A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

The environment of the Hunchback Mountain Swamp is extremely harsh, with wetlands, silt, and layers of humus... water ghosts, evil spirits, ghouls...

If he had a choice, Li De would rather wrestle with a hundred strong men in the mud than stay in this godforsaken place for even a minute longer.

But there was nothing he could do; he had accepted the bounty.

A naive young girl who idolizes love went missing a week ago.

Her parents did their best to describe their daughter's beauty and innocence, but Li De omitted the useless adjectives and descriptions and summarized her characteristics as follows: ambitious but unlucky, and dreaming all day long about marrying a nobleman.

Based on the clues he found, the couple's daughter must have gone into the swamp to find the legendary forest witch to grant her wish.

Frankly, this is a stupid move. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Most of those who claim to "help you achieve your wishes" are after something more precious, like your life.

Like the so-called witch of the woods, who outwardly pretends to be a patron saint but is actually an old witch who enjoys eating people.

Considering that the girl had been missing for more than a week, Li De guessed that she was most likely dead.

However, having accepted a commission, one should be loyal to the person who entrusted it; once the reward has been accepted, there is no reason to back out halfway.

Even if all else fails, we should still venture into the swamp to take a look. Maybe the other party is unlucky and gets attacked by monsters in the swamp before they even reach the old witch? In that case, at least we can bring back a handful of bones to appease them.

If you're "lucky" enough to stumble upon the old witch, then sorry, you'll definitely be eaten alive, leaving not a single hair behind. At most, you'll bring back a piece of clothing to build a cenotaph.

Of course, another important reason is that forest witches are good hunting targets.

With that in mind, he opened the panel and checked the current status.

Name: Li De

[Occupation: Witcher]

[Level: 13]

[Experience: 39.5%]

[Profession Traits: Mutation (After passing the Trial of the Grasses, all attributes are greatly increased, with the attribute bonus expanded to 25); Demon Hunter (For each monster that meets the following conditions, a special reward can be obtained: it possesses legendary status/great strength/high rarity.)]

[Attributes: Strength 21 | Agility 19 | Perception 18 | Vitality 18 | Willpower 20]

【技能：猎魔剑术Lv8、法印Lv7、鍊金术Lv6、冥想Lv8、猎魔学识Lv6】

[Specialties: Innate Magic Source (Signs are greatly enhanced in power due to the influence of primal magic and possess special effects); Bear Physique (Blunt damage taken is reduced by 35%, Strength +2); Bloodlust (Draws power from slaughter; restores 10% of lost health and stamina for each monster killed.)]

[Equipment: Goldwell (Silver Sword | Hand-and-a-Half Sword. A practice piece made by the dwarven master blacksmith Grey in his youth, it is still an excellent weapon. Special Enchantment - Fracture: Creates a sword aura when making a powerful slash, extending the attack range); Steel Sword - Unnamed (Steel Sword | Hand-and-a-Half Sword)]

Thinking back to when I first transmigrated, my five attributes combined weren't even as high as a single attribute I have now. My traits, skills, and feats were completely empty. I only managed to reach my current level by sacrificing countless monsters, building up my strength bit by bit.

Soon, the three cannibalistic monsters will also become his nourishment.

Just then, the bear head badge hanging on his chest began to vibrate, indicating the presence of magical fluctuations nearby. Presumably, it had sensed an uninvited guest, and the person in question had arrived in person.

"Fine, they've come to me of their own accord, saving me the trouble of going looking for them."

Li De closed the panel and cautiously scanned his surroundings.

Sure enough, a soft, melodious laugh echoed through the air, clear and elegant; just by listening, one could imagine how beautiful the person who spoke must be.

"Look, here comes a handsome young man."

"Hehehe, yes, look at his muscular physique, he looks really delicious..."

As we all know, the word "delicious" can have multiple meanings.

Li De was very confident in his charm; he had a face so handsome it could get him a free meal at a brothel. In an era where witchers were generally discriminated against, this was more real proof than any praise.

However, he felt that the monster's description of him as delicious was more likely an attempt to make him into dinner than an attraction to his handsome face.

"I'd love to play along with you, to achieve my goal without bloodshed. Who would want to draw their sword? But the thought of your ugly faces makes me so disgusted that I don't want to say another word."

Faced with the monster's teasing, Li De did not show any shyness or smugness, but instead gripped the hilt of his sword.

"I'll be frank. I'm looking for a girl with brown hair, freckles, big eyes, and wearing a blue dress. Hand over the person, or the remains, and I'll leave."

The three voices paused for a few seconds, then rang out again, now hoarse and dry, their tone no longer friendly, revealing their true colors.

"Gah gah gah, Witcher, you shouldn't have come here."

"No one can leave here after offending us."

"You mean Serena? That child smells so good."

"Want to take her back? Of course you can. We'll give you two choices: either bring three children to exchange for her, or leave yourself here."

"I'm fine with either one, I've never eaten a Witcher before."

"No, no, no, children taste better. Their meat is sweet, and their blood is even sweeter. The mutant freak has been soaked in monster blood and stinks all over."

The three voices, each offering their own opinion, steered the conversation towards a comparison of hellish delicacies.

His self-serving behavior made the Witcher laugh in exasperation.

"In this world, even a mouse on its deathbed dares to make demands of an old cat. I'll give you two choices: either hand over the person, or I'll bring back the heads of you three ugly monsters to report back."

The old witches' voices turned icy cold as they kept calling him ugly: "You ungrateful mutant freak, you might as well die here!"

"It seems everyone chose the second option."

Li De, who had no intention of peaceful coexistence, sneered and drew his silver sword with a "whoosh".

Soon, the enemy arrived. The old witches did not appear immediately, but instead summoned a group of monsters from the swamp, intending to test the witcher's abilities.

Golden Cat's Eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. Fiends, water ghosts, ghouls... this place was truly a monster's lair. In just the time it took to talk, a group of them had arrived, and judging from the sounds, even more monsters were on their way from afar.

Surrounded by so many monsters and with unknown powerful enemies lurking around, even professional demon hunters must proceed with caution.

Li De gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands, the blade already coated with carnivorous biological oil gleaming with an eerie light.

Two water ghosts pounced at the same time from the left and right. Li De's eyes narrowed, and he lightly stepped back.

The monsters, their eyes filled with blood and flesh, were caught off guard and collided with each other. Before they could even scream, a flash of silver light appeared, and an extremely dazzling sword light pierced through the darkness of the forest, passing through the monsters' necks.

The two water ghost heads flew into the air together, and foul-smelling green blood sprayed out from the severed necks.

Li De grinned menacingly, his cruel gaze startling even the mindless monster into a moment of hesitation.

Their movements faltered, but the Witcher didn't.

The longsword thrust straight in, the blade piercing precisely through the head of a ghoul.

At that moment, the Witcher's extraordinary senses detected the murderous intent behind him.

He whirled around, his longsword sweeping across the ghoul's head, pulling out half a clump of rotting brain matter. The blade traced a semi-circular arc in the air, severing the two ghouls that had attacked from behind in half.

"Aww!!"

The monster was incredibly resilient. Even after being cut in half at the waist, it didn't die immediately. Instead, dragging its intestines along the ground, it continued to crawl forward, attempting to tear a piece of flesh from the human in front of it.

Unfortunately, the silver sword was already effective against monsters, and the ghoul oil that had been coated on the blade beforehand was especially effective against water ghosts. After only a couple of attempts, it plunged headfirst into the water and remained motionless.

The crisis was not over. Another group of monsters arrived, even more numerous, and they were beginning to encircle the area.

Li De dodged a claw attack by sidestepping, while simultaneously coordinating his wrists, elbows, shoulders, lumbar spine, and ankles to wield his silver sword like a white streak, firmly blocking attacks from all directions.

If it extends its claws, cut them off; if it pokes its head out, slice off its head.

In an instant, screams rose and fell, and foul-smelling blood of blue and green splattered everywhere, staining the surrounding swampy waters. Severed limbs and fragments were scattered all over the ground, floating and sinking in the sewage.

His exquisite swordsmanship left even the old witches, who were spying from afar using magic, speechless with amazement.

In fact, a typical Bear School Witcher tends to wear heavy armor, wield a greatsword, and when in doubt, charge up and strike!

Anyway, most monsters aren't as physically strong or defensively capable as them. After drinking a bottle of Thunder Decoction, just go for it!

Li De's sword dance, which combines offense and defense, is considered somewhat unorthodox by the orthodox Xiong school.

This was also related to his master, that twisted, dark, and bloodthirsty old man from the Bear School, who hadn't taught him anything at all. Most of his skills were learned from a Wolf School master—Vesemir.

Of course, he also didn't forget the core skills of the Xiong school.

Just as the monsters were mostly cleared out, only the two giant ghouls in front of him were still charging towards him recklessly.

Li De's eyes flashed, his sword dance posture stopped abruptly, his longsword was raised high, his feet stood one in front of the other, his body slightly bent backward, and his whole body was like a fully drawn bow.

The giant ghoul drew ever closer, but the Witcher remained motionless.

The two monsters were within a step of each other when the attack erupted instantly!

The already sharp longsword was swung so fast that it was too fast for the naked eye to follow. The giant ghoul in front even took another step before it was split vertically in two from the middle of its body.

Not only that, the expensive buff that alchemists applied to the longsword also played a significant role, as the orange-red sword energy extended the weapon's killing range considerably, slicing the head of another giant ghoul in half.

bass!

Li De gently shook his sword, flicking off the green blood from its surface.

Thus, not a single one of the first batch of thirty-odd monsters remained. The putrid stench unique to carnivorous creatures wafted through the air, and even the mindless monsters were too frightened to take another step forward, instead howling as they fled back to their lair.