Chapter 007: [Vitality Reaches 12 Points!]

The pig-headed beastman was dead, and the system had reclaimed 165 units of vitality. The earlier notification, "Vitality +184," must have likewise resulted from another beastman's death, with the system absorbing their life force.

Two beastmen alone had increased his lifespan by as much as 34.9 years! By comparison, spending an entire day at the Fortune Slaughterhouse had only earned him nearly 50 years. The difference in return for the same increase in longevity, and the time invested, was staggering!

If not for the fact that beastmen rarely appeared within the city, Tang Mubai would have been tempted to switch tactics and devote himself to hunting them exclusively. A day's hard work couldn't compare to the benefit of slaying three beastmen.

With this realization, Tang Mubai grew ever more eager to become a professional martial artist. Previously, his intent in becoming a professional was simply to keep the Miracle Restaurant running. But now, his goal had become the hunt and elimination of beastmen and other non-human forms of life.

It was clear: most non-human creatures possessed far more vitality than humans. Killing people brought psychological burdens and endless complications, but slaying non-human entities posed no such concerns for Tang Mubai. The government even offered rewards. For instance, killing a single pig-headed beastman brought a reward of ten thousand federal coins.

In all honesty, to suppress non-human life, governments around the world offered every possible incentive to martial artists, driving them to exterminate these threats. As a result, every martial artist was wealthy. Of course, money flowed in quickly for them, but it was spent just as fast. Weapons of all grades forged from alloys, various martial arts to enhance one's strength, elixirs with different effects, as well as firearms, vehicles, and fuel—all required money.

One notable point: individual martial artists could not purchase firearms. Only mercenary groups were allowed to buy guns—excluding artillery, of course. Therefore, when Tang Mubai rode his bike to the spot where the pig-headed beastman had died and saw a burly man among the crowd, hefting what looked like an oversized shotgun, he immediately knew the man belonged to a mercenary group.

Just a few shots, and the pig-headed beastman was dispatched. After accounting for the cost of ammunition—one or two hundred coins—the man had earned nearly ten thousand in a short time. It was almost effortless! At that moment, he was all smiles, laughing heartily with the crowd.

By contrast, the two members of the Security Bureau had suffered serious injuries and were sitting by the roadside, calling for a car. Tang Mubai glanced from a distance at the pig-headed beastman's corpse—half its body nearly blasted away—then at the giant shotgun on the man's shoulder, his eyelids twitching.

Such a large-caliber shotgun was useless in the hands of an ordinary person, and even most martial artists couldn’t wield it for long; only those who had trained in specific body-tempering arts could manage it with ease. The power of such a weapon was terrifying against non-human foes; if it were used against a person, one shot would obliterate them! Of course, that was true only for ordinary people and professional martial artists with blood energy between 10 and 99 units.

Once one's blood energy reached 100 units and they advanced to a career martial artist, they became nearly immune to firearms. At that level, one could condense a protective aura. To break through that shield, only artillery would suffice!

Weapons in this new world were far more powerful than those in Tang Mubai’s previous life. But since martial artists were so formidable and efficient in solo combat, technology had become little more than a supplement. And above professional martial artists, there existed even more powerful beings!

——

The incident with the pig-headed beastman delayed Tang Mubai for most of the day. By the time he rode his bike to pick up his younger cousin at school, he was over ten minutes late. The little girl extorted him into buying a pile of snacks before she would stop complaining.

After being late twice in a row, Tang Mubai became ever more convinced that he needed to drive instead of ride. He acted immediately. After dropping his cousin at the Miracle Restaurant, he rode back to his quarters, found his car keys, chose a jeep from the garage, and drove out onto the streets.

He first familiarized himself with the vehicle, then filled up the tank at a gas station. Following the routes by several hospitals in the East District, he began his rounds.

As it turned out, driving produced even better results. Apart from a brief return to the restaurant for dinner and a fifteen-minute rest, he spent the entire evening making rounds. By the end of the night, he had reclaimed 7.6 years of life from two hospitals alone.

After the restaurant kitchen slaughtered over a dozen ducks, Tang Mubai drove home, lay on his bed, and checked the system. His total lifespan had now reached 134 years!

With 134 years to his name, Tang Mubai finally felt at ease and attempted to advance the Tiger's Roar Fist to a higher level. The result surprised him.

"It only took one year to go from uninitiated to beginner?" Tang Mubai wondered.

Compared to the cost for improving physical attributes and blood energy, the expenditure for martial arts was shockingly low.

"Well, the less, the better!" He pondered for a while, but unable to make sense of it, he let the matter go.

He decided to continue advancing. From "Beginner" to "Proficient" consumed 2 years; from "Proficient" to "Expert" took 3 years; from "Expert" to "Mastery" required 9 years.

In less than a minute, the Tiger's Roar Fist had advanced from uninitiated to mastery. It was exhilarating! Even better, the whole process had consumed only 15 years of life.

At the mastery level, Tiger's Roar Fist was enough to ensure Tang Mubai's safety. He stopped advancing it further, reserving the remaining 119 years. He used 40 years to increase his blood energy to 7 units.

The next morning, after dropping off his cousin, Tang Mubai followed his plan: he circled the hospitals in the East District by car, then visited several slaughterhouses outside the city. After lunch, he went to the Fortune Slaughterhouse.

He spent the afternoon working, picked up his cousin, then did more rounds at various hospitals before heading home for the night. Lying in bed, he checked the system and found his gains had indeed increased from the day before.

His total lifespan had now accumulated to 162.9 years! Subtracting the previous day's remainder of 79 years, he had gained 83.9 years in a single day!

The difference between driving and cycling was immense. This proved, without a doubt, that Tang Mubai had made the right decision.

Thus, on the third day, he was even more diligent, driving everywhere. Though he gained slightly less than the day before, it was still a respectable 76.1 years—bringing his total to 239 years!

To have surpassed 200 years of life in just a few days was almost unbelievable. Reflecting on his progress, Tang Mubai unhesitatingly spent 100 years to raise his blood energy to 12 units.

With a blood energy of 12, he was finally qualified to take the professional martial artist examination! He didn't hold back with the remaining 139 years, using them to attempt a boost in "Perception."

The result—

"What’s going on? Just one improvement in 'Perception' consumed 50 years of life?"