Dongjiang City was not particularly large, and fortunately, the system still had a shred of conscience. What it required was only the Third Ring Road—a single lap around it, roughly a little more than a full marathon.
For an ordinary person, completing it within the time limit would be almost impossible.
But for martial artists with at least some foundation, it was still possible.
After rushing out of the residential compound, Lin Ye immediately pushed his speed to the limit!
The muscles in his legs erupted with all their strength, and his entire body shot down the late-night streets like an arrow loosed from the bowstring.
The intense consumption brought by his mad sprint made his lungs feel as if they were on fire, and his stamina value plummeted rapidly.
However, whenever he felt he was about to reach his limit, all he had to do was slow his pace slightly and leave the system’s judgment of “extreme exercise.” That miraculous recovery power would immediately activate.
[Non-combat state. Rapid recovery in progress...]
Ten seconds later, his stamina bar instantly refilled!
And so, a bizarre scene appeared.
A young man would sprint along the sidewalk at a terrifying speed for several minutes, stop for ten seconds, then begin a new round of sprinting.
Lin Ye was like an untiring beast, squeezing out every last bit of his potential in the most unreasonable way possible.
11:40 p.m.
When Lin Ye once again ran back to the entrance of his residential compound, he looked as if he had just been fished out of the water, but the light in his eyes was astonishingly bright.
[Ding! Daily Quest: Patrol Territory, completed!]
[You have obtained: Endurance +0.5, Experience +50!]
Only the final quest remained, and the final twenty minutes!
“Evil Deeds Come Easy...”
Lin Ye’s mind spun rapidly.
First, the quest required him to kill one adventurer.
That was definitely impossible.
Then the only option left was to drive out the inferior monsters within his territory.
Inferior monsters...
Mm. Judging by the system’s way of thinking, it most likely referred to mutated beasts.
After the Tianyuan appeared, under the influence of the cosmic source energy that leaked from it, humans were naturally not the only ones to embark on the path of martial cultivation.
Other animals, through chance encounters, also absorbed source energy and evolved into various mutated species.
These were mutated beasts.
Most mutated beasts appeared in deep mountains, old forests, or deserted ruin zones that had yet to be reclaimed.
In cities, they were almost never seen.
But almost never seen did not mean they did not exist.
Lin Ye suddenly thought of a place—the South City garbage transfer station closest to his home!
Because trash had been piled there for years, the environment was terrible. Occasionally, there would be news reports about mutated rats or cockroaches appearing there, enormous in size and extremely aggressive.
Although they had all been dealt with in time, that place was absolutely the most likely location for such mutated beasts to appear!
Lin Ye did not call a car. Instead, he once again set off on foot, sprinting madly toward South City.
A little over ten minutes later, he arrived at his destination.
A foul stench mixed with rot and fermentation rushed toward him, so overpowering it nearly made him vomit.
Lin Ye forced down his discomfort, leapt up, vaulted over the wall, and entered the interior of the processing plant that was like a mountain of garbage.
At this hour, the workers responsible for cleaning the trash had long since gotten off work.
Within the entire factory, aside from the stench, there was only boundless darkness.
In the darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes lit up.
Squeak, squeak—!
Amid the piercing shrieks, a giant rat comparable in size to a house cat crawled out from the garbage heap. Its fur had fallen off, and the exposed areas revealed dark-red muscle. Foul-smelling saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth.
Lin Ye felt a wave of nausea and disgust.
But he was also very glad.
This place really did have this lowest-level kind of mutated beast.
Looking over, Lin Ye saw the words “LV1” glowing green above the mutated rat’s head.
It seemed to sense Lin Ye’s arrival as an intruder.
That enormous mutated rat let out a strange cry and pounced at him.
Lin Ye’s heart began to race.
He did not know what the consequences would be if this rat bit him.
Before this, he had only ever sparred symbolically with other students in his class under his teacher’s supervision.
The emphasis had been on stopping at the right point.
But at this moment, this was a life-and-death battle!
The mental strength rewarded by completing the quest, along with the adrenaline surging through him now, allowed Lin Ye to twist sideways and dodge at the very instant the mutated rat was about to sink its teeth into his thigh.
Squeak, squeak!
The mutated rat’s intelligence was not high. After missing its pounce, it slammed headfirst into a garbage processing machine beside it.
Lin Ye clearly saw a ring of yellow stars appear above its head.
Lin Ye’s eyes lit up.
Was this dizziness?
The BOSS perspective granted by the system could actually let him see other people’s “abnormal statuses.”
Lin Ye did not let this opportunity slip by.
He rushed forward and kicked the mutated rat directly in the head.
Splat!
The next moment, the mutated rat’s entire head exploded, brain matter and filthy blood splattering everywhere.
Lin Ye was stunned.
He was shocked by the power of his own kick.
Every move and technique of a martial artist had its own unique method of exerting force. This was something his practical combat teacher had emphasized countless times.
But with that kick just now, he had not had time to think at all.
Everything had flowed as naturally as moving clouds and running water, and he had simply used it.
Could it be that he was actually a martial arts genius?
Very soon, Lin Ye discovered that he had been overthinking it.
That kick just now had merely been judged by the system as a [Basic Attack].
With the enhancement of this initial skill, Lin Ye did not need to consider technique or methods of exerting force.
Everything would be corrected into the most perfect, most direct attack.
Lin Ye lifted his foot. The mutated rat twitched twice, then stopped moving.
[+1 EXP!]
Lin Ye clearly saw a line of words emerge above the mutated rat’s head.
[You have killed an LV1 inferior monster: Mutated Rat!]
[Affected by Basic Body Tempering Method, experience increased by 100%. Final experience obtained: 1 point.]
Lin Ye felt that it was somewhat absurd.
It was as if this high-martial world had really been turned into a game by him.
Killing monsters would drop experience!
Then didn’t that mean this place could serve as a leveling zone?
Lin Ye raised his head and looked toward the other corners of the entire garbage processing plant.
Buzz—!
The sound of flapping wings rang out.
The next moment, Lin Ye saw a black shadow fly up from the corner of a certain garbage heap, instantly landing on another pile of trash.
Lin Ye’s scalp went numb.
Although there was no lighting, Lin Ye’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Borrowing the dim yellow light of the streetlamp outside the window, he still saw clearly what that thing was.
It was a cockroach the size of a pigeon.
If possible, he truly did not want to kill this thing!
But there were less than ten minutes left until the final deadline at twelve o’clock.
He had no choice.
...
A little over ten minutes later.
Lin Ye’s face was pale as he pinched his nose and once again climbed over the wall out of the garbage processing plant.
He had also completed the final quest just before the time limit.
[Ding! Daily Quest: Evil Deeds Come Easy, completed!]
[You have obtained 0.5 Strength, 0.5 Agility, and 100 Experience!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[You have obtained 1 free attribute point. All your attribute values have increased!]
[You have obtained 1 skill point!]
[Ding! New Skill: Thick Hide, unlocked!]
The continuous stream of system notifications was the best reward for his frantic efforts tonight!
An unprecedented feeling of power surged up from his limbs and bones.
He slowly raised his hand and clenched his fist.
His knuckles let out a series of crisp cracks, and a sense of explosive strength filled his muscles.
He could feel that compared to two hours ago, he was already a completely different person!