Completing the Path of Glory was a great feat that consumed a lot of physical energy.

  Even clan warriors would often be exhausted.

  Winning first place, Leaf was entitled to supplies and rewards, such as unlimited amount of fried mandrake fruits and condensed milk that had been refined from totem beast milk.

  The latter was a delicacy that was extremely difficult for the rat people to enjoy, and it contained an extremely rich amount of energy.

  Its sweetness was like a flood that burst through a dam, rushing into Leaf’s throat.

  In the past, the rat youth would have devoured the food without a care.

  However, after Meng Chao’s modulation, Leaf understood the principle of chewing slowly to promote digestion and absorption.

  Looking at his restrained eating style, Ice Storm was even more surprised.

  There was no information on Leaf in the training camp.

  After all, thousands of rat people were captured and brought to Black-corner City every day. Most of them would be exhausted within a year or so.

  No one had the patience to “register” these consumables.

  They were just small rat people.

  Ice Storm could just personally ask the youth for his name and background.

  Facing the Blood Skull Arena’s ace, Leaf was a bit reserved.

  When he thought of the Reaper’s words, though, he felt unafraid of anything and told her his background.

  It was not out of Ice Storm’s expectations.

  If the era of prosperity only lasted for a few years, the veterans of the previous era of glory would still be around. Even the rat people would remember the pleasure of killing and the glory of conquering.

  In that case, as long as the horn was blown and a call was issued in the new era of glory, the rat people hiding in the ravines would swarm over and take the initiative to form an endless army of cannon fodder.

  However, the last era of prosperity had been too long.

  It was so long that all the veterans had died. No one remembered the glory of war, especially the cowardly and incompetent rat people.

  They were already used to their roles of growers and gatherers. They were used to a peaceful life, and they were accustomed to laughter, singing, and games. They might not be willing to respond to the clan’s call to arms, but they would use their corpses to pave the way for the lords’ glory.

  Therefore, Black-corner City had sent out enlistment squads to all the rat settlements.

  On one hand, they could train the enlistment squads’ ability to travel long distances and ambush.

  On the other, they could “take care” of the old, weak, sick, and disabled, so that those who did not have the ability to fight would not continue to waste precious food.

  Besides, they had also cut off the path of retreat for the middle-aged rat people so that they no longer needed to worry about their famished families. Instead, driven by hatred, they could become bloodthirsty killing machines, wholeheartedly working together with the masters to seize supreme glory.

  There was no problem with the youth’s identity.

  So, where did he learn all his skills from?

  Ice Storm pondered for a moment before she looked at Leaf and said, “In the previous two days, you lost quite a few tests on purpose.”


  That was not a question.

  That was a confirmation.

  Leaf was slightly startled, but he nodded.

  “Why?” Ice storm asked curiously.

  “With your strength, you had a chance to be chosen by a gladiator and become a true servant. Why did you deliberately lose the test and continue to stay here?”


  “Because I still need to rest.”


  Leaf said, “I just clawed my way out of the dungeon. My body is full of wounds, and my stomach is empty. I haven’t recovered at all.

  “If I’m chosen by the gladiators too early, I’ll immediately be driven to the arena and have a real battle.

  “I’m not afraid of other rat people. However, if we get swept away by the gladiators’ aftershock or get asked to test new tactics and new weapons, we might be injured or killed even if dozens of us go up against a totem beast.

  “Therefore, I would rather rest here for a few more days and recover first.”


  “Rest?”


  Ice Storm was stunned for a moment. She glanced around at the rat soldiers who were gritting their teeth. Their veins bulged, and they even foamed at the mouth while they trained. “Do you think that training here is actually a kind of rest?” she asked in disbelief.

  “That’s right.”


  Leaf nodded obediently.

  The Reaper had grabbed his wrist and injected a large amount of lightning-like power into his body, tearing his flesh apart and condensing it again.

  The so-called high-intensity training there was indeed a kind of rest.

  “Besides, I don’t like those gladiators. I don’t want to follow them.” Leaf swallowed a fried mandrake fruit that was covered in condensed milk and picked up the next one.

  Without realizing, he had already swallowed twenty-two sweet and greasy mandrake fruits in a refined manner.

  His stomach swelled up and relaxed repeatedly as it rumbled.

  The condensed milk and the fruit that had disappeared were all transformed into the purest energy, which slowly circulated in his body along the path that Meng Chao had pointed out.

  Leaf’s words sounded a little arrogant.

  As a rat servant, he did not have the right to be picky about his master.

  However, he was the strongest among the rat people there.

  The strong always had the power to slightly cross the line.

  “Why?”


  Ice Storm was not angry. She asked with interest, “Why don’t you like them?”


  “They are not strong enough.”


  Leaf shrugged and said, “I just want to follow an ace, an ace like you, Lady Ice Storm.”


  Ice storm laughed.

  “It’s true.”


  Leaf was afraid that she would not believe him, so he seriously said, “When I first arrived in the Blood Skull Arena, I heard people cheering for your victory. The resounding name, Queen Frost, left a very deep impression on me. At that time, I made up my mind to follow an ace like you who has won every battle!”


  “Won every battle?”


  Ice storm laughed in a self-deprecatingly manner, but she did not continue to dwell on the question. She was most curious about one thing. “In the last round, when you cut down the mandrake tree core, your performance was really amazing. How did you do it?”


  “Back in my village, I often climbed to the highest point of the mandrake trees to gather fruits, cut down branches, catch bugs, and dig for birds’ nests.”


  Leaf puffed out his chest and said, “I can dance on the swaying mandrake trees on days when the wind is howling. This is nothing.”


  “It’s that simple?”


  Ice Storm narrowed her eyes and went straight to the point. “How did your breathing, strength, and knife skills come about?”


  She originally thought that this question was quite sensitive and the youth would definitely struggle and resist.

  Unexpectedly, Leaf did not hesitate. “It was the Reaper who taught me,” he answered generously.

  “Reaper…”


  Ice Storm was taken aback for a moment. “Who is that?”


  “The Reaper is the Super Fierce Man.

  “He is the fiercest man among all the rat people,” Leaf said seriously.

  …


  At that moment, the fiercest man among all the rat people was being strangled by a rat person who was three times his size. He had been lifted into the air, and he was swaying back and forth.

  It was the biggest rat person that Meng Chao had ever seen.

  He seemed to possess part of the Barbarian Elephant Clan’s bloodline and was even stronger than a bison standing up. His needle-sharp mane shone with a dangerous light, and the bloodstains on it indicated that he was definitely not trying to be friendly when he got there.

  “Who says that he’s not dead?”


  The rat giant, who had the bloodline of the Barbarian Elephant Clan, licked his two huge tusks and cracked a ferocious smile as he questioned the others in the dungeon.

  Everyone was curled up in a corner, shivering and not daring to look him in the eye.

  Only Meng Chao sighed in his heart.

  He swore that he just wanted to lie there quietly and think. He did not want to waste even a gram of the energy from the mandrake fruit on these rat people.

  Why did they have to provoke him when there was a path to heaven?

  In fact, he and his “cellmates” had still been able to live in peace at first.

  These guys had merely been betting on his life, and they had also been afraid of the unknown power in his body. Moreover, he did not want to fight them for the mandrake fruit. Would it not be better for them to stay out of each other’s way?

  He stood out from the rest, especially after Leaf was refined by him and became extremely powerful.

  Although they did not know the relationship between the two, Meng Chao’s mysteriousness became even more intense. Those who had been in the dungeon for a few days did not dare to provoke him.

  But there were always exceptions.

  The new rat giant who had the the Barbarian Elephant Clan’s bloodline seemed eager to leave the dungeon.

  During the last round of food delivery, not only did he take almost half of the fried mandrake fruits, but he also made a bet on Meng Chao’s life with the other half of the food in his hands.

  The winner would take it all.

  He bet that Meng Chao was already dead.

  He even forced others to participate in the bet and wager that Meng Chao was still alive.

  Those who did not want to participate in the bet were all heavily hit in the chest with his elephant trunk. It was like a meteor hammer. Blood splattered wildly, and they all fell out.

  When Meng Chao sat up lazily and rolled his eyes to show that he was still alive, the guy strode forward and picked Meng Chao up from the sewage water.

  From his shoulder to his arm to his fingers, his bones crackled.

  His astonishing strength was apparently enough to snap Meng Chao’s neck in the next second, directly killing the black-haired rat who was covered in wounds.

  Meng Chao frowned slightly.

  He seriously considered whether he should talk it out with the other party again. As long as the other party let him go and apologized, the matter would be settled.

  However, judging from the old man’s grimace, he definitely would not listen to any harsh advice, right?

  Forget it, speaking was also very energy-consuming.

  With that thought, Meng Chao struck with lightning speed.

  He clenched his four fingers, raised his thumb like a dagger, and lightly tapped the inside of the other party’s elbow.

  The other party subconsciously curled his arm, closing the distance between Meng Chao and his throat.

  Meng Chao then retracted his thumb and lightly flicked his pinky on the other party’s throat.

  No one could clearly see what was going on. The huge rat man who possessed the Barbarian Elephant Clan’s bloodline trembled slightly and froze all of a sudden.

  Soon, similar to a broken stone statue, he released Meng Chao and took half a step back. He slowly knelt down and covered his throat with both hands. His eyeballs bulged out of their sockets, and he curled up like a huge lobster. He spat out white foam in the sewage water and started twitching violently.