[Killed demonized rat, gained 6 evolution points]
[Absorbed demonized rat's blood, gained 0.3 energy points]
These system notifications poured into Ye Fan's system interface like an overwhelming tide, continuous and unstoppable!
Watching the evolution points and energy values rise rapidly on the system panel, Ye Fan was thrilled!
Similarly, Lin Li felt exhilarated!
Bathed in the blood of demons, Lin Li had no fear at all.
After cultivating the Xuantian Infinite Breathing Technique, Lin Li's foundation had become far more robust than when he was a wandering cultivator.
With his Qi Refinement stage seven cultivation, dealing with these demonized rats rushing toward him was almost laughably easy!
With a simple flick of his hand, he could effortlessly harvest countless demonized rat lives!
The black-robed man had never imagined that when he predicted Lin Li's spiritual energy would soon be exhausted, leading to his inevitable death by the rat horde…
The continuous flow of energy that Ye Fan absorbed was, in turn, being fed back to Lin Li!
From the black-robed man's perspective, Lin Li seemed to be pouring out his spiritual energy without reserve, but in reality, the consumption of Lin Li's spiritual energy was far slower than the energy Ye Fan returned to him after killing the demonized rats!
After slaying dozens of demonized rats, the enormous amount of energy that Ye Fan fed back to Lin Li caused his spiritual energy to surge, allowing him to easily break through the bottleneck of the seventh layer of Qi Refinement and successfully reach the eighth layer!
This was why Lin Li appeared to be "growing stronger the longer he fought" in the eyes of the black-robed man!
In no time, Lin Li had slaughtered over a thousand demonized rats!
The countless broken bodies of the demonized rats piled up around Lin Li, forming a circular hill half as tall as a person and several meters wide!
"Damn it!"
The black-robed man, standing by the second-floor window, gritted his teeth. "This can't go on!"
The total number of demonized rats was in the tens of thousands.
Though Lin Li had only slaughtered a mere fraction, thousands of rats, it was still a significant loss for the black-robed man.
These rats represented his hard work, and watching them die was painful!
"Four Rat Generals, attack!"
The black-robed man roared!
Four massive rats, the size of wild dogs and covered in a menacing brown-red fur, erupted from the ground!
Smashing through the pile of demonized rat corpses, they charged toward Lin Li like bolts of lightning!
The four massive rats moved so swiftly that they appeared as brown-red blurs. But Lin Li boldly met their charge!
"These rats can't even reach the fifth rank, and they dare call them 'Rat Generals'? Laughable!"
Lin Li laughed loudly, dodging two of the giant rats while enduring a claw swipe from the third.
In an instant, three bloody gashes, each around 20 to 30 centimeters long, appeared on his back!
But...
At the same moment, Lin Li swung his sword and split the giant rat charging toward him cleanly in two!
[Killed fourth-rank demon rat, gained 50 evolution points!]
[Absorbed fourth-rank demon rat's blood, gained 5 energy points!]
Ye Fan saw the system notification but wasn't excited: "Single rats don't provide many evolution points. I still need to kill a lot more to evolve."
Lin Li also noticed that although each demonized rat provided only a small amount of energy when killed, he could slaughter dozens, even hundreds, in just a few breaths!
Compared to that, killing a Rat General provided slightly more energy but wasn't particularly remarkable.
Accumulating small gains over time was more effective.
Besides, Lin Li had a concern: If he quickly killed the Four Rat Generals and the Rat King, the remaining demonized rats might scatter.
If that happened, not only would it hinder his plan to use the Bloodthirsty Magic Sword to boost his cultivation, but it would also create a widespread threat, as the scattered rats could cause havoc elsewhere!
Lin Li didn't have the time to hunt them down one by one.
"I'll avoid the Rat Generals for now and keep slaughtering the rats until their numbers are reduced!"
With that decision made, Lin Li swiftly shifted his position.
Surrounded by spiritual energy, he moved with blinding speed, becoming a blur as he darted into the heart of the rat horde!
"Damn it!"
The black-robed man, still watching from the second-floor window, yelled in frustration, "Get after him!"
"Squeak! Squeak!"
The remaining three Rat Generals, furious at the death of their companion, screeched and chased after Lin Li.
But Lin Li had the advantage in cultivation, and the Rat Generals struggled to catch him.
Even when they closed in, Lin Li easily knocked them away with the flat of his sword, preventing them from posing any significant threat.
As time passed...
What had once been a town overrun with rats had transformed into a hellscape for the rats!
The streets were littered with the bodies of demonized rats!
Streams of dark blood flowed like rivers across the ground.
At this moment, Ye Fan was growing increasingly excited and expectant!
He glanced at the system interface: "It's close... almost time! I'm about to evolve!"
[Host]: Ye Fan
[Sword Name]: Ordinary Long Sword (A sword forged from special metal, now an ordinary long sword with a certain degree of sharpness.)
[Quality]: Sharp
[Passive Skill]: Bloodthirst (Can absorb blood to nourish the sword and transmit a portion of the energy to the host.)
[Curse]: This sword harbors immense resentment. Those with insufficient strength using this sword will be plagued by misfortune.
[Evolution Points]: 91,888/100,000
[Energy]: 2,567
After Lin Li's relentless massacre, more than half of the demonized rats in Linhe Town had been wiped out!
The remaining rats were now hesitant and no longer dared to charge toward their deaths as they had before.
The three remaining Rat Generals, after a long pursuit, were also beginning to tire.
Meanwhile, the black-robed man...
He was on the verge of madness!
"Damn it!"
The black-robed man cursed furiously, "If the Rat King weren't at a critical stage of breaking through, unable to move lest the process fail, I wouldn't have allowed this brat to slaughter my beloved demon rats like this!"
"But something is very strange!"
"How can his spiritual energy last so long? By now, it should have been exhausted! How is it possible that..."
Unaware of the black-robed man's thoughts, Lin Li was completely immersed in the feeling of having the Bloodthirsty Magic Sword continuously feed energy back into his body!
Having just broken through to the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, Lin Li could already feel his cultivation nearing the peak of the eighth layer!
Just then!
"Squeak!!!"
A sharp, ear-piercing screech echoed through the air!
The sound alone was powerful enough to shake the trees around Linhe Town, causing leaves to fall like rain!
"Haha! Excellent! Wonderful! It's finally succeeded in breaking through to the eighth rank!"
The black-robed man's spirits soared as he turned around to see...
A giant rat, nearly the size of a human, opened its blood-red eyes, filled with boundless fury!
"Your tribe has been slaughtered by that man. Surely you are filled with rage!"
"Go! Kill him! Avenge your fallen kin!"
The black-robed man shouted excitedly.