Chapter 8

After listening intently for a while, Jiang Feng didn't hear any movement from the second floor. He quickly crouched down and retrieved the essence crystals from the elite lizardman's body. At the same time, he instructed Zhang Haitao on how to retrieve the essence crystals.

By the time Jiang Feng had retrieved two essence crystals, Zhang Haitao had also retrieved one. The two of them hurriedly rushed to the other bodies, retrieving all the essence crystals, and then quickly headed upstairs.

The two returned to the third floor and entered a room with the door open and less blood inside. After closing the door and blocking it with a sofa, Jiang Feng went to the bedroom. Before entering, he gave Zhang Haitao a few words of advice.

After closing the bedroom door and moving the bed to block it, Jiang Feng counted the essence crystals in his hand. He then consumed two Black Iron Rank 0 essence crystals. When his body strength reached 4.2 times, he consumed another two Black Iron Rank 0 essence crystals, boosting his body strength to five times. At this point, Jiang Feng took out the two Black Iron Rank 1 essence crystals and consumed them.

After the essence crystals were consumed, it only took about twenty seconds for Jiang Feng's body strength to reach its limit. The essence crystals continued to release energy, further enhancing his body. At this moment, Jiang Feng's body began to strengthen towards Black Iron Rank 0. The gases that Jiang Feng had absorbed into his body at the moment of the apocalypse also began to show their effects.

His body trembled slightly, and his forehead was drenched in sweat. Jiang Feng gritted his teeth and endured. He knew that with his body already strengthened to five times and with two Black Iron Rank 1 essence crystals, he would definitely be able to reach Black Iron Rank 0. What he needed to do now was to stay as conscious as possible, as this would ensure a better enhancement.

In the living room, Zhang Haitao also consumed two essence crystals. While healing his leg wound, he was also enhancing his body.

In his hand, he still had three more essence crystals. Zhang Haitao didn't rush to consume them but carefully stored them. While waiting for Jiang Feng, Zhang Haitao kept touching a card-sized card in his hand.

This card was similar to the one Jiang Feng had obtained from the elite lizardman, but it was thicker and had edges like the pages of a book, making it look like a thin booklet. However, the card was completely black with no patterns, completely different from the one Jiang Feng had obtained.

After about fifteen minutes, the bedroom door opened, and Jiang Feng emerged, looking refreshed. Zhang Haitao could tell at first glance that Jiang Feng had changed.

"How was it? Did the enhancement go smoothly?" Zhang Haitao asked.

Jiang Feng nodded and said, "It went pretty smoothly. When I was trying to reach six times body strength, it felt like hitting a wall. Fortunately, I had more essence crystals, so I managed to get through. After that, it felt like I reached a new level. I feel like there's a new gas inside me. Now, I've enhanced to eight times body strength. I have to thank you. Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to kill that elite lizardman. And thank you for letting me have the elite lizardman's essence crystals."

"That's nothing. Without you, I would have been dead long ago. If you can use it now, take it. There will be more in the future," Zhang Haitao said nonchalantly.

Jiang Feng smiled slightly, feeling that Zhang Haitao was easy to get along with. When Jiang Feng took the Black Iron Rank 1 essence crystals, he didn't even mention it to Zhang Haitao, but Zhang Haitao didn't ask. This left a good impression on Jiang Feng.

"By the way, take a look at this. I didn't have time to tell you earlier because you were in a hurry," Zhang Haitao said, holding up the card.

Seeing the card in Zhang Haitao's hand, Jiang Feng was taken aback and quickly asked, "Where did you get this?"

"It appeared when I was retrieving the essence crystals. You didn't notice it at the time," Zhang Haitao said.

Taking the card and examining it, Jiang Feng said, "You're really lucky. To get something like this from an ordinary lizardman is quite rare. I studied the card I got earlier and found that it can turn into a pair of shoes. I didn't know how to use it at first, but before I came out, I discovered that I could use the shoes with the gas inside me. I think yours should be the same."

"But it's completely black, and there's nothing on it. Maybe the contents are gone," Zhang Haitao said. He didn't know that Jiang Feng had already identified the card but didn't want to raise suspicion.

Jiang Feng pretended to think for a moment and then said, "Since both the card and the essence crystals come from monsters, they might be related. Why don't we try using an essence crystal on it? Maybe it will react."

"Okay, let me try," Zhang Haitao said, taking the card and an essence crystal and pressing it against the card.

Jiang Feng quickly said, "I think this card, like the shoes, can only be used after reaching six times body strength. If the essence crystal doesn't work or one isn't enough, it would be a waste. Maybe it's better to save the essence crystals for enhancing yourself. We can wait on this."

"It's fine, I'll try once. If it doesn't work, I'll save it and try again when I reach six times body strength," Zhang Haitao said.

In fact, the card was a cultivation technique inheritance card, and it was unsealed. Before unsealing, you couldn't see what was inside. To unseal it, you just needed to use an essence crystal. However, this was a hit-or-miss process. Sometimes, even if the card looked high-level and required a lot of essence crystals, the technique inside might be basic and useless.

In the future that Jiang Feng had encountered, he had unsealed several useless items and had heard of many people spending a lot of money on cards that turned out to be useless.

Seeing Zhang Haitao's determination, Jiang Feng didn't say anything. The unsealing method was simple, just pressing the essence crystal on the card. Jiang Feng pretended to be curious and studied the unsealing process with Zhang Haitao.

After the essence crystal was absorbed by the card, a red light flashed on it. Then, a small booklet appeared in the center of the card, and a line of text appeared below it.

"Black Iron Rank 2 cultivation technique: Triple Slash. It can slash three times in an instant. Could this be a skill book or a martial arts secret manual? If so, your luck is really good," Jiang Feng said, pretending to be surprised.

Zhang Haitao scratched his head and chuckled, saying, "Just lucky. I don't think I can use it yet. Maybe you should use it."

"No, no, no. This is something you obtained and unsealed, so it should be yours. Use it when you can," Jiang Feng quickly said.

Although the Triple Slash technique would be very useful to Jiang Feng, he wasn't greedy. He believed he would obtain more and better techniques in the future. Cultivation techniques were shortcuts for using essence energy. Even without techniques, some people could create their own through trial and error. If you were capable, you could even create your own technique cards.

After a few more polite exchanges, Zhang Haitao carefully stored the cultivation technique inheritance card and then asked Jiang Feng what to do next.

"Let's go downstairs and clear out the monsters. Then we'll close the door. After that, we'll clear the lizardmen upstairs. Once all the lizardmen in the building are cleared, we'll be temporarily safe," Jiang Feng said.

"Okay, I'll follow your lead. Whatever you say, we'll do," Zhang Haitao said.

The two left the room and didn't find any new lizardmen on the third floor. They headed to the second floor. After searching the second floor and finding no lizardmen, they went to the first floor.

The stairs were normal, and they quickly reached the first floor. The first floor had a small hall, not very large but much wider than the hallway. There were many mutilated bodies lying in the hall, apparently people who had tried to escape from the building.

The door was open, and not far from it, two lizardmen were feasting on the bodies. In the small hall, three lizardmen were also feasting on the bodies, their backs to Jiang Feng.

Signaling Zhang Haitao to stay still, Jiang Feng took two steps forward. After getting into position and holding the ice picks in front of him, the three lizardmen slowly turned their heads.

"Arm!"

As Jiang Feng shouted, a red light flashed over his body. A pair of black metal shoes appeared at his feet, and he charged forward, aiming the ice picks at one of the lizardmen.

With one swing, the ice pick easily pierced the previously impenetrable scales. The ice pick glowed with a faint red light. Before he could pull the ice pick out of the lizardman's shoulder, Jiang Feng's left ice pick swept across the lizardman's neck, decapitating it in one stroke.

In Zhang Haitao's disbelieving gaze, Jiang Feng effortlessly dispatched the three lizardmen with his ice picks. He then stood there, waiting for the two lizardmen outside the door to charge in. As soon as they approached, Jiang Feng easily cut off their heads. At this moment, several more lizardmen ran in from outside, but Jiang Feng had no intention of closing the door, clearly intending to let them in.