Just as Lin Chen was stewing bear paw, he looked up and noticed something unusual.
There were several drones flying in the air.
One of them was hovering directly above him — and had clearly been following him.
Curious, he pulled out his phone and opened the Warrior Association forum again.
Sure enough, there was a section dedicated to real-time broadcasts from inside the Qixing Mountains.
Because a third-level mutated monster had appeared that day, the Association had dispatched extra drones to livestream activity in the Level 3 zone. It was drawing a lot of attention.
Lin Chen tapped into one of the live rooms.
It was broadcasting him.
Onscreen, the drone feed was showing him cooking.
Lin Chen glanced up at the hovering drone and casually raised his middle finger at it.
The livestream chat went wild.
"Damn, this guy's got personality. He just flipped off the Association's drone!"
"What is he even doing in there? He's actually COOKING? Does he not know the Level 3 zone is insanely dangerous right now?"
"I'm guessing he's some rookie who didn't get the memo and just got hungry halfway in."
"Well, hey. If that mutant monster finds him, at least he'll die with a full stomach."
"Hahahahaha!"
The chat was having a great time with it.
To them, Lin Chen looked ridiculous.
Meanwhile, another drone was following Wang Shihao and his three teammates.
That feed showed them using scanners and instruments to search for traces of the mutated monster.
"Now that's what professionalism looks like!"
"The Wang family really is on another level."
"Compared to that, that guy who's just sitting there cooking meat looks like an idiot."
"Yeah, hahahaha!"
Lin Chen had no idea he was being clowned in the chat.
He'd already put his phone down and gone back to cooking.
Before long, the entire Steel-Haired Bear — easily over a thousand pounds — had simmered down to tender meat in his cauldron.
That new pot he'd bought really was worth the money. The heat distribution was perfect.
Lin Chen grabbed a bear paw with his bare hands. The skin was a glossy, caramelized brown and the smell was rich and savory.
His appetite surged.
He opened his mouth and started tearing into it.
"I don't get why he's cooking in a danger zone," someone in chat wrote, "but that looks delicious."
"You want to try it? Be my guest. A mutated monster could jump him any second."
The audience watching the drone feed practically started drooling.
Lin Chen's bear paw looked more like restaurant-level food than survival rations.
After crushing the first paw, Lin Chen didn't stop. He just kept eating.
Ten minutes later, he had eaten the entire Steel-Haired Bear.
Bones and nothing else remained.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
He had to admit it — he was definitely eating faster these days.
Part of it had to be his increasing Strength and Constitution. His body had been reinforced again and again; his Stomach Capacity and Digestion Speed had both risen.
Eating slowly simply wasn't possible anymore.
"HOLY— that Steel-Haired Bear was huge. Over a thousand pounds! And he finished it?!"
"No way. If that were me, I'd still be chewing on it next month."
"That guy is seriously starting to freak me out."
The livestream chat had gone from mocking to unsettled.
[Consumed: Level 3 Steel-Haired Bear. Qi and Blood +600. Attribute Points +200!]
"System," Lin Chen said quietly, "my Qi and Blood should meet the requirement now, right? Break me through."
By his calculation, eating that Steel-Haired Bear should have pushed him past the threshold.
[Current Qi and Blood: 2420. Requirement for Third-Class Warrior met. Beginning breakthrough.]
[Breakthrough complete. Congratulations, Host: you are now a Third-Class Warrior.]
The moment the notification ended, Lin Chen felt the change.
A surge of raw power erupted from deep inside his body and flooded outward, racing along his meridians and filling his limbs.
Every part of him felt awake.
His senses sharpened drastically. His hearing and vision both spiked.
He could clearly hear the soft chirping of insects hidden in the grass nearby.
When he glanced up at the drone above him, he could make out the tiny Warrior Association logo stamped on its casing.
"As expected of a Third-Class Warrior," Lin Chen murmured. "This feels good."
He clenched his fists, excitement stirring in his chest.
"Open status panel."
[Host: Lin Chen][Qi and Blood: 2420][Realm: Third-Class Warrior (Breakthrough to Fourth-Class possible at 5000 Qi and Blood)][Attribute Points: 200][Strength: 600 (Next qualitative change at 2000. Can be increased.)][Second Qualitative Change: Ten-Thousand-Jin Force (Maximum burst output: 300,000 jin)][Constitution: 200 (Next qualitative change at 500. Can be increased.)][First Qualitative Change: Iron Bone, Copper Skin (Bones and skin hardened like metal; extremely tough.)][Spirit: 200 (Next qualitative change at 500. Can be increased.)][First Qualitative Change: Clear Sight, Clear Hearing (Greatly enhanced vision and hearing.)][Agility: 200 (Next qualitative change at 500. Can be increased.)][First Qualitative Change: Windstep (Running speed reaches 20 meters per second.)][Stomach Capacity: 15 / 200 (Can be increased.)][Digestion Speed: 20 (Can digest 20 Stomach Capacity per hour. Can be increased.)][Martial Art: Fourth-Class — Nuclear Bomb Fist (Beginner. 100 Attribute Points to reach Proficient.)]
Lin Chen studied the panel.
After his breakthrough to Third-Class Warrior, all four physical attributes had jumped by 100 points.
Even his Stomach Capacity and Digestion Speed had increased on their own. This was the first time that had happened without him spending points.
"Good. That means I don't have to waste Attribute Points on digestion anymore," he said, nodding.
Then his eyes fell on the Martial Art line.
Nuclear Bomb Fist.
Last time, he hadn't had any points left to improve it.
Now, he had 200 Attribute Points sitting there.
"System. Put all 200 Attribute Points into Nuclear Bomb Fist."
[Point allocation complete.]
[Martial Art: Fourth-Class — Nuclear Bomb Fist (Proficient. 200 Attribute Points to reach Mastery.)]
The moment the allocation finished, Lin Chen didn't feel a change in his muscles.
Instead, he felt it in his mind.
His understanding of the technique leapt forward. His form, his timing, his follow-through — it all clicked.
It felt like he'd been drilling the style for years.
"Let's see how strong it is now."
Lin Chen drew in his strength and punched forward, not at an enemy — just into the air.
Bang!
A thunderous crack tore through the clearing.
Air pressure blasted outward. Thick trees shook violently. Grass near his feet was ripped out of the soil and sent spinning.
A wide, shallow, fan-shaped scar appeared on the ground in front of him.
"Yeah," Lin Chen said, satisfied. "That'll do."
…
At that same time, not too far away, Wang Shihao's squad had stopped to rest.
They were eating to recover energy, watching the live drone feed on their phones.
When Lin Chen's stream came up, all four of them smirked.
"Boss, you gave him way too much credit," one of them said. "He's not here to fight you for the mutant monster. He's literally just here on a picnic."
"Yeah. Look at him. He hasn't even started searching. He's just been eating."
"As long as he doesn't get in my way," Wang Shihao said coldly, "I'll let him crawl out alive. If he tries to compete with me…"
He smiled.
"…he dies here."
"ROAR!"
A deafening beast roar suddenly shook the air around them.
All four jumped to their feet immediately, shoving water bottles and rations away and grabbing their weapons.
"Boss! That roar came from deeper in. That has to be the mutated monster!"
"Good," Wang Shihao grinned. "Let's kill it. I'll use it to break through to Fourth-Class."
The four of them charged toward the sound.
Meanwhile, Lin Chen still hadn't moved toward the center of the zone.
Instead, he began searching the area in a calm circle around his cooking spot.
He wasn't in any hurry to go after the mutated monster.
As the saying goes: sharpening the blade doesn't slow the chopping.
Eat a few more high-level monsters. Push Qi and Blood higher. Walk in as a Fourth-Class Warrior.
Then, all it would take is one punch… and the mutated monster's head would come off.