Wang Cheng approached the thicket and discovered it wasn't large—only about ten meters in radius.
The shrubs stood barely two stories tall. Although this was just a small thicket, his spiritual probe detected a presence stronger than any beast he'd encountered before.
Despite not knowing exactly how much stronger he had become, Wang Cheng felt no fear. As he got closer, a shadow suddenly leapt from the shrubs.
As if anticipating the ambush, Wang Cheng dodged and slipped into the thicket.
The shadow paused and revealed its form—it showed a trace of human-like anger in its eyes, then immediately chased after him.
As soon as it entered the thicket, a flash of a blade struck its neck.
With the sound of a blade slicing through hide, a massive head rolled off.
"A Cloud-Marked Shadow Panther? Didn't expect this kind of beast. Just reached mid-tier, huh? Too bad it ran into me."
He took out his cutting tools, removed the useful materials from the panther, and stored them into his inner space with a thought.
"Good thing these creatures are usually loners. If this had been part of a group, I'd have had to flee. A mid-tier Cloud-Marked Shadow Panther is worth about 2,000 exchange points—almost equivalent to a Water Source Coin."
He glanced at the small woodland—just over ten meters wide. The shrubs here couldn't grow tall, unlike the towering trees elsewhere on Water Source Star.
Though less than six meters high, once the underbrush was cleared, this could be a decent resting spot. No wonder the panther claimed this place as its territory.
Now, he had over a dozen Tier 3 apprentice beast corpses and even one Tier 4.
After digesting these, he expected a significant power boost. The fact that he instantly killed the Shadow Panther suggested his strike had already reached Tier 4 apprentice power.
He decided to test his strength. Pulling the test device from his inner space, he set it up in a clearing.
Then, he punched it.
"Dong!"
"Beep Beep!"
"3127!"
"Boom!"
"Beep Beep!"
"6879!"
"Dong..."
"Beep Beep..."
"9345! 9534! … 10086 … 9453 … 10011..."
"Beep!"
"9527!"
"Looks like my power did increase. After the training at home, both my physical strength and spiritual force increased by around 100 points. Not sure how much more this time."
With a thought, he fed all the Tier 3 beast corpses into the mysterious gray energy.
As the dried-up corpses fell, an energy surge far stronger than before poured from his core, enhancing both body and mind.
Feeling his power rise, Wang Cheng didn't linger on the sensation.
Instead, he turned to the dozen nearly invisible energy strands in his inner space and guided them into his soul.
Instantly, he fell into a state of enlightenment and began cultivating the second and third levels of the "Martial Foundation 256 Style."
The second level had only one move, while the third had two. To achieve a single unified explosive strike, he needed to completely master and merge all three.
To reach four times the striking force, he had to integrate all four moves from the first three levels into one.
Although this technique looked like a basic martial inheritance, its cultivation was extremely difficult. Without talent, even mastering all nine moves wouldn't guarantee tenfold strength.
Luckily, in this enlightened state, Wang Cheng felt his comprehension boosted tremendously. He easily mastered both the second and third levels.
When he fluidly executed both third-level moves, he suddenly stopped, eyes bright with joy.
"Didn't expect such great results. Not only did I fully master the second level, but also the third. Though I'm still short of fourfold force, I can now easily exceed triple force."
He sensed his strength again and was shocked.
"My stats were just over 3,000 before, but now my strength has reached Tier 3. My spiritual power feels close to Tier 4 too."
With no one around, he pulled out his test device again.
He raised his fist, and...
"Beep!"
"4132!"
"My strength is indeed at Tier 3 now. That would make me a high-level warrior on Earth. Truly, fortune favors the bold. Hunting in the wild really speeds up growth."
"Dong..."
"Beep Beep..."
"4321! 4231! 4567!... 4235!"
"Yup, Tier 3 it is. Now to test spiritual force and strike power."
"Boom boom..."
"Beep Beep!"
"12960... 12870... 13024..."
"Beep! 12987!"
"Bang!"
"Beep Beep!"
"7896!"
"Definitely improved. My spiritual power is close to a breakthrough. I still have a Tier 4 beast corpse left."
He glanced at the sky and checked his wristwatch. It was already after 3 p.m.
Still feeling there was time, he tucked the watch back into his bag and stored the test gear again.
Then, it hit him—Water Source Star's larger diameter meant a faster rotation, so its days were longer than Earth's.
He had once found it amusing that in the Devouring World, the universe still used Earth's units—time included.
But clearly, with planets ten times Earth's size, their day couldn't be the same length.
This inconsistency made time in the Devouring World feel rather illogical.
Looking at the sole Tier 4 beast corpse in his inner space, Wang Cheng activated its transformation. The corpse dissolved into energy and entered his body.
The translucent energy touched his soul, sending him back into enlightenment.
This time the process was shorter—it was only one corpse, after all. Not as intense as before.
When he was done, he tested again. His whole body was taut like a drawn bow. He struck the device hard.
"Boom!"
"Beep Beep!"
"4637!"
"Boom!"
"Beep Beep!"
"16038!"
Seeing the numbers, Wang Cheng couldn't hide his excitement.
"Only gained about 400 to 500 power from one Tier 4 corpse, but my strike force is nearly fourfold. Soon, I'll be able to unleash that at will!"
Then he frowned. A Tier 4 beast's strength ranged from 8,000 to 16,000.
That meant one corpse gave him roughly 1/20th of the beast's strength. For Tier 3, it was closer to 1/50th.
Not exact, of course—it likely depended on the beast's size. Larger bodies gave more energy.
Smaller ones, less. Not entirely unreasonable.
(End of Chapter)
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