From Lighting Up Talents to Becoming a Demon God Section 19

An unshakable force pinned him down, leaving him unable to move.

Xu Linfeng's face filled with shock. Then his vision blurred.

"Up!"

Whoosh!

Lu Chao actually struck out with both hands, locking his opponent's left arm and shoulder, then twisted his body and stepped in with the momentum.

Power erupted. His waist, back, shoulder, and elbow all exerted force at once.

Xu Linfeng's body was like a ragged sack. His legs left the ground, tracing an arcing fan through the air before he slammed heavily into the floor.

Bang!!

A gorgeous shoulder throw!

All three ordinary students were down, unable to get back up for the moment.

The sight made the seven or eight senior and junior brothers outside the field widen their eyes, frozen where they stood.

"He won?"

"Holy crap, that fierce?"

"Junior Brother Lu... seems to have something to him."

After a brief dead silence, cries of amazement rang out one after another.

The reality of the result changed their minds, and surprise was impossible to hide on the faces of the senior and junior brothers.

Zhang Hong, in the crowd, let out an even deeper breath of relief, revealing a smile from the heart.

He knew very well how much sweat and effort Junior Brother Lu had put in for this hurdle.

Meanwhile, in the other training areas.

Noticing the commotion, Master Luo, who had been instructing other disciples, quietly cast his gaze over. It lingered on Lu Chao for several breaths, as if a faint glimmer flashed through it.

Zheng Wu, in another direction, also smiled and nodded lightly.

"Senior Sister, is this hurdle very difficult?"

At some point, Shen Tianchen had stopped moving on the platform and looked in the direction where Lu Chao and the others were.

Seeing the smile rising on the other party's face, as well as Zhang Hong and the others' astonished discussions, he furrowed his brow slightly, somewhat unable to understand.

It was only defeating three ordinary students. Was it worth getting this excited?

"This is a tempering exercise Master Luo set up deliberately, meant to stir up fighting spirit and hone one's temperament."

"Perhaps to them, this really does count as crossing a difficult hurdle."

Senior Sister Lin stood opposite him, having temporarily stopped their move practice and sparring.

Not a trace of sweat could be seen on the pretty face beneath her ponytail. She also looked over in passing, her breathing steady, only a calmness born of familiarity in her eyes.

Before Combat Grade, one or two points of vitality could not create too large a gap.

Only by fighting one against three could one be considered to have truly entered the door of Gold-Stone Combat Arts and qualified to receive deeper instruction.

"Is that so."

His brows still furrowed, Shen Tianchen still did not quite understand.

He had never had that sort of experience, nor did he feel defeating three ordinary students counted for much.

"Of course, that is only for ordinary people."

Seeing through his thoughts, Senior Sister Lin soon withdrew her gaze again and softly advised him, "Junior Brother Shen, your talent is excellent and your progress rapid. Setting foot into Combat Grade is only a matter of time."

"And your practical combat skills have also improved remarkably. Ordinary students serve no purpose for you. In comparison, the genius disciples of other martial arts halls are the opponents meant for you."

Understanding the implication, Shen Tianchen's brow relaxed, and a trace of realization flashed through his eyes.

Then he withdrew his gaze, no longer paying attention to the commotion in the sparring area.

As a genius, he was destined to be different from them.

The mountains these ordinary people had to struggle and suffer to climb over—he only needed to leap once.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Lu."

In the sparring area, watching Lu Chao defeat three opponents, Zhang Hong was the first to rush up and offer his congratulations.

This was not only an increase in vitality and practical combat ability. It also meant the distance to Combat Grade had quietly drawn closer.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhang."

Understanding the meaning just as well, Lu Chao thanked him sincerely.

He knew that his victory was not only because his vitality had risen, but also because of Zhang Hong's help.

The two had sparred many times in private, and Zhang Hong had never been stingy with pointers. That was what had allowed him to gradually accumulate plenty of practical combat experience.

Rustle, rustle.

As the two were talking, movement came from behind them.

Lu Chao turned his head and saw the three ordinary students helping one another to their feet. Because they had been wearing protective gear, they hadn't suffered any serious injuries.

Now that they had lost, they all hung their heads in dejection and left in a sorry state.

"Good luck."

Suddenly, in the instant they brushed past each other, Lu Chao heard a very low voice.

He looked over and met Xu Linfeng's gaze. His eyes were complicated, seeming to hide encouragement, along with even more envy and admiration.

After that hurried glance, he continued on, walking all the way out of the Training Building.

"These ordinary students don't have it easy either."

"They have to leave after just over a month here. After that, it'll probably be hard for them to raise their vitality again."

Zhang Hong stood to one side and sighed with feeling, watching Xu Linfeng's departing back together with him.

This was the true portrait of most people in the Iron Ring District. Eight or nine points of vitality was already their limit.

Shriveled wallets and ordinary talent limited too many things, and the heavy pressure of life made it even harder for them to spare any attention and focus on this path.

For a moment, the atmosphere fell silent.

Lu Chao, standing where he was, withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the distant ring, as well as the several Combat Grade senior brothers who were currently sparring in actual combat.

"Rock Skin..."

"Combat Grade."

He clenched his fist silently. He would definitely break through!

That afternoon, Lu Chao left the boxing gym.

The tram he took rocked slightly. The seats on both sides by the windows were filled with quite a few people.

Lu Chao had a black backpack slung over his shoulder. His right hand gripped the ring handle as he stood steadily in the corner.

[Lianwei Heavy Industries has announced that it will soon launch the new Firmament-IV armed prosthetic body, as well as the fourth-generation hovercar...]

[Biotech Company has announced that the third-generation life potion has completed biological trials, with remarkable results!]

[Administration Bureau representative Councilor Li stated that Prism Ring City's construction and development work will be accelerated this year, striving to become a vanguard of the Alliance...]

The display screen inside the tram was playing the news. Lu Chao took a piece of bread from his bag, tore open the packaging, then chewed and swallowed it to recover his strength and ease the hunger in his stomach.

"A new armed prosthetic body. That's probably just another toy for the rich."

"They talk about expanding the urban district every year, but I've never seen anything happen. This year's probably just talk too."

"Ah..."

The news broadcast drew the attention of quite a few passengers in the carriage, and discussions broke out one after another.

Lu Chao listened in silence, but the history of this world unconsciously flashed through his mind.

Earth Star, which had gone through nuclear war and the wasteland era, had once suffered a terrible ecology and been riddled with scars. For a time, people had survived separately in different shelter cities.

It was not until fifty years ago, with the diplomatic aid of extraterrestrial civilizations, that the problem of radiation in the wilderness was gradually solved and civilization was rebuilt.

Afterward, in order to better explore the stars and establish diplomatic relations with extraterrestrial civilizations, Most of Earth Star's powers chose to form an alliance, and only then did the current sole nation—the Alliance State—come into being.

"Every Alliance city has a fairly high degree of autonomy. Even the Alliance State won't interfere lightly."

"It's just... I wonder what the wilderness outside Prism Ring City looks like..."

Curiosity rose in him, but Lu Chao quickly suppressed it.

Those matters were far too distant from him. The most urgent task was still to establish himself in the Iron Ring District first.

Buzz, buzz!