. Raptors flapped their wings and took to the air, their scarlet eyes gleaming fiercely in the darkness, quickly gathering towards the source of the sound, drawn by the scent of blood and the noise.