Chapter 99 – The Winged Bear, Death Energy Entanglement

“Good adaptability, extra points.”

“First in grade, perfect scores in four subjects, high intelligence, extra points.”

“Regular lifestyle, no bad habits, over six hours of martial arts practice daily, excellent focus, extra points.”

“No early romances, has repeatedly rejected confessions from girls, strong self-control, clear goals. Extra points.”

“Not many friends, prefers to be alone, a personal hero.”

Gao Qing’s fingers paused slightly as she operated on the virtual screen. After a moment’s thought, she pressed down.

“Lack of team spirit, deduct points.”

“Oh, right.”

Suddenly, Gao Qing looked up and instructed her subordinate beside her, “Bring me the newly collected data.”

“Yes.”

The subordinate nodded, immediately turned, and soon returned with a document.

Gao Qing clicked on the video of Lu Yuan killing the Rat Monster and pulled up a few other videos as well.

The subsequent videos seemed somewhat old, with some having unclear quality.

The footage mostly showed a cold, slender middle-aged man engaging in combat, showcasing his boxing techniques.

With several video frames placed together, Gao Qing’s gaze repeatedly moved between them, her beautiful amber eyes flashing with a subtle light.

Occasionally, a hint of amazement would flicker in her eyes, but she hid it well.

Finally, Gao Qing withdrew her gaze from the videos.

“Confirmed, it’s the ultimate true skill of the Sky Water Stream Crane Style boxing techniques, and he’s already mastered the essence.”

Gao Qing flipped through Lu Yuan’s profile again.

“How long has he been practicing martial arts?”

“17 years old, practicing for two months and six days. His strength assessment has already reached level C! And…”

Gao Qing muttered to herself, “Zhou Ling, that fool, probably has no idea that this kid is not a direct disciple of the Sky Water Stream Crane Style at all. Liu Daoyuan hasn’t even met this kid once. Instead, he’s been in close contact with Liu Daoyuan’s most incompetent disciple, but the actual contact time is less than 100 hours.”

“Less than 100 hours, passed through two hands, and still managed to successfully learn the essence of a style. Even though the Sky Water Stream Crane Style is considered second or third-rate, his talent and comprehension are…”

“Phew”

Gao Qing couldn’t help but gently exhale.

“From this perspective, that Powerful Divine Servant from the Crow Deity Sect was most likely killed by this kid as well. Yet, I didn’t smell any Evil Power stench on him; he’s clean.”

Gao Qing pondered for a while, then began typing rapidly on the virtual screen, inputting her lengthy analysis.

This input took a considerable amount of time.

Finally, after typing the last word, Gao Qing glanced expectantly at the final potential rating section.

The Yellow Bear subordinate standing next to her had been waiting for a long time and couldn’t contain his curiosity. He sneaked a peek at the screen.

The waiting symbol in the evaluation section persisted for a moment.

Finally, under their watchful eyes, the result popped up.

At the moment the result appeared, Gao Qing’s pupils constricted sharply. Despite having anticipated it, she couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Her subordinate’s eyes widened as if he had seen something incredibly shocking. His mouth opened involuntarily, almost ready to exclaim.

Gao Qing shot him a murderous look, and he quickly covered his mouth tightly with his hand. However, the shock on his face was impossible to hide.

[Potential Rating: S]

[Evaluation: Twin-winged bear!]

The potential rating had jumped from A+ to S, advancing two levels.

The evaluation had changed from “One in Ten Thousand” to “Twin-winged bear.”

This evaluation was something not just any Yellow Bear member, but even Gao Qing, as a White Bear Guard, was seeing for the first time.

“So the S-grade potential evaluation is named after titles,” Gao Qing mused.

Suddenly, she turned her head sharply, her face icy, looking at the Yellow Bear subordinate beside her.

His expression shifted from shock to confusion, then finally to sudden realization.

“Team Leader, I understand!”

The Yellow Bear subordinate stood up straight, his face serious as he assured, “I will absolutely not leak this matter, especially not to Team Leader Zhou Ling!”

“You’re somewhat smart. If this evaluation report falls into Zhou Ling’s hands, I’ll transfer you directly to the research institute and let those lunatics use you as a research subject,” Gao Qing said calmly.

The subordinate shivered, as if recalling something terrifying, and the hair on the back of his hand stood on end. He could only shake his head frantically.

A satisfied expression appeared on Gao Qing’s face. Then she reached out and made several modifications to the original evaluation report, deleting all the important extra points and exaggerating the deductions.

Soon, a fresh evaluation report was produced. This time, the S-grade evaluation had been downgraded to an A, lacking the “+” from the first version, effectively lowering it by one level.

“Alright, send this report to Zhou Ling later and make sure to earn some data collection and analysis fees from him,” Gao Qing said, contentedly clicking save and putting away the virtual screen. She began to walk towards the shuttle.

“Once this is done, have everyone pack up.”

“That idiot Zhou Ling will take at least a few months to complete the secondary modification. By then, the Twin-winged bear will have long since flown away.”

[Killer Move: Sky Water Stream Crane Style Ultimate True Skill—Spirit Crane Technique: Crane Shadow Float!]

As a certain skill on the panel glowed brilliantly like the morning star, Lu Yuan’s entire body rippled with layers of muscle, veins bulging like giant serpents sprouting wings, and he seemed to soar like a spirit crane.

With a punch, a sharp, low whistling sound echoed through the air, sending out ripples of white airwaves.

The fist struck a motionless woman’s head in front of him with a “bang!”

Her head instantly collapsed like a smashed watermelon, then burst apart with a “boom.”

“Phew—”

Lu Yuan stood still, exhaling deeply, his swollen body returning to its original size.

He was currently in the Consciousness Space. He had chosen Gao Qing as his [imaginary enemy], using the immobilization feature to keep her still, effectively turning her into a punching bag.

This kind of practice had almost no value for actual combat training.

But it was satisfying!

“Three more times, and that should be enough.”

Lu Yuan glanced at the headless female corpse lying on the ground, his eyes quickly skimming over her graceful curves, silently contemplating.

Three more activations of the [imaginary enemy].

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes and fully exited the Consciousness Space, he finally felt a sense of relief.

At this moment, Lu Yuan was in his bedroom.

With the death of the Cavern Rat Monster, the trouble that had plagued him for so long could finally be put to rest.

“I’ll have to ask Zhou Ling about the origin of this Cavern Rat Monster later. There might be other accomplices.”

Lu Yuan thought to himself, redirecting his attention to today’s gains.

After painstakingly refining the crane cry punch for so long, he finally fully comprehended and unlocked it.

[Spirit Crane Technique: Crane Shadow Float!]

“It turns out to be a profession killer move. No wonder its position on the panel is so high, and its power is absurd.”

Lu Yuan carefully recalled the process of executing the [Crane Shadow Float] punch.

In essence, it involved concentrating all his strength into a single point and then releasing it explosively.

This was somewhat similar to [special exertion], but the underlying principles were entirely different.

[special exertion] mainly mobilized muscular strength by changing the way muscles exert force, making them more resilient and explosive.

Then, the force was transmitted in segments from the base to the tip, allowing Lu Yuan to unleash more than double his usual power.

In contrast, [Crane Shadow Float] gathered all his mental and physical strength into a single point. The key to this process was strong mental power and will.

It was achieved through the command of mental power.

“It seems that increasing my intelligence points is indispensable. On one hand, it can enhance my martial arts comprehension, and on the other, it serves as a hidden prerequisite for performing advanced martial arts.”

Lu Yuan’s next training goal would focus heavily on Qin Feng.

Qin Feng also possessed an extremely powerful killer move, which was executed using finger techniques.

Lu Yuan speculated that it might be another ultimate move from the Sky Water Stream Crane Style’s true skills, possibly within the [Spirit Crane Technique].

With the experience of [Crane Shadow Float], he was determined to master this killer move!

Gathering his thoughts, Lu Yuan summoned his professional panel.

After leveling up to Level 6 as a [martial artist], he gained one new attribute point and one skill point.

After a brief hesitation, he allocated the attribute point to his strength points.

Agility points could be improved through the crane stance, and both his intelligence points and constitution points were already quite high. At this stage, boosting his strength points was the most suitable choice.

With 1 point added, his strength points increased from 13 to 14.

Physically, Lu Yuan felt his muscles swell even more noticeably.

His originally well-proportioned physique once again became more “robust.”

The new T-shirt he had bought not long ago struggled to contain his burgeoning chest muscles, making his frame appear even larger.

Lu Yuan walked over to the mirror in his wardrobe to inspect his current self.

It had been over a month since his last haircut, and with his enhanced constitution and faster metabolism, his hair had grown rapidly.

It was nearly covering his eyes by now.

Just looking at his face, with its fair and handsome features and slightly long bangs, he had the look of a campus heartthrob.

But once the gaze moved past his neck, the image shifted dramatically.

A tall and strong physique, with solid and full muscles, made him look like a fitness fanatic.

Standing in front of the mirror, his thick black hair framing his eyes that occasionally flashed with sharpness, his fair skin, and his imposing build, Lu Yuan exuded a formidable presence.

Even without doing or saying anything, he could make others feel a palpable sense of pressure.

Lu Yuan shook his head, brushed the hair away from his forehead to reveal his bright and handsome face, and thought, “I need to train my agility points quickly; otherwise, I’m starting to look more and more like a villain.”

He redirected his attention back to the professional panel.

There was still one skill point to allocate, and this decision was straightforward.

Although Lu Yuan lacked skill points in many areas at the moment, the top priority was clearly the [Death Messenger (extraordinary)] panel.

There was still one last basic skill that hadn’t been unlocked.

Spending the 1 skill point, the final skill on the [Death Messenger (extraordinary)] panel was unlocked.

[Professional Basic Skill: Death Energy Entanglement (0/100)]

Upon seeing the name of this skill, Lu Yuan’s eyes flashed slightly.

If his expectations were correct, he had finally obtained the extraordinary ability he had been longing for.

Lu Yuan decided to activate the skill.

In an instant.

Even without using the [Eye of Doom], he could clearly see—

Strands of death energy were being stripped from his body and the surrounding environment, converging onto the surface of his skin.

However, the amount was very thin.

So thin, in fact, that it was as if someone had casually blown a few puffs of cigarette smoke onto him.

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment and directed his thoughts.

Quickly, the black death energy entangling his body began to gather in his hand.

When the death energy had fully concentrated in his palm, the black aura finally looked somewhat substantial.

It formed a thin black glove, covering Lu Yuan’s right hand and fingers.

“Does this death energy have a corrosive effect similar to that of the Crow Deity’s Divine Servant?”

With this thought, Lu Yuan immediately left his bedroom.

By now, it was already afternoon. Lu Yueping was taking his usual nap, and Lu Xinghua was out running errands, leaving no one to mind him.

Lu Yuan stealthily slipped into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

Inside, he found a piece of pork.

Judging by its freshness, it was likely bought by Lu Yueping at the morning market, as the plastic bag still held a fair amount of blood.

He took out the pork and cut off a piece about the size of his palm with a kitchen knife.

Then, he slowly pressed his right index finger, wrapped in death energy, into the pork.

There was no sound.

Lu Yuan felt no resistance.

Effortlessly, as if poking through tofu, he easily pierced the pork, which was about two-thirds the thickness of his finger.

Pulling his finger out, he inspected the unfortunate piece of meat.

A rotting, blackened hole had formed in the pork.

The entire piece began to decay and emit a foul odor.

“Amazing!”

Lu Yuan’s eyes lit up slightly.

Although he had witnessed the power of the black aura under the control of the Crow Deity’s Divine Servant before, seeing the same effect manifest through his own hands was still astonishing.

“Although it’s a small amount, concentrating it on a punch or fingertip still provides immense destructive power!”

“Against unmodified human flesh or any living creature, it’s practically like applying a defense-breaking buff!”

Lu Yuan continued to test the defensive capabilities of the black aura, which he was quite eager to evaluate.

After all, the Divine Servant of the Crow Deity sect had once relied on a thick layer of death energy to withstand Zhou Ling’s Mushroom Cloud attack!

The test results were promising.

His hand, covered in death energy, could be dragged back and forth across the sharp edge of a kitchen knife without suffering any damage to the skin beneath the black aura.

However, as time passed, the amount of death energy gradually diminished.

Fortunately, replenishing the death energy was relatively easy due to its small overall quantity.

The entire death energy experiment took about twenty minutes.

After dispersing the death energy from his hand, Lu Yuan checked the professional panel and saw that the experience points for the [death energy entanglement] skill had increased by 2 points.

“The growth in experience points is related to the duration of use.

The more experience points I accumulate, the higher the level, and the more death energy I can control when I activate the skill.”

Lu Yuan pondered, drawing several conclusions.

“Overall, the effect is excellent and greatly enhances my combat power. If combined with [Crane Shadow Float] and [special exertion], it could significantly amplify the power of my strongest strike, effectively boosting my trump card. However…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes revealed a hint of worry.

He looked down at his hand, his gaze flickering.

“If I keep using this skill, will I end up like the Crow Deity sect’s Divine Servant, tainted by death energy, eventually morphing into a crow-like monster? Neither human nor ghost?”

The image of the Divine Servant he had killed was still vivid in his mind.

Beneath the crow mask and black robe was a grotesque, deformed body covered in black crow feathers.

He certainly did not want to end up like that.

“Better investigate.”

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Yuan finally closed his eyes and chose to enter the Consciousness Space.

He activated [imaginary enemy], setting the target as the Crow Deity sect’s Divine Servant!