The chat in the high school classmates' group continued:
"You all got into Warrior University, right?"
"Yeah, but the entrance test requires at least 300 Qi and Blood. If you don't hit that, you're expelled."
"Same for my school. How about we form a team and go train in the Qixing Mountains?"
"I'm in. I haven't even fought a monster yet!"
"I'm going too!"
"Me too!"
"+1!"
As soon as the class monitor suggested it, the replies flooded in.
Around twenty or thirty people said they wanted to go to the Qixing Mountains to train and boost their strength before university started.
"Alright, I'll see you all at the entrance then!"
…
Meanwhile, Lin Chen was fighting a first-level gray wolf nearly four meters long and two meters high.
A first-level gray wolf was far stronger than a matsutake rabbit.
For a first-class warrior with around 200 Qi and Blood, taking down a gray wolf would require real effort and real danger.
But for Lin Chen, it wasn't even a challenge.
With 410 Qi and Blood backing his strength, he swung his sword and cleanly severed the wolf's head.
Blood sprayed across the ground. The wolf collapsed.
After finishing the kill, Lin Chen immediately started skinning and butchering the gray wolf.
Within moments, he had it broken down.
Then he set up his pot and lit a fire.
This time, he planned to cook it.
In addition to his own spices, he had picked up wild ingredients along the way — wild pepper, fresh wild greens, and other herbs.
Lin Chen tossed everything into the pot.
Before long, a pot of steaming wolf meat soup was done.
[Gray Wolf Meat Soup. Flavor Rating: 20/20.]
A rich, wild aroma rushed into Lin Chen's nose and instantly lit up his appetite.
He dug in.
He ate the entire wolf clean.
[Consumed: First-Level Gray Wolf. Qi and Blood +60. Attribute Points +24!]
Lin Chen opened his status panel.
[Host: Lin Chen][Qi and Blood: 470][Realm: First-Class Warrior (Breakthrough to Second-Class possible at 500 Qi and Blood)][Attribute Points: 59][Strength: 38 (Qualitative change at 100. Can be increased.)][Constitution: 36 (Qualitative change at 100. Can be increased.)][Spirit: 36 (Qualitative change at 100. Can be increased.)][Agility: 38 (Qualitative change at 100. Can be increased.)][Stomach Capacity: 60 / 160 (Can be increased.)][Digestion Speed: 5 (Can digest 5 Stomach Capacity per hour. Can be increased.)]
Lin Chen studied the panel.
The gains from eating one gray wolf were equal to about five matsutake rabbits.
He had to admit it: the stronger the monster, the better the return.
His Qi and Blood had already reached 470 — only 30 points away from the 500 mark.
One more gray wolf. Maybe two.
And he'd break through to Second-Class Warrior.
As for the 59 Attribute Points he still hadn't assigned, Lin Chen decided not to raise his Stomach Capacity yet.
Right now, 160 capacity was enough.
But Digestion Speed… that was still too low.
"System. Increase Digestion Speed by 5."
[Point allocation complete.][Digestion Speed: 10 (Can digest 10 Stomach Capacity per hour. Can be increased.)]
Good. At 10 points per hour, he could digest 240 points of capacity over 24 hours. That was plenty.
"54 points left. Put all remaining points into Strength."
[Point allocation complete.][Strength: 92 (Qualitative change at 100. Can be increased.)]
Right away, Lin Chen felt power boiling through his body.
It flowed through his arms, coiled in his muscles, pressed against his bones.
He could feel that at any moment, he could unleash that force through his limbs.
"So this is what higher Strength feels like? Not bad at all."
Lin Chen clenched his fists, feeling the tension, the weight behind every motion.
He decided that for the next monster, he wanted to test something.
No sword. Just fists.
The moment he had that thought, as if on cue, another gray wolf padded into view.
But this one was bigger.
Much bigger.
Its body stretched close to five meters long, and it stood nearly three meters tall at the shoulder.
Its fur wasn't the normal pale gray, either. Running down its back were streaks of red.
The pressure coming off it was different. Heavier. Meaner.
This was no ordinary wolf.
Lin Chen judged immediately: a wolf leader.
Its combat ability was very likely at the peak of first-level monsters.
"Perfect," Lin Chen said softly. "I'll use you to test my fists."
There was no fear in his eyes.
If anything, there was interest.
To him, this wolf leader looked like a walking training dummy — or, more accurately, his next meal.
Seeing Lin Chen's relaxed expression, the wolf leader felt insulted.
It had already killed at least a dozen first-class warriors.
Normally, when people saw its size, they panicked instantly — fear, retreat, desperation.
And when they turned to run, that was when it liked to strike.
It would pounce, slash through the tendons in their arms and legs with its claws, and then drive its fangs through their bodies.
Leave them on the ground, bleeding out, helpless and screaming.
Now it wanted Lin Chen to suffer the same way.
The wolf leader's killing intent surged.
It gathered strength in its limbs, then exploded forward like an arrow.
As it closed in, it lunged and opened its bloodstained jaws, aiming straight for Lin Chen's throat.
But just as it thought victory was already in its mouth—
Lin Chen planted his feet, twisted his waist, and drove all his force into his right fist.
Then he struck.
Bang.
His punch landed like a warhammer across the wolf leader's face.
Pfff!
The wolf's massive head snapped to the side with a sickening crack.
Several long fangs shattered and spun through the air before hitting the dirt.
Before the wolf leader could recover, Lin Chen's next punch had already arrived.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Every hit was heavy, precise, brutal.
Within seconds, the wolf leader was smashed to the ground, coughing, twitching, almost unable to move.
Even at the moment of death, it couldn't understand it.
How could a "first-class warrior" kill it with his bare hands?
When the wolf leader finally stopped moving, Lin Chen exhaled and stood still.
Then he glanced down at his own fists.
The knuckles were split and bleeding.
His Strength had clearly climbed to a terrifying level.
But his body wasn't yet tough enough to handle it.
His physical durability hadn't caught up.
If I meet something stronger, he thought, I might break my own bones before I break it.
That wouldn't do.
He needed to get stronger — now.
Step one: eat the wolf leader he had just killed.
Step two: push his Qi and Blood past 500…
…and break through to Second-Class Warrior.