The dragonewt who understood...

"I see," Yang Ming assumed that it shouldn't be that easy, and yet according to the answer to that question, he just needed to increase the Gluttony skill level, which by any means wasn't easy.

Yang Ming was sure of this, he was sure that the system would require way more points than absorbing a few heroes would provide him. Still he wanted to learn how to increase his proficiency in the skill but he put it off for now. After all, if he wasted all the points that he had on questioning the system, he would soon enough be left with nothing.

He decided that as soon as he earned enough points through absorbing the inhabitants of the eastern and southern regions, he would immediately ask the system for answers regarding those questions. Yet so much depended on how many points he would be able to rack up for each soul absorbed.

With these thoughts in mind, he slowly moved further into the woods, choosing the most secluded spot while the five dragonets proudly stalked their prey, believing themselves as hunters.

The distance between them began to decrease considerably, and since they were now in close proximity to their victim, the dragonewts were no longer hiding. The group believed that Yang Ming had no way out since the distance had shrunk to less than a hundred meters, which was not really a long distance for cultivators at their level.

Looking at his hands, which were trembling, Yang Ming muttered:

"I'm not trembling with fear, but with excitement?" It was unclear to whom he was addressing these words, but the expression on his face had completely changed, if before he had been rather calm and collected, as if it was an ordinary walk with friends, now his face had a grin that almost distorted his whole face, like that of a crazy person who had met yet another victim on his way.

When the distance was 50 meters, Yang Ming suddenly stopped in a small clearing. The group became startled as they didn't know why their prey had stopped its escape, but soon enough they calmed down and the representative of the group spoke:

"I told you we'd meet soon, insolent little man." - Long Bai said with a bloody grin, as if he was already in the palm of his hand with no chance of escape.

"Yes, yes…" Yang Ming pursed his lips and rolled his eyes in contempt. - "I don't exactly remember you, but you're probably the lizard from the auction" - As if he had solved the mystery, Yang Ming struck his right fist on his left palm.

Yang Ming found out back at the auction that the nickname "lizard" was something of a taboo for Dragonewts, and if you say it in the right situation, you can easily provoke them and benefit from it, because it seems as if their brains overload when someone calls them like that.

"You're courting death!" - Soon enough one of the dragonewts quickly fell to the provocation. Apparently it was a man, his stature was the most buffed out of all the Dragonewts, he was like an ogre in the shape of a Dragonewt, with a roar he suddenly appeared before Yang Ming and and not even trying to control his strength he attempted to punch Yang Ming.

The dragonewt did not use a sword or any weapon, he was not only confident in his strength but he also didn't consider using his weapon against an opponent who was one stage of cultivation below him, so he just concentrated all his power in his fist and struck out.

It seemed as if he wanted to cripple Yang Ming with a single punch, because the punch was aimed at his left shoulder in an attempt to shatter all of his bones. Unfortunately for him, as soon as his right fist made contact with Yang Ming's body, a heartbreaking sound of bones breaking apart resounded. It was as if he struck a metal plate.

*Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!*

"Wha... What the f… ?" - The force with which he had struck could easily split a huge boulder apart without any recoil, but now he felt like he was a mosquito trying to bite the skin of an elephant.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" - Soon after he felt his blow fail and he felt an incredibly sharp pain in his right fist, with shock evident in his eyes he flew away from the recoil a few hundred meters away and suddenly collapsed. Blood was gushing from his right hand, while the knuckles of his hand were completely obliterated and even the bones could be seen through his mangled skin and muscles.

"What the fuck was that?" All the dragonewts seemed to have their eyes popped out of their sockets, they knew how much power their brother had because they were all on the same level, and they could even guess how much power he had struck with, but the recoil this brother of theirs had taken was beyond imagination.

Swallowing unconsciously, the three other dragonewts took a step back, such defense could not be possessed by a practitioner on Earth Ascension(2), but Long Bai remained where he was as he could not believe his eyes at what he saw, in his mind appeared only one thought.

"Don't be afraid! He's just a little stronger than we thought. I guess his bones are just too sturdy." - With an encouraging speech like that, he even tried to smirk as if he'd unraveled a grand plan to restore the morale of his friends.

"That's right!" - Everyone else agreed and began to approach Yang Ming, but they still seemed to be afraid of him a little bit since they no longer tried to attack him with their bare hands but with their swords.

"Don't... come... He... monster... it's... a... trap!" - Muttered the bloodied dragonewt to his friends, as he clearly understood that this man was a wolf in sheep's clothing, that all they had done so far was enter his noose and it began to tighten at this point.

But alas, his voice remained unnoticed as he spoke too softly and intermittently while he spat blood before each word he spoke, he clearly understood that he had been crippled as all his organs were torn apart.

Trying to warn them, he wanted to do something, but did not have time to do so as he suddenly lost consciousness due to his injuries.

"Fuck, I hope he's alive!" Yang Ming swore to himself, he didn't expect the stupid lizard to attack him unarmed, and he also concentrated all his strength in just his right fist, he looked toward the unconscious dragonewt and made sure it still gave signs of life, sighing slightly.

"Luckily he's still alive!" Yang Ming exhaled, he knew that in a head-on collision his opponent would face imminent death, the dragonewt was lucky that he only tore his right arm and his organs turned into a mess, because normally in such collisions his opponent would simply explode into smithereens, leaving behind only a puddle of blood.

If the difference between the Earthly Ascension(2) and the Heavenly Ascension(3) was enormous, the difference between the Heavenly Ascension(3) and the Mortal Ascension(4), could be explained as a collision between a person who did not practice cultivation at all and an ordinary practitioner on the Initial Ascension(1), it was a case where one could even be proud that he could survive while losing his cultivation and most of his lifeforce.