He hit me right on the, uh, brain stem

The giant eagle let out a piercing shriek.

Su Ze's lips curled into a sinister smile as he gripped the sword handle with both hands and slashed horizontally!

With a squelching sound!

A massive sword wound instantly cut across from the eagle's neck through its spine to its rear, blood over a meter high spurting from the wound that stretched dozens of meters along its body!

Under the setting sun, a rain of blood showered down!

Su Ze's commotion attracted numerous monsters.

These Firefly Realm monsters couldn't fly, but they piled on top of each other like a small mountain, climbing one on top of another toward Su Ze's position in the air.

Su Ze jumped off the giant eagle's back, his left hand reaching behind him as a straight sword flew out of its scabbard, its handle landing in his grip.

Raising both swords, he slashed a massive cross-shaped blade of energy wreathed in flames at the pile of monsters!

Vertical!

An incredibly deep, thunderous explosion.

Accompanied by the miserable wails and screams of countless monsters, a massive sword mark dozens of meters long appeared on the ground, charred black within the cut.

The monsters rolled on the ground, burning with blue-green flames.

The fierce battle continued for three hours. Su Ze dashed and slaughtered across the plain, countless monsters came and fled, some running away as soon as they saw him approach, without a moment's hesitation.

In the past, Su Ze was always chased by monsters, fighting while retreating. But now, the tables had turned - after obtaining his law, he was the one chasing and hunting the monsters.

It was easy to imagine how tempting laws were to those powerful beings seeking to increase their strength.

Su Ze arrived at a cliff. By now the sky seemed covered by a black curtain, with stars dotted like jewels embedded in the darkness.

His body was covered in wounds. Though numerous, only the savage claw mark across his chest counted as serious - the other injuries would heal after half a day's rest.

Su Ze looked at the empty plain before him. After two hours of fighting, he was basically chasing after the monsters.

The group of monsters fled like mad when they saw him. The slow ones were cut to pieces by Su Ze or trampled into meat paste - his methods were extremely brutal.

Except for the giant eagle in the sky, still glaring fiercely, he could no longer find worthy opponents here.

"Looks like this place isn't suitable for breaking through," Su Ze sighed helplessly.

Breaking through between life and death.

He couldn't even experience enough pressure here, how could he break through?

He'd have to go deeper.

Su Ze pointed at the giant eagle with a wicked smile, "Not bad, I'll come play with you again next time."

After speaking he turned to leave. The giant eagle's gaze remained sharp but made no move to stop him.

The reason Su Ze kept coming here was to tame this giant eagle.

After hundreds of fierce battles, he discovered this eagle was incredibly tough and powerful.

If monsters could be beaten into submission, there was no reason they couldn't be trained.

Of course, there were precedents for this.

Indeed, a very small number of people had managed to tame mysterious beings in the Land of the Living Dead.

Su Ze felt that his failure to tame the eagle was due to insufficient strength - he hadn't been able to truly subdue it.

He'd have to wait until he reached the Lamp Realm to try again.

Su Ze continued deeper into the heart of the Land of the Living Dead.

The deeper he went, the stronger the monsters became.

Su Ze had never encountered the monsters in the depths before, and they didn't know him either.

Everything would start from zero.

Breaking through at the peak of any realm was never easy - some people remained stuck at the peak of the Firefly Realm their entire lives without breaking through.

When one's strength reaches the peak of their current realm, it's like a sealed bottle filled with water - the next step is to break through the cork, what people commonly call a bottleneck.

You need to unleash the potential you've accumulated in your current realm to break through this bottleneck.

As for how to unleash this potential, there are many methods.

The most effective method is breaking through between life and death, forcing out your potential in extreme circumstances.

Of course, this isn't suitable for everyone.

After all, not everyone has the ability to survive between life and death.

Moreover, this method isn't guaranteed - you won't necessarily break through just because you're between life and death.

If things go wrong, you might just end up dead.

Then your wife and child would have to be cared for by your brothers.

Su Ze walked along the ravine for over an hour. When a monster's roar echoed through the valley bottom, he stopped in his tracks.

Early Lamp Realm?

Su Ze remained silent for a moment, then suddenly sprinted and leaped down into the ravine!

During the blood moon, that crafty ghost was also early Lamp Realm. If dawn hadn't come forcing it to flee, Su Ze might not have been able to kill it.

And now, this Lamp Realm monster - Su Ze could tell from his earlier silence - had an aura slightly stronger than the crafty ghost.

This would be a true life-or-death battle. If he didn't break through, he would die!

As Su Ze jumped down, the ravine instantly erupted in flames! The earth shook and mountains trembled.

Monster howls echoed through the ravine.

...

Dust City, Seventh District.

"Akizuki, Akizuki! Quick, quick... ah!" Uesugi Chigenki looked at her dead character and put down the controller helplessly.

"Why did you stop moving?"

The elder sister asked her suddenly worried-looking younger sister.

"It hurts here." Uesugi Akizuki pointed to where her heart was.

She had inexplicably felt her little heart tighten just now.

"Let me rub it for you." Uesugi Chigenki reached out and rubbed.

So soft...

"Does it still hurt?"

Uesugi Akizuki shook her head, "It's better now."

Uesugi Chigenki savored the feeling as she withdrew her hand, "Are you hungry? I'll go make food."

Uesugi Akizuki nodded.

Uesugi Chigenki stood up and walked to the kitchen.

She had been ordered by their mother to stay here and watch over her sister until Su Ze returned, and only after personally delivering the letter to him could she go home.

Though it was an order, she quite liked it here.

Su Ze's villa was truly grand and luxurious.

It had everything one could want.

After making dinner, Uesugi Chigenki watched her sister playing games while eating, "Do you want to take a bath?"

The little silly shook her head.

"Then I'll go take one first."

The little silly nodded.

"Can I wear your clothes? I didn't bring any with me."

The little silly nodded.

...

Land of the Living Dead.

Morning sun.

Su Ze climbed out of the ravine, his body covered in wounds, his left arm completely gone leaving only an empty tattered sleeve, his chest slashed open by claws with internal organs faintly visible.

Though in terrible shape, his eyes were cold and fierce like a beast's, his body faintly emanating the aura of the early Lamp Realm.

That's right, he had broken through!

Suddenly a roar pressed forward from the ravine behind him.

Su Ze swiftly drew his sword from the scabbard on his back and turned around.

A hideous giant hand thunderously slapped against the ravine wall, followed by an enormous ugly head three or four meters large poking out.

Like an alligator hiding in water, poking its eyes out to hunt for information in all directions.

Su Ze frowned, gripping his sword with his remaining arm and pointing the tip at that head, "Still not convinced? Want another round?"

"I'll give you a handicap of one arm."

The huge monster seemed to understand, its giant face seemingly covered in writhing worms as it twisted.

What nonsense? You only have one arm left anyway!

How dare you talk about giving a handicap of one arm?

Have you no shame?

Since last night, when I was just eating my meal, this human descended from the sky and immediately slashed at my... well... head!

It completely stunned the monster!

Do you have some grudge?

I was just eating, what did I do to provoke you? Coming at me with a sword right away.

How despicable!

Do you know how much psychological damage a single slash does to a twenty-something, newly adult mysterious being?

Su Ze relied on his law to fight it for over ten hours while still at the peak of the Firefly Realm.

Now though Su Ze was crippled, it understood the principle that even a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

Not to mention, the opponent had already broken through.

His abilities had transformed, becoming incredibly strange, and he could better utilize the power of his law.

"You were a worthy opponent."

"When we Chinese have time to clean up the Land of the Living Dead someday, I'll definitely come back to challenge you again."

Su Ze smiled wickedly as he slowly backed away.

Turning around, he took one step and appeared a thousand meters away, then took another step and vanished without a trace.

Su Ze sat on a rock, felt his pocket and pulled out a crushed cigarette pack, frowned, and threw it on the ground.

His tongue licked his dry lips, feeling his throat cracked like drought-stricken earth, every swallow causing pain.

He needed water.

But he didn't immediately move to find water.

He stared dryly at the sky for two hours, lost in thought about who knows what, confused and uncertain about what he was doing or should be doing.

Perhaps due to the severity of his injuries, he was dazed from the beating, his head spinning and ears ringing incessantly.

After an uncertain amount of time, he stood up, carelessly wiped the blood from his face with his arm, and gave his cheeks a few pats to regain clarity. Then, with a single step forward, his figure vanished without a trace.