I Can See Experience Points

"Who are you?" the shadowy figure asked the sudden intruder, his tone stern.

He Xiaotian paid him no mind, instead swinging two massive iron hammers, each weighing over three hundred pounds, as he charged the kappas.

’Experience Points, here I come!’

BOOM!

A single swing of his hammer instantly crushed three kappas into a bloody pulp, leaving them deader than dead.

BOOM! BOOM!

[Ding! You have slain a kappa and received 200 Experience Points.]

[Ding! You have slain...]

The upper-left corner of his vision filled with a constant stream of notifications, and He Xiaotian was ecstatic.

The man with the earring was dumbfounded. ’So this is the mysterious "X" Zhao Lei was talking about?’

Blood and gore splattered everywhere He Xiaotian went.

The concrete floor itself shattered, and his strikes gouged out massive craters.

The shadowy figure was apoplectic with rage.

’Where did this freak of nature come from? Who let their kid run wild like this?’

’These are kappas—legendary creatures!’

’Each one is as strong as three adult men, and the strongest among them are a match for at least five.’

’And with the scales on their bodies and the hard shells on their backs, their defense is unparalleled.’

It was no exaggeration to say that with fifty kappas, he was an unstoppable force in Z County.

Combined with over ten white wraiths and the Tang knife he wielded, he was the undisputed local tyrant.

But then some meddler came out of nowhere and, without a single word, started brutally hammering his forces.

In the brief moment he stood there stunned, He Xiaotian had already bludgeoned most of the kappas to death.

Inside the factory, only a dozen or so of the shorties remained, and they were scrambling to escape.

A beast’s greatest instinct is to flee when it knows it is outmatched.

But He Xiaotian was not about to be merciful and let them escape.

’If you all get away, how am I supposed to upgrade my Fire-refined Golden Body?’

"Stop!"

The shadowy figure roared, charging over with his long knife in hand.

’You may be strong, but I’m no slouch either.’

He Xiaotian casually hurled one of his hammers, aiming it straight at the charging figure.

Then, without a second glance, he resumed his pursuit of the kappas.

’It’s more fun to save the boss for last.’

’After all, I’ve already drawn a ton of his aggro. It’s clear he won’t let me get away.’

’The kappas, on the other hand, are a different story. If they escape, they’re gone for good.’

The shadowy figure raised his Tang knife high in a powerful, mountain-cleaving stance.

He was confident; the blade in his hand was incomparably sharp.

’It’s just an iron hammer. If I can’t split it in two, I might as well fall on my own sword.’

CLANG!

He was utterly floored.

’What the hell?’

’The sheer hardness and force of it...’

’Not only can I not split it, I’m about to get hammered!’

CRASH!

The shadowy figure and his Tang knife were smashed directly into the concrete wall by He Xiaotian’s powerful throw.

The man with the earring: "..."

’Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing?’

’With a beast like this in Z County, what do they even need me for?!’

"Cough, cough..."

The shadowy figure crawled out of the rubble, feeling like several of his bones were broken.

This was the first time he’d been so grievously injured since becoming an Aberrant and having his physique fundamentally enhanced.

His eye twitched as he looked down at the massive, spike-covered iron hammer at his feet.

’Are you some kind of Demon?’

’A hammer weighing over three hundred pounds, swung around as easily as a toy...’

’And you can even throw it with such immense power... just how strong are you?!’

Raising his Tang knife to inspect it, he nearly had a heart attack.

Because hairline cracks had actually appeared on the exquisite body of the blade.

The incomparably sharp edge was even chipped in several places.

The discovery nearly made him cough up blood.

’My blade!!’

With his Tang knife damaged, his power would inevitably take a hit.

This was the weakness of Aberrants: their powers were entirely dependent on their abnormal items.

Outside the factory, He Xiaotian dual-wielded his hammers, chasing the kappas as they scattered everywhere.

These shorties were fast, but he was obviously faster!

The moment he caught one, a hammer would come crashing down.

He hammered them, shell and all, into the ground, a truly gruesome sight.

Director Huang and the police officers manning the perimeter were all astonished when they saw what the kappas looked like.

Even though they had mentally prepared themselves to see things that shouldn’t exist in reality, they were still utterly shocked.

’Is this the same world we knew?’

’Why are all these demons and monsters coming out to wreak havoc?!’

Then, they saw He Xiaotian, the mysterious X, run out of the abandoned factory, wreathed in flames and carrying his massive iron hammers.

He caught up to the kappas and gave each one a taste of his hammer.

BAM!

They could even feel the ground tremble.

GULP.

"Director, are we dreaming?" the deputy director asked, his hands trembling so much he could barely hold his gun.

When He Xiaotian went in earlier, they could write off the hammers as him having some innate Divine Power.

With Hua Country’s population of over a billion, was it really that strange for a few exceptionally gifted individuals to appear?

But the hard-shelled shorties? They were straight out of mythology.

And to top it all off, He Xiaotian himself was now engulfed in raging flames.

’You’ve got to be kidding me!’

Even magicians wouldn’t dare pull a stunt like this.

After hammering the remaining kappas to death, He Xiaotian gleefully returned to the factory interior.

There was still a big boss and some white wraiths inside, just waiting for him to "pay them some attention"!

’I wonder how many Experience Points I can get this time.’

’Oh, right!’

’Asking Zhao Lei and the others for a few hundred thousand later wouldn’t be too much, right?’

’I did save their lives, after all.’

’And since I’m taking out the shadowy figure and saving several hundred people, shouldn’t you guys give me some bonus money?’

’That Zhongcheng Slaughterhouse job wasn’t a small deal either, right?’

’Huh!’

At this thought, He Xiaotian grew even more excited.

’On this one outing, not only can I earn tens of thousands of Experience Points, it looks like I can also rake in over a million in pocket change.’

It wasn’t that he was greedy; upgrading his martial arts just required a fortune in resources. Forget about regular meals—he could barely afford to keep himself alive by drinking pricey ginseng soup.

He walked back into the factory and found the shadowy figure cradling his Tang knife, mourning by himself. He Xiaotian could even sense a flicker of the man’s anguish.

’What’s going on here? A love affair between a man and his blade?’

"You deserve to die!"

The shadowy figure spat hatefully when he saw He Xiaotian return.

Everything had been going according to plan, despite a small hiccup along the way.

It’s just that this mysterious man with the two massive iron hammers was far too destructive.

His plan, just as it was on the verge of success, had been violently cut short.

"Drop your hammers and surrender."

"???"

’Are you out of your mind?’

He Xiaotian was utterly confused. ’Don’t tell me that hammer throw of mine actually hit him in the head.’

’Otherwise, why would he say something so moronic?’

"If you don’t surrender, I’ll kill these two, and all these other people."

The shadowy figure was resolute. Even if he failed the mission his organization gave him, he had to kill He Xiaotian to vent his frustration.

As for the consequences?

’To hell with them!’

"And what does that have to do with me?"

He Xiaotian didn’t consider himself a fucking idiot.

’Besides living in the same county, what relationship did he have with anyone here?’

’Alright, Zhao Lei and Zhou Yun were only in this mess today because of Z County.’

’But sorry, I’m not the type to sacrifice myself for others.’

’Unless my parents are in that crowd over there.’

"?!"

Now it was the shadowy figure’s turn to be stunned. ’You don’t even care about the lives of hundreds of people?’

’If the authorities find out, won’t you be disciplined for this?’