Slaughter

Swish! Swish!

"Ahh…"

The bandit let out a miserable scream as he was cut in half.

Lu Zhen had finally managed to slaughter all the bandits.

Even in this berserk form, he panted a little, feeling tired due to the excessive use of qi, which helped him regain a sense of clarity.

However, this could be seen as a blessing in disguise. His previously golden with a mixture of red eyes now almost returned to normal, and a sense of clarity emerged. His height decreased slightly, but he still stood tall at about 10 feet.

"What just happened?" Lu Zhen wondered as he looked around at the gruesome scene, where bodies had been turned into a messy pile of flesh and blood.

In the midst of this chaos, blood flowed like a river, creating pools of red liquid that reflected the darkness of the night. The strong smell of blood mixed with the awful stench of death, hitting Lu Zhen's nose and creating an unpleasant odor in the air.

The bodies were stacked on top of each other, creating a disturbing sight and a foul smell that lingered in the air.

Although he was aware of his surroundings while in this berserk-like state, he couldn't control his body much. He could only helplessly watch as his berserk form ruthlessly slaughtered all the bandits.

Initially, Lu Zhen had planned to discreetly eliminate the bandits one by one. However, when he killed the 50th bandit, an unknown change suddenly occurred in his body. His blood started burning, accompanied by a searing pain.

In the next moment, his body expanded to a giant 12-foot size, and his muscles swelled dramatically.

Lu Zhen's expression turned somewhat bitter. However, in his current 10-foot hulking form, his face looked more and more like that of a devil.

This unexpected state completely caught him off guard. It stunned Lu Zhen to his core. Every time he thought things would go as expected, an unexpected variable appeared out of nowhere and disrupted his plans.

However, this also had some advantages, as he now knew that he could level up faster through killing, and he now knew he could use his hands to imitate his saber and utilize saber techniques.

In fact, using his bare hands was more powerful for Lu Zhen than using a saber. After all, he had too much raw strength, but he couldn't fully harness it while wielding a saber. Even though he couldn't completely maximize the power of the saber technique with his bare fists, he could still tap into a certain level of its power.

"Damn it, how could I do that with just my fist? I couldn't before, but now in my berserk state I could do it…" Lu Zhen contemplated the possibility, but he couldn't make sense of it.

Frustrated by the complexity, he decided to let it go. "Forget it," he muttered, inadvertently speaking aloud, though he was too preoccupied to notice.

Before he could delve into the system notifications, a new prompt appeared like a pop-up ad on a computer screen.

It displayed a blue panel with a single word and a cross symbol—much like a computer file's exit button.

Intrigued, Lu Zhen clicked the log button, and the system prompts flooded his vision.

[Your constitution has leveled up from Divine Physique: Level 1 to Level 2.]

[Your blade mastery has leveled up from Level 3 to Level 4.]

[Your blade mastery has leveled up from Level 4 to Level 5.]

[You have acquired the skill "Aura Control."]

[Your aura control has leveled up from Level 1 to Level 2.]

A series of notifications overwhelmed Lu Zhen, leaving him struggling to absorb the information. However, his attention was primarily focused on the saber mastery skill.

"Hmm, maybe after leveling up my saber mastery, I can use my saber techniques with just my hands."

Casually slashing his hands as if swinging a saber, Lu Zhen created a slashing wind pressure identical to how he used a saber.

"Not bad," he thought, satisfied with his accomplishment.

That slash with his hand contained the principles of the saber, which he could previously only execute with an actual saber. Now he could replicate it with his bare hands, and the power didn't lose much of its momentum.

Seeing the row of prompts, his expression finally brightened a bit. "Not bad. It's really possible to level up faster and acquire skills by killing…" His mood lifted slightly at this revelation.

However, he decided to set aside these notifications for now, since he was still drenched in blood and the odour was far from pleasant.

Disregarding the notifications, he shifted his focus to the martial trainee stage bandits who had been present earlier.

To his surprise, not a trace of them remained as a cold breeze swept through the scene, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Although Lu Zhen could sense his surroundings in his berserk state, he could only vaguely detect people far away, unable to see the system for some inexplicable reason.

"Humph."

Lu Zhen's annoyance was evident as he began to search for them with his still massive 10-foot body.

He leaped, generating wind pressure that launched him into the air.

"Did he leave, brother?" Lu Qing whispered.

"Yes, he's gone," Lu Zhi replied, a mix of relief and lingering concern crossing his features. As they were out from their hiding place.

Seeing her brother's furrowed brow, Lu Qing became confused.

"Lu Qian, we only have two choices now," Lu Zhi declared with determination.

"We either become Lu Zhen's servants completely or spend the rest of our lives hiding from him," he continued, his teeth gritted.

Hearing this, her understanding deepened as bitterness crept into her expression.

"I'm too tired. Let's just run away."

"Alright," Lu Zhi agreed with a knowing smile.

However, his thoughts weren't aligned with what he was saying.

"I still haven't proved father wrong yet," he thought to himself.

He secretly clenched his hands.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhen, who was in the air, sneered as his ears twitched, catching wind of the melodramatic conversation between the twins.

"I almost forgot about them. Did they really think they could escape now?"

"I will deal with them after I eliminate the 19 martial trainees. I can level up even more." Lu Zhen's eyes gleamed with greed.