Chapter 182 – Settlement, Lord Tong

The vast battlefield was eerily silent.

All living beings seemed to be frozen in place.

“Creak, creak—”

Only the remaining combat Mechanical Bodies were moving.

They approached with their guns, their electronic eyes equipped with detectors scanning the surroundings, beginning to collect the scattered remnants of flesh and blood.

The new bloods watching the scene were all motionless, each person clearly hearing their own breathing and heartbeat.

This state wasn’t limited to the new bloods on the field.

Someone had already broadcasted the battle live on the global chat channel.

So, the entire global chat channel had also fallen into an eerie silence.

New bloods in various locations across Smokeless City No. 3 were all wearing the same expression—

Staring blankly at their task wristwatches.

Some were unlucky enough to be in the middle of a task, caught in combat…

In just a minute, the total number of new bloods displayed in the upper right corner of the task wristwatch’s main interface rapidly decreased by several.

Whether they were at the scene or watching the battle live, the new bloods—

For some reason, they all unconsciously squinted to see the figure in the center of their vision.

Some were in high positions, some were watching through screens…

But there was always a feeling—

As if they were standing on the ground, looking up at the sun in the clouds.

No one knew how much time had passed before a similar thought slowly formed in many minds.

“Is that… still a human?”

…

Inside a speeding shuttle.

Su Zhaohui maintained a motion as if reaching out to tap the virtual screen to issue a firing command, frozen in place.

His expression was blank, his whole body like a statue, rigid as if he had been injected with a muscle hardening serum.

Song Cong was in a similar state.

Both of their eyes were fixed on a certain figure on the screen, a boy who seemed to possess some kind of hypnotic charm, caught in an indescribable deep tremor.

Soon, a waterfall of data flowed by the demonic figure on the screen, finally stopping at a massive “S” in the power evaluation column.

Upon seeing this evaluation, the two frozen figures in the shuttle finally “came to life” in an instant.

“Hiss—”

Both of them inhaled sharply at the same time.

Song Cong’s expression was shaken.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to describe the complex feelings in his heart.

His eyes were filled with the giant “S”.

His naturally hanging hands clenched into fists and then relaxed repeatedly.

Shock, astonishment, disbelief… various emotions surged in his heart, reflected on his face.

Eventually, they turned into a deep, inexplicable despair.

It spread in his chest like ink—

New blood, pure martial artist, power evaluation level S.

What level S Heavenly Barrier? What top-tier Golden Bear?

Compared to this boy, his decades of battles and hard training felt as if they had been in vain.

Song Cong instinctively turned to look at Su Zhaohui.

He saw Su Zhaohui’s tightly pressed lips moving slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

But after waiting for a long time,

He didn’t hear a single word.

…

Lu Yuan withdrew from the state of Second Rank Transformation.

He casually found a relatively clean spot and sat down.

His waist-length hair from the transformation, now back to normal, draped like a black waterfall on the ground.

He looked peaceful, still immersed in the lingering wonder of having just realized the super killer move.

The combat Mechanical Bodies cleaning the battlefield walked around him, creating an inexplicable sense of disconnection.

[You Experienced a Battle, Professional Experience Points +10023]

Lu Yuan opened his professional panel and immediately received the prompt for an additional ten thousand experience points.

At this moment, Lu Yuan’s level 9 [Martial Artist] experience had already reached fifteen thousand.

On the panel, a new super killer move skill appeared—[Super Killer Move—Thousand Crows Salute the Moon]!

“The facts prove that my approach is correct.” Lu Yuan’s eyes sparkled brightly, his eyelids slightly lowered, making his eyes look like shining gems.

“Using Mental Power instead of death energy, using the Crow Dreamscape instead of true essence… The martial artist profession has truly been elevated to a level comparable to extraordinary power!”

When Lu Yuan first developed inner strength, he thought it represented the extraordinary power of a [martial artist].

Later, he realized that while inner strength was indeed impressive for ordinary people, it still fell short compared to actual extraordinary power.

He merged three types of inner strength, creating the Ten Thousand Refined Crane Bone Technique, which far surpassed typical inner strength in quality. Yet, even this technique struggled against death energy, a form of extraordinary power.

Other martial artists didn’t stand a chance.

But now…

Lu Yuan had pioneered a new path.

A true martial arts path driven by powerful Mental Power!

Unfortunately, this path was difficult to replicate.

It required breaking the limit on intelligence and transforming Mental Power into a mist-like state.

Moreover, one had to have experienced something similar to the Crow Dreamscape.

Between these two requirements, Lu Yuan believed the latter was the true key.

“The Crow Dreamscape is a projection of the Death Goddess Lamashtu, worshipped by the Crow Deity sect.

In a way, it’s a real experience for me.

No martial arts true essence can achieve that.”

Take, for example, the True Essence of Dragon Form from the Dragon sect or the Spirit Crane true essence from the Crane sect.

Both are the results of countless disciples’ wisdom and hard work, enriched with numerous martial arts moves and even true skill visualization diagrams.

But!

Fake is still fake!

No one has ever seen a real dragon that controls the rain, nor a true Spirit Crane that seeks celestial mountains and mistakenly plucks orchids.

But Lu Yuan…

He had truly seen “Lamashtu” and the Styx flowing under the moonlight!

“If I unlock new extraordinary professions in the future and encounter projections of Evil Deities similar to the Crow Dreamscape, I can fully continue this approach…”

A strong sense of anticipation surged in Lu Yuan’s heart.

Honestly,

He was also very curious about the mysterious and dazzling sparks that would fly when the mythological projections of Evil Deities met the ancient martial arts moves of the martial artist profession!

Lu Yuan organized the gains on his professional panel and then glanced at his task wristwatch.

After killing the Bear Man and Molybdenum Demon hybrid with strength reaching level S, the temporarily issued double S-level unique task had been completed.

His accumulated points now totaled over 2.47 million!

The base reward points for the double S-level unique task were 500,000.

He had overachieved, ultimately settling at 2 million points!

“I’ve completed all the Level A and S-level tasks. The remaining ones… don’t hold much significance for me.”

Lu Yuan began to think about ending the assessment early.

Today was the fourth day of the assessment.

If the Bear Man were still alive, he might have chosen to stay in the gravitational field until the assessment ended.

But now the Bear Man was dead.

Staying in Smokeless City No. 3 any longer would be a pure waste of time.

His mobile phone had been taken away before the assessment started, and after four days without communicating with anyone, he felt a bit anxious.

Thinking about it, Lu Yuan operated his task wristwatch and submitted an application to end the assessment early.

The application was approved almost immediately.

Soon, Lu Yuan saw a shuttle rapidly approaching from the distant sky…

As Lu Yuan boarded the shuttle leaving Smokeless City No. 3, he couldn’t help but turn his head to look back.

His gaze swept over the faces of the new blood, such as Xu Chengying, Ye Wuqiang, and Teng Xiangqing, who looked both confused and inexplicably excited.

He couldn’t help but smile at them.

At the moment he entered the shuttle, Lu Yuan thought-

His grand exit would probably be etched into the memories of some people… for a lifetime.

…

“He chose to end the assessment early.”

In the spacious shuttle cabin, Su Zhaohui and Song Cong had already calmed down from their intense emotions.

At this moment, their shuttle had already turned around and was heading back.

No one had expected that this sudden emergency would be resolved so quickly.

“Has the evaluation been settled?”

Sitting in his chair, Song Cong’s hands alternated between resting on the armrests and lying flat on his knees. After a few attempts, he couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s being settled…”

Su Zhaohui replied, not looking up as he stared unblinkingly at the information stream within his irises.

After a while, his whole body gave a slight shudder.

From Song Cong’s angle, it was clear to see Su Zhaohui’s pupils dilating and contracting several times within a second, overwhelmed by shock.

It took about half a minute.

Only then did Su Zhaohui manage to pull himself out of that state.

He then turned his head and slowly spoke a few words to Song Cong.

“Creak-“

The armrest of the high-strength alloy steel chair was twisted into a mess by Song Cong the moment Su Zhaohui said those words.

Song Cong took a deep breath, trying hard to control his emotions.

After a full three minutes of silence, he finally spoke.

“Old Su. This person… I dare not take him. Nor can I.”

“Right.”

Su Zhaohui nodded, his eyes complicated as he said, “Even if you dared, I wouldn’t dare give him to you. Moreover, after the evaluation, Lu Yuan has already been chosen…”

“Who?!”

Song Cong’s eyes flickered, and he instinctively asked.

“Which Flying Bear General?”

Su Zhaohui shook his head.

“Not a Flying Bear General.”

“Then…”

Song Cong’s pupils narrowed as he lowered his voice, somewhat moved, “Which of the Lords?”

“Lord Tong.”

Su Zhaohui didn’t hide it and straightforwardly named her.

Even mentioning her name, Su Zhaohui’s face still carried a hint of respect.

“Lord Tong… it’s actually Lord Tong…”

Song Cong muttered, his expression gradually becoming complex, “It’s been decades since Lord Tong recruited anyone. I didn’t expect… she would make a move this time. Well, if Lord Tong wants someone, the other Lords wouldn’t dare refuse.”

“Indeed.”

Su Zhaohui sighed, “Who would dare refuse Lord Tong’s request? Besides, with Lu Yuan’s unprecedented potential evaluation, it’s no wonder Lord Tong would be tempted.”

“Right.”

Song Cong nodded and fell silent.

Seeing Song Cong’s low spirits, Su Zhaohui felt a bit guilty for calling him back only to have him end up busy for nothing.

Feeling slightly apologetic, Su Zhaohui’s eyes suddenly brightened as he said, “Old Song, don’t say I never help you. You can’t have Lu Yuan, but I can let you pick any of the other new blood…”

“I’ve already reviewed all the data on the other new blood. Even the most outstanding boy from the Teng Clan doesn’t meet my requirements…”

“Let me finish.”

Su Zhaohui chuckled, leaned closer to Song Cong, and whispered, “Lu Yuan’s talent is extraordinary, and he’s been chosen by Lord Tong. In terms of future prospects, no one can match him in decades. With such a prodigy, wouldn’t you agree it’s worth befriending him?”

“Of course, in a normal spar, I might not even be able to beat him now! But how do I befriend him? You want me, a top-tier Golden Bear, to go and give him gifts?”

“Heh heh.

Of course not.

But we can think of another way…”

“…”