Before long, the truck stopped at the undertakers' building at 117 East City Road.
Captain Dong Jiu and the other two veteran team members went straight to their rooms to sleep, leaving the task of moving the corpses to the morgue to Ji Xun and Jibu, the two rookies.
They were used to this.
The two of them fetched a cart, piled eight body bags onto it, and then took the elevator down to the third basement floor.
Usually, no one would come to this gloomy place except to transport corpses.
After placing the corpses in the lead-iron boxes, Jibu left as well.
Ji Xun found an excuse to stay behind.
Listening to the old elevator creak as it went upstairs, he glanced at the empty corridor before pulling out one of the boxes.
Opening the body bag, Ji Xun's expression remained unchanged as he retrieved the "Secret Medium" from the corpse's abdomen.
Knowing that delays could bring complications, he wasted no time and immediately sat cross-legged on the ground to begin using the Feast Secret Technique to start devouring it.
Previously, he had only tried it lightly in the cellar on Tailor Street. Now, Ji Xun devoured the dark extraordinary properties in the medium without hesitation, like a whale gulping down water.
This was his first time devouring such pure extraordinary properties. As soon as he started, his whole body, including his flesh, bones, and organs, began to emit a faint heat.
Ji Xun was familiar with this sensation—it was a sign of his flesh growing!
But this time, the sensation was unprecedentedly intense.
Before, devouring extraordinary properties from corpses was like squeezing water droplets from wet sand by the river—slow and laborious. Now, it was like drinking directly from the river, gulping down mouthfuls.
His body transitioned from feeling hot to scorching, with an unbearable pain setting in.
But now was not the time to rest.
Ji Xun constantly monitored the data on his panel. As long as it wasn't fatal, he didn't stop, continuing to devour mouthful after mouthful.
He knew that this thing couldn't be left.
The longer it stayed, the more trouble it could cause. He had to digest it now, without delay.
As time passed, the amber medium grew smaller and smaller.
...
Perhaps luck was on his side; after returning from Tailor Street, his squad hadn't received any more assignments.
This gave Ji Xun ample time to devour the "Secret Medium."
From the afternoon until the following morning, he stayed in the morgue for over ten hours.
The long night passed in a flash, and the meditating Ji Xun slowly opened his eyes.
Checking his pocket watch, it was a quarter past seven in the morning.
Ji Xun looked at the completely disappeared medium in his hand and exhaled a long breath: "Finally finished devouring it."
With the evidence eradicated, the biggest risk was gone.
Looking at himself, his attributes had changed dramatically.
**"Ji Xun"**
- Strength:
- Constitution:
- Agility:
- Toughness:
- Spirit:
- Curse Power: 114/115
...
As Ji Xun had anticipated, after devouring the medium, his physical attributes had mostly broken through to 3.
He looked at his forearm, clenched his fist, and the muscles bulged robustly beneath his skin.
This feeling of power coursing through every limb and vein was fantastic!
"So strong."
On a whim, Ji Xun dropped to the ground and did over ten push-ups effortlessly, as easy as breathing.
The strength in his arms easily supported his body, his muscles taut like springs. His body had bulked up, but he didn't feel clumsy; rather, he felt agile and light.
He then tried balancing with just the strength of his arms, doing handstand push-ups.
He still felt it was easy.
He switched to one-handed push-ups, then to five-finger push-ups, and finally to three-finger push-ups, still steady!
The threefold increase in strength allowed him to easily perform power exercises that were previously impossible.
He also tested the strength of his lower limbs by jumping vertically. Due to his unfamiliarity with the sudden surge in his jumping ability, he hit his head on the ceiling with a dull "thud."
Ji Xun's head buzzed, but his face was radiant.
Judging by eye, his vertical jump just now easily exceeded 1.5 meters—higher than even professional basketball players in his previous life could achieve.
"This is what being extraordinary is all about!"
Ji Xun savored this overwhelming sense of power. He finally possessed the physical abilities that broke the limits of the human body.
Previously, devouring corpses had led to incremental growth, but this sudden leap in ability felt marvelous.
It wasn't just his strength that had increased.
The "Secret Medium" was an evil material, containing extremely potent dark elements.
His dark affinity value had jumped from "12" to "27."
This meant he could now use the "Shadow Stealth" skill anytime, even without wearing a mask.
His mental strength had also increased by more than 1 point. This was the first time he had experienced such a boost in mental strength by directly devouring extraordinary properties using the Demon Feast.
His curse power had risen to 115.
According to the breathing technique manual, having a curse power over 100 meant he was now at the first stage of curse power?
In other words, he was now an "Apprentice Card Master."
Although it was still the initial stage, he had only been practicing the breathing technique for four days!
Normally, such progress would take months.
Looking at the significant changes in his body, Ji Xun wondered, "If I had more 'Secret Mediums,' how much stronger could I become?"
Absorbing extraordinary properties from corpses would take months or even years to reach his current level.
But this thought was quickly dismissed.
Such materials involved deep, dark secrets, and obtaining even one piece had been a huge risk.
Even if he encountered a similar task in the future, Ji Xun wouldn't dare take a second piece lightly.
Once could be covered up with various conditions, but a second time would be too obvious.
Now that the "evidence" was gone, Ji Xun no longer needed to stay in the morgue.
He took out disinfectant from the corner and started cleaning up.
The strong smell of disinfectant masked most scents, which was part of the undertakers' routine cleaning procedures, done almost daily to avoid suspicion.
He stayed in the morgue all night to avoid the mistake he made on the train. The stench from the cellar in Tailor Street was hard to remove, including the medium's smell, in case a card master with scent-based abilities tracked it.
If Ji Xun had taken the medium elsewhere, it might have been detected.
Staying in the morgue, even if someone came looking, the smell of the dozen bodies from the cellar would mislead and mask the medium's scent.
After cleaning, Ji Xun left the morgue.
Today was a rest day, and he had other things to do—attending the Hunters' Guild's free Card Master class.
...
Leaving the branch office building, Ji Xun checked the time. It was 8:00 AM.
The city's factories spewed waste gas day and night, the air filled with a persistent coal dust smell. Wearing a gas mask, Ji Xun walked through the streets.
Despite being an underground city, the early morning in Sinless City was still bustling, with night-shift workers flooding the streets.
Without the sun, the difference between night and day was that the city's tower lights were much brighter during the day, and there were more people around.
Sinless City was vast, covering at least a hundred square kilometers.
Fortunately, it had a complex network of railways and intercity steam trains.
Ji Xun took the train across half the city from the East District to Gero Street in the South District.
On this street stood a very prominent yellow-painted building, the tallest in the vicinity, with a high tower disappearing into the darkness, exuding solemnity and grandeur. A massive emblem of a bow and axe hung on the wall, marking the headquarters of the Hunter's Guild at Gero Street No. 1.
The Hunter's Guild was the central hub for hunters to post recruitment notices, obtain tasks, trade information, and conduct transactions. Therefore, it was always bustling with people.
The street was crowded with hunters carrying various firearms, bladed weapons, and steam-powered mechanical gear.
Ji Xun walked toward the main building, crossing a sky bridge shortly after leaving the tram station. Looking down, he saw mist swirling around, with a drop of several dozen meters. This was characteristic of Sinless City's architecture.
The entire city was built against a mountain, complex and three-dimensional. What appeared as the ground floor from the street was actually over twenty floors up when viewed from below.
The misty surroundings created a dreamlike, surreal atmosphere.
Under the bright lights, the buildings were lively, hiding countless secrets in the shadows.
The streets were lined with various stalls, forming the Hunter's Bazaar.
Much like an antique market in his previous life, the stalls displayed all sorts of strange and unusual items.
"Come and see! Freshly obtained elemental demon marks from Watcher's Fortress, only 250,000 credits!"
"Mutant materials from the Demon's Cross ruins, suitable for assassin and healer types. Discounts for bulk purchases..."
"High-quality undead material from the Western Plague Forest, come take a look..."
"Rare mithril ore from the Eagle's Nest mine, perfect for forging alloy machinery. Also selling Halo K-3 model mechanical arms, standard equipment for the upper city's army..."
The stalls primarily sold various cards and extraordinary materials that hunters had scavenged from their explorations.
There were also ancient stone carvings, broken books, and scrolls inscribed with ancient texts.
The dazzling array of items frequently caught Ji Xun's attention.
These were treasures from various relics.
Hunters with spare time often came here to set up stalls, as it yielded better prices than selling directly to middlemen.
In addition to the stalls, there were shops along the street.
Ji Xun had visited once before to buy the "Great Dark Breathing Technique."
With it being almost 9 AM, he didn't linger in the market and headed straight into the Hunter's Guild hall.
Upon entering, he saw the vast hall filled with people, with several large magical screens in the most prominent positions.
The screens displayed numerous recruitment notices.
"Recruiting teammates for the 'Great Graveyard Maze,' C-level difficulty, aiming for undead materials. Prefer dark priests and puzzle solvers..."
"Opening 'Twin Towers Fortress,' need a sharpshooter and a heavy-armored black knight..."
"Farming mysterious materials in the 'Plague Mine.' Departing in three days, led by Old Gun Luo. Looking for several healing professions..."
Hunters posted reward tasks here, and hunter teams of all sizes recruited suitable members for their expeditions.
It was Ji Xun's first time inside, and he found it fascinating.
Besides the "407 Abnormal Creature Containment Facility" he had encountered, there were many different interdimensional spaces in this world.
After a brief look, he headed towards the elevator.
The elevator took him to the third floor, which housed a large lecture hall.
The free course on card knowledge was very popular, and by the time Ji Xun arrived, the hall was already filled with hundreds of people.
Since it was an introductory course on card knowledge, the audience was mostly young hunters and teenagers, creating a lively atmosphere.
Ji Xun observed the surroundings and found an inconspicuous corner to sit down in.