Tang Qi's vision was suddenly assaulted by two ferocious dark shadows, who, despite appearing as beautiful women, emitted a nauseating stench of rot mixed with blood, instinctively repelling anyone who smelled it.
Their sharp claws lunged toward Tang Qi's head and chest, but with his powerful eyesight, Tang Qi could still make out the red and black nail polish coated on their nails.
It was patchy and cheap, mostly chipped away.
"Terrible taste, just as the books described."
"Bang"
"Hiss~"
As he spoke, Tang Qi didn't make any grand gestures, merely stepping back slightly and sidestepping, dodging the attacks of the two corpse-eating nightingales.
As the pale white of his fists slowly clenched, and the nightingales hissed amid their rotting stench, Tang Qi's fist found its way to one's face, while his whip-like kick delivered its full force to the other.
"Bang~Crack"
"Boom"
Their approach was fast; their retreat, blown back, was just as brisk.
If they had any wisdom left, this exchange would reveal to them that Tang Qi was no ordinary human youth, at least not in close combat where they had no advantage.
However, they didn't flee but instead roared in anger and, driven by beastly instinct, charged at Tang Qi again.
Shaking his head, Tang Qi stepped deeper into the alley, swiftly approaching the corpse of the unlucky middle-aged office worker. With a poised hand, he grabbed the head of the first charging corpse-eating nightingale and smashed it against the nearby wall.
Another kick followed, an explosive sound in the air, as his fierce strength struck the chin of the second nightingale.
A crisp "snap" was heard, and the nightingale's head, along with its jaw, shattered under Tang Qi's kick.
Three seconds?
No, not even three seconds.
A battle that should have been gruesome was declared over, the disparity in power too great.
Tang Qi then turned his attention to the two dying corpse-eating nightingales, and the special interface indeed popped up.
[Extraordinary Creatures: Corpse-eating Nightingales.]
[State: Dying.]
[Information Fragment One: Once-thriving ghouls, after being eradicated, left behind viruses of decent infectiousness around the world. They might not reproduce the ghoul species, but creating disgusting creatures took no effort.]
[Information Fragment Two: Corpse-eating Nightingales, are one such creation.]
As always, Tang Qi saw the information fragments.
However, this time, the information provided by his special ability wasn't much more than what he learned from books.
Tang Qi recalled a chapter from "Federation Hundred Years of Strange, Absurd, and Real" that described in detail the so-called corpse-eating nightingales.
Of course, disregarding the tales of unknown veracity.
To sum it up briefly, these were streetwalkers infected by the ghoul virus, turning into extraordinary creatures.
They stayed normal until the ghoul state triggered, transforming them into man-eating monsters with significantly enhanced physical abilities, or else they wouldn't be able to eat those clients, right?
Sadly, no matter how much they were enhanced, they were no match for Tang Qi.
As a beginner in Chaga Fighting Technique and enhancing various attributes daily, a mere move from Tang Qi was comparable to a top Fighting Master.
And they, merely driven by instinctive beastly hunger.
Tang Qi came back to his senses, looking at the corpse of the office worker on the ground and the slowly recovering two corpse-eating nightingales. With clenched fists, a warm surge of power flowed into his palms, and with two "bangs," released it all.
Simultaneously, two "crack" sounds came from the wall and from the ground.
With their skulls shattered to pieces, even ghouls couldn't survive.
Upon their death, two grey resentful souls drifted out, and before they could attempt to flee, a pair of hands surrounded by golden light flames clasped them.
"Whoo"
A breeze blew through, and calm returned to the alley.
In Tang Qi's mind's grey mist space, two small clusters of golden light points appeared.
He then looked at himself, as the interface popped up.
Indeed, the meditation method and Molten Furnace Eye made progress, each rising by 0.02%, while Chaga Fighting Technique only by 0.01%.
"It seems that after devouring the resentful souls of extraordinary creatures, the most significant increase is in meditation methods and derivative skills. This kill was completely done using fighting skills, yet the increase was the smallest. However, compared to painstaking cultivation, this path is much faster."
"Perhaps we could develop a bit more; it doesn't seem very difficult."
"Bait? Oh no, it should be considered some sort of inducement."
"However, I cannot be completely sure yet, shall I verify it tomorrow?"
Tang Qi muttered to himself as he turned to grab a book-filled bag from the corner and headed home.
Behind him, three corpses gradually became rigid.
Although it's incredible, the Blank District is indeed chaotic like this.
If it weren't for this chaos, there wouldn't be things like Corpse Collection Vehicles and professions like Corpse Collectors.
With the intensifying mutation, Tang Qi could almost predict that areas like the Blank District might become a real no-go zone of horror.
Before that, Tang Qi planned to do everything possible to strengthen his own power.
Especially after discovering that "shortcut", Tang Qi planned to change his strategy.
Circling back to the small diamond building, Tang Qi found that the first floor had been perfectly restored, showing no signs of destruction.
Needless to say, the official police must have been this efficient because Chief Stanna had personally intervened.
After sighing about how different it is to have connections in official places, Tang Qi seriously prepared dinner for himself.
With top-quality ingredients combined with the culinary skills Tang Qi brought from Earth, the resulting deliciousness was captivating each time.
After satisfying his appetite, he brewed a pot of volcanic rock coffee, placed the bulky volumes borrowed from the Messer Library on his desk, and finally, Tang Qi moved to his workbench.
There was one task he had to complete every night before his meditation Cultivation.
He should have tried last night, but was delayed due to a breakthrough in his Meditation Method.
Now, he officially begins another attempt.
Making bullets!
After obtaining the Molten Furnace Bullets, Tang Qi understood that to create Transcendent Bullets that met the requirements, one principle needed to be maintained.
That is, the materials must also be at the Transcendent Level.
Moreover, they must be confirmed Transcendent by his special ability "All-Knowing".
The Holy Water and rouge flower seeds bought that day were utterly useless.
If it hadn't been for the battle with the Manatee Sea Demon, Tang Qi would only be able to use his own Extraordinary Blood to make bullets for his strongest weapon, "Blood Python No.1".
To avoid anemia, Tang Qi planned to make another type of Transcendent Bullet.
"Snap"
The only material was taken out by Tang Qi and placed on the workbench.
Opening the small bag revealed diamond-like things flashing with deep blue light.
With the experience of creating the Molten Furnace Bullet last time, Tang Qi acted swiftly without a trace of awkwardness.
He first ignited an alcohol burner, and as the flames burst forth, a crucible was placed on top; once the bottom of the crucible turned slightly red, Tang Qi quickly picked up the tweezers with his other hand, reaching into the bag and emerging with a dazzling blue Sea Salt.
With a clang, the Sea Salt fell into the crucible.
This mesmerizing crystal, upon touching the red-hot part of the crucible, hissed, and a wisp of faintly salty blue smoke wafted out.
In a trance, Tang Qi seemed to hear the surging sound of the ocean from the smoke, to see the splendid scenery of the sea bottom, and even a series of faintly discernible holy chants.
Unfortunately, this bizarre scene quickly vanished as the smoke dissipated.
When Tang Qi looked again, only the blue liquid inside the crucible was boiling with sounds of "gurgle~ gurgle," resembling sea water, initially occupying half of the crucible but quickly decreasing as the temperature rose.
However, Tang Qi couldn't remove the alcohol burner; the special interface captured in his field of vision told him that once the flame was removed, the liquid inside would instantly solidify and revert to solid Sea Salt.
At this moment, Tang Qi once again displayed terrifying speed.
With one hand, he took a glass rod, vigorously stirring the blue liquid, while the other hand held tweezers, swiftly picking up a Brass Bullet and placing it into the crucible.
The whirlpool seemingly armed with some bizarre Magic Power, as the bullet was put in, a blue luminescence along with the whirlpool instantly merged into it.
"Clang"
Quickly inserted and taken out, Tang Qi didn't even have time to glance at the mutated bullet, immediately moving on to the second, then the third, fourth, fifth... Tang Qi's one hand was evenly stirring, yet his other hand had already transformed into a blur.
To avoid wasting even a bit of Sea Demon Magic, Tang Qi even employed the techniques of Chaga Fighting Skill.
Inside the crucible, as the azure liquid rapidly disappeared, what appeared were the ever-increasing bullets in the wooden box on the workbench.
Each one, not quite like an ordinary bullet.