Chapter Thirty-Five: System Upgrade

When Liu Heng appeared and, with a thunderous punch, shattered Wu Ping’s skull and sent him to the underworld, those who were rapidly pursuing from behind abruptly halted, staring in terror at the scene before them.

Wu Ping was a formidable cultivator at the late stage of the Xuan Moon Realm, and he also possessed a special armored spirit. Yet even so, Liu Heng slew him with a single blow! The sheer terror of Liu Heng’s strength was evident.

Looking at Liu Ji, whose face was pale and weak, Liu Heng’s expression grew darker. “You’ve suffered enough. Leave the rest to your father.”

He turned, his piercing gaze like the eyes of a tiger locking onto the assassins. Their hearts trembled under his stare; some of their legs shook uncontrollably.

“Retreat, now!” someone shouted, spinning around to flee. But the moment he turned, he stopped dead, horror etched on his face—for he saw figures clad in black armor emerging from the woods, surrounding them.

The Southern Tiger Cavalry.

Leading them was Yan Ye, who sneered, “Big brother guessed there would be rats lurking outside South King City, so he used the heir as bait to lure you out. You really fell for it. Now, the roles of hunter and prey are about to swap!”

Rain City was momentarily stunned, then suddenly understood. No wonder they five had been chosen to protect the heir’s safety. Though strong, they were not the strongest among the Southern Tiger Cavalry—there were many more formidable than them. Logically, when the heir left the city, the guards should have been the elite. Yet, selecting these moderately strong ones was likely meant to draw out the assassins. If the guards were too powerful, the assassins wouldn’t show. Too weak, and they couldn’t protect the heir.

The assassins, hearing this, turned deathly pale, terror filling their eyes. What they thought was a golden opportunity to assassinate Liu Ji had become a trap meticulously laid by Liu Heng!

Liu Heng wasted no words. He waved his hand. “Capture them—alive!”

Liu Ji was Liu Heng’s son, the son of the Southern King who commanded north and south across the empire. He was determined to discover which audacious villain dared to attempt his son’s assassination.

“Shhh—shhh—shhh!” At his command, Yan Ye and his men charged.

Yet, facing the encirclement, the assassins neither fought nor fled. They extended their right hands, wild spiritual energy surging in their palms.

“They’re going to commit suicide! Stop them!” Yan Ye’s pupils contracted as he shouted.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Their spiritual energy-wrapped hands struck their own crowns, blood spurting from their mouths, and they collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Gazing at the assassins’ corpses, Yan Ye’s face was somber. “Big brother, these assassins—or rather, death soldiers—are clearly not ordinary killers trained by common forces!”

Liu Heng’s expression was cold. “Investigate. Dig three feet under South King City if you must, but root out the rest of their faction. Capture them alive. If they dare resist, execute them on the spot!”

“Yes!” Yan Ye nodded.

Meanwhile, Liu Ji had moved beside Wu Ping’s corpse. He crouched, placing his hand on Wu Ping’s chest.

In the next moment, a line of data floated up:

“Speed +25…”
“…”

Liu Ji waited with his hand on the corpse, but no more data appeared. He frowned. “Strange. Why did I only extract speed? Where’s strength? Where’s vital energy? Why didn’t I get those?”

Puzzled, he opened his attribute panel.

Vital Energy: 60/80
Strength: 53/78
Speed: 49/90
Spirit: 34/50
Constitution: 50/90
Spiritual Power: 0

“…Has the system been upgraded?” Staring at the dramatically altered panel, Liu Ji was momentarily at a loss—the system had changed without his notice.

But he was still confused. Why had he extracted only speed from Wu Ping’s corpse, and not vital energy or strength? Moreover, Wu Ping had been immensely powerful, his speed terrifying—why only 25 points of speed? Had the system devoured the rest? Or was it some kind of tax?

He sighed inwardly. Well, although it was a pity not to get vital energy, he’d gained a considerable amount of speed, which wasn’t bad.

He stood and went to the corpses of the other five assassins, crouched down, and extracted their attributes one by one.

“Vital Energy +50…”
“Strength +65…”
“Spirit +38…”
“…”

Vital Energy: 80/110
Strength: 78/118
Speed: 89/90
Spirit: 50/62
Constitution: 50/90
Spiritual Power: 0

Based on the extracted attributes and the conversion standard on the panel, Liu Ji suspected that the reason he could only extract so few attributes from Wu Ping and other strong individuals was because the system had refined them to the utmost purity. Though the extracted attributes were few, they were extremely pure and would not affect his foundation.

Additionally, extracted attributes first restored the corresponding depleted data, and any excess would increase the upper limit.

All in all, this system upgrade had brought Liu Ji many benefits. At the very least, he could now directly observe his body’s consumption, which was a valuable ability.

It was just that the system was too greedy—the extracted attributes were so few!

“Are you alright?” At that moment, Liu Heng’s voice sounded in his ear.

He looked up, seeing Liu Heng’s face full of concern. Liu Ji shook his head. “I’m fine. I won’t die, anyway.”

“Young master!” Suddenly, a voice called from behind.

Liu Ji turned, seeing Little Ya running toward him with joy written all over her face. He noticed her eyes glistening with mist.

She rushed up to Liu Ji, hugging his waist tightly and pressing her head against his abdomen, her voice choked with tears. “Young master, I’m so glad you’re alright!”

Liu Ji patted her head. “Why are you crying? Isn’t your young master perfectly fine? A few villains can’t kill me.”

Yan Ye, nearby, laughed. “When we met her on the way, she was wailing, tears pouring down like rain!”

Hearing this, Little Ya blushed, lowering her head in embarrassment.

Liu Ji smiled, then said gravely, “We’ve already been delayed too long by these people. We need to reach Little Ya’s village before sunset.”

Liu Heng replied, “We’ll go with you.”

Liu Ji nodded, not refusing. Although Liu Heng and his men had arrived in time and the assassins had failed, his heart still trembled—his legs were still quivering as if shocked by electricity.

Surviving the battle with Wu Ping was already a stroke of immense luck. He had no desire to face another assassination attempt.

With Liu Heng accompanying him, he felt safe.

So the group mounted their Crimson Flame Horses and hurried toward Yongfu Village, finally arriving atop a hill before sunset. Looking down, they saw a village nestled in the basin below.

But Liu Ji found it strange—by dusk, mealtime, there should have been smoke rising from the village’s chimneys. Yet, the village was eerily quiet.

It was… deathly silent.

“Stay alert,” Liu Heng said solemnly. The group followed the winding mountain path to the village entrance. There, several dogs wagged their tails, barking wildly at them but not daring to approach.

Liu Ji also saw, in the distance, a rooster with vibrant feathers strutting proudly toward a hen, then mounting her…

Everything seemed normal.

The only oddity was that there was not a single human figure in the village—not a trace of human presence.

It felt dead, lifeless.

…

…

PS: First update.

Asking for recommendation votes, everyone~