Chapter 157 – True Intent, Teacher Zhou Ling?

Ordinary small-caliber firearms can’t even penetrate the death energy surrounding Lu Yuan.

Once a bullet enters the death energy, its kinetic energy is immediately diminished.

Even if a stray bullet occasionally hits Lu Yuan, it feels like a small pebble lightly tossed at him.

The same principle applies to small-caliber energy guns.

The energy beams fired from energy guns, when entering the range of death energy, are quickly neutralized, greatly reducing their power.

With level 8 death energy, it’s enough to block the damage from most thermal weapons.

Not to mention that Lu Yuan also has an additional layer of “Underworld Garment.”

The [Underworld Garment] is a specialized defense skill.

Lu Yuan is currently only at level 1, but his defense power is still quite considerable.

At least, within the [Imaginary Enemy] simulation, neither Zhou Ling nor Gao Qing, the Team Leaders of Yellow Bear, have any means to break through his level 1 Underworld Garment.

“However, Zhou Ling and Gao Qing are clearly lower-tier members within the Yellow Bear organization. Their various modified attack methods are not advanced. If faced with higher-level cyborgs, who knows if it would still hold up?”

Mechanical power armor has always represented the pinnacle of technological understanding for him in this world.

Lu Yuan lives in the Old City Circle and has never stepped into the new world. The entire system of modified powers is still unknown to him.

“It’s an additional defense method, and my current [Underworld Garment] is just a layer of semi-transparent black film, without any patterns, still at a very low level.

There’s a lot of potential for improvement.”

Lu Yuan clearly remembers that Karofis’s Underworld Garment had patterns. Though thin, it was very elegant.

Before his constitution broke the limit, nine tons of boxing power combined with death energy, inner strength, and crane style true skill… hitting the opponent was still ineffective.

The potential of the [Underworld Garment] is evident.

“I still need to practice body training techniques. Otherwise, like Karofis, the outer shell may be tough, but once it’s broken, there’s just a pile of mush inside…”

Lu Yuan thought that if he could temper his body’s defense power to be comparable to or even stronger than the [Underworld Garment]…

Then his ultimate goal of tearing apart Mechas with his bare hands would have a good chance of being realized.

For most people, even for martial artists like Xiang Lei, the sect leader of the Hundred Refinement Sect, who possesses the “Palace of Flesh” talent, this would be a pipe dream.

But not for Lu Yuan.

After all… his Four Attributes can break the limit!

“Snip—”

With the final snip, Lu Yuan finally finished trimming his hair.

It was clean and neat, almost identical to his previous hairstyle.

For a competent martial artist, control over one’s body is a basic skill.

Lu Yuan could naturally cut his hair to whatever style he wanted.

The trimmed hair strands glistened under the bedroom light, almost as if they carried a mysterious sheen, like those enhanced effects in TV shampoo commercials.

“What a pity. If I sold this to a salon to make wigs, it would probably be worth a lot…”

Lu Yuan casually brushed off the hair clippings from his body and clothing.

He left the bedroom, fetched a broom, and swept the hair off the floor.

After finishing all this, he leisurely changed into a fresh set of clothes and went downstairs, pretending he had just gotten home.

It was now 9 PM.

Since he had taken leave from school in advance and his family knew he usually practiced martial arts at the gym after school, his late return did not cause any alarm.

Of course, the main reason was that his mom and Lu Jing were completely engrossed in the TV.

Not a drama series, but the evening news.

The news was reporting on the large flocks of crows that had appeared over several areas in Jiaoyan City during the day. Many people had seen it, and it had already gone viral on Moments.

Lu Yuan noticed that Lu Jing and his mom were watching intently and discussing it animatedly.

He glanced at the TV and saw an expert explaining that this large-scale crow migration was due to the influence of tropical ocean currents and monsoons from the Southern Hemisphere…

The bamboo grove was peaceful and quiet.

Liu Daoyuan, dressed in white Training Attire, was sitting at the stone table, sipping soda from his cup.

Lu Yuan stood respectfully in front of Liu Daoyuan, bowed, and said, “Teacher, forgive me.”

The [Imaginary Enemy] Liu Daoyuan showed no reaction.

Since Lu Yuan had already greeted him, he didn’t stand on ceremony.

He grabbed the edge of the stone table with both hands, lifted it lightly, and then slammed it down hard towards Liu Daoyuan’s face.

“Boom!”

The stone table and chairs shattered into pieces.

Lu Yuan casually brushed the dust off his hands and saw that Liu Daoyuan, still holding his teacup, had moved five or six meters away and was now coldly watching him.

“Teacher, aren’t you going to make a move?”

“If you don’t make a move…”

“I’ll beat you to death.”

Lu Yuan said lightly, and his body quickly expanded with a series of cracking sounds.

His black hair grew wildly, his skin turned red, blood vessels extended, muscles twisted, and the aura of a volcanic eruption spread out, as he entered the second rank transformation state.

The first rank transformation state didn’t differ much from his previous combat power.

He had already tested it with Liu Daoyuan.

It was useless; he couldn’t beat him.

Liu Daoyuan watched Lu Yuan with an expressionless face, the purple clay teacup in his hand turning to sand and slipping through his fingers.

Lu Yuan grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

The next second.

Bright yellow light surged around him, and large swathes of death energy emerged.

lv4 [Ten Thousand Refined Crane Bone Technique]!

lv8 [Death Energy Entanglement]!

lv1 [Underworld Garment]!

lv3 [Absolute Concentration]!

lv1 [Eye of Doom]!

Ultimate transformation!

Lu Yuan’s eyes turned into pure black, and he immediately went all out, unleashing his ultimate move—

At the top of the [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] panel, a skill light point shone like Doomstar.

[Super Killer Move—Death Message on the Way to the Underworld]!

The surging death energy transformed into a rushing Styx, gathering at Lu Yuan’s fist, exuding a silent, cold, and decaying aura.

With a “bang,” Lu Yuan’s body exploded into a burst of white waves, and he lunged at Liu Daoyuan at an incredible speed, throwing a fierce punch at him.

However, in the next instant…

“Pop—”

It sounded like a bubble being burst.

Lu Yuan felt as if everything around him had slowed down; the timeline seemed to stretch.

His movements also seemed to slow.

It was as if he was in an incredibly viscous space, where every action was slowed down by dozens of times.

But.

There was one person unaffected.

Lu Yuan saw Liu Daoyuan’s figure leap into the air right in front of him.

Liu Daoyuan’s right foot tore through the air, aiming straight for Lu Yuan’s face.

He could see every movement, every detail, clearly.

Yet, he couldn’t move, couldn’t dodge, and couldn’t throw his punch first.

He could only watch helplessly as that foot got closer and closer.

Finally, with a “bang,” it hit his forehead heavily.

“Whoosh—”

“Boom!”

A figure shattered into pieces, flesh and mechanical parts scattering like a broken doll.

Then, under the wash of death energy, they quickly decayed and turned to sand…

Lu Yuan stood there in a daze.

He reached up to touch his forehead.

The Underworld Garment there was shattered, and a large part of his skull was deeply dented.

He had finally thrown his punch.

One punch to “kill” Liu Daoyuan.

Yet, Lu Yuan felt…

He had still lost.

“Mental strength, willpower, twisting the five senses…”

Lu Yuan murmured in a daze, “Is this the True Intent?”

…

“Ring ring ring—”

The bell signaling the end of class rang.

The Physics teacher, who was also the head teacher, quickly assigned some homework, put away the teaching materials, and then turned and left the classroom.

The classroom immediately filled with the sounds of relaxation.

“Finally, class is over!”

“Whew—”

Lu Yuan also relaxed, exhaling softly.

A slight “crackling” sound came from his bones.

This startled the Little Fatty sitting next to him, who looked at him with wide eyes.

Lu Yuan didn’t pay any attention to him. He casually brought up his professional panel to check.

[Spirit Crane Body lv4 (12/800)]

[Steel Bones lv3 (25/400)]

While others were listening to the lesson, he had been secretly practicing martial arts.

Other techniques were too conspicuous, but using inner strength to temper his body was still feasible.

Just now, Lu Yuan had managed to break through a level in both [Spirit Crane Body] and [Steel Bones], which had been stuck at the first rank for some time.

Even though he had been mentally prepared, finding that the breakthrough was exactly as he expected left him feeling a bit disappointed.

Despite breaking through in two body training techniques, Lu Yuan’s Four Basic Attributes showed no change!

Not even his agility points increased!

Or rather, the agility points might have increased, and Lu Yuan could sense the subtle transformation within his body. However, this transformation hadn’t reached the threshold of a full point in agility, so it didn’t show up on the panel.

“The Four Basic Attributes are interrelated. When my constitution points break their limit, it invisibly raises the baseline for the other three attributes. The body training techniques that were quite effective for me before now have significantly reduced effects…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered as he thought, “It looks like I need to practice more body training techniques!”

The effectiveness of a single body training technique had decreased.

If quality wasn’t enough, then quantity would have to make up for it.

If a single body training technique breakthrough couldn’t increase his constitution points by one, what about two techniques?

What about ten?

Quantity should eventually lead to a qualitative change!

Lu Yuan considered calling his teacher, Liu Daoyuan.

He could ask Liu Daoyuan to get him more body training techniques.

Old Liu had a wide network in the martial arts world, and his friends were all generous and kind…

But thinking about how he had always asked Old Liu for things without giving much in return, except for inviting him to experience the super killer move in the Consciousness Space, Lu Yuan felt embarrassed and couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“I’ll check with Yellow Bear later to see if I can get more body training techniques. Old Liu is getting on in years; it’s not right to keep bothering him.”

Lu Yuan clearly remembered that when he was filling out the Yellow Bear application form, Gao Qing had mentioned that Yellow Bear had many pure martial artist legacies.

Something like the crane style wasn’t considered particularly rare.

“I hope she wasn’t lying…”

As he was thinking, suddenly, the head teacher, the Physics teacher who had just left, returned.

He appeared at the back door of the classroom and waved at Lu Yuan.

“Lu Yuan, come here for a moment.”

“Hmm?”

Lu Yuan looked up at the head teacher.

He noticed that the teacher’s face was filled with barely concealed excitement and enthusiasm.

Although puzzled, Lu Yuan quickly walked over.

As soon as he reached the door, the head teacher warmly grabbed his hand and started walking toward the office.

While walking, the head teacher, full of joy, said, “Lu Yuan, when did you secretly sign up for the Galaxy Cup National Mathematical Olympiad Formula Competition? And you even made it to the finals! If it weren’t for the Tournament Committee members coming personally to take you for pre-final training, none of us, including the school’s teachers and administrators, would have known!”

“Uh…”

What Galaxy Cup National Mathematical Olympiad Formula Competition?

Lu Yuan frowned, feeling utterly confused.

However, this confusion quickly dissipated.

As Lu Yuan followed the head teacher into the office, everything became clear.

Lu Yuan saw a tall, handsome man dressed in a white shirt and suit pants, with neatly combed hair and gold-rimmed glasses, smiling at him.

“Lu Yuan.”

His voice was deep and resonant as he walked briskly toward Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan blinked, remained silent for a moment, then tentatively called out.

“Zhou Ling… teacher?”

“Yes!”