Chapter 359 - 52: Biological Alchemist, Grudges and Relationships

「Two days later.」

In the Superpower Bureau’s gravity room.

Bare to the waist, Lu Chao stood in the center of the metal floor. The crushing pressure of triple gravity assailed him from all directions.

He felt as if he had fallen into the Deep Sea, enveloped by a tidal wave of pressure.

Sweat had long since beaded on his skin, tracing paths down his chiseled musculature.

A full ten-point increase in Life Energy was somewhat staggering, especially after reaching the Superpower Level.

As a result, his control over his body was affected; it was no longer perfect and precise. The force behind his punches and palm strikes felt scattered.

That was why Lu Chao had returned to the Superpower Bureau’s training grounds—to better adapt to this new power.

Gradually, visible streams of air began to form around his mouth and nose, drawn into his body with every rise and fall of his breath.

Furthermore, wisps of Qi Flame could be seen emerging on his skin, seeming to fill his every pore as they compressed and controlled his body’s energy.

His meridians and skin vibrated faintly, tempering his cells and bones.

He relied entirely on the core principles of the Rock Martial Skill and the Ten Thousand Spirits Martial Arts Skill, adjusting his breathing and following special Qi Flame techniques to temper his body.

The triple-gravity environment of the room became the perfect external aid for his training.

Time passed, second by second, and Lu Chao could be seen shifting through various stances.

At times, he threw punches and palm strikes, making minute adjustments to his force-generation techniques to maximize his explosive power. At other times, his body moved like a swimming dragon, darting across the metal walls and ceiling to stimulate the acupoints in his legs as he practiced the Swimming Dragon Steps.

"Hah!"

「Several hours later.」

Lu Chao returned to the center of the floor and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

With a series of crackling sounds, he concluded his practice and stood still. Only now did he feel he had completely adapted to the ten-point breakthrough in his Life Energy.

His control over his physical strength had also returned to a perfect state.

’Finally, I’ve assimilated it all.’

Nodding to himself, a hint of satisfaction crossed Lu Chao’s face.

’An increase in strength is gratifying, but I have to temper it and gain perfect control before I can truly call it my own.’

Moreover...

’The Rock Martial Skill... it should be soon.’

A glint flashed in his eyes as Lu Chao carefully sensed the subtle changes within his body.

A faint, strange sensation filled the space between his meridians and bones. It was a tingling itch, similar to a healing scab, as if something new was about to form.

He was very familiar with this feeling.

Back when he was still in Ring City, Master Luo had struck his body with an Ironwood Stick and had him soak in medicinal baths to help him practice the Rock Martial Skill.

In the period just before he reached the Minor Achievement of the Rock, he had felt this exact same sensation—a feeling that something was about to grow from his bones and meridians. Only later did he realize it was the sign that he was about to master a hard-style Martial Skill.

And now, the appearance of a new sign undoubtedly meant his Rock Martial Skill was approaching Major Achievement.

All he needed to do was complete the subsequent period of patient refinement and ensure he had enough nutritional supplements, and everything would fall into place.

Thinking of this, Lu Chao wiped away his sweat and left the gravity room.

He still hadn’t used up his previous mission rewards and had 30,000 contribution points left, which he could use to exchange for resources on the internal network.

If used properly, he could definitely raise his strength by another notch.

’I’ve taken a lot of energy mineral essence before, so I’ve built up a resistance and its effects are diminished.’

’I should see if there are other elementary nutritional resources available for exchange besides energy mineral essence. I could also look into more advanced knowledge on Superpower Potions.’

With his thoughts clear, several plans began to form in Lu Chao’s mind.

HISS! CLANK!

The heavy metal door of the gravity room opened, and he walked out.

The training area on the third floor had fewer people than usual. The dull sounds of equipment and sparring were sparse and scattered, making the place feel much less lively.

"Did you hear? Group One and Group Two are out on another mission."

"Yeah. And you’re right, that Special Investigation Team from Yao Capital is no joke. They’ve already found several more Rebel hideouts. I heard they had a top-tier hacker helping them, which is why it went so smoothly."

"It’s the same with the Wilderness. Apparently, personnel from three groups were transferred to assist the City Guard Army. They’ve already set out to intervene in the Wilderness Warlords’ war."

Lu Chao overheard snippets of the conversation and wasn’t surprised.

The reinforcements from Yao Capital had arrived quickly. They hadn’t been directly integrated into the Superpower Sub-Bureau but had instead joined the missions against the Rebels and Wilderness Warlords under the banner of the Special Investigation Team.

In a way, they held a more special status than the Superpower Sub-Bureau and had much closer ties to Yao Capital.

"Group Leader."

As he walked, a voice called out from his side.

Lu Chao turned his head and saw it was Wang Dali, who was also on leave and training here.

"Why aren’t you resting at home?"

He stopped and asked quietly.

It wasn’t just him and Yao Jin; all the team members who had participated in that day’s mission had been forced to take half a month of leave, and that was especially true for the injured.

Currently, in the entire Fifth Group, only Gao Hu and a few others were still on duty, frequently moving between the city ring and the buffer zone.

"Well, I..."

"Since I’m on leave and had nothing to do, I thought I’d make use of the time."

Wang Dali scratched his head, clearly unaccustomed to having so much time off.

He was drenched in sweat, a clear sign that he had been training hard and had expended a great deal of energy.

"None of us could help with what happened that day. In the end, it’s because we’re too weak."

"If I could just break through to the Elite Level, I could definitely help Captain Yang and the others shoulder some of the burden..."

His voice trailed off, his tone growing dejected.

He glanced around the rest of the training area, where other team members on leave were also practicing, all of them seemingly driven by a shared frustration.

Lu Chao fell silent for a moment. He knew that the ambush had been a huge blow to many of his teammates, something they couldn’t easily forget.