Facing the Abyss as a Demon Cultivator

Humans aren't built for fighting in the dark.

Tonight, however, the bright moonlight somewhat offset this disadvantage.

The people in the stronghold were oblivious that the wandering Black-Furred Ghouls were no longer a threat to their lives, but resources to be fought over!

Chu Xiu needed to act fast, to devour this piece of fattened meat before everyone's strength reached a threshold that would spur them to take risks.

Withdrawing his gaze, Chu Xiu stood up and walked towards the "safe house" where everyone was gathered. He knocked on the door.

"Guan Ke," he said, looking at the girl with a scar on her face, "Got a minute to talk?"

Under the curious gazes of the others, Guan Ke stood up and frowned. "What's up?"

Chu Xiu gestured for her to speak outside.

"Tsk," Guan Ke stepped out, "What is it? Why so secretive?"

By now, the sky had completely darkened, and the sounds of growls could be heard echoing from downstairs.

Chu Xiu led Guan Ke to the end of the corridor and lowered his voice. "Your puppets are always stationed downstairs for surveillance, right? I wanted to ask about the situation with the ghouls at night."

"Why? Don't tell me you're planning to hunt them at night?" Guan Ke said, astonished.

Chu Xiu took out 5 Karma points and handed them over. "That's none of your concern."

"Tsk," Guan Ke glanced at Chu Xiu, seemingly displeased with his way of doing things.

Nevertheless, she accepted the Karma points and said, "Their numbers increase significantly at night, about three times that of daytime. Their perception and physical abilities are also enhanced. I advise you to drop this ridiculous idea."

"Can you be more specific? Have you observed them hunting?" Chu Xiu pressed further.

Seeing his persistence, Guan Ke clicked her tongue. "Of course I have. At night, this city turns into a giant hunting ground. Remember the deer that Shen Zhuo and the others brought back today?"

"What about it?"

"If you look into the distance in the middle of the night, with any luck, you'll see herds of deer, as if drawn by something, running frantically towards the city center."

"I have this strange feeling that this city is like a living creature, constantly devouring nearby life to sustain itself."

Guan Ke's words surprised Chu Xiu. So that was it. It was no wonder that food was so scarce here, yet it could support so many ghouls.

He recalled the description in the Bone Necklace. At the center of this city, there was likely some startling secret hidden.

However, these were not things he needed to consider right now.

"Since you've seen the deer being hunted, how much do the ghouls' abilities actually increase at night? Can you give me a quantitative figure? Have you seen any higher-ranked creatures?" Chu Xiu asked a series of questions.

"Tsk, what do you think I am, a human surveillance camera?" Guan Ke glared at him, annoyed. "I can only tell you that at night, those beasts go berserk, as if they've been injected with stimulants. Their strength increases by at least thirty percent!"

"As for higher-ranked creatures, I haven't seen any, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. After all, I only have four surveillance puppets, and their monitoring range is limited."

"But even ordinary ghouls are impossible to deal with alone. Imagine five, or even ten of those powerful creatures pouncing on you at the same time. Do you think your armor can protect you then?"

Faced with Guan Ke's dissuasion, Chu Xiu didn't answer. Instead, he began to think rapidly.

"If it's just an increase in their movement speed, I can handle it! Thirty percent isn't outrageous!"

"There should be about fifteen Black-Furred Ghouls in this apartment building during the day, maybe twenty at most! Three times that would be sixty, which averages out to about two per floor!"

"Considering we've killed quite a few these past few days, that number should be even lower, and the ghouls should be more concentrated on the lower floors."

"At this rate... as long as I'm well prepared, it's doable!"

"But only if what Guan Ke said is true!"

With that thought, Chu Xiu looked at Guan Ke's face thoughtfully. Beside her hideous scar was a pair of beautiful, amber eyes, like a cat's.

"Tsk, anything else? I'm leaving if not."

Perhaps a little uncomfortable being stared at by Chu Xiu, Guan Ke spoke. Seeing no response from him, she clicked her tongue again and turned to leave.

Chu Xiu didn't speak, but watched her retreating figure with a strange expression, his gaze lingering on the panel that appeared beside her.

[Name] Guan Ke

[Tier] Mortal Tier 3 (466/600)

[Constitution] 4.37

[Spirit] 3.98

[Energy Level] 21.99

[Equipment] Close-fitting Clothes (Common), Self-made Folding Short Blade (Common)

[Skills] ???, ???, ???

[Profession] Mechanic (A)

[Talent] ??? (S)

To ensure the accuracy of Guan Ke's information, he had activated his Ghostly Eyes during their conversation to capture her micro-expressions.

Who would have thought he would make an unexpected discovery?

"This girl has quietly reached Mortal Tier 3? Her experience points are even higher than Shen Zhuo's!"

"Moreover, she has an energy level of 21.99 at Mortal Tier 3!"

This meant that her initial energy level was extremely high!

"Even her Constitution and Spirit are not low!"

Looking further down, her skills were all question marks! And her profession was...

Mechanic (A)?

Wait, what happened to Puppeteer (D)?

Even more terrifying was her S-rank talent, which even his Ghostly Eyes couldn't identify!

Chu Xiu thought of the extra kill marks he had found in the apartment building before.

"So it was you."

The corner of Chu Xiu's mouth twitched.

He hadn't expected that besides himself, there was another hidden expert in this small stronghold.

He decided to scan everyone in the stronghold with his Ghostly Eyes when he had the chance.

"But right now, upgrading is the priority."

As Chu Xiu pondered his plans, he walked towards the room where the ghoul corpses were stored.

The stench of rotting flesh still permeated the air.

He reached out and pulled open a cabinet door. A massive Black-Furred Ghoul corpse tumbled out.

He opened two more cabinets, and two more ordinary ghoul corpses appeared.

Shen Zhuo had severely underestimated the horror of Chu Xiu's talent.

As a result, even after fulfilling the refining requirements, Chu Xiu still had two corpses left over.

He then handed over the Bone Cleaving Saber he had obtained from killing ghouls as his own creation, thus pocketing another Black-Furred Ghoul corpse.

This particular Black-Furred Ghoul was carefully selected by Chu Xiu. Out of the twelve corpses, it was the most well-preserved and the freshest.

With a wave of his hand, the three corpses began to melt and fuse, ultimately merging into the Bone Blood Devouring Formation.

As the three corpses were completely refined, the eight formation flags simultaneously emitted an unsettling aura of Yin energy.

"Successfully upgraded the formation's level by +1."

"The radius has increased from five meters to seven meters, and the blood-draining and slowing effects have also been enhanced by twenty to thirty percent!"

Examining the attributes of the formation flags, Chu Xiu revealed a satisfied smile.

He stored the flags in his storage space and then climbed out of the broken window, lightly gripping the outer wall.

The exterior of the apartment building had quite a few protruding edges. When he first entered this world, Chu Xiu had considered moving along the outside wall.

However, he had given up on the idea due to his weak physique at the time. Now, with his strength, flexibility, and reaction speed having undergone earth-shattering changes, accomplishing this was a piece of cake.

Like a nimble black cat, he descended along the outer wall, quickly reaching the twenty-first floor.

He did make some noise along the way, but because he moved so quickly, he left the source of the sound immediately and luckily wasn't discovered.

Upon reaching the twenty-first floor, he swiftly opened a door and went straight to another room about ten meters away. Once inside, he waved his hand, and the Bone Blood Devouring Formation was deployed!

This was the optimal hunting location that Chu Xiu had chosen.

The last three chapters have been setup chapters, which I personally think are necessary, but it might not be very friendly to readers who are reading along, so if there are more setup chapters in the future, I will update three chapters a day. Please continue to support me! Thank you!

(End of Chapter)