Chapter 55

Kill. Li Yu frowned as he clenched his fists tightly; there was no doubt about it, something was wrong with him. Throughout the entire journey, he had constantly felt the urge to kill something, and he already had a good guess as to the cause.

He summoned his status panel and stared at a particular section: Bloodlust: 30%. So that was the culprit. When the System had first explained the Bloodlust mechanism to him, Li Yu had honestly believed it was exaggerating.

According to the System, Bloodlust was highly addictive, and as the percentage increased, one would gradually find it harder and harder to control themselves; if the Bloodlust bar ever exceeded one hundred percent, he would completely lose his minds.

Back then, the System’s words had sounded overly dramatic... at least, that was what Li Yu had believed. But now, now that he was personally experiencing it, his opinion had changed. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The Bloodlust was only at thirty percent; yet, he could barely control himself. His entire body was twitching with the desire for battle, for bloodshed, for slaughter. At this moment, he felt as though the System had actually understated the severity of the problem.

The sensation he was experiencing now reminded him of his previous life. Back then, there had been a time when he couldn’t watch the latest episode of his favorite anime due to a release delay; he had spent the entire day staring at the countdown timer, waiting for the episode to finally become available.

The irritation, the impatience, the constant itching feeling, the inability to focus on anything else... it was exactly the same sensation he was feeling right now. Only this time, instead of craving anime, he was craving blood.

It seemed he was slowly becoming an addict. Shit... should I just kill Li Jie or Li Feng to stop this itching? The thought surfaced within his mind as he looked toward Li Feng.

The latter was currently sitting cross-legged in a meditative pose with his eyes closed, appearing completely focused on cultivation.

Should I just kill him? The thought formed naturally without Li Yu intentionally creating it. His hand twitched once more; then his fingernails slowly began to lengthen. They stretched outward, gradually transforming into sharp claws.

His eyes, hidden beneath his glasses, started narrowing, the pupils becoming vertical slits. The transformation continued; the urge intensified.

And just before his mind could be completely consumed by the desire to tear something apart, the System’s voice suddenly echoed in his ears: "Hey, Host! Snap out of it!"

Li Yu blinked; then he slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they had returned to normal human eyes, and his claws also receded back into ordinary fingernails.

Taking a deep breath, Li Yu spoke inwardly, his voice carrying a trace of unease: "I think I’m addicted already."

The System remained silent for a while before finally responding: "Host, I warned you before. Killing a large swarm of beasts like you did yesterday is dangerous. A massive surge of death and bloodshed tends to greatly increase your Bloodlust counter."

The System paused briefly before continuing: "Still, it isn’t that high yet. You can still control yourself if you try hard enough. The itching sensation will take some time to fully settle, but it is manageable.

However, I would suggest replacing thoughts of killing with something else. Let me make a suggestion: why not think about your favorite anime shows to pass the time?" Li Yu followed the advice. Closing his eyes, he attempted to picture one of his favorite anime series.

For a moment, the image appeared in his mind; then it changed. The anime vanished. In its place appeared the image of himself ripping flesh apart with a savage grin on his face.

Blood splattered everywhere, bones shattered, screams echoed; the image was so vivid that his heart began beating faster. He wanted to kill something.

Badly.

Li Yu groaned inwardly. If only a scapegoat would suddenly appear... a stray beast, a wandering monster, anything. Something he could kill to relieve this unbearable itch, even if only for a little while.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the group, they had already been spotted from afar by a man dressed in beast skins, dark tribal markings marring his face.

He had been following them for quite a while now and would have already attacked and killed them to steal their belongings if it weren’t for one problem: they were strong. Very strong.

All of them were at the late stages of the Qi Gathering Realm, and even the pretty girl among them had already reached the peak of that realm.

The man himself was only at the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, meaning that if he were to engage them directly, there was no guarantee he would leave alive.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t still get his hands on all their possessions. Judging from their appearance, their clothes, and especially the storage ring he had spotted among them, they were undoubtedly from a powerful clan, and that ring alone would be worth a fortune.

Upon reaching that conclusion, the greed in his heart intensified. Not only did he want their treasures, but he also wanted to get his hands on the beautiful young woman traveling with them.

The mere thought of it caused an ugly grin to spread across his face. Unfortunately, he couldn’t accomplish any of that by himself, so he needed help... and that was exactly what he went to seek.

Soon, he arrived at the base of his organization, the Dark Reapers, a group of rogue cultivators who believed that robbing and looting travelers entering the Beast Forest was the fastest path to wealth.

Countless unfortunate cultivators had entered the forest, risked their lives hunting beasts and gathering cores, only to be slaughtered by the Dark Reapers before they could enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Their beast cores would be taken, their treasures would be seized, and their corpses would be left behind to rot.

Normally, an organization like this would have long been destroyed by the joint efforts of powerful cultivators; however, the Dark Reapers possessed enough strength to survive.

Their leader was an exceptionally powerful cultivator, and furthermore, the organization itself contained nearly a hundred members.

Even the weakest among them had reached the early stages of Body Refinement; as for the stronger members, many had already entered the Qi Gathering Realm.

And their leader... he had already reached the Third Stage of the Qi Refining Realm, a level of power completely beyond anything the group of five youths could hope to face. The tribal-marked man was currently kneeling before him with his head lowered, not even daring to raise his eyes to look at the leader.

Instead, he respectfully reported everything he had seen: the group of five seemingly arrogant youths traveling through the forest, describing their appearances, their cultivation, their clothing, and their storage rings.

He didn’t dare leave out a single detail, because if the boss later discovered he had hidden something important and became angry, his death would be certain.

Silence filled the hall; the tribal-marked man gradually began sweating, his heart pounding violently.

Had he said something wrong? Had he spoken too quickly? Had he accidentally offended the leader? Countless thoughts raced through his mind as he silently prayed he wouldn’t be executed.

Then suddenly, the leader of the Dark Reapers laughed. A deep and rumbling laugh echoed throughout the room: "You did well." The tribal-marked man’s body trembled slightly in relief.

The leader leaned forward: "You said they must be from one of the great clans, right?" The man immediately nodded: "Yes, Boss." The leader’s grin widened: "Then we have struck the jackpot." The tribal-marked man couldn’t help but smile: "You will be rewarded for this."

The moment those words left the leader’s mouth, the man’s smile became even brighter. The leader then called out five names; soon, five more cultivators entered the hall before kneeling alongside the tribal-marked man.

All of them were powerful rogue cultivators. The leader looked at the six of them: "Here are my orders." Immediately, all six straightened their backs: "Go and rob those kids blind."

A cruel smile appeared on his face: "You can kill the males. As for the female..." His grin grew wider: "You can have some fun with her after I’m done with her."

The hall erupted into wicked laughter. The leader then placed a hand on his chin and thought for a moment; a few seconds later, he shook his head: "No. If possible, don’t kill all of them."

The six rogue cultivators looked confused. The leader’s smile became even more sinister: "Capture them alive. Their clans will be willing to pay a hefty ransom for their release."

The eyes of the six rogue cultivators lit up. That was true. Not only would they obtain the youths’ treasures and storage rings, but they could also extort their clans afterward.

A double profit. A single operation yielding two rewards. It truly was a jackpot. The leader waved his hand: "Now go." The six immediately nodded before leaving.

A large smile remained plastered on the leader’s face. It had been a long time since such a promising prey had wandered into their territory: young, naive, rich, and seemingly inexperienced.

They were already looking forward to just how enjoyable this operation would be.

Meanwhile, the six rogue cultivators, all at the late stages of the Qi Gathering Realm, rushed through the forest at full speed. Their eyes gleamed with greed; some were already licking their lips in anticipation of the bounty they were about to harvest.

What the Dark Reapers didn’t know, however, was that they weren’t heading toward a harvest. No, they were marching directly toward disaster. Somewhere out there, it was almost as if a certain evil god had heard Li Yu’s deepest wish and decided to answer it.

For at this very moment, the perfect scapegoats were being delivered directly to him... the exact sacrifices he needed to satiate the bloodlust raging within his heart.

And if Li Yu somehow knew that his scapegoats were currently on their way to him, and if he also knew that there were nearly a hundred more of them hidden somewhere nearby, he would only have a single thought.

Jackpot.

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I hope you’re all enjoying the Chapters!

Seeing the story grow little by little has honestly been an amazing experience. Whether you’ve been here since the very beginning or only recently joined the journey, every single reader means a lot to me.

I’ve been putting a lot of effort into making each Chapter better than the last, and trust me, some of the things I have planned for the future are absolutely insane. The current arc is only the beginning.

Also, don’t forget to check out the mass release goals in the Auxiliary Chapter if you haven’t already. There are plenty of extra Chapters waiting to be unlocked, and I’d love to start throwing more releases your way.

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So keep enjoying the story, keep sharing your thoughts, and let’s see just how far we can push this novel together.

The road ahead is long, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a fun one.

Ultra