Half an hour later, the forest gradually became sparse, and Lu Ren's nose twitched involuntarily.
A burnt smell came wafting through the air.
Lu Ren's expression tightened, could it be...
The aroma of roasted meat hit Lu Ren's nose, but it didn't smell appetizing to him, who hadn't tasted meat in a long time. Instead, his stomach churned, and he felt incredibly nauseated.
Could it be...?
Having sensed something ominous, Lu Ren wisely decided not to proceed further, carefully hiding himself using the dense forest as cover.
As for running away, Lu Ren had considered it, but the edge of this place was a sheer abyss, with cliffs as sharp as knives. The nearest patch of land was at least three hundred meters away.
This was indeed a perilous place!
Lu Ren stopped behind a large tree, watching as three figures, burnt almost to charcoal, slowly crawled up from the cliffside, their appearance utterly ghastly. The horrifying sight made Lu Ren break out in a cold sweat.
"Ding, due to your heightened tension, your Spiritual Proficiency has passively increased by 1."
The system notification in his mind brought Lu Ren back to clarity. He took several deep breaths to finally calm down.
Despite being fully prepared, witnessing such a terrifying scene still sent a shudder through Lu Ren's heart, and he fought the overwhelming urge to vomit.
He never imagined that the scenes from horror movies would be so intense in real life. If his psychological resilience were slightly weaker, his pants might already be soiled.
Suppressing his discomfort, Lu Ren quickly regained his composure. He should be able to divide himself into three and take out these monsters.
As for Zhang Qingya, Luo Zixuan, and the others, Lu Ren didn't feel too much sorrow. In such a bizarre environment, it would be rather absurd to have intense emotions.
He tried to conceal his body behind the tree, his gaze swiftly scanning around before finally settling on Zhang Qingya and Luo Zixuan.
Due to the severe fire, their entire bodies had turned to charcoal. Normally, if a person were burned to this state, their bones would be reduced to ashes.
They must be very brittle!
Lu Ren was confident, feeling he had a shot. There was no way these three were a match for him, especially given their zombie-like sluggish movements, which boosted Lu Ren's confidence even more.
As long as he had his hands, that would do!
As for escaping, in such a small place, without dealing with them, Lu Ren wasn't exactly sure what the next step would be.
Could he return? If he couldn't, how would he escape this place? And if he were to escape, these three monster-turned individuals would have to be dealt with, otherwise significant problems would arise.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Ren stopped hesitating, grabbing a stick he had noticed earlier, adjusting his position, and crouched down, suddenly charging out from behind the tree.
Seemingly aware of the movement behind, the charcoal-form Luo Zixuan had just turned his head when he heard a dull whistling sound and saw a stick come crashing down towards him.
Thunk!
Unaware, with a powerful swing, Lu Ren smashed Luo Zixuan's head open, the charred head crumbling to bits before a sound could escape.
"Ding, you performed a powerful strike with a wooden stick, increasing your Strength Proficiency by 1."
Am I this fierce?
Suppressing his nausea, Lu Ren didn't stop, raising the stick again to smash it towards Zhang Qingya on the side.
The charred figure of Zhang Qingya finally reacted, subconsciously raising an arm at the incoming stick.
"Ah!!!"
A piercing, shrill scream suddenly erupted, the high-pitched sound hurting Lu Ren's ears. He didn't expect Zhang Qingya to still be capable of such a loud scream in this condition.
"Ding, you increased your Strength Proficiency by 1 due to the forceful use of the wooden stick."
Zhang Qingya's right forearm bent at an irregular angle, seemingly without any sense of pain, as she pounced forward.
Having prepared in advance, Lu Ren didn't panic, and he kicked forward with force.
Fortunately, although they appeared charcoal-like, they didn't seem to have mutated strength as Lu Ren had feared.
With that kick, he sent Zhang Qingya flying.
To Lu Ren, it felt like kicking a decaying piece of wood.
The appearance was terrifying, but when it came to real strength, it was comparable to an elderly person on the brink of death, with life energy about to be completely extinct!
Ha!
His spirit lifted, having pursued me for this long, it's now my turn to show.
Lu Ren's face grew cold, an excitement bubbling inside as he rolled up his sleeves, randomly swinging the stick in his hand.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The continuous, muffled blows resounded, and with the fourth strike landing sharply on the temple, the two monsters lunging from both sides toppled over, lifeless, yet Lu Ren didn't cease his movements.
He continued swinging vehemently until the prompt sound in his mind faded, pounding over a dozen times until he was certain they were crushed to bits.
"Huff... Huff..."
Labored breathing escaped Lu Ren's mouth. It was exhausting; his body had been in a suboptimal state without regular exercise, and performing such intense activity meant aching muscles the next day for sure.
"Ding, you increased your Strength Proficiency by 1 due to continuously using the wooden stick."
"Ding, you increased your Strength Proficiency by 1 due to continuously using the wooden stick."
"Ding, you continue to forcefully wield..."
"Ding, due to long-term use of the stick, you suddenly gained some insight into stick techniques, finding its use more natural."
The information from his mind made Lu Ren pause his actions, then he experimentally swung the stick, the sound cutting through the air now more resonant.
The whistle in the air was rather intimidating.
Crunch!
Moreover, it felt more natural and required less effort.
He was noticeably stronger than before.
Ensuring the three bodies were smashed beyond any more movement, Lu Ren finally sighed in relief and relaxed.
Only then did he feel the excruciating pain throughout his body; pain from his ribs and back assaulted him repeatedly. During his escape, it seemed he'd broken a rib from collision.
After getting away from this cursed place, Lu Ren lay casually on the ground, his eyes looking at a sliver of sunlight struggling to penetrate through the dense foliage above.
Earlier, while atop the tree, he observed that the surroundings were nothing but endless forest, encircled by cliffs reaching immeasurable depths, with no sound even when a stone was tossed down, naturally isolating this place.
Especially with the system notification earlier that Lana Ye was shredded by spatial waves.
The entire forest had plunged into a deathly silence, not even a hint of a breeze could be felt.
From fright to acceptance, it's undeniable how adaptive humans can be.
Now it was all over.
It was just passing through a tunnel; how did it turn into this crossing, landing in such a wretched place?