Wu Kai let out a long sigh, still kneeling beside the dried carcass of the black leopard. The beast's body now looked like an empty shell, pale and lifeless. The flow of blood had completely stopped, and the vital essence he had absorbed still pulsed warmly inside him, like a newly fed bonfire.
He looked at his own wounds. Three deep cuts marked his chest and shoulder, another tore through his left thigh. Blood still trickled slowly through the grooves, but it was already diminishing. As he watched, the edges of the wounds began to close visibly, the skin knitting together, the muscles recomposing. The healing was accelerated, much faster than before the absorption.
A throbbing pain still ran through his body, but Wu Kai smiled. It was not a smile of suffering. It was a satisfied, almost grateful smile.
"This pain… isn't bad." He murmured to himself, lightly touching the deepest cut on his chest.
"It's proof that I'm evolving. Every wound, every drop of blood spilled… makes me stronger."
He stood up slowly, testing the weight on his injured leg. It hurt, but it held. And as the leopard's blood was refined within his body, the wounds began to heal at an even faster rate. Pink skin was already appearing beneath the scabs forming. In a few hours, perhaps not even marks would remain.
"This physique is really useful." He said out loud, the satisfaction clear in his tone.
"If I didn't have it, continuing to fight in the forest would be difficult with these injuries. I would be finished with the battle and would have to end up returning to the sect."
Wu Kai ran a hand through his gray hair, dirty with blood and dirt. He was grateful, deeply grateful, for the reward the Divine Title System had given him.
The title "Demon Child" and the Blood Spiritual Physique had transformed a trash body into something with real potential. He could feel the power running through his veins, hot and alive. That made him even more eager for the next rewards.
But he still needed to wait twenty-six days before he could spin the roulette again and receive a new title. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. There was no point worrying about what he couldn't control right now. What mattered was the present, blood, battles, and progress.
With his body still full of energy after absorbing so much vital essence, Wu Kai decided it was time to rest. Hunting during the night was not a good idea. He wouldn't be able to see properly in the dark, while nocturnal beasts certainly would. A careless mistake could cost dearly.
He walked a bit further along the stream, looking for a safe place. After a few minutes, he found what he needed. A large ancient tree, with a thick trunk and sturdy branches that spread like protective arms. The roots were enormous, intertwined like wooden serpents, and the tall canopy offered cover against the wind and possible gazes from above.
Wu Kai took a step and jumped. With the strength of the second stage, reinforced by the activated physique, he climbed higher than he expected. His hands grabbed a low branch firmly. Using his feet to propel himself, he climbed up the trunk until reaching a stable point, about six meters above the ground. There, two thick branches formed a kind of natural platform, wide enough for him to lie down with relative safety.
He settled in, leaning his back against the main trunk. The night wind blew cold through the leaves, but his body, warmed by the freshly absorbed blood, barely felt the discomfort. Wu Kai crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes for a moment, just breathing.
As night fully fell over the forest, he replayed the three battles of the day in his mind, scene by scene.
The first, against the boar. Clumsy, full of fear, but victorious. The second, against the wolf, was better, more controlled, but still with hesitation. And the third, against the black leopard, the most difficult, the most painful… and the most rewarding.
"I could have done better." He thought, frowning slightly.
"Much better."
His body was strong. Stronger than he expected while using the physique. With the Blood Spiritual Physique activated, his current strength was comparable to someone at the fourth stage of the Body Refinement Realm. He felt it clearly, the dense muscles, the enhanced reflexes, and the endurance that allowed him to withstand blows that would have brought down the old Wu Kai.
Even so, he had suffered serious injuries against the wolf, which was obviously weaker. Against the leopard, he had almost died several times. That only confirmed one thing, he still couldn't use his own strength perfectly. His movements were crude, instinctive, lacking the fluidity and precision of an experienced cultivator. He wasted energy, hesitated at the wrong moments, and relied too much on brute strength.
But he would get used to it. Soon.
With each battle, he learned something new. How to position his feet, how to read the opponent's movements, and how to synchronize the flow of blood with his attacks. In a few days, he believed he would be able to fight with all his strength without wasting so much.
And he was excited about that.
A faint smile appeared on his lips as fatigue finally began to weigh on his eyelids. The forest around him was filled with night sounds, crickets, distant howls, and the rustling of leaves. Dangerous, wild… but also liberating.
"One more day like this and I'll reach the third stage." He thought, before sleep finally came.
"And then… the fourth. The fifth. Until I no longer need to hide in trees to sleep."
Wu Kai fell asleep there, high in the ancient tree, his body marked by fresh scars that were already fading, the faint smile still present on his face.
For the first time in a long while, both on Earth and in this new world, he slept with the feeling that tomorrow would be better.