Somewhere between a desert and a grassy plain, Xu Tie led his Iron Skins in a relentless scorpion hunt, each kill yielding at least 0.001 Warfront Essence.
After slaying 10,000 scorpions, he finally amassed 10 Warfront Essence and spent it without hesitation. He then retrieved a black jar from his divine realm. It leaked an eerie black gas that made his hair stand on end. He could feel the danger sealed within.
“Senior Huang Shengjun has many treasures. This Rust Demon is stronger than a Lord life form. I’m sure it’ll kill Han Wu this time,” Xu Tie said, laughing as he held the jar with both hands.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch containing several strands of Han Wu’s hair, which he had secretly collected after class. Carefully, he cracked the jar open just enough to slip in the strands.
The Rust Demon trapped inside roared fiercely. It was led to believe that whoever owned the strands was the one who had imprisoned it. This was exactly Xu Tie’s intent.
He set the jar down and commanded one of his Iron Skins to stand guard before quickly leaving the area. After running a good distance, he instructed his unit to break open the black jar.
The Iron Skin obeyed, smashing the jar with a powerful punch. A dense cloud of rust erupted, swirling and coalescing into a muscular demon. It bellowed toward the sky, freshly freed from its prison, and tore the Iron Skin apart, venting its fury over its captivity.
The Iron Skin’s death did little to quell the Rust Demon’s fury. It sniffed the air sharply and detected the presence of the hair’s owner somewhere within this world.
“My hatred from being imprisoned will be paid in blood!” the demon roared. It twisted into a black mist and surged forward with blinding speed.
On the other side, Han Wu was leading his Cockroaches and 38 Unique locusts through the forest. The locusts fanned out, constantly relaying real-time data on their surroundings. Thanks to their constant monitoring, he easily detected a large pack of wolves in the area. At his command, the Cockroaches charged straight into the wolf pack.
Soon, Han Wu received a notification confirming he had obtained the Warfront Essence. Shortly after, he received ten more units. He used five units to unlock Dark Dragonification, Dragon Slash, Enchant Darkness, and Mighty Cleave, as well as restore part of his strength. With the remaining five, he summoned the last five Cockroaches.
The ten Cockroaches gathered once more, and together, they displayed strength beyond that of a Lord life form. Their various traits, like Gluttony and Hyper Regeneration, made them far more troublesome to confront than an ordinary Lord life form.
They quickly surrounded and devoured the alpha wolf. Witnessing their leader’s death, the other wolves fled. Unfortunately for the fleeing wolves, their leader’s murderer was capable of flight, and he quickly outpaced them. Before long, the entire pack lay dead.
Afterward, Han Wu searched the wolves’ den and discovered four runes, two Rank 1 Sacred Object Wolf Teeth, and a wolf pelt suitable for crafting Divine equipment.
In one corner, he discovered an intricate parchment inscribed with the clichéd tale of a family’s rise to power. As he read on, Han Wu realized it also contained a Runic Lexicon.
“This is a Runic Lexicon!” he exclaimed, excitement rising in his voice.
This was the first significant reward he had claimed since arriving. He quickly tallied the runes he needed and realized he had just enough in his inventory. He quickly retrieved the corresponding runes and arranged them in the precise order described in the parchment’s Runic Lexicon.
“A+H+M+P...” he murmured, laying out 63 runes in total. When he placed the final rune down, the Runic Lexicon was completed, and a strange energy emanated from the runes. It transformed into a green glow, hovering between Han Wu’s fingers.
[Runic Lexicon: Feral (Basic) When used on self: +10% Strength, +20% Physical Defense, +20% Recovery Speed. When used on bladed weapons: 20% chance of inflicting Bleed, +15% Attack Speed, and +10% Lifesteal.]
Han Wu decided to test the newfound power on his own body. His muscles grew stronger, and his vitality increased dramatically. However, amid the rush of power, he sensed a subtle constraint—an instinctive awareness that he could only apply four more Runic Lexicons.
“So there’s a cap on how many Runic Lexicons I can use,” he mused. “Each grants different effects. Feral is just a Basic Lexicon, yet it’s already boosted my strength so much. What might the higher-ranking ones do? I can’t wait to find out.”
Eager to gather more after experiencing the first Runic Lexicon’s effects, Han Wu quickly sent his Cockroaches out to scout for native life forms. Meanwhile, his 38 locusts fanned out, pushing their search radius to its limits.
He hadn’t traveled far when he suddenly lost connection with two of the locusts.
They must’ve been killed, he thought grimly.
Each locust was incredibly precious to Han Wu, especially in the early, resource-scarce stages of the invasion. Losing two at once was enough to force him to change course. He used Dark Dragonification, soared into the sky, and led his Cockroaches toward the last known location of the two locusts.
The ten Cockroaches immediately drew the attention of the attacker. A single Cat Demon with sleek black fur sprang from the shadows, slashing one of the Cockroaches clean in half with its razor-sharp claws!
Han Wu instantly recognized the assailant. It was the Cat Demon Lord that had tried to kill him twice before.
Bastard! he cursed inwardly. Does it really think I’m easy to bully?
Han Wu had already regained part of his strength and decided this was the time to settle the score. His Cockroaches could take down a Lord if they worked together, and if that weren’t enough, he would personally strike with a surprise attack.
He ordered the Cockroaches to surround and eliminate the Cat Demon Lord. Though its claws were deadly and its strength undeniable, it was alone. The Cockroaches leveraged their Hyper Regeneration to endure its attacks, trading blows until they finally wounded the Cat Demon Lord in a gruesome clash.
The Cat Demon Lord tried to flee, but Han Wu had anticipated this. He flapped his wings and delivered a crushing blow that sent the Cat Demon Lord crashing to the ground. The Cockroaches swarmed, tearing it apart before it could escape.
After sustaining such heavy injuries, the Cat Demon Lord lost the strength to resist and was devoured alive. This Lord life form’s death earned Han Wu 2 Warfront Essence at once and proved that he now had enough power to survive in this region.