I Will Grind My Way To Godhood

The headless Cockroach Man surprisingly reanimated, extending its six legs and lunging toward Xue Jing.

“Tsk, typical cockroach behavior.” Xue Jing frowned, leaped backward to evade the Cockroach Man's deadly embrace, and delivered a mid-air kick.

The burst of Twin Force instantly broke two of the overlapped insect legs, sending the creature's body flying.

“Crack!”

Xue Jing didn't pause, immediately activating his Twin Speed, crouching and blitzing forward. His gaze intensified as he reached the Cockroach Man, thrusting his hand into the wound where its head used to be.

With cockroaches, their weakness is not the head. Even decapitated, they don't die immediately, living up to eight or nine days until succumbing to starvation or dehydration.

Their true weakness lies in the subesophageal ganglion just below the throat, above the chest.

Bracing himself against the disgusting sticky sensation, Xue Jing gritted his teeth and grasped at something soft.

The Cockroach Man convulsed violently, struggling madly, its sharp legs slashing deep, bone-revealing wounds into Xue Jing.

Resolutely, Xue Jing ignored the attacks, concentrating his strength on defense. Clutching the soft object, he lifted the headless Cockroach Man, slamming it back into the ground, pinning it down.

In the banquet hall, shadows cast by the lighter's glow surged toward Xue Jing's hand, unseen by others, igniting a dark flame within the Cockroach Man.

Its body swelled momentarily and then stiffened, its frantic thrashing gradually subsiding until it ceased moving altogether.

Pei Youguang, holding the lighter, watched Xue Jing's actions. He could vaguely see wisps of black flame emerging from the creature, though the dimness made it seem illusory.

He murmured, "What the…Aogami's Moon Shadow?"

As the cockroach man ceased to move, Xue Jing withdrew his hand from its body.

“I-Is it over?”

The crowd stared dumbfoundedly at the young man standing in the center, his body covered in wounds and stained with dark green slime.

The terrifying creature, like one straight out of a horror movie, lay motionless on the ground, thoroughly dead.

“It's dead, it's dead!”

Someone exclaimed with excitement.

Despite the foul-smelling, dark green slime splashed on their faces from the cockroach man's exploded head, no one cared; the thrill of survival had them elated and jubilant.

“Who is he? Which dojo does he belong to? I'm going to donate to his dojo, a million bucks!”

“A million? Is that all you got? I'm donating two million and want to call him my big brother! If not, I'll even take him as my adoptive father!”

“Young Master Pei, Pei Tiancheng, quickly, take us over there so we can meet him!”

Seeing Pei Youguang standing dazedly to the side, someone urgently nudged his shoulder, pushing him to act.

Li Zhaochuan, Zhang Daqing, and the other surviving disciples from the dojo looked at the blood-soaked Xue Jing with wide eyes.

Zhang Daqing extended a hand and patted Li Zhaochuan on the shoulder, giving him a thumbs-up.

“Old Li, from now on, you've got my full respect.”

"Someone like that, and you dare provoke him? From now on, who in the entire martial arts community of Qingcheng wouldn't praise you, Old Li, for having guts of steel?"

Li Zhaochuan swallowed nervously, his legs feeling weak.

What had he just done with that man again?

Oh, just a handshake…

His bones still ached.

Li Zhaochuan suddenly fell into deep thought.

"Old Zhang, I might have just made a big win here."

Zhang Daqing looked at him curiously, "What are you talking about?"

"Look at this, Brother Xue… Brother Jing, he's definitely going places in the future, right?" Li Zhaochuan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"So, when you think about it, my handshake with him earlier was a fiercely intense battle, wouldn't you say? Ultimately, I nearly matched him, a close-fought contest worthy of being called an honorable defeat."

Li Zhaochuan patted his own arm.

Zhang Daqing widened his eyes in disbelief, "You… don't tell me you plan to brag about this to others in the future? Have you no shame?"

Li Zhaochuan chuckled softly.

“Ying Yang...” Ye Chenglin approached the body of the first victim, his face showing deep sorrow.

At his words, everyone immediately snapped out of their post-survival joy, realizing several friends had perished.

"Why... where did this creature come from, why did the power at Ruizhu Hotel suddenly go out, and why did even our phones stop working?"

"This must be a premeditated assassination against us, organized and deliberate. I’ll make sure my father gets to the bottom of it!"

Ye Chenglin shouted angrily.

Inside, he was terrified.

Attendees at today's banquet were no ordinary people, and several had died. As the organizer, he would surely shoulder some, if not most, of the blame.

Even with his father as a ruling councilman, he couldn't handle this!

He glanced at Pei Tiancheng standing beside him, an uncontainable fury rising in his heart.

Damn it, such big talk, saying ‘nothing would happen with me here,’ what nonsense!

Recalling Pei Tiancheng's leap aside when faced with the creature, which led to several people behind him being killed, Ye Chenglin felt a wave of anger and bitterness.

These martial arts-trained bodyguards were all worthless... Luckily, there was that young boy, or everyone might have died today.

Pei Tiancheng hesitated to speak but ended up saying nothing, merely sighing.

He hadn’t expected that... even at a banquet, where someone had died just the day before, the danger would be anything beyond a typical lunatic killer; he thought he could easily handle it.

Who could have imagined that such a terrifying monster would suddenly appear?

At this moment, a figure drenched in blood, exuding an inexplicable aura of pressure, walked over.

Everyone turned their excited gazes towards him, wanting to say something, but they were so awed by the power emanating from him that not a single person dared speak, and silence reigned.

Xue Jing spoke in his usual calm tone, "Everyone."

"Although I have already dealt with that beast, we might not be out of danger yet, so we still need to be cautious."

"Based on my analysis, the sudden failure of all electrical equipment likely indicates an electromagnetic pulse event, which is probably man-made."

"Since it is man-made, that monster must have been deliberately released here by someone, not an accidental appearance."

Everyone listened quietly to his words, refraining from any interruptions.

"—These matters are up to all of you to investigate now. I am merely a security personnel and can only strive to ensure your current safety."

"Let's go. I'll lead you out of here."

With that, Xue Jing began walking towards the exit first.

Though he was covered in wounds and blood, the words that came from his mouth, to those who had just witnessed his martial prowess, carried undeniable conviction.

Everyone hurriedly followed behind.

Now, staying by his side was the only way they could feel even a hint of security.

.......