Chapter 14: Blessings in Disguise

The fishman gasped for breath, staring at the figure floating before it. After three minutes of relentless assault, its opponent remained utterly unscathed. This stirred a deep irritation within the fishman, and it resolved to bite through the figure’s neck next time. Just as it entertained this thought—

A loud thud sounded as a baseball bat swung fiercely from the left, striking its head with force.

The fishman cried out in pain, turning to face the woman wielding the weapon behind it.

Though Xue Feifei was terrified of the monster that had suddenly burst into the house, she couldn’t bear to watch Kong Zhe be attacked again and again. He had, after all, saved her life; she couldn’t simply stand by and watch him be killed.

She struck with all her strength, though as a frail woman, there was only so much force she could muster. Even bullets couldn’t pierce the fishman’s scales, and her blow did almost nothing to harm it—though it was more than enough to enrage the creature.

The fishman glared furiously at the woman who dared strike it, screeching as it lunged at her, jaws wide to kill her on the spot.

Xue Feifei screamed, but it was too late to evade. Staring into the gaping maw inches from her, she closed her eyes in despair.

But then, another loud crash echoed as the fishman was suddenly kicked aside by a flying side-kick. It slammed into the wall, raising a cloud of dust; the whole room shuddered.

After a moment, Xue Feifei realized the expected attack hadn’t come. She opened her eyes in confusion and saw the fishman was gone.

In its place, Kong Zhe slowly rose to his feet, the golden light around him now gone. Just moments ago, his awakening had finally completed.

Feeling the power coursing through his body, Kong Zhe was elated. His physical abilities now surpassed an ordinary person’s by about fivefold.

Though the awakening had been tumultuous, the fishman’s attacks had actually helped him absorb the golden light more fully, resulting in attributes far beyond what he had expected.

But Kong Zhe had no intention of letting the fishman off so easily.

He watched as the fishman struggled to its feet nearby, flexing his knuckles until they cracked and letting a devilish smile curl his lips. Hadn’t it enjoyed beating him just moments ago?

Now, it was his turn.

At that moment, a series of prompts echoed in Kong Zhe’s mind.

“Ding—Awakening successful. Current attributes: Strength 12…”

“Ding—Awakening detected. Please select a profession promptly…”

“Ding—Please allocate skill points promptly…”

He had no time to review the awakening notifications. Like a leopard, Kong Zhe lunged forward, swinging a fist that crashed into the fishman’s face.

He struck with all his might. With five times the strength, the fishman’s face was instantly deformed—blood and shattered teeth splattered everywhere.

Before the creature could even howl in pain, Kong Zhe’s fists rained down like a storm, pummeling its face, chest, and abdomen—deliberately targeting areas unprotected by scales. The fishman had no chance to resist, howling helplessly as it was battered.

A small fruit knife lay on the table nearby, but Kong Zhe ignored it, choosing instead to keep pounding the fishman with his fists. He had no intention of letting it die so easily.

Several minutes later, Kong Zhe finally stopped, his hands and body drenched in blood—his own and the fishman’s indistinguishable. The fishman had been dead for some time, its corpse the most gruesome ever seen—a historic first, killed by bare hands.

Xue Feifei breathed a sigh of relief seeing the fishman was truly dead. Then, noticing Kong Zhe covered in blood, she rushed to his side, her face anxious. “Are you… are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Kong Zhe smiled at her. No matter what had happened between them before, her willingness to attack the fishman for his sake had won him over.

He waved his hand. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. This is all the fishman’s blood.”

After venting his fury, Kong Zhe calmed down. He hurried to the door, sealing it tightly to prevent more monsters from entering.

Then he sank back onto the sofa to assess his gains.

With a thought, a personal status panel appeared before his eyes.

Name: Kong Zhe

Level: 1

Experience: 15/100

Strength: 11 (Each point of strength increases health by 20.)

Agility: 10 (Affects dodge and hit rates.)

Intelligence: 18 (Each point of intelligence increases magic by 10.)

Health: 220

Mana: 180

Attack: 18 (Attack equals the highest of the three attributes.)

Remaining skill points: 1 (Each level grants a skill point. Skill points can be used to learn new skills or enhance existing ones…)

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