Chapter 25: The Lord's Hall

As Zhou Yan had expected, before dawn broke, two more Frostblade Fiends found their way to the house where he was hiding. The result was, of course, their swift and decisive demise at his hands. Now, with the dual stamina recovery effects of the "Perpetuation" path and the "Sustain" rune circuit, the durability of his life equipment was constantly regenerating. Outside of combat, the recovery effect of Perpetuation doubled. With such inexhaustible endurance as his backing, Zhou Yan’s fighting style became exceedingly brutal. The moment a Frostblade Fiend appeared before him, it would immediately suffer a terrifying home run swing, split in half on the spot. He would then finish it off with a quick combo to the head, granting it eternal peace. After a mere ten seconds’ rest, he would be in perfect condition once again.

Unfortunately, neither of the two Frostblade Fiends dropped anything of value. And there probably weren’t too many of them in the city to begin with—or perhaps the city was so large that only a few happened to roam through his section, stumbling upon him and thus meeting their end.

...

After a night of upheaval, the sky began to lighten. Zhou Yan opened his eyes, stretched, and stepped out of the house, passing over the corpses of three Frostblade Fiends. This time, he wasted no time. He left the alley and strode briskly up the main street, heading directly north. Occasionally, a few Snow Ghouls would spot his trail and give chase, but he didn’t slay them immediately. Instead, he waited until a sufficient number had gathered, then ducked into an alley to enact a one-man stand, holding back a horde all by himself. His metal bat danced through the air, leaving a dozen or more Snow Ghoul corpses piled in the narrow lane.

As he hurried onward, slaughtering as he went, Zhou Yan keenly noticed frightened glances peering out from the surrounding buildings. It seemed quite a few survivors were still holding on within the city. With this thought, he quickened his pace.

Soon, he crossed the northern street and arrived before a complex of buildings. The gate stood wide open, as if awaiting his arrival. Above it hung a massive plaque inscribed with three grand characters: City Lord’s Hall. To one side of the entrance stood an enormous drum, evoking in Zhou Yan’s mind the saying, "beat the drum to proclaim one’s grievance." He glanced up, then turned to dispatch the dozen or so Snow Ghouls that had trailed him.

Then, without hesitation, he stepped into the City Lord’s mansion. Passing through the gate, he entered a transverse courtyard, where he was immediately met by a group of a dozen or so pale-skinned Snow Ghouls all wearing identical uniforms. As Zhou Yan spotted them, they too saw him, and with a silent roar, they charged as one.

Zhou Yan cocked his head, raised his metal bat, and strode forward to meet them head-on. These Snow Ghouls, compared to those weapon-wielders who had been corrupted in the last Chaotic Calamity, were not much stronger. Aside from their savagery and bloodlust, their physical abilities and combat skills were little improved over their human selves. In fact, as "ancients" who had suffered from poor nutrition, most of their basic attributes were inferior to modern people’s. Only the Snow Ghouls’ innate "cold environment enhancement" made them slightly stronger than an ordinary person in these icy conditions—roughly a "10" in both "Physique" and "Agility."

But Zhou Yan, in his fused form, possessed attributes close to "30" in both areas—triple that of these underlings. In fighting competitions on Earth, even a ten-kilogram weight difference can create a huge disparity; when one’s entire physical capability is three times that of the opponent, the gap in actual combat power is unimaginably vast. Moreover, Zhou Yan wielded a metal bat of extraordinary toughness, his life equipment could absorb some damage for him, while his foes wore only simple cloth and were unarmed.

At this moment, he was a wolf among sheep. As the first Snow Ghoul lunged, the muscle memory he’d honed through days of practicing the Flowing Block technique kicked in—he barely needed to think. His bat thrust forward, smashing into the leading ghoul’s face with a bone-shattering blow that sent it flying, toppling another monster behind it. If he'd had a sword, the creature’s skull would have been pierced; as it was, the bat’s tip crushed its facial bones, sending it hurtling backward.

In the next instant, Zhou Yan spun in place, leaping with a reverse grip on his bat. He swept it sideways in a move he called "Kite Spin," blasting the heads of three charging Snow Ghouls in one go. Landing, he pivoted and brought the bat down in a heavy chop—"Eagle Slash!"—then stepped forward, flipped, and slashed upward—"Hawk Flip!"—felling two more. But five more fearless enemies surged toward him, nearly encircling him. Zhou Yan, utterly unperturbed, deftly twisted his lower legs and ankles—barely bending his knees—darting about like a sparrow to slip the encirclement—"Sparrow Step." In passing, he slammed his bat into a Snow Ghoul blocking his path, shattering its bones in a move called "Vulture Crush."

With his overwhelming physique, Zhou Yan unleashed the successive strikes of the Southbright Sword style, his footwork light and explosive, taking on ten at once with ease. In less than ten seconds, all the uniformed Snow Ghouls lay dead. He wiped the blood and gore from his bat on one of the corpses and let out a quiet breath.

Now, in his fused form and practiced in the Southbright Sword techniques, he could have dispatched his newly transformed self from his first journey into the Calamity in an instant. Martial training brought not just more exquisite moves and footwork, but also more efficient use of force. With equal body weight, someone trained in combat techniques can unleash more than twice the explosive power of an ordinary person.

"So this is martial prowess..." he murmured, striding toward the next set of buildings.

Soon he passed through another gate and entered a square surrounded on all sides by buildings. In its center stood a freestanding archway, inscribed with the words: Impartiality Breeds Clarity. "In ancient times, this was called the Admonition Arch," Zhou Yan mused.

While he pondered, the doors and windows of the buildings flanking the square burst open, and another horde of Snow Ghouls poured out, some clearly distinguished by finer uniforms—petty official Snow Ghouls. In life, these small officials outranked the others, but now their combat ability was inferior to the trained bailiff Snow Ghouls. Still, whether official or bailiff, beneath Zhou Yan’s bat, they were no different from watermelons.

He led them on a circuit around the Admonition Arch, the two or three dozen Snow Ghouls chasing in a dizzying whirl, until bat shadows flashed and heads exploded one after another. In truth, with mutations of this level, if not for the insidious and unpredictable "Furious Snow," they wouldn’t even be enough to trouble the smallest armed force in a modern city—let alone pose a real threat. Only in ancient times did they enjoy such unchecked power.

However...

Zhou Yan looked up again, fixing his gaze on the three Frostblade Fiends emerging from the public hall. If these creatures attacked together, they might pose at least some real threat.