Chapter 36: Dreamy Homestead

Chapter 36: Dreamy Homestead

Inside his windowless house, Chen Jia watched the three rows of bulldozing bulls kneel, proving his home was also indestructible by their force.

Like Feng Tianhuo, he too was a fierce holdout.

The bulls, enduring the pain, forcibly pulled their horns out from the buttocks of the bulls in front, then timidly retreated on shaky hooves.

Fine.

This tough nut was impressive; for now, they'd refrain from clashing with this formidable foe.

If this one's unbreakable, onto the next! They doubted there'd be a third stronghold able to withstand their savage charge.

They had to meet tonight's demolition quota by tearing down another house!

The herd, tails quivering, collectively approached the next-door neighbor, the seemingly unremarkable Lu Ren Yi.

But, before charging, the lead bull took a cautious glance at Lu Ren Yi, ensuring this human appeared utterly unremarkable, before heavily exhaling and kicking off the ground.

"Moo—"

This house has got to work!

Then, Chen Jia watched his next-door neighbor wielding his shovel, knocking out bulls with each strike, thump thump thump, just as effortlessly as digging foundations, rendering a row of wild bulls unconscious.

"Moo Moo Moo!!"

The second and third rows of bulls panicked, terrified! Without a second thought, they turned and fled, their departing tremors a tad lighter than before.

Next-door neighbor Chen Jia: "..."

Lu Ren Yi gave him an honest smile while waving his shovel: "I'm just a bit strong."

"Want some grilled beef? I can toss a bull right to your window."

Incredulous gasps echoed from all directions.

But Chen Jia seriously considered it: "As long as it doesn't damage my house, that's fine." Those bulls must contain energy!

So, the utterly ordinary Lu Ren Yi smiled and tossed a bull to his next-door neighbor, Lu Ren Jia.

Thump!

The lead bull hit the ground, and Chen Jia, covering his left eye, saw a flash of light capturing the energy core within the bull.

He reached out of the window and precisely grabbed the energy core, about the size of a steak, and popped it into his mouth.

Wow.

The taste of authentic grilled steak. Energy increased by 1688.

The energy from a single bull was quite substantial, enough for saying "bull, lose your hooves" twice.

Covertly observing the entire scene were the front neighbor Jiang Hong, the rear neighbor Chen Qiang, and the distant neighbor Chu Tiankuo: "..."

At this moment, these three team leaders shared the same thought—

Those three crazies on the right, Jia Zi and Yi Zi, were definitely not your typical exiles! Who else among the exiles wears hoods, sets fires, and eats bulls through thin air?

Fortunately, they had just been onlookers these past two days and hadn't offended these three extraordinary fellows; otherwise, they'd be scorched by fire, crippled, or knocked unconscious!

But on the bright side, given their distinctiveness, perhaps one among these three is a hidden powerhouse capable of elevating everyone's game?

The three team leaders simultaneously resolved to warmly engage them the next day.

After the departure of the bulls, the night seemed to return to tranquility.

The exiles, whose houses had one to three walls demolished, sighed in despair, while Chen Jia, whose house remained intact, lay on a lounge chair, tuning out the fireballs from Feng Tianhuo on the left and the solitary bull feast of Lu Ren Yi on the right, pondering life.

Specifically, he was contemplating how to level up.

In the City of Mobiles, forcing the guide to answer one question cost him all his energy at the time due to the guide's theft and consumption.

Despite his subsequent provocations towards the guide, he would have stood no chance against the guide's true form without being drained of energy.

Similarly, facing that blood-red eyed monster would likely have led him to a dead end—in the final reveal in the City of Cuisine, he merely rebounded an attack from the All-Seeing Eye, consuming 80% of the energy counteracting the devouring world's core.

Chen Jia pursed his lips.

Thus, his twenty-six years of energy accumulation were insufficient against these two king-level devourers on the brink of ascending to godhood.

He needed to level up.

Not just in terms of his body, which was far more fragile compared to the devourers, but also the maximum capacity of energy his body could hold.

These two aspects are mutually influential and closely connected.

Despite appearing to easily achieve victory in the City of Mobiles and the City of Cuisine, looking quite formidable, Chen Jia assesses that should he encounter a dominator-level devourer, he would no longer be able to use the "power of words" to directly eliminate devourers.

In fact, every word he speaks might significantly reduce the effectiveness of his linguistic powers, or even backfire on himself.

Because his current energy limit is roughly between a "level 4 hunter" and a "level 5 dominator."

And his physical condition is about that of a "level 3 traveler."

That is, his spirit is at level 4, while strength, speed, defense, and agility are at level 3.

Only when he reaches full level 5 might he stand a chance against the guide trash and the big-eyed monster; otherwise, he might be struck down before he even speaks.

Or, in some special domains, he might be completely silenced by an all-around energy ban.

This is a suppression on the "energy level," unrelated to capability.

It's like an ant, no matter how fast it runs, cannot escape from the palm of a hand.

Thus, he needs to level up.

Both spirit and body need to be upgraded together.

Previously, Chen Jia couldn't find a fast way to level up; he attempted to directly transform his body into that of a superhuman, to change the essence of his physique fundamentally.

However, the "Word Spirit" used on his own body could not last long.

He became a superman for only three minutes before losing power.

Yet, the battles he faced in the future would definitely last more than three minutes, and merely being a superman was not enough to defeat his enemies.

He even scoured the marketplace constructed by the guide through his golden phone.

Disappointingly, the guide's marketplace only offered things like food, medicine, energy weapons, and energy tools—items he could verbalize himself and at exorbitantly high prices.

There was nothing like a direct method to become a god, which he had hoped for.

For this reason, Chen Jia complained about the guide being trash for a long time.

But just when he was perplexed and unsure where to start, the ordinary person Yi brought warmth.

Last night, by circulating energy throughout his body, he felt locks of stagnation at his lower abdomen and chest, and tonight, by concentrating again, he discovered four energy convergence points at the centers of his hands and feet.

Among these, the energy convergence points in his hands were especially bright, the right foot's point was dim, and the left foot's point was even difficult to gather energy at, similar to the sensation of blockage at his lower abdomen and chest.

If previously he did not know what to call these, now he understood that the four energy convergence points on his hands and feet were the upgrades unlocked after breaking the chains.

Lighting up one energy convergence point would elevate a wanderer by one level.

Levels include: 1st level Wanderer, 2nd level Ascetic, 3rd level Traveler, 4th level Hunter, 5th level Dominator, and then, the 6th level King and God.

Having unlocked four energy chains, he still needed to unlock three more energy convergence points.

Even though he hasn't sensed the location of the last energy convergence point, Chen Jia feels that instead of using all the energy in his body to assault the dim lock in his lower abdomen, he should perhaps strengthen the two dimmer energy convergence points in his feet.

So, the question arises, how to enhance these two convergence points?

Chen Jia looks down at his feet, deep in thought.

If he were a character in a game, then his status would be that of a "squishy mage."

Physical fitness limits his magical power capacity.

Given that, why not directly boost his physique? But transforming into a superman with words isn't lasting.

Chen Jia can't help but stroke the mole's fur back and forth.

Initially enjoying the petting, the silver mole starts to get uncomfortable as Chen Jia's hand gets heavier and nearly plucks out its silver fur due to his deepening frustration.

The mole emits an angry soul scream: "Squeak—"

Abruptly stopping, Chen Jia looks at the mole with its deep blue eyes and asks, as if possessed: "Why doesn’t my own verbal power last long on myself?"

After asking, Chen Jia rolls his eyes at himself. How could a mole possibly know the answer!

To his surprise, the silver mole looks at him with its fur puffed up and, after a couple of squeaks, scratches a red brick with its tiny paws.

Chen Jia: "?"

After much effort, it only manages to scratch a single mark.

Chen Jia frowns.

Then, the silver mole suddenly raised its head, its blue eyes deepening, and with a "bang!", it poked a hole directly into the red brick with its paw, followed by several more holes until finally, with a slap, the brick split.

Chen Jia stared at the perforated red brick for a long time.

Then, after his thoughts took a strange turn and a flash of insight, he suddenly sat up and declared towards his left leg: "Permanent +1 to strength."

As he spoke, he felt the energy within him surge, concentrating into a force that then flowed entirely into his left leg.

Half an hour later, Chen Jia lay on a lounge chair, wildly petting the silver mole and laughing out loud!

"Ha! Lucky rat!"

"Squeak!" It's all about strength, my tasty friend.

Chen Jia could feel that the strength in his left leg did not fade, even though the sentence had consumed 10% of his energy, and his recovery speed needed at least a day to restore 10% of his energy.

But that didn't matter!

Permanent points addition, though costly, is worth it!

The reason his verbal powers hadn't had a lasting success on himself before was because the energy needed to permanently transform into a superman was too great for him to possess, so the verbal power automatically converted into a temporary boost.

But he could do it bit by bit, poking one hole at a time!

He could eventually break the shackles, boosting his energy!

"Permanent +1 to speed."

"Permanent +1 to agility."

"Permanent +1 to defense."

"Permanent +1 to spirit."

Chen Jia spoke four sentences in a row, directly consuming 40% of his energy.

But he felt his body become stronger, more vigorous, and agile, and his mind seemed more alert and flexible.

What's the issue with being a glass cannon mage? He could transition from magic to melee! The future of a melee mage is within reach.

Moreover, as long as he's not picky, he can devour any energy in this exiled land!

Thinking so, Chen Jia visualized his five main attributes —

Spirit 99+1

Strength 46+1

Speed 49+1

"Agility 48+1"

"Defense 42+1"

"Excellent. Even if the behemoths and guides might boast attributes of 999 across the board, as long as he diligently skims the cream off every Devourer and seizes every opportunity to absorb energy, reaching 999+1 is no fantasy!"

"Just as Chen Shijin had addressed this pivotal life event and settled down for a well-deserved rest on his lounge chair, he suddenly felt the ground itself tremble."

"Startled, he sprang to the window in a single bound and saw a Bull Demon King, its presence as imposing as ten, no, three, standing together like three dark mountains in the night."

"Chen Shijin: ???"

"What in the world?"

"Is this a case of facing the elder after dealing with the young?"

"Seriously, is tearing down our house tonight an absolute must for you bulls?!"

"Chen Shijin stood by the window, watching in disbelief as the three Bull Demon Kings charged like a tempest to the left, towards the Feng Tianhuo residence, and started ramming the walls from three directions with a series of loud crashes."

"Not even Feng Tianhuo's great fireballs could stop their advance; Feng Tianhuo's house was promptly deprived of three walls."

"Then, the three Bull Demon Kings swiftly turned around, their bull eyes red with fury, and without a second word, raised their hooves to charge in his direction."

Chen Shijin gasped in shock and bellowed, "A stumble for the bull!"

This exclamation surprisingly consumed 1% of his energy.

The forehooves of the three Bull Demon Kings twisted in unison, nearly falling, but true to their patriarchal status, they deftly rolled onto the ground, rolling all the way to his house and viciously using their heads to demolish the walls he had painstakingly built over two days.

Chen Shijin cursed under his breath.

"If it weren't for the fact that I'm down to 49% energy with three days to spare, I'd finish you off with a single word, aaaah!"

After successfully demolishing two houses, the huffing Bull Demon Kings rose and charged towards the house of a bystander, the furthest to the right.

"Moo—"

No one can halt the bulls' relentless demolition mission!

At that moment, the bystander stood in front of his house, shovel in hand.

His expression turned serious for once, and as the three Bull Demon Kings charged, he lifted the shovel with utmost speed! Bang, bang, bang!

After three hits, the three Bull Demon Kings fell in response.

Just when Chen Shijin and the other exiles thought this bystander would be the toughest nut to crack in tonight's demolition, the three Bull Demon Kings, struck by the shovel, suddenly surged up in a feigned death move, bellowing loudly!

With their last burst of strength, they met their end alongside the bystander's three walls.

Chen Shijin: "Hiss!"

Such stubborn demolition bulls!

The smile gradually faded from the always slightly amused face of the bystander.

"Steamed or braised?"

Chen Shijin, with a cold expression, replied: "Stewed!"

That night, in the end, belonged to the victory of the bulls.