Chapter 16 - 11: Continuous Leveling Up
"Right on time!"
A cold glint flashed in Lin Yi’s eyes. Far from retreating, he instantly entered a combat stance.
His Qi and Blood surged, activated by the Seven Steps Stance Technique, and his bones and tendons sang in unison!
He didn’t choose to meet it head-on. With a twist of his waist, his footwork shifted nimbly—it was the evasive Body Technique that accompanied the Basic Collapsing Fist!
WHOOSH!
The rat demon’s pounce carried a foul wind as it grazed past Lin Yi’s chest. Its sharp claws even tore the front of his school uniform jacket!
Lin Yi could even smell the thick, rank stench of blood and filth on its claws!
In the instant the man and the rat crossed paths.
Lin Yi’s left hand, which he had been holding in reserve, shot out like lightning!
It wasn’t a fist, but a grappling hold!
His five fingers were like a hook, latching with unerring precision onto the scruff of the rat demon’s neck!
This was a combat instinct honed through his sparring sessions at school. He knew that against a smaller, faster target like this, grappling and joint locks were more effective than punches!
RIP!
The feel of it was slick and tough. The rat demon’s hide was surprisingly hard and covered in a layer of viscous filth.
Lin Yi’s fingers closed like a powerful pincer, clamping down hard on the rat demon!
This rat demon was only at the initial stage of the Martial Disciple Realm.
Lin Yi, however, was a Senior Martial Disciple.
Attacking Lin Yi was simply a death wish.
It was captured by Lin Yi in an instant.
"Come!"
At Lin Yi’s thought.
The Mosquito Avatar immediately flew forward, transforming into a thin black line barely visible to the naked eye, and pounced directly onto the rat demon!
Its proboscis, gleaming with a cold metallic light, pierced the back of the rat demon’s neck with perfect accuracy, like a red-hot steel needle!
This time, it was a full-powered, unrestrained drain!
"SQUEAK!!!"
The rat demon let out an unprecedented, bloodcurdling shriek!
It felt an irresistible, cold, and violent suction force from the back of its neck as the essence of its Qi and Blood gushed out like a bursting dam!
[Qi and Blood +0.05!]
[Qi and Blood +0.05!]
[Qi and Blood +0.05!]
The system notifications spammed his mind, flashing frantically!
A scorching, pure life energy—dozens of times more potent than what he’d absorbed from ordinary rats—surged into Lin Yi’s body like a raging torrent through their mysterious connection!
This energy was purer and more violent than any Qi Blood Pill he had ever consumed!
BOOM!
Lin Yi felt as if his Dantian had been set ablaze!
His bones and tendons groaned, as if overwhelmed yet brimming with power!
Every cell in his body greedily devoured this energy.
His Qi and Blood value began to skyrocket at a visible rate!
9.155... 9.18... 9.21...
The rat demon’s struggles weakened visibly, its scarlet eyes filled with incomprehensible terror and despair.
Its large body began to twitch violently and shrivel. Its needle-like fur lost its luster, and its robust muscles deflated like a punctured balloon.
In just a few seconds, the Martial Apprentice Level rat demon, which had been so menacing moments ago, was reduced to a desiccated, skin-and-bones corpse under the Mosquito Avatar’s terrifying suction, completely devoid of life!
[Mosquito Avatar Experience Points +1!]
[Mosquito Avatar Level increased to LV4!]
[Bloodsucking Skill LV1 has been upgraded!]
[Blood Sucking LV2]: Doubles blood-sucking speed.
’LV4! And my Bloodsucking Skill leveled up! Double the speed means my hunts will be much more efficient!’
Feeling the power roaring through his body and the Mosquito Avatar’s evolution, an indescribable ecstasy washed over Lin Yi!
The Mosquito Avatar hummed as it flew back to hover in front of him.
By now, the Mosquito Avatar had grown to nearly three centimeters. Its entire body was ink-black, exuding a cold, hard, metallic quality. Its proboscis glinted with a menacing light, and the Demon Qi swirling around it was more condensed and ferocious than before.
Lin Yi looked at the shriveled rat demon corpse on the ground, quickly stepped forward, and used a small knife to precisely cut off its thick tail. This tail, nearly a foot long and covered in hard, scaly rings, was the most distinct feature of a Martial Apprentice Level rat demon—and quite valuable!
He quickly used the system to check his Qi and Blood.
9.305!
"Awesome!"
Lin Yi couldn’t help but let out a low growl, clenching his fists as he felt the surging power within him.
A single initial-stage Martial Disciple rat demon had given him 0.15 Qi and Blood!
This was more than ten times more efficient than just feeding on ordinary rats!
’Let’s go! Next!’
Having tasted the sweet rewards of hunting a Martial Apprentice Level rat demon, Lin Yi no longer hesitated. He took his newly empowered Mosquito Avatar and headed toward the deeper, darker depths of the sewer.
There, it seemed, more numerous, brighter, and more powerful life-heat signatures were faintly emanating an alluring aura, like a treasure trove waiting to be discovered in the darkness!
...
Time passed, bit by bit.
There was no light in the sewers, only the beam from his flashlight.
Lin Yi was so immersed in the hunt that he completely lost track of time.
The exhilaration of the continuous hunt washed over his nerves like adrenaline, almost completely masking the passage of time and his body’s fatigue.
By now, the waterproof backpack on his back was stuffed to the brim, hanging heavy on his shoulders.
It was filled with the spoils of his expedition—
Over three hundred rat tails of various shapes and sizes, including the five signature trophies from Martial Apprentice Level rats.
Lin Yi subconsciously raised his wrist and tapped the wrist-mounted communicator snug against his skin.
The screen instantly lit up, its faint blue glow piercing the darkness and clearly illuminating his face.
"It’s... eight in the morning already?"
He stared at the flickering numbers on the screen, his pupils constricting as he froze for a second.
A wave of shock mixed with disbelief washed over him.
’I actually fought tirelessly for a whole night in this sunless sewer?’
The intense stimulation of such high-intensity, highly focused hunting, combined with the almost addictive euphoria from his steadily increasing strength as his Qi and Blood surged, had indeed numbed his senses like a potent liquor.
However, the moment he stopped, the fatigue and heavy drowsiness that had been forcibly suppressed deep within his body rushed in like a tidal wave.
’I can’t go on. I need to go back and sleep... Once I’ve recovered some energy, I’ll come back and continue the hunt!’
Lin Yi forcefully shook his slightly dazed head, giving himself a decisive command in his mind.
He knew very well that at his current level of a Senior Martial Disciple, he was far from being able to fight for days on end without sleep and still be full of vigor.
He quickly surveyed his surroundings.
Then he walked toward the nearest manhole cover.
On the way, he pulled up the system panel to check it—
[Host]: Lin Yi.
[Realm]: Senior Martial Disciple.
[Qi and Blood]: 9.82.
[Spirit]: 1.0
...
[Avatar]: Ordinary Mosquito.
[Level]: LV8 (Senior Martial Disciple).
[Experience Points]: 11/80.
[Skills]: Flight LV2 (88/200), Blood Sucking LV2 (100/200), Tracking LV2 (176/200), Paralysis LV2 (70/200), Iron Body LV1 (0/100).
The changes to the system panel were astonishing.
After a night of hunting, Lin Yi’s Qi and Blood had leaped to 9.82. He was now just a hair’s breadth away from the 10.0 threshold of a Martial Artist!
An indescribable excitement and anticipation instantly gripped his heart.
And that wasn’t even the biggest gain.
The truly earth-shattering change was to his Mosquito Avatar!
After continuous hunting, the Mosquito Avatar’s Level had shot up like a rocket to [LV8], and its realm had stabilized at [Senior Martial Disciple]!
As for its skills, the panel had also changed. A progress bar representing proficiency now clearly appeared after each skill!
’Flight, Blood Sucking, Tracking, and Paralysis are all LV2. Only Iron Body is still at LV1.’
Lin Yi’s eyes scanned back and forth over the progress bars, his mind racing as he made a careful deduction:
’The rule for upgrading skills... it seems the key is frequency of use! The more frequently a skill is used, the faster its proficiency grows! During this all-night hunt, the Tracking skill was active almost the entire time, running constantly. That’s why its progress bar is so far ahead, almost at the threshold of LV3!’
Having figured out this key mechanism, Lin Yi’s mind became crystal clear.
The future training path for his Mosquito Avatar instantly became clearer than ever before!
The Mosquito Avatar’s basic combat power naturally depended on the advancement of its life form, which was its [Level].
The higher its Level, the more thorough its bloodline transformation, and the stronger its fundamental attributes like strength and speed. This was its unquestionable foundation.
To raise its Level, it seemed he needed to gain Experience Points by hunting living creatures.
But increasing its [Skill Level] was just as crucial and could not be ignored!
A higher skill Level meant a fundamental enhancement in the skill’s effectiveness, power, duration, and even special effects!
It was a lever that could greatly increase its combat effectiveness!
So...
’I have to find a way to systematically and efficiently raise the level of all the Mosquito Avatar’s skills!’
Lin Yi secretly made up his mind.
The Flight skill was straightforward—just keep it flying continuously to consume energy, temper its wings, and sense air currents.
Leveling up the Tracking skill was also relatively simple. He just needed to keep its prey-sensing ability active for long periods in a safe area, like a radar constantly scanning the surroundings.
As for the two combat skills, Blood Sucking and Paralysis, there seemed to be no obvious shortcuts. They could only be slowly improved by accumulating uses and experience through repeated hunting and application on targets.
The one that gave him the biggest headache was... Iron Body!
’Iron Body... based on the name, does it need to take physical damage to increase its proficiency?’
’So I have to make the Mosquito Avatar go out and get beaten up?’
Lin Yi subconsciously shook his head slightly, his brow furrowed.
’The risk is too high. One wrong move and the avatar could be severely damaged or even destroyed.’
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.
’Blood Sucking...’
’The Mosquito’s Bloodsucking Skill... the key to leveling it up is the act of "blood sucking" itself!’
’So... could I exploit the Rules and find a bug?’
’What if... I have the Mosquito Avatar... suck the Qi and Blood from my own body?!’
Once the idea took root, it grew wildly like a vine.
’Suppose the Mosquito Avatar absorbs Qi and Blood from my body, and then, through our mystical connection, continuously transfers that Qi and Blood back to me...’
’That way, the Qi and Blood would form a closed loop between my "main body" and the "avatar"! As long as the amount of Qi and Blood lost in each cycle due to conversion efficiency or other factors is negligible and within an acceptable range...’
’Then, the Mosquito Avatar’s [Blood Sucking] skill could complete an ultra-high frequency of "blood sucking" actions in a very short time! Its proficiency would definitely skyrocket at a visible rate!’
The moment this idea appeared, it ignited Lin Yi’s thoughts, making his eyes shine with a brilliant light.