A long time ago, Zhang Yuan already knew that this world was anything but ordinary.
He once witnessed with his own eyes a burly man with a full beard being besieged by a group of wandering heroes on the streets of the county town.
That burly man, with just his bare hands, killed seven people in the space of ten breaths, and finally leapt onto the city wall, three or four zhang high, and disappeared without a trace!
At that time, one of the wandering heroes fell just a few steps away from Zhang Yuan, with his entire chest caved in, and the blood spurting from his mouth even splattered onto Zhang Yuan's face.
The horrific scene of death, along with the intense smell of blood, left a profound impression on Zhang Yuan.
It extinguished some of his ideas and constantly reminded him to stay vigilant.
The knowledge and experience of a transmigrator, in a situation where one is extremely weak, can easily attract a fatal disaster instead.
And this skillful martial artist with a burly beard also ignited a strong desire in Zhang Yuan to cultivate the martial arts.
That's why he went to great lengths to please Hunter Gao.
Now, Zhang Yuan, who still couldn't step into the paths of martial arts, was facing a real martial artist.
This Chen Family guard couldn't possibly compare to the burly bearded man, but a martial artist was something ordinary people could never match!
The other's eyes looked at Zhang Yuan with a condescending arrogance and disdain.
This was confidence in his own strength and contempt for Zhang Yuan!
In his eyes, Zhang Yuan, who had just killed Chen San, was only an ant-like existence.
However, Zhang Yuan felt no fear and certainly did not retreat.
Because he knew that fear and retreat would only lead to quicker, more miserable death!
Zhang Yuan boldly charged towards the opponent.
The Chen Family guard was first taken aback, then found it amusing.
He was an Entering Force martial artist and could see at a glance that Zhang Yuan had no foundation in martial arts, only a bit of brute wild strength.
Seeing Zhang Yuan swinging a knife towards him, the Chen Family guard sneered, raised his arm, and aimed a palm strike at Zhang Yuan's wrist holding the knife.
Thinking of cat playing with mouse, he didn't plan to deal with Zhang Yuan immediately. He intended to let him suffer first, then apply humiliation to coerce him, hoping for some unexpected gains.
This was a tactic the Chen Family guard had used many times.
Very skillful.
His palm strike, later but arriving earlier, was full of power, hitting Zhang Yuan's right wrist just before the firewood knife swung down.
Pa!
Zhang Yuan's firewood knife flew out of his hand, spinning into the bushes nearby.
The successful Chen Family guard was shocked.
He had used seventy percent of his strength in that palm strike. Although he disarmed Zhang Yuan, not only did he fail to shatter the latter's wrist bone, his own palm was numbed with pain.
Zhang Yuan's strength far exceeded his expectations!
The next moment, a handful of dry straw powder was slapped onto the Chen Family guard's face, instantly blinding him.
The Chen Family guard immediately panicked and instinctively retreated.
But with the whistling wind, his lower body was struck heavily with a kick.
Poof!
At that instant, the Chen Family guard heard a faint sound of an egg cracking.
As if seeing his great-grandmother.
Immediately, intense pain surged like a tidal wave, overwhelming his entire body.
Reaching the top of his head!
The Entering Force martial artist's eyes went black, and he suddenly lost consciousness.
Seeing the strong enemy on the ground, already unconscious, Zhang Yuan hesitated not at all.
He gathered all his strength and punched the opponent's throat fiercely.
Crack!
The Chen Family guard's eyes snapped open, his body bending like a cooked shrimp, his limbs twitching involuntarily.
Blood sprayed from his mouth like a mist.
Until his breath ceased, he could not believe he would die at the hands of an ordinary person.
Zhang Yuan withdrew his fist.
His whole body was trembling, his face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead, sweat soaking through his clothes.
Killing two people consecutively, one of them being a martial artist, this ordeal stimulated Zhang Yuan far more than killing a wild boar.
Actually, there was a large element of luck in this victory.
The Chen Family guard assumed Zhang Yuan was just an ordinary person but never imagined he would cheat, triggering the power of the Black Giant Ant to double his strength.
He primarily died from underestimating the enemy!
Of course, Zhang Yuan's reckless courage was also a factor for victory.
Calming the turmoil of Qi Blood within, Zhang Yuan quickly searched the Chen Family guard's corpse.
To kill without looting is to have a head full of bumps, Zhang Yuan didn't want to miss the chance he'd bought with his life!
Zhang Yuan found a money bag, a beast hide bag, and some miscellaneous items like hand cards on the opponent.
The money bag was heavy, filled with scattered silver taels and copper coins.
Estimated to be about seven or eight taels.
But compared to this silver, what truly thrilled Zhang Yuan was a book found in the beast hide bag.
This book was two fingers thick, with "Rock Foundation Skill" written in bold, powerful characters on the pale yellow cover, the edges worn and frayed, clearly old.
Zhang Yuan flipped a few pages casually, his heart involuntarily racing.
Cultivation technique!
This was exactly the martial arts technique he had dreamed of!
Yet despite the excitement, Zhang Yuan didn't lose his mind. He quickly stashed the secret manual safely.
And prepared to flee.
This was the entrance to the mountain path, villagers returning from gathering herbs could appear at any time.
Once exposed, Zhang Yuan would suffer a fate worse than death!
But just as Zhang Yuan was about to leave, a bold idea suddenly appeared in his mind.
Zhang Yuan crouched down again.
First, he took a few taels of silver from the money bag and tucked it into his bosom, then put the rest of the miscellany back into the Chen Family guard's arms.
Then he placed his left hand on the corpse.
Sacrifice!
According to the rules of Illusory Trace, the offering to the Divine Nest by a Divine Nest Hunter must be spoils personally hunted and killed.
Zhang Yuan didn't know if, in reality, this corpse before him could serve as an offering!
After all, it was a life he hunted and killed.
The next moment, the Divine Nest badge on the back of Zhang Yuan's left hand quietly emerged.
And the Chen Family guard's corpse shriveled and shrank visibly, turning into a mummy-like dried corpse, its moisture-less skin beginning to peel.
Stop!
Zhang Yuan abruptly lifted his left hand, forcibly halting the sacrificial process.
[Source Material +2.3]
It really worked!
Zhang Yuan was overjoyed and quickly did the same with Chen San's corpse.
But this rogue yielded only 0.6 points of Source Material.
Not even half a wild boar!
Zhang Yuan didn't mind, and he didn't bother touching Chen San's body.
This guy was so broke he resorted to robbery, having valuables would be a strange occurrence!
Zhang Yuan retrieved his firewood knife and completely sacrificed the half wild boar he previously abandoned to the Divine Nest.
Gaining another 0.8 points of Source Material.
This time he really profited!
Glancing at the two terrifying mummified corpses lying at the road entrance, Zhang Yuan gave a cold smile, then slipped into the woods without looking back.
He took another secluded path to quietly return home to Chen Family Village.
Washed off the blood, changed into fresh clothes.
Clang, clang, clang!
As the sky darkened, a sudden loud clanging of gongs startled everyone in the village.
"Oh no, someone's struck by a curse!"