Practice and hone·

"By the way, Blackbird, do you have a name?"

"This lord doesn't go by Blackbird, and my true form isn't this bird-like shape either. I used to be the supreme Abyss Dragon—they called me Barto…"

"Alright, enough shouting."

"I don't want to listen to your. From now on, I'll call you Old Black."

"How dare you! This lord is supreme—" Before the words finished, the birdcage began to shrink.

"Wait, wait! Brother Wang, I was wrong, don't do this!"

Wang Zhi already understood the path ahead: smuggling through the Abyss to other worlds, using Black Flames to devour world power and strengthen himself.

Earlier, Old Black said that to make Black Flames stronger, they could only devour world power; absorbing other elemental quanta wouldn't bring significant improvement. When Wang Zhi asked about the origin of Black Flames, Old Black avoided the topic like a snake, refusing to even mention it when threatened with the flames.

However, he needed to be careful not to release Black Flames near world origins. The reason lay in the Abyss's nature—imagine someone contaminated by the Abyss approaching the origin; how would the world consciousness react? Fearing erosion and gradual destruction, it would surely strongly reject them.

Of course, that was all future worry. Now, Wang Zhi needed to temper his physique and combat skills. Fortunately, Old Black wasn't entirely吹牛; it actually had some real skills to teach him. Though, the techniques seemed a bit unconventional—why was Old Black so invested in Wang Zhi's progress? After Old Black's soul entered Wang Zhi's body, it was bound by the Black Flames within, their souls intertwined by karma. If Wang Zhi died, Old Black would perish too, and Wang Zhi had promised that if he reached Rank 9, he would go to the "Extinction Star" to help Old Black retrieve its broken body.

"Kid, your Black Flames can only be used for a short time. In future battles, they can't be relied on long-term—only as a trump card."

"Listen carefully, I'll teach you a combat technique relying on blood qi. This was one of my masterpieces during my peak."

"Why this technique?"

"First, you have no healing abilities. Once you learn this, as long as it's not a critical injury like missing limbs, you can recover. Plus, it's the most suitable for you now."

"Where do you think you are? This is the Abyss—nowhere has thicker blood qi than Abyss creatures. Here, you can grow strong quickly and gain confidence."

"Alright, pick up some bones for now. I'll take you to a good place." Wang Zhi picked up an unknown creature's leg bone and a finger bone, tied them to his back, and walked in the direction Old Black indicated.

"This lord knows this place like the back of my hand."

…

Not long after, in a basin filled with dim flames, they saw a three-meter-long monster covered in red fur, with a long, bright red horn on its head. The monster was currently eating a creature that was already unrecognizable.

"Kid, listen: this monster is called Blood Horn, a creature that absorbs blood qi to feed. After eating, it sleeps to digest."

"Killing it will let you absorb its blood qi. Wait until it finishes eating and sleeps, then sneak up and take it out. Remember to stab its eyes—the fur is too thick for you to pierce otherwise. Seize the chance."

"En."

After waiting about half an hour, the Blood Horn had only half a corpse left. Satiated, it licked its face with a barbed tongue and slowly walked back to its nest. Wang Zhi followed from about 200 meters away, not daring to get too close, though the Blood Horn's perception was weak. Soon, the Blood Horn entered a skull the size of a small house and fell silent.

Another hour passed to confirm no movement. Wang Zhi crept to the skull, controlled his breathing, gripped the sharpened leg bone in his right hand, and slowly entered. The stench hit him immediately—the Blood Horn was asleep, snoring loudly. Wang Zhi approached, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. Just being near it induced primal fear, the instinctive reaction of the weak to the strong.

Wait! Up close, he wondered: could he pierce through the Blood Horn's eyelids? His mind raced, but Old Black stayed silent, not interfering with his next move. Gazing at the strong monster, Wang Zhi thought: Is Old Black trying to get me killed? Is this really as easy as it said?

Without overthinking, he acted—hesitation was dangerous. Wang Zhi grabbed the finger bone from his back, kicked the Blood Horn's neck without hesitation. Startled, the Blood Horn opened its huge eyes instantly, and two bone spikes stabbed deep into its eyes!

ROAR!

A pained roar erupted. The moment the spikes entered, Wang Zhi released them and retreated. The Blood Horn reared up, claws flailing wildly, nearly grazing Wang Zhi's scalp—one hit would have split him into three.

"Run outside! Its attack range covers this area," Old Black shouted.

"Got it!"

Wang Zhi sprinted out with all his might as the Blood Horn continued thrashing inside, each swing kicking up dust. ROAR! Another roar—the Blood Horn was furious, desperate to find the coward who attacked it in its sleep.

Before he could catch his breath outside, a loud BOOM! The massive skull was smashed apart by the enraged monster.

Terrifying!

"Kid, steady yourself—wait until it's almost dead before attacking again."

Hmm? Looking at its violent state, did it really seem easy to kill?

After bursting out, the Blood Horn roared, then pulled out the bones from its eyes. Blood gushed from the empty sockets, and in pain, it began running wild.

"Hahaha, kid, this beast just accelerated its own death."

Wang Zhi trailed the rampaging monster for dozens of minutes, watching it destroy everything in its path until it finally collapsed—bleeding out for so long had killed it.

Seeing the Blood Horn fall, Wang Zhi relaxed and approached, but Old Black snapped:

"Kid, don't go! Better safe than sorry—it might be playing dead!"

Startled, Wang Zhi stopped, picked up a stone, and threw it beside the fallen Blood Horn. The creature suddenly surged up, moving too fast to see, and slammed down, creating a deep pit with a dull thud.

"!"

Wang Zhi's eyelids twitched at the power—he hadn't expected the beast to have any strength left. After this final slam, the Blood Horn didn't move again. Was it really dead this time?

To be safe, he waited another ten minutes, threw another stone, and when there was no reaction, dared to approach. Holding the leg bone that had stabbed the Blood Horn, he let Black Flames coat it and stabbed deep into the monster's head—no chance of survival now.

Only then did Wang Zhi dare to breathe deeply. Though uninjured, this was a battle of different tiers; one mistake would have made him prey.

As the Black Flames faded and the leg bone turned to ash, Old Black said: "Kid, you need a weapon that can withstand Black Flames for a while. The Blood Horn's horn is perfect."

"Okay."

With great effort, Wang Zhi pried off the bright red horn, examining the slightly curved object. It felt bony, yet striking stone produced a metallic clank. About 1.1 meters long, the tip 50 cm was sharp—he tentatively named it Blood Blade.

Storing it in the square stone, Wang Zhi began using the "Overlord Devour" technique Old Black taught, part of the "Blood Overlord" method. Surprisingly, he mastered it quickly, making him think he had incredible talent—until Old Black deflated him, saying any creature could learn it, though…

"Though what?"

"Hehe, telling you now is pointless. You'll find out later, related to why I'm here."

"Oh."

A bloody vortex appeared in his palm, absorbing blood mist from the Blood Horn's corpse. The bodyquickly as blood qi and mist condensed into a thumb-sized sphere floating before Wang Zhi. He hesitated, then swallowed it whole. The blood qi exploded in his body, turning his pupils scarlet, followed by intense pain that knocked him out cold.

When he woke, clutching his aching head, he asked Old Black how long he'd slept.

"About eight hours. Not bad, kid—I thought you'd lie down for a day or two. Up so soon?"

…

So it knew he might pass out, yet still chose this place.

Wang Zhi felt full of energy, even imagining arm-wrestling the Blood Horn, but Old Black crushed his delusion: "Don't kid yourself. That Blood Horn was Mid-Rank 2; you're probably Top-Rank 1—you'd survive two slaps before dying."

Right. The surge of power had brought blind confidence. Feeling hungry, he took out a Blood Horn beast leg from the square stone.

Surrounded by earth's crust fissures spewing flames, he sat to roast the meat. It tasted terrible, like charred coal. Normal people would die from eating Abyss creature meat.

After eating, he asked Old Black for similar-strength monsters to adapt to his new power.

"Let me think… Got it. Near Refining Mountain, there were two Four-Eyed Demon Wolves, but I ate one. The other's Peak-Rank 1."

"En."

Following Old Black's directions, he walked through contaminated black trees; several Abyss rabbits watched from the branches. He held the Blood Horn as a precaution, but they just stared, motionless.

The sky darkened—though it was always dim, now it grew darker. He faintly saw a towering mountain ahead: they had arrived.

As he approached, his senses tingled—a claw swiped past. He ducked instinctively, wind rushing over his head. It was an Abyss Eagle, circling but refusing to leave.

Annoyed, Wang Zhi formed a blood qi bow in his right hand, pulled the string, and fired a blood arrow. The eagle dodged, then screeched and flew away, sensing he wasn't easy prey. The blood qi dissipated, and he continued toward Refining Mountain.

Admittedly, the blood qi technique was versatile—both ranged and melee—though the process of mastering it hadn't been pleasant.

…