Ordinary small-caliber firearms couldn't even break through the Death Qi around Lu Yuan. The moment a bullet entered the Death Qi, its kinetic energy was immediately reduced. Even if an occasional bullet managed to hit Lu Yuan, it was as harmless as being lightly pelted with a small stone.

The same was true for small-caliber energy guns. As the energy beam from an energy gun entered the range of the Death Qi, it was quickly dissipated by the Death Qi, greatly reducing its power.

The Lv 8 Death Qi, when gathered, was already enough to block most damage from thermal weapons. Not to mention that Lu Yuan also had a layer of Nether Clothing inside.

Netherworld Clothing was a specialized defense skill. Lu Yuan was currently only Lv 1, but his defensive power was still quite considerable. At least in the Imaginary Enemy scenario, neither Zhou Ling nor Gao Qing, the two Huang Bear Leaders, possessed any means to break his Lv 1 Netherworld Clothing.

But Zhou Ling and Gao Qing are clearly among the lower-ranking members within the Yellow Bear Organization. Their various modified attack methods can't be considered advanced. If I were to face higher-level Modified Humans, I wonder if I could still hold up?

All along, mechanical power armor had been the peak of his understanding of the world's technological level. Lu Yuan lived in the Old City Circle; he hadn't even stepped through the gates of the New World, and everything about the Modified Human power system was still unknown to him.

At least it provides another line of defense. Right now, my Netherworld Clothing is just a semi-transparent black film that hasn't even developed a pattern. It's still at a very low level. There's still plenty of room for growth in the future.

Lu Yuan clearly remembered that there were patterns on Calophis's Nether Clothing; although faint, they were gorgeous. Before his Constitution Broke the Limit, his nine-ton Fist Strength, combined with Death Qi, Vigor, and the Crane Sect True Skill, barely scratched an itch when hitting the opponent. The potential of Netherworld Clothing was evident.

I still need to practice body tempering. Otherwise, like Calophis, the exterior might be hard, but once the outer shell is broken, there will be only a pile of loose sand inside.

Lu Yuan thought, if he could temper his body's defensive power to be comparable to Netherworld Clothing, or even stronger... then his ultimate goal of ripping apart Mecha with his bare hands would have a great chance of being realized. For ordinary people, even for Fighters like Xiang Lei of the Hundred Refinements Sect, who possessed the Palace of Flesh talent, it would be a pipe dream.

But not for Lu Yuan. After all... his Four-dimensional Attributes could Break the Limit!

SNIP—

With the last snip of the scissors, Lu Yuan finally finished styling his hair. It was clean and refreshing, almost the exact same style as his original hairstyle. There was no chance of messing it up. For a qualified Martial Artist, control over one's body was the most basic ability. Whatever style Lu Yuan wanted to cut, he could naturally cut it.

The cut strands of hair were crystal clear and seemed to possess a mysterious luster under the bedroom light, much like the special-effect-laden hair in TV shampoo commercials.

It's a pity. If I sold it to a hair salon to make wigs, I guess it could be worth quite a bit of money...

Lu Yuan casually dusted off the hair scraps on his body and clothes. He left the bedroom, fetched a broom, and swept all the fallen hair from the room floor.

After doing all this, he casually changed his clothes, went downstairs, and pretended to have just arrived home.

It was now nine o'clock at night. Since he had asked for leave from school in advance, and his family knew about his usual habit of going to the martial arts gym after school, Lu Yuan's late arrival caused no stir.

Of course, the main reason was that both his mom and Lu Jing were completely engrossed by the TV. It wasn't a TV drama, but the evening news. They were broadcasting an incident from earlier in the day: large numbers of crows had appeared in the sky over several areas of Burnt Rock City. Many people had seen it, and it had already exploded on social media.

Lu Yuan saw that Lu Jing and his mother were watching intently and discussing it enthusiastically. He glanced at the TV and saw an expert explaining that the large-scale crow migration was caused by the influence of tropical ocean currents and monsoons in the Southern Hemisphere...

The bamboo forest was peaceful and secluded. Master Liudao Yuan, dressed in a white practice uniform, was sitting at the stone table, slurping soda from his cup.

Lu Yuan stood before Master Liudao Yuan, bowed respectfully, and said, "Master, my apologies."

The Imaginary Enemy version of Master Liudao Yuan had no reaction.

Since Lu Yuan had greeted him, he naturally wouldn't be polite. He grabbed the edge of the stone table with both hands, lifted it lightly, and seized the entire stone table. Then he swung it vigorously towards Master Liudao Yuan's face.

BOOM!

The stone table and stone chair smashed into pieces on the ground.

Lu Yuan casually dusted off his hands and saw that Master Liudao Yuan, who had been holding a teacup, had somehow moved five or six meters away and was watching him coldly.

"Master, aren't you going to fight back?" Lu Yuan asked. "If you don't fight back... I'll kill you," he said lightly, his body CRACKLING as it rapidly expanded.

His black hair grew wildly, his skin turned red, veins bulged, muscles twisted, and the aura of a volcano emanated from him as he entered the Second Transformation state. The power difference between his First Transformation state and his previous combat strength wasn't significant. He had already tested this against Master Liudao Yuan. It was useless; he couldn't win.

Master Liudao Yuan watched Lu Yuan with a blank expression, the purple clay teacup in his hand slowly disintegrating into mud and sand, slipping through his fingers.

Lu Yuan cracked a smile, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth.

The next second, a bright yellow light surged from his body, and large amounts of Death Qi emerged.

Lv 4 Ten Thousand Refining Crane Bone Strength!

Lv 8 Circulation of Death Qi!

Lv 1 Netherworld Clothing!

Lv 3 Absolute Focus!

Lv 1 Death Omen Eye!

Ultimate Transformation!

Lu Yuan's eyes turned pure black. He maxed out his state, immediately unleashing his ultimate move—

At the top of the Death Teller (Extraordinary) panel, a skill's light point shone like a Star of Death Omen.

Super Kill—Netherworld River Notification of Death!

The surging Death Qi transformed into a raging Netherworld River, gathering at Lu Yuan's fist. An aura of silence, chilling coldness, and decay spread out from it.

BANG! A wave of white mist exploded around Lu Yuan. His entire body charged at Master Liudao Yuan at an inconceivable speed, and he threw a punch at him.

However, the next moment...

POP—

It sounded like a bubble being popped. Lu Yuan felt as if everything around him had slowed down; the timeline began to stretch. His actions seemed to slow as well. His entire being seemed to exist in an incredibly viscous space, every move slowed down dozens of times over, if not more.

But one person was unaffected.

Lu Yuan watched as Master Liudao Yuan, who was within arm's reach, leaped into the air. His right leg tore through the air, kicking straight towards Lu Yuan's face. He could see every action, every part of the process with perfect clarity. Yet, frustratingly, he was unable to move, unable to dodge, and unable to get his punch out first. He could only watch as the foot drew nearer and nearer.

Finally, THUD! It kicked him hard on the forehead.

WHOOSH— CRASH!

A figure shattered into pieces, flesh and mechanical parts scattering everywhere like a celestial maiden sprinkling flowers. Then, under the scouring of the Death Qi, it quickly decayed and turned to sand...

Lu Yuan stood there, stunned. He reached out and touched his forehead. The Nether Clothing there was torn, and a large chunk of his forehead bone was deeply caved in.

He had managed to throw that punch after all. And with that one hit, he had "killed" Master Liudao Yuan.

However, Lu Yuan felt... he had still lost.

Spirit, will... Is this... the True Intention?

RING RING RING—

The bell signaling the end of class rang out. The physics teacher, who was also the homeroom teacher, quickly assigned a few homework problems, collected his teaching materials, and left the classroom.

Relaxed noises immediately echoed through the classroom.

"Finally, class is over!"

"Whew—"

Lu Yuan also relaxed, exhaling lightly. Faint CRACKLING noises emanated from his bones, astonishing his plump deskmate sitting next to him.

Lu Yuan paid him no mind and casually checked his character panel.

[...Spirit Crane Body Lv 4 (12/800)

Steel Bone Lv 3 (25/400)

...]

While others were listening to the lecture, he was secretly practicing his Martial Arts. Other cultivation methods made too much noise, but body tempering using Vigor was manageable. Just now, Lu Yuan had managed to advance both Spirit Crane Body and Steel Bone by one level, skills that had been stuck for some time.

Although he was mentally prepared, he still felt somewhat disheartened to find that the results after the breakthrough were exactly as he had predicted. The two body tempering methods had advanced. Yet, incredibly, Lu Yuan's four Basic Attributes hadn't changed at all! Even his Agility hadn't increased!

Or rather, his Agility had actually increased somewhat; Lu Yuan could sense the subtle transformation within his body. But this transformation hadn't reached the threshold of a full point of Agility, so it wasn't reflected on the panel.

The four Basic Attributes are closely related. Breaking the Limit of Constitution also imperceptibly raises the base level of the other three attributes. The body tempering methods that used to be quite effective on me have suddenly become much less so... It seems I need to practice more body tempering methods!

The effect of a single body tempering method had decreased. If he lacked quality, then he had to make up for it with quantity.

If one body tempering method breaks through and doesn't even grant me a single point in Constitution, what about two? Or ten? Surely, quantitative changes would eventually lead to a qualitative one!

Lu Yuan considered whether or not to call his teacher, Master Liudao Yuan, to ask him to help procure a few more body tempering methods. Old Liu had a wide network in the Martial Arts Circle, with friends everywhere, all supposedly warm and generous people... However, considering that he had always been asking Old Liu for things, and aside from letting Old Liu 'experience' his Super Kill in the Consciousness Space, he hadn't really returned any favors, Lu Yuan felt too awkward to ask.

I'll go to the Yellow Bear Organization later and see if I can get more body tempering methods. Old Liu is getting on in years; it's not good to always bother him.

Lu Yuan remembered very clearly that when he was filling out the application for the Yellow Bear Organization, Gao Qing had told him that the Yellow Bear Organization had many Pure Martial inheritances internally. Something like the Crane Sect wasn't considered rare at all.

I hope she didn't lie to me...

Just as he was lost in thought, the physics teacher who had just left suddenly returned. He appeared at the back door of the classroom and waved at Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan, come here."

"Huh?"

Lu Yuan raised his head to look at his homeroom teacher. He noticed an unconcealable excitement and exhilaration on his teacher's face. Though puzzled, he quickly walked over.

Upon reaching the door, the homeroom teacher warmly grabbed his hand and started leading him towards the office. As they walked, he said joyfully, "Good kid! When did you secretly sign up for the National Star River Cup Mathematical Olympiad Equation Competition without telling the school? And you even made it to the finals! If the people from the competition's organizing committee hadn't come personally to pick you up for the pre-competition training camp, neither I nor the school's administration would have known!"

"Uh..."

Lu Yuan blinked, completely bewildered.

However, very soon... this bewilderment vanished the moment Lu Yuan stepped into the office with his homeroom teacher.

Lu Yuan saw a man with an upright posture, dressed in a white shirt paired with suit trousers, his hair combed impeccably, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. This handsome man was smiling at him.

"Lu Yuan," he said in a resonant voice, striding towards Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but smile. He hesitated, then tentatively called out, "Teacher Zhou Ling...?"

"Yes!"

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