Chapter 156 – Third Rank Transformation, Underworld Garment

Based on different levels of exertion, Lu Yuan divided his state into three ranks.

First was the normal state, corresponding to his current appearance. His basic boxing power was two tons, and activating [special exertion] would increase his strength by up to three times, without causing significant external changes.

At most, only parts of his body would change.

Lu Yuan’s mind moved.

His fair and well-proportioned muscles began to swell immediately.

His height of 1.88 meters shot up to 1.95 meters, his skin darkened to a bluish-black, and thick veins as large as earthworms bulged beneath his skin. His muscles across his body became as hard as steel…

In this state, the [special exertion] effect Lu Yuan could activate increased his strength by five to six times.

His instantaneous punching power exceeded 12 tons.

This could be considered a proper first-rank transformation.

“Crack, crack——”

As Lu Yuan’s thoughts turned.

The invisible shackles on his body fell away, and the intangible barrier between him and the world shattered with a roar.

His already imposing frame grew taller once again.

From 1.95 meters, he broke through to 2.12 meters.

All his bones made sounds like gears turning, but his swollen muscles began to “shrink.”

Each muscle segment twisted together like bundled steel rods.

The protruding veins receded, replaced by scarlet blood vessels that flowed smoothly beneath his skin.

His bluish-black skin turned a light red, and his body temperature soared.

It was as if molten lava was flowing inside him, and the air around his body appeared to distort from the heat.

“Hah——”

Lu Yuan opened his mouth and exhaled a visibly hot breath.

His long black hair, tied at the back of his head, seemed to grow longer, falling loose and draping over his shoulders, moving without wind.

His eyes blazed as he aimed a fierce punch at the river in front of him.

“Whoosh——”

At the moment of exertion, the blood vessels and muscles on his back bloomed like flowers.

Under the moonlight, a transparent, invisible ripple seemed to extend from Lu Yuan’s fist.

Then a huge white mist ring spread out.

Accompanied by a “bang” like an explosion, a small splash erupted on the surface of the river not far away.

“Second Rank Transformation: After one limit break, the constitution is fully exploited by ultimate exertion. Strength increase exceeds tenfold, and instantaneous punching power surpasses twenty tons… capable of delivering terrifying punches that break the sound barrier!”

Lu Yuan stood facing the river, breathing heavily and hotly like a humanoid beast.

Then.

Bright yellow light from the Ten Thousand Refined Crane Bone Technique began to glow on his arms.

Vast swathes of black death energy appeared out of thin air, swirling around him.

“This is the ultimate Third Rank Transformation. In this state, I can combine inner strength and death energy to deliver attacks more fearsome than breaking the sound barrier. I can also unleash the ultimate trump card, the super killer move—Death Message on the Way to the Underworld!”

“Hoo——”

Lu Yuan exhaled a long breath, his body slowly returning to its normal state.

Third Rank Transformation.

Each unlocked rank brought a significant increase in his combat power.

In the ultimate Third Rank Transformation state, Lu Yuan wasn’t even sure to what level his combat power had soared.

“Finally, I have some trump cards.

From now on, when I’m out and about, I can speak confidently…”

Lu Yuan mused, finally beginning to gather the spoils he had left on the pebble beach, obtained from Karofis.

Karofis’s status in the Crow Deity sect was probably quite high.

The death energy nodules he left behind couldn’t even be called nodules; they should be referred to as death energy crystals.

These were entirely crystalline, jet-black, and translucent, resembling high-quality black diamonds under the moonlight.

Lu Yuan casually picked up one and gently squeezed it between his fingers.

With a crisp “crack,” a large amount of pure death energy emerged.

Lu Yuan crushed all the death energy crystals one by one.

Meanwhile, his eyes were fixed on the [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] panel, watching the level of [Death Energy Entanglement] skyrocket.

When he had finished crushing all twenty-something death energy crystals.

Lu Yuan’s original [Death Energy Entanglement] at lv5 had now risen to… lv8!

Experience points (234/12800)!

Although he had anticipated it, Lu Yuan was still surprised and delighted.

lv8!

Damn, even his [Martial Artist] panel didn’t have a single lv8 skill yet.

Even if it’s just a basic skill… this is an extraordinary skill!

An lv8 extraordinary skill!

“[Death Energy Entanglement] might not have an upper level limit at all.

Since the source of [Death Messenger]’s power is death energy, the more death energy one can control, the stronger they become!”

Lu Yuan tried to activate the lv8 [Death Energy Entanglement].

In an instant, a large expanse of black fog appeared out of nowhere along the riverbank.

He watched as two fish suddenly surfaced with a “bloop” sound.

Startled, he quickly dismissed the skill.

“Probably almost on par with Karofis.”

Lu Yuan’s expression shifted, his heart beating a few extra times.

“Does that mean I can fly too?”

Theoretically, the amount of death energy he currently possessed should allow him to hover in mid-air.

However, most of his focus had been on the [Martial Artist] panel.

The skills on the [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] panel had all been upgraded by consuming “experience pills,” which had caused them to level up rapidly, but his techniques for using death energy…

Were still stuck in the primordial era of primitive farming techniques.

“There’s no legacy in this area, so I have to figure it all out on my own… Fortunately, I’m quite perceptive and have a smart mind.”

Lu Yuan consoled himself.

If his techniques for using death energy could reach the level of Karofis, his overall combat power would undergo a qualitative leap.

Lost in thought, Lu Yuan turned his gaze to the last scarlet bead.

This red bead was similar to the ones he had absorbed before, resembling a blood-red crow’s eye.

However, it was unprecedentedly large, with a diameter of at least four centimeters.

“A super-sized experience pill!”

Filled with anticipation, Lu Yuan gently crushed the red bead.

A dark red, viscous liquid flowed out, and every drop was absorbed into Lu Yuan’s skin without leaving any residue.

In an instant, the professional experience of [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] surged uncontrollably.

Originally at lv4 (123/800), it skyrocketed to lv5 (1508/1600) in one go.

Just a bit more, and it would have reached lv6.

It had given nearly two full levels of experience points.

Including the experience gained in [Death Energy Entanglement] and the [Martial Artist] panel, killing Karofis had showered Lu Yuan with a bounty of experience points!

“This feels amazing.”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim. With the [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] level-up, he gained 1 attribute point and 1 skill point.

Time for the delightful task of allocating points.

Lu Yuan first tried to add the attribute point to his constitution points.

But he received a prompt: [Insufficient attribute points]?!

After a limit break, increasing a basic attribute required two attribute points for each point.

It was unexpected, yet it made sense.

If post-limit break attributes were as easy to improve as before, the effects of the limit break wouldn’t be so significant.

“In that case…”

After thinking it over, Lu Yuan decided to add the attribute point to his intelligence points.

A better choice might have been to increase his agility points since his agility was already at 18.

With just two more points, it could reach 20, achieving another limit break level.

However, Lu Yuan was still practicing several body training techniques. If he could improve through cultivation techniques, he didn’t want to waste the points.

Intelligence points, on the other hand, couldn’t be trained.

Increasing his intelligence points to 18, the “spring” of inspiration in his mind continued to expand.

His mental power grew stronger, extending his detection range from over 20 meters to about 35 meters.

Without delving deeper into the changes, Lu Yuan proceeded to allocate the skill point.

The allocation of this skill point was pretty clear.

On the [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] professional panel, an advanced skill extending from [Death Energy Entanglement] had been available for unlocking for a while.

He hadn’t dared to gamble during the fight with Karofis, but now there was nothing to worry about.

With 1 skill point allocated.

Immediately, a brand-new Death Messenger skill appeared—

[Basic Professional Skill: Underworld Garment lv1 (0/100)]

…

“Tat-tat-tat—”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

In the Consciousness Space, Lu Yuan was enveloped by dense, cloud-like death energy.

Zhou Ling stood expressionlessly about ten meters away, his hands raised, each holding a black semi-automatic pistol, firing a barrage of bullets at Lu Yuan.

Golden bullet casings fell to the ground with a clatter, as if they were free.

But as soon as the bullets hit the death energy, they disappeared silently, as if sinking into a muddy swamp.

Occasionally, there was a faint metallic clink.

After a while, realizing that this kind of attack was ineffective against Lu Yuan, Zhou Ling flipped his hands, discarding the semi-automatic pistols, and drew two smaller energy guns from his thighs.

“Whoosh—”

A thumb-thick blue energy beam instantly hit Lu Yuan.

This time, the death energy around his body wavered, and he swayed slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

A barrage of energy beams poured out, causing the death energy to roil like fog.

Suddenly, Lu Yuan, who had been standing still, moved. With a fierce momentum, he charged at Zhou Ling.

The dense death energy surrounding him spread out like a dark shadow, attempting to envelop Zhou Ling.

In the next moment—

“Boom!”

A massive Mushroom Cloud erupted in the space, flames and thick smoke rolling out…

Moments later, a figure emerged slowly from the inferno.

Lu Yuan, maintaining his usual form, walked out with an elegant demeanor, looking composed.

Not even the hem of his garment was wrinkled or soiled.

However, the death energy that had been surrounding him was now much thinner.

Moreover, a translucent black film had appeared over his body.

Underworld Garment!

“I finally forced Zhou Ling to use that Mushroom Cloud. But…”

Lu Yuan frowned and muttered to himself, “That Mushroom Cloud looks impressive, but its actual destructive power is quite lacking…”

“Pitter-patter—”

Soft sounds came from the flames behind him.

Lu Yuan shook his head and exited the Consciousness Space.

Both of them had taken the Mushroom Cloud blast head-on.

In the end, even Zhou Ling himself wasn’t killed by the explosion. The power of this bomb… you can imagine.

“Whew—”

Opening his eyes, Lu Yuan found himself in his familiar small bedroom.

He stood up from his desk and picked up a pair of scissors that had been lying there.

Walking over to the wardrobe mirror, he began to trim his hair bit by bit.

After the first limit break in his constitution, and following the ultimate exertion that deeply tapped into his potential, it seemed to have stimulated certain growth hormones in his body, causing his hair to grow rapidly.

To avoid awkward explanations when going out, Lu Yuan decided to trim it himself.

The hair that had grown after the limit break was much tougher. The scissors, which were still fairly sharp, met noticeable resistance as he cut.

Fortunately, Lu Yuan was strong enough.

“Snip, snip—”

As he trimmed his hair, he recalled the process of testing the defensive capabilities of the [Underworld Garment].