Chapter 622 - 400: Martial Artist 2

Chapter 622: Chapter 400: Martial Artist 2

"Someone was definitely pulling the strings from behind the scenes. I’ve already taken care of him," Li Xiye said flatly.

Zhou Chen looked at her, stunned. She pointed to the top floor of a distant tall building. "There was a ’Beast Tamer’ in there who could control beasts. He’s been blown to smithereens now."

The distance wasn’t that great, so it was impossible for a Tier Four like Li Xiye not to sense it. And with the Rules she commanded, killing from a distance was all too easy.

"Hm?" Suddenly, Li Xiye looked surprised, her expression turning slightly serious. "A Tier Four has arrived. I’m going to kill him. You all be careful; a lot of enemies are coming. Dupe doesn’t want us to reach the inner city."

With that, Li Xiye vanished. Immediately after, a sound like heavenly drums and thunder echoed from midair. A terrifying Essence Fluctuation spread out in all directions, pressing down on heaven and earth. The very air seemed to freeze solid, making it difficult to breathe.

Throughout the city, alarms blared. Countless people reacted instantly, pulling out firearms from all sorts of places and swarming toward Zhou Chen’s group under the guidance of the floating airships in the sky.

Faster than them were transport hovercrafts. City guards in heavy Alchemy Armor leaped down from them. They brandished enormous guns and, without a word, opened fire on Zhou Chen and his group.

"Reflect!"

A Star Association Operator dashed in front of everyone and shoved his hand forward. The incredibly powerful plasma bombs were reflected back. Several city guards couldn’t dodge in time and were hit. The plasma bombs instantly melted through their Alchemy Armor and their bodies, killing them on the spot.

"Damn it, at least a thousand people are heading our way! They’re trying to drown us with sheer numbers!" a female Operator wearing a tactical monocle cursed. Her hands never stopped moving. A blast of cold air erupted from her palm, creating a thick ice wall that blocked the street, which should hold back a good number of enemies.

"Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to rack up some crime value?" Zhou Chen chuckled. "Erin, take care of yourself. A tricky one is coming. I’ll go kill him."

"Okay!" Erin agreed, equipping a set of glittering gold Alchemy Battle Armor.

Zhou Chen’s gaze fixed on the distance, where a crimson bolt of lightning was hurtling toward them at Rapid Speed. He immediately activated his Body of Steel Melting, and with a flap of his Phoenix Fire Feathers, shot out like a pale meteor to meet it head-on.

BANG!

A brilliant flash exploded. A woman in crimson Armor was sent flying by Zhou Chen’s impact. The terrifying force created a shockwave that instantly shattered all nearby glass, and the collision even blasted a deep crater into the ground.

Flame Jump. Zhou Chen’s slightly warped steel body appeared beside the woman in crimson Armor. He grabbed her head with one hand and slammed it down, plowing a deep, several-hundred-meter-long trench in the ground. Then, his arm muscles rippled as Power surged through them, layer by layer, before erupting. He grabbed her head again and smashed it violently into a wall.

’Increase my Power fivefold!’ Zhou Chen wished.

[Wish Value -500]

BOOM!

Bailan spread out. Boosted by the wish, Zhou Chen’s strike generated a terrifying sonic boom. Countless cracks appeared on the shaking, concrete-poured wall. A continuous crumbling sound spread as a deep fissure extended from the bottom all the way up to the top of the office building.

Immediately after, the teetering office building collapsed with a deafening roar, mercilessly burying everyone inside.

The crime value above Zhou Chen’s head skyrocketed.

"Not bad..." At that moment, the woman whose head was embedded in the wall spoke faintly, then sent Zhou Chen flying with a single punch.

Zhou Chen grunted. The Essence in his body began to drain away uncontrollably, decreasing by a third in the blink of an eye!

’Is this the woman’s Extraordinary Ability?’ The thought flashed through Zhou Chen’s mind, and he decisively made a wish: ’Restore my Essence, and remove the effects of the negative Ability.’

[Wish Value -500]

The drain on his Essence stopped and was instantly replenished. At the same time, the woman pulled her head out of the wall. Blood trickled from her nose and mouth as she stared at Zhou Chen, her face devoid of expression. "How did you do that?"

She could sense that her Extraordinary Ability had been nullified.

Zhou Chen didn’t answer. He used the brief moment to get a clear look at the woman’s face, confirming that she was a very famous, internationally wanted criminal who had been missing for a long time.

——Yu Hongzhi, a Tier Three Ascender. Her Extraordinary Ability was "Erosion." Anyone she hit would suffer an unstoppable Erosion of their blood, Essence, or Life Force. She had once used this Ability to kill several Star Association Operators, but later vanished mysteriously. It now seemed likely that she had been captured by Dupe, brainwashed, and trained into a loyal Warrior.

Zhou Chen was in the Essence Materialization state of his Body of Steel Melting, so only his Essence suffered from Erosion.

Just then, Yu Hongzhi spat, expelling a ball of pale flame. It was the Cyan Flame from Zhou Chen’s earlier attack that had burned its way into her body. She had forced it out using some unknown method. Although her Spiritual Power had been slightly scorched, she was largely unharmed.

VMMM!

The crimson Armor Yu Hongzhi wore lit up. Strands of materialized blood-qi swirled around her. In that instant, all her physical Attributes were greatly enhanced. She shot forward like a fully compressed spring, the high-speed friction with the air producing a sharp whistle.

Light flashed in Zhou Chen’s eyes as two beams of Spiritual Death Light shot out. However, Yu Hongzhi shattered the intangible spiritual beams with a single punch. The Armor she wore allowed her to touch incorporeal Spiritual Power!

"Die!" Yu Hongzhi closed in on Zhou Chen and threw a vicious punch. A crimson glare erupted in an instant, like a warehouse full of high explosives detonating, mercilessly engulfing and disintegrating everything within a three-hundred-meter radius.

But her fist felt no impact. Instead, in a flash, a jet-black Cursed Dagger shot out, slicing across Yu Hongzhi’s cheek and leaving a bloody gash.

A lethal Curse coiled around her Soul, sealing Yu Hongzhi’s fate.

ZING!

Behind Yu Hongzhi, a materialized Emotion Avatar swung the Dream Light and Shadow, seizing the brief moment of shock caused by the Curse to decapitate her. Immediately after, the Emotion Avatar disintegrated in the crimson glare and vanished.

In that split second, Zhou Chen had used Flame Burst to shoot the Cursed Blade out like a bullet, slicing Yu Hongzhi’s face. He then immediately used Flame Jump to dodge the area-of-effect attack containing the "Erosion" effect. Simultaneously, he activated Emotional Outburst to summon his Emotion Avatar, which then beheaded Yu Hongzhi after she was afflicted with the lethal Curse. This greatly increased the probability of a kill, and naturally, it was a success. Yu Hongzhi was killed by a combo of Skills.

Before Zhou Chen could even catch his breath, the crisp sound of clapping suddenly rang out.

"Impressive, truly impressive. You live up to your reputation as one of the hottest Ascenders in the world today. I’m quite certain I could count the number of same-tier Ascenders in this World who could beat you on two hands."

A youth with a buzz cut and a forbiddingly sinister air, dressed in a white sweatsuit, gave a contemptuous smile:

"And I am one of them."

"And where did you pop out from?" Zhou Chen held his Long Spear horizontally, his fighting spirit surging. The Dream Light and Shadow shimmered with brilliant light as drops of fresh blood dripped from it.

"I come from ’Fallen Paradise.’ I’m a newly-promoted ’Martial Artist’," the buzz-cut youth introduced himself, exuding the air of a Martial Arts grandmaster.

Fallen Paradise?!

Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes. ’Fallen Paradise is getting involved too? Or did Dupe hire them?’

"Don’t get the wrong idea. I wasn’t invited by Dupe. He’s not qualified to invite me."

The Martial Artist rubbed his buzz cut and said with a hint of resignation, "I just came to Hai City to see what a big city is like, and somehow I got dragged into this. Sigh... I had just ordered a plate of crayfish, you know? Cost me three hundred yuan. What a total loss."

"Honestly, I wasn’t planning on revealing my identity. At first, I was just going to wait here quietly for the Star Association to solve the problem so I could go back to my crayfish. But then I found out the Star Association set up some kind of Ascender screening process that only lets Ascenders in. That left me with no choice. I’m not a registered Ascender, so they’d figure out who I am with a simple background check."

The Martial Artist’s words were followed by a chilling smile. "Since I’ve been exposed, I might as well do something to cut my losses."