Infinite Hunter

Just as Cheng Yijiu was about to swing his sword to kill him, the man transformed. With a strange laugh, the young man transformed into a slender ghost. He stood as tall as a tree—at least seven or eight meters tall—but also as thin as a tree. His body was thick from top to bottom, and his arms and legs were long and thin, like spider legs. Of course, his height was mainly due to his long legs.

There was no face on his head, only a mouth, a huge mouth that stretched across his entire face and was filled with fangs. Although faceless, he seemed to still have vision and hearing, though it was unknown what organs he used for hearing and seeing. The monster's limbs were slender, and its fingers and toes were also slender, but they had sharp claws. Crucially, the monster's movements were extremely fast. Cheng Yijiu dodged a grab, but the mercenary behind him had no time to dodge.

At first, it was nothing, but as he began to make "oh oh" sounds, thin lines of blood began to appear on his face, and blood flowed out of them, and then he was neatly cut into several pieces. The half-body armor on his body seemed to be useless. If Cheng Yijiu didn't have superhuman reflexes, he would probably be the one in the fragments. Cheng Yijiu noticed the abnormality on the cross-section, and a red light flashed on the cross-section of the steel half-body armor.

"High temperature? But there's no scorching of the body sections..." Cheng Yijiu muttered. The creature before him was undoubtedly an Apostle, and a speed-oriented monster, far more difficult to deal with than the Little Giant. This strange Apostle spread his arms, then extended another pair from his back, followed by another pair. The fingers on each of the six arms sprouted claws over thirty centimeters long.

The monster also had an extra pair of legs, two pointing forward and two backward, making it look like two people standing back to back. At this moment, four eyes, arranged in a cross, opened from its slender torso. Between the eyes, a pair of butterfly-shaped ears appeared. In short, this thing was incredibly bizarre. "What the hell is this?" Cheng Yijiu cursed before taking the initiative. The people behind him were definitely unreliable, especially since they were already limp on the ground, frightened and incontinent.

The human eye couldn't clearly see the monster's waving arms, but Cheng Yijiu's dynamic vision could see it... and his body could also relatively keep up with this speed - the swordsman's rich experience brought him the ability to "anticipate the enemy's moves"...

Chapter 13: Battle

This monster was renowned for its terrifying speed and agility, its arms, legs, and body long, seemingly devoid of joints. Its attacks came from multiple angles, shifting direction like a whip, making it a formidable foe. Its six arms, like six long whips, simultaneously struck from all angles, constantly shifting direction. Cheng Yijiu retreated continuously, and even though he was skilled in swordplay, he was now forced to engage in necessary blocking.

Because the distance was too great, and Cheng Yijiu wasn't used to this kind of fighting style at first, he had never dealt with a weapon as lethal as a whip. So while blocking, Cheng Yijiu was also trying to find an opening. Many of the men in the cart defense line behind had lost their will to fight. A few managed to climb over the carts and try to escape—they untied their horses, even if they were bareback, and simply jumped on them and ran.

As for the mercenaries, they had also fled, and not a single guard could come up to help. They were all useless. In fact, if they came up, Cheng Yijiu would actually be in trouble—they couldn't withstand the attack of the apostle before him, and would only become a distraction. So, forget it, forget about anything else, just focus on dealing with the apostle before him. Relying on his extraordinary dynamic vision, muscle strength, and reflexes, Cheng Yijiu hadn't capsized yet.

The lion skin and chain mail on his body also played a huge role. Those claws that were blocked by him but bent down could not penetrate the golden lion skin at all. The impact was also buffered by the lion skin and turned into a force that Cheng Yijiu could withstand - "The power and lethality that this monster exerts by relying on the acceleration of its swing are extraordinary." The trees that were implicated and disintegrated cleanly on the side can testify to this.

Trees thicker than a man were instantly chopped into splinters, the process so smooth that it didn't even slow the monster's claws down. Cheng Yijiu now had a newfound understanding of the toughness and sharpness of his alchemically crafted cold iron greatsword. He had been blocking attacks until now, and the blade hadn't been damaged or deformed. As for himself, although his numerous hunting missions didn't offer any obvious bonuses, the "enhancements" he'd received had already transcended the human realm.

"I almost understand." Cheng Yijiu was a swordsman, and one who had fought on the battlefield and killed people. He quickly discovered the "unchanging point" in the apostle's attack. "There are more than one, but I can only deal with one at the moment!" Cheng Yijiu immediately began to fight back. This strange apostle made a disgusting sound from the mouth on its white face. Some of the frightened people who had gradually recovered heard the sound while trying to escape, and their ears bled and they fell to the ground, unable to move.

Cheng Yijiu was unaffected, the lion's helmet covered his ears, and now the dawn was about to come...

A red light appeared on the horizon, the first rays of morning sunlight quickly dispelling the darkness. A refreshing light, warm as the sun, emanated from Cheng Yijiu's body. The hunter swung his sword directly at the incoming arm. Just as the claws were about to dig into him, the sword arced and slashed off a slender hand. The five claws continued to tremble, causing the severed hand to hop on the ground.

Then, Cheng Yijiu swung his greatsword repeatedly, still using his usual grappling style, but this time, he was confident. In the blink of an eye, five severed hands appeared on the ground, and the apostles, waving their arms, drew frantic lines of blood on the ground amidst screams. Cheng Yijiu then quickly approached, also swinging his greatsword. More severed arms appeared on the ground, and the monster's voice grew shriller.

The demon-breaking greatsword was indeed effective against this apostle, as Cheng Yijiu fully confirmed. The apostle's four legs retreated a little, and his movements stopped. His fang-filled mouth began to speak, and his four eyeballs swiveled around, staring at Cheng Yijiu. "You're truly... a warrior who astonishes me. Why don't you just let me kill you?" This thing no longer had any expression, at least Cheng Yijiu couldn't discern one.

But the madness and malice in the words were obvious. While the monster was muttering these words, its arm began to change - the arm that had been chopped into pieces began to regenerate... This time, bony structures appeared on the surface of its skin, and it began to turn into a chain with interlocking bones like a centipede, and where the palm was originally, it turned into three knives - with blades on both sides and arranged in three edges.

All the arms were changing, their bones hard as steel. Cheng Yijiu simply snorted and continued fighting. "It's just a bony shell. The basic combat method hasn't changed at all. The damage range is just larger—the bones in the arms are like blades, and a single glancing blow can injure. But it's all for nothing!" Indeed, the arm-waving pattern remained unchanged, making it a no-brainer for Cheng Yijiu to handle.

The greatsword flashed, cleaving a bony arm with a single strike. The steel-hard exoskeleton proved useless. "Your bones are brittle, rubbish," Cheng Yijiu scoffed. Against the Demon-Breaking Greatsword, the so-called iron bones were useless. Cheng Yijiu slashed at the thrusting arm, easily severing it from the front, piercing it several meters deep. The bony arm was even more fragile than the previous one. Though hardened, it was no match for the previously tough arm against the cold iron greatsword.

"Crisp." That was Cheng Yijiu's assessment of it. With a flurry of attacks, the six bony arms were crippled in the blink of an eye. Even on the monstrous apostle's splintered face, Cheng Yijiu seemed to see a look of astonishment. "Damn it! Damn it!" A furious voice rang out from that mouth, and a new arm appeared for the third time—this time a crisp skeleton arm, but the long arm had more than a dozen joints, and the last bony hand was holding a variety of weapons.

"Can you create steel weapons? Then why not just use steel to make arm bones?" Cheng Yijiu also thought it was stupid, but this time the bone arm did temporarily block Cheng Yijiu's sword. Although bone fragments flew everywhere, it was not directly cut off by the sword. This guy has learned his lesson. He no longer launched a crazy attack and actually engaged in sword fighting. However, this fighting style also made Cheng Yijiu laugh. Isn't this falling into his most skilled routine?

Even though this apostle has six arms, the number of attacks he can launch simultaneously is limited. Cheng Yijiu also has the lion skin, a magical artifact that the apostle's weapons cannot penetrate. This makes Cheng Yijiu know that he is invincible.

Chapter 14: Beheading

The apostle's wield wasn't an indestructible lightsaber; the "steel" it had spawned was merely ordinary iron, having already been reduced to jagged teeth by the collision with Cheng Yijiu's frigid iron sword. Cheng Yijiu had long known that the apostle's abilities were average, and his technique wasn't sufficient to launch a true multi-angle, multi-wave attack; he merely employed simple rotations.

So Cheng Yijiu swung the lion skin on his body and cut in forcefully like a lion. He held his breath, tensed his muscles, and used the lion skin and chain mail to block those insignificant attacks. At the same time, he swung his sword and cut off the first arm directly from the joint. "Disgusting multiple joints." He muttered, and took advantage of this gap to thrust forward quickly, and directly opened a big gash in the apostle's slender body with a sword that was half stabbed and half chopped.

The guy twisted his body like a noodle, but his flexible body reacted very quickly. He moved when Cheng Yijiu stabbed him, so he didn't accurately cut off his ear. Originally, Cheng Yijiu aimed at the middle of the apostle's ears, which were like the wings of a butterfly. Now he only cut off one of his eyes and made an L-shaped incision on him.

The monster's mouth let out a deafening howl. Cheng Yijiu twisted his wrist, widening the wound before pulling it out, launching a series of attacks amidst the apostle's howls. His target was the base of the arms—before he could determine the monster's fatal weakness, disabling its fighting power was the best option. Cheng Yijiu was bullying the apostle; his lion skin was an insurmountable barrier.

The lion's hide shone with golden light in the sunlight, its mane bursting and flying like a living lion. Even the lion's head and eyes, originally hollow and filled with glass eyeballs, suddenly became alive. Combined with the lion's upper jaw, it was like a giant lion roaring furiously. Cheng Yijiu's wielding cold iron sword was like a lion's fang, inflicting one incurable wound after another on the apostle.

He had already chopped off three of his arms, and the other three were also incomplete. Now the apostle had used his legs to fight Cheng Yijiu. The monster's legs had grown sharp blades and turned into springs, constantly shooting at Cheng Yijiu. However, Cheng Yijiu was already very clear about the apostle's background. He might be a bandit, a mercenary, or just anyone. His fighting skills were unconventional, relying entirely on his extraordinary speed.

Cheng Yijiu passed by the opponent, brushing against the opponent's bullet and getting close to the guy again. This time, Cheng Yijiu directly took out the shotgun. The double-barreled shotgun was improved. Only when Cheng Yijiu injected "spirit" and loaded it with special ammunition would it become a magic-breaking gun. And the one that Cheng Yijiu had stuffed in before was a magic-breaking bullet. Cheng Yijiu held the gun in his left hand and pulled the trigger at the guy's torso at extremely close range without hesitation.

Two shots were fired, and in the smoke, Cheng Yijiu holstered his gun again. He then used his greatsword in his right hand to block the mouth that bent down to bite. The sharp fangs bit the cold iron sword, but ultimately, it couldn't even leave a scratch. Then, the mouth opened its mouth and howled loudly, evidently having sustained significant damage from the shot. When the smoke cleared, a sizable hole appeared in the monster's torso, and its two eyes vanished without a trace.

The apostle originally possessed a formidable self-healing ability, but unfortunately, he encountered Cheng Yijiu. While his cold iron sword wouldn't permanently damage the wound, it could still prevent it from healing. The same thing happened with this bullet, which possessed the special power of amplifying the wound. The shot shattered the monster's will to fight, and it sprang to its feet, gathering strength to escape.

The monster's body, missing a piece, had slumped limply, its upper body slumped against the lower half, relying entirely on four legs to try to escape—but with such serious injuries, could it still escape? The apostle was still a "living being," after all. With only one eye left and a serious injury, its movements were shaky and it bounced into a tree. At this time, Cheng Yijiu calmly swung his sword, severing the apostle's spring-like calf at the knee.

As the monster lost its balance and fell, Cheng Yijiu, like a log feller, aimed at the gaping hole left by the bullet and slashed down again. He ignored the monster's panicked cries. The struggling legs disturbed Cheng Yijiu, so he leaped to the side of the monster's body. Without interruption, he swung his sword twice, severing the monster's torso in two strokes.

Cheng Yijiu took a few steps back, avoiding the monster's throbbing legs. He carefully observed the apostle, who was gradually becoming motionless, and emitting a black aura in the sunlight. These monsters were extremely tenacious, and Cheng Yijiu didn't think this one would die so easily. Sure enough, the monster was still struggling, but its body was gradually shrinking. This was an ugly man with a strange appearance. How did he become an apostle?

Cheng Yijiu had no intention of knowing this. He only saw a Behelet tumble down from the body after the man had reverted to his bisected form. "In that case, all I have to do is wait for the Overlord's Egg—maybe I can steal or even snatch Griffith's Overlord's Egg." Cheng Yijiu was even more determined to immediately go to the Eagle Group's location and seize the Overlord's Egg.

He wanted to pick up the stone, but the sound of horse hooves stopped him.

There was a pressure, a mental coercion. A powerful warrior was approaching and gazing at the Behelet, intent on stopping Cheng Yijiu from picking it up. "Who could this be?" Cheng Yijiu wondered. Who would stop him from obtaining the Behelet? The answer soon emerged—a knight slowly emerged from the woods, his entire body, including his horse, covered in skeletal plate armor, and his helmet was a complete skull shape.

Cheng Yijiu recognized this person; it was the Skeleton Knight, but he still didn't know why the Skeleton Knight wanted to stop him from taking Behelet. "Don't pick this up. It will only bring tragedy." The Skeleton Knight's words were calm, and he didn't draw his sword. Cheng Yijiu also put his sword back into the scabbard, "Why?"

Chapter 15 Mutation

The Skeleton Knight didn't answer, but he didn't move forward either. "I need this thing. It's the key to this situation, right?" Cheng Yijiu said pretentiously, picking up the Behelet. The Skeleton Knight sighed, "Behelet, the key to the underworld." Then, seemingly losing interest in the conversation, the black horse, clad in skeleton armor, turned, leaped up, and vanished into the air, carrying the Skeleton Knight with it.

"Space transfer?" Cheng Yijiu also muttered. He didn't have such a skill and was quite envious. Cheng Yijiu pinched the Behelet in his hand. It was a little soft to the touch, and it didn't seem to feel like stone. But this might be an illusion, because if you really rub it with your fingernails, you will find that it is actually very hard. It's probably an illusion created by the smooth surface.

This thing really does look quite abstract, with all the facial features jumbled up on an egg-sized stone. At first glance, it can actually lower your sanity. Cheng Yijiu placed the Behelet in his small leather pouch, which was hanging on the inside of his chain mail. Because this thing is a gift from fate, it always falls into the hands of the right people. Cheng Yijiu didn't dare to say if he could keep it; it might disappear if he touched it one day.

The caravan suffered few casualties. When Cheng Yijiu was fighting the apostle, almost everyone fainted due to the apostle's roar, so they didn't see Cheng Yijiu killing the apostle or the skeleton knight. Cheng Yijiu also looked at them and saw that most of them were just unconscious, so he didn't pay much attention. After more than ten minutes, some people woke up one after another, and Cheng Yijiu pretended to have just woken up.

The caravan then packed up and fled overnight, leaving the dead bodies uncollected by the roadside. Cheng Yijiu, the mercenary who had killed the little giant, was offered a high price to become their exclusive bodyguard, but he declined. He simply accepted a bounty. While they encountered no more bizarre robbers, they encountered plenty of ordinary ones.

Years of war had already disrupted order in many places, and most crucially, people's hearts had become corrupted. Cheng Yijiu overheard every untrustworthy conversation among the mercenaries and caravan guards in the villages along the way, and he absolutely agreed with their views. He held the highest position among these people because he was a true fighter—his modest frame contained immense strength, coupled with his impressive equipment.

In the eyes of these mercenaries and guards, Cheng Yijiu is actually a hexagonal warrior. His strength, endurance, skills and speed are all top-notch, and he can definitely make a name for himself in this world.

As Cheng Yijiu got closer and closer to the Kingdom of Midalan, news of the Eagle Corps had already reached him. This was a relatively small mercenary group, made up of young, energetic people. Most importantly, they were said to be quite powerful, and their leader was an excellent commander.

Cheng Yijiu was wondering if he should join the Eagle Order. At that moment, he straightened up, drew his greatsword in the blink of an eye, and chopped off the incoming arrows with one blow. The mercenaries around him froze for a moment, then quickly grabbed their bone whistles and blew them. "Enemy attack!" the guards shouted, and the carriages began to grind to a halt. The merchants grabbed their crossbows, while the guards drew their weapons and took precautions. As for the mercenaries, they took the initiative and advanced in the direction of the arrows.

After Cheng Yijiu had chopped off the arrows, he could already hear the clatter of the incoming bandits' hooves. The merchant's servants were still trying to circle the carriages, but the first wave of raiders had already appeared. They were all light cavalry on horseback, at least thirty strong at a glance. Crossbow bolts flew, and several bandits fell from their horses or tumbled to the ground. "They should have gotten closer before firing!" Cheng Yijiu cursed.

Before him was also a galloping cavalryman. Seeing that the man was holding a short spear, Cheng Yijiu lowered his head and spun around, dodging the opponent's thrust as he turned his feet, and the cold iron sword easily cut off the horse's leg. The tumbling cavalryman was no longer worthy of attention. Even if his neck was not broken, he was crushed by the fallen horse. Cheng Yijiu was faced with a second cavalryman - before he could swing his sword to cut down this cavalryman, a long arrow flew in and directly shot the thief through, pinning him to his horse.

Then, from that direction—from behind the bandits—a series of long arrows blazed, impaling over a dozen horse thieves and their horses. "What a powerful barrage of arrows!" Cheng Yijiu couldn't see the archer, perhaps hidden deep in the woods. He did catch the faint sound of the bowstring, convincing him that the person was even a hundred meters away. "What a powerful bow!" Cheng Yijiu marveled.

With a gun or a crossbow, it wouldn't be difficult to penetrate a leather-clad person from a hundred meters away, killing the horse along with them. However, using a bow and arrow to accurately hit a target from a distance of over a hundred meters, with such power, is probably beyond the reach of ordinary humans. Furthermore, judging by the angle of the arrow's penetration, it wasn't a projectile at all, but an accurate, horizontal shot. "Is it an apostle?" Cheng Yijiu was also very curious. Before he could react further, the archer moved again.

This time, the arrows were fired from a slightly offset direction, like a torrential rain of arrows. In just half a minute, over thirty bandits charging the chariot formation were impaled on their own horses, just like the horse thieves before, and fell to the ground with their horses, dead. Cheng Yijiu quickly crossed the woods, wanting to see the warrior with the strong bow. This guy was extremely agile and fast when running at full speed in the woods.

Cheng Yijiu had been running since the second round of arrows, and he did see the archer's tracks, but they left him completely baffled—they were actually enormous tiger footprints. Cheng Yijiu was an experienced hunter, so of course he could tell they were tiger footprints at a glance, but how could that be possible? Could the archer have actually been riding a tiger?

Tigers aren't meant to be ridden. They're incredibly powerful, yet riding them would be too jarring for you to sit still. It wasn't something a normal person could ride, but it didn't look like a "pet" following them around, either, as Cheng Yijiu didn't see any human footprints. Cheng Yijiu continued to follow the trail. The other party had just shot an arrow, so they shouldn't have left so quickly. After a few steps, he caught sight of an arrow flying in front of him...

Chapter 16: Traveling Together

"Don't go any further." The voice was deep and powerful, hidden behind the trees. "I just wanted to see who could shoot such a powerful arrow," Cheng Yijiu said, hands spread out. He also sensed something unusual. The other party's accent made him a little suspicious, and it seemed the other party was feeling the same way. "Hmm?" The other party made an uncertain sound.

The next moment, the master of such a powerful bow appeared before Cheng Yijiu. "Apostle?" Cheng Yijiu didn't draw his sword immediately. He simply looked at the other person's body with a bit of surprise and asked. "Apostle? No, I'm Turgen." This person looked every bit like an apostle. Without a human form, he was a gigantic centaur, a centaur with the lower body of a tiger. Judging by its size, it was likely the largest tiger Cheng Yijiu had ever seen.

"I wasn't even that old when I accepted this punishment mission," he muttered. Turgen, the half-human tiger, had a fine, downy body, especially on his back and arms. His face also had tiger-like fur, but his cheeks were hairless. His hair was long and flowing, and his face looked very young, perhaps in his twenties. Turgen, the half-human tiger, also wore armor: chain mail on his human form, and leather armor similar to horse armor on his tiger form.

Turgen held a large bow in his hand. The bowstring was quite thick, and the bow arm looked like it was made of metal. To be honest, Cheng Yijiu couldn't tell what material it was made of. Turgen looked at Cheng Yijiu curiously. He didn't show any surprise at his black hair and black eyes, but he was very interested in the lion skin he was wearing. "Hercules?" Turgen asked.

Cheng Yijiu was also stunned. "No, no, no, my name is Cheng Yijiu." He looked at the lion skin on his body. "I'm not Hercules. Although it looks like I'm in Cospree, I'm really not." Turgen laughed. "Of course, we should have a common origin, but different golden fingers." He pointed at himself with his thumb. "My body is like this. I'm used to it."

Cheng Yijiu thought about his own little house, which seemed like a golden finger. He said, "Go on a quest. Collect Behelet and Overlord Eggs." Turgen began to scratch his hair, causing the two long sabers hanging from his tiger to shake. "What are Behelet and Overlord Eggs?" he asked curiously. "I was also 'thrown' into this world. I don't know if I'll stay here forever. Maybe I'll have to leave—just like before."

"Really?" Cheng Yijiu was also curiously observing the half-human tiger in front of him. Turgen seemed completely unconcerned and allowed Cheng Yijiu to observe him. "Excuse me, you'll probably have trouble navigating this world like this. There are no 'fantasy species' like you in this world—even if there are, it must have been hundreds or even thousands of years ago."

"I just arrived and haven't met other people. It seems that you know something about this world. Can you tell me?" Turgen looked very cheerful. He even took out a piece of fur, invited Cheng Yijiu to sit down and said, "That caravan shouldn't leave so fast. It will take at least an hour just to pack up." The half-human tiger lay down like a real tiger, with its two front paws elegantly crossed in front, its hind legs lying on its side, and its tail slapping the ground from behind.

Cheng Yijiu habitually estimated the body length - this tiger body has no neck and head, but if you count from the base point of Turgen's belly to the tip of the tail, it is at least more than four meters long. If this is a complete tiger, the length from head to tail is estimated to be five and a half meters. When Turgen was standing just now, his height was more than two and a half meters, and the shoulder height of the tiger body was about one and a half meters. It is estimated that the weight is more than five hundred kilograms, maybe six hundred kilograms.

Cheng Yijiu made a quick mental estimate before sitting cross-legged on the fur and began describing the world. "Oh, the world of comics. I haven't seen it," Turgen nodded. "But it's surprisingly realistic. I've heard of this comic."

Cheng Yijiu talked about Behelet and the Overlord's Egg, and of course, the Apostles and the Hand of God that were born from them, and finally talked about the root of all this, the "Underworld". "I see, that's why I can't appear in front of the world like this. You said this is what an Apostle looks like?" Turgen rubbed his palms. "You said there's a Underworld here, right? Then I can try this thing to see if it works. I got it from an adventure, and it can change my form for a certain period of time."

Cheng Yijiu watched as the man pulled a stone from a leather bag at his waist. It was the size of a thumb, strung with a string and adorned with a strange rune. "Let me think about it, this is how it should be used," Cheng Yijiu watched as the tiger grasped the small stone and chanted a strange, monosyllable. Cheng Yijiu apologized for not fully understanding it. Then, he watched as the stone began to glow, a faint blue light.

"Sure enough! 'Netherworld' is synonymous with supernatural powers. This thing really works." Cheng Yijiu nodded when he heard Turgen say this. At this moment, he noticed a faint glow in his scabbard. "Resonance?" Cheng Yijiu drew his greatsword, and saw a faint glow of magic runes on the sword's spine. "Hmm, it's a little hot." Cheng Yijiu quickly fished out the Behelet from the leather bag inside his chain mail.

The creature's facial features were moving, though thankfully, they were erratic and subtle, not transforming into a weeping human face. "Does this thing count as 'activation'?" Cheng Yijiu was fully prepared. If he ever got "conceived," he'd have to fight for his life with his sword. Fortunately, he had no true love in this world, and he couldn't sacrifice anything to create a hole in his heart that would allow the power of the Netherworld to become an apostle.

Turgen didn't seem like that kind of person, so after a while, Jian and Behelet fell silent. Turgen's stone continued to glow, but soon the light went out. The originally gray stone turned blue. Turgen put it around his neck, and the next second, he was completely enveloped by the light. After the light disappeared, a tall young man appeared before Cheng Yijiu, carrying a bow and two swords.

Cheng Yijiu looked at the boy who was a little taller than him and said, "Can you adapt? How about we go together?" Turgen nodded. "Well, it's rare to meet a fellow countryman. Maybe my adventure will depend on your mission."

Chapter 17 Arrival

The two men walked out of the woods, and sure enough, they were still sorting out the caravan. Cheng Yijiu and Turgen chatted about their respective martial arts expertise. "Archery, double swords, and spears," Turgen said, patting his weapons. Cheng Yijiu touched the hilt of his sword and the musket hanging from his waist. "These are the weapons I'm proficient in." Neither of them asked about the other's martial arts style—they both had a general understanding of each other's strengths.

Cheng Yijiu knew that mastering the art of dual swords wasn't easy. Since Turgen said he was skilled with them, it couldn't be a casual skill. His archery skills clearly showed formal training, so it was hard to imagine him being so poor at it. He must have learned and developed his own unique fighting style. Turgen was also aware of Cheng Yijiu's martial arts skills. His perception was incredibly sharp, so he could sense the aura of a "strong man" in him.

After returning to the caravan, Cheng Yijiu told the leader of the merchant's guards, the guy he had saved, that this was his friend, and Turgen successfully obtained an employment contract. Especially after he said that it was this man who had just shot the arrows that almost killed all the horse thieves, Turgen's contract suddenly became the same as Cheng Yijiu's, and Turgen went out to retrieve the arrows - of course the longbow was long arrows,

These long arrows are quite expensive. The straight shafts that are nearly one meter long should be quite valuable - because Cheng Yijiu found that they are all wooden shafts, neatly trimmed and smooth and painted, and then there are sharp steel arrowheads, not just point steel but full steel. Cheng Yijiu can confirm by weighing them with his hands that the center of gravity of the arrows is adjusted very well, and several arrows are almost the same.

The tail feathers also looked like the full feathers of a large bird. The dozens of arrows needed to be carefully inspected after they were retrieved, and any damaged ones would need repairing. After all, Turgen only had two pots of arrows, about seventy in total. For the rest of the journey, Turgen sat in the carriage, diligently maintaining his weapons and armor. "We should try to get some modern arrows. Of course, it would be even better if we could get a musket," Cheng Yijiu said to Turgen.

The centaur spread his hands and said, "There's nothing we can do about it." Cheng Yijiu volunteered to make a musket for Turgen. "With your size, you should be able to use a large-caliber musket, a breech-loading gun with paper shell fixed bullets." Turgen nodded to show that he knew it very well. "Even if there is a leak, it is better than a muzzle-loading gun. Anyway, I can shoot arrows at a distance." It seems that this centaur is not good at making this kind of weapon.

Since they didn't have the conditions to build it right now, they continued along the road, finally entering the land of the Kingdom of Midland. Here, the commission with the caravan ended. Cheng Yijiu and Turgen collected a small bag of money. After declining the other party's request to stay, Cheng Yijiu said he was going to see the Eagle Group, and Turgen, of course, went along. "Does your stone have to be removed for six hours every 24 hours to cool? It's not bad." Cheng Yijiu said to Turgen, who had taken off the stone and returned to his half-human tiger form in the room he was staying in.

He had a curious thought at the time, "What would happen if this stone was hung on me?"

Turgen also grabbed his long hair and said, "I haven't tried it yet, but do you want to give it a try? I can't guarantee a good result - the props I get always have some ridiculous effects." Cheng Yijiu looked at the stone, "So what is the effect of this thing?"

"It's a transformation, a transformation between two forms. But there is a loophole here, that is, gender is also a form. I only discovered it later when I lent it to someone, but I was really shocked." Turgen said with a laugh, and by the way, he grabbed the roasted pork leg in his hand and took a big bite - the pigs in this world also have no castration technology, so enough spices and honey must be used to suppress the smell inside.

Or they raise it for one to two years and then kill and eat it before it fully matures.

When Turgen opened his mouth, Cheng Yijiu could see his larger-than-average canines and his distinctive carnassial teeth. His four first molars were the incisor-type teeth of carnivores, capable of easily severing flesh and tendons. Combined with his blade-like incisors, which resembled humans, his feeding efficiency was far greater than that of ordinary carnivores. The molars behind him could also grind food, confirming that Turgen was an omnivore with a predilection for carnivory.

"Where you come from, should all creatures be six-legged?" Now that things are stable, Cheng Yijiu can hardly contain his curiosity. Turgen is also willing to chat and gossip. "Well, it should be said that four-legged animals and six-legged animals coexist - there are humans, elves, dwarves, and of course centaurs, goats, and rare centaurs like me. In the final analysis, six-legged animals are always a minority, but among them there is the strongest six-legged animal - the true dragon, which has six limbs."

"There are dwarves and elves...a fantasy world." Cheng Yijiu also talked about his hunting stories, "As for man-eating beasts, there are plenty of them in my place. There are wars everywhere, just like this world. The beasts in the wild are used to eating dead people." Turgen was not surprised at all. After chatting for a while, Cheng Yijiu went back to his room to sleep - his income this time was enough for him to live here for half a year.

The next day, the two men went to the Mercenary Guild to gather information. Combining the information from the tavern and the Mercenary Guild, they were able to roughly determine the situation of the Eagle Group. Furthermore, Turgen and Cheng Yijiu both wanted to earn enough money to survive in this world. Cheng Yijiu also agreed to forge a musket for Turgen. After carefully inspecting Turgen's double swords and seeing Cheng Yijiu's greatsword, Turgen also asked Cheng Yijiu to forge new double swords for him.

To this end, Turgen took out a squatting dog statue, probably carved from jet. "I see you hunt on your own, so here's a dog statue. Every day if you like, rub its head with your hand and throw it out. It will become a real dog - for six hours. Remember, it's a real dog, with feelings and memories, so treat it well. The benefit is not only that you gain a hunting dog, but also a friend with a lifespan far longer than that of an ordinary dog."

Turgen used this to pay Cheng Yijiu, and Cheng Yijiu did try it. "If there is a place in the underworld, can it be done on Earth?" Turgen shrugged. "You have to try it, but I think it should be possible." Cheng Yijiu looked at the black dog in front of him and touched the dog's head angrily - this guy looked very ordinary, just a black Chinese pastoral dog.

Chapter 18: Weapon Building

The dog was medium-sized, with black fur and bright, lively eyes. Cheng Yijiu petted its head, and it must have quickly understood that this was its master, sniffing Cheng Yijiu's scent and licking his hand. "What a good dog!" Cheng Yijiu was delighted, so he took on the job. To gather intelligence on the Eagle Group, they had to go to the tavern or the mercenary guild, so the two of them split up.

Turgen went to the tavern, and Cheng Yijiu went to the union. Cheng Yijiu re-registered with the union, and then paid a small sum of money to have someone look up all the information about the Eagle Group. When he returned to the inn, Turgen also returned, and the two began to exchange the information they had obtained. "It was established not long ago, there are not many people, and its main activities are on the northern front." This is what Cheng Yijiu gathered, and Turgen just laughed, "I'm sorry, I didn't gather anything."

Indeed, the Eagles were a small, newly formed mercenary group, and it was entirely possible that they couldn't gather sufficient intelligence in the tavern. Turgen did have a point to make up for. "I borrowed a blacksmith's shop. They're willing to let us forge weapons and even sell us materials," Turgen said happily. So, let's take care of that first. The next day, Turgen and Cheng Yijiu followed a map and found a blacksmith's workshop.

The other party was well prepared. After Turgen gave them two golden beans, an apprentice took them to the back of the workshop, where there was a smaller empty workshop. "This can be used by you for ten days. You can use the materials inside at will. If there is not enough coal, you can get it outside." The apprentice's voice was very loud. It seemed that the work had permanently damaged his hearing.

"A heating furnace and a matching blower, a large hammer and a small hammer... a cooling sink and a grindstone. That's enough, but first we have to melt all your knives, add some iron, and then refine it into cold iron." Cheng Yijiu touched his chin, "It will be easy with the Netherworld." There was an artificial ruby ​​in his leather bag. He carried this thing with him to pretend to be a high-value item, and he would sell it if anything happened.

Now it is just the right consumable to be used as alchemy material. The first thing Cheng Yijiu did was to put the charcoal into the furnace. He also found a lot of refractory clay from outside and covered the outside of the furnace with a thick layer. Then he heated two knives, bent them while they were red hot, and then threw them into the graphite crucible and put it into the furnace. After sealing the furnace and filling it with fuel, Cheng Yijiu and Turgen began to work hard to pull the blower.

When Cheng Yijiu figured it was almost done, he took out the crucible, which contained molten steel. He threw in the iron and continued to burn it, then added lime and other things. The molten iron was poured into two rectangular molds, and after cooling, it became two white iron ingots. It was already afternoon, and Cheng Yijiu and Turgen went to the tavern for a drink. After that, they returned again, but this time they were much more cautious.

Turgen stood guard outside the door while Cheng Yijiu used a special chalk to draw an alchemical array on the ground. He placed the iron ingot and ruby ​​in place, then focused his mental energy to push the alchemical array. A light shone on the ground. When the light faded, the ruby ​​turned to sand, and two pieces of cold iron appeared in the center of the alchemical array. The next step was more complicated—Cheng Yijiu had to build a model out of wood and add iron weights to determine the length, weight, and weight that would be most convenient for Turgen.

Cheng Yijiu didn't have to do all this, but Turgen took it over himself, but it definitely couldn't be finished in one afternoon.

It took two days to complete all of this, and finally, satisfied, Turgen presented Cheng Yijiu with two wooden scimitars, each with iron blocks of varying sizes strapped to different locations. Cheng Yijiu copied the data onto parchment and meticulously traced the precise blade shapes—since it was a pair of blades, two sheets of parchment were required. Then, using an alchemical array, the parchment had to be refined into alchemical blueprints, and finally, the alchemical array was activated to combine the blueprints with the cold iron blocks into the scimitars.

Cheng Yijiu's greatsword was forged in the same way, infusing it with runes during the refining process to impart additional effects like magic-breaking, strength, and sharpness. It took Cheng Yijiu three days to complete the two blueprints, and the actual synthesis took the next two days—a task that was quite mentally draining. Two days later, outside in the open space, Turgen was practicing his martial arts with his two swords. Cheng Yijiu was now preparing to forge a musket for him, but first he had to forge a steel plate of acceptable quality.

During this warm-up, Cheng Yijiu could watch Turgen practice his martial arts, and naturally, he imagined a fight between the two of them. "Your dual-sword skills are pretty good. You must have been formally trained, right? Unfortunately, I haven't studied French dual-sword techniques in detail. At most, I've studied the combined dual-sword techniques of the rapier and the serrated small sword. I'm not familiar with this type of mounted dual-sword combat method that focuses on slashing." Turgen's dual-sword wielding didn't look fancy, and even a little clumsy.

However, Cheng Yijiu knew full well that this was a practical dual-sword method used on the battlefield. The battle simulation in his mind explained it all. And after he put himself in the picture, he considered how to rely on a greatsword to fight against such a dual-sword method. "If it's a humanoid, I'm confident. At least I can exchange injury for serious injury or death. But if it's a half-human tiger..." Cheng Yijiu thought for a long time, feeling that he really didn't have complete confidence in this case.

Cheng Yijiu touched the musket at his waist and smiled. "I'm pretty confident," he muttered. Iron needs to be forged to remove carbon before it can be turned into steel. Forging iron plates can be done with rollers. Turgen and Cheng Yijiu were both quite strong, and they finished forging the steel plates in a day. Next came rolling the barrel, forging the bolt and spring, cutting the chamber lock, and carving the wood and installing it.

Turgen's craftsmanship in carving is very good, and he is also quite skilled in making those small parts. "Hehehe, my side job is the manufacturing of fine products. The precious metal handicrafts I make can be sold for a lot of money." The half-tiger touched his head and smiled.

Preparing gunpowder was even more complicated—first, you had to find saltpeter, which was available at apothecaries. Sulfur was more difficult to obtain because the Kingdom of Mitlan had no volcanoes and only a small amount was available at apothecaries. Charcoal was the easiest to obtain. As for purchasing gunpowder from the Blacksmith Guild—after the advent of small artillery, only the Apothecary Guild and the Blacksmith Guild supplied gunpowder. However, this gunpowder was laden with impurities, and even had a lot of other ingredients added for the sake of so-called "power."

After getting this stuff, you still have to separate and purify it. In comparison, it is easier to do it from scratch.

Chapter 19 Means

Due to limited materials, Cheng Yijiu could only make four bullets - "Remember these patterns, these are runes that destroy magic and darkness, at least I've found they should be usable in most worlds. Remember to inject mental power when engraving. I've attached magic patterns to the inside of the barrel, and when firing, you can activate it with mental power to fire magic-destroying bullets, which are enough to give those guys a hard time." Cheng Yijiu demonstrated to Turgen.

The half-man tiger was no fool. After trying a few times with lead bullets, he succeeded. Actually, his hands were even more dexterous than Cheng Yijiu's, at least when it came to this kind of delicate craft. "Is the Overlord's Egg even more powerful than this? How do you plan to obtain it?" Turgen asked, while also playing with the Behelet that Cheng Yijiu had taken out. Cheng Yijiu thought for a moment, "The last Overlord's Egg is in the hands of Griffith, the leader of the Eagle Corps."