Chapter 14: With the King, Victory Is Certain!

Having experienced firsthand the astonishing effects of a monster's corpse, Lu Fei finally understood why Chief Bear and the other petty monster leaders treated their underlings with such ruthlessness and brutality, never hesitating to act on their words. To them, these lesser monsters were nothing more than walking tonics—living elixirs. Every excuse to slaughter one and devour its flesh was a chance to strengthen their own cultivation. How could such temptation not move them?

Taking a deep breath, Lu Fei brought his focus back to the virtual panel before him and continued reading.

Experience: 72/200...

He remembered clearly that before midnight last night, the experience value bar—triggered by expending soul power—had been at zero. Now, the experience had risen to seventy-two. Based on his earlier deductions, this must be the experience gauge for generating soul power. Once it was full, he would gain more soul power.

The seventy-two experience points now displayed had likely been earned when he smashed the shrimp monster’s head. It was just like the first time he gained soul power by killing the grass carp monster with a harpoon. Yet, compared to the full soul power he’d received from killing the grass carp, the meager seventy-two experience points for killing the shrimp felt paltry.

But considering that the grass carp had been the first monster he killed in this world, which unlocked the soul power system, perhaps the system gave a bonus for that. Just like in games, the first level is always the easiest to gain.

Ultimately, Lu Fei couldn’t reason with the system, nor could he inquire about it—no one could give him answers. He could only fumble his own way through. Judging by the data on the panel, if he killed two more monsters similar to the shrimp, filling up his experience gauge, he should be able to gain more soul power.

Killing a shrimp monster granted him experience toward soul power, and consuming its corpse, as well as the grass carp’s, increased his cultivation directly. If he had only suspected before that the virtual panel system was encouraging him to kill, now Lu Fei was certain—there was no more room for doubt. This system was designed to drive him to kill and stir up trouble.

His gaze returned to the panel, scanning the remaining data, but nothing else had changed. After a quick glance, Lu Fei dismissed it from his mind. He could still feel the heat coursing through his body—the aftermath of devouring the shrimp and grass carp monsters. Now was the best time to cultivate.

Without delay, he began to practice the monster clan’s breathing technique.

When the shrill clanging of the copper gong startled Lu Fei awake once more, daylight was already streaming into the stone cave outside.

“That was really refreshing...” The crow monster, first to wake from cultivation, stretched lazily on the stone bed and proclaimed, “I feel brimming with strength right now...”

Hearing the crow monster’s exuberant voice, Lu Fei opened his eyes in time to see the creature leap from the stone bed, still chattering, “I can sense that my cultivation increased quite a bit this time. How about you, Redskin?”

The little pig demon, Redskin, picked up a gourd and slung it over his back, yawning, “Not bad...”

The crow monster seemed dissatisfied with Redskin’s reply. “What do you mean, ‘not bad’? How much did your cultivation improve?”

Listening to their exchange, Lu Fei was also curious about his own progress after consuming the shrimp and grass carp monsters. With a thought, the stream of virtual data floated before his eyes once more.

Host: Lu Fei

Realm: Level 1 Monster Soldier (65/100)

Experience: 72/200

Soul Power: None

Technique: Monster Clan Breathing (Proficient) (9/500)

...

“My realm—representing cultivation—has increased by two points... The proficiency of my technique has risen by four...” Lu Fei was somewhat surprised as he reviewed the numbers.

When he’d returned to the stone cave, dawn had only just broken—so at most, three or four hours had passed. Yet the effects of his breathing practice were almost double what they usually were. Coupled with the twenty-one points of realm he’d gained last night after eating, the shrimp and grass carp monsters had truly been worthwhile spoils.

He’d only meditated and cultivated for a few hours; the double effect provided by the fish monster probably hadn’t worn off yet. But today was the day to report for duty—he dared not delay. The more he understood, the more convinced he was that Chief Bear would always follow through on his threats.

“Whitefur, it’s time to go...” The crow monster’s voice rang out.

“Coming...”

Lu Fei hopped off the stone bed and hurried after them.

“I’m really looking forward to the battle at Serpent’s Coil Mountain the day after tomorrow...” As they made their way up the slope to the daily roll call, the crow monster kept chattering, “We’ll definitely get to share the corpses of other monsters after the fight—just like last night. If I can do that again, my cultivation will surely improve a lot...”

But before he could finish, Lu Fei cut him off. “Can’t you keep your mouth shut and not talk about last night?”

He glanced around at the throngs of little monsters climbing the slopes for roll call, then looked back at the crow monster, speaking in a low voice, “What do you think Chief Bear would do if he found out that last night, we not only snuck out without permission but also secretly ate the corpses of two fish monsters?”

The crow monster had witnessed Chief Bear execute underlings who failed their tasks. At Lu Fei’s words, he seemed to recall the scene and immediately clapped a hand over his own beak.

Seeing that the crow monster had taken the warning to heart, Lu Fei said no more. Ever since he had arrived in this world, he’d been working to correct the crow monster’s loose tongue, and it had improved a lot.

Watching the crow monster’s comically silenced expression, Lu Fei continued, “Besides, what makes you so sure that after the battle, you’ll be sharing in the corpses of other monsters, and not the other monsters sharing yours?”

The question left the crow monster dumbstruck. He hadn’t even considered that possibility. After a long pause, he answered hesitantly, “I suppose... I suppose we’ll be the ones sharing the corpses of monsters from Serpent’s Coil Mountain, right? Our king is so powerful—we’re bound to win...”

He turned to the taciturn pig demon, Redskin, who was trudging alongside with his gourd. “What do you think, Redskin?”

Redskin nodded. “I think so too. With the king on our side, we’re sure to win.”

Hearing his companions’ words, Lu Fei just smiled and didn’t argue. If his guess was correct, and there was no deep enmity between Wandering Mountain and Serpent’s Coil Mountain, and both sides were just sending their lesser monsters to be culled, then the king might not even intervene in the coming battle.

But there was no need to tell them this.

“Whitefur, what are you smiling about?” Redskin, the pig demon, suddenly asked in a low voice, “Do you think our king will lose?”

Faced with Redskin’s question and the crow monster’s curious gaze, Lu Fei shook his head. “The king will certainly win. But battle is dangerous—brutal, even. You’d best be prepared.”

With that, Lu Fei strode toward the towering, burly monster with a bear’s head and a man’s body waiting ahead.

“There goes Whitefur again, talking all mysterious...” the crow monster grumbled, watching Lu Fei’s back with a mixture of envy and annoyance.

“I actually think Whitefur has changed a lot lately,” Redskin disagreed. “And what he says always sounds reasonable—even if I don’t always understand it.”

The crow monster had expected Redskin to side with him, but hearing “even if I don’t always understand,” he perked up at once. “Right? You think so too? I feel the same way. Who knows what monster he’s been learning from...”