High-level martial arts: Starting with a heart of steel, stats crush everything.

"wait..."

Before Xu Jiao'er could even utter a word, she witnessed a scene she would never forget.

Chen Mo pounced on the flock of carrion crows like a tiger, but the crows burst apart like fragile bubbles under Chen Mo's longsword.

[Dealt 12020 damage! Maximum health increased by 1442!]

That's right, it exploded.

It's hard to imagine that someone could be so terrible at handling weapons; those carrion crows were literally killed by Chen Mo with the blade of his knife.

"All done, call it a day." Chen Mo brushed the meat splattered on him off and nodded at Xu Jiao'er.

"Go on, let me see your skills in handling prey."

"...?" Xu Jiao'er's big eyes were full of doubt. How was she supposed to deal with the fact that you had smashed her into a pulp?

Could she possibly find something useful in that pile of minced meat?

This is utter nonsense!

"Ahem, Chen Mo, these carrion crows are already useless." Xu Jiao'er coughed lightly, but still went over to look for anything of value.

"You used too much force. These carrion crows are only good for fertilizer. Everything of value in them has been destroyed by your punch."

After searching for a while, Xu Jiao'er came to the above conclusion.

"It's not my fault, those carrion crows were too weak." Chen Mo shrugged helplessly. He had only used his strength once, and the carrion crows exploded on their own.

He really didn't use any force.

"Tsk, so little..."

After killing the five carrion crows, Chen Mo's health only increased by 7212 points. It's still the most satisfying to use the "Iron Heart" buff.

"Let's go, let's continue deeper."

Chen Mo waved his hand. The stench of corpses was no longer strong in the vicinity. Even if there were any abyssal beasts, they were probably just a few small fish and shrimp.

Why not find a larger group to have some fun?

"Wait a minute!" Just as Chen Mo was about to leave, Xu Jiao'er suddenly called out to him.

"What's wrong?" Chen Mo turned around and saw Xu Jiao'er rummaging through a large pile of rotting corpses.

"No way, it's actually purple-stemmed grass?"

Xu Jiao'er used a unique method to pluck a beautiful flower from the pile of corpses.

The flower's stems were purplish-red, while its petals were a vibrant green.

Why are level-two medicinal herbs appearing in a level-one area?

Xu Jiao'er was stunned for a moment, then her expression changed drastically.

"Chen Mo, let's leave quickly, the energy tide is coming!" After Xu Jiao'er put away the purple stem grass, she grabbed Chen Mo and tried to leave.

"What's wrong? Why are you making such a fuss?" But Chen Mo was not someone that Xu Jiao'er, a peak level one martial artist, could pull away. He simply picked up Xu Jiao'er's backpack and lifted her up.

"I know why there are so many teams entering the Abyss Rift today—there's an energy tide!"

Xu Jiao'er was a little flustered, but she still explained her current situation.

"Under the influence of energy tides, medicinal herbs that normally only appear in the deep abyss will appear in the shallow abyss, that is, the first-level to fourth-level zones."

"But the energy tides will also drive the abyssal beasts from the deep abyss to the shallows, which will greatly increase the danger level of the shallow abyss."

"Although the risks and rewards are proportional, it would be troublesome if the two of us were surrounded by abyssal beasts!"

Xu Jiao'er spoke very quickly, but not incoherently, and Chen Mo fully understood the current situation.

"Those teams need at least five people to ensure they can escape if they are surrounded by abyssal beasts."

"And, and..."

Xu Jiao'er gritted her teeth, took out the purple-stemmed grass from her bag, and threw it on the ground.

"Hey! How could you waste this!" Chen Mo quickly picked up the purple-stemmed grass, dusted it off, and was about to stuff it into Xu Jiao'er's large backpack.

"No, no, we can't bring the medicinal herbs!"

Xu Jiao'er grabbed Chen Mo's wrist with both of her little hands and shook her head like a rattle drum.

"This second-grade medicinal herb emits a unique aroma that attracts abyssal beasts."

"It's too dangerous to carry this with us, let's just throw it away and retreat!"

"Don't speak yet." After hearing Xu Jiao'er's explanation, Chen Mo suddenly felt that this energy tide was a good thing.

After rubbing his chin and giving it some serious thought, Chen Mo made a very important decision.

That means taking advantage of the energy tide to attract more Abyss Beasts to stack steel!

"Don't worry, nothing will happen with me here." Chen Mo rubbed Xu Jiao'er's head and stuffed the purple-stemmed grass into her backpack.

"But..." Xu Jiao'er wanted to say something more, but after thinking about it, she shut up.

It's impossible for her to go back alone. Without the protection of combat personnel, a logistics worker like her would most likely end up as a pile of poop left by the Abyss Beast.

"Fine..." Xu Jiao'er sighed. Who told her to get on Chen Mo's pirate ship?

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Chen Mo and Xu Jiao'er had already ventured deep into the edge of the Level 3 area.

"Chen Mo, we're in the Level 4 area in another 35 kilometers. Should we continue?"

Xu Jiao'er put on a new gas mask and turned to look at Chen Mo, who was covered in blood, and asked.

"Continue, and turn back when we reach the edge of the shallow abyss."

After several days of fighting, Chen Mo's shirt was filthy beyond recognition.

Since there was no water in this godforsaken place called Shallow Abyss, Chen Mo had no choice but to give up his shirt.

"Okay." Xu Jiao'er put her huge backpack back on and followed Chen Mo happily.

"We've reached 160,000. Let's retreat after another 20,000."

Although the battles these past few days have mostly been one-hit kills, they have still taken a toll on Chen Mo's stamina.

He's not a perpetual motion machine; even if his health doesn't decrease at all, his stamina still needs to be restored.

Currently, there are approximately 160 billion abyssal beasts in the entire shallow abyss. However, the abyssal rifts are so vast that even when Chen Mo actively searched for them, he only found about fifty.

Most of them were level one or two abyss beasts; we only encountered one level three abyss beast.

Rumble!

The earth suddenly began to tremble, and thick smoke rose from the distant border.

"What is that thing?" Chen Mo squinted and looked into the distance.

Dozens of warriors, each equipped with different gear, were seen running for their lives, as if something terrifying was chasing them.

As he got closer to Chen Mo, he finally saw what was behind those martial artists.

A giant rhinoceros that is at least six meters tall!

"A level four late-stage rhinoceros king!" Xu Jiao'er finally saw the appearance of the abyss beast and was so frightened that her hair stood on end.

"Late stage of level four?" Chen Mo stretched his shoulders. A late stage of level four Abyss Beast should be able to withstand a few more hits, right?

"Is that thing valuable?"

"This isn't about whether it's valuable or not, King of Rhinoceros Horns..."

Xu Jiao'er wanted to explain something, but Chen Mo interrupted her directly.

"Just tell me, are the parts from the Rhinoceros King worth anything?"

"Valuable, extremely valuable! Every part of its body is a treasure, and the rhinoceros horn of the Rhinoceros King is one of the main ingredients for a level-three Qi and Blood Pill!"

Xu Jiao'er nodded, but she didn't know why Chen Mo was asking about this.

Did he not know that the Rhinoceros Horn King, a late-stage Level 4 warrior, had once killed a early-stage Level 5 warrior?

"If it's valuable, that's enough. Find a place to hide, I'll be right back!"

After saying that, Chen Mo carried the long sword and charged forward.