The City of Terror - Chapter 174

Chapter 174 - Trump Card?

    "Flash drive?"

    Huang Kun was stunned. He immediately held the jerky in his mouth and ignored his oily hands as he felt about his pockets.

    After a short moment, Huang Kun took out a black flash drive. There was nothing strange about its appearance, and it was not different from the low-quality flash drives that were sold from street vendors.

    The flash drive was something that Huang Kun had brought in from reality. Even Huang Kun did not know its true capability, but when he touched it, he instantly understood its use.

    Huang Kun placed the flash drive close to the jerky in his mouth. Suddenly, the jerky disappeared.

    In the next moment, the jerky appeared below the flash drive. Huang Kun was not able to immediately respond as the jerky fell on the ground.

    "Crap!"

    Huang Kun cursed.

    Wei Xiao Bei understood that Huang Kun had comprehended the uses of the flash drive and that Huang Kun felt its capability of storing food and water was very intriguing. Huang Kun had fiddled with it, and in the end, his jerky fell on the ground. Moreover, there was a lot of dust below his feet in addition to the saliva on his jerky. The result was that even more dust had clung to Huang Kun's jerky compared to Zhu Xin Yi's.

    Do I eat it or not?

    Huang Kun frowned as he pondered this question with a great solumness.

    In the end, Huang Kun could not resist the growling sounds coming from his stomach. He picked up the jerky and washed it with water before continuing to eat it.

    Wei Xiao Bei let out a sigh of relief when he saw this. Compared to Zhu Xin Yi, Huang Kun's household was more well-off, so he was a bit more pampered in terms of things like food.

    Huang Kun's willingness to pick up the jerky that fell on the ground and wash it was already a positive sign. At the very least, Huang Kun should be able to survive in the future even if he encountered a bit of danger.

    Eh?

    Wei Xiao Bei suddenly questioned why he thought of Huang Kun adventuring into the Dust World alone.

    This was intuition!

    It was like a prediction that something would happen in the future that would split the three of them apart.

    Wei Xiao Bei frowned. He attempted to use his intuition to gather more information, but he gave up after taxing his mind.

    Intuition was an occurrence that was too vague. It would suddenly jump at you, but controlling it could only happen in dreams.

Thinking about it, Wei Xiao Bei took out some hardtack, jerky, and bottled waters from his backpack. The amount that he took out consisted of about 90% of what was in his backpack.

    Seeing Wei Xiao Bei take out all these resources, Huang Kun was a bit stunned. He held onto the flash drive with his right hand and blankly looked at Wei Xiao Bei with a feeling of unease.

    Zhu Xin Yi was also a bit uneasy. She immediately asked Wei Xiao Bei, "Brother Wei, we won't be able to eat this much at once."

    "No problem. Let Huang Kun's flash drive store everything. That way, both of you will have sufficient supplies since you won't be able to join up with me for the meantime. I'm worried that I won't have time to talk to you anymore after this.

    The sense of urgency in Wei Xiao Bei's voice became stronger, indicating Huang Kun to store the resources.

    Huang Kun came to his senses and hurriedly pointed the flash drive at the food and water. In an instant, the food and water disappeared.

    "Brat, the things in there are yours and  Xin Yi's food and water. Don't be careless, you hear me."

    Wei Xiao Bei reminded him and then waved his hand to tell the two of them to deal with the remaining saplings.

    With 1200 evolution points, Wei Xiao Bei was at ease in using them.

    He did not hesitate and placed 300 evolution points into his reasoning sub-attribute.

    While fighting these Wooden Training Dummies, Wei Xiao Bei noticed the benefits of this attribute.

    The higher this attribute was, the more he would be able to adapt to the changes in the battle situation and be able to determine the corresponding action to make.

    In reality, Wei Xiao Bei had already understood a very important problem.

    The intelligence attribute was not equivalent to wisdom!

    In simpler terms, the sub-attributes under intelligence were something similar to IQ.

    People with higher IQ would naturally be better at learning and reasoning.

    However, IQ was only one part of wisdom. Things like emotional quotient and situational awareness were also parts of wisdom.

    People with a high IQ may not necessarily be wise.

    From another perspective, people with high intelligence were like robots and computers that could memorize and calculate things easily.

    However, when making some decisions, they might even be worse than normal people.

    This was the difference between intelligence and wisdom.

    Wei Xiao Bei had also previously thought that intelligence and wisdom were the same thing.

    However, this did not mean that Wei Xiao Bei would not place intelligence at a high priority.

    Just like what was said before, the reasoning sub-attribute was very useful.

    After depositing 300 evolution points, his reasoning attribute increased to 15.08 points.

    This number was not high among his attributes, but in terms of a normal person, he was already at the level of an elite detective with 20 years of experience.

    Although he might not be like detective Conan, he felt that it was sufficient.

    At the very least, he could now use his previous battle experience to formulate a plan in dealing with the Wooden Training Dummies. From his estimates, he could kill the Wooden Training Dummies 20% faster.

    The previous speed was something that he had been able to accomplish after much trial and error, so a 20% increase in speed was not a small amount.

    Next, Wei Xiao Bei concentrated on his Three Emperor Canon Fist!

    His Three Emperor Canon Fist was now at the advanced rank. In other words, it was the equivalent of training it for around three years. However, because Wei Xiao Bei had opened his meridians, his Three Emperor Canon Fist was not able to make full use of his Qi, which is the main power source for the skill.

    However, Wei Xiao Bei had understood the might of the Three Emperor Canon Fist after fighting with the Wooden Training Dummies.

    It was different from Bajiquan. The Three Emperor Canon Fist was best suited for final attacks.

    As a result, Wei Xiao Bei placed 200 evolution points to upgrade it from advanced to expert.

    He felt that this was enough. Relying solely on evolution points to upgrade it might make it look strong, but with an unstable foundation, there was bound to be problems when using it.

    It was like Bajiquan. Wei Xiao Bei would not place evolution points into it unless he trained it to a certain depth.

    Next, Wei Xiao Bei wasted a bit of time to get used to his Three Emperor Canon Fist by training.

    After that, Wei Xiao Bei used 100 evolution points to increase the shooting skill that he always ignored to advanced. He also used 500 evolution points to increase the concealed weapon skill from advanced to master, skipping expert!

    Now, his 1200 evolution points had been decreased to 100 points.

    Using up this 1100 evolution points did not directly increase Wei Xiao Bei's battle strength, but it was able to make up for his previous weaknesses.

    This was especially true for his concealed weapons skill. Wei Xiao Bei had wanted to learn from his master about such techniques, but because various events happened, he had forgotten to ask about it.

    Now, Wei Xiao Bei could only rely on his evolution points to make this skill stronger.

    Wei Xiao Bei picked up the wood shavings from a Wooden Training Dummy. Then he threw them. The wood shavings flew out like bullets from a gun as they struck a Wooden Training Dummy.

    Pop, pop, pop…...

    After the sounds ended, the Wooden Training Dummy that stood up was already filled with dents of various sizes. There was even a 5 centimeter dent on its left leg joint, slowing down its speed.

    The power of the concealed weapons skill after reaching master was strong.

    When it was in advanced rank, Wei Xiao Bei would sometimes miss when he threw chopsticks. Moreover, the power of his throws had deficiencies, so he was not able to reach his full potential.

    Now that he had increased it by two ranks, Wei Xiao Bei's grasp of the skill had increased more than one level.

    If his previous rank was around an pro amateur, then he was now a seeded player in the Olympic Games.

    The difference was just that big!

    If Wei Xiao Bei had not grasped that many wood shavings and lost some precision due to them , the Wooden Training Dummy would be in worse condition.

    Without waiting for the Wooden Training Dummy to retaliate before him, Wei Xiao Bei once again threw a handful of wood shavings.

    Compared to the previous throw, the number this time had decreased by a lot. As a result, Wei Xiao Bei's fine handling had sent 60-70 wood shavings flying like a dragon toward the left leg joint of the Wooden Training Dummy!

    This kind of continuous, fierce attack had injured the Wooden Training Dummy's left leg.

    As a result, it had pitifully fallen on the ground.

    Seeing this, Wei Xiao Bei became happy. Fighting from a long distance was different from close combat.

    If this long distance attack was used properly, then it would be incredibly effective to use it against slow enemies.

    After killing two Wooden Training Dummies, Wei Xiao Bei grasped a handful of wood shavings and threw them outside the line.

Chapter 175 - What is a Zhua Guai?

    Huang Kun was currently attempting to pull out the fire axe with all his might. This was because the fire axe had been bound due to a moment carelessness.

    With the sappling's toughness, it would have been better if Huang Kun borrowed Zhu Xin Yi's machete than pulling it out directly.

    However, Huang Kun had a bit of pride. Asking for help from Zhu Xin Yi would make him lose face.

    He didn't expect that the sapling would suddenly be cut. He blinked and pulled out the fire axe. As for what happened, his mind could not process it.

    However, he still took the chance to raise his fire axe and chop the sapling to death.

    This was done by Wei Xiao Bei, but this kind of assistance was not something he could often do. After all, the distance between them was quite far.

    Being able to throw wood shavings around ten meters was already the limit.

    Throwing it for more than 20-30 meters like chopsticks was ultimately impossible.

    Although Wei Xiao Bei had witnessed the changes to the Cheng Clan Dojo, he still felt that everything had been smooth this time he entered the Dust World.

    Just when Wei Xiao Bei tripped over another Wooden Training Dummy, he noticed that every Wooden Training Dummy inside the outer practice grounds suddenly stood up. Even the saplings on the wall all pulled out their roots.

    What? What is happening?

    Whether it was Wei Xiao Bei or the others there, they all felt bewildered.

    However, Wei Xiao Bei was immediately able to understand why the training dummies and the saplings did this!

    The wooden double doors between the outer practice field and the inner practice field were originally shut tight. There was even a line that prevented the Wooden Training Dummies from entering.

    However, the wooden door was now letting out a creaking sound as it slowly opened.

    With Wei Xiao Bei's current hearing ability, he could tell that there was no problem with the door when it opened.

    One cut, two cuts, three cuts!

    Wei Xiao Bei kept his gaze on the slowly opening doors, but his hands did not stop moving as he used the White Mist Knife to cut the Wooden Training Dummy, trying to kill them before something bad happened.

    Wei Xiao Bei already had a premonition that the door opening would bring great danger or even a great opportunity!

    Whoosh!

    With the last cut, blue liquid sprayed out from the back of the Wooden Training Dummy, hitting the knife, and became transparent. Then a Wood Man Heart floated up from the liquid.

    Wei Xiao Bei grabbed the Wood Man Heart and stuffed it into his backpack, keeping his gaze on the door that was already half open.

    At this time, a single weapon was already walking out from the inside. Its appearance was very strange. It was around 4 meters long with a stick body. Its head was a large clenched fist and its entire body was glowing with black luster.

    As a martial artist, Wei Xiao Bei had interest in various weapons.

    The weapon was called a zhua. Another meaning would be 'to grab'. It was a weapon used in ancient times. In the Cheng Clan Dojo in the real world, there was no such weapon, or at the very least, Wei Xiao Bei had never seen it inside the inner practice ground.

    In any case, the weapon looked the same as the monster that was entering the inner practice grounds. It had two arms and two legs, while the hand had a single eye.

    When the zhua appeared, its only eye locked onto Wei Xiao Bei.

    Wei Xiao Bei did not treat it politely anymore as he used status appraisal on it.

    Afterwards, the weapon's status appeared in his mind.

Name: Zhua Guai

Race: Monster Tool

Gender: None

Age: ???

Creature Rank: 2 Star Terror

Status: (The average monster tool's status value is ???)

Strangth: ? (Muscle: ?, Sturdiness ?)

Agility: ? (Hand-eye Coordination: ?, Flexibility: ?, Reflex: ?, Balance: ?)

Vitality: ? (Health: ?, Endurance: ?)

Intelligence: ? (Learning: ?, Reasoning: ?)

Awareness: ? (Willpower: ?, Judgement: ?, Perception: ?, Intuition: ?)

Charm: ? (Courage: ?, Persuasiveness: ?, Character: ?, Leadership: ?, Appearance: ?)

Skill: Heavy Strike (Every attack will use full power, attack speed decreases by half), Iron Heart (Immune to illusions, hinders appraisal, immune to mental negative effects), ???

Evolution Points: X (Unable to accumulate evolution points)

Items on Hand: ???

    …...

    Zhua Guai?

    Wei Xiao Bei frowned.

    This so-called Zhua Guai is actually a 2-Star Terror Creature. Just the creature rank is enough to explain how strong it is.

    Moreover, its Iron Heart was somewhat similar to his Iron Will, but its ability had negated most of his status appraisal, making him unable to see the enemy's status. This had made Wei Xiao Bei lose the advantage of using his enemy's information to form a plan.

    What kind of race is a monster tool?

    Wei Xiao Bei felt that he only understood the Dust World less and less.

    He had already experienced so much in the Dust World, so he felt a certain degree of familiarity with it that he could roughly guess how the Dust World worked.

    But now that he took another look, this monster tool appeared. The Dust World that he thought he understood had suddenly became mysterious again.

    In any case, Wei Xiao Bei still had enough confidence to beat it.

    Both he and the monster were 2-Star Terror Creatures. Moreover, he had a lot of skills and even inner force. He calculated that his chances of winning was not low. The only problem was that he did not know if the Zhua Guai had anymore strange skills.

    After all, there were question marks at the end of the skills row.

    While Wei Xiao Bei was thinking, the wooden doors had fully opened. The Zhua Guai tottered out using its short legs.

    Seeing this, Wei Xiao Bei was also worried that it would trip down the stairs due to carelessness.

    However, this was just Wei Xiao Bei thinking too much.

    When the Zhua Guai exited the door, it did not fall at all and just stood there.

    Afterwards, there was a group of small Zhua Guai's that also came out from the door. They were 30 centimeters long. Other than their bodies, they looked the same as the Zhua Guai at the front.

    Altogether, there were more than 20 small Zhua Guais. When they all came out, they formed two rows and followed along the line, moving towards Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi.

    Seeing this, Wei Xiao Bei was alarmed. He immediately checked their status.

    First, it was because he wanted to check the small Zhua Guai's status to make an estimate of the big one's status. Second, it was to attract a few of them to decrease the pressure on Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi.

    After all, the small ones were a lot smaller than the big one. However, they were still monster tools, so Wei Xiao Bei was worried for Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi.

    After using status appraisal, the small one's status appeared in his mind.

Name: Young Zhua Guai

Race: Monster Tool

Gender: None

Age: ???

Creature Rank: 1 Star Elite

Status: (The average monster tool's status value is ???)

Strangth: ? (Muscle: ?, Sturdiness ?)

Agility: ? (Hand-eye Coordination: ?, Flexibility: ?, Reflex: ?, Balance: ?)

Vitality: ? (Health: ?, Endurance: ?)

Intelligence: ? (Learning: ?, Reasoning: ?)

Awareness: ? (Willpower: ?, Judgement: ?, Perception: ?, Intuition: ?)

Charm: ? (Courage: ?, Persuasiveness: ?, Character: ?, Leadership: ?, Appearance: ?)

Skill: Iron Heart (Immune to illusions, hinders appraisal, immune to mental negative effects), ???

Evolution Points: X (Unable to accumulate evolution points)

Items on Hand: ???

    …...

    After seeing the Young Zhua Guai's status, Wei Xiao Bei frowned. The Young Zhua Guais' status' were also blocked like the big one. Along with their ranks being lower, they also did not have the Heavy Strike skill.

    After being appraised by Wei Xiao Bei, the Zhua Guai did not move from its position as it stood there like a flagpole. On the other hand, the Young Zhua Guais could not help but charge towards Wei Xiao Bei.

    Wei Xiao Bei's gaze landed on the line, but the Young Zhua Guais were able to cross it easily.

    Could it be that the line has lost its effect?

    Wei Xiao Bei retreated a few steps and used his right hand to press backwards. He could feel a soft sensation, meaning that the invisible wall was still there.

    This also meant that the invisible wall only affected outsiders, but had no effect on the monsters living within.

    Thinking about this, Wei Xiao Bei's frown sunk deeper.

    As the Young Zhua Guais ran over, the Wooden Training Dummies along the way all kneeled down like servants paying respect to their master.

    It must be known that the Young Zhua Guais were only 1-Star Elite Creatures, while the Wooden Training Dummies were 2-Star Elite Creatures. The difference in their strengths were quite big.

    Wei Xiao Bei guessed their relationship while spreading apart his legs in position, appearing like a tiger preparing to come down from its mountain.

    Although the outer practice ground was wide, the space was still limited. Even if the Young Zhua Guais were slow, they had already almost reached Wei Xiao Bei.

    Wei Xiao Bei did not take the initiative to attack and instead, just waited. He inspected around the Young Zhua Guais, but luckily, the Wooden Training Dummies did not leave their position as they continued to display their respect. When the Young Zhua Guais were once again distanced from them, they stood back up as if nothing had happened.

    When the Young Zhua Guais reached five meters away from Wei Xiao Bei, they planted their feet on the ground and leapt up as if there were springs on their feet, reaching a height above Wei Xiao Bei's shoulders. With their hands in front, they jumped towards him.