I became a martial arts saint while playing games.

The rat demon was puzzled by the food in front of it, but it was quite efficient in its work.

It took out the key, unlocked the large lock, pulled open the cell door, and waved to Gu Yan, saying, "Hurry up and follow me, or I'll break three of your legs and stew you."

Breaking off two legs is already quite cruel, but breaking off three legs is extremely vicious. After threatening him, the rat demon observed the other party's reaction, only to find that the food's face remained completely unmoved, as if it had turned a deaf ear to his threats.

The rat demon was slightly disappointed.

Compared to such well-matched ingredients, it still prefers those that cry out and beg for mercy.

For example, the little girl a few days ago kept crying and calling for her mother, which pleased the rat demon.

Especially when the butcher in the cave finally granted her wish and brought in the girl's mother, cooking her in front of her, the girl's wonderful reaction at that moment is still unforgettable to this day.

Even the meat tastes better.

In contrast, today's ingredients are like soulless puppets on strings. If they remain silent and numb even when being put into the pot, it would be a real eyesore.

But what the rat demon didn't know was that in the few moments it took to open the door, the food in the cell had undergone a dramatic change.

Gu Yan skillfully opened the martial arts panel, selected "Zhenyue Long Fist," and without thinking, directly clicked the [Upgrade] button.

Potential Points: 100

A prompt appears in the panel.

Potential points are the main way for players to upgrade their martial arts in the game. New players start with 100 potential points by default, and Gu Yan poured them all into "Zhenyue Long Fist" without hesitation.

In other simpler starting situations, players can often save their initial potential points for better martial arts later on, rather than wasting them on the default initial martial arts.

However, Gu Yan, who had memorized the strategy guide, knew that he couldn't skimp on those 100 potential points for the highest difficulty level. Otherwise, he might not even survive the first scene and would just fast forward to the end, where he would be cooked and simmered.

[Advancing in the Mastery of Zhenyue Long Fist: A First Glimpse]

[Zhenyue Long Fist Mastery Improvement: Slight Success]

With 100 points of potential invested, Zhenyue Long Fist rose two levels, barely reaching the minor mastery stage.

Gu Yan frowned slightly and glanced at the "Comprehension" attribute in the character panel.

【Perception: 5】

The maximum comprehension level is 10, so 5 points is already a bit low. Gu Yan guessed that this might be an attribute inherited from his original body, because the original body he transmigrated into did have mediocre comprehension in martial arts.

Based on his years of gaming experience, if one's comprehension is above 7 points, the initial 100 potential points should be enough to allow Zhenyue Changquan to level up again and reach the "entering the inner sanctum" realm.

The higher one's comprehension, the less potential energy is required to advance martial arts skills to the same level.

But it doesn't matter, it's enough for now.

The rat demon picked up the ingredients and turned to lead the way. But after taking only two steps, it suddenly felt a gust of wind behind its head.

It suddenly turned around and saw a huge fist coming towards it, the wind from the punch surging, powerful and heavy, so fierce that it was completely unlike the sickly mortal in the prison cell.

The rat demon was so shocked that it forgot to dodge.

Good heavens, the food is attacking me!

It's important to know that the food in their lair is always managed in a categorized manner. Men, women, young and old, those who know martial arts and those who don't, each type of food is kept in its own designated area.

The area where the rat demon came to fetch people today was clearly inhabited by ordinary people who had never practiced martial arts, which is why it was completely unguarded and didn't take the other side seriously at all.

But the way he punches and his stance—how could he possibly be someone who has never practiced martial arts?

Ingredients, and you still say you don't know martial arts!

The rat demon reacted quickly and tried to draw its sword to block, but it was too late. The punch was extremely powerful and hit the rat demon's head squarely.

With a muffled thud, the sound of bones cracking rang out. The rat demon's eyes suddenly bulged out, and without uttering a sound, its body collapsed to the ground like a puppet with broken strings, dying instantly.

One punch and he's dead!

[Slay the monster: Gray-haired Hollow Rat]

[The map has been updated: The most common low-level demons in underground lairs. Responsible for guarding, carrying, slaughtering, and cleaning; they are the lowest-level laborers in the demon lair.]

Potential Points +30

Defeating monsters yields potential, which is why the game is called "Slaying Demons and Exorcising Monsters," as it is the main way for players to acquire potential and level up.

In fact, although this rat demon was weak, with its initial fist technique at the "slightly accomplished" level, it was not a sure thing if it were to fight head-on.

In the original game, players need a certain level of skill to defeat this rat demon head-on. Furthermore, according to players' experience, failing to defeat it within ten moves will alert other patrolling jailers, making the situation even worse.

However, according to the strategy guide, if the player does not act immediately and leaves the cell, the moment the rat demon turns its back to the player can trigger the game's "assassination" judgment.

In the game's mechanics, ambushing an enemy while they are unaware can trigger an "assassination" attack. Assassinations deal significantly more damage and greatly increase the chance of a one-hit kill.

The assassination mechanic is also the main strategy for breaking through this most difficult start.

However, on the highest difficulty level of the game, the monsters are exceptionally alert, making assassinations and ambushes not so easy. A slight oversight could alert the monsters, leading to them calling for reinforcements and ultimately resulting in a situation where you are surrounded and attacked by a whole group of monsters.

This is why it's considered the hardest to start and extremely discouraging; any player attempting to explore this new territory for the first time will have absolutely no chance of escaping this demon's lair.

But Gu Yan wasn't intimidated, because he had an ace up his sleeve.

Back panel.

As mentioned before, the more difficult the start, the greater the benefits for beginners. So, in order to break the world speedrun record, Gu Yan tirelessly created new characters and restarted the game again and again, just to get this random, most difficult start.

Only in this way can he get the reward of a perfect start, and have the best resources and the best route to break the world record.

He had already run this starting route hundreds or even thousands of times, it was practically ingrained in his genes and became muscle memory. Now, this seemingly perilous demon's lair was just like his own backyard in his eyes.

After killing the rat demon, Gu Yan was in no hurry. He neither ran nor ran, but strolled leisurely along the narrow corridor to the corner in front, stood with his back against the wall, and silently counted to seven.

"Four...three...two...one..."

After counting to one second, Gu Yan flashed out.

Just then, a patrolling rat demon reached the corner and was startled to see a human figure suddenly appear before him.

But before it could even draw its sword or make a sound, it felt a fist flash in front of it, and a heavy punch struck its face, causing its facial bones to cave in and killing it instantly.

Assassination judgment x2.

Potential Points +40

Gu Yan withdrew his fist, stood still, and continued walking calmly along the corridor without even glancing at the rat demon.

He remembered every fork in the road, every sentry post, the route of every patrolling monster, and their shift change times. Even blindfolded, he could find the perfect assassination route.

These monsters thought this was their territory, that they were the masters here, and that they controlled everything.

They are wrong.

from now on.

This is Gu Yan's playground.