Chapter 167 – Next Time, Don’t Push Yourself So Hard

In a room sealed tight, two figures were locked in intense combat.

One figure was entirely pitch black, with skin that glimmered like metal.

The other had shoulder-length hair and a body that was robust and chiseled like a sculpture of red clay, exuding a ferocious and extremely masculine aura.

“Thousand-Degree High-Temperature Combat Body!”

With a low growl, the body of one of the combatants, the entirely pitch-black figure, began to rapidly turn red at the limbs.

Waves of intense heat radiated out, turning the entire room into a massive furnace in the blink of an eye.

At the center, the air around the man with glowing red limbs became visibly distorted.

“Let’s see how you handle this now! Haha…”

The pitch-black figure, enveloped in heat waves, laughed maniacally and charged at the man with shoulder-length hair like a hurricane, limbs tearing through the air and leaving trails of dazzling fire behind.

The latter remained expressionless, his body barely trembling, as he extended his right hand with fingers curled, striking out swiftly like a crane’s claw parting the clouds.

With a flash of bright yellow light, an unparalleled sharp force pierced through the heat waves instantly.

“Rip—Whoosh!”

In a flash, the two figures brushed past each other.

Both stood still.

The pitch-black figure, still enveloped in heat waves, widened his eyes, his twisted, dark face filled with shock and disbelief.

His entire neck had almost completely vanished, revealing a gruesome mix of machinery and flesh.

The jagged wound looked as if it had been savagely torn by a beast’s claws.

He tried to cover the wound with his hands, but as his still-glowing red hands touched the flesh, the smell of burning protein filled the air.

Moments later.

The light in his eyes dimmed completely, and his head lolled to the side as he collapsed to the ground with a resounding thud.

“Boom! Crash—”

Lu Yuan threw a casual punch, creating a huge hole in the concrete wall in front of him.

The cool breeze from the 45th floor rushed in, instantly sweeping away the stifling heat in the room.

He slowly exited his Second Rank Transformation, his eyes fixed on his right hand, a gleam of excitement flickering in his gaze.

“I actually… broke through?!”

On the [martial artist] panel, a skill icon was currently glowing—

[Killer Move Skill—Spirit Crane Technique: Mistaken Plucking of Immortal Orchid] lv2!

During the instant of their clash, Lu Yuan unexpectedly triggered [A Moment of Inspiration], and in that sudden burst of insight, Mistaken Plucking of Immortal Orchid had advanced to level 2.

This truly surprised Lu Yuan.

“Well, with so many high-quality opponents recently, the frequency of battles, and my intelligence now increased to 19 points, my comprehension is naturally incredible…

It’s only natural to have a breakthrough moment in the midst of battle…”

Lu Yuan mused to himself as he casually grabbed a torn piece of curtain from the floor and slowly wiped the remaining blood and flesh from his right fingers.

The task boss, a death row prisoner with Level A strength, could be killed, so he didn’t hold back.

He had to admit, after completing a series of Level A tasks, Lu Yuan had significantly deepened his understanding of the modification and new martial arts systems.

Like the new martial art his opponent just used, called the “Thousand-Degree High-Temperature Combat Body.”

In just a few seconds, it could elevate the surface temperature of specially modified limbs to over a thousand degrees, and even produce effects like high-temperature burns and flames.

Although the opponent’s application and combat techniques were so crude that Lu Yuan couldn’t help but want to criticize…

He had to admit, it still had a certain eye-catching charm.

“If a martial arts expert who was proficient in hand-to-hand combat had such an attack effect, their combat power might be several times greater…”

Suddenly, he understood his teacher Liu Daoyuan’s words—”Although my body is now incomplete, my strength is much greater than before. But unfortunately, seeking revenge against old enemies in this state, even if I win, it wouldn’t be satisfying.”

“For some old-school ancient martial arts practitioners like Old Liu, any power not painstakingly cultivated by oneself feels like a form of cheating.”

Lu Yuan felt a sudden surge of emotion. He casually tore off the clothes that had been ripped during the fight, walked to the corner, and pulled out a set of replacement clothes from a backpack he had prepared beforehand.

His silky black hair, which he was too lazy to trim, was simply tied back with a dark blue hairband.

After all, every time he entered Second Rank Transformation, his hair grew wildly. He had to cut it after each battle, which he found quite annoying.

The clothes he put on had sun and moon patterns printed on the front and back.

Interestingly, these patterns moved, continuously repeating the process of the sun rising and setting, and the moon alternating.

Lu Yuan had bought these clothes in Smokeless City.

The first time he saw them, he was amazed, thinking that if he wore these back to Jiaoyan, he would certainly attract a lot of attention on the streets.

He carefully selected dozens of pieces, since his task wristwatch allowed him to freely swipe in Smokeless City.

However, he later discovered that once these clothes left the “new world,” the patterns “died,” becoming indistinguishable from ordinary clothes.

Lu Yuan suddenly understood the reason for the invisible barrier between the “new world” and the “Old City Circle.”

“What a pity…”

The elevator descended.

Ding—, and in no time, he arrived on the first floor.

Lu Yuan, wearing glasses and carrying a backpack, walked out of the elevator. Apart from the task wristwatch on his hand, he looked no different from a native of Smokeless City.

“With 19 intelligence points, my mental power detection range has expanded to about seventy meters.

My comprehension has also improved. I wonder if I can, purely through my own understanding, elevate all three killer moves of crane style to level 3. Then, I could directly add points to unlock the True Intent.

I wonder what changes breaking the limit at 20 intelligence points will bring…”

After his intelligence points increased to 19, Lu Yuan occasionally felt like something was on the verge of breaking out in his mind.

He was familiar with this sensation; it was a sign of an impending breakthrough.

“Completing all eight Level A tasks should be enough to level up [martial artist] again…”

“By the way, which task am I on now?”

Lu Yuan opened the task map and saw that there were only three red task points left.

After a brief consideration, he quickly made a decision.

One of the nearest Level A tasks had the task objective of—eliminating the Bloodthirsty Gnoll!

Lu Yuan glanced at the information on the “Bloodthirsty Gnoll” and was surprised to find that it followed a rather rare biochemical modification route.

The cyborg system is divided into mechanical modification and biochemical modification.

The latter, as Lu Yuan had mentioned in a conversation with Zhou Ling on the shuttle, involves integrating elephant genes into ant genes.

Through genetic modifications, this method breaks the inherent limits of the human body, granting extraordinary strength.

Compared to mechanical modification, biochemical modification retains the original flesh and blood.

It is more flexible, cheaper to implement, and allows one to enjoy all the life experiences of a normal person…

The downside is that the body is prone to various irreversible deformations, and its strength ceiling isn’t very high.

Thus, not many cyborgs choose the biochemical modification route.

Among the many task instances Lu Yuan had completed, this “Bloodthirsty Gnoll” was the first of its kind he had encountered.

From its name, one could guess the type of biochemical modifications this individual had undergone.

“When the fight starts, would it be effective if I threw some meat bones on the ground?” Lu Yuan mused to himself as he followed the map route to the target location.

The location was a building whose exterior gave no indication of its specific purpose.

There were few pedestrians in front of the building, with only two robust young men standing at the entrance, chatting like security guards.

Lu Yuan noticed that both men wore task wristwatches symbolizing new blood.

As Lu Yuan approached the building, the two young men also took notice of him.

Seeing him walk straight into the building, they said nothing but gave him a cursory glance before looking away.

“These consciousness-uploaders are really something, not afraid of death at all, rushing headlong into task points…” one young man muttered, staring at the rising and setting sun pattern on Lu Yuan’s back.

The other, more observant, shook his head and said, “He’s new blood. Didn’t you see the wristwatch on his hand?”

The first young man was momentarily taken aback, then quickly resumed his criticism, “If he’s new blood, isn’t it even more of a death wish?

A Level A task, even Young Lord Teng has to take people with him to dare attempt it.

This guy just barges in alone like that—who does he think he is?”

“Indeed, other than the person ranked number one, who would dare to solo… huh?!!”

Halfway through their conversation, the two stopped abruptly.

They stared at each other, bewildered.

A thought simultaneously emerged from the depths of their minds—

“Oh my god, could that kid who just walked in be the number one on the ranking?!”

…

“Wan Ming! Get over here and help restrain him!”

On a certain floor of the building, the sound of gunfire and various new martial arts and modification attacks roared almost incessantly.

The entire floor seemed to be shaking, with dust falling from the ceiling.

Several figures lay or crouched on the ground, in corners, holding various weapons, some original and some picked up from the ground, attacking the battle group ahead.

Almost everyone was injured, with blood pooling beneath them.

At the center of the battle, a figure enveloped in blue electric light stood, surrounded by an invisible electric field, exuding an astonishing aura.

But his opponent was even more terrifying.

Moving at a speed that made him almost a blur, the terrifying electric field seemed to have no effect on him.

He moved like a blood-colored whirlwind, leaving deep, bone-revealing claw marks on Teng Xiangqing’s body from time to time.

“Wan Ming!”

Teng Xiangqing’s figure wavered, and he couldn’t help but shout again.

From somewhere behind, a young man with spiky yellow hair responded with a miserable expression, “Young Lord Teng, I… I can’t get in!”

Wan Ming felt a bitter feeling inside, but he couldn’t express it.

Teng Xiangqing’s level B+ Thunder Power was fully activated, almost going berserk, forming a terrifying electric field at the center of the battle.

Wan Ming had tried several times to enter, but as soon as he touched the edge, he was electrified to the point of numbness and had to retreat.

And!

Why was Teng Xiangqing calling him?

Calling him, a B- level, to restrain a Bloodthirsty Gnoll with A- level power?!!

Why not just ask him to clear out the three level S task zones outside?!

Seriously… what high expectations they have of him.

“Damn it!”

Seeing no response to his call for help, Teng Xiangqing’s handsome face twisted in frustration.

He struggled to hold on, his heart filled with intense unwillingness.

He hadn’t expected a mere A- level Bloodthirsty Gnoll to be so terrifyingly powerful.

Even with his full strength and the Thunder Power, which had not yet fully integrated and was in the control period, he couldn’t match the opponent.

It seemed so easy when that guy named Lu Yuan did it, didn’t it?

Why was it so difficult for him?

Even with a team, they couldn’t take it down?

As Teng Xiangqing was thinking this, he suddenly heard a faint whooshing sound near his ear.

In a daze, a figure casually walked past him, leaving behind a remark: “Next time… don’t push yourself so hard.”

Then, he saw…

A tall, slender figure appeared before him.

The figure’s body rapidly expanded, like a volcanic eruption, with invisible heat waves emanating in all directions. The tightly bound long hair broke free from its tie…

In the next second.

The Bloodthirsty Gnoll, who had been rampaging like a whirlwind around the field, suddenly had its head firmly grabbed by a large, veiny hand.

And then…

“Boom——”

It was forcefully pushed forward.

Walls crumbled one after another, revealing a series of humanoid-shaped holes…

…