When the leader of the Hard-Skinned Iron-Horned Bulls charged at him, Wang Cheng slightly shifted his body, narrowly dodging the sneak attack by a hair's breadth.
Wang Cheng was completely unharmed, but the bull directly in front of him was not so lucky. It got gored in the head by its own frenzied leader.
Not only did it end up with a gaping hole in its forehead, but its massive body, weighing over ten tons, was flung backward, leaving a trail of red and white brain matter.
Apparently, even the bull leader was caught off guard. Looking at the subordinate it had just thrown, it couldn't help but feel confused—where had the two-legged creature gone? How did it suddenly turn into one of its own calves?
The Hard-Skinned Iron-Horned Bull leader stood dazed, but Wang Cheng wasn't going to waste the opportunity. With fourfold strength amplification, his actual power exceeded that of a tier-five apprentice-level beast.
So against these tier-three apprentice bulls, it was as easy as slicing vegetables. In just a dozen breaths, he had left their corpses scattered around.
The bull leader's eyes turned blood-red, and hot white steam gushed from its nostrils, its furious mooing filled with rage and despair.
It hadn't expected its entire herd to be slaughtered in such a short time.
It was furious and filled with hatred toward this two-legged beast in front of it. Almost losing its mind, it launched multiple attacks, but each one was narrowly evaded by Wang Cheng.
"If I weren't worried about the other bulls escaping, I would've taken care of you long ago. But it's not too late now—let me send you on your way."
Wang Cheng stood with his blade, mocking the last bull in front of him.
Even though this one was a tier-four apprentice and the leader, it wasn't particularly dangerous for someone like Wang Cheng, whose body techniques had reached a meticulous level.
As the bull leader charged with desperate force, Wang Cheng, stimulated by the bloodshed and excitement, did not dodge this time. Instead, he met it head-on. With a burst of nearly fourfold strength, he channeled it into his long blade.
"Shiiing!"
"Swoosh!"
"Thud-thud…"
"Splat!"
With a downward strike of his blade, the weapon clashed against the bull's horn, slicing it clean off.
Then, the blade cleaved through the bull's skull, splitting its head right down the middle.
However, the force transmitted back through the blade sent Wang Cheng flying backward, his hands going numb. Thankfully, they didn't crack open.
The sudden impact had a calming effect on Wang Cheng's adrenaline-high mind.
The bull leader's charge halted. After staggering a few steps, it collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
"Excessive killing really isn't a good thing. After just slaughtering a dozen monsters, my mind's already racing. Thankfully, this was only a tier-four bull leader—if it had been tier-five, I would've suffered badly. I hope I won't get too addicted to the thrill of killing going forward."
Looking at the broken horn, Wang Cheng winced. "Can't let myself get carried away like this again. What was once a perfectly good tier-four material is now heavily devalued."
Even though his battle with the bull herd had been intense, it hadn't attracted any unwanted attention.
Which made sense—this wilderness was vast. Without a specific reason, it was unlikely to just randomly run into other people out here.
He pulled out his specialized carving blade and removed all the horns from the bull corpses, placing them into his backpack.
After confirming that the area was still quiet, he stored most of the bulls' bodies into his internal storage space.
He left only one tier-three bull corpse behind and then made his way toward the brush forest where the bull herd had previously dwelled.
Once there, Wang Cheng climbed onto a tree branch and finally relaxed.
The side effects of his clash with the bull leader began to manifest—his limbs tingled and his muscles felt weak.
It looked like he'd need at least half an hour of rest after that collision.
He took out some energy-replenishing food and slowly ate it, gradually feeling his strength return.
Even though fourfold amplification was powerful, the energy consumption was also immense. Just a few dozen swings had drained most of his stamina.
Since the surroundings were relatively calm, Wang Cheng decided to continue strengthening his body in the brush forest.
If his physical condition reached the tier-four apprentice level, he would face significantly fewer life-threatening dangers in the outer zones.
As before, he put away his wristwatch and stood on a patch of open ground.
He used his mind to control the dagger made from harvested materials in his internal space and carved out the freshest cuts of meat from the bull carcasses, storing them away.
He then sent all the remaining bull corpses into the gray energy above.
That familiar feeling washed over him as he began practicing the first three layers of the "Basic Martial Artist 256 Forms."
Once the warm stream of strengthening energy flowed through him, Wang Cheng threw a punch, and a loud bang rang out in the air.
"Looks like this round of strengthening was pretty effective. With the battle and the energy boost, my martial strength should now far exceed my spirit force. Time to test it."
He took the tester out of his internal space and set it up in the clearing. Then, he began punching the machine.
"Bang! Bang!"
"Beep beep…"
"6130! 6213!… 6324!… 6234…"
"Beep! 6312!"
"Thud!"
"Beep beep!"
"11010"
"Nice, my physical strength has increased quite a bit—better than my previous enhancements. Probably due to the larger size of the bull monsters. I haven't reached the Warrior level yet (i.e., tier-four), but within tier-three, I'm now a seasoned veteran. My spirit force has also improved—almost at tier-five. If I go through a few more rounds of this, my spirit power might hit tier-five first."
As for his power output, Wang Cheng didn't even need to test it. He knew he'd achieved fourfold amplification.
At this point, it felt like second nature—he could boost his strength by four times without even thinking about it.
This meant his martial strength was now comparable to a tier-five apprentice monster.
"But my weapon's going to be obsolete soon. Replacing it is going to be a problem. Buying one is out of the question—I don't even have the right qualifications, let alone enough money."
Wang Cheng frowned. Without a proper weapon, even with tier-five strength, he wouldn't be able to pierce through a monster's armor, let alone kill one.
A good weapon was crucial—especially for someone like him who relied on quadrupled force. It was the only way he could defeat mid-level apprentice monsters above his own level.
While absentmindedly packing up the tester, he was about to leave when a thought struck him.
He took all the bull horns from his backpack, stored them in his internal space, and threw them into the gray energy.
(End of Chapter)