Night of Despair
Chapter 136 - 136: The Second Seal Four

"Now... with all these people gathering, it's bound to trigger a Black Disaster swarm attack... we can't run to places with a lot of people... the more people there are, the stronger the Black Disaster it attracts..." Xue Ningning's leg was pierced by a piece of shattered glass, and blood wouldn't stop flowing.

Before the attack happened, she had been lying on a hospital bed, resting and recovering from an injury, unable to react in time.

As a result, a large Multi-eyed Bird barged into the hospital room, and amidst the chaos, she was rescued by Fang Shijun, who came by car.

"Then where are we going?" Fang Shijun frowned.

"My sister has a temporary safe house in the wilderness, let's head there!" Xue Ningning said through gritted teeth.

"The wilderness... the place you mentioned... might be too far away; just rushing over there like this is very dangerous!" Chen Xinji refuted with a frown. "Right now, the outside is in chaos; high-risk Black Disasters are still roaming nearby. We need to find a nearby hidden spot to lay low."

"Nearby... I know a safe spot." At this moment, Stammering Yiyi actually spoke up.

She had been moving around, searching for her father and grandfather's whereabouts, teaming up with friends who shared the same goal.

These people usually led their own work lives separately, gathering together every once in a while to compile the clues they'd collected.

And this compendium's hidden spot was a very secure little stronghold.

"We put a lot of food there." Lin Yiyi looked at the group's skeptical expressions and reiterated earnestly.

"Let's listen to Yiyi!" Xue Ningning immediately decided.

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Inside the cave.

Yu Hong slowly awakened from deep sleep.

He paused briefly, then flipped off the wooden bed and immediately looked at the enhanced leg technique cultivation manual.

As he had anticipated, he had slept for more than five hours, and the leg technique cultivation was already completed.

What lay before Yu Hong was a black book completely different in style from before.

The book's cover clearly bore the words: Leg Technique.

The two large characters were exceptionally neat, with meticulous strokes.

However, this book vaguely gave Yu Hong a feeling similar to the Black Salamander from the previous day.

'Even though it has just been enhanced, it exudes a faint sense of age...?' he pondered, furrowing his brow as he reached out to gently flip open the first page of the black book.

On the white paper inside, it was clearly written: Thunderbolt Leg Technique.

The four characters were dragon-like and phoenix-like, clearly written by a master hand.

Yu Hong's expression changed slightly as he continued to turn to the next page.

Soon, the content on the second page left him numb.

This was a passage detailing the life of the creator of the technique, telling the story of a young boy who survived the massacre of his family, endured hardships, apprenticed under a master, and eventually created his own leg technique to seek vengeance.

The place names and character names revealed in the story, along with the intricate plot, further convinced Yu Hong that the Black Mark likely transported this leg technique directly from elsewhere.

'Could it be that all the things the Black Mark brought over were directly transported from other places?' he speculated.

'No... it can't be. I've enhanced the door many times, and if it were directly transported, it wouldn't fit so perfectly. It's very likely that sometimes it involves transportation, and other times it's merging and enhancing...' Yu Hong guessed in his mind.

Holding onto this thought, he continued to flip through the booklet in his hands.

What followed was the specific content on how to practice the leg technique. As he expected, the previous Basic Survival Leg Technique content was still present, but it was clear that it had integrated some elements of the Thunderbolt Leg Technique, which had a vastly different style.

The Thunderbolt Leg Technique was similar to China's ancient traditional martial arts cultivation methods, while the previous Basic Survival Leg Technique was a special technique integrating interstellar elements.

The two were poles apart, but at this time and place, under the integration of the Black Mark, they had truly fused into a new Thunderbolt Leg Technique, consisting of a total of six layers.

Going through the entire passage, Yu Hong noticed that the Thunderbolt Leg Technique followed the same path as before, also training from the outside to produce Inner Qi, then using Inner Qi to launch techniques to injure others.

Only compared to the previous leg technique, the Thunderbolt Leg Technique was much faster and more nimble.

'Once minor mastery is reached, the leg technique is like thunderbolt, swift and unmatched. When major mastery is reached, with the activation of Inner Qi, the leg technique carries a hint of true lightning intent, and the lightning it unleashes significantly enhances the strength of the legs, known as Thunderbolt Transformation.'

This was the original text of the technique, and beneath it was an attached visualization. The previously strange visualization now vaguely revealed a fine lightning shape in the center of the image.

Yu Hong read the booklet several times and then began crafting Radiation Hand Grenades. Meanwhile, in the basement, he also attempted to practice the new leg technique.

The compatibility between the Thunderbolt Leg and the previous basic leg technique was extremely high. By making minor adjustments and familiarizing himself with the new cultivation moves, he quickly adapted to the retrained first and second layers.

The Inner Qi also gradually became more active with each repetition of the dynamic exercises.

By late morning, Yu Hong had successfully modified his cultivation, and with the new visualization, the Inner Qi within his body continuously rotated and flowed in his abdomen, releasing a slight tingling sensation akin to electrical current.

He estimated that it would still take some time to fully adapt to the Thunderbolt Leg.

Although the modification of this leg technique was relatively easy, it still required real-world scenario practice to be truly usable in combat.

However, he was in no rush. Things needed to be done one step at a time—first, make the Radiation Hand Grenade and send off Old Li. Then, have the Black Mark free up to enhance the Internal Cultivation Methods. During the enhancement time, he'd continue practicing the leg technique and adapt to using the Black Salamander.

At noon, after eating a protein bar and a nutrition paste, Yu Hong walked out the door.

In the courtyard outside, Old Li and Zhou Xueguang were already gathered, discussing something. Equipment for their departure was packed in a large bag placed at the wooden cabin's entrance.

Aisena was quietly drawing something on the courtyard wall with a charcoal pencil, and it seemed like she had spent much less time indoors since arriving at this courtyard.

"Uncle Yu!" Seeing Yu Hong come out, a clear happiness appeared on Aisena's round face as she waved at him from a distance.

Yu Hong waved back, a relaxed smile also emerging on his face.

In such a somewhat hopeless world, being able to see such an innocent smile every day was a comfort to anyone's heart.

On the other side, Old Li and Zhou were about to come over, but Yu Hong waved them off, signaling them to continue with what they were doing.

Returning to the side of the courtyard wall where the Black Salamander was, Yu Hong glanced at the Black Salamander hidden in the luminous stone grass and triggered the second mark in his heart.

Immediately, the Black Salamander silently jumped onto the courtyard wall and quickly crawled out.

By now, the Blood Tide Black Insects were long gone outside. The morning fog was illuminated by the pale sunlight, which, while still deep, resembled a gray wall, much safer than at night.

The Black Salamander leaped off the courtyard wall and, with several quick movements, burrowed into the thick fallen leaves, disappearing from view.

Soon after, a strange sensation surged in Yu Hong's mind.

Focusing on the second mark, he immediately sensed the Black Salamander's distance, direction, and status.

This feeling was peculiar, as if a dark map suddenly emerged in his mind. Wherever the Black Salamander passed, the black color on the map was erased.

Just as he was immersed in this peculiar radar-like sensory experience, the Black Salamander suddenly halted, its entire state abruptly turning into a medium flame state.

Soon after, an inexplicable piece of information transmitted through the Black Salamander into his perception.

It was a gray, blurry image.

In the forest, covered in dense fallen leaves, a gray-white figure quietly stood by a withered tree, gazing at the Black Salamander.

'A shadow??' Yu Hong immediately recognized the figure's identity.

He just hadn't expected that the Black Salamander could actually transmit blurry image information back.

This was impressive!

'Perfectly fits the Sentinel Patrol role I wanted!' Yu Hong's previous disappointment was now somewhat alleviated.

Soon after, what he didn't expect happened.

The Black Salamander stopped, craned its neck towards the shadow.

Then...

Splat!

A dark green liquid flew from the image, landing precisely on the shadow.

Sizzle...

The shadow was immediately corroded, forming a hole.

The figure also silently lunged at the Black Salamander.

The image abruptly cut off.

Yu Hong was stunned, his heart sinking as he grew worried.

Before long, the image resumed. It was still the same forest, with the same grayish blur.

The shadow was gone, and the Black Salamander's status also relayed a sense of weakness and pain.

Then the Black Salamander stopped moving, entering a hidden state, like Yu Hong discovered before, absorbing Red Value Radiation from the air.

He could also feel the Black Salamander, during the absorption process, sending back vague information indicating it was recovering from its injuries.

'This Black Salamander actually has a clear and simple intelligence! As a patrol, it can even repel a shadow!' Yu Hong was completely surprised that a mere palm-sized Black Salamander could manage to repel such a large shadow. This was beyond his expectations and delightful.

'With enough Black Salamanders, I could completely clear away all shadows within a certain radius around. And when the Blood Tide appears, the Black Salamander could also significantly reduce their numbers. I just don't know how effective its toxic spray would be on Big Skin or an Evil Shadow, but... the future looks promising!' Yu Hong couldn't help but smile.

The earlier disappointment had now completely turned into joy.

The Black Salamander was healing, so there was no need to worry for the time being. Yu Hong sent a simple command, telling it to patrol the path between the cave and the post office once healed, clearing shadows.

There were still a lot of supplies at the post office that couldn't be transported back, so reopening this route was the priority.

After settling this part, he returned to the cave to continue training with the Thunderbolt Leg Technique.

By afternoon, it was time for his agreed practice session with Old Li and the others.

Practice required a space, a suitable environment.

Yu Hong brought his tools, personally stepping in to expand a large new area on the right side of the courtyard wall to serve as an extended safety zone for the luminous stone grass.

The perimeter was temporarily enclosed with rubble. He then placed several Enhanced Red Value Detectors around, constantly monitoring the surrounding Red Value changes.

Setting up an alarm threshold meant that if danger approached, the detectors would automatically sound the alarm.

Thus, a simple training ground was established.

"It's my first time being so extravagant with electricity, leaving four detectors running, tsk tsk..." Yu Hong compared the current environment to the past and felt a little nostalgic.

Standing opposite, Old Li also clicked his tongue in amazement.

"We're quite wealthy now; boss, your skills not going to the Silver Tower is a loss for all of humanity."

"Alright, cut the flattery, let's get to it. I'm still figuring out when and how to use and chain my moves. After I ease up, you give me some pointers," Yu Hong relied on Old Li's combat experience.

"Sure thing." Li Rushan nodded, though agreeing was one thing. He glanced at Yu Hong's heavily muscular build, still a little anxious in his heart.

This physique was even on par with that of a butcher back in the day.

"Just to be clear, you only put in ten percent of your strength!" he cautioned.

"What's ten percent? I'm not very good at fine control. You'll have to teach me that too," Yu Hong nodded.

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