Chapter 44: Challenging Foes Beyond Her Level

With the double jump ability, the soul corpse could no longer keep up with Yun Qing’s speed. She deliberately sought out steep spots to leap across, making it difficult for the soul corpse to pursue her. Yet there weren’t many such places, and for now she couldn’t shake it off completely.

In this chase, Yun Qing was driven out of the Ye Family Village’s cultivated area and into the poisonous wheat fields.

Suddenly, a pit appeared ahead. By her estimation, it was seven or eight meters deep and four or five meters wide, its interior filled with weeds shrouded in black mist. The sides were sheer and impossible to climb.

A plan formed in Yun Qing’s mind: “Liu Liu, I can lure it into the pit and finally get rid of it.”

“Yes, these artificially dumb soul corpses—you’ll have no trouble getting it to fall in,” Liu Liu replied.

The soul corpse she encountered was, as Liu Liu put it, an “artificial idiot,” with low intelligence and an instinctive urge to devour other living things to grow stronger.

Yun Qing considered her own physical strength. The ground was muddy and covered in grass; jumping down shouldn’t be a problem.

She waited a moment until the soul corpse drew near, and as its sonic howl began to affect her, she leapt forward.

In a flash, she landed freely in the pit, unhurt. Unexpectedly, the earth below was so loose that her momentum drove her legs half a foot deep into the mud.

She couldn’t pull herself free at once, and as she looked up, the soul corpse jumped after her.

If it landed on her, she’d either be bitten to death or crushed.

In that critical moment, Yun Qing mentally commanded, “Use the jump skill!”

The thought barely formed when her body shot up from the ground.

A ripping sound echoed behind her; the soul corpse’s sharp claws had torn through her coarse beast-hide tunic. Fortunately, she wore the original owner’s high-grade clothes underneath, so her back wasn’t scratched.

A heavy thud sounded next; without looking, she knew the soul corpse had landed in the pit.

As she ascended, her feet felt cold—the soul corpse must have been reaching up for her. The loose mud that trapped her for a moment could just as easily hinder the soul corpse.

Yun Qing found footing less than three meters up the pit wall and performed a second jump, clearing five meters this time.

Danger hadn’t passed. Seeing she couldn’t leap out entirely, Yun Qing quickly extended her hands and grabbed the pit’s edge.

Her hands grasped only loose earth, offering no support. Even with her feet on the pit wall, she slid uncontrollably downward.

She concentrated, summoned a sharp wooden stake into her hand, and drove it forcefully into the soil. Her body finally halted, but she’d already slid nearly a meter.

She was stable for the moment, but the stake wasn’t deeply embedded; much earth had already been displaced, and it wouldn’t hold her weight for long.

Sure enough, she began sliding again. Yun Qing desperately stabbed more stakes into the soil, hoping to slow her descent.

Below, the soul corpse unleashed sonic attacks that left Yun Qing dizzy.

She steadied herself, waited for the jump skill to cool down, and silently commanded, “Use jump!”

Having slid two meters, Yun Qing’s body was propelled upward by the skill, and as she neared the pit’s edge, she used the second jump to clear the rim, soaring several meters into the air.

She controlled her landing, choosing a safe spot and touching down smoothly.

Looking to the side, she saw Liu Liu beside her, though she had no idea when he’d arrived.

“Liu Liu, how did you get up here?”

“I never went down,” he replied.

Yun Qing shot him a look, at a loss for words.

Having shaken off the soul corpse, Yun Qing intended to return to her team. But seeing the soul corpse trapped in the pit reminded her of an old dream—to catch a high-level monster that couldn’t resist and throw stones at it to farm combat experience.

Now, the soul corpse in the pit was just that—helpless, and perfect for grinding combat experience.

Yun Qing was overjoyed, laughing aloud. “Liu Liu, hahaha, I caught a high-level monster!”

Liu Liu thought: Humans are so strange. Just a moment ago she was unhappy, now she’s ecstatic.

Regardless of what Liu Liu thought, Yun Qing pulled out a handful of stones.

She took aim; the stone’s targeting reticle settled on the soul corpse’s neck. Its legs were still stuck in the mud below.

-5;
“Combat experience +40!”

The damage was similar to when she used arrows. This time, she was closer and had more leverage, plus she’d charged up her throw. Whether with stones or arrows, she still couldn’t break its defense.

-6;
“Combat experience +48!”

Watching the immobilized soul corpse below, Yun Qing extended her right hand, palm down, and mentally summoned a large stone from her system backpack, where it had sat for days.

The large stone crashed down, dealing much more force than her small throws.

-50;
“Combat experience +400!”

The stone landed atop the soul corpse’s head, delivering a critical hit and driving its legs deeper into the mud.

Its health bar wasn’t as thick as she’d imagined; after repeated strikes with big and small stones, she could see the health visibly decreasing. Thankfully, the soul corpse didn’t regenerate in real time, giving Yun Qing hope she could kill it.

Back in the village, she’d witnessed these creatures heal after consuming human flesh.

Looking around, she spotted another large stone nearby, bigger than the previous one.

She stored it in her system’s backpack, then hurled it down at the soul corpse’s position.

Having been struck once, the soul corpse seemed to realize the stones could harm it and began to struggle violently.

-60;
“Combat experience +480!”

Before it could move freely again, another large stone struck it, and its health bar shrank further. Unfortunately, there were no more large stones nearby.

Meanwhile, the soul corpse had managed to pull itself out of the mud.

“Roar, roar!” it howled angrily, charging at Yun Qing’s wall, attempting to climb. Yet the pit’s vertical, loose walls meant it could only ascend one or two meters before sliding back down.

Without large stones, Yun Qing had to rely on small ones, hoping quantity would win out.

The soul corpse below made no effort to dodge; it let the stones strike wherever they landed.

-5;
“Combat experience +40!”

...

Achievement unlocked: Throwing Specialist. Reward: 1 achievement point, 1 skill point.
Throwing Specialist: Score 20 consecutive hits with thrown objects.

-6;
“Combat experience +48!”

-5;
“Combat experience +40!”

“Congratulations, your combat level has risen to 22!”

Luckily, she always had the habit of picking up stones—otherwise, she’d have run out by now. Even so, her supply was dwindling.

...

Achievement unlocked: Deadeye. Reward: 1 achievement point, 1 skill point.
Deadeye: Score 100 consecutive hits with thrown objects.

At this point, the soul corpse’s health bar was down to less than one-third. Yun Qing had no intention of letting it heal; she continued to throw stones for experience.

-5;
“Combat experience +40!”

...

-6;
“Combat experience +2335!”