Counter-kill

Counter-kill

Watching the somewhat crazed young man before him, Wu Youde put away his contempt. "You brat, you're not an ordinary White Wristband, are you... Have you hidden your realm? Or are you wearing some Treasure Tool that boosts your power?"

"You tell me?" Luo Jun grinned, baring a mouthful of white teeth.

"Doesn't matter." Wu Youde gave a cold snort. "You definitely haven't reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, and you can't bear the burden of a high-grade Treasure Tool either. I was a little careless just now. Next, I won't give you another chance!"

"Same to you!" Luo Jun replied. Then he bent slightly at the waist and kicked off with both feet!

He made the first move!

Facing his opponent as he shot toward him like a cannonball, Wu Youde drove the Gang Qi around his body to its limit, concentrating most of it in his hands as he struck at the charging Luo Jun!

But unexpectedly, when Luo Jun reached him, he suddenly stretched one foot forward and stomped hard on the ground. This halted his charge while kicking up a huge cloud of dust that instantly engulfed Wu Youde.

The dust was blocked by the Gang Qi, but it did obscure his vision. Taking advantage of that, Luo Jun used the foot planted in the ground as a pivot, abruptly dropped backward, and swept his other leg across Wu Youde's legs!

Wu Youde had concentrated his Vital Energy in his hands, leaving his legs poorly defended. Luo Jun's terrifying force directly shattered his Gang Qi, and their shins slammed together head-on!

"Ah!" Wu Youde let out a scream. His lower leg felt as though it had been struck by an iron bar. Fortunately, the Gang Qi had cushioned the blow enough to keep it from breaking. Wracked by excruciating pain, he pitched forward, braced himself on one hand, and gathered Vital Energy in his right hand as he struck at Luo Jun!

Luo Jun hurriedly pulled back his leg, spun in place, and caught Wu Youde's right fist with both feet!

Boom!

With a deafening blast, pain shot through Luo Jun's soles, and he was sent flying sideways. He only barely stopped after crashing into a tree. Circulating the Vital Energy within him, he dispelled the violent force in his calves. Looking down, he saw that both shoes had been blown apart, leaving scorched marks on the soles of his feet.

"What a domineering explosion!" Ignoring the pain in his calves, Luo Jun flipped himself around, kicked off the tree trunk, and charged at his enemy again.

Wu Youde had only just climbed back to his feet. Seeing Luo Jun rushing toward him, he thought, Does this brat not know pain? How can he still have the strength to fight back after taking my Explosive Fist?

Left with no choice, he gathered his breath and counterattacked again. But this time, he dared not divert too much Vital Energy into offense, ensuring his entire body had a certain degree of protection.

Although Luo Jun's realm was lower than his opponent's, his high attributes and the boosts from the Body Tempering Art gave him faster reactions than Wu Youde. He nimbly evaded the attack, then turned and kicked Wu Youde in the back!

Boom!

With another blast, Wu Youde staggered several steps forward, while Luo Jun spun as he was blown backward.

That kick had detonated the Gang Qi on Wu Youde's back!

That explosive force could be used not only to attack, but also to defend—like a tank's reactive armor!

The blast force was one-directional, offsetting most of Luo Jun's attack. Wu Youde suffered little injury, but Luo Jun's pant leg was blown to shreds. He adjusted his posture in mid-air, landed on all fours, pushed himself up with both hands, and charged again through the searing pain.

Seeing the brat rush at him again, Wu Youde hurriedly gathered his breath to protect himself.

He could not understand it. How could a brat in the Body Refinement Realm keep getting back up after being hit by his explosive force? He was at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment Realm. After so many consecutive explosions, the other man's Vital Energy should have been exhausted long ago. Even a body forged from iron should have been blown apart!

Wu Youde had not yet reached the Heart Refining Realm. His explosive force relied on his talent in the Elemental School to imitate certain fire-element effects, and it consumed a great deal of his own power as well. If he could not finish this brat quickly, his Vital Energy would also risk running dry!

As Luo Jun closed in, Wu Youde covered his entire body in explosive force and silently thought, You little bastard, fall already!

Yet this time, Luo Jun merely smiled faintly, suddenly stopped, and swung both hands at Wu Youde!

Several tightly packed clods of dirt flew straight at him. Wu Youde realized something was wrong and tried to withdraw his explosive force, but it was already too late.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out one after another, swallowing Wu Youde whole in flames. As for Luo Jun, he had already retreated the instant he threw the dirt clods.

When the explosions subsided, Wu Youde was half-crouched on the ground, gasping for breath. The faint Vital Energy flickering over his body flashed a few times before going out.

That round of explosions had completely drained his Vital Energy.

"That's all it took to dry you up?" Luo Jun snorted with a laugh. "Looks like your reserves are smaller than I thought!"

Luo Jun's words sent a chill through Wu Youde's heart. Gritting his teeth, he flipped open the Hundred Treasure Box, took out a pill, and swallowed it. Then he pulled out a skateboard, stepped onto it, and sped away into the depths of the forest!

The pill had urgently supplied him with twenty breaths' worth of Vital Energy, enough to power the skateboard for his escape. Both items had been obtained from Chaos Missions.

He had no desire to fight anymore. He only wanted to escape this bizarre young man.

He had thought he was merely swatting a fly, that he could deal with it and leave without anyone knowing. He had never expected to run into an iron plate!

There's something wrong with this brat. That bastard surnamed Han set me up!

Before he had gone very far, Luo Jun had already caught up from behind!

Thanks to his training during this time, when Luo Jun circulated his Vital Energy at full force, the power he unleashed was nearly a hundred times that of an ordinary person. He was inferior to this kind of transportation over long distances, but his instantaneous burst of acceleration at the start far surpassed it.

"You..." Wu Youde was startled. Before he could finish speaking, Luo Jun's fist was already upon him!

Bang!

When the fist was still nearly half a meter away from Wu Youde, it was blocked by an invisible wall of air. This was not protective Gang Qi, but an additional function activated by the skateboard!

Although he had failed to hit his opponent, the force of his punch knocked the skateboard off course, sending Wu Youde uncontrollably toward a large tree! He hastily adjusted his posture, tilting the skateboard in an attempt to skim past the tree trunk. Taking advantage of this, Luo Jun had already circled in front of him and rammed into Wu Youde with all his strength!

The skateboard could form a shield to protect its rider, but it was like putting a car shell around him—it could block damage, but not impact force. Luo Jun's charge did not touch Wu Youde, yet it knocked both him and the skateboard over!

The moment his feet left the skateboard, the shield naturally vanished. Before Wu Youde could even hit the ground, Luo Jun pounced on him and started punching!

Wu Youde could only block in panic, but without protective Gang Qi, how could he withstand Luo Jun's strength? After taking just one punch, one of his arms broke, and he flew backward like a kite with its string cut.

He hit the ground with a thud. Curling up and clutching his twisted arm, Wu Youde begged, "Please, don't..."

Luo Jun did not give him a chance to speak. He rushed forward in a single stride and kicked Wu Youde in the stomach. The once-arrogant fourth-level bandit rolled backward like a ball, landing right on the trap the prisoners had dug earlier.

The loosely covered grass and fallen leaves instantly collapsed, and Wu Youde fell into the pit with a thud. But clutching his stomach and bent over, he had no strength left to climb out.

Taking advantage of this, Luo Jun ran behind the bushes, found the mechanism the prisoners had made earlier, and pulled apart the knot.

With a whoosh, the vines were yanked upward. The massive boulder lost its support and dropped in freefall, crashing accurately into the pit with a rumble.

With another rumble, a ring of blood-tinged dust billowed up from the edge of the pit...

Wu Youde, who had loved killing all his life, ultimately died in the trap made by the first-level prisoners he had killed.

"Whew..." Luo Jun breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground as well.

The battle had been short, but only Luo Jun himself knew how dangerous it had been.

Every time he took one of his opponent's explosions, leaving aside the pain in his flesh, the force driven into his body required at least dozens of breaths' worth of Vital Energy to neutralize. Even with Luo Jun's reserves far surpassing those of ordinary people, he had used up eighty percent of them.

If he had not come up with the method of detonating the dirt clods at the last moment, Luo Jun truly was not sure whether he could have outlasted his opponent.

As for his advantage in physical strength, it was insignificant in the face of the gap in Vital Energy realms.

Vital Energy was like a weapon. A strong body merely made wielding that weapon more convenient. As long as one met the conditions to use a weapon, the strength of the body itself was no longer so important. What everyone truly cared about was how to upgrade their weapons.

A woman holding a knife could counter-kill a strong man with bare hands; with a pistol, even a fully armed warrior would have to stay far away; if someone held a bomb, no one within ten meters would dare approach...

This was basically the consensus among Vital Energy Cultivators, and Luo Jun had gained a firsthand understanding of it through this battle.

But he had another thought.

Looking at his palm, reddened from the explosions, Luo Jun recalled the tree trunk that had first been blasted apart by pebbles.

His Vital Energy could not protect the surface of his body. His flesh had taken the explosive force head-on.

Other people's bodies could only rely on innate aptitude and cultivation in the Body Refinement Realm. But he was different.

Luo Jun brought up the Dice of Heavenly Secrets panel. During his battle with Wu Youde, he had used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets several times at critical moments. Luckily, every attempt had succeeded, but he had not leveled up.

After his last breakthrough, he was already more than halfway through level twelve's experience. During the exams these two days, he had also used the dice at crucial moments. Although the difficulty had not been high, admission success was at stake, so the Severity Coefficient had not been low either. He had gained more than two hundred Experience Points. Combined with his battle against Wu Youde, where both the Event Difficulty and Severity Coefficient were high, the Prompt Sound had reported gains of over a hundred Experience Points each time.

I should be close to leveling up...

"Hmm?" Luo Jun's gaze fell on the experience bar.

Level 12 (1299/1300)

Just one point short?

Looking at his one remaining use of the dice, Luo Jun picked up a stone and aimed at a distant branch.

"Hit that branch!"

"Event Difficulty: 35. Final Points: 44 + 5. Event Success."

Whoosh! Crack!

"Event completed. Event Difficulty: 35. Severity Coefficient: 0x. Final Experience Value: 1 point."

"Congratulations, you have leveled up!"

After forcibly gaining that one point of Experience Points, the level-up Prompt Sound rang out. Luo Jun immediately felt a warm current rise from within him. It not only healed his injuries, but also restored his energy, and Vital Energy once again filled his body.

Then the White Dice appeared before his eyes. After spinning, it finally landed on 5...

Nothing exceptional, but he had gained ten attribute points. Luo Jun's attributes were now:

Level: 13 (0/1400)

Strength: 41 points

Agility: 34 points

Perception: 33 points

Spirit: 36 points

Luck: Level 6

Skills: All Things are Dice, Beginner Point Correction, Undo

Item: Wealth Ring

Chips: 40

Uses: 5/5

With his current attributes, an increase of two or three points on average no longer felt like much. But little by little, Luo Jun believed that as long as he kept leveling up, he would eventually become the strongest!

Innate aptitude should mainly correspond to the Strength attribute... He remembered that genius senior who had died young possessed innate aptitude ten times that of an ordinary person. That would mean fifty points of Strength?

He would soon surpass him!

(End of Chapter)