Apocalypse: Grinding EXP through Hunting

Shopkeeper Li wasn’t much of a talker. She held a Jade File, meticulously shaping her fingernails.

Every so often, she would blow gently, clearing away the fine powder from her nails.

She led Tang Wen into a hidden passage and down into the earth.

After a few minutes, they came to the mouth of what looked like a deep well.

The opening was pitch-black.

Tang Wen peered inside, but it was bottomless.

His body involuntarily tensed.

’This place is a little too perfect for a murder and a body dump.’

He was afraid the quiet Shopkeeper Li would suddenly say something like: ’Such a perfect hole. It makes me want to throw something down it. How about you make the sacrifice?’

"We’re here!"

’This is it?’

’Damn it!’

’She’s not really going to throw me down there, is she?’

’It’s not that I’m afraid of the dark.’

’It’s just that there are no safety guarantees here!’

RATTLE! RATTLE!

Shopkeeper Li pulled a lever.

The sound of chains echoed.

Putting away her Jade File, Shopkeeper Li admired her freshly manicured nails—smoothly rounded with perfect, full moons—and said nonchalantly, "You can stay for one day, but you only get three ’experiences’."

Tang Wen was a bit confused.

’Three times in one day?’

’Hmm, I can definitely handle that kind of intensity.’

Tang Wen tried to soothe the faint unease in his heart.

A crude lift ascended from the well-like black hole.

It was a bare iron plate with a wooden box on it. Besides two lamps, the box also had two levers.

With a light leap, Shopkeeper Li landed on the iron plate.

The plate wobbled. ’So rickety,’ Tang Wen complained internally as he stepped on as well.

The lift slowly descended into the deep well.

The well shaft was square, its walls constructed from stone bricks of uniform size.

Each brick was about as thick as the length of Tang Wen’s palm.

He counted them one by one. Just as he reached the five hundredth brick...

CLUNK!

The platform jolted beneath his feet.

They had reached the bottom.

’Hmm, probably about a hundred meters underground.’

At the bottom of the shaft was an iron door, and next to it stood something that looked exactly like an Iron Coffin.

The whole scene was exceptionally unsettling.

Shopkeeper Li picked up a lamp from the box, and the flickering light made the shadows dance.

Looking at the Iron Coffin, he had a very bad feeling. ’Later? It’s... not for me, is it? No way, right?’

The iron door opened without making the slightest sound.

Shopkeeper Li stood in the doorway and said, "This is the absolute silence chamber."

Seeing that Tang Wen didn’t understand, she elaborated, "Once I close this door, you won’t be able to hear anything but your own heartbeat."

She turned her head, her eyes glinting like a wild beast’s.

"A day is more than enough. Any longer, and you’ll go insane."

Tang Wen seized the opportunity to ask, "So, what about the three ’experiences’?"

The corner of Shopkeeper Li’s mouth curled into a wicked smirk—the kind that would be devastatingly effective on women. "You get inside the Iron Coffin and, in the darkness, experience what it’s like to be on the verge of death."

"Near-death?"

"Only when your vision goes black, your Sixth Sense spins out of control, and you are truly approaching death will you understand the meaning of absolute darkness!"

"Approaching death?"

This sounded completely unreliable to Tang Wen. He couldn’t help but ask, "And... what do people who have experienced this have to say about it?"

Shopkeeper Li laughed. "They all say it’s great."

Seeing Tang Wen’s conflicted expression, she added, "This experience will help you master the Core Power of the Night Divine Fist, as well as its fourth style—Dark Night Killers. Besides, even if you wanted to leave right now, I wouldn’t refund a single half-tael of your five thousand taels."

"Well then, I’ll have to trouble you."

Tang Wen sighed, went out, and hauled the coffin-like iron box into the room.

Then, following Shopkeeper Li’s instructions, he brought in a large barrel of water.

He then removed his outer coat and lay down inside it.

As he lay there, the more he thought about it, the more he felt like a complete sucker.

’The kind of sucker who pays a fortune and spends his time hiring someone to kill him!’

The lid of the iron box slowly closed.

Everything fell silent.

Even with his eyes wide open, all he could see was darkness.

His Night Vision Ability was useless; the lid above him was clearly not as simple as it looked.

He silently counted his own heartbeats.

A few seconds later, he felt a chill as his clothes became damp.

Water was seeping in, Silent and Unnoticed.

Shopkeeper Li was using her Extraordinary Level Control Power to fill the container without making a single sound.

The water level rose steadily.

Lying there in the absolute darkness, Tang Wen was surprised to feel a sense of helplessness.

He hadn’t felt like this often since becoming a Guard.

The water submerged eighty percent of his body, leaving only his mouth and nose above the surface.

Tang Wen was heavy, with high muscle density. He could barely feel the water’s buoyancy and was completely unable to float.

A minute later, he was forced to hold his breath.

With his lung capacity, he could hold his breath for ages.

’So what’s the point of filling this thing with water?’

’Even a Martial Artist who can’t swim wouldn’t get a sense of death from this, would they?’

’Huh?’

’Is it being lifted?’

A bad feeling started to creep in.

He thought he heard the sound of wind outside, followed immediately by a feeling of weightlessness.

Then, acceleration!

’I’m in a rapid descent?’

’Don’t tell me I’ve been double-crossed?’

BANG!

He threw a punch instinctively.

His expression changed instantly.

The Fist Force struck the lid above his head, and the rebounding power made his expression shift.

Thirty percent of his strength had no effect.

Just as he was hesitating about whether to use more force...

Suddenly, the hairs all over his body stood on end, like an animal encountering its natural predator.

"AWOOOO!"

A roar of indescribable terror echoed from below.

THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!

His heart pounded wildly.

’This feeling of danger...’

’It’s real!’

’There’s an Exotic Beast below that’s even stronger than King Level.’

’If I fall, I’ll definitely die.’

’I’ve been set up!’

BOOM! BOOM!

Casting aside all other thoughts, he repeatedly hammered his fists against the lid, but to no avail.

’Holy shit!’

’Am I really going to die in this trap?’

’It can’t be!’

’The Four Seas Commerce Association’s reputation has been solid for decades!’

’Thirty-five years, to be exact!’

’Lots of people have done this. I asked around in the taverns outside the Four Seas Inn, and plenty of them said they owed their Martial Arts breakthroughs to this place!’

’A thirty-five-year-old reputation...’

BLUB, BLUB, BLUB!

Tang Wen struggled violently, releasing a stream of bubbles from his mouth.

But there was no telling what material his "Iron Coffin" was made of.

It had taken more than ten of his punches and remained completely unscathed.

"AWOOOO!"

The terrifying aura drew closer.

Tang Wen’s heart hammered like a drum, but he didn’t dare move again.

’Death if I get out, death if I stay in.’

’What am I supposed to do?’

Everything fell silent once more.

Tang Wen’s expression was a mixture of shock and suspicion.

Suddenly, a voice whispered right in his ear, "Do you think... I’m beautiful?"

It was like a ghostly wind suddenly blowing past his ear as he walked by a graveyard at night.

The fine hairs behind Tang Wen’s ears bristled as he distinctly felt that phantom breath!

It was the kind of horrifying strangeness that could scare a person to death.

As a Peak Martial Artist, he naturally wouldn’t be scared to death.

But he felt as if he had been plunged into an icy abyss!

An uncontrollable shiver ran through his entire body!

Extreme fear gave way to extreme rage.

"Damn you!"

He opened his mouth, letting out a torrent of bubbles. GLOOG GLOOG GLOOG.

Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist—Mountain-Shattering Cannon!

Double Vibrating Force, stacked!

BANG!

The coffin lid buckled.

After several more punches, the lid above him shattered into pieces.

Tang Wen leaped out.

’I’m out?’

’No, this is solid ground.’

He suddenly realized he was right back in the underground silence chamber.

The feeling of solid ground beneath his feet was unmistakable.

"What the—?"

"You have Extraordinary Level combat strength?! Why didn’t you say so sooner?" Shopkeeper Li’s voice rang out, laced with dissatisfaction.

The light flared to life, revealing her holding a bright oil lamp.

And next to her, lying on the ground, was a massive, two-headed black dog that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

"This is...? Me? So... was all of that just an illusion?"

Tang Wen was stammering, but his mind was reeling with an even greater shock. ’At such a close distance, before the lamp was lit, how could I not have detected another living being with my Spiritual Power, intuition, and Night Vision Ability?!’

"Nonsense! Of course it was fake!

Did you really think my Four Seas Inn would covet your paltry sum of money,

and try to kill you for it?"

Shopkeeper Li said, exasperated.

"Er..."

Tang Wen scratched his head. That was, in fact, exactly what he had thought.

"This is a Nightmare King Beast. Everything you just experienced was its creation!"

Just as Shopkeeper Li finished her introduction, something even more shocking happened: the two-headed dog spoke!

"An interesting little human. Just a reminder, your disguise has come off."

As it spoke, a strikingly human-like mirth appeared in the dog’s four deep-blue pupils.

Tang Wen reached up to touch his face and found it was true.

He had been too tense to notice.

Meeting Shopkeeper Li’s gaze,

he decided to rip off the rest of the disguise, revealing his original, handsome face.

The worldly Shopkeeper Li couldn’t help but stare. "You’re so young!"

Though she remarked on his youth, her eyes remained fixed on Tang Wen’s handsome face. "If I had a face like yours," she muttered, "wouldn’t all the Courtesans from Xunfang Pavilion, Lichun Courtyard, and Baihua Tower be lining up to throw themselves at me?"