Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Tsk, tsk, this old guy is pretty quick, huh?"
Near the high-speed railway station, a high-speed train slowly pulled away.
The man in the black robe, standing in the shadows, shook his head in regret.
He had planned to intercept again, but unfortunately, the target was too fast and blended into the crowd.
Caw!
A crow pecked its feathers on the electric pole, then flew down to land on his shoulder.
The four men in black behind him wore masks, and one of them handed him a phone.
"It's the Red Steward."
Indifferently, he took the phone, and a voice came through the receiver.
"How's the progress on the Pine Crane Sect?"
"It's not quite there yet, but it should be enough," the man in the black robe said calmly, and the woman's voice on the other end of the line gave a soft nod.
"What about that kid? Don't let him expose our tracks."
"I left him a way out, he won't survive the night."
"That's good," the woman on the phone said with satisfaction, then immediately gave more instructions: "Switch to another sect and continue."
"The Martial Arts Tournament is in seven days. Let's make this fire burn brighter."
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"Six-point attribute increase."
In the training hall's quiet room, Chen Feng stood still.
His gaze lingered on the four attributes.
His strength had increased moderately, probably by two or three hundred kilograms, not very noticeable.
In comparison, his willpower had grown the most.
A full two points, his mental strength had expanded significantly.
Conservatively estimating, his limit for summoning the Shield Golem was now approaching two minutes.
Apart from that, his power in Qi had also grown.
He slightly raised his hand, deep red Qi swirling around his palm, resembling flames.
The third level of Qi, unlike the first two levels, had a major difference here.
Internal and external Qi fusion.
His mind and Qi now merged, allowing for faster burst speeds, and the power was twice as strong as before.
For example, normally, his punch would only exceed two tons.
But if he used a Qi technique, it could unleash nearly five tons of destructive power.
Effect-wise, it was on par with a master-level explosive punch.
And the most important part.
"Flame Pillar."
This was the Qi technique available only after the Crimson Tiger Force broke through the Burning Mountains.
Under the control of his mind, he compressed his Qi, gathered both palms, and struck out with a Qi pillar.
It was similar to the technique used by the Pine Crane Sect when entering the third level of Qi.
Chen Feng was eager to try it, as it was his first long-range attack method.
He left the quiet room and went to an open area behind the training hall.
There were no people around, about forty or fifty meters away from the cafeteria.
In the middle was a green area, with several strong-growing trees, and a paved stone path extended out.
After a quick look around, Chen Feng found a suitable spot.
Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind and compressed his Qi.
Humm!
The deep red Qi appeared between his palms. He slightly lowered his waist, with his palms one above the other, facing each other.
The Qi flame deepened, and with his focused intent, it gradually formed a crimson Qi sphere.
It was hot and pulsating.
It felt as though actual flames were condensed there, and the temperature around him increased slightly.
After sensing it for a moment, Chen Feng extended his arms and focused on a thick tree in the distance.
"Go!!"
Whoosh!!!
A crimson Qi pillar, the size of a human head, shot out, causing the surrounding air to distort.
Boom!!
A tree that would take three people to hug was instantly blasted apart, snapping with a loud crack.
The broken bark was blackened, like the marks left by a shell.
Retrieving his senses, Chen Feng roughly understood the technique's effect and limit.
It was comparable to some miniature missiles, with a range limit of about eight meters.
But it wasn't without flaws—it required a certain amount of charging time and consumed a lot of Qi.
For example, the blast just now cost him at least a third of his Qi.
"No matter what, this gives me another tool."
Feeling somewhat satisfied, Chen Feng noticed that some trainees inside the training hall had heard the noise and were looking over.
He immediately returned to the quiet room.
Alone, thinking about the upcoming Martial Arts Tournament, Chen Feng didn't want to waste any more time. He decided to focus on training at the hall.
For that, he sent a message to Lin Hao to inquire about the club's opening. He confirmed that the opening would be delayed by about a week.
After discussing leave arrangements, he casually asked if he could still get silver steel.
Buzz! Buzz!
[Lin Hao: It's difficult, the entire city is under martial law right now.]
[The checkpoints in the urban area are manned by the military, it's probably going to take some time.]
After reading the message, Chen Feng wasn't too disappointed.
The Utopia incident had caused quite a stir. Even though the military had repelled them for now, the situation hadn't completely settled.
However…
"Steel Bones is close to break through again, but in the short term, it seems like I'll only be able to rely on the Dream Realm."
Putting the phone down, Chen Feng looked at the talents he had mastered.
[Perception LV3: 51/100]
[Steel Bone LV2: 82/100]
[Azure Armor LV3: 32/100]
[Heart of Glory LV1: 70/100]
Azure Armor and Heart of Glory had seen some improvement today, primarily thanks to the three true disciples from Pine Crane Sect.
Perception had started to hit a bottleneck, and Azure Armor was still far from a breakthrough.
If he wanted a breakthrough in the short term, Steel Bone and Heart of Glory had the highest potential.
With that thought, Chen Feng had a plan in mind.
For three consecutive days, the situation in Nanjiang gradually improved.
During this time, Chen Feng entered the Dream Realm and went on a sweep, accumulating seven Limit Breaks.
At the same time, he had successfully verified one of his guesses.
"These guys really are lucky, getting direct guidance from the Senior Brother himself."
"Tsk, tsk, Pei Yue is useless, just one move and he's down."
"Senior Brother already suppressed his power, didn't even use Qi."
Inside the training room of the martial arts hall, several core trainees retreated in shame, including Pei Yue and Wu Tian.
Another long line of trainees stood behind, many of the coaches watching enviously.
Looking over, the tall, burly young man in black stood in the center of the arena, suppressing over ninety percent of his power.
One by one, core trainees stepped up to spar with him, receiving pointers from the Senior Brother.
However, even though Chen Feng was doing his best to suppress his power, these trainees, who were only at the Bone Training stage, stood no chance against him.
Defeated in a single move, it was rare for anyone to last more than two moves.
Boom!
Another person was hit on the left shoulder and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
He got up awkwardly, looking somewhat ashamed.
"Thank you, Senior Brother, for your guidance."
He cupped his fists in respect before stepping off the field.
Seeing this, Chen Feng frowned slightly, but it wasn't directed at the person.
"Turns out it doesn't work."
The panel in front of him was completely still, not providing a single point of Glory.
He had hoped to take advantage of the situation, using these battles as easy victories.
But now, it was clear that idea had failed.
The thought flashed through his mind, and he silently regretted it.
In the end, Chen Feng decided to finish giving pointers to the trainees at the martial arts hall before returning to the quiet room.
"Taking shortcuts doesn't work."
"Well then, let's go with brute force."
Standing alone in the quiet room, Chen Feng immediately summoned his panel and looked at the skill section.
[Ten Thousand Temperings: Beginner (1/100) +]
This true technique also required visualization for cultivation, but the visualization image was quite simple.
A mass of mist-like gas, continuously compressed and transforming into different shapes.
After three consecutive days of receiving seven Limit Breaks, Chen Feng was fortunate enough to directly add them all to this skill.
Buzz!
In an instant, his progress skyrocketed.
A sense of enlightenment washed over him, as though he had spent dozens of days training in the scorching sun, refining his body.
Qi circulated through his body, tempering his physique.
His body grew stronger, feeding back into his Qi, becoming even more refined.
In an instant, the panel notification appeared.
[Ten Thousand Temperings: Hundred Refinements (1%)]
As the breakthrough occurred, Chen Feng narrowed his eyes.
Slightly sensing it, he found that the Qi in his body had increased by a full third.
As for his physique and mental state:
[Strength: 21.9 → 22.7]
[Agility: 20.0 → 20.8]
[Constitution: 28.0 → 28.8]
[Willpower: 23.5 → 24.1]
"An increase of 3 attribute points."
Looking purely at the attribute effects, it was similar to when the Bronze Statue Technique broke through to Copper Skin.
However, unlike the Bronze Statue Technique, which focused on constitution, the Giant Tiger technique paid more attention to strength.
At this point, Ten Thousand Temperings appeared to be quite balanced.
The growth in strength, agility, and constitution was identical.
"Balance means mediocrity."
"But…"
Crunch!
Clenching his fist tightly, Chen Feng felt that this principle didn't quite apply to him.
As long as the base value is large enough, every time he gains an average improvement, it's a transformative enhancement.
After adapting, he suddenly had an intuitive thought.
If he faced the Pine Crane Sect's True Intent Realm elder who had caused trouble a few days ago, he might not even need to activate the Azure Armor to fight him.
"Not enough!"
He shook his head; simply being able to resist was not the result he was aiming for.
What he wanted was only one word.
Victory!
Absolute suppression, certain victory!
He immediately gave an order.
Another Muscle Fortifying Tiger Bone Pill was swallowed by him.
Soon, ten core trainees, holding steel rods, appeared again.
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Thud!
Black boots crushed the bloodstained ground as they stepped out of a deep, muddy pit.
Around them, trees had been overturned and shattered, various metal wreckage scattered on the ground, mixed with rolling dirt.
Thud!
As they took another step, their blue jeans were soaked in blood.
The golden body, though somewhat dull, had some dents and damage marks, and even one of the metal arms had disappeared.
However, the rugged man with loose long hair still wore a calm and confident expression.
"Aren't you leaving yet?"
A voice came from the communication module, faintly accompanied by gunfire in the background.
To this, Jin Wei's tone was indifferent as he asked a single question.
"Silver Wolf, who killed him?"
The atmosphere fell silent. The gunfire in the background continued, but the leader on the other end remained eerily quiet for a moment.
Jin Wei stood still, already sensing the movements of other mobile teams and drones around him.
He didn't move; he was waiting for an answer.
"It's possible it was the people from Tian Hao Security."
The leader finally spoke, but Jin Wei's expression remained cold.
"I've looked into that company. It's not simple."
"Your modification module is too damaged, you should put off seeking revenge for now."
"This operation was very successful. The organization has prepared a reset for you."
Bang bang bang bang!
The gunfire intensified on the other end of the line, and the communication module was abruptly cut off.
The sound of whooshing approached quickly, and Jin Wei looked up.
A new swarm of drones appeared, and mechanical spiders began scanning the area.
At the same time, several powerful mechanical warriors arrived, riding single-person flying devices, floating in the air and gazing down at him as though they were watching a dead man.
Seeing this, Jin Wei remained silent.
Around him, intense gunfire erupted, and he could even see several missiles closing in, surrounding him.
Without dodging, he turned back and glanced in the direction of Nanjiang city.
It was as if everything had been engraved into his bones. Then, a flash of golden light erupted as he unleashed his power.
Boom!!!
The blast wave from the explosion swept through the area, and everything vanished, leaving only swirling smoke and broken pieces of machinery.
The military mechanical warriors in midair remained silent for a moment before finally shaking their heads and receiving the communication.
"For now, it's over."
That night, streetlights illuminated the city.
Suddenly, many people's phones buzzed with notifications, including Chen Feng's, who was just about to sleep.
He curiously opened the message, and his gaze quickly focused.
[United Coalition: Utopia fugitive, Jin Wei, has been killed in the suburban area.]
[Citizens can rest assured, Utopia's power has been completely eradicated from Nanjiang. Everyone can resume their normal activities and work! All those who suffered casualties can come to the Council building tomorrow to register and receive compensation.]
The sudden official notification caught Chen Feng off guard.
So that Gold-grade cyborg was dealt with by the military?
Though he thought it was the most probable outcome, given the military's overwhelming power on Earth.
But still, when thinking about the strength of a Gold-grade cyborg, it felt a little surreal.
Buzz!
His phone vibrated, and Lin Hao had sent him a message.
[Lin Hao: Did you see the announcement?]
"Mm." Chen Feng responded briefly.
[Lin Hao: It seems to be true, finally some temporary peace.]
Frowning slightly, Chen Feng sensed something important.
Temporary?
Suddenly, he remembered something Lin Hao had mentioned before.
The Central City already had cloning and consciousness uploading technology.
Could it be…?
Buzz!
The phone vibrated again, and Lin Hao sent another message.
[Lin Hao: I found something today.]
[Silver Wolf is Jin Wei's younger brother.]
[My bad, I was careless. It's better if you ask your friend to hide for now.]
Messages kept coming in, and Chen Feng fell silent.
A new sense of urgency rose in his heart, driven by the pressure of facing a Gold-grade cyborg.
After all, the one who had killed Silver Wolf was none other than Chen Feng himself.
Thinking of this, he asked Lin Hao about his earlier guess.
Soon, a piece of news came in that helped him breathe easier.
[Lin Hao: Cloning and consciousness uploading isn't difficult, but the Gold-grade resources are quite a burden for Utopia.]
[Every reset requires corresponding modification modules and advanced metals, which take time to prepare. Also, Utopia's internal factions aren't united.]
[If someone competes, they might steal his reset resources, leaving his consciousness source body stuck in the deep sea forever.]
As the messages continued, Chen Feng relaxed a little.
However…
"Deep sea?"
[Lin Hao: You can think of it as a virtual network that stores backup consciousness, allowing the source body to survive.]
Chen Feng paused, thinking for a moment but didn't ask further.
The two ended their conversation, and Chen Feng glanced at the pitch-black night outside.
Reset, revival.
Cloning, backup.
He wouldn't gamble on whether Jin Wei would be stuck in the deep sea forever, unable to resurface.
He only trusted himself.
He lowered his head slightly and raised both arms.
He only trusted that these arms, capable of defending everything—including life and dignity—were his true strength.
(End of the Chapter)
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