The scorching sun blazed.
Outside Qingcheng, in the L Town Disaster Area.
"Four Direction Slash!"
As Cheng Xing's mind stirred, another skill was unleashed, and a Mad Rabbit fell.
Cheng Xing's breathing was clearly not as steady as before; this was the fifteenth time he had used a skill.
All in all, it took less than an hour.
After a series of tests, Cheng Xing understood why B-Class skills were so expensive.
After continuously using Four Direction Slash five times, he felt a faint sense of exhaustion, and then after about five minutes of rest, he could cast it again.
Such power combined with such consumption greatly improved his combat strength.
【Killed lv.3 Mad Rabbit, Experience +10】
【Level Up lv.1 → lv.2】
【Free Attribute Points +3】
Along with the system prompts, Cheng Xing's exhaustion from repeatedly using skills immediately vanished, and the cells in his body seemed to experience an indescribable pleasure.
"Huh? Leveled up?"
Cheng Xing sheathed his Tang Blade, surprised.
This leveling speed was much faster than he had imagined.
But then again, he was soloing now, and all the experience from killing Disaster Beasts went to him alone, so his leveling speed was naturally much faster.
According to his understanding, when new adventurers formed teams to level up, it was usually a five-person team. This configuration could generally handle Disaster Beasts one to two levels higher with ease.
If there were too many people, the experience would be too diluted, leading to inefficient leveling.
The higher the talent level, the fewer people required in a team. As for solo leveling, that was only for combat talents of S-Class or higher.
"Open panel."
【Name: Cheng Xing】
【Level: 2 (5/200)】
【Health: 120】
【Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 3, Constitution 3, Spirit 3, Free Attribute Points 3】
【Talents: SSS-Class Drop Rate Increase, F-Class Sprint】
【Skills: B-Class Four Direction Slash lv.1】
With the level up, Cheng Xing's all-around attributes increased by one point. Although the increase was very small, the actual change was still very obvious.
After a simple assessment, Cheng Xing allocated the Free Attribute Points in a one-Strength, two-Agility manner.
After allocating the attribute points, his panel showed that he was almost on par with a Level 2 Mad Rabbit.
"Oh? Something dropped too."
After closing the panel, Cheng Xing noticed that this Mad Rabbit had dropped a ring emitting a faint green glow.
【Soul of the Mad Rabbit】
【Quality: E-Class】
【Effect: Agility +2】
Cheng Xing didn't hesitate, equipping it directly, and then continued to traverse through L Town.
With his combat strength increased, he no longer needed to be as cautious as before.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, he could pretty much walk sideways through the entire L Town...
Time flew by, and in a blink of an eye, the sun set in the west.
As dusk deepened, dark clouds obscured the moon, making the entire L Town Disaster Area increasingly perilous.
Compared to daytime, the death rate in the Disaster Area at night was much higher.
"Today is truly cursed! Why haven't I seen a single Mad Rabbit?"
Liu Gu's face was full of impatience, muttering incessantly to himself.
He originally didn't want to stay in the Disaster Area late at night, but he was afraid that the few people behind him would ask for their money back, after all, on this trip, they had only encountered two Mad Rabbits.
The three people who were previously scared were now idly following behind, chatting back and forth.
"It's been a whole day, and we've only encountered two Disaster Beasts?"
"Are we being scammed?"
"I think it's possible. Anyway, I don't care. If I don't get 10 experience points today, I'm definitely reporting him when I get back!"
Listening to the idle chatter of the three people behind him, Liu Gu suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
Although he had been a swindler before, he had only stepped on the Adventurers' Guild's bottom line, exaggerating at most, which was false advertising.
But if it were like now, killing only two Disaster Beasts in a day and returning, if reported, the Adventurers' Guild would definitely investigate, and at worst, his adventurer status might be revoked.
Helpless, Liu Gu could only brace himself and continue forward.
It was just that he seemed not to have noticed that they had already reached the edge of L Town, and further south was the outskirts of Qingcheng.
"Click-clack~ Click-clack~"
At this moment, a faint sound suddenly came from one side, and Liu Gu's eyes lit up.
"Finally, some action!"
Liu Gu rushed over impatiently. The three followed closely behind, afraid of missing out on experience.
However, the black-robed person at the end of the team stopped.
"Something's wrong."
After passing through a row of abandoned houses, a weed-choked plaza came into view.
A dark mass writhed in the middle of the plaza ahead.
"Hmm?"
Liu Gu, who was the first to arrive, also felt something was amiss.
The dark mass was too large, at least five or six meters long.
As a gust of night wind swept through, dispersing the clouds and revealing the moon, moonlight cascaded down, and the scene ahead instantly became clear.
However, upon seeing the scene ahead, all four of them involuntarily constricted their pupils, and their faces instantly turned deathly pale.
On the plaza, several two-meter-long, cockroach-like Disaster Beasts lay motionless. On their corpses, a nearly three-meter-long kin, with a blood-filled mouth full of grotesque mandibles, continuously tore and gnawed at the heads of its fallen kin below, making crunching sounds.
Under the moonlight, the Disaster Beast's entirely crimson body glowed with an especially eerie and dazzling light.
"Blood Mantis!"
Liu Gu felt his legs give out, his face filled with terror.
【Disaster Beast: Blood Mantis】
【Level: 9 → 10】
【Health: 500】
【Attributes: Strength 32, Agility 34, Constitution 32, Spirit 22】
【Talent: E-Class Digestion Recovery Effect: Restores Health when digesting food.】
【Skill: Bite LV.1】
Especially upon seeing the Disaster Beast in front of him successfully level up, advancing from an F-Class to an E-Class Disaster Beast.
Liu Gu turned and ran without hesitation, the other three froze for a moment before reacting and following closely behind him.
The Blood Mantis's antennae twitched, its eyes locking onto the four figures, but it made no other movements, continuing to eat its kin below.
Liu Gu and his group fled without stopping, quickly returning to L Town.
Seeing that there was no movement behind them, the stone hanging in Liu Gu's heart finally dropped. The three people beside him were already panting from exhaustion.
With his current team composition, encountering an E-Class Disaster Beast would be a massacre.
"Careful!"
However, just as all four of them breathed a sigh of relief, a clear voice, like a silver bell, suddenly came from behind.
"What a beautiful voice."
The four couldn't help but be stunned.
However, at this moment, a huge shadow enveloped everyone.
"Boom!"
Before they could react, a huge crash resounded.
The Blood Mantis from before descended from the sky, landing behind them. Its exceptionally strong forelimbs, covered in barbs, swung out at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
One of the new adventurers was instantly impaled. The Blood Mantis grabbed him with its two forelimbs, opened its mouth, and bit down.
The air was immediately filled with a pungent smell of blood.
At this moment, Liu Gu and the other two were terrified, slumping to the ground.
Soon, the Blood Mantis set its sights on the next person, raising its forelimb to strike.
Just then, a sword light flashed, and one of the Blood Mantis's forelimbs snapped off with a clang, the wound incredibly smooth.
The Blood Mantis's eyes swiveled. Only then did it realize that a black-robed person had appeared in front of the three, a longsword in his hand gleaming with cold light.
"You there, you defend, I'll attack."
The black-robed person stared at the Blood Mantis, speaking without turning his head.
However, after being reminded by this person, Liu Gu and his group finally came to their senses, letting out terrified screams and scrambling away, leaving only the black-robed person behind...