Chapter 367 - 55: Another Upgrade, Rock’s Great Accomplishment!

"Young Master..."

The loyal security captain stood behind him, unsure of how to offer comfort.

Mr. Lu is clearly a man who values relationships and loyalty. Back then, Young Master, you went through great trouble to befriend him and build a good rapport.

If you were to face danger, you might have been able to ask for his help.

But now...

"Sigh."

Xu Fengling sighed, a strange melancholy filling his heart.

He didn’t know if his decision back then—to heed his father’s warning and give up on deepening his friendship with him—had been the right one.

Was his family truly secure with the Tan family as their backer?

Thinking of this, his expression grew complicated as he looked toward You Qiulin in the distant villa courtyard. She looked as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, a survivor who had just escaped death.

’I hope I made the right choice,’ he thought.

...

「Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.」

Before long, the calendar in the Red Maple City Circle had turned another page, bringing the early spring of March.

The temperature rose slightly, and the severe cold of winter completely faded away.

Pedestrians had quietly swapped their down jackets for windbreakers or common fleece sweaters, which were now common sights on the streets.

BANG! BANG!

As always, dull thuds echoed from the third-floor training ground of the Superpower Bureau building.

Regardless of the weather outside, the numerous team members inside wore thin Martial Arts uniforms, their sweat splashing into every corner.

It was the same for Lu Chao, who had arrived at the gravity room early and used his contribution points to extend his time inside.

He was currently bare-chested, his legs in a deep squat as if his feet were tree roots anchored to the ground.

Beads of sweat trickled down his sharply defined muscle groups, and a white mist of perspiration enveloped his body, lingering in the air.

Breathing, heartbeat, maintaining bodily functions... every physical exertion under three times gravity was magnified severalfold.

Thanks to this, his cultivation of the Rock Martial Skill sped up once again. Under the guidance of his breathing, the pressure from all directions became the perfect external force for tempering his muscles, bones, and skin.

’Almost there,’ Lu Chao thought, his eyes bright as the veins on his face gradually bulged.

He could feel his body approaching its limit. He had been coming to the gravity room every day during this final period of leave.

[Life Energy: 130→134!]

[Potential Progress: 8%]

Over the past half-month, he had spent twenty thousand contribution points to acquire a precious resource called [Essence of Qi].

It was a primary-grade resource on par with energy mineral essence, a crystalline drug made from many super-powered nutritional materials.

Since he had never taken it before, he hadn’t built up any resistance to its effects. The results were outstanding, increasing his Life Energy by four points in one go!

Now, the intuition in his heart grew stronger, and sharp pains pulsed through his muscles, bones, and skin.

Lu Chao forced himself to follow the principles of the Rock Martial Skill, guiding his breath to vibrate his sinews and skin, continuing to temper his flesh and bones.

Ten minutes, half an hour, an hour passed.

Just as his skin grew scorching hot, the qi and blood in his body boiled like water, and white mist continuously poured from his pores, he reached the point where he could bear it no longer.

CRACK!

It was as if a bottleneck holding him back had fractured, followed by the roar of an even mightier surge of qi and blood.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!!

The flow of his blood suddenly became unobstructed. The qi and blood in his body had broken through once more.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

His muscles and bones chimed in unison, the sound echoing through the room like a string of firecrackers.

All his bottlenecks melted away like snow in the spring sun, no longer able to hold him back.

Lu Chao felt his body suddenly lighten as the swelling and sharp pains in his muscles and bones dissipated.

His physique seemed to have undergone a minor transformation, and the panel before his eyes quietly changed.

[Life Energy: 134→136!]

"Success!"

A sharp, intimidating glint flashed in his eyes.

Lu Chao saw the information on the panel and was certain his Rock Martial Skill had reached its final stage—it was officially at the Grand Completion level!

He immediately relaxed his cultivation stance and carefully felt the changes in his body.

The strength of his physique had increased by at least thirty or forty percent.

Moreover...

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Growing half an inch taller, he instantly entered the state of Copper Flesh and Iron Bones.

Rock and Iron Bones were an incredibly good match. In this state, his physical defense was enhanced even further. He could probably ignore a direct hit from a medium-to-large-caliber weapon like a grenade launcher, and he could even shake an armored vehicle head-on without fear.

’If I also activate Titan’s Power...’

’I’m afraid I could ignore even a howitzer, and even some specialized armor-piercing rounds and micro-missiles would have a hard time injuring me.’

His eyes shining, Lu Chao clearly sensed his own power at this moment.

With all his abilities active, the hardness of his body and his physical defense would be off the charts. He even felt that some experts at the Transcendence Level would struggle to seriously injure him.

"Hm?"

Soon, a wave of hunger washed over him from within.

Every single one of his cells was sending out greedy signals—an intense craving for nutritional resources.

Lu Chao’s gaze sharpened, but he wasn’t surprised. Having experienced qi and blood depletion before, he naturally knew what was happening.

The Grand Completion of the Rock Martial Skill would inevitably cause a minor transformation in his physique, which naturally meant it would temporarily drain his body’s Biological Energy.

He immediately walked to the corner of the gravity room and turned off the triple gravity.

A small, silver briefcase sat in the corner. He picked it up and opened it, revealing five bottles of Senior-Level Nutritional Potion inside, all from his monthly benefits.

GLUG!

GLUG!!

Twisting off the caps, Lu Chao drank them one after another.

One bottle after another, the cool liquid slid down his esophagus and into his stomach.

The surging medicinal power was potent, but it was still a far cry from energy mineral essence or the Essence of Qi. The difference between them was like a stream versus a great river.

Lu Chao wasn’t surprised by this; he was already used to it.

By now, the effects of the Senior-Level Nutritional Potion on him were diminishing.

This was partly due to building up resistance from taking too many, and partly because increasing his Life Energy had become progressively harder since he had broken through to the veteran stage of the Limit-Breaking Level.

It would take seven or eight bottles just to raise his Life Energy by a single point.

Furthermore, he stared at the panel, looking at his Potential Progress.

After awakening [Hunter], the difficulty of accumulating energy had doubled again.

And at this very moment...

[Potential Progress: 8%→10%]

’As expected.’

Shaking his head inwardly, Lu Chao put down the fifth empty nutritional bottle.

He still had nearly eight million Alliance Coins on hand, the last of his previous mission rewards.

He had originally planned to use it to buy materials to craft a large batch of Senior-Level Nutritional Potions, which he would use to increase his Life Energy and speed up the energy accumulation for his Potential Progress.

But looking at it now, that clearly wasn’t cost-effective. The gains were far inferior to those from energy mineral essence or the Essence of Qi.

’Looks like I still need to find a way, or maybe I should trouble Aunt You to help me keep an eye out for channels to exchange for these resources on the black market.’

’Alternatively, I could acquire knowledge on more advanced Superpower Potions from the internal network, become a Biological Alchemist as soon as possible, and produce energy mineral essence myself.’

His thoughts were clear. Lu Chao felt the difference between being a lone wolf and being part of a faction more keenly than ever.

A lone wolf could certainly grow stronger, but they had to do everything themselves, which was time-consuming.

Moreover, their channels for acquiring resources were rather limited. This was especially true after reaching the Superpower Level, as the required resources were no longer common and were only allocated to government departments and corporate giants.

Even people like Ge Hongfeng had to rely on their connections with the Xu family to have a stable source for such things.

It was the same for other Superpower Level individuals; they all had ties to factions, more or less. This was even true for assassins from the Dark Web.

"Hm?"

At this thought, an idea suddenly sparked in Lu Chao’s mind.

’Deep Sea...’

He thought back to the Dark Web assassination attempt that night.

He wondered if becoming a member of a Dark Web assassin organization would give him access to resource channels like these.

After all, massive assassin organizations like [Deep Sea] and [Blood Alliance] also had a certain number of Superpower Level experts. They surely needed to convert their mission rewards of Alliance Coins into energy mineral essence. Otherwise, how could they continue to develop their Life Energy?

With his mind made up, Lu Chao now had a plan.

He then took out his watch and turned it on.

Using the time before he had to leave the gravity room, he began browsing through some information.