Chapter 25: The Proper Way to Unleash Frenzied Blood

Arriving at the incinerator, I clocked in.

There were no Calamity Corpses this morning, nor any human ones. It was normal not to receive Zhang Tong’s body; gangs usually have their own procedures for disposing of their dead. With no work to do, Feng Mu slacked off indefinitely, practicing his forging exercises.

"Is it my imagination, or is the digestion faster than usual?"

In the intervals between his exercises, Feng Mu was popping iron pellets into his mouth at a frequency a fraction faster than yesterday.

[Iron Eater: Tier 1]
[Edible Iron Sources: 1]
[Metallic Traits Absorbable: 1]
[Currently Detected Edible Iron—Ordinary Pig Iron, Consumption Progress: 39.7%.]
[Trait Absorbed: ??]

He had only practiced a few times this morning, yet the consumption progress had already risen by one percentage point. On his retina, [Consumption Progress ↑↑] flickered with two upward arrows.

"Usually, it takes an hour to digest and add 0.5% to the progress. In the same amount of time today, it increased by 1%. So, is it a double digestion rate today?" Feng Mu easily arrived at the mathematical conclusion. "It’s impossible to get a double experience card for free, so it can only be..."

Feng Mu clenched his fist. The wound hidden beneath the gauze on his cuff was pulled, and a bit of crimson seeped through.

Feng Mu realized the truth and was ecstatic: "The bonus from [Frenzied Blood] doesn't just work during combat—it works during daily cultivation as well?!"

Although his wound had been dressed and the bleeding stopped, the blood he had lost hadn't been replenished. He hadn't sought out blood bags to recover, and his own hematopoietic function wasn't that fast, so [Frenzied Blood] remained in effect.

[Frenzied Blood]: All your attributes increase exponentially as you lose blood. If your base attributes are high enough, you might even be able to kill a god while on the brink of death.

Feng Mu opened the skill description for [Frenzied Blood] and recited it silently three times.

"All attributes increase exponentially—it really doesn't specify that it must be during combat. A round of daily cultivation counts as being within the scope of 'all attributes,' right?"

"It has to count. Of course it counts! Why wouldn't it?"

"Damn it, it's all that closing remark about killing a god while on the brink of death. It severely misled my judgment!"

Feng Mu’s heart pounded violently. He finally understood the true, correct way to utilize [Frenzied Blood]. It wasn’t necessarily about killing enemies during a fight, but rather daily self-cultivation. No one can fight every single day, not even a martial arts fanatic; but daily life is inescapable for everyone, even for a fanatic.

***

"That remark about [Frenzied Blood] ruined me. Otherwise, I might have already maxed out my Tier 1 consumption progress, maybe even had a serious overflow."

Whenever Feng Mu thought about the past ten days of training at 1x speed while at full health, he felt like he had suffered a massive loss. Who could have imagined that [Frenzied Blood] wasn't just a twin to [Feast], but was also having an affair with [Iron Eater], the two of them practicing a dual cultivation of sorts?

"Fine, it's not too late to start today." Feng Mu gritted his teeth to motivate himself. "I will make up for the progress I missed. If I don't grind to 50% consumption progress today, I won't sleep."

One hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Three hours passed.

It was lunchtime. Feng Mu reluctantly stopped his training. [Current Consumption Progress: 42.7%].

This time, a chill invaded the base of his left leg. The muscles of his left thigh were stretched out by the thickening bone, and although it still fell short of fully catching up to his right leg, he no longer limped when walking. His center of gravity had returned to the central axis.

With his left leg cold and his right leg cold, inside the sweltering incinerator, he felt as if he were in an ice cellar—calm, without a shred of desire or distraction. Another hidden benefit of the Iron Eater: the suppression of carnal desire. There was no room for women in his heart. Feng Mu figured he could find a book on celibacy training to practice later; it might be a perfect match, allowing his cultivation to progress by leaps and bounds.

He went to the cafeteria for lunch with Wang Jian. On the way, Feng Mu suddenly asked, "The Green Wolf Gang questioned me today."

Wang Jian was looking down at his phone, answering absentmindedly, "Oh, what did they ask?"

Feng Mu replied, "Not much different from what they asked you that day."

The conversation ended. While eating, Wang Jian didn't say much, keeping his head down and glancing at his phone notifications from time to time. Feng Mu noticed that Wang Jian seemed distracted, as if his soul had been snatched away by his phone.

*It doesn't look like he betrayed me,* Feng Mu thought. *Otherwise, he would be guilty and show intense interest in the fact that I was questioned by the Green Wolf Gang today.*

Feng Mu’s mind raced. He glanced at Wang Jian’s phone screen with an indifferent expression. It was a new group chat created after their dinner party last week. Feng Mu had forgotten to go that day, so he wasn't in it.

*So, they created a new group and I'm the only one missing, huh?* Feng Mu was speechless, recalling the familiarity of his past life where a work team would have five colleagues and nine group chats.

An overly sensitive person might be suspicious, thinking they were isolating him or talking behind his back. Feng Mu didn't think that way; he felt it had nothing to do with him and stopped being curious, focusing on his meal.

*The person Wang Jian betrayed must be in that new group,* he mused. *Who could it be? Luo Ji? A student who suddenly joined the advance team and even gave his classmates parting gifts—it does seem abnormal. Ah, whatever, don't think about it. It’s none of my business.*

After eating, Feng Mu returned to the incinerator. During his lunch break, he practiced his forging exercises three more times.

***

[Consumption Progress ↑↑]
[Current Consumption Progress: 43.7%]

His left leg had been fully covered; his two legs were now completely symmetrical. All that remained were his left arm, his buttocks, his head, and... oh, that was it. There were no bones there, just spongy tissue.

"I can finish the full-body skeletal iron-plating today."

Feng Mu’s heart surged. He wanted to tear off the gauze and rip the hemostatic medicine and blood scabs right out of the wounds. But he dismissed the thought; that was too masochistic. Most importantly, he couldn't let his muscles stop growing just because he wanted to lose blood—that would be too damaging to his right hand.

*I can find a way to control blood loss without causing trauma later, like buying some syringes at the hospital,* Feng Mu calculated.

In the afternoon, Wang Jian never appeared. It was unclear if he had gone to see his father or had skipped work. Feng Mu didn't ask and didn't care; he was immersed in the thrill of [Consumption Progress ↑↑]. The double arrows were truly addictive; he couldn't stop even for a moment.

Along the way, he transported three Calamity Corpses, which successively yielded two black cores—one large and one small, the large one like an apple core, the small one like a date pit.

"My luck is exploding today, too." Feng Mu sighed, tucking the two black cores into his pocket. Even though Wang Jian wasn't there, he wouldn't pocket the one that belonged to him. Since it was a rule they had set together, he didn't want to break it easily.

After incinerating the corpses and packaging the ashes, he continued to train until he got off work.

He clocked out quickly without lingering. Feng Mu pedaled his bicycle until the wind whistled. He had originally planned to sign up for a martial arts gym after work; after all, martial arts experience couldn't be gained by working behind closed doors—it required the accumulation of combat. Martial arts gyms were places that provided pseudo-combat experience. He couldn't afford it before, but now, with tens of thousands in savings, he could easily afford a regular membership.

But at this moment, he was eager to return home. His heart was set on breaking the 50% consumption progress threshold tonight; other plans would have to be postponed.

Except for one thing: when he passed a shop, he bought a burner phone. This couldn't be delayed; he had to collect "homework" from Ma Wei tonight and ask about the "Limping Man."

The bicycle tires screeched as he arrived at the building. Feng Mu bounded up the stairs, returned home, wolfed down his dinner, and locked himself in his bedroom.

He took out his phone and checked the time: March 25th, 8:43 PM.

[Current Consumption Progress: 45.4%].

Tonight was destined to be a historic moment...