[Enemy killed: 1 — Attribute gained: 0.69]
Seeing the system prompt, Li Dao couldn’t help but feel a little surprised.
Judging by the rule that killing an enemy drops one-tenth of their total attributes, the Northern Barbarian squad leader’s total stats had to be over seven times that of an ordinary person.
However, Li Dao had noticed earlier that the leader’s physical strength wasn’t actually that high—probably only two to three times that of a regular person.
The reason he was able to gain so many attributes was likely because the leader was a cultivator and possessed certain attributes that ordinary people didn’t.
Take, for example: true qi.
With a single thought, Li Dao allocated the attributes dropped from the Northern Barbarian leader to himself.
The next moment, that familiar warm rush surged through his body.
Only, compared to before, the sensation wasn’t quite as intense—likely because his physique had already adapted to this level of strengthening.
“Status panel.”
[User: Li Dao]
[Physique: 9.38]
[Available Attributes: 0]
Seeing this, a smile appeared on Li Dao’s face.
A physique nearly ten times stronger than that of an average human—he was getting close to his initial goal.
But now it was time to raise the bar.
After all, if everyone were ordinary, a tenfold physique would’ve made him an unstoppable force in this age of cold weapons.
But when cultivators are involved? Yeah, forget about it.
Without several hundred points in physique, there’s no way he’d feel safe.
Meanwhile…
After witnessing Li Dao slay the Northern Barbarian leader, Liu Fuzhang—who had been watching from the sidelines—was stunned.
He had thought that if 9527 (Li Dao) could just hold his own for ten rounds, that would already be impressive.
But to actually kill the guy?
Shock gave way to excitement. Seeing the leader fall, Liu Fuzhang immediately shouted to the surrounding enemies:
“Your leader is dead! Why haven’t you surrendered yet?”
Their leader… dead?
Hearing this, the remaining Northern Barbarian cavalry turned to look.
Because the leader’s armor was different from the regular soldiers’, they quickly noticed the corpse.
The sight of their dead leader crushed their morale. Their fighting spirit plummeted, their battle formations fell apart.
To them, the death of their commander meant all hope of victory was gone.
Finally, one cavalryman couldn’t bear the fear of death anymore. He threw down his weapon, dismounted, and surrendered.
And once there’s a first, there’s a second… then a third…
Before long, the rest of the Northern Barbarian cavalry followed suit and surrendered as well.
Li Dao, watching all this unfold, didn’t know what to say for a moment.
If I’d known, I wouldn’t have killed their leader first—I should’ve cleaned up the rest of the cavalry first.
But then he thought again: If I hadn’t stepped in, Liu Fuzhang would’ve been killed by the squad leader.
Then the whole situation would’ve gone downhill fast.
It was likely the soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty would’ve suffered the same fate—morale shattered after losing their leader, surrendering just like the enemy had.
“Whatever. Not like I’m missing out on much.”
All things considered, this was already a very solid gain.
When he came out, his physique wasn’t even at 5. Now it was nearly at 10—more than double.
Hm?
At that moment, Li Dao suddenly noticed something wedged in the cracked armor of the dead Northern Barbarian leader.
Curious, he walked over, squatted down, and took a closer look. There was a bloodstained yellow cloth stuck in the gap of the armor.
He reached out and pulled it out—it seemed like something was wrapped inside.
Upon unfolding it, two books appeared before him.
One was titled “Huang Ri Jue” (Yellow Sun Technique), and the other was “Gale Blade Technique.”
Li Dao was momentarily stunned—it was actually a cultivation method and a blade technique.
It seemed these were the techniques the Northern Barbarian leader had practiced.
“9527, you’ve got some good luck.”
Suddenly, Liu Fuzhang’s voice rang out behind him.
Li Dao turned to look. Since the Northern Barbarian cavalry had surrendered, the remaining soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty, just like last time, had already started binding the prisoners and cleaning up the battlefield.
“Do I need to turn these in?”
Li Dao asked, raising the two books in his hand.
He hadn’t intended to hide the books—besides, it would be impossible to hide them anyway.
Once the death row prisoners returned, they would have to strip and wash up, changing into thin prison garments. Nothing could be hidden.
Unless…
Well, that method? Li Dao wouldn’t consider it even if it killed him.
Liu Fuzhang gave him a glance, then spoke honestly,
“Technically, anything seized on the battlefield is supposed to be handed over. However…”
At that, he turned away, cleared his throat, and said in a low voice,
“However, there are exceptions sometimes. Just keep it yourself—I didn’t see anything.”
With that, he turned and walked off.
Li Dao smiled and shook his head as he watched Liu Fuzhang leave.
It looked like his performance over the last two battles had earned him a bit of trust from this centurion.
To be honest, Li Dao had a pretty good impression of this man—after all, he had stepped in to save him before.
He tucked the two books into his clothes, planning to try them out later that night.
Even though the old Daoist priest back in his childhood had said he was born with blocked meridians and couldn’t cultivate…
But hey, maybe the old man was just senile. There are a lot of conmen these days.
Half an hour later, the battlefield was finally cleaned up.
Everyone gathered together.
Liu Fuzhang asked one of the soldiers beside him,
“How’s the tally?”
The soldier nodded,
“Count is complete.”
“Read it to me.”
The soldier nodded again, pulled a sheet of paper from his coat, and read aloud:
“In this battle, fifty-five men from the death row unit were deployed. Fifty-four died. One survived.”
At those words, all the remaining Great Qian soldiers turned their gaze to Li Dao, who was leaning casually against a tree not far away.
For some of them, this was their first time seeing Li Dao; for others, the second.
But no matter how many times they’d seen him, Li Dao had left a deep impression.
Hearing that he was the only one left alive, Li Dao’s expression didn’t change much—he’d already expected it.
After all, even he had nearly died under the Northern Barbarian leader’s blade—what chance did a group of ordinary death row prisoners have?
The soldier’s report continued.
When the final numbers came in, it could only be described as a pyrrhic victory over the ambush from the Northern Barbarian cavalry.
The Northern Barbarian leader was dead, and over 80% of the 100+ cavalry had been wiped out—leaving only about 20 survivors.
On the Great Qian side, including the death row unit, nearly 200 people had been deployed.
Only just over 50 remained.
If that’s not a pyrrhic victory, then what is?
Hearing this, Liu Fuzhang let out a long, heavy sigh.
Even though he knew their side had suffered heavy casualties, Li Dao still felt a wave of sadness after hearing the final count—especially after seeing his own men fall one by one under his command.
But… this was war.
And this was only a small-scale skirmish on the border between the Great Qian Dynasty and the Northern Barbarian Dynasty.
If they were to step onto a real battlefield, people like them probably wouldn’t even make a splash—they’d vanish like foam.
Once everyone was ready, Centurion Liu waved his hand and said,
“If everything’s packed up, let’s head back.”
Not long after, Li Dao followed Liu Fuzhang’s unit back to Changgu Town.
Unlike last time, this time he was personally escorted back to the death row camp by Liu Fuzhang himself—to make sure the two books hidden in his clothes wouldn’t be discovered.
Before sending him in, Liu Fuzhang leaned in and whispered,
“This is as far as I’ll take you. You saved my life—if you ever need something, have the guards send word. As long as it’s not too much, I’ll help however I can.”
Li Dao nodded and stepped back into the familiar prison cell.
Just like before, when he returned to the cell, his fellow inmates stared at him in shock—stunned that he’d actually survived and come back a second time.
He found a quiet corner and sat down like usual.
Not long after, a familiar aroma began to drift through the cell.
The iron door opened, and a prison guard walked in carrying a plate of roast chicken and a bottle of wine.
“9527, this is from Centurion Liu.”
It seemed Liu Fuzhang had said something to the guard, because the man was noticeably more respectful toward this death row inmate.
“Thanks,” Li Dao said.
“No need. Just doing something for Centurion Liu.”
“Alright. Take care on your way out.”
“Enjoy your meal. Just call me if you need anything.”
“Appreciate it.”
After sending the guard off, Li Dao sat in his corner and began to dig into his food and wine.
This time, no one dared to bother him.
Clearly, his interaction with the guard had created a sense of distance and intimidation among the other inmates—no one wanted to risk offending him. Li Dao enjoyed a rare moment of peace.
After eating and drinking his fill, he leaned back and closed his eyes, riding a light buzz from the wine.
As night fell and the death cell grew quiet, Li Dao opened his eyes.
Once he was sure everyone else was asleep, he took out the two books he’d seized from the Northern Barbarian leader.
He opened the first one: “Yellow Sun Technique.”
Sure enough, it was a cultivation method, detailing how to refine and produce true qi.
Thanks to his mental strength ten times that of an ordinary person, Li Dao quickly memorized the entire book.
Then he returned the book to his clothes, sat cross-legged, and began trying to cultivate.
Half an hour later…
He opened his eyes and exhaled two words:
“Utter garbage.”
After thirty minutes, he hadn’t felt a damn thing.
According to the Yellow Sun Technique, he needed to focus and sense the hidden meridians in his body.
But after trying for half an hour, he hadn’t sensed anything.
“So the old Daoist wasn’t wrong after all. Born with blocked meridians really means I’ve got nothing to work with.”
Otherwise, with his mental strength, he should’ve been able to sense those so-called meridians with ease.
And on top of that, his physique was now ten times stronger than a normal human’s—if there were any meridians, even just a hint, they should’ve emerged by now under that kind of enhancement.
But there was nothing.
It confirmed a basic math problem:
If something starts at zero, no matter how many times you multiply it, it’s still zero. It’ll never become anything.
No meridians meant no cultivation.
Even if his physique reached one hundred million times that of a normal person, he still wouldn’t be able to cultivate.
“Whatever. I only tried it out of curiosity anyway.”
Li Dao only felt a tiny bit of disappointment.
After all, his system’s main function was to enhance his physique, not to help him cultivate.
Even if he could cultivate, he’d never give up the cheat-like efficiency of his system to suffer through years of painful meditation.
So what if cultivation is powerful?
If ten points in physique wasn’t enough, he’d go for a hundred.
If a hundred wasn’t enough, then a thousand.
If a thousand still fell short, then ten thousand, a hundred thousand, even a million.
He didn’t believe anyone would dare talk to him about cultivation once he could crush cities and nations with a single punch.
Since the cultivation method was useless, Li Dao pulled out the “Gale Blade Technique.”
He was curious—would a blade technique still be useful without true qi?
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