Chapter 7: Made a Big Score
A long time ago, Zhang Yuan realized that this world was anything but ordinary.
He once witnessed a burly, bearded man being besieged by a group of martial artists on the main street of the county town.
That man, using only his bare hands, killed seven of his attackers within ten breaths and then leapt over the three-to-four-zhang-high city wall, disappearing from sight!
One of the martial artists fell just a few steps away from Zhang Yuan. His entire chest was crushed in, and the blood that spurted from his mouth even splashed onto Zhang Yuan's face.
The horrifying sight of death and the strong stench of blood left a deep impression on him.
It also extinguished some of his earlier naive thoughts and constantly reminded him to be cautious.
With the knowledge of someone who had reincarnated, Zhang Yuan knew that being weak in such a world could easily get him killed.
That powerful martial artist ignited in him a strong desire to train in martial arts.
That's why he had gone through such trouble to curry favor with the skilled hunter, Gao.
Now, Zhang Yuan, who still hadn't entered the threshold of martial arts, was facing a true martial artist.
This Chen family guard couldn't compare to that bearded warrior, but he was still far beyond ordinary people.
The guard looked at Zhang Yuan with arrogance and contempt — the confidence of someone strong, and the disdain for someone weak.
To him, even though Zhang Yuan had just killed Chen San, he was nothing more than an ant.
But Zhang Yuan showed neither fear nor retreat.
Because he knew — fear and retreat would only lead to a quicker, more miserable death!
Zhang Yuan charged at him recklessly.
The Chen family guard was first surprised, then amused.
As an internal-force martial artist, he could tell at a glance that Zhang Yuan had no martial arts foundation, only some brute strength and wild instinct.
Seeing Zhang Yuan swinging a machete at him, the guard smirked, raised his hand, and aimed a powerful palm at Zhang Yuan's wrist.
He wasn't planning to kill Zhang Yuan immediately. He wanted to play with him like a cat toying with a mouse — make him suffer, humiliate him, and maybe even force some unexpected secrets out of him.
He had done this many times and was very skilled at it.
His palm strike landed before the machete could — a solid hit on Zhang Yuan's wrist.
Pa!
Zhang Yuan's machete flew out of his hand and spun into the nearby bushes.
But the guard was shocked.
He had used seventy percent of his strength, yet not only did Zhang Yuan's wrist remain unbroken, but the impact also caused a dull pain in his own palm.
Zhang Yuan's strength far exceeded his expectations!
The next moment, a handful of dry grass powder was thrown into the guard's face, instantly blinding him.
The guard panicked and instinctively backed away.
But then — wham! — a heavy kick landed squarely between his legs.
Poof!
In that instant, the guard thought he heard something rupture.
He saw visions of his great-grandmother.
Then, an overwhelming wave of pain surged through his entire body, all the way to the top of his head.
The internal-force martial artist blacked out.
Looking at the unconscious foe lying on the ground, Zhang Yuan didn't hesitate for a second.
He gathered all his strength and punched the man square in the throat.
Crack!
The guard's eyes snapped open, his body arched like a boiled shrimp, and his limbs convulsed involuntarily.
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Even in death, he couldn't believe he'd been killed by an ordinary man.
Zhang Yuan retracted his fist.
His entire body trembled, his face flushed red, veins bulged on his forehead, and sweat soaked his clothes.
Killing two people in a row — one of them a martial artist — was far more intense than slaying a wild boar.
Of course, luck played a big part in this victory.
The guard thought Zhang Yuan was just a normal man and never expected him to cheat — using the power of the black giant ant to double his strength.
He died because he underestimated his opponent!
Zhang Yuan's courage and fearlessness were also key to his success.
After calming his churning blood, Zhang Yuan quickly searched the guard's corpse.
He wasn't about to miss out on the loot he'd risked his life for!
He found a money pouch, a beast-hide satchel, and some miscellaneous items like ID tags.
The money pouch was heavy, filled with silver pieces and copper coins — around seven or eight taels, he estimated.
But what thrilled Zhang Yuan more than the money was the book inside the beast-hide bag.
It was two fingers thick, with the title "Stone Stance Art" written in bold, powerful strokes on the yellowed cover. The edges were frayed, showing its age.
Zhang Yuan flipped through a few pages, and his heart raced.
A martial arts manual!
This was exactly what he'd dreamed of!
Despite his excitement, he didn't lose his head. He carefully stored the manual away.
Time to leave.
This was the mountain pass — a place where villagers might return from herb gathering at any moment.
If he were caught, he'd be doomed!
Just as Zhang Yuan was about to leave, a bold idea crossed his mind.
He squatted down again.
He took a few taels of silver from the guard's pouch and put the rest — along with the other trinkets — back into the guard's chest pocket.
Then he placed his left hand on the corpse.
Sacrifice!
According to the Phantom Trace game's rules, God Nest Hunters could only sacrifice things they had personally slain.
Zhang Yuan didn't know if this real-world corpse would count.
But it was his kill.
Suddenly, the God Nest sigil on the back of his left hand glowed faintly.
The guard's body shriveled and dried at a visible speed, becoming a mummified husk whose skin began to flake away.
Stop!
Zhang Yuan lifted his hand and cut off the process.
[Primal Essence +2.3]
It worked!
Zhang Yuan was overjoyed and immediately did the same with Chen San's corpse.
That thug yielded only 0.6 points of Primal Essence.
Not even as much as half a wild boar!
Zhang Yuan didn't care. He didn't even bother looting Chen San.
That guy was dirt poor — if he had anything of value, it would've been shocking.
Zhang Yuan then retrieved his machete and sacrificed the remaining half of the wild boar to the God Nest as well.
+0.8 points of Primal Essence.
This was a huge score!
Glancing at the two horrifying mummified corpses at the mountain pass, Zhang Yuan chuckled coldly and disappeared into the forest.
He took a secluded path and quietly returned to his home in Chenjia Village.
He washed off the blood and changed his clothes.
Clang clang clang!
As night fell, the sudden sound of frantic gong-beating alarmed the whole village.
"Something terrible! Someone triggered a curse!"
(End of Chapter)
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