Chapter Thirty-Five: Breaking Through to the Warlord Level

In a dilapidated skyscraper towering a hundred stories high, somewhere in a city within the wilderness zone, the flash of blades danced in the shadows. With each swing, another monster fell lifeless to the ground, the shimmering arcs of steel carving deep scars into the battered walls. Blood and brain matter sprayed in every direction, shattered organs smeared across the ruined floor.

Standing atop a mountain of corpses, Luo Yuan pressed his boot into the flesh of the slain beasts. Blood dripped from the edge of his Shadow Blade, yet not a drop stained his combat suit. With deliberate agility, he had evaded the foul, reeking blood of the monsters; he had no desire to return after each hunt and scrub away the filth, and this avoidance showcased just how astonishing his evasive techniques had become.

Through continual accumulation of attributes, Luo Yuan’s dodge and movement skills had nearly reached perfection. He had fought his way up to the eightieth floor; from the fiftieth to the seventy-ninth, the monsters were merely novice beast generals, posing no challenge at all. But from the eightieth floor onward, he encountered intermediate beast generals—mostly canine and feline creatures, with others so mutated their origins were unrecognizable.

As Luo Yuan slaughtered his way forward, he kept gathering attribute orbs, growing stronger with every battle. Especially after picking up endurance attributes, his stamina became relentless. The beast generals he faced possessed a measure of intelligence; they had hoped to wear him down with a tide of monsters, but soon realized Luo Yuan seemed to draw on an inexhaustible well of energy, growing more formidable the longer he fought. One by one, the monsters began to retreat.

But Luo Yuan cared nothing for their hesitation. He hefted the Shadow Blade and continued upward. By the time he reached the ninetieth floor, he was confronted by advanced beast generals—fortunately, their numbers were few.

On the ninety-fifth floor, ten advanced beast generals lay in wait, encircling Luo Yuan. Each was more ferocious than the last, some drooling hungrily. Among them were three serpentine monsters, each bearing a single horn atop its head—Unicorn Berserk Pythons, it seemed. Four others resembled tigers wrapped in flashes of lightning—Lightning Tigers. The remaining three were unidentifiable, appearing as hybrids between chicken and duck. Luo Yuan could only lament that the information on the Warrior Forum was unreliable; he had never seen creatures like these described.

He wasted no more thought on the matter. Tiring of the slaughter, and repulsed by the stench, he decided to unleash his Nine-Series Flying Knives. With a mental command, six knives shot from his waist, whirling toward the encircling monsters. Their trajectories twisted and turned, each targeting vital points with uncanny precision.

Two Lightning Tigers were struck in their most vulnerable spots, the knives shredding their innards to pulp. The three Unicorn Berserk Pythons, dodging the blades, left an opening that Luo Yuan exploited, severing their heads. The remaining monsters fell swiftly under the combined assault of his blades and sword.

When Luo Yuan finally battled his way to the ninety-ninth floor, he sensed a sudden breaking of a certain restraint within his body. Power surged within him, and he realized something momentous had occurred. After clearing the floor of monsters, he paused before ascending the final level, and opened his attribute panel.

Name: Luo Yuan
Strength: Apprentice-level (Junior War God)
Power: 68,000 kilograms
Speed: 403 meters per second
Defense: 68,000 kilograms
Mental: 35,000 kilograms
Evasion Technique: Perfect Level
Cultivation Methods: “Five Hearts Facing Heaven,” Guiding Technique “Ninefold Primordial” (Second Stage)
Skills: Movement “Flowing Light” (Second Stage), Blade Technique “Thunder Blade” (Second Stage)
Notes:
1. Can directly collect attribute orbs with mental force, also usable for reconnaissance, both within a radius of one thousand meters.
2. Can assist the host in comprehending and creating a new blade technique.

Luo Yuan gazed at his panel, a look of wild joy on his face. At last, he had broken through to War God level, and his evasion skills had reached perfection. “Ninefold Thunder Blade,” which he had previously advanced to the peak of the first stage through proficiency gained at the Limit Hall, now broke through to the second stage after conquering ninety-nine floors alone in this ruined skyscraper.

The two notes on the panel brought him particular delight. No longer would he need to run like a madman to collect attribute orbs; any orb within the range of his mental force could be collected with a single thought, meaning his strength would grow even faster. And, with the system’s help, he could comprehend and create a blade technique of his own—though that could wait for another time.

Luo Yuan lifted his gaze to the stairway leading to the final floor, his eyes burning with fervor. His mental force had been slow to increase, but the breakthrough he sought lay within the hundredth floor.

He did not rush up immediately. Instead, he used his mental power to probe ahead. With the system’s aid, his mind could cover a radius of a thousand meters. As he released his mental force, everything within that radius became transparent before him; the buildings faded to nothingness, and wherever no special barriers existed, he could observe at will—even hear the sounds within.

When his mental force penetrated the hundredth floor, Luo Yuan saw, through his mind’s eye, a colossal Nine-Tailed White Fox sprawled across the level. Its immense body occupied nearly half the floor’s space—considering the hundredth floor was thirty meters tall and five hundred square meters, the fox’s size was staggering.

Judging by the aura radiating from the Nine-Tailed White Fox, Luo Yuan could confirm it had not yet broken through to Lord-level, but was not far from it. Beneath its nine tails lay several Seven-Tailed and Eight-Tailed White Foxes, each bearing the presence of advanced beast generals. In other words, the final floor held ten advanced phantom foxes, with the largest one’s strength close to Lord-level.

What intrigued Luo Yuan most was the invisible barrier of mental force enveloping the hundredth floor, almost certainly conjured by the Nine-Tailed White Fox itself. He guessed it served to dampen sound and shock; otherwise, with all the commotion below, these phantom foxes would not be sleeping so soundly.

Yet that was the extent of its power. In terms of the quality of mental force, Luo Yuan’s was far purer—after all, his was refined and assimilated through the system.

Suddenly, the Nine-Tailed White Fox seemed to sense something. It jolted awake, its lantern-sized eyes snapping open, golden pupils scanning the surroundings.

Luo Yuan ascended slowly, passing through the psychic barrier. As his eyes met those of the Nine-Tailed White Fox, it let out a resonant cry. The nine phantom foxes on the hundredth floor instantly formed a defensive formation, watching Luo Yuan warily.

“Human, what business do you have in our territory?”

A mature, feminine voice suddenly echoed in Luo Yuan’s mind, startling him. He had not seen the fox speak, yet it communicated directly through its mental force. Luo Yuan felt a thrill—he had struck gold.

“Phantom Fox clan, I want you to submit to me—or die!”

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