Dongjiang City wasn't that big. Fortunately, the system had a bit of a conscience; the requirement was only to circle the Third Ring Road, a distance slightly longer than a full marathon.
For an ordinary person, completing this within the time limit would be nearly impossible.
But for a Martial Artist with at least some basic training, it was still possible.
Sprinting out of his residential complex, Lin Ye pushed his speed to the absolute limit!
The muscles in his legs erupted with all their strength. He was like an arrow loosed from its bow, speeding through the streets in the dead of night.
The intense exertion from sprinting made his lungs feel like they were on fire, and his Physical Strength Value plummeted.
However, whenever he felt he was about to hit his limit, all he had to do was slow his pace slightly to exit the state the system judged as "extreme exertion." The miraculous recovery effect would immediately kick in.
[Out of combat. High-speed recovery in progress…]
After ten seconds, his stamina bar was instantly full!
And so, a bizarre scene unfolded.
A young man would sprint along the sidewalk at a terrifying speed for a few minutes, stop for ten seconds, and then begin another sprint.
Lin Ye was like a tireless beast, wringing out every last drop of his potential in the most unreasonable way imaginable.
「11:40 PM.」
When Lin Ye finally ran back to the entrance of his residential complex, he looked as if he had just been pulled out of the water. Yet, the light in his eyes shone with astonishing brightness.
[Ding! Daily Quest: Patrolling Territory, complete!]
[You have obtained: Stamina +0.5, EXP +50!]
Only one last quest remained, and only twenty minutes left!
'A Simple Act of Malice…'
Lin Ye's mind raced.
First, the quest required killing an adventurer.
'That's definitely not something I can do.'
That left only one option: expelling the inferior demonic beasts from his territory.
'Inferior demonic beasts…'
'Hmm, going by the system's logic, that most likely refers to mutated beasts.'
After the Celestial Abyss appeared, humans weren't the only ones who embarked on the path of martial cultivation under the influence of the cosmic source energy it emanated.
Other animals, having absorbed the source energy by chance, also evolved into various mutated species.
These were the mutated beasts.
Mutated beasts mostly appeared in deep mountains and old forests, or in the unfrequented, unreclaimed ruins.
They were almost never seen in the city.
But almost never seen didn't mean they didn't exist.
Lin Ye suddenly thought of a place—the South City garbage transfer station, the closest one to his home!
Due to the years of accumulated garbage, the environment there was terrible. There were occasional news reports about mutated rats or cockroaches appearing—enormous in size and extremely aggressive.
Although they were always dealt with promptly, that was definitely the most likely place for these mutated beasts to appear!
Lin Ye didn't call a cab. Instead, he took off again, sprinting toward the south side of the city.
「A little over ten minutes later.」
He arrived at his destination.
A foul stench, a mixture of rot and fermentation, assaulted him, almost making him gag.
Suppressing his discomfort, Lin Ye vaulted over the surrounding wall and entered the processing plant, which looked like a mountain of trash.
The workers responsible for clearing the garbage had long since gone home.
Inside the entire factory, there was nothing but the foul stench and boundless darkness.
In the darkness, a pair of crimson eyes lit up.
SKREEE—!
Amidst the ear-piercing shriek, a giant rat the size of a house cat scurried out from a pile of trash. Its fur was patchy, revealing dark red muscle underneath, and foul-smelling saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth.
Lin Ye felt a wave of nausea and disgust.
But he was also glad.
'This place really does have these lowest-level mutated beasts.'
Looking over, Lin Ye saw a green "Level 1" floating above the mutated rat's head.
As if sensing the presence of an intruder, the enormous mutated rat let out a strange cry and lunged at him.
Lin Ye's heart pounded.
He had no idea what the consequences of being bitten by this rat would be.
Until now, he had only ever engaged in token sparring matches with his classmates under their teacher's supervision.
The emphasis was always on pulling their punches.
But this was a life-or-death battle!
Fueled by the promise of Spiritual Power from the quest reward and the adrenaline surging through his veins, Lin Ye dodged to the side the instant the mutated rat lunged for his thigh.
SKREE! SKREE!
The mutated rat wasn't very intelligent. After missing its target, it crashed headfirst into a nearby garbage processing machine.
Lin Ye clearly saw a ring of yellow stars appear above its head.
Lin Ye's eyes lit up.
'It's stunned?'
'The boss perspective granted by the system can even show others' abnormal statuses.'
Lin Ye didn't let the opportunity slip by.
He rushed forward and kicked the mutated rat square in the head.
SPLAT!
The next moment, the mutated rat's entire head exploded, splattering brains and blood everywhere.
Lin Ye was stunned.
He was shocked by the power of his own kick.
Every move a Martial Artist made had a unique way of channeling force—something his combat instructor had stressed countless times.
But with that last kick, he hadn't had time to think.
It was effortless, executed instinctively.
'Could it be? Am I actually a martial arts genius?'
Soon, Lin Ye realized he was overthinking it.
That kick just now had simply been judged by the system as a [Basic Attack].
With the bonus from this initial skill, Lin Ye didn't need to consider techniques or how to channel his force.
Everything was automatically corrected into the most perfect, most direct attack.
Lin Ye lifted his foot. The mutated rat twitched a couple of times and then went still.
[+1 EXP!]
Lin Ye clearly saw a line of text appear above the mutated rat's head.
[You have slain a Level 1 Inferior Demonic Beast: Mutated Rat!]
[Due to "Basic Body Refining Skill", EXP gain is increased by 100%. Final EXP gained: 1.]
Lin Ye found it all a bit absurd.
'It's like I'm really treating this Gao Wu Realm like a video game.'
Killing monsters drops EXP!
'In that case, couldn't this place be used as a Leveling Area?'
Lin Ye raised his head and looked toward the other corners of the garbage processing plant.
BUZZ—!
The sound of flapping wings echoed.
The next moment, Lin Ye saw a black shadow take flight from the corner of one trash heap and instantly land on another.
Lin Ye's scalp tingled.
Although there was no lighting inside, Lin Ye's eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Aided by the dim yellow glow of the streetlights outside the window, he could still make out what it was.
It was a cockroach the size of a pigeon.
If he had a choice, he really, *really* didn't want to kill that thing!
But there were less than ten minutes left until the midnight deadline.
He had no choice.
...
「A little over ten minutes later.」
Lin Ye, his face pale, climbed back over the wall of the garbage processing plant while pinching his nose.
He had completed the final quest just before the time limit.
[Ding! Daily Quest: A Simple Act of Malice has been completed!]
[You have obtained 0.5 Strength, 0.5 Agility, and you have gained 100 EXP!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[You have obtained 1 Free Attribute Point! All of your attributes have increased!]
[You have obtained 1 Skill Point!]
[Ding! New Skill: Thick Hide has been unlocked!]
The continuous stream of system notifications was the best reward for his frantic efforts tonight!
An unprecedented feeling of power surged through his limbs and bones.
He slowly raised his hand and clenched his fist.
His knuckles let out a series of sharp cracks, and a sense of explosive power filled his muscles.
He could feel it—he was a completely different person from who he had been just two hours ago!