Chapter 165 – The “Potential” of a True New Martial Arts Master

The Electronic Enthusiast stared at the terrifying figure in front of him, a figure so massive it completely blocked the overhead fluorescent light. An inexplicable sense of dread and an intense feeling of danger overwhelmed him.

A strange sense of dislocation gripped him, making him momentarily dazed.

But he quickly snapped out of it, his face flushing with shame and rage.

Damn it!

I’m supposed to be the villainous big boss, aren’t I?!

Don’t steal my thunder, you bastard!

A sound like electronic devices powering up emanated from the bulky, fat body of the Electronic Enthusiast as he began to rise from the ground.

However, in the very next second, a massive hand, veins bulging and knuckles thick, swooped down on him like a dark cloud.

“Crackling—”

As the hand descended, the air was compressed into a series of explosive pops, with shallow white waves of air rippling outward from the edges.

The blue light in the Electronic Enthusiast’s electronic eye flashed wildly. He emitted a low, mechanical roar and raised his hand to meet the descending blow.

“Boom—”

The entire floor of the underground Arcade seemed to shake violently.

The cement floor beneath Lu Yuan’s feet cracked in large chunks.

The Electronic Enthusiast’s hand twisted grotesquely, the broken mechanical framework inside piercing through the skin and sparking with electricity, exposed to the air.

His body was more than half-embedded into the cement floor, as if someone had forcibly hammered him into it.

The bright yellow glow of the Level 4 Ten Thousand Refined Crane Bone Technique flickered and danced between Lu Yuan’s palms and fingers.

With an effortless motion, Lu Yuan’s muscles flowed like liquid mercury under his skin.

The descending palm turned into a grasp, his five fingers extending like claws.

Killer Move, [Spirit Crane Technique: Mistaken Plucking of Immortal Orchid]!

The terrifying penetrating force allowed Lu Yuan’s fingers to effortlessly pierce into the Electronic Enthusiast’s skull as if it were tofu.

“Crunch—”

A sickening sound of metal twisting and grinding echoed.

The Electronic Enthusiast’s electronic eyes bulged outward.

Before he could react, Lu Yuan had already raised his hand.

With one hand gripping his head, Lu Yuan yanked the entire body of the Electronic Enthusiast out of the ground!

This was after his constitution points had broken their limit, his inner strength had surged, and his intelligence points had increased.

The power of the three killer moves of the Spirit Crane Technique had also increased significantly.

Now, when used by Lu Yuan, their might was more than five times more terrifying than before!

In his first rank transformation, Lu Yuan stood at an imposing height of 1.95 meters.

His entire body was muscular and knotty like the roots of an old tree, with veins bulging like earthworms on his skin.

The bright yellow glow of the Ten Thousand Refined Crane Bone Technique seemed like a special effect enhancing his body and arms.

Although the Electronic Enthusiast was physically larger than Lu Yuan, he now looked like a mere meatball, held aloft with one hand by Lu Yuan.

The Electronic Enthusiast was overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of fear and rage, his entire body suddenly emitting streams of blue light. A more massive power was brewing and surging within him.

“You deserve to die!”

Lu Yuan seemed indifferent to the imminent explosion of the Electronic Enthusiast.

He simply gazed calmly into the Electronic Enthusiast’s eyes, glancing briefly at the broken and scattered Game Machines around them.

He spoke coldly: “Those who don’t follow the rules… are destined to be eliminated by them.”

“Boom!”

…

“Slap!”

Xu Chengying slammed the handgun on the table in frustration, fuming, “He’s not responding to me.”

“Heh, you really look like a total simp right now…”

“Say that again if you dare.”

The Blue-haired boy looked at the gun barrel suddenly pointed at his forehead, his hands crackling with blue electricity as he tried to raise them.

But after a moment of hesitation, he grudgingly lowered his hands and shut his mouth.

He hadn’t taken many Gene Enhancement Injections, wasn’t skilled in martial arts, and relied solely on his Blue Electric Finger technique.

At such close range… he didn’t dare to bet whether his hands were quicker than Xu Chengying’s gun.

“Heh-“

Seeing the Blue-haired boy comply, Xu Chengying sneered and slowly lowered her handgun.

The long-haired youth and Xiang Shenghao, sitting nearby, paid no attention to this confrontation. Instead, they both furrowed their brows, deep in thought.

“It feels like him, but it also doesn’t.”

Xiang Shenghao pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.

“What’s the difference between saying that and saying nothing at all?”

The long-haired youth rolled his eyes and retorted sarcastically.

Then, his expression turned serious, and he spoke with a blank face, “I think there’s no need for us to get hung up on Lu Yuan’s identity.”

“Let’s just assume he’s the Lu Yuan from the ranking. Soloing Level B tasks, his strength is probably around B-. This might even be an overestimation. Since he solos, who knows what methods he uses? If he were truly that righteous, he wouldn’t have to avoid teaming up with anyone and go off to do tasks alone, right? In this assessment, teamwork scores are quite significant. Even a true Big Shot like Teng Xiangqing has to bring along a few teammates who don’t contribute much…”

The long-haired youth, Ye Wuqiang, surprisingly clear-headed for once, analyzed the situation logically. The other three couldn’t help but show signs of agreement on their faces.

“To put it bluntly, he’s stronger than us, but not by much. My comprehensive strength assessment before the test was C+, and He Jun, yours was too, right?”

The Blue-haired boy slightly raised his chin and snorted with a hint of pride, “What do you think?”

“Yeah.

Shenghao, I’m not sure about your and Headshot’s strength, but it’s definitely at least level C.”

“We four, with an average strength of level C, missing one B-level might be a bit regrettable.

But it’s not like we can’t manage without him, right?

No matter how strong he is solo, how strong can he be?

At most, B-level.

But we four have unlimited potential. As long as we build up our synergy and cooperation, I think… even reaching B+ isn’t out of the question!”

“Don’t you all agree?”

As the long-haired youth spoke, at some point, he had stood up.

With both hands resting on the small table in front of him, the exaggerated design of the exoskeleton on his back unfolded. He looked down on the three with a commanding presence, starting to exhibit some leadership qualities.

Although the other three felt slightly uncomfortable, they had to admit that Ye Wuqiang’s words made sense and were quite motivating.

“So, our immediate priority is to quickly select a task and complete it as soon as possible!” Ye Wuqiang glanced at the task wristwatch on his hand and said, “Now, the number of people on the new blood ranking has increased, which means other teams have completed tasks.

Although the assessment period is long, a full fifteen days, the total number of tasks is limited, so we need to act fast.

My suggestion is to skip the self-introduction phase and get to know each other and build synergy during the tasks.

What do you all think?”

“I don’t mind.”

“No objections.”

“Sounds good.”

Seeing that the three were slowly beginning to accept his leadership, a smile appeared on Ye Wuqiang’s face.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

Next, all it would take was a rallying cry to initially unite this temporary team.

“I believe…”

Ye Wuqiang’s eyes gleamed, and he spoke with confidence and excitement, “Our four-person team is definitely not inferior to anyone. Let’s show Lu Yuan that leaving us… was a foolish decision!”

Just as Ye Wuqiang finished his impassioned speech,

“Ding dong——”

The task wristwatches on all four of their wrists chimed synchronously with a pleasant sound.

Their expressions changed slightly.

This specific notification sound only occurred when a task of a certain level was completed for the first time.

So far, the first completions of Level C and Level B tasks had been claimed.

Now, hearing this notification again…

Could it be that some formidable individual or team…

Had actually completed the first Level A task?

“Seriously? Maybe it’s some other notification,” Ye Wuqiang muttered, one hand propping up the table, while the other raised to check his task wristwatch.

The others did the same.

Soon, a notification message appeared before the four of them—

[Congratulations to New Blood Lu Yuan for completing the first A+ level task.]

Lu Yuan?!

A+?!

The pupils of the four contracted sharply, and in the next second…

With a “boom,” the small round table in front of them collapsed once again, shattering into pieces.

Ye Wuqiang stood dumbfounded in front of the broken table, his expression filled with shock and disbelief. The black exoskeleton on his arm emitted a series of slightly erratic mechanical sounds.

A long silence.

A frozen atmosphere.

Finally, someone couldn’t help but murmur, “Now I understand why Lu Yuan left us to solo the tasks…”

“I guess we… no, probably everyone else participating in this assessment…

In his mind, we were all just burdens holding him back.”

“…”

…

A yellow-haired youth and a few companions stood smoking at the base of an abandoned apartment building.

Not far away, a few children were playing soccer.

Every so often, they would pause their game and look up curiously at the apartment building emitting loud “boom boom” explosion sounds.

And at the strange adults standing at the base of the building.

“Catch!”

The soccer ball accidentally rolled to the feet of the blond youth.

Feeling playful, he smiled and kicked the ball back to the local kids from Smokeless City.

A short-haired youth with a stern face glanced at his watch and couldn’t help but frown, “Is it really okay for Young Lord Teng to handle this alone?”

“Relax.”

The blond patted the short-haired youth’s shoulder, reassuring him with a relaxed look, “Since Young Lord Teng said he could handle it, you need to have faith in him.”

“But this is a level B+ task!

The task details indicate that it requires defeating a killer with a comprehensive strength of level B.

He’s equipped with a level B new martial art ‘Chainsaw Hand,’ which can easily cut through Rainbow Steel when fully activated!

Young Lord Teng…”

“You really underestimate Young Lord Teng.”

The blond youth sneered, “What garbage level B new martial art is Chainsaw Hand? How can it compare to Thunder Power?

Do you even understand the value of the level B+ internal martial art Thunder Power?

The cost of transplanting one set of Thunder Power is enough to buy you twenty sets of ‘Chainsaw Hand’!”

“…Moreover, to be able to handle a level B+ Thunder Power, the primary requirement is first to reach the Organ Training Level in Ancient Martial Arts.

Otherwise, an average person would be electrocuted to death by the violent power of Thunder Power before the transplant is even successful.

Before transplanting Thunder Power, Young Lord Teng was already an expert at the martial artist master level in Ancient Martial Arts, with guidance from renowned masters in the ancient martial arts world. Just based on his pure martial arts skills, he was a martial arts prodigy capable of reaching Level B!”

“Although Young Lord Teng has only recently transplanted Thunder Power and has not yet passed the Harmonization Phase,

I estimate… that Young Lord Teng’s current strength might already surpass the average level B+.

A mere level B Chainsaw Hand, how could it compare to Young Lord Teng?”

The blond youth, being closest to Teng Xiangqing, felt somewhat like Teng Xiangqing’s confidant and had the deepest understanding of his capabilities.

As he revealed this, the faces of the other team members immediately showed deep admiration.

They knew that Teng Xiangqing, being from an aristocratic family with ample resources, was very strong.

But they hadn’t expected him to be even more extraordinary than they had imagined.

To reach Level B as a pure martial artist and then transition to new martial arts… this was far stronger than the typical path of new martial arts or modification to reach Level B.

The differences in martial perception, willpower, self-control, combat skills, and many other details between the two cannot be compared.

New martial arts are called a revolutionary leap in future martial arts for a reason.

The fundamental reason is that it simultaneously draws on the essence of both ancient martial arts and modification.

A true new martial arts expert possesses the ultimate martial perception and peak techniques of an ancient martial arts expert, combined with the extraordinary power of technological modifications.

It’s like giving a super predator at the top of the food chain a pair of wings, transforming it from the apex predator of nature into a mythical creature.

Teng Xiangqing clearly already possesses this kind of “potential.”

“Ding dong——”

As they were talking, a pleasant notification sound came from the task wristwatches on the wrists of the people at the base of the building.

The blond youth couldn’t help but laugh.

“See, isn’t that Young Lord Teng’s first completion notification?”

As he spoke, he smiled and lowered his head to check the wristwatch message.