WHIR—
The telescopic baton in Lin Yi's hand cut through the air with a piercing sound as he smashed it down viciously toward the Cat Demon.
A crimson light flashed in the Cat Demon's eyes.
It leaped nimbly to the side.
But before it could regain its footing, the corner of Lin Yi's mouth curved upward.
He followed up with a vicious kick aimed straight at the Cat Demon.
"Just as I thought. Not too bright, are you!"
The kick landed, confirming Lin Yi's inner thoughts.
Demonic beasts of too low a realm didn't have very high intelligence.
Although their physical strength was a cut above that of humans,
with a little bit of cleverness, one could easily play them like a fiddle.
Of course, that was only on the premise that their realm wasn't high and their strength was comparable.
Otherwise, you'd just be the one getting slaughtered...
The kick didn't do much damage to the Cat Demon, but it did infuriate it.
Still, it was hung up on one thing. 'Why isn't tonight's 'prey' afraid of me? Why hasn't he chosen to run?'
While the Cat Demon was still trying to figure it out, Lin Yi closed in again.
The baton in his hand whistled through the air, forcing the Cat Demon to continuously retreat and dodge.
The slightest carelessness, and the baton would smash into its body.
While it couldn't inflict major damage, the sharp pain was unforgettable...
"AWOO~"
The Cat Demon grew furious and let out a roar.
Completely ignoring the baton in Lin Yi's hand, it pounced directly at him.
RIP—
Lin Yi couldn't dodge in time, and the clothes on his chest were torn open by its sharp claws again.
His shirt was shredded, and blood seeped from the claw marks.
Lin Yi retreated a few steps and glanced down.
The piercing pain made his expression turn incredibly grim.
His cold gaze landed on the Cat Demon once more.
In that instant, the Cat Demon actually retreated a few steps in fear.
Its eyes even darted toward the baton in Lin Yi's hand...
"Death wish!"
Lin Yi spat out the two words through gritted teeth.
With that, he charged at the Cat Demon again.
As the baton descended upon the Cat Demon as expected,
the Cat Demon instinctively raised its forelimbs to block.
BANG—
With a dull thud, the baton landed heavily on the Cat Demon's forelimbs.
"Aah..."
A bloodcurdling scream pierced the silent night sky.
Lin Yi had put his full strength into that strike.
It felt like the Cat Demon's bones were about to break.
Giving the Cat Demon no chance to breathe, he rained down blow after blow with the baton.
At first, the Cat Demon could still block with its forelimbs.
Gradually, both its limbs gave up resisting.
The baton fell mercilessly upon the Cat Demon's head...
Until Lin Yi himself couldn't remember how many times he had struck.
He didn't stop until he saw the Cat Demon's head beaten to a bloody pulp, its limp corpse lying on the ground.
Only then did Lin Yi slowly stop.
He panted heavily, staring at the Cat Demon's corpse on the ground.
This was the first time he had ever killed a demonic beast with his own hands.
Yet, looking at the Cat Demon's corpse that he had brutally beaten to death, he felt nothing at all.
Not a single strange feeling.
After a long while, when Lin Yi had regained his senses and his breathing had evened out,
he finally recovered from his frenzied state.
[Congratulations, you have slain a Tier 3 demonic beast]
[Would you like to plunder a Talent Trait?]
[Brutality (Blue): Possesses severe violent tendencies. Combat effectiveness increases when enraged.]
[Hunter (Gold): This is a title for a type of hunter. They often appear at night, taking pleasure in the hunt and enjoying the process of killing...]
[Roof-hopping and Wall-walking (Purple): Allows one to move across eaves and walls as if on flat ground.]
When the three traits appeared before Lin Yi,
he'd already seen the first two before.
But the third trait hadn't appeared previously.
'It only becomes available to plunder after killing the Cat Demon? What's going on?'
Lin Yi was puzzled. 'Could it be that Roof-hopping and Wall-walking is an innate talent trait of the Cat Demon? So it only manifests after it's been killed?'
But compared to the first two traits,
the third one, [Roof-hopping and Wall-walking], was much more suitable for the current Lin Yi.
The first one was like a ticking time bomb.
Possessing such a trait would make his emotions extremely unstable.
Irritable, quick to anger, and prone to flying into a rage at any moment.
He wouldn't be able to control his own emotions.
'And it comes with violent tendencies? For me, a skill like that is practically useless.' He decisively chose to give it up.
As for the second skill, [Hunter], it seemed to be a trait only demonic beasts possessed.
They often treated humans as food.
As hunters, they reveled in the despair and fear displayed by humans, slowly enjoying the game and the slaughter, which brought them immense satisfaction.
He decisively gave that up too...
Of the three talent traits, only [Roof-hopping and Wall-walking] was left.
And it was the only trait that was actually valuable to Lin Yi.
So Lin Yi made his choice immediately.
[Congratulations, you have plundered the 'Roof-hopping and Wall-walking' trait.]
After the notification sound faded,
Lin Yi didn't feel any change in his body.
Then, he opened his personal panel.
[Name: Lin Yi]
[Occupation: Student]
[Part-time: Demon Hunter (Transformation in progress 11%)]
[Martial Arts Realm: 0-Star 4th-Tier]
[Qi and Blood: 78%]
[Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique (Perfection), Basic Leg Technique (Perfection)]
[Talent Traits: Absolute Focus (Purple), Heaven-defying Comprehension (Purple), Destiny (Gold), Fist Mastery (Blue), Godspeed (Blue), Wall-walking (Purple)]
[Plundered Trait: Wall-walking]
Lin Yi looked at his personal panel and noticed a new [Part-time] section had appeared.
'Did the [Demon Hunter] part-time job appear because of what I'm doing right now?'
'It's still transforming, so I probably haven't met all the requirements yet.'
'I'll study it more carefully once it's complete.'
Additionally, Lin Yi discovered that his Qi and Blood value had increased again.
Before he left home, his Qi and Blood was only at 68%, just 2% higher than before.
But now, it had suddenly jumped to 78%—a full 10% increase.
This came as a pleasant surprise to Lin Yi.
"Could it be that slaying a demonic beast also increases my Qi and Blood?"
A smile gradually spread across Lin Yi's face.
If he could really increase his Qi and Blood by slaying demonic beasts,
it wouldn't be long before he could get his Qi and Blood to 100% at the 4th-Tier and break through directly into the One-Star Realm.
Reaching the One-Star Realm would give him a huge advantage in the martial arts exam three months from now.
Passing the exam would no longer be a difficult task.
If he could even break through to the 2-Star Realm before the exam,
he might even be admitted to a Martial Arts University early with an exception.
Reaching the 2-Star Realm was something almost impossible for most students.
What kind of monster talent would it take to achieve that?
Normally, for a third-year high school student,
reaching the One-Star Realm before the martial arts exam was already considered excellent.
They would have basically no problem with the exam itself.
But the 2-Star Realm was something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.
A flicker of hope ignited in Lin Yi's deep eyes.
"Others may not be able to do it, but maybe I can..."
「The next moment.」
He leaped into the air, his body as light as a swallow.
With a few bounds, he vanished into the night.