Chapter 17: A Familiar Feeling (Thanks to Alliance Leader "Zhuang Shu" for the tip)

Too young, after all!

Although the specter was powerful, low-level specters were clearly not very intelligent.

Shen Changqing paced back and forth in the courtyard, his purpose being to find the object the entity was truly possessing.

The previous exchange had already made the thing wary.

Without absolute certainty, or unless pushed to a desperate extreme, it would absolutely not make a move.

Similarly, if the opponent did strike, it would prove one thing: he had become a threat to it.

As Shen Changqing walked around the courtyard, he couldn't be a hundred percent sure where the specter's possession actually lay.

However, having covered almost every direction without any movement from the thing, he began to consider the remaining areas. The most conspicuous place left was the tree in the courtyard.

Its branches and leaves were lush.

They should have been vibrant green.

It wasn't even autumn yet, so it was impossible for the leaves to be withered and yellow.

There was only one explanation for the yellowing leaves: an external factor was causing this condition.

Specters were extremely yin and cold.

To any living being, they were a lethal toxin.

Thus, it explained why a tree that should have been full of life had fallen into such an anomaly.

Of course, Shen Changqing didn't dare to be a hundred percent certain; it was merely a suspicion in his heart.

The specter's inability to restrain itself and its subsequent attack undoubtedly confirmed this suspicion.

Eighth Layer of Pure Yang Art!

Fifteenth Layer of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong!

In an instant, Shen Changqing elevated his own strength to an unprecedented peak, striking forward with two palms with lightning speed.

His palms glowed crimson!

Like red-hot iron!

Iron Sand Palm!

Boom—Ah—!

Two pale hands seemed to encounter a terrifying attack, instantly dissipating like smoke, while a sharp, piercing scream echoed through the courtyard.

Clearly, this strike had injured the specter.

Just as the opponent retreated, Shen Changqing lunged forward. His veins bulged like coiled dragons as he gripped his long saber, hacking violently at the large tree before him.

Swish!!

The saber was sharp, and combined with incomparable force, it plunged directly into the trunk.

Because the trunk was too thick, Shen Changqing could not sever it in a single blow.

As he withdrew the saber, black blood gushed from the wound on the trunk like a spring, a foul stench hitting his face, accompanied by another shrill scream.

Immediately following—

The roots of the tree suddenly rose from the ground, thrusting toward Shen Changqing like sharp arrows.

They moved with such speed that they tore through the air with a whistling sound.

Facing such an onslaught, Shen Changqing’s expression turned fierce. He had no intention of turning back to defend; instead, he gripped the long saber tightly and hacked savagely at the tree trunk once more.

Puchi—

Bang!

The roots pierced the air and slammed into Shen Changqing. Even with the fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong, he could not completely withstand such an injury.

His skin cracked, and flesh was pierced through.

Blood flowed down from the wounds.

Simultaneously, the long saber struck heavily against the original wound on the trunk.

The trunk, already on the verge of breaking, finally reached its limit under such an attack.

Crack!

The great tree snapped completely in two. The lush foliage and the thick trunk crashed to the ground with a significant thud.

At the moment the trunk broke, a piercing scream rang out.

The source of the sound was no longer from the perimeter of the courtyard, but from the broken hollow of the trunk, from which a large amount of black blood erupted.

A blurry, illusory shadow drifted up from the break, attempting to flee into the distance.

Shen Changqing naturally would not allow the opponent to escape.

He took a single stride forward.

The long saber, enveloped in Pure Yang True Qi, slashed out, landing directly on the blurry, illusory shadow.

Rip!

With a sound like tearing cloth, the blurry shadow let out one final scream before dissipating completely.

As the specter vanished, a chilling aura climbed up the long saber, quickly traveling through the blade and into Shen Changqing's hands.

That familiar sensation brought a smile to his face.

Name: Shen Changqing Faction: Great Qin Demon Suppression Division Identity: Apprentice Demon Suppressor Martial Arts: Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong (15th Layer, upgradable), Pure Yang Art (8th Layer, upgradable), Seven Kills Saber Technique (2nd Layer), Iron Sand Palm (2nd Layer) Kill Points: 15

"As expected, if I want to obtain more Kill Points, doing it myself is the only real way!"

Looking at the fifteen Kill Points on the panel, a smile appeared on Shen Changqing's face.

He had wandered the Demon Suppression Prison for so long, and even counting everything, he hadn't obtained more than twenty Kill Points.

Now, by merely slaying a Ghost-grade specter, he had gained fifteen Kill Points.

From this, it was evident that personally slaying specters yielded more Kill Points.

Regarding the Kill Points in the Demon Suppression Prison, Shen Changqing suspected they were remnants left on the corpses of the demons; in reality, a large amount of Kill Points had likely dissipated the moment the demons were killed.

As for the specific source of the Kill Points, he could not be a hundred percent certain.

"Perhaps—it is equivalent to the energy contained within a specter's body!"

If Kill Points were compared to the energy within a specter, it would explain why personally slaying them yielded more points than what he found in the prison.

Fifteen Kill Points!

In Shen Changqing's view, this could significantly boost his strength.

By now, the bleeding from his injuries had stopped; the fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong provided him with powerful self-healing capabilities.

Looking at the two cultivation methods on the panel, Shen Changqing fell into thought.

Fifteen Kill Points seemed like a lot, but the question was how to use them to achieve maximum effect.

"The fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong played a significant role in slaying this specter; otherwise, I would have fallen to Zhang Long. But the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong can only be described as a martial art for taking hits. Although its defensive capability is astonishing, its utility in front of a powerful specter is limited. Conversely, the Pure Yang Art has a significant suppressive effect on specters—"

Shen Changqing recalled the battle just now. Facing the specter's onslaught, even the fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong had its defense breached.

What truly forced the specter to hesitate in attacking was the effect of the Pure Yang True Qi.

"The strongest defense is offense!"

"In that case, it would be better to upgrade the Pure Yang True Qi."

Having made his decision, Shen Changqing focused his intent directly on the panel.

With a thought, five Kill Points were consumed, and the Pure Yang Art jumped from the eighth layer directly to the ninth layer.

Ninth Layer Pure Yang Art!

An airflow nearly twice as powerful as before suddenly rose from his dantian, sweeping through his entire body in an instant—

Rumble!!