CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 61: TEN THOUSAND JIN

A cool breeze drifted through the air, and the scent of blood pervaded the Butcher Court.

MOOO!

The giant elephant let out a long trumpeting cry, its trunk flailing.

The trunk, thick as a human leg, curled around a black iron pillar, causing the large cage, measuring two to three zhang square, to rattle and clunk loudly.

Chen Ku, along with five other apprentices from Workshop Number Three, slowly approached the elephant that stood three times the height of a man.

"Everyone, be careful," urged Qin Sheng, a sharp knife in his hand. He reminded them, "This is a fully grown adult elephant. A mere swing of its leg or a flick of its trunk can deliver a force of ten thousand jin, posing a life-threatening danger!"

Then, Qin Sheng explained which parts they would cut first. "Ensure the elephant’s skin is peeled off intact. It’s a very important ingredient for concocting the Life Blood Pill. Shortly, we will all start cutting simultaneously—from its neck, belly, legs, and anus."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ku volunteered to take the position for cutting the neck.

Qin Sheng’s instinct was to refuse.

After all, slaughtering an elephant was dozens of times more difficult than slaughtering a pig. Even a common pig required five or six people to hold it down during slaughter, let alone an elephant with the strength of ten thousand jin. If Chen Ku, who was valued by Master Ke, were to be seriously injured, Qin Sheng would have no way to explain it.

But Chen Ku said something that made Qin Sheng relent.

"Senior Brother Qin, surely you haven’t forgotten that I also possess a strength of more than four thousand jin, which I have now fully converted into Force Power. If I take the lead in killing, a single blow will be fatal, which actually minimizes the risk."

If Force Power was considered a flexible and adaptable strength, then raw physical strength was an undeniable asset. Although the others might have a higher Realm level of Force Power than Chen Ku, their Force Power, no matter how versatile, primarily relied on agility and change. This could manifest as being omnipresent, releasing power over a vast distance, or generating vibrations and tremors. But at its core, it was just a variety of maneuvers based on a strength of over a thousand jin. Unless they cultivated their Inner Qi further, they could not gain the additional boost of Qi Power.

So, Chen Ku’s statement was the plain truth.

Thus, the six apprentices squeezed into the large iron-pillar cage, which allowed them to enter at an angle.

"Begin!"

With Qin Sheng’s loud shout, all six people started cutting into the elephant at six different parts simultaneously. Their speed was incredible; relying on their human agility, they pounced in an instant. No animal in nature could match the coordination of humans, let alone six formidable Martial Practitioners.

MOOO!

In a flash, the elephant, one zhang tall, issued a piercingly high trumpeting cry that assaulted their eardrums!

WHOOSH!

Its massive trunk swung, wind and air currents swirling around it. Facing the threat of death, its body, like a small mountain, shook as if it could overturn the entire cage.

[Threat detected from the White Elephant aiming at the Diagram Master...]

Chen Ku, at the front, bore the full brunt of the immense oppressive force of the dying elephant. In the instant the trunk swung his way, he felt the air above his head compress!

The elephant’s frenzied rage in the face of death far exceeded a force of ten thousand jin!

Chen Ku swiftly drew the sharp knife across the elephant’s neck, and his entire body slid as if in a sliding kneel, passing between the elephant’s front legs...

TEAR!

As elephant blood spurted out, Chen Ku and the five apprentices danced with their bone-chopping butcher blades. Simultaneously, after the initial slices, their blades bounced and trembled...

BANG!

The elephant’s flesh was cut open at six spots almost instantaneously. It collapsed to the ground like a falling iron tower, still struggling and gasping for breath...

All six people dodged to safety.

My opportunity! I must personally deal the killing blow to obtain the Evil Qi!

Chen Ku, seeing that the elephant had not yet taken its last breath, quickly moved from the neck wound to the gaping opening in its belly. He slid his Blood Blade Finger through flesh and bone, thrusting half of his body into the elephant’s innards...

With the sharpness of the Blood Blade.

His Blade Finger moved along the connections between the organs as smoothly as cutting paper or slicing tofu!

He severed the elephant’s heart.

And caught it as it fell into his hand!

The heart, the size of a basin, was plucked out by Chen Ku from amidst the innards.

Even then, Chen Ku felt somewhat anxious.

Not until words flowed into his Heart Sea and he saw a wisp of the White Elephant’s ethereal form entering the space between his eyebrows did he finally feel completely relieved.

[The Diagram Master has slain a fully grown White Elephant, acquiring one stream of Ferocious Beast Level Evil Qi...]

Holding the basin-sized elephant heart, drenched in blood, Chen Ku crawled out from the elephant’s belly.

"Junior Brother Chen! Well done! That knife work—you removed the heart in a single, clean stroke!"

The other apprentices, including Qin Sheng, all gave Chen Ku a thumbs-up when they saw him emerge with the heart.

After all, an elephant’s life force is incredibly tenacious. Even when it falls, it might not die immediately. If it isn’t completely killed, there’s still the risk of a fatal kick during dissection. They hadn’t expected Chen Ku, who was both skilled and bold, to kill an elephant on his first try. He started from the neck, then dove into its belly to remove the heart with quick, clean cuts, showing no hesitation or delay.

This is for my own good, too... Chen Ku thought.

Qin Sheng looked at Chen Ku, who was covered in the elephant’s blood—smeared all over his face and clothes, making him look like a butcher who had crawled out of a pool of blood—and teased him a bit, "Junior Brother, thanks to you, we all saved a lot of effort today. Now it’s time for the dissection. We won’t need many people for that; three will be enough. You look a bit frightening like this. Go wash up..."

Chen Ku wrinkled his nose, clearly disgusted by the smell of blood on him. He wiped the blood from his mouth and nose and replied without fuss, "Okay, I’ll go wash now. If you need help again next time, just let me know."

"Certainly!" Qin Sheng said, a hint of apology in his tone, as it felt like he had been ordering Chen Ku around.

But Chen Ku wished for more opportunities like this; they were too rare.

「 」

Before long, he was in the bathhouse behind Medicine King Hall. He found a small pool, soaked himself in it, and began washing the blood from his body, all while multitasking...

He immediately hung the White Elephant on the second Transformation Diagram.

[White Elephant Transformation! Transform!]

[White Elephant: A mature ferocious beast, towering high with white tusks. Fond of destroying houses and walls, uprooting trees on sight, and toppling walls on encounter. A single shake of its body exudes the force of ten thousand jin.]

[White Elephant Transformation·Shapeshifting]

[Shapeshifting Part: Tusks (cutting wood and crushing bone)]

Chen Ku felt his teeth had become sturdier. If he overlaid the Fierce Tiger Transformation’s dental attributes, he felt he could directly become a wild man and compete with various large predators in biting strength.

[Nine more streams of Ferocious Beast Level Evil Qi are needed to reach the Transformation Level.]

Chen Ku counted the Evil Qi stored in the Transformation Diagram: forty-six streams of Wild Beast Level Evil Qi and nineteen streams of Ferocious Beast Level Evil Qi...

Giant Lizard, Giant Sloth, Giant Musk Deer, Giant Python...

One after another, streams of Ferocious Beast Level Evil Qi were channeled by Chen Ku into the White Elephant Transformation.

A total of nine!

[White Elephant Transformation has reached Transformation Level.]

[Can transform into White Elephant.]

If Chen Ku were to transform here in the bathhouse, not only would the small, one-person bath pool collapse under him, but the roof overhead would also be flipped by the sudden appearance of another massive white elephant.

So, he did not transform immediately.

But he knew just from looking at the Transformation Diagram.

[White Elephant Transformation Level]

[Human Form Abilities: Power of One Elephant, Tusks (cutting wood and crushing bone), Feet (heavy as a thousand jin), Eyes (nearsighted), Skin (thick-skinned), Trunk (agile and sensitive smell), Ears (flap to dissipate heat)...]

Apart from the overarching [Power of One Elephant], the other abilities derived from the elephant were a mixed bag, some good, some bad, much like the Skinny Dog Transformation.

But fortunately, Chen Ku now had two diagrams, which he could use to complement each other. For example, the Night Vision and visual acuity from the Skinny Dog and Spirit Ape Transformations could compensate for the elephant’s nearsightedness. At the same time, while the elephant’s thick and powerful legs were difficult to use for explosive bursts of speed on their own, adding the explosive limb strength from the Fierce Tiger or Skinny Dog Transformation could compensate for this.

That was the benefit of being able to overlay two diagrams.

Right now, the greatest strength I can achieve by overlaying two diagrams is the Power of One Elephant and One Tiger!

Chen Ku tried it, deactivating the Skinny Dog Transformation and replacing it with the Fierce Tiger Transformation.

The Power of One Elephant: a simple shake of his body could exert a force of ten thousand jin.

The Power of One Tiger: an explosive burst could also generate three thousand jin of strength.

Combined with his own cultivated strength of one thousand five hundred jin.

In my current state, with maximum augmentation, I have a strength of fourteen thousand five hundred jin.

He got out of the bath, dried himself, and returned to his room. There, he once again hefted the thousand-jin staff.

Previously, without the Power of One Elephant, possessing at most four to five thousand jin of strength, he had found it difficult to wield effectively, even with both hands. The Skyward Strike, a combat skill utilizing Secretly Transmitted Force Power, could only be executed two or three times before his strength would fade.

Now, with the combined Power of One Elephant and One Tiger, executing it felt effortless!

With my current strength, even without Inner Qi, this brute force of over ten thousand jin... I should be able to smash Huang Gun to death with a single strike of the staff.