Chapter 4

The sound of thudding continued to come from outside, where the lizardmen were relentlessly pounding on the security door. Jiang Feng sat against the door, drenched in blood. His consciousness began to blur, clearly due to his severe injuries, and he was about to die.

"Really can't go head-to-head. Without any enhancement, I'm no match at all," Jiang Feng muttered to himself. His only remaining functional right hand reached into his waist pouch and retrieved the zero-rank black iron essence crystal he had obtained earlier.

After consuming the essence crystal, Jiang Feng's hand fell, and his eyes closed. However, the wounds on his body began to heal rapidly, and the large amount of blood he had lost reappeared in his body.

Within a minute, Jiang Feng's eyes opened. His wounds had all scabbed over, and he looked as if he had never been injured. Moreover, his physical strength had increased significantly.

"Fortunately, I didn't eat it earlier; otherwise, I wouldn't have had the chance to heal," Jiang Feng said to himself. The sound of the lizardmen smashing the door continued to come from behind him.

Feeling the increased strength of his body, Jiang Feng thought that he had become about 0.4 times stronger. He believed that if not for the part used to heal his injuries, he would have become even stronger.

This was the benefit of the essence crystal. Not only could it strengthen the body, but it could also heal injuries. Knowing this, Jiang Feng had not consumed it earlier. Otherwise, in his previous condition, he would not have been able to extract the essence crystals from the two lizardmen. At that time, he would have been doomed.

"I must quickly strengthen to the zero-rank black iron level to better deal with the lizardmen," Jiang Feng said as he retrieved the essence crystals from the two lizardmen.

When a human's body is strengthened to five times its original constitution, a substance similar to an essence crystal is produced. However, this substance is not called an essence crystal; humans refer to it as a core crystal.

This core crystal can provide humans with essence energy, allowing them to better utilize their strength. It is similar to an essence crystal. However, after a human dies, the core crystal gradually disappears. Even if it is extracted before it disappears, it cannot be consumed. As for why, no one in the future that Jiang Feng saw could explain it.

After retrieving the two essence crystals, Jiang Feng kept one as a backup and consumed the other. This time, his body was strengthened by about 0.6 times. Combined with the previous essence crystal, Jiang Feng's body had been strengthened to one times its original level.

Although Jiang Feng had seen the future as if he had personally experienced it, he was still incredibly excited when he felt his enhanced body. This made him even more eager to obtain more essence crystals.

"To strengthen to five times my original constitution, I need at least eight more essence crystals. I need to find a way to deal with the lizardmen outside first," Jiang Feng said to himself.

Looking through the peephole, Jiang Feng discovered that there were four lizardmen outside. This number was definitely not something the current Jiang Feng could handle. He needed to find a way to defeat them one by one.

The house was already in a mess, making it difficult to find useful items. Before Jiang Feng could come up with a plan, he noticed that the security door was violently shaking and showed signs of being broken open. Jiang Feng immediately panicked.

The security door of this family had some issues to begin with. When Jiang Feng closed it, it could not be fully locked. Under the fierce impact of the four lizardmen, the lock on the security door could no longer hold.

The strength of one lizardman was equivalent to that of five ordinary humans. Although the four lizardmen could not hit the security door simultaneously, the door, which already had problems, could not withstand the impact.

Before a plan could be formulated, the door was broken open. Fortunately, the security chain was still in place, providing some resistance. Jiang Feng quickly rushed forward. As the security chain broke and the lizardmen rushed in, he swung the ice axe, striking the head of the leading lizardman.

The ice axe accurately pierced the lizardman's head. Without waiting to pull it out, Jiang Feng used his left leg to hold the half-open door while swinging the ice axe in his other hand at the other lizardmen.

The half-open door and the lizardman who had been struck by the ice axe but had not yet fallen helped Jiang Feng gain some time, allowing him to pierce the head of another lizardman with the ice axe.

The door was then completely broken open, and Jiang Feng was thrown out. The ice axe, which had pierced the lizardman's head, was pulled out due to the wrist strap.

As he fell to the ground, two lizardmen had already rushed over. One of them pounced directly on Jiang Feng. Jiang Feng could only use the ice axe to block. Fortunately, the ice axe, which was 50 centimeters long, helped him hold off the pouncing lizardman, preventing it from landing directly on him. However, Jiang Feng's arms were scratched by the lizardman.

Rolling to the side to avoid the lizardman on top of him, Jiang Feng, without standing up, swung the ice axe to sweep the legs of the other lizardman. With a full-force attack, the lizardman lost its balance and fell to the side. Jiang Feng quickly stood up.

The lizardman that had pounced on Jiang Feng, after landing, used its limbs to push off the ground and pounced again at the just-standing-up Jiang Feng. Jiang Feng used all his strength to strike the head of the pouncing lizardman with the back of the ice axe hammer, sending the lizardman flying to the side.

At this moment, the lizardman that Jiang Feng had struck in the leg had already stood up and was reaching for Jiang Feng with both hands. Jiang Feng aimed at the lizardman's lower body and kicked hard. As the lizardman bent over with two wounds on its thighs, Jiang Feng's ice axe pierced through the back of its head.

With a strong pull, Jiang Feng removed the ice axe and, dragging his injured leg, rushed to the side of the lizardman that had been knocked to the side. This lizardman had some blood on its head but was not fatally wounded. After rushing over, Jiang Feng used one ice axe to block the lizardman's claws and the other to strike its head.

The ice axe in his left hand almost hit his own face, but the ice axe in his right hand finally pierced the lizardman's head. Jiang Feng and the lizardman slowly fell to the ground at the same time.

With more injuries on his body, Jiang Feng quickly stood up. He took out the remaining essence crystal and consumed it while dragging his injured leg towards the door. After closing and securing the broken door with a sofa, Jiang Feng retrieved the essence crystals from the lizardmen's bodies.

"Damn, the weak fear the strong, the strong fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who are willing to die. If I had the slightest hesitation, I would have lost my life here," Jiang Feng muttered to himself as he retrieved the essence crystals.

As Jiang Feng said, if he had the slightest hesitation, he would have been dead. He would not have been able to kill these lizardmen. Of course, the foresight of the future had also greatly helped Jiang Feng. Without that experience, he would not have had the knowledge to deal with the lizardmen.

After retrieving the essence crystals, Jiang Feng swallowed one. As his body was being strengthened, he walked towards the door. Seeing no one in the hallway, he left the room and returned to Huang Xiaoyue's door.

"Huang Xiaoyue, open the door. It's me, Jiang Feng," Jiang Feng gently knocked on the door and spoke in a low voice, while still looking back at the hallway.

The door quickly opened. Jiang Feng immediately rushed in and locked the door. Huang Xiaoyue, standing in front of him, held a frying pan and looked at the blood-covered Jiang Feng in shock.

Without entering the room, Jiang Feng sat down against the door. Without looking up at Huang Xiaoyue, he said, "Don't be afraid, I won't die. It's just a bit of blood."

As he spoke, Jiang Feng took out another essence crystal and consumed it. He still had three essence crystals left, which he did not plan to consume. He wanted to keep them as a backup.

"In this state, you're still fine? I'll find something to bandage you up," Huang Xiaoyue said as she ran to the bedroom to find something.

She found some bandages and alcohol to bandage Jiang Feng's wounds. However, when she lifted the torn clothes, she saw that Jiang Feng's wounds had already scabbed over. Some of the torn areas did not even show any scabs.

"This thing I found on the lizardmen, take it. I discovered that this crystal-like substance can not only strengthen the body but also heal injuries. Don't use this one in a hurry; save it for when you're injured. But you must understand, this is a new thing, and it's uncertain whether it has side effects. Although I was fine after consuming it, I can't guarantee you will be. You might not strengthen your body and instead die," Jiang Feng said as he handed Huang Xiaoyue an essence crystal.

When Huang Xiaoyue took the essence crystal, which looked like it had a flame on the surface, she was afraid it would burn her. However, it had no temperature. Looking at the essence crystal in her hand and the scabbed wounds on Jiang Feng's body, Huang Xiaoyue found it hard to believe what she was seeing.

Jiang Feng's words were not meant to scare Huang Xiaoyue. The essence crystal could indeed strengthen the body, but not everyone's body. If the body had defects, the essence crystal would slowly repair them before strengthening. If the defects were too severe, a low-rank essence crystal might not be able to repair them. Using a high-rank one could cause the body to be unable to withstand the changes, leading to death.

Even if the body was in good condition with no defects, not everyone could be smoothly strengthened. Some people, even with a large amount of essence crystals, would strengthen very slowly. Others could strengthen to the zero-rank black iron level through their own training without using essence crystals. This was something no one in the future that Jiang Feng saw could explain. There were also a few people who, after using zero-rank essence crystals, did not strengthen but died. Jiang Feng did not know Huang Xiaoyue's condition, so he could only warn her.